Alison didn’t awake until the following morning, while Lilian was manning the chopper and right after Silver had woken up from his night’s rest. She looked around the chopper wearily. The confusion in her eyes faded to sadness and anger as the memories of the previous day returned.

She spotted Lilian in the driver’s seat and let out a relieved breath. “At least something went well. I’m glad you’re okay, Lilian.”

Lilian glanced back and gave her a smile before returning her attention to the console.

“Her vocal cords look like they’re still pretty messed up from Reave,” Angel said. “She’ll live, though. Can’t ask for more than that. I’m sorry you and Tilly were dragged into this. I should have realized the Reawakening would go after people I know if they couldn’t find me.”

“You came after us. That’s more than what most people would have done,” Alison said. “Especially for me. It’s not a normal person would go after innocents, you just weren’t thinking like a deranged monster.”

“Thanks,” Angel said with a wry smile. “Although things might have gone better if I was.”

“Do you have friends or family somewhere else you should warn as well?” Alison asked. “They could go after people again, right?”

“None.” Angel shook his head. “Just an old workshop in Bronze City that I doubt they’d even know about. I’m doubtful that they’d attack Bronze City, anyways. With Body dead, they’ll have to watch their steps much more closely.”

“So what do we do, then?” Alison asked.

“Not even going to check if I’m planning to drop you off somewhere safe?” Angel quirked an eyebrow.

“Nope,” Alison said. “There’s nowhere I can go other than Bronze City, anyways. Magistrate Daliah would want me to help you, and you need all the power you can get to fight the Reawakening. Yesterday proved that my abilities will be useful.”

“Give it up, Angel,” Silver said. “You aren’t dissuading them. We all had to learn how the Barren works the hard way. It’s better for the girls to find out with us than alone. If the Reawakening catch them off guard without protection, I’m sure you can predict what the result will be.”

“Whose side are you on?” Angel complained.

“My own.” Silver chuckled. “I’m doing this out of my own free will because I think the Reawakening need to be stopped. We can’t protect everyone from them, and that includes our own team.”

“I thought Magistrate Daliah was paying you?” Tilly asked.

“Unimportant details,” Silver said dismissively. “Speaking of which, I’ll be expecting a fair share of loot in reward for doing this. Maybe a few gold statues in my name as well. Nice ones, but not too big. Preferably unguarded. Easy to steal.”

Angel couldn’t help but laugh. “At least I can count on you being driven by gold until the day you die. It’s good to have a few things that don’t pull the floor out from beneath me.”

Silver swapped with Lilian, taking back over the chopper.

“So, where to?” Silver asked.

“A town, but not the nearest one,” Angel said. “I need to remake the Key, and we’ll need components for that.”

Silver glanced at the map on the console, then turned the chopper to the side. “It’ll be a day or so until we arrive. Better get everyone fully up to speed by then.”

Angel nodded. He ran through everything he knew about the Reawakening, their members, and their goals with Alison and Tilly. If they were going to join, he’d be damned if they didn’t know exactly what they were dealing with.

Alison and Tilly stared at Lilian with wide eyes when Angel described her association with the group. Lilian’s eyes lowered in shame, but she couldn’t even speak to defend herself.

“I don’t mean you any disrespect,” Alison said carefully. “But how can you trust Lilian if she used to work for them?”

“Same reason I trusted Tilly enough to teach her even though I suspected she were a spy,” Angel told her. “Just on a slightly different scale. I’ve got a problem with wanting to find the best in people. Lilian has saved my life several times and she nearly died to save you and Tilly. If she’s a spy, she’s the most dedicated one I’ve ever seen.”

“So over half of them are already dead or defected?” Tilly asked. “Soul died in the catacomb, Heart died at some point in the distant past, and you killed Body yesterday. Since Lilian is on our side, there are only three members of the Reawakening still alive.”

“Correct,” Angel said. “Reave, Mind, and Shield. Plus their army of clones.”

“So, realistically speaking, they can only control three Buried Gods at once. I doubt they’d have the clones running one on their own, since if people got into it, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to commandeer,” Alison mused.

“Good analysis,” Angel praised. “But I doubt the Reawakening have any plans of entering another direct conflict with anyone if they can avoid it. They’ve got the Key, so their goal is probably finding whatever it leads to and returning Old World Magic.”

“This might be dumb, but isn’t that what you’re also trying to do?” Tilly asked. “Once they bring it back, are they going to try to keep it for themselves or something?”

“That’s a possibility,” Angel admitted. “But I’m more concerned about the methods they use to bring it back. The Key is more likely to be a step toward bringing Old World Magic back, not the way to bring it back completely. The next step might result in even more people dying, and I don’t think they’ve got enough relics to power all their Buried Gods. That means they’re running off human sacrifice until they’re stopped.”

They all fell quiet, lost in thought. The only noise in the chopper was the dull hum of the rotors overhead.

“I’ve made my decision,” Tilly said, breaking the silence. “I’ll take the Star Fragment.”

Angel grimaced, but he took his travel pack out and flipped the top open, reaching inside and removing the small blue orb with his metal hand. Lightning crackled across his shoulder in warning.

He carefully held it out to Tilly, who scooped her hands and reached out. Angel dropped it onto her palms. The orb sank into her flesh like it had been sucked in and Tilly yelped, yanking her hands back and shaking them vigorously.

“Are you okay?” Angel asked nervously.

“I’m fine,” Tilly said, flexing her fingers. “I just didn’t expect a shock like that. How long does it take the Star Fragment to start working?”

“It took a few days for me,” Angel replied. “Ah, be careful with what you say until you’ve got a handle over your power. If you inherited Body’s abilities, you will need to be absolutely sure you don’t use them on accident. You could cause a lot of damage.”

“I understand,” Tilly said, nodding seriously.

The rest of the trip went without incident. They reached a small city by the name of Mistwall a day later. There was no dedicated chopper pad, so Silver landed on the ground outside the city and remained in the airship to watch it while Angel and Lilian entered the city.

“Bring any news?” a lone guard at the entrance asked as they approached.

“Bad, I’m afraid,” Angel said. “The Reawakening struck again. They hit Molten Ridges.”

The man swore and tightened his grip on his spear. “You’re survivors, then?”

“I don’t think Molten Ridges was destroyed,” Angel said. “We saw the Buried God leaving as we escaped, and most of the city was still standing.”

“You saw the Buried God in action?” the guard asked, his eyes wide in fear. “You’re either very lucky or very unlucky.”

“A mixture of both,” Angel said. “I hope you’ll excuse us, but we want to get out of the area as quickly as possible. The Buried God is only a few days of travel away.”

He paled and nodded. “I might be doing the same. Don’t want to see any Reawakening members, no sir. Uh, please don’t mention anything like that in town. The last thing we need is a panic.”

“I’ll keep quiet,” Angel promised with absolutely no plans of keeping it, repressing his anger at the guard. If the Reawakening was in the area, the people had every right to know.

The guard stepped aside and they walked into Mistwall at a brisk pace.