Orenda had the gun, loaded with all six bullets, tucked away in her bag. She had her staff, wrapped in fabric to keep it from being seen, strapped to her back. She had the medallion around her neck, the rings in her ears, the sterilite armor on her body, and the traveling clothes on her back. She had a full waterskin, three days worth of dried rations, the lockpicking kit she had been gifted from the pirates, and nothing else. She wouldn’t risk anything else. The precious book she had traveled so far with was tucked away, back in her room, along with her sari and everything else she had always kept with her. She was traveling light, because if she got caught, she wanted to leave the Urillians no clues to follow.

She waited, in the back garden, for Sonny, thinking about the people she was leaving behind. There had been a round of hugs and tears from everyone- but only Gareth truly seemed to believe she wasn’t coming back. But he knew he couldn’t restrain her without help, and there was no help for him. Orenda wondered how long he would wait. She wondered if he was right.

There is nothing for you to fear, master. The staff said. The artifact lies in the heart of the castle. It belongs to you. It was stolen from you. It calls out to you.

“I hope you’re right,” Orenda said, “I’m betting everything I have on this. This is my one chance.”

I can feel it, master.

“Please show me that I can trust you,” Orenda said, more to herself than to the staff.

“Rendy,” Sonny said.

When Orenda snapped out of her thoughts, she realized that she had been staring off in the direction of Xaxac’s grave.

All her parents were dead.

Perhaps she would meet them in the afterlife.

She turned to face him- but he wasn’t alone. Anilla and Mary Sue were standing beside him, all clutching bags and wearing traveling cloaks as if they were going with her.

“What are you doing?” Orenda asked.

“We’re going with you,” Mary Sue said, “I’ve always wanted to see the inside of the castle. And I think… I don’t think the queen can see us. I don’t think she’ll know we’re inside.”

“I’m small and good at hiding,” Anilla said with a smile, “And I’m an air mage. I’m from the Frozen North, and with the storm blowing in, you may need me.”

The halfling will betray you, master.

“It… it would be hypocritical of me to tell you that you couldn’t come,” Orenda said to them. “But this will be very dangerous. I may have to go up against the Emerald Knight. I’m going to challenge the Empress Xandra. There is a very real possibility that we may not come out of this alive.”

“Speak for yourself,” Mary Jane said, “You were right, Orenda. We can’t keep hiding forever. We want to see this.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sonny told her, “Dad outran the Emerald Knight and I’m fast as hell. I’m not going to die tonight. If they come after us, we run. Those Urillians can’t tell humans apart, I don’t think. I want us all to make a pact that we don’t let them capture us. And if we can’t run… We don’t let them take us alive. You’ve got six shots, Rendy. There are four of us.”

“I don’t think a gunshot will kill you,” Orenda said with great practicality. “Let’s not talk about such things. Let’s be solution oriented. If we are caught, we do not go down easily. You’re Brigaddons. You’re made of starstuff. You tear through those Urillians, through the queen herself if you have to. We don’t let them take us alive- because we don’t let them take us.”

“I like your attitude,” Mary Sue said. “Orenda, I want to give you this. I finished it while we were away. It’s the last piece of your armor.”

There was no box this time, no gathering of people to watch her open it. There was only Mary Sue, taking the mask from her bag and handing it to Orenda, as if it wasn’t tremendously important, as if it didn’t mean everything in the world.

“Thank you, Mary,” Orenda said, because it was important, and it did mean everything. Then she leaned in, wrapped her arms around her, and pulled her into a hug.

“You said you didn’t want to take the wagon,” Orenda said as she stepped back and watched Sonny stick out his tongue so that snowflakes landed on it. She didn’t understand what he was doing.

“No,” he said, “the horses are wore out. And it would take too long.”

Orenda watched as Mary Sue and Sonny did the impossible in an instant. The Brigaddons always wore loose-fitting workclothes, and both of them began unlacing and untying the fittings. They took off their boots and socks, and when they were barefoot in the snow, in the middle of motions, as they were putting them in their bags, they were no longer human. It didn’t seem to phase them in the slightest, as if they were used to it, as if the fact that the moons overhead were not full, not close to full, meant nothing to them.

Sonny smiled at her, and his buck-teeth were even worse now, his large eyes were situated a little more to the side and too far apart on his head. Long ears protruded from his head and folded over his back- his new posture forced him to crouch on his strong back legs, the tight muscles coiled there were impossibly huge- Orenda remembered the force of them from the time his brother ripped Gareth’s torso open and she watched his intestines spill out.

Sonny’s sleek silver fur glistened in the snow, and his whiskers twitched.

“Get on my back,” He said, and Orenda was still amazed that he could speak at all. She had seen other shifters, had seen how difficult the transformation was- and as she climbed onto his back she remembered asking Sonny, the first night they had come to the Burrow, how the Brigaddons could do it. He had told her that she didn’t want to know, and he didn’t want to tell it. Orenda knew that his father had tortured it out of him- the same father he had grown angry at Gareth for insulting.

“We’re nearly invisible in the snow,” Mary Sue said- and Orenda thought that Anilla was nearly invisible in the fabric of her traveling cloak.

“Hold on,” Sonny said, and Orenda obeyed him as she watched Mary Sue take off in a leap- not exactly running- it could hardly be called a run if her feet barely touched the ground.

Sonny bent until his hands were buried in the snow, and took a leap that nearly knocked Orenda off his back. He covered so much ground in that one hop that they were in front of the house now, and he turned to the side to move into the fields. The hood flew off her head and she was thankful for the balaclava, because even with it the snow stung her eyes and blurred her vision.

She could barely see Mary Sue in front of her- they were moving so fast, and the snow was so strong- but she felt as if she was barely moving, as if Xren were moving around her. Sonny stayed in the air almost exclusively, and moved so smoothly that it gave her the impression that she was floating again, as she had on Gareth’s carpet. He made no sound in the snow, and because he took such long leaps, she doubted anyone could call the impressions he made “tracks”, let alone follow them.

He sank into the snow a little deeper than he had before, paused for a fraction of a second longer, and leapt over the stone fence separating his family’s property from the plantation next to it. They moved through these fields in the same manner, swiftly, silently, and under cover of darkness. If Mary Sue was any indication, they really were nearly invisible in the snow.

Orenda was thankful for the sterilite armor, and in awe of how well it worked. She was thankful for Xaxac’s ingenuity and loyalty- if this armor had fallen into the hands of the Urillians, if they knew what the Brigaddons were capable of, they would have them all captured, force-feeding them starfruit so they could harvest their hair. They may even eat the starfruit themselves, despite how poisonous it was, despite how addictive it was.

The entire Urillian army could have been made of sterilite- impervious to magical attacks.

Even traveling this way it took a long time. It was a journey that should have taken days, and as they traveled through the endless of expanse of white, the sky began to turn from black to purple to orange, and the fields became smaller and smaller, dotted not with huge plantations, but more stately homes, places that looked more suited to tourism than agriculture- shops and inns for the overflow guests who could not get inside the gate.

And to the south, Orenda saw a steep incline that led to an icy sea. The docks were absolutely full to bursting with naval ships, and the sailors were awake and moving. For an instant, Orenda was afraid they would see her, but then they were gone. Dawn had barely broken, but still Orenda saw a crowd near the front gate as they drew closer, and braced herself as Sonny darted behind the next building they came to, a stable by the looks of it, and stopped as suddenly as he had started.

Mary Sue was standing there, pulling fur out of her sleeves as Orenda climbed from his back. Sonny shifted to his human form as easily as he had become a wererabbit, and he, too, began to gather the fur that fell from his flesh.

“Guess who’s super tired?” Sonny asked.

“I know,” Mary Sue said, “It was a long run. Perhaps we should try to find somewhere to rest?”

“What are you going to do with that fur?” Orenda asked.

“Keep it if we can, but there’s so much of it,” Mary Sue said, “Perhaps we should bury it.”

“I’m starving,” Sonny pulled a piece of starfruit out of his bag and bit into it. “But we’re here. Rendy, those are the walls of Capital Town. The castle lies inside.”

Mary Sue had also produced a piece of starfruit and was eating it as she leaned against the stable wall to catch her breath. Orenda helped Sonny collect the rest of his fur, and watched him pressing it tighter and tighter. There was quite a lot of it, and she wasn’t sure that shoving it into his bag on top of his supplies was the best idea. It bulged when he finally managed to clasp it together.

“What do you think is inside the castle?” Mary Sue asked.

“Stolen treasure from all over the world,” Sonny said. “Not just Rendy’s artifact.”

“This is too dangerous,” Orenda said. “You’ve run all night, and you’ve done all that can be expected of you. You couldn’t help me on the inside anyway. I need to get to that artifact. There’s no reason to put anyone else in danger. Anilla and I can sneak into the crowd. With our cold weather gear it will be easier for us.”

“Easier for you, fire elf?” Mary Sue asked, “In what reality? We may be human, but humans are plentiful in the capital city. You’re the only fire elf I’ve ever seen on this continent. Your mere presence is going to attract attention.”

“I’ve never seen a halfling here, either,” Sonny said, looking at Anilla. “We need another way in. There has to be a way in.”

“I have an idea,” Orenda said, “But… no one is going to like it.”

“What is it?” Sonny asked, pulling up the hood of his traveling cloak.

“In my history books,” Orenda said, “It said that the original point of the castle was as a fortress, a stronghold. If there was some sort of attack, some sort of massive attack, those in the surrounding area would run into the walls of the city for protection. If… several of these buildings were to go up at once, there would be a panic. Everyone would run for the city. The guards would stop checking IDs and just try to stem the flow.”

“While they looked for the arsonist,” Mary Sue said.

“While they tried to put the fires out,” Orenda argued, “That would be the top priority, the safety of the citizens.”

“It would draw so much attention…” Sonny said, “And… people could get hurt.”

“When I was in school on the fire continent,” Orenda said, “My history books said that fire mages attacked this exact area about three hundred years ago.”

“This plan is so violent,” Anilla said, “Can’t we just try to sneak in?”

Orenda was mulling the issue over in her head, but she never had to make the decision.

Because an impossibly loud boom broke the silence, the sort of sound that had never been heard in these parts, but a sound that Orenda identified instantly.

People rushed from the structures dotting the walled safety of the capital to watch one of the naval ships shatter. Orenda heard the screams, the voices raised in confusion, but none of them could match the force of the second explosion, which drowned each and every one of them out.

Orenda had not been looking at the sea, and had not seen the ship crest the horizon- but she recognized the flag it flew, and she recognized the make, the silhouette, and the ship itself.

The Recovery!

The Recovery was flying the same flag as the Burned Roc, and Orenda recognized the sound of the canonfire as it swept by in a line, as the naval vessels shattered.

In her sterilite armor, she could not accept a scry from its captain even if he sent one. She could not know that Draco had scried Impy, who had scried Adam. She did not know that the Recovery was here for her benefit, that they were creating the very distraction she had meant to create herself. She only knew that she had been right, that as a crowd of frightened people ran from the docks, from the buildings outside, as ship after ship was bombarded with canonfire- the guards became much more lax in their duties.

“Come on!” Rendy tugged Sonny by the wrist, “Let’s go!”

“What the hell is that?” Mary Sue asked.

“And why is it so coincivenient?” Sonny asked.