The guard stood in the doorway staring into the study at the mismatched group of five. He was shaking slightly and looked pale. Jadon figured that the horror from elsewhere in the building had gotten to him and seized his chance.

“Look, you recognize me, right?” Jadon said, showing his hands to be empty of weapons. “You chased me and my friend in here, so you know we have nothing to do with whatever these three murders have done. Take us in, but don’t charge us with whatever you slap on these criminals.” Jadon slowly stepped forward as he spoke, gesturing over his shoulder at the people in the wardrobe.

“Hey screw you,” Arledge said, “Like I said, this isn’t what it looks like. We aren’t murderers. If you let us explain-”

“You would trust a blood-soaked bunny in a house of dead heroes? You saw us go in here, there’s no chance I or my friend,” Jadon pointed to Ephin who was still being held by the girls, “had anything to do with-”

Jadon’s protesting was cut short as some red streaked by him. He was only a few short steps away from the guard, and ducked out of the way of the wild sword swing as the guard swung out at the projectile hitting him squarely in the chest. It was the rabbit. The rabbit did not make a dent in the armor, however the momentum pushed guard off his feet and sliding across the still slick bloody floor outside the room.

Another guard immediately ran into the doorway ready to assist his friend, however he was tackled to the floor as Beth and Iarkspur barreled into him, in hot pursuit of their friend who was up and running down the stairs. Beth looked back at Jadon with a glare and then at Ephin, pausing as she recognized him. She was then yanked by the hand by Iarkspur and disappeared out of sight.

Ephin and Jadon gathered themselves and ran after the other three, not wanting to be the only ones caught in a house of murdered people.

They burst out of the front door having passed a few other guards also reeling from obvious impacts. Jadon scanned the street and saw the tail end of Beth running out of sight once more. Ephin tried to give Jadon more healing but was tapped out from earlier. Jadon, however, was running on adrenaline and gritted his teeth, charging after the others.

Ephin could hear the calls behind as the guards tried to chase them down, but he could also tell they were gaining on the others. Jadon knew the streets well and they ducked through side alley after side alley, closing in on the three strangers to the city.

The two of them burst back out into the main street, running straight into the path of the rabbit and girls, all of them falling into a pile of flustered bodies and snow.

“What the hell was that?” Beth slapped some snow over in Jadon’s direction, pushed herself to her feet.

“You were caught in a crime scene that wasn’t anything to do with us,” Jadon said, shrugging and also rising to his feet.

“You were caught there too,” Iarkspur said, pushing Jadon back, “and we had nothing to do with it either.”

“Shut up,” Arledge said, “all of you shut up. You,” he pointed to Jadon, “can you get us away from the city patrols?”

Jadon paused. He couldn’t just ditch them because they knew someone who knew Ephin, who knew him. They were a loose end. He nodded.

“Yes,” Jadon said, “follow my lead and we’ll be golden.”

He made to run ahead of the group and collapsed. Pain bursting up from his leg. Jadon looked down and saw that in the collision, he had weakened the shoddy support they had made for it and now he had just reopened the wound as well as breaking the splint.

A couple strong hands pulled him up. Jadon looked up to see Iarkspur lifting him to his feet. Ephin slipped under his other arm and together they dragged Jadon with them.

Jadon pointed out directions, indicating through back alleys and main streets to avoid new patrols and attempt to outrun the one chasing them. They were a relatively quick group; however, he was slowing them down; which was not a sentiment he was used to.

Jadon could hear the guards gaining. He couldn’t look behind due to the others dragging him along.

“Hey,” Ephin said to Jadon, “I recognize these streets. You are not taking us there.”

“What else do you have in mind?” Jadon said, “We aren’t going to slip away with five of us and not after running from whatever the hell -next left- that was back there.”

“But to there?”

“The guy got away somehow. Maybe we find out how and get closer to getting him at the same time,” Jadon said as the group rounded the corner once more.

“Dead end,” Arledge called from the front, looking out across a street that was more rubble than structure.

“Now you’ve done it,” Beth said, striding over to slap Jadon.

They could hear the guards’ loud metallic footsteps getting closer.

“Now what?” Iarkspur asked, shaking Jadon slightly, “Now what?”

“Just over the rubble,” Jadon pointed, “A man evaded me and caused this. Wherever he went, we might be able to go too. If not, we were never going to make it off the island anyway.”

“Gods,” Arledge cursed and the group started running towards the rubble, the guards getting ever closer.

Arledge and Beth were carefully yet quickly bounding from larger rock to larger rock, trying to avoid any looser-looking stones. Iarkspur and Ephin had to take it slower as they carried Jadon. The group were halfway cross the rubble, about in line with the standing portions of the collapsed wall of the mines when the guards flanked around them. The group behind had pushed on, moving more troops to the sides to box the five of them in and keep them unbalanced on the rubble.

“You have nowhere to go,” one of the closer guards to their left called out, “come in peacefully and we won’t resort to violence.”

“Isn’t that time passed?” Jadon shouted back, trying to look past Ephin’s head as the group stopped and stood their ground on the uneven rocks. “Whatever happens, we are going away for good, right?”

“We can discuss that. When you hand yourselves in.”

“I think we have quite a good situation here,” Jadon said sarcastically, kicking a small rock with his good leg.

The rock bounced against a couple larger ones before finding a small opening between them and falling out of sight. If only it were that easy, Jadon thought. He tried to adjust himself into a better position to shout at the guard and put on a good performance for the others who were obviously scared.

His adjusting put Ephin off balance who tried to right himself and tripped on a rock, sending him, Jadon and Iarkspur toppling to the ground. Beth took a step to try and help them up but the guards took all this movement as a potential plan and they moved in on the group from all sides.

They couldn’t all rush in due to the unsteady nature of the rubble, however one of them, the one that had been calling over to them, got within grabbing distance of Beth when Arledge pushed off the rubble and catapulted himself into the guard, sending them both rolling onto the floor.

The floor which shook.

All the guards stopped moving in and many retreated back, trying to get off of the rubble which was now shifting as the ground vibrated. Jadon started to panic, having seen this before. Ephin and Beth both also tried to hurry the group to their feet but kept falling back over. Then, splinters of blue flashed through the cracks in the ground beneath the rubble and the rocks started to plummet below, deepening the sinkhole that Jadon had seen formed.

Unfortunately, this time he was too injured to get out of the way and was dragged beneath the earth and into the bright blue light. Iarkspur and Ephin quickly followed, having tried to grab onto him. Beth tried in vain to scramble out but grit got into her eyes and blinded her as she fell into the light. Arledge was springing from rock to rock, keeping out of the light successfully, until the guard was dragged closer to the epicenter of the sinkhole and collided once more with the rabbit, sending them both into the light.

The collection of guards heard the frantic shouts cut short one by one, finally, the one they recognized as one of their own, silenced. The bright blue light that shone out from underground flickered and disappeared, the rubble settling once again.

Is it cold?

Yes. No. I would not know the answer. Nor should it matter. Why does it matter? It does not.

I cannot see. I am blind. No. Not blind. My light. It is gone from here. Where has it gone?

There.

No. Not there.

Perhaps it was there for a time.

What is the time?

Has it really been that long? Is it even long for me or is that how I am meant to react?

Expectations.

What good is an expectation with no one to enforce it?

I will find my light.

Whether I can snuff it out and continue my rest or take it up and continue my fight.

I will find out when I get there.

I am awake.