Shortly after dawn, everything was nearly in place. Jarrett wiped his clammy hands on his trousers and resisted scratching his tattoo, which had been constantly itchy and worn raw by his fingernails. Today was the culmination of his hard work, all of his efforts over the past years—those of building up the Vanguard, as well as his search for his memories.

Everyone was gathered out in the field just outside of Rosewood, ready for the battle—except for Jarrett and Ange, the last ones left at his house. She’d wanted one last briefing with him.

It was strange for his house to be quiet. For the past few weeks, it had been filled with the various newcomers. Jayden and Barek, then Ange and Dante, as well as the girl, Scarlet, who Dante had brought last night. She’d barely been conscious.

“I still don’t quite understand what’s wrong with that girl.” Jarrett had a hard time wrapping his head around everything that was happening so quickly now. It didn’t help that he was anxious to have his memories unlocked, there was little room in his head for other concerns.

Ange sighed. “The short version goes like so: Death saved Scarlet’s life, but not really, and she stopped being able to keep her stable, and now the bottom line is Scarlet is going to need substantial infusements of energy to keep going.”

“Magical energy?”

“Magic is energy. How do you think healing works? It’s one person giving their energy to another, allowing them to heal faster.”

“I’ve never seen magic healing before.”

“Yes, you have. You just don’t remember.”

Jarrett’s frustration was beginning to boil over. If he could just get his memories back, that would be great. “Fine. But if she’s in such bad shape, why is she fighting with us still?”

“Because I can’t stop her, just like we can’t stop Jayden.”

Jarrett tensed. “I thought Jayden joined the civilians taking shelter in the town hall.”

“That was the plan, but she’s not following it. Same with Scarlet. And honestly, we could use them both, regardless of circumstances. We need every bit of help we can get.”

Jarrett grimaced. They had so little control over anything that was about to happen. He tied his hair back into a warrior’s tail, and started buckling his leather armor on.

“I told you,” Ange said, “You aren’t going to need that.”

Jarrett kept buckling. “We’ll see.”

“You aren’t fighting today, Jarrett.”

“We’ll see,” he repeated more forcefully. There wasn’t any way he would let his returned memories stop him from the most important battle the Vanguard would ever face. Regardless of his past, the Vanguard was his present, and he was going to see out this part of his life. “Are you ready? Let’s not keep everyone waiting.”

“Keep some of those straps on the left unbuckled. I’ll need access to your tattoo.”

“Fine.”

“Jarrett.” Ange looked at him, deadly serious. “No matter how today goes, I hope we’ll continue to work together.”

“Of course. None of us are going to stop until Riordan is gone. And after that, there will be plenty of difficulties in moving Saridian past the era of his rule.”

“I was thinking even bigger than that,” Ange said.

Jarrett furrowed his brows. “What do you mean? Is there something I should be worried about?”

Ange smiled. “We’re about to fight a god. There’s plenty to be worried about.”

“Isn’t that the truth,” Jarrett grumbled.

“Are you ready?” Ange asked. “We shouldn’t keep everyone waiting for much longer.”

Jarrett finished one last buckle. “I’m ready. I could have been ready sooner. You’re the one who kept me back.”

“Look, Jarrett, before we go, I just want you to know that returning your memories… it’s going to be a painful process. In more ways than one.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Jarrett hadn’t forgotten Leandra’s warning about continuing his chase. “I have to know, no matter what.”

“Of course. I just want you to be prepared, that’s all. Breaking the seal might be painful in and of itself, and your memories—” Ange let out a long breath.

“You know more about my past than I do. Not that you’ve shared any of it in the meantime—”

“I only know pieces, Jarrett.”

“Still. I know nothing. Is it really all that bad?”

“There are things that will be difficult for you, I’m sure. Exactly how difficult depends.”

“On?”

“On why exactly Kiera did this to you.”

Hearing that name made a pang run through Jarrett's chest. Ange had told him nothing more about the mage that had sealed his memories.

“You’ve been tied up in this struggle against Riordan for longer than you know,” Ange continued. “If Riordan comes today, it’s because he’s going to sense Kiera’s magic signature, and she is—or maybe was—his enemy.”

“You mean she might be dead?” Jarrett's heart dropped. Would he never get the chance to confront the person who‘d put him through years of torture? “Also—wait, you aren’t implying that Kiera sealed me because I used to be on Riordan’s side, are you?”

“What I want you to know, Jarrett, is that there’s more sides to this conflict than you think. I’ll put your fears to rest—you’ve always been plotting against Riordan. So have I. So has Kiera. But Kiera and I, we used to be partners, but now we aren’t. Not all of our goals align. I just have to wonder, whose side will you be on once the puzzle pieces lock into place?”

“Yours,” Jarrett said immediately. “Why would I ever be on hers? She… she ruined my life.”

“You might feel differently, when you can see the whole picture again. But I hope you’re right. As I was saying, I’d like to keep working with you. So keep me in mind, that’s all.”

“Of course.” Jarrett didn’t know what else to say to that. He couldn’t imagine a reason he’d forgive Kiera, forget work alongside her, even if she was on their side. “Was that all? We really should go.”

“That’s it.”

They left his house and joined the Vanguard and Ravens out in the field, where they waited armed and ready. They stood in a circle formation, which Ange led him into the middle of. Micah, one of the Vanguard’s strongest, joined them. Jarrett looked at Ange questioningly.

“If this process incapacitates you, Micah is to carry you home,” Ange explained.

Jarrett grunted. He didn’t care how much pain he was in, he was fighting today, but he was tired of arguing with her about it.

Mages were strategically placed throughout the formation, as well as the bearers of the magus weapons. They would be essential in taking Riordan down. Hopefully the rest of the soldiers could take the brunt of the god’s attention and assault while the key players accomplished their part.

“Alright, Jarrett,” Ange said. “Are you ready?”

For everything he had been waiting for? “Of course.”

Jarrett could feel the eyes of every soldier and mage of the combined Vanguard and Raven forces boring into him. He wondered what they thought of all this. It didn’t really matter. He was getting what he wanted, and if Riordan came, so was everyone else.

Ange reached her hand towards the raven emblazoned on his skin. “Deep breath.”

As Jarrett inhaled, her cold fingertips touched his tattoo, the icy sensation digging its way through his body. Cold tendrils branched into his head before suddenly pulling away, ripping out blockages with their retreat.

Jarrett screamed as his mind split open. His head rushed with an intense thrum, a shockwave that centered in his brain but that wracked his whole being. He was barely conscious of Micah catching his weight as he toppled.

Images began to flood his mind, incomprehensible at the speed they played out. Overwhelmed, he lost himself in them. After a few breaths of being dragged along with the force of the visions, the images slowed enough that Jarrett could pick something to focus in on. What was the big picture here, what would give him the most information? He zeroed in on a woman that kept flashing by.

In some of the images, her dark hair was short. In others, it was long and wild. He must have known her for some time. Her eyes were blue enough to drown in, fierce, determined lines set around them, deepening as she aged.

A scene solidified. They were in the snow together, clumping together snow before throwing it at one another, laughing. When they were sufficiently cold, damp, and tired, she came and leaned against him. He wrapped his arms around her, trying to shield her from the wind.

Then, he kneeled before her, pulling a ring from his pocket. He had been carrying it around for some time now, waiting for the perfect moment. It was a simple silver band, engraved with a garland of delicate flowers.

Her cheeks were red with cold, and grew a deeper shade when she saw what he held. “Rings aren’t the custom, where I’m from.” Her wry smile told him she didn’t really mind.

“Marry me anyway?” he asked, breathless.

She kissed him, and let him slip the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand. He was glad he didn’t have to see the marks on her right. Back in her homeland, the Galapia Islands, they would have gathered flowers to weave into crowns, a more temporary but no less meaningful symbol of their commitment. In Saridian, they might have been able to do such a thing in the spring, when flowers covered the countryside. But Jarrett couldn’t wait that long. So instead he had carefully chiselled flowers into the ring he had made for her; a mixing of the two traditions.

She examined the ring on her finger, spinning it around. “It’s beautiful,” she said softly.

“Just like you.”

She looked up at him, mouth set in a firm line. “You know I can’t stay.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“It’s dangerous.”

He put a hand on the back of her neck, gently pulled her in for a kiss. “I’d risk anything for you. What would my life be without you, Kiera?”

Kiera.

With her name, Jarrett was yanked out of the vision, spiralling through the slideshow of images once more. His stomach churned. He couldn’t comprehend how she could have done this to him. His own wife erased his memories of her, and—

Oh gods. His daughter. He had forgotten his own daughter.

Unruly hair, eyes just like her mother’s, an unbreakable spirit. A fierce little girl. The last time he had seen her, she would have been what, eleven, twelve? The three of them, they’d lived a life on the edge. Kiera was an emissary of Death, and spent her time working on researching ways to kill a god. Riordan. They were always afraid that he would sniff them out and destroy them.

It became harder for Kiera to conceal them after Scarlet began to show signs of the gift—she would be a powerful mage, Kiera told him. Easy for Riordan to track by her magical signature. Nevertheless, they settled down in Kindlespire for a while. Kiera, Ange, and a couple of other mages were working on a project. The magus swords, he realized now.

But then… but then Kiera left. Sealed his memories, and left him to languish, alone. Jarrett didn’t know how to feel. Angry, bewildered, completely lost, ready to explode.

Four years without his family. What had he done to deserve this? The abandonment, the excruciating pain of forgetting and then remembering all he had lost. And Kiera, why had she done this to him? He could feel his love for her now, twisted together with resentment for what she had done. And his daughter—Scarlet.

Scarlet was his daughter. She was here. She was dying. Had Kiera sealed her memories as well? She’d barely been conscious when he saw her; would she recognize him now? He had to get to her, she couldn’t be in this battle, his little girl, all he had left in this world.

He tried to slip back into his body, but everything running through him was an overwhelming jumble of emotion, pain, and confusion. He wanted to scream again, maybe he was still screaming, but he was lost, so very lost.

With great effort, he became somewhat aware of his body. He was in the fetal position on the ground. Words he couldn’t comprehend quite yet barked an order, and someone hauled him over their shoulder. He blinked his eyes open, he was still surrounded by the Vanguard and Ravens, he looked around wildly for Scarlet but couldn’t spot her. He tried to call out her name, but his tongue was lead, it couldn’t form his daughter's name.

There was a presence. Foreboding, powerful, commanding. It loomed over Jarrett, a cold shadow examining him from afar. In the depth of his heart, he could feel it. Riordan had arrived.