Scarlet felt lighter now that a sliver of hope had pierced her despair. Breaking the ice with Jarrett, while not an excessively comfortable situation, helped as well.

The Vanguard was gathering supplies for the journey to the capital and Scarlet was preparing in her own way, with the couple days she had before they left. She got up early, like she used to, and went out to the open fields to meditate and train.

Her magic had new life, now that she did. Her energy no longer threatened to slip through her fingers and out of her control. She was whole, her purpose was renewed, she was determined to be stronger than ever. When it came time, she wouldn’t falter again.

On the afternoon of her first practice, Fae approached her, startling her out of a meditative trance. “May I join you?” the other girl asked.

Scarlet almost said no. She was still in the process of emerging from her solitude. Then again, she wanted to be in the best possible shape for her next round against Riordan. She accepted, apprehensively.

Fae practiced making barriers around Scarlet. “I’m not as good at doing them on other people as I am on myself,” she explained.

Scarlet watched as the shimmering shields thickened around her. “It’s that different?”

“It’s harder to focus on when it’s farther away from me. When I make barriers around myself, they’re… they’re like a part of me. A second skin. I can focus the energy where it needs it the most. Around other people, it’s more complicated.”

The effectiveness of Fae’s shields became apparent when they sparred. While Fae’s offensive abilities weren’t as good as Scarlet’s, they often came to a draw when Scarlet couldn’t break through the barrier and both of them eventually became too exhausted to continue. Scarlet grew frustrated at their draws. Maybe she was too used to winning against Dante. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of him.

They gave each other pointers—Fae gave Scarlet some insight into how to feel out weak points in barriers and Scarlet in return helped her increase her power output for her bolts. Though they worked together, there was an underlying tension—Scarlet could tell Fae was as driven as she was, and they both clearly wanted to win their spars. They fought until they collapsed.

“So how did you end up here?” Scarlet asked her, when they were catching their breaths after another grueling tie. “Did you join the Ravens, or were you born into them?”

“I joined.”

“Why?”

Fae shrugged. “Why did any of us join? Why are any of us here, embarking on a mission that is almost certainly doomed? Riordan is evil, and Saridian and Death must be protected. There is no other option.”

Scarlet saw the look in Fae’s eyes—a hard determination, mirroring Scarlet’s own. “There’s more, isn’t there? Something more personal.”

Fae didn’t say anything back for a while. Scarlet’s breathing finally returned to normal. She stretched out, enjoying the sun on her skin on this rare warm day.

“There might be more,” Fae said finally.

Scarlet didn’t push her on it, she just helped Fae back up to her feet. There were things she didn’t want to talk about either.

Something about Fae seemed so familiar, though Scarlet was sure they’d never met before. She couldn’t pinpoint where the feeling came from. Regardless, spending time with Fae was easy, like she was an old friend she could be comfortable with. It was a relief compared to how difficult it was to be with Ange or Jarrett or anyone else right now.

Later that afternoon, when Scarlet arrived back to her temporary home, Ange was waiting for her.

“It’s time,” Ange said, without preamble. “We’re going.”

“To Kingsmount? When?”

“Tomorrow, first thing. It’s a miracle Riordan hasn’t already come for us. He should be back to full power soon, if not already. Plus, we have to take care of things before things go totally haywire from Death being away from the stream.”

Scarlet took a long breath. “Okay. We’re going.”

“I’ll have to do my best to train you and the rest of the mages in magus stone manipulation on the way there. I took some from the vault to practice with.” Ange patted a satchel on the table. “It’s a slow process to learn. I should have started you sooner—too much time pouring over those maps...”

Ange started muttering to herself, then sighed and addressed Scarlet again. “You’re a good mage. I’ll need you. I mean, there’s not many of us, I’ll need all of you. Eight of us, total. Not a lot.”

“Whatever it takes,” said Scarlet. She was tired of giving up. She wouldn’t stop moving forward, not until everyone was saved.

#

The wagons were packed full of supplies, the last of the Vanguardians and Ravens still fit to fight had packed their knapsacks, sharpened their weapons, and were ready for the journey to the capital to begin.

Jarrett asked Scarlet to ride in his wagon. She was grateful to have an excuse to decline. She had to ride with Ange and the other mages, to learn the skills they needed to create one final godslaying weapon.

Though the ice had broken between them, she still wasn’t quite ready to jump into the father-daughter relationship. It was hard to wash away the years that she thought he’d abandoned them for, even if she now knew that it hadn’t been his fault. Animosity toward her mother rose from the pit of her belly. She wanted answers. Why had her mother lied?

She’d missed her father when he’d first left. They had spent a lot of time together when she was young, since her mother was often busy with her projects for Death. Over time, when it was clear he wasn’t coming back, she’d sworn off both hurting over his abandonment and looking back on her memories of him.

Now, everything was flipped around. Her mother had been the one to abandon him. Scarlet had grown up, and her father was more or less a stranger. Figuring out how or if it was even possible to bond with him was a problem for a different time. This was the time she needed to spend on saving her other parent.

She gathered at Ange’s wagon to meet with the other mages. Fae was already there, they nodded to one another. Leandra came along with the rest of the Raven mages. Two of them looked to be in their twenties or thirties, a man named Wilhelm and a woman named Ophelia. The last Raven mage, Elden, was closer to Scarlet’s age. The Vanguard had no remaining mages, other than Jayden, who hadn’t yet arrived.

Ange practically skipped over to them, cheerier than the occasion called for. The overall mood was somber; most of the people going on this mission were leaving with the assumption they wouldn’t be returning.

Ange clasped her hands, looking over the assembled crew. “Alright, we’re about ready to set off.” Scanning over them, she noticed the missing member. “Where’s Jayden?”

Scarlet shrugged along with the rest of the mages. She hadn’t seen Jayden since the battle. It wasn’t surprising, considering Jayden was staying at Jarrett’s house, which she had mostly been avoiding.

“She doesn’t want to come.” Everyone turned to look at Barek, who had appeared behind them.

“What’s the problem, exactly?” Ange asked.

Barek snorted. “What isn’t the problem? They tortured her over at that prison. Her brother died. She doesn’t want—” Barek glanced to Scarlet sharply. “She just doesn’t want to go.”

“We need her,” Ange said. “We need all the mages we can get, and she’s the only other person who’s been to the prison besides you—”

“I know. It’s just—hard. I thought I could convince her to come, but…” He shrugged helplessly.

“Let me talk to her.” Scarlet wasn’t sure why those words came from her mouth, but they did.

The doubt was clear in Barek’s voice. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why?”

“She blames you for Dante’s death.”

It still hurt to hear his name. A twinge of guilt ran through her. Dante had been a sitting target for Riordan while he fished her soul out of the stream. Jayden’s blame wasn’t misplaced.

“I’m sure I can convince her to come,” Scarlet said, though speaking with Jayden was the last thing she wanted to do. It didn’t matter what she wanted, or what Jayden wanted. What mattered was defeating Riordan, and who they may save in the process.

“I’ll take you to her,” Barek said, “but I can’t promise she’ll speak to either of us.”

Scarlet accepted that, and Barek led her to Jarrett’s house. Once inside, Barek knocked on one of the bedroom doors. “Come on. We need to talk.”

A voice came from the other side. “I’m still not going.”

“Just come out,” he called. “Talk to me, okay?”

Jayden opened the door, and tried to slam it back shut when she saw Scarlet. Scarlet flung an energy bolt at the door hard enough to jerk the doorknob out of Jayden’s hand as it flew wide open.

Jayden stared at her with wild eyes, clenched fists. “Just leave, with the rest of them.”

Scarlet stood fast. “Do you want to save your brother, or not?”

“My brother is dead.” Jayden punched a dart of energy at Scarlet’s face. Scarlet, not realizing the situation would escalate as quickly as it did, didn't flinch fast enough to completely avoid the blow. The bolt scraped along her cheek, slicing her skin open.

“We’re going to bring him back,” Scarlet said. The warmth of blood trickled down her face and dripped down onto her clothes. “Ange saved his body, do you know that? Once Riordan is dead, Death will be free, and she can help us bring Dante’s soul back to his body.”

“Sure, that’s what Ange said. I don’t know a lot about being a mage, but I do know that magic can’t just… bring someone back from the dead. I saw him die. He’s gone.”

Scarlet held up her hand, her emissary marks facing toward Jayden. “This symbol… you’ve seen it on your brother’s hand too, right?”

“Yeah. So?”

“It means we’re Death’s emissaries. We’re connected to the god of death. Riordan tried to kill me. I should have died… in a way, I think I did. But Death and Dante saved me. So I know it’s possible for me and Death to save him in return. But we need every single mage to take down Riordan and make that happen.”

“Even if that’s true… I can’t go back there.”

Barek spoke up. “I don’t want to make you face that place again. I wouldn’t ask, if I wasn’t sure that we needed you. I know you’re afraid of Riordan but—”

“No.” Jayden’s bloodshot eyes hardened. “I’m not afraid of him. I’m afraid… of how much I want to go. I want to tear every last one of the Tyrant’s soldiers to shreds and break the mages free. I want the mage hunters to pay in blood for what they’ve done. I want to watch Riordan die. Is this what I am now? Bloodthirsty, looking for revenge?”

Scarlet and Barek shared a look with each other. This girl is tougher than I gave her credit for.

“Jayden, you know you’re more than that,” Barek said. “And trust me, I’m not about to let you turn into a monster.”

“You still have friends there,” Jayden said. “And your brother. What about them? If we run into them, will we kill them, too?”

Barek turned pale. “I hope it won’t come to that. But it… it might. When we ran away from Kingsmount, I accepted that doing the right thing means that I may have to hurt the people I care about. Trying to save Saridian and the rest of the World from Riordan… it’s bigger than me and what I want for myself.”

“I’m not ready to give up what I want.” Jayden closed her eyes and took a slow breath. “Scarlet. You’re sure you can bring back Dante?”

Scarlet replied instantly, “Yes.”

“Would you bet your life on it?”

I’m going to save him or die trying. “I would.”

“I’ll come,” Jayden said, “but if you can’t save Dante, I’ll kill you for being the reason he’s dead.” Jayden scooped up a knapsack from next to her bed, and a crystal orb that was sitting on top of the bed, then pushed past Scarlet and Barek. The front door slammed shut on her way out of the house.

Scarlet swallowed hard. She had hoped to attain Jayden’s trust, not strengthen her vitriol.

“Well,” Barek said, “we got her to come.”