Chapter Twenty-One: A Bet and Reunion

*

A buzz echoed across the Valkyr Town. Each of the Valkyr could be seen staring at the air directly in front of them, but Aiden didn’t concern himself with them. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and tried to feel the energy around him, the Essence lingering in the air.

The book had described what it meant to utilize external Essence, and it all started with being able to detect it in the first place. Having so much experience with Arcana, he kept getting a headache as his mind naturally tried to feel around inside himself for the energy that wasn’t there.

Leyla’s shackles made sure of that.

It didn’t take long for the Town to get back into working order after the Valkyr processed all the announcements and got on with their days. The pungent smell of something wafted across the air, stinging Aiden’s eyes and assaulting his nose.

The scent distracted him enough that he could no longer focus enough to sense even a hint of the Spirit’s freeform Essence. By the time a four man group of Celestials delivered his meal, a plate of some unidentified meat, his stomach had knotted in dread of what he'd have to eat.

It didn’t take him long to finish, all things considered. The mental gymnastics he had to do so that he could just swallow the slimy meat… Ignoring the weird texture of the mystery meat was the only way to manage to stomach the food and keep it down. Definitely not the most appetizing thing he’d ever had, but he knew he’d need any energy he could get his hands on if he were planning to survive the gauntlet.

He could even feel the trace hints of Essence being broken apart and absorbed into his pathways, though it was sucked away by the cuffs within a short few seconds. That temporary relief and power made him long to be free so he could use the power he was most familiar with.

However, he knew he needed to improve his Spirit abilities and understanding. The best time to do so was then and there in the gauntlet, under pressure and without access to his Arcana.

One of the Celestials stepped forward, holding a cup out to him. After taking it, he stared at the odd coloration of the drink that looked very much like a nasty bruise. They’d even thought to give me something to drink to wash away the gruel. How nice of them.

After his experience with the meat, his skepticism was at an all time high. Lifting the cup to his lips, he took in a deep breath before tilting it to allow the contents to slowly stream across lips and over his tongue.

Ugh, that’s foul. Are they trying to poison me before the gauntlet?

Bittersweet and best described as a Lovecraftian blend of cranberries and cantaloupe, he drank while trying not to gag. He wasn’t a big coffee drinker himself, but he would’ve traded whatever they’d given him for the blackest of black coffee.

Grimacing, he contemplated rubbing his tongue against his jacket in hopes of tasting anything else. The dirt and grime looked awfully tempting in comparison. Like, anything had to be better than the strange greasy, meaty flavor mixed with whatever the juice was.

If someone asked him to describe it, he could only think of one word: doom. Never, ever had he tasted a combination of flavors that so did not match in any way pleasant.

Having finished and wishing he hadn’t, Aiden looked up at the Celestials. They looked unhappy as they stood stock still in front of him. He thought of attempting to try communicating with them, but unless they had the capabilities of whatever translation function Leyla, Veletya, and Volk had access to, he didn’t think his effort would end in anything meaningful. Especially considering that they were technically a part of the Valkyr forces now, even if involuntarily.

So instead of wasting the limited time before he had to fight, he took a deep breath and went over what he’d learned during his experimentation. Because of his meeting with Khione and what she’d said about expanding his soul and his progress integrating her authority, the Path of the Absolute, he started with that.

And now wished he hadn’t.

He’d hoped for better results, but without more time to prepare, he could only hope that the gauntlet would be something he could overcome without his missing Arcana or meager Spirit.

Inevitably, the time came. Without warning, the Celestials smacked the butts of their spears against the ground and turned towards the center of the Valkyr Town. They rhythmically continued doing so until he got to his feet and took his place between them, two on either side. Perfectly synchronized, they all started walking, leading him.

The wolfish people all stood outside and watched as he passed, many screaming at him. He didn’t have to understand their language to know the meaning behind their words. He could understand, and they had all the reason in the world to be mad at him. He didn’t know the total numbers of casualties, but the raging pyre from the night before had included more than just Valkyr in the Town’s pile of corpses.

He and his people were no different. If the Valkyr had attacked and been captured, they would’ve never been captured alive. He knew he was only alive to serve as a sacrifice to train the Valkyr and to boost the morale of the Town. As such, they followed behind, the crowd swelling in numbers as they entered the middle section of the town, then the central.

He couldn’t blame them for wanting to come watch what was effectively his execution.

And if he survived the day, then he was sure he’d see them the next time. The gauntlet would wear him down—hell, he was already worn down—until he could no longer fight. And he wouldn’t blame them for celebrating either.

He frowned slightly but otherwise paid no more mind to the people.

The Celestials’ pace felt frustratingly slow, and he felt the urge to run ahead, but he knew better. The Celestials moved with purpose and without further instruction, meaning they’d been ordered to do exactly as they had in advance. Them escorting him was another way to boost morale—a conquered foe leading him to his death, proving the Valkyr’s superiority.

For as much as they love warmongering, those Leyla and Veletya seem highly capable as commanders, he noted. Even though they were enemies, he respected their abilities. But what about the Dragonborn and Celestials? Shouldn’t the Candidates of those Towns have some capability, or shouldn’t those Factions have their own capable people? How did the Celestials fall so easily?

The thought bothered him. Isaac had reported Adam and his people as being instrumental, but after seeing the Valkyr for himself, he didn’t know how they could’ve made much more of an impact.

Who knows? Got bigger problems at the moment.

The Celestials split ways and stood to either side, turning to face Aiden. They began that same rhythmic spear-to-ground tapping. A short distance away, the two Valkyr leaders stood within a large rectangular space that had been dug out of the ground. The blood staining the ground told a thousand stories about how often the pit had been used.

Frequently and without mercy.

Veletya stared daggers at him as he passed the Celestials and dropped the short distance into the pit, probably two feet at most. If he had to guess, the field looked to be a quarter of the size of a football field.

So much space, but…

As he approached the center to meet with the two leaders, the Valkyr showed up. Many flew in and landed at the edges and stared him down like they wanted a chance to be his executioner. Even more bodies stood at the edges of the massive field as the wolfish denizens of the Town began to spread out to get a good view.

He couldn’t count them fast enough, giving up past a couple hundred.

Of all those here, only the four Celestials that had escorted him weren’t original members of the Town, and they quickly departed now that their duties had been fulfilled—likely to begin working on whatever their normal life looked like as a slave under the Valkyr order.

While the Angelic Valkyr looked like she wanted to rip his eyes out and make him eat them, Leyla smiled brilliantly, an unsettling thing of teeth and murderous intent. She looked excited, happy even.

When he made it to the middle of the field, he stopped and gave the two his most brilliant smile. “So?”

“Ah, your fighting spirit is strong, Candidate,” Leyla said, taking a deep breath and wafting the air between them towards her. She closed her eyes, letting out sounds that made Aiden quite uncomfortable. As if remembering where she was and what they were all there for, she sighed and dropped her hands. “I could bask in that power of will all day and never get tired.”

“Quit playing around, Leyla,” Veletya hissed, touching her golden arm with the other. He grinned, and she saw. “You won’t be so lucky this time, Candidate.”

He shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

Leyla’s peeling laughter cut through the air, and she doubled over.

What a psycho, wow. Aiden looked at the Fallen Valkyr in confusion and decided to ignore her, turning back to face Veletya. “We can go again right now if you’d like. I’d be happy to take the other arm.”

The Fallen’s laughter redoubled. She nearly fell to her knees as she clutched her stomach. She sucked in a deep breath, held it, let it loose, and pointed between her companion and him. The moment she opened her mouth, the laughter returned in full force.

Rather than banter with Veletya or gawk at Leyla, Aiden crossed his arms and stared at the sky. The view made him wish he was back at Zion, staring across the world from the top of the Town Hall. Even though all the responsibilities that came with running the city sucked him dry of time and energy, he rarely missed a sunrise.

Hopefully this won’t be my last. He admired the strange kaleidoscopic hues unique to Midrath, the remnants of the Etherene reign, that colored the sky and gave the place a mysterious beauty he never tired of.

“Are you saying your last prayers, Candidate?” Leyla asked, wiping mirthful tears from her eyes. “No, that can’t be it. The will to fight has only grown.”

Aiden grinned. “Leyla, do you consider yourself lucky? I’m somewhat of a gambler myself, and I’ve got a proposal for you, a wager.”

“Quit stalling for time, Candidate. Just accept that there’s nothing you can do to save yourself now. Fight, then be stricken down. Your blood will paint this field just as many others’ have and just as many more after you will,” Veletya screamed, taking two steps toward Aiden.

The Fallen’s hand rested on Veletya’s shoulder, stopping the near-rage Angel in her tracks. “Hey now, why are you getting all worked up? If you keep this up, maybe you should go sit in the crowds with the rest of the warriors.” She turned to Aiden and stepped past a shell-shocked Veletya who’s eyes glared daggers into him. “I’m quite curious, Candidate. What makes you think I should even consider this proposal?”

He scratched his chin. “Does there have to be a reason?”

Grinning, she sauntered forward until only the holy ghost separated them. He didn’t react, making her eyes light up like a tree topper on Christmas. She brushed her hands against his chest and stalked around him, never breaking contact.

When she was completely out of his line of sight, she reached her arms around his stomach and whispered in his ears, “I like how you think, Candidate. Entice me with this bet of yours. If you don’t,” she started, wisps of black flame flickering off her fingertips, “I’ll make things interesting for you. And I promise you won’t like it.”

Ah, yeah. Should’ve seen that coming. Anna’s face flashed through his mind, and he felt an extreme sense of disgust for the Fallen. Her touch burned a hole in his gut, figuratively and literally.

His silence lingered as Leyla’s fingers rose from his stomach to splay across his chest. “We could make a good team, you and I.”

“I’ve got a team already, and I don’t think you’d be willing to join.” An intense heat pulsed through his body, a dark and insidious thing that set him ablaze. Helpless to resist without his Arcana, he could only grit his teeth and stay strong. If he showed weakness, she’d pounce like a true predator. Ah, right.

Apex Predator descended with full force on the Fallen. She let out a delighted moan as her arms slacked. In one swift, seamless movement, he lifted her arms over his head, took a step to the side, and reoriented him so he could see both Valkyr leaders.

Now that he’d escaped he reached for the time being, he prepared himself for what came next: his proposal.

“If I survive your gauntlet, you have to fight Veletya to the death.”

“How dare you?!” Veletya screamed, stomping forward with her spear poised to strike. “You don’t deserve a warrior’s death. Die like the disgusting filth you are!”

Aiden stared back at her, unflinching as the spear drew closer to his heart. Just when he started to panic and think his gamble had failed, the blade of Leyla’s scythe rested against the Angel’s neck.

The Angel stilled instantly as shadowy tendrils wrapped tightly around her arms from elbow to wrist and up the shaft of the spear. Her muscles tensed as she struggled with all her might to shove the spear forward. The topmost point of the spear had pierced his chest.

“What do you think you’re doing to our esteemed guest, Veletya?” the Fallen asked in a sickly sweet voice, though, her eyes told another story entirely. “It couldn’t be that you’re trying to end the gauntlet before it even begins? Could it be that you’re greedy and want the kill for yourself? What of the warriors, huh? Do they not matter to you? Or could it be… you’re not confident you can beat me. Are you afraid, my dearest Veletya, that I’ll make this deal of his, and he’ll win?”

Aiden took a step back and sighed.

Seeing this, the Angel’s entire body radiated with an insane amount of light that dissipated the shadowy tendrils keeping her from moving. She pointed her spear at Aiden and barked, “You won’t leave here alive, filth!”

Leyla lowered her scythe, and the Angel stomped out of the field set for the gauntlet. Turning back to him, the psychotic Fallen Valkyr winked. “You make things so fun and exciting. I’ve been trying to get her worked up the entire time we’ve been here. Seeing her like this, I can’t believe she’s the same person. It’s beautiful, really.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, waving away her melodramatic antics. “So, what do you think?”

“That’s fairly enticing, but I’ve only heard what you have to gain. What could you possibly do for me or have to offer to make it even remotely worth considering?” She grinned, lifting her arms over head and groaning while she stretched, pressing her chest forward and towards him. When she stopped, she winked and continued, “Having said that, I won’t say I’m not interested, but this is a hard sell. Surprise me, Candidate, with what you could possibly offer, okay?”

“I’ll be honest, I didn't think we’d get this far,” he said sheepishly. “I’m open to ideas if you’ve got any, or we can agree to something open-ended. It’s up to you at this point, really. As you said, I don’t have much to gain and you don’t have much to lose.”

She frowned. “I admit, I thought you’d have something fun for me, but this isn’t outside of my expectations either. Well, since you already have everything to lose, then let’s put it on the line. If you lose, you surrender yourself to me and become my slave, bound by the goddesses of war, justice, and binding.”

“I don’t really have a choice.” He looked around at the Valkyr and wolf people watching their interaction from the edge of the gauntlet field. “What are the terms of the gauntlet? How many do I have to fight until I win?”

That same predatory grin from before returned. “You fight until there are no remaining challengers. If you are bested, then I’ll step in and collect my winnings. Satisfied?”

An undetermined number of fighters meant an undetermined amount of time.

But…

He looked down at the darkness cuffs and clenched his fists. He had the perfect opportunity to push himself to learn how to use his Spirit, and he’d be fighting regardless. The difference was whether he’d be dead or suffer the rest of his life as a magically enslaved servant of the psychotic Fallen.

“Screw it,” he muttered, turning back to Leyla. “If you’re in, I’m in.”

“I’ll admit, this deal is a win-win for me. The only reason I’ll agree is because I don’t want to have to kill you. You’re definitely not the time to surrender or hand over your Town willingly. And truthfully,” she looked over her shoulder in the direction Veletya left, looked back, and winked again, “I’ve been trying to get rid of Veletya for a while now, so I thank you for this.”

“You know I’d kill you right now if I had access to my power?” he asked, furrowing his brows. She didn’t make sense to him, and he wanted to make his stance towards her very clear.

“It’s more exciting that way,” she said, blowing him a kiss and unfurling her wings. “Don’t let me down now.” She rose in the sky, and the hubbub from the onlookers quieted. She looked over the crowd with disdain. “The gauntlet will commence and will continue until the opponent falls or there are no challengers left. Without wasting another moment, begin!”

She flew to the roof of the largest building, the one Isaac had reported as Volk’s personal study for his experiments. Sitting at the ledge and crossing her legs, she watched with a brilliantly vile smile.

Psycho.

There was no hesitation in the Valkyr warriors. They dropped into the arena and approached him with weapons in hand. Each had a quality of gear and moved with far less skill and grace than the elites that had guarded the central region the night before.

Grunts then. That’s good. Not sure I’d be able to handle elites without getting a grasp on these new powers, he thought, reaching into his pocket to pull Silver out. However, he instantly sucked in a deep breath as he clicked the pen and nothing happened. Shoving his weapon back in his pocket, he growled, cursing internally. The old fashioned way then!

The first grunt let out a battlecry as it sprinted towards him, a longsword in a two-handed grip. Aiden watched as the warrior came, feeling like he could see every opening and read each movement too easily.

They’re slow. I can use that.

With a massive overhead swing, the Valkyr officially started the gauntlet. Aiden clenched his fists, slipped past the swing, and punched the cuirass protecting the Valkyr's chest with all the force he could muster.

Like a kite with a broken string, the Valkyr flew back through the air, ragdolling into the two grunts behind him.

Aiden couldn’t stop moving, immediately ducking and stepping back from a slash aimed at his throat. He backstepped again, drawing the grunt closer, and then quickly closed the distance. Fist met metal, and another Valkyr flew away from him.

He cursed himself as a spear cut against his arm, but he didn’t let it stop him. Grabbing the shaft, he wrenched the grunt forward and gripped their throat with his until something snapped. Taking the fallen Valkyr’s spear in hand, he tested its weight and internally shrugged.

Beggars can’t be choosers.

With a weapon in hand, he felt far more comfortable, even if it was unfamiliar. The numbers were overwhelming, dozens of grunts streaming towards him as even more jumped down in the pit to join the others.

As he fought the continuous horde of Valkyr grunts, he danced around the arena, unable to breath for a single second. Even if the grunts were low quality, quantity had a quality of its own. His physical attributes were maxed at his current level of potential power, but that didn’t mean they were inexhaustible, especially his Durability.

And he quickly learned the weapons he picked up from the downed Valkyr couldn’t handle the level of Power behind his attacks. He didn’t have time to pull his punches for the sake of his weapons, and there were plenty to replace all the broken ones.

The grunts utilized very little of their magical powers. The ones that did use it were limited, and the attacks were easy to read and packed far less punch than those of Leyla’s. They lacked the disgusting slimy quality and rarely got through the defense of his Durability.

Every stab claimed a life or left the warriors unable to continue fighting. Each slash bought him valuable space. He ducked, blocked, punched, kicked—anything that he could do to survive. He was far from a martial artist or some highly skilled spear or sword user. If he were to compare himself to anything, he’d optimistically call himself a very powerful grunt.

Using the Spirit magic in the situation required a level of attention he couldn’t bring to bear when a single moment of hesitation might result in a wound that would mean his demise. A moment of focus on anything but staying alive would cost too much.

Despite the overwhelming odds, Aiden found himself losing himself to the constant motion and threat. In a way, he enjoyed it, letting loose in a way that was more visceral, flesh and bone constantly wielded in place of his Arcana.

It’s been a long time since I’ve felt so free, he thought as he pulled a spear from the chest of another fallen Valkyr and threw it in one smooth motion.

By the time the sun rose to the center of the sky, he breathed deeply with countless scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Groans of pain filled the pit, but Aiden didn’t pay them much mind. Through blurry eyes stinging with sweat, he forced himself to keep his head high and met Leyla’s gaze.

She clapped from her perch, licking her lips.

Looks like she enjoyed the show. As he stood there, many of the Valkyr that hadn’t fought dropped into the pit and started to gather all the fallen Valkyr. He could see countless bottles of some identifiable vomit-colored liquid that they poured down the throats of those that still drew breath. Bet that tastes like it looks.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he relaxed and sat down on the ground. No other challengers approached as food was brought out to the crowds. The Celestials seemed to be the acting servantry now and served meals to every denizen of the Valkyr Town. Within ten minutes, they’d all been served, and one approached Aiden.

Unsurprisingly, the Celestial carried a wooden bowl with the same mystery meat from the morning and a cup of the vile crantaloupe juice. As tired as he was, he didn’t even bother mustering the energy to wrinkle his nose at the foul combination and just consumed both as fast as he could, handing back the bowl and cup.

“Thanks.”

The Celestial left without a word, passing the approaching Fallen Valkyr leader. “What a great showing. I can’t help but notice your current condition. If you keep going at things this way, just the lower tier warriors will be enough to take you down and make you my slave.”

“I’ll be fine,” he said, brushing offer her hand from his shoulder. “It’s not like you care either way.”

“Well, that’s true, but I’d prefer to defeat Veletya and then take command of the forces here. It’s not like I agreed to let you go or anything, so we have plenty of time to acquaint ourselves, even if you do somehow manage to win.” She knelt before him, her chest resting in his face as she wrapped her arms around him. Energy flowed through her into him, and he looked up at her confused. “What? You think I’d let you go into the next part of the gauntlet in such a condition? I want to be entertained, and with how well you’ve been doing, I don’t want things ending too early.”

“Whatever,” he grumbled. He felt conflicted about receiving the energy at all, seeing as she was still his enemy. He didn’t want to die and knew his fate would be uncertain if he continued as he was. The flow of the Essence through his body relieved his fatigue and revitalized him, but it didn’t give him anything substantial he could use. When she stepped away from him and sighed, he couldn’t stop himself from speaking. “Why are you like this?”

She tilted her head and raised a brow. “That’s a rather vague question.”

“You’re crazy as all hell, and I’ve been trying to figure out what could’ve made you like this. Doesn’t make sense to me,” he said. He lacked the energy to sugar coat his words.

“That’s interesting you’d think so.” She clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Believe it or not, I’m not crazy. What do you know of us Valkyr and the differences between Angels and Fallen?”

“Warmongerers with wings. Based on the color of your wings, you can use either light or darkness-attuned Essence. That about sums it up,” he answered, feeling rather ignorant as her face twisted as if she’d sucked on a very sour lemon. “Am I wrong?”

“Your understanding is not even surface level, but I can’t blame you. I can’t really say I’ve ever met a human before.” Shrugging, she continued, “Where I come from, we’re constantly in conflict with the other Factions that represent the Candidates here. I’ve slain countless Celestials back home and crafted several suits of Dragonborn scales. Even Volk is a race I haven’t encountered.”

“Okay, so what does that have to do with why you’re trying to contest the god of chaos for their position?” he asked, shaking his head. Loki would never fall to Leyla. If anything, he’d see her more of a pet—at least, he liked to imagine as much.

“If you survive the next round, I’ll keep you company all night,” she said with a wink. “Before you go, I will tell you this much. Don’t trust the gods, any of them. A thousand years ago, the Valkyr were introduced to the system similarly to how you have been. We didn’t fight for anything as glamorous as Midrath’s throne. Our Candidate lost, and our entire race was enslaved and used to fight conflicts—conflicts the gods were very interested in.”

“Wait, what?”

She grinned at him and shrugged. “Survive, and maybe I’ll tell you.”

“You can’t—well, no.” He stopped himself and pursed his lips, seeing how she grinned. “I suppose you can and will, even if it’s just to screw with my head. Fine.”

Flaring her wings out, she looked over the now-empty field and relished in the copious amounts of flesh blood dying the dirt. Like the night before, there would be a large pyre. He wondered if the celebration would be as massive.

“Now that you’ve all filled your stomachs, let the gauntlet begin again!” Leyla said, her husky voice carrying off the crowd and setting off a chain reaction more fierce than the time before.

Ah, shit. The Valkyr didn’t pour in like before. No, they pushed and shoved each other out of the way, many jumping up and flying over the others. They’re even more riled up than before.

Pushing to his feet as fast as possible, he frowned. The discarded weapons had been taken away with the corpses of the fallen, leaving him empty handed with a lot of blood hungry, war happy flying folk coming his way at mach five.

He calmed his beating heart and took a deep breath, trying to feel the Essence in the air. He repeated the process a couple of times, but he didn’t have enough time. Just as he’d done before when he practiced, a small and dense ball of pure crystalline ice energy formed over his fist.

I have to get a weapon as fast as I can!

Using his fists required too much energy, and if the Valkyr were anything to base his expectations off of, this time would be harder than the first and require everything out of him to survive. He shot a scathing glance towards Leyla, knowing that he’d be absolutely doomed were it not for her intervention.

Keep looking smug up there. I’ll be sure to wipe that look off your face!

His head snapped to the approaching Valkyr diving at him. Just before the spear pierced his chest, he sidestepped and delivered a perfectly timed strike with his elbow to the back of the Valkyr’s helmetless skull. The grunt crumpled forward and crashed into the crowd, sliding several feet away and stilling completely.

Sprinting across the distance, he approached another Valkyr that stepped in front of the body, stabbing and slashing with two shortswords. Lunging forward, Aiden planted the fist with the Spirit ball of Khione’s authority into the grunt’s chest.

The power exploded, a lance piercing through with ease. An intense weariness washed over Aiden, but he moved past the fallen corpse and nearly stopped in place. His attack hadn’t just blown a hole through the chest of the grunt.

No, not at all. A crystalline wall of ice cut through the gauntlet field, cutting through the wall, the side of the field, and anybody in the way. Shaking off the surprise, he pumped his feet to drive him forward, running straight towards another Valkyr.

Ducking down, he grabbed the spear without slowing down.

I’ll… kill… all of you!

*

Stepping out from the tunnel, Anna stifled a yawn and stretched her arms. The meeting had been far more interesting than she’d ever anticipated and in a good way, too. The entire time, she expected things to pop off at any second and de-escalate into chaos, vines, and spidery shenanigans.

But it never came to that, luckily.

The midday sun had risen, meaning she’d been gone over a day. She couldn’t imagine anybody would be too happy once she popped up out of nowhere without a single word, but after revealing everything she’d discovered from Queen Onnamixia, she felt confident nobody would complain too much about it.

Ares excitedly stood and lumbered over towards her. She opened her arms, and the rhino carefully rested its head against her shoulder.

“I missed you too, buddy. Pretty sure the Spiderkin wouldn’t have been as friendly if I revealed you. Sorry for making you wait, and thank you for being a patient rhino.” She stroked his head to calm him, his huffs of displeasure making his stress known. “Come on. We’ve been gone too long. Pretty sure people have been worrying about us.”

Midday passed into late afternoon. As she walked, she felt uneasy. The feeling had been nagging at the back of her mind the entire time she’d been away with the Spiderkin, but she’d tucked it deep down. Their intelligence on the Spiderkin had been incredibly limited to that point, and sightings of the reclusive race were few and far between. The opportunity had presented itself, and she couldn’t pass it up.

That didn’t make it easier to stomach or slow her pace as she ran. By the time she reached Zion, Ares trailing behind her tiredly, she could barely contain her restlessness as she entered the small sub-town at the foot of the mountain.

Immediately, something felt off, and that nagging sense of uneasiness blossomed into proper, full-blown anxiety and panic.

“It’s too quiet,” she muttered, looking around. She searched through the whole place and found nobody. Even the short walls weren’t being guarded, which should’ve been her clue to something being off. She took a deep breath and stopped in the middle of the town, looking up at the slope towards Zion proper. “Calm down, Anna. Panicking won’t do anybody any good. Calm down. It can’t be that bad, right? It’s been one day, and Aiden had no plans to do anything drastic.”

Her racing heart didn’t agree with the logic and reason.

Anna took a step towards the slope upwards and stopped, turning around. “Ian?”

He glared at her as he crossed the distance between the gate and her, shouting, “Where were you?!”

His aggression exploded the sense of unease. “Ian, what happened?”

Just shut up and come with me!” He grabbed her wrist and started to drag her towards the gate.

All reason went out the window as her frustration peaked. A torrent of thorned vines rose from the ground and wrapped around him, encapsulating him completely. She slipped her hand out of his and walked into his field of vision. “I asked you a question. Answer it. Now.”

His nostrils flares as he seethed with barely contained fury.

Just… what happened while I was gone?

“You were gone when Zion—no! When Aiden needed you the most, you were nowhere to be found! Do you even know what happened last night?” he asked scathingly, dropping her stomach farther than she ever realized it could go. His faced twisted in disgust. “You really don’t…”

“Ian, tell me what happened before you really piss me off. This isn’t funny!” she shouted, barely stopping her from lashing out at him. It would only take a little mental prodding for the vines to hurt him—stop! He’s still a friend.

“Everything’s fucked, Anna!” he screamed.

Their eyes locked for several seconds. She didn’t know what to say, and she had no clue what had happened for him to act the way he was to her. Taking a deep breath, she released the vines stopping him from moving and turned to look at the recent addition to the party.

“Kendra, give me the full brief, please,” Anna said through clenched teeth, staring at the B-rank veteran.

“Ah, it’s better you see for yourself,” she said, looking uncomfortable.

“Kendra,” Anna said, the steel in her voice leaving little in the way of delaying the answer any longer, “tell me, and do it now.”

“Shit.” She looked over her shoulder uncertainly. Turning back to Anna, she clenched her fists tight enough they popped. “Aiden took all but a select few out at sunset.”

Before Kendra could explain fully, Ian chimed in. He stared deep into her eyes, shoulders sagging and head low. When he spoke, he did so with an unshaking voice full of conviction and scorn. “He trusted you the most. It’s your fault.”

The blood drained from her body, and she stepped towards Kendra. “Wh—where’s Aiden, Kendra? Where is he? What happened while I was gone? What—what happened, dammit?!”

“Aiden is…”

“No… That—that can’t be.” She shook her head as she desperately looked between the two of them. “No. No, no, no. No! It’s not possible! He can’t be dead!”

Another person, a familiar person she hadn’t seen in a long time, pushed past Kendra and looked down at Anna.

“Adam…”

“If he isn’t dead, he’s wishing he was and will be soon.” The boy that had left with the other group crossed his arms and stared at her. His face was scarred up, and the same went for his arms and neck, a jagged scar running a thick line from one side to the other. “Get your shit together. There’s more to worry about right now.”

“How… dare you,” she said, barely above a whisper.

“This is pathetic. No wonder things are like this,” he said, scoffing. “It’s because of Aiden in the first place that everything went to shit. You’ll get no sympathy from me.”

Nothing made sense. Her brain shutdown, and only magic remained. The air buzzed, and the ground trembled as her face went blank, tears streaming down her cheeks. Someone was screaming as her power went absolutely ape shit.

Her target?

Adam.

She would kill him.

It was his fault. If he just stayed with the group and brought everyone along, things wouldn’t have been so hard. If he wasn’t such an arrogant prick!

And now he dared insult them, all of their hard work?

I’ll kill him.

The ground erupted around them, but something struck the back of her head. The world went dark, and she collapsed forward, everything calming in an eerie silence.

The screaming had stopped.

Oh, I… was the one screaming.

As the darkness creeped into the corner of her eyes, she could hear them arguing over something. Kendra and Ian’s voices made it through the fuzzy silence, and they were heatedly yelling.

She didn’t have the ability to understand what. Seconds later, her consciousness began to fully fade, but not before she promised to make Adam pay for what he’d said and done.

I’ll… kill you...