February 21, 2019, 11:07:02:23 am. Point two seconds too late.

I pull Beth out of the pool, cooling her instantly with a flash freeze.

Channeling healing through my artifact as I fly towards Roberts, I swear when it doesn't catch on anything. Then I'm next to him and I switch the healing from Beth to him, hoping to make up for my completely inability to manipulate healing energy with pure mana. It's enough that Roberts starts twitching his eye. Then a second later, I feel his energy overlap the healing I'm pumping into him and he's able to move. He steps over to Beth immediately, not asking questions as he sends energy into her.

Her body is restored instantly, pristine. But she doesn't open her eyes.

Roberts doesn't stop, and I see her chest rise. Once. Twice.

Then it goes still.

"What's..."

"The System took her. I can't bring her back." There's an odd lilt to his voice I haven't heard before. A kind of raised pitch as he clenches and unclenches his hands over her chest. "I can restore her body to perfect condition, but I can't bring her back because the System decided..."

I stare at Beth's body for another second before my attention returns to the one who caused this. I teleport to Rufka who's still moving further up the tunnel using the tether.

Even as I appear, I almost immediately fall behind as she teleports away amidst a lightning bolt. I continue following her, scanning the jungle for any sign of Pogell. It takes three hops before I notice Rufka is following small strings spread between the trees. Now that I know what she's tracking, I'm able to catch up to her. A second later, I leave her in the dust as I search for the little mongrel.

The strand continues all the way to the outer edge of the ring, leading us to a rocky promontory jutting out over the edge. Pogell is above us, climbing into a contraption that looks like little more than a bubble strapped to a glider. There are four thin strands of that same thread keeping it tethered at least a hundred meters above the edge of the ring, and getting further every second. He's reeling himself out. I'm about to teleport up to him when Rufka puts a hand on my shoulder.

"The storm," Rufka says, and a second later, a bolt of... nothing splits the sky. The threads holding Pogell in place are severed, his glider immediately lost from sight. Despite watching him closely, I barely notice his frantic movements before he disappears into the maelstrom.

That doesn't stop me from throwing a storm of destructive energies in his wake.

My vision is blurry when I turn back to Rufka. "Beth..."

"Hey. It'll be okay. She'll be okay," Rufka says, pulling me into a hug. A few seconds later, Smoulder arrives. She keeps back from us and the edge of the world where we're standing, but I can feel her concern through our bond.

Which is what gets me moving. Returning to the others only requires a single teleport. And as we reappear, I realize that if I'd just thought for a second about where Pogell was going, I could've beat him to his glider. Just like if I'd gone to Beth first, who was obviously in-

"Hey, I don't know what you're thinking, but stop," Rufka says, shaking my shoulder.

I look up at her, and she nods, no trace of her usual smirk in sight. "Things like this happen. We all should've been waiting for a Taken trap. We got complacent."

"Wasn't..." Kellica trails off as we all turn towards her. When I nod in her direction, she clears her throat before continuing. "Wasn't the Taken. At least, not all of them. Lik'tik would never have been part of this, not while he's my shadow. I'm sure of it."

"Doesn't matter. We need to get my book back," Tipan snarls, turning towards me. "How could you let her get away?"

"I..." I take a step back, caught off guard by Tipan's reaction.

"Sorry," Tipan says, shaking her head as she closes all four eyes before turning towards where Roberts is still leaning over Beth. "Sorry. I know we have more important problems. I just..."

"What even happened?" Josh asks, his eyes fixed on Beth's unmoving body. "One second we were flying, then blam, jungle fever and..."

"Pogell. Turns out he wasn't a friendly puppy," I reply, looking around. "We can't stay here. We should get back to the ship. And find out if this treachery extends to the captain. But keep your eyes open. And..."

My last words are lost as everyone slips into their battle-forms. Looking around, I realize that with her new class, even Rufka has armor now, forged of hardened plasma. Which I'm pretty sure shouldn't be possible, even with mana, but what do I know. Then my eyes land on Rose, who is just as unarmored as I am. He shrugs at me with a small smile. "No good class yet."

I snort as I lift Beth's body on a wave of air behind us. Rose and I remain in the centre of the formation as we fly back to the ship. It's exactly where we left it, and only one of the crewmen is on deck. Everyone else is in a small basecamp they've built at the edge of the cove.

When we land, there's a litany of swear words from captain e'Tell as we smash into the nearby sand. A lot of them seem to have to do with my mother's breeding habits. If she's trying to offend me, she could've chosen a better target. As finally ends her litany of pointless cursing, she storms towards us, "What's with the..."

I stop paying attention to e'Tell, because as she started towards me, I felt the weight of Beth's body diminish.

"No. No, no, no," I say as I turn to where I'm supporting her body. I find it breaking apart, the blue dust of the deceased filling the air with an insultingly sweet odor even as I blast through it, trying to force it back together.

Despite my efforts, it continues to disappear. Just like that, even her body is gone.

A crack echoes through the camp, and it takes me a second to realize I caused it. A tree is knocked over, hanging from the canopy, the trunk where I punched it severed by the force of a blow I barely felt. I stare at the destruction and can't help but feel numb at how useless such destructive power feels.

"Alexis," Roberts says, drawing my attention back to the present. He's standing in front of the others, all of whom look as lost as I feel. Except Roberts. I can still rely on him. And they can rely on me.

"Right. We need to move," I say, shaking splinters off my undamaged skin. Instead of marveling at that, I turn towards e’Tell who is standing nearby, frowning at our group. Stepping forward, I ask, "How long until the Twice-Scuttled is ready?"

"She's ready now. Only need a few minutes to pack up camp. Though I have a few questions," the captain replies, turning around and signaling to her first mate. "They'll wait a few minutes, but once we're heading down-spout, I expect some answers."

"Fine," I agree, glancing at where the perpetual mana-storm whirls in the distance. There's a chance I could make it through, teleport myself to the bottom. But not a good one.

Focusing on Pogell's tether again, I realize it's pointing to a spot here in camp. Walking towards it, I find a small figurine in the sand. It's a perfect copy of how Pogell looked before he revealed himself. Turning it in my hand, I frown. My tether is definitely attached to the figurine. I almost crush it, but stop myself. I should study it instead. Figure out why it fooled my ability.

Turning, I spot Lik'tik and Ael'thani standing together near the shore, I start towards them. Only to realize Kellica and Rufka got to them first. Rufka and Ael'thani are in the middle of a yelling match when I arrive, neither of them so much speaking as hurling insults at each other. Lik'tik and Kellica are both standing back, so I turn my attention to the unoccupied Taken, waving them away from my thiani and her venting. Much as I love her, I know sometimes the only thing that will help is a chance to scream expletives at someone.

"So, how much did you get before they started escalating?" I ask as Lik'tik follows me a few paces away from Rufka.

"That your friend died due to a... spider, I believe," Lik'tik replies with a glance towards Rufka. "Though I suspect that between your friend's anger, and our missing compatriot, Pogell had something to do with it."

"If by 'had something to do with', you mean ambushed us, stole from us, then left us in a position to die. A position where one of us did, in fact, die, then yeah," I reply, my strands of Facet tightly wound around Lik'tik as I study them for their reaction. Unfortunately, I'm unfamiliar with lizard-person biology, so their lack of external reaction doesn't really tell me anything. "Yeah, they had something to do with it."

"I... hmm. That certainly explains your friend's reaction upon seeing us. I doubt it will mean much, but I assure you, we had no part in this. I can only assume their mission was separate from our own," Lik'tik follows his statement by leaning forward, bowing deep enough that he exposes his neck to me. I feel like it's some form of sign of submission or request for forgiveness.

But that's not what I'm focused on. "But you would've helped, if it had been part of your mission?" I ask, my hand wrapping around the metal chakram at my side as I weigh the threat.

"Of course. It would have been my duty," Lik'tik replies, blinking their eyes once, slowly.

"I..." I'm not actually sure what to do with that. Lik'tik basically just admitted he would've done what Pogell did. Openly.

As I'm staring at him, I realize the yelling between Rufka and Ael'thani has died down. When I glance over, I find them glaring at each other, both with their arms crossed. But it looks like no one jumped straight to violence, so... Rufka's decided that they're not to blame. Or she's waiting for me to make the call.

"Where would Pogell be headed?" Roberts asks as he approaches from behind us. I get to see Ael'thani jump in surprise at his quiet appearance, which gives me a small twinge of satisfaction before I focus on Lik'tik.

"That would depend on his mission. And even if I knew, I'm sure you can understand why I can't tell you," Lik'tik bows his head slightly in our direction. This is different from his earlier bow, but I think I'm already starting to understand his body language. At least a little. I wish I'd spend more time watching the Taken on our way here.

"He'll have a Return pod set up near the bottom of the spout, Tel'thoni" Kellica says, earning a frown from Lik'tik. "Assuming he survives his suicide dive through the storm."

"So, chances of us finding Pogell by chasing him down are basically zilch," I say, squeezing my eyes shut. "Okay. First thing is getting moving. Then... fuck, I hate this. Then we ignore Pogell for the moment. We're near, which Builder City was it, Burnesq?"

"That's correct," Roberts confirms, his voice flat.

When I open my eyes, I notice everyone has gathered around me. I can't help but look towards Josh, who's clenching and unclenching his fists. But when he meets my eyes, he nods.

"Okay, then we're going there first. Just like we planned. Beth isn't dead. Not really. Just gone for a while. A couple weeks, and she'll be back. Until then, we still need to get things done. And that means going to Burnesq. And hopefully finding a way to convert it into an operational spaceship. And failing that, at least finding a damn mana-decondenser."

When I turn, I see Tipan glaring at me, but I meet her gaze. After several long seconds she shakes her head twice before nodding. "Right. That makes sense. I just... when we find him, I'm going to feed him his teeth."

Blinking at Tipan's exuberant endorsement of violence, I turn to the others, receiving similar gestures of agreement.

"I... once we are out of the spout, I have to return to the Taken," Kellica says, raising her still metal-clad hand.

"But-" I start, only to be interrupted.

"The Seeker is correct. As soon as we're clear of the spout, we must Return together," Lik'tik agrees. "She has fulfilled her part of the bargain, and thus the Archmage will be obliged to fulfill hers. The Vigil must begin."

"Oh, mum'll be visiting the K'mintar, I can guarantee that," Rufka practically snarls at Lik'tik.

"Then our task is nearly complete," Lik’tik says, nodding in our direction, before turning away. They collect Ael'thani, and both board the Twice-Scuttled as I turn back to Kellica.

"So, you're leaving us then?"

"I... my duty is to the Taken. At least for the moment. I made a commitment and I will see it through. I still adhere to the tenets," Kellica says, straightening in her armor. "Also, I believe I will be able to learn more of what Pogell was up to by being part of the Taken than as an outsider."

Rufka sighs, hitting Kellica on her shoulder hard enough to make her take a half-step back, despite the metal encasing her. "Don't do anything Lexi wouldn't do, you understand?"

"Don't you mean you?" Kellica asks, blinking at Rufka.

"What? Hell no, don't you dare try to use me as a guide. Any-user would tell you that's a bad idea," Rufka denies with a grin.

Before any further sentiments can be shared, e'Tell calls out that she's ready to depart. When I turn around, I see everything except the basic shape of the camp has already been loaded. Nodding to the others, we fly over, landing on the deck.

The moment we're on board, captain e'Tell spins her wheel and the entire ship slips to the side, cutting through the surface with the same ease as Smoulder melts through the jungle. We remain quiet as the ship passes to the outside of the spout. As soon as we're clear, my eyes lock on the sky. Just because the chance of spotting Pogell is low, doesn't make it none.

"You're not going to spot him," Rufka says from beside me, at the front of the ship.

"Probably not," I admit, squeezing the railing. "But... I don't know. There's a chance, so I should at least try."

"Not your fault. You know that, right?" Rufka asks as she lays her hand overtop mine.

"Up here, sure," I say, tapping my head, "But not so much here," I finish, tapping my heart.

"That... is such a strange expression," Rufka says, elbowing me. "None of your emotions are regulated in your chest, from what I understand."

"I... you've been talking to Roberts," I reply, my eyes still searching the horizon.

"Rose actually. For some strange reason, he's fascinated by the differences between pu'shaha and humans," Rufka says with a playful nudge.

I give her a weak half-smile, and allow her to draw me out of my fruitless search. Soon, we've descended the spout, down-spout journey being somewhat similar to going downhill. Though not entirely, due to the weird distortion of gravity. As we clear the last of the mana-storm, Kellica and the other Taken come on deck.

Kellica comes over to me, giving me a bow, which I return. "Thank you for all you've done for me Tel’thoni. I have grown and learned more over these past few weeks than I could've imagined."

As she stands up, I can't help myself and draw her into a hug, earning a squeak before she returns it. "Take care of yourself Kellica. You're not going to have us to watch your back, you know."

"I know. But I believe I can rely on Lik'tik. They believe in the tenets. As do I."

"You never did tell me what those were," I note as she releases me, only for her to be caught in a hug by Rufka.

Kellica glances in my direction once she's released. Then she smiles, giving me a wink. "I'm afraid telling you about the tenets would violate them."

And with that, Kellica vanishes from the surface of the deck, Ael'thani and Lik'tik disappearing immediately after.

Huh. Respect for the dramatic exit. Gonna miss her.

Rufka squeezes my shoulder, and my eyes turn back towards the horizon, the southern tip of the continent growing closer.

I set my anxiousness to the side. And the pangs of loss.

Ahead waits the Builder City. And with some amount of luck, our way home.