Vespertine

“Whose idea was this, again?” Arette grumbled.

Quinn pointed a finger in Caiden’s direction, who rolled his eyes. “I already told you. There’s no way in hell we could go to any sorcerer compound and get out alive at this point, much less with what we need.”

“I know,” sighed Arette. “But I still don’t really like this.”

“That makes three of us,” agreed Quinn. She glanced at Scarlett’s sleeping body, propped up against a tree. She hadn’t woken up so far, and it had been hours already. Quinn was beginning to think she had done something worse than they realized, but Caiden assured her that Scarlett would be fine.

“It would be helpful if one of us were a firestarter,” Caiden mumbled, staring dumbly at the stick he held in his hands and the pile of leaves in front of him. “How do I do this again?”

Quinn knelt down next to him and took the stick from him, demonstrating how to grate it against the leaves to create a spark. A thin trail of smoke arose as a small fire started, but the cold October night snatched it away. Caiden sighed and took the stick back from Quinn as the latter stood up and began to pace anxiously.

“Do you think we’re getting close?” She asked Arette, who shrugged.

“We should be, according to the map. But once we get there, it’s anybody’s bet what we’ll find.”

“How do you know someone won’t have already taken the shield?”

Arette chewed her lip thoughtfully. “I don’t. But besides the compounds, this is the only other one I know of. They’re not easy to find. And I’m guessing somebody put it down there for a reason.”

Quinn stopped pacing and looked at her worriedly. “And you’re sure we need it?”

Arette nodded. “Your power is unbelievably raw and powerful as it is. You can’t even put the armor on right now, since that increase in power could kill you from the inside out. There’s no way you can blow out the field and stay safe at the same time, unless we have that shield.”

“I got it!” Caiden yelped excitedly, gesturing to the small fire he had started, catching onto the branches he had piled on.

“What’s going on?”

All heads simultaneously turned to Scarlett, who was blinking her eyes open. She looked extremely confused, but not angry.

Caiden scowled. “You ruined my moment.”

Scarlett looked at him blankly. Then she tilted her head and said, “I’m sorry, but who are you?”

There was silence for a moment, and then Quinn snorted. “Good one, Scarlett. You really think we’re stupid, huh?”

Scarlett turned her attention to Quinn, looking genuinely puzzled. “Scarlett…? Is that…my name?”

Now Quinn frowned. “Seriously, that’s not funny. Shut up or I’ll knock you out again.”

That was when Scarlett seemed to realize she had been tied up and began struggling anxiously at her bonds. “Who are you?” She demanded, fear creeping into her voice. “What do you want with me?”

“What do you remember?” Arette asked, cautiously.

“Nothing!” Scarlett cried. “I swear, I don’t know anything. I don’t even know who I am!” She looked frightened in a way that seemed hard to fake. “Please, can one of you please tell me what’s going on?”

Quinn and Caiden exchanged looks.

No way, Quinn’s said.

Maybe you did something else? Caiden’s asked helplessly.

Then they both looked at Scarlett. Arette raised an eyebrow.

“We’ll be right back,” Quinn said to Scarlett, while gesturing at Arette. “Can you keep her contained?”

Arette nodded and splayed her hands, shifting the flux field around Scarlett. Quinn grabbed Caiden’s arm and they walked a bit off into the trees, until she was sure Scarlett couldn’t hear them.

“Is that possible?” She asked, incredulity tainting her tone. “That I made her lose her memories?”

Caiden shrugged. “I mean, scientifically speaking, your power produces shockwaves. With practice you’d be able to direct and contain them to anything you want specifically, but maybe…maybe when you used it on Scarlett, the wave jumbled the transmitters in her brain or something like that. It’d be like a head trauma injury, and that causes amnesia sometimes, doesn’t it?”

She furrowed her brow. “Does it?”

Caiden threw his hands up. “I don’t know. I’m not a neuroscientist.”

“Could she just be lying? To throw us off and convince us to release her?”

He crossed his arms and glanced slightly in Scarlett’s direction. “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like her style, but then again, she can be a pretty good actor. As we both know.”

“I don’t know, either. There seemed to be…” Quinn hesitated. “Something that seems kind of hard to fake.”

Caiden nodded. “I agree. She looks actually lost. So what now? Should I heal her?”

“Could you?”

He sighed. “Truthfully, I don’t know. It takes an experienced healer to reverse mental injuries, and I’m probably not there yet.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t try.”

“What do you mean?”

Quinn started twirling her knife, something she did when she was thinking, Caiden had noticed. “I mean, what if we convince her to help us? Then she wouldn’t just be dead weight. And we both know she’s an amazing fighter. She could be useful.”

“And how would you convince her to do that?”

“We lie, obviously. Tell her she used to work with us in the first place.”

Caiden contemplated this. “That could work. But what if she is pretending and tries to get us as soon as we untie her?”

Quinn held up the knife.

“Fair enough.”

They returned to the small clearing where they had set up camp for the night, and Quinn crossed over to Scarlett, crouching in front of her. She pointed the knife at Scarlett, who looked alarmed. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Why would we?” Quinn said. “Do you really not remember anything?”

Scarlett shook her head. Quinn nodded. “Right, then. I’m Quinn. We’re going to tell you who you were, and what happened, and then I’m going to untie you. Okay?”

“Okay,” she said, cautiously, eyes following Quinn’s knife.

“You worked with us,” Quinn said, sitting down on the grass, as if preparing for a long story. Caiden watched with slight apprehension, wondering if she was going to pull the whole story out of her ass. “You’re a sorcerer named Scarlett Rowan. Do you remember what your power is?”

Scarlett thought about it for a moment, and nodded. “I’m a Hellhound. I know that.”

“Okay, yeah. So the four of us, we operated as this sort of independent unit for hire. Private contractors, if you will. This is Caiden and Arette,” she said, pointing to the two of them in turn. “We were recently sent on a mission to acquire some artifacts. We’re here for the second one, now.”

Scarlett frowned, and for a moment, it seemed as though she could tell Quinn was lying. “But…you’re teenagers. And why am I tied up if we worked together?”

Quinn nodded patiently, as if she had expected this question. “You’re pretty young, too. You’re like, what, twenty?”

“Twenty-one,” Caiden offered.

“Right. Yes,” Quinn agreed. “Age is not indicative of talent. But re-telling you our life stories would take too long right now. Let’s just say we’ve all had difficult childhoods, and that’s how we got into the mercenary business in the first place.”

Scarlett looked curious. “Me, too?”

They all nodded in unison.

“As for why we tied you up,” continued Quinn, “well, I’m getting to that part. So this is our most recent mission, right? But on the last mission we went on, our employer wanted this new gas thing they were developing in Nymphoris.”

Good pick, Caiden silently approved. They were always developing new technologies in the fourth city.

“But when we were getting out with the cargo, one of the bottles broke. You were the only person left in the lab, so the gas got to you. We don’t understand the tech ourselves, so we don’t know what exactly it did to you. Ever since then, you’ve gotten a bit unpredictable and would get angry sometimes. You’d calm down for long periods, though, so we thought you’d be okay for this mission.”

Quinn glanced at Caiden, and he picked up the false story. “But you kind of went berserk on us a couple hours ago, so we had to subdue you.”

Scarlett’s eyes were wide. “So you’re saying I might lose control again?”

Arette shrugged. “Maybe not, since you’ve lost your memories, which undoubtedly means something in your brain’s changed. It’s possible that whatever’s altered your chemical mindset has been wiped, too.”

“I may have hit you a little too hard,” Quinn concluded.

“So that’s why my head hurts,” Scarlett mused. Caiden, Quinn, and Arette all relaxed. It seemed like she had bought the story. Caiden was filled with a new respect for Quinn’s ability to bullshit convincingly.

“Probably,” Quinn agreed. She began to saw through the zip ties with her knife. “But if you do go crazy again, I won’t hesitate to hit you.”

Scarlett nodded, and rubbed her wrists as she extended her legs so Quinn could cut the tie off her ankles. “I certainly don’t feel angry right now. Hopefully the gas’ effects have gone by now.” She bit her lip, her gaze flickering briefly over them. “How long have we been working together?”

“A long time,” Caiden answered, and felt a little sad as he did. You were like a sister to me, he wanted to say. Before I realized you had lied to me. Before you sold me out. I’ve known you for fourteen years.

Instead, he said, “Probably about five years, is that right?”

“Yeah,” Arette agreed. “Well, we’ve known each other for that long. We only started actually working about a couple years ago.”

Scarlett nodded, and then suddenly smiled as Quinn finished cutting off her ties and looked at her. The smile hit Quinn unexpectedly, and she almost recoiled at the sight of it. She hadn’t seen Scarlett smile since she had stopped being Marissa, and even back then, it had been rare.

“Well,” she said. “How about you guys fill me in on what’s happening right now? What’s our current mission?”

“We’re to retrieve a shield from a cave not too far from here,” Arette responded. “A Griplock Shield.”

Scarlett raised a brow. “Those are rare, aren’t they?”

“Yes, and our employer has requested this one specifically. We don’t have much information, seeing as how anyone hardly explores out here.”

Scarlett looked around her, apparently taking in her surroundings for the first time. “Let me guess,” she said, her voice darkening. “We’re in the Hinterlands.”

Quinn shrugged. “We didn’t have a choice.”

Arette gave Caiden a look, but he pretended not to see it. “It’s not that bad,” he said. “Think of it like a camping trip.”

“Except people stay away from the Hinterlands for a reason,” Scarlett replied, frowning. “Don’t they?”

“They do drill the idea of staying close to the cities into us,” Caiden said. “But people do come out here. The adventurous type, you know. It’s just not that common.”

“Yeah,” Arette muttered, shuddering. “Probably because all kinds of scary stuff happen here. Disappearances. Murders. Slaughterings, really. Did you guys ever read that article about—“

“Not helping,” Quinn said loudly, cutting her off. “The mission should be fast. Get in, get the shield, and get out. We have a car parked back in Kasa.”

The three of them had snuck onto a cargo train back in Incantare and ditched the car, dragging Scarlett along with them. It had taken them to the second city. From there, they “liberated” another car and drove out several hours to the Hinterlands, until they ran out of road and had to trek into the woods.

“It’s night now, though,” said Caiden. “And we’ve come a long way today. We should sleep soon.”

Scarlett looked around. “And you guys didn’t think to bring tents, or anything? Or any supplies?”

“We travel light,” Quinn responded. “We’ll move as soon as the sun rises. I’ll keep guard for the first two hours, then Caiden, then Arette. We’ll toss a coin to see who gets the last shift.”

“What about me?” Scarlett asked. “Couldn’t I just take the last shift?”

“No offense,” said Quinn. “But we don’t know if you’re stable yet. And I’d rather not get stabbed in my sleep.”

Scarlett looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded instead. “Alright.”

Quinn ended up losing the coin toss, but it looked like she didn’t mind. Her expression was grim, and Caiden figured she probably felt safer if she was keeping watch herself.

He scooted closer to the fire and Arette joined him, lying down next to him. He curled into a ball and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the faint flickering that came from the fire behind his closed lids. Sleep didn’t come easy, but it did come eventually.

The next morning, he awoke as Quinn shook his shoulder, and yawned as he rolled over. The fire had gone out sometime after his shift. The sun was barely up, the sky a light gray that made everything look dreary, but Quinn seemed anxious to move. He wondered if she’d seen anything spooky during her shifts.

Arette was up as well, studying the map and her phone in the other hand, which she was using as a compass. They didn’t have signal out here, anyways.

Scarlett appeared over him, startling him enough for him to sit up.

“Is he always the last one up?” She asked, but not in a mean way. Rather, curiosity was evident in her voice.

“Yes,” chorused Quinn and Arette, although in reality they hadn’t known him long enough to actually gauge whether that was true or not.

“Very funny,” Caiden responded sarcastically. He got to his feet and stretched, desperately wishing he could take a shower. He rummaged through the plastic bag that had a few bottles of water and dried snacks in it, the one they had picked up on the drive here, and settled for some water.

He saw Scarlett looking at him, and after a brief moment of hesitation, he offered the bottle to her. She accepted it gratefully and smiled at him, a gesture so familiar that for a moment, he forgot that everything was different.

Then Arette called out to them, having walked a little bit into the woods already, and the moment ended. The two of them followed, along with Quinn, who had been busy strapping in all her various weapons.

She had given Arette Scarlett’s gun, and Caiden Scarlett’s baton, but the belt she had lifted from one of the guards evidently contained a lot of stuff. She had a stunner strapped to her left leg, and a knife on her right, as well as another gun tucked under in her jeans and under her shirt, on her back. She probably had more in her boots.

They walked for a couple hours, taking several wrong turns and doubling back a couple times as Arette struggled to make sense of the poorly charted area using the map she had. Finally, they reached the edge of the forest and exited out into a plain that expanded into a canyon.

“Wow,” Scarlett said. “That actually looks pretty incredible.”

Caiden had to agree. The rock canyon stretched out to a seemingly endless degree, and the four of them looked quite insignificant compared to the valley they were next to.

Arette directed them for another few minutes until they reached flatter ground, where the dusty ground became closer to dirt rather than sand. Then they stopped at the edge of a giant hole.

There was really no better word for it; it seemed like a large chasm had just opened up in the ground for no particular reason. It was wide and dark. Caiden peered over the edge, and shook his head. “I can’t see anything.”

“Me neither,” said Quinn, looking worried. “Are you telling me this is where the shield is?”

Arette shrugged apologetically. “Apparently.”

Caiden looked at her. “And you forgot to mention it’s at the bottom of a giant hole?”

“Not exactly,” Arette said. “I mean, I’d heard it was in a cave. This is…a very loose definition of cave.”

He threw up his hands and Quinn growled in frustration, but Scarlett stepped forward curiously.

“I’ve been here,” she said, thoughtfully. “I mean, I think I have. And look. You can see something.”

The three of them joined her at the edge of the hole and looked down.

“I really can’t,” Quinn said.

“You can,” Scarlett insisted. “There’s movement.”

They stared for a moment longer, and then Caiden realized she was right. He still couldn’t really see anything, but he could sense some sort of disturbance down there. “Is that…wind?” He asked.

“I think so,” said Scarlett, and held her hand out for Arette’s phone. Arette handed it to her and she turned on the flashlight, bent down and scooped a handful of dirt, and then scattered it in the hole.

The dirt didn’t disappear from view right away, but rather, seemed to almost float away. Scarlett nodded, as if convinced, and handed Arette’s phone back. “Yeah. I’ve done this before, I know I have.”

“Done what?” Quinn asked, a suspicious tone creeping into her voice.

Scarlett grinned and leaped forward, jumping into the gaping chasm.

Caiden inhaled sharply and Arette made a noise of surprise. Quinn’s eyes widened and her mouth opened a bit, and then they heard Scarlett’s voice—“Come on!” Her voice was then snatched away by the wind. It was too dark to see her or where she had ended up.

“No fucking way,” Quinn said incredulously. “She’s got to be joking.”

She backed up a step, and then suddenly Arette gave her a shove and she toppled into the hole. “Arette!” She howled as she fell.

“Payback!” Arette crowed gleefully, and then turned to Caiden.

“You guys can go. I’ll stay up here.”

He shook his head. “Yeah, you wish.” He grabbed her wrist and the two of them jumped together.

For a moment, he wondered if they were all astonishingly stupid and had just committed group suicide. And then he felt the wind current under him, so strong that it buoyed him and carried him with it.

It was suddenly dark and he realized the wind had carried them into some kind of tunnel. He couldn’t see anything, but he felt Arette’s hand grabbing his, clenching tightly. Then he heard a scream from somewhere ahead of them, and fear clutched at his heart, until he realized that it was a scream of exhilaration.

“Woo!” Quinn shouted in delight, and despite the initial shock, Caiden found himself laughing as her voice was carried towards them.

Arette began laughing then, too, and the wind curved and carried them like an invisible slide. The speed was amazing, amplified by the lack of light, but after half a minute he could spot something up front, a slowly growing light that was suddenly blocked by what he assumed was Quinn’s body. Then she was gone and the light shone again for a second before Caiden and Arette tumbled off the current as well.

Caiden let go of her hand as they dropped, and he landed on his feet. The drop hadn’t been severe—probably only six feet at most. Arette, however, groaned as she landed in a less dignified position.

They were in a cavern of sorts, one that was lit by some unknown source. Arette stood up and dusted herself off, and then she and Caiden joined Scarlett and Quinn where they stood, staring.

The shield was most definitely there: a round, silver disk with elaborate carvings and a blue dial in the middle. However, the shield was also active, hovering in midair, suspended by the blue force field it emitted.

The field took up the other half of the cavern, the one they weren’t standing in, extending all the way to the far wall. The blue was a light, glowing color, and it distorted the air, but it was also still translucent.

And behind the shield, trapped in the field, was a man.

“Well, hello there,” he said, grinning. “Who might you lot be?”

Quinn looked alarmed, as did Arette. Scarlett seemed confused, and Caiden thought it might be prudent to understand what exactly was happening. “I’m confused,” he volunteered. “Is this the shield we need?”

“Yes,” Arette said, and then clamped her mouth shut tightly as she considered her next words. “But we have to deactivate it before we can take it. And if we deactivate it…”

“You’ll let me out,” finished the man behind the shield. He bared his teeth in a smile and Caiden instinctively shivered, slightly repulsed by his mannerisms. He had a beard and looked as though he hadn’t showered in a long time, and his voice was deep but inherently conniving.

“Right. Who is this guy?” Caiden asked.

Scarlett shrugged and looked at Arette and Quinn.

“That’s James Ripley,” Quinn responded.

Caiden raised a brow. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?”

“Do you ever watch the news?” Arette asked, sounding exasperated. “There was a manhunt for him a couple years back. He was a serial killer that operated mostly in the first and second cities. The police in Prima and Kasa have uncovered as many as twenty victims, all attributed to him.”

Scarlett made a face. “Him? He doesn’t look all that dangerous.”

James Ripley said nothing, but laughed a little.

“He’s dangerous,” Quinn said darkly. “Apparently after they caught him, they moved him to a maximum-security prison.”

Caiden looked around. “This? But there’s nothing here. No guards or anything. It’s just him and…oh.”

“The shield,” Arette agreed. “I’m guessing they used it because it was the only thing that could contain him.”

“And how does it do that?” He asked.

“It’s called a shield, but it’s not exactly one in the conventional sense,” she answered. “Basically, the reason they’re so rare is because they’re so powerful. The shield can be activated from either behind it or in front of it, but once it’s active, only someone from the outside can shut it off. To do that you just fit your fingers into the grooves around it and allow your magic to unlock it.”

Caiden frowned. “That doesn’t seem very practical for a shield.”

“Not really,” said Arette. “But the unique thing about it is that once you’re inside, nothing can hurt you. Nothing we know of, anyways. That’s why Quinn needs it. If she uses it while she’s blowing up the field, the power bouncing around still can’t hurt her.”

“She also won’t be able to leave,” said James Ripley from behind the shield. “I mean, I don’t know what you want with this thing, but I’m telling you in advance that there’s no way out, magic or otherwise, unless somebody on the outside removes it.” He grinned at them again. “And I’m assuming that’s what you’re here to do, right?”

Scarlett frowned. “Wait, what are you talking about? Blowing up the field? What does that mean? Don’t we need this shield for our employer, or something?”

Quinn winced. “No, getting this shield is only part of the job. The rest is…more complicated. But first things first. We have to figure out what to do.”

She pulled on Arette and Scarlett, jerking her head towards the other end of the cavern, motioning for Caiden to come along as well. They stood in a huddle against the wall, as far away from Ripley as possible.

“Do we have to get it?” Scarlett questioned. “Can’t we just pass on the job?”

“It’s crucial to the mission,” said Arette softly. “We…we could pass on the job, but it’s a really important one. And the choice is Quinn’s.”

Scarlett looked like she wanted to ask why, but instead glanced at Quinn.

“We could die,” Caiden pointed out bluntly. “That’s the dilemma, right?”

“Not just that,” answered Quinn. “We’d also be letting a serial killer loose.”

“So kill him,” said Scarlett, as if it was obvious. “You’d be doing the world a favor.”

“Why is he locked up, anyways?” asked Caiden. “You’d think that murdering twenty people is enough for him to get executed.”

“Death penalty’s illegal in Prima,” Arette reminded him. Caiden groaned.

“Are y’all done over there?” Ripley drawled, almost lazily. “I know you’re gonna let me out. People don’t come out here, and especially not down here, if they’re not desperate.”

“Hold on!” Quinn snapped. “Yes, we’re letting you out. We’re also going to beat your pathetic ass to a pulp, so shut up while we figure out how.”

He laughed darkly at that, and Quinn scowled even as an ominous feeling crept into her stomach.

“So it’s settled,” said Scarlett. “We’ll remove the shield and kill him.”

“But like Quinn said, how?” Arette asked. “I mean, there’s probably a reason it took the police so long to catch him.”

Scarlett shrugged. “There’s four of us and one of him. It won’t be a problem.”

Quinn looked doubtful, but nodded. “Alright, I guess. But we should probably still have a general plan of some sort. Who’s going to remove the shield?”

Nobody said anything. Caiden sighed. “I’ll do it.”

“You sure?” Arette asked dubiously. “I mean, that’s probably the most dangerous position.”

He nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, then,” said Quinn. She didn’t seem as worried, and suddenly Caiden realized she was probably the only one now that knew the full extent of his powers. “Caiden will remove the disk, and then we’ll rush him. Everybody have a weapon?”

Everybody nodded except Scarlett, who raised her eyebrows. Quinn surveyed her for a moment, and then handed her the stunner from her belt.

“Really?” Scarlett complained. “Can’t I have a gun?”

“Sorry,” Quinn replied. “There’s only one left, and I’d rather keep it.”

Scarlett pointed at the sheath on her other leg. “You also have a knife. Can I at least have that?”

Quinn thought about it for a second, then sighed and pulled the knife out and handed it to her. Scarlett smiled gratefully and took it, twirling it expertly. She seemed pleased to realize she was so dexterous.

“Muscle memory,” Caiden said to her, softly. “You don’t remember it, but your body does.”

They broke apart and headed towards the shield. Quinn, Scarlett and Arette stopped a little ways from the field, but Caiden continued until he was close enough to touch the shield, and found himself face-to-face with Ripley.

“You know,” Caiden said, fitting his right hand into the grooves carved into the disk, “you really suck at negotiating. You should probably at least pretend you’re not going to try to kill us.”

Ripley laughed as Caiden fit his other hand into the remaining grooves. “You’ve got it wrong, kid,” he said. “I’m not going to try to kill you.”

“Oh?”

“I am going to kill you.”

“Cheers,” said Caiden, and poured his magic through his hands, watching Ripley carefully as he tugged on the shield, and the force field began to retract rapidly.

“Guess nobody told you,” he said, as the last of the field disappeared.

Caiden frowned. “Told me what?”

Ripley smiled, and then disappeared.

“Dammit,” Caiden muttered, and turned around just in time to see Ripley reappear behind Quinn and smack her in the head.

She didn’t even have time to cry out, and dropped to the ground like a rock. She was out.

Scarlett cursed and dove for the gun in Quinn’s belt, but Ripley kicked her wrist as she got it out and the gun went flying, landing in the shadows somewhere. He disappeared and reappeared behind Arette, but to Caiden’s surprise it seemed as though she anticipated it and she pistol-whipped him, but he disappeared before she could inflict too much damage.

Caiden tensed and turned, feeling Ripley behind him, and instead of backing up, he lunged forward and grasped Ripley’s arm, pouring pain through his fingers.

Ripley howled and twisted away from him suddenly, disappearing.

He reappeared behind Scarlett and kneed her in the back, teleporting away before Scarlett could even retaliate. She hissed in pain and anger, and Caiden could see her eyes changing.

“Behind me!” Arette shouted, and Scarlett ran over just as Ripley materialized, slashing at him with the knife. He jumped back before Scarlett could make contact and narrowed his eyes at Arette, having figured out that she could somehow anticipate his movements.

“Flux user, are you?” He called from the other side of the room. “Hate them. That’s how they caught me in the first place—they had one on the lookout, checking for warps in the field. I think I’m gonna kill you first.”

Arette tensed as he disappeared, and then a look of confusion crossed her face. Then as she glanced upwards, Ripley appeared in midair and fell towards her. She moved to step back, but wasn’t fast enough, and he caught her in a choke as he landed on top of her, her already diminutive frame seeming especially small under him. Arette went limp.

Scarlett stabbed down at him viciously, but he vanished and she almost tripped over Arette’s body. She let out a string of curses and backed up against a wall, motioning for Caiden to do the same.

He pressed himself up against the wall just as Ripley appeared behind him, causing Caiden to accidentally back Ripley into the wall. Ripley grunted in anger and wrapped his arms in a sleeper hold around Caiden’s neck, but Caiden pressed his fingers into Ripley’s forearm and pain coursed through the serial killer again, causing him to cry out and let go.

He appeared in front of Scarlett rather than behind her, which seemed to surprise her, but her eyes flashed with determination and she met him midway. They clashed for a couple moments before he suddenly vanished again and appeared right next to her.

Caiden watched helplessly as Scarlett battled him fruitlessly, her enhanced reflexes still no match for a man who could appear and disappear at will. Then suddenly Ripley appeared at her side and crouched, allowing Scarlett’s swing to miss, and then he picked her up and threw her into the wall.

She hit the rocks with a sickening thud, and dropped to the floor, unconscious. Caiden felt his stomach flip, and then abandon him altogether. “Uh,” he said, because he could think of nothing else to say.

Ripley grinned his malicious grin at Caiden, and Caiden could see a bit of blood staining his teeth, probably from one of the times Scarlett had managed to strike him.

“Looks like you’re all alone,” he cooed, and Caiden tried his best to look unfazed.

“You can’t touch me,” he said. “Touch me and you’ll get more pain then you’ve ever felt.”

Instead of teleporting, Ripley walked over to Caiden calmly. “I’ve discovered something about healers, you know.”

Caiden narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.

“There was this one woman I killed—forget her name, but it was something pretty—she was a healer. And the thing is, they can make you hurt, but only as much as you let them. If you just endure the pain for a little while…”

He vanished and reappeared right in front of Caiden, closing the distance between them in an instant, and wrapped his hands around Caiden’s throat, lifting him and pinning him against the wall.

Caiden’s eyes widened as he clawed at the hands around his neck and weakly tried to use his power.

“…Eventually, they can’t hurt you if they can’t breathe.”

Caiden could feel tears beginning to form as the pressure from Ripley’s hands increased, and his own hands fell away, unable to do anything as he felt himself weaken. The shield clattered out of his grip and hit the ground. His eyes darted around frantically, looking for something, anything, anything that could possibly save him, and—

From the corner of his eye, he realized that Quinn was no longer lying in the spot she had been in, and his gaze flickered back to Ripley’s murderous face, and his own face was bright red by now, and he knew that he didn’t have long before he passed out, and then died.

Caiden’s vision was swimming, but as he looked over Ripley’s shoulder he could make out Quinn’s form, wriggling into place beneath him. And then suddenly he was no longer pressed against the wall, and he dropped to the floor gasping, black spots dancing across the world.

Ripley roared in pain and staggered backward, at which point Quinn tripped him, mounted him, and knocked him out with a swift right hook before he could recover.

Caiden touched his neck gingerly, breathing deeply in relief as the damage to his lungs healed. He looked at Quinn incredulously.

“You got him with a dick shot.”

She nodded, almost thoughtfully. “Yes, yes I did.”

Then she winced and probed her skull. “This hurts like a bitch, though. If you could?”

Caiden nodded and crawled over a couple feet to her, gently resting his hand against her hand. She sighed as her wound healed. “Thanks.”

She pointed at the shield, lying on the ground where Caiden had dropped it. “At least we have that. And Ripley’s out cold.”

“So are they,” Caiden said, indicating Scarlett and Arette. “I should probably go fix that.”

“Probably,” Quinn agreed, and picked up the shield. They stood, and she looked down at James Ripley. “I’ll watch him while you do.”

Caiden nodded and crossed the cavern, hesitating before crouching next to Arette first. She had been out for longer.

He checked for a pulse and found that it was steady, much to his relief. He healed her and probed her softly, satisfied as she began to stir. He moved away from her and towards Scarlett, grimacing as he saw the blood in her hair. She had hit her skull pretty hard, evidently, and the jagged rocks were not forgiving.

“It’s okay,” he muttered, to himself. “Head wounds bleed a lot. Probably not as bad as it looks.”

He carefully moved her hair aside, until he could see the wound on her head. He repaired it quickly, wondering briefly if he might accidentally cure her amnesia as well.

But it was too late. What was done was done, and Scarlett began to wake up.

“Damn,” groaned Arette. “I feel like I drowned and then wrestled a whale and then drowned again.”

Quinn snorted. “Yeah, that’s exactly what happened.”

Scarlett rubbed her head, and then looked at the blood on her hand with distaste. “Jesus, am I alive?”

“Yeah,” Caiden answered. “I healed you.”

She looked at him, and for a second, he was afraid that she had remembered everything. Then she smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Caiden.”

“What she said,” Arette said, pointing at Scarlett. Then she looked at Ripley.

“Quinn got him with a dick shot,” Caiden offered by way of explanation.

Arette made an appreciative face. “Nice. What now?”

“Stick to the plan,” answered Scarlett. “He’s not dead, is he?”

Quinn shook her head. “And he’ll come to soon enough.”

Scarlett crossed over to the shadows and searched around until she found the gun. She straightened up and tossed it to Quinn, who caught it, but held it hesitantly.

She looked down at Ripley, her expression apprehensive.

“He killed twenty people,” reminded Caiden. “And he almost killed us.”

She sniffed in annoyance. “I know. It’s just a little weird when he’s already unconscious. I…I usually try not to kill if I don’t have to.”

“You have to,” Scarlett pointed out. “Otherwise we’ll have let a serial killer go free.”

She said nothing for a minute, and then Scarlett gently took the gun from Quinn’s hands. “I’ll do it, if you want.”

Quinn nodded and stepped back.

Everybody looked away, but the gunshot was loud and clear in the silence.

Scarlett returned the gun to Quinn, who accepted it and holstered it. “Where to now?” Scarlett asked.

They all looked at Arette, who was picking up her own gun from the ground. Caiden realized belatedly that his baton had slipped from his back pocket, probably while they were being tossed around by the wind. He spotted it across the cavern floor, gleaming.

“Aski,” answered Arette.

Both Quinn and Caiden stiffened. Only Scarlett seemed nonchalant. “The seventh city,” she said. “Lots of mortals there, right? Why are we going there?”

“That’s exactly why,” answered Arette. “My role is to find the weakest point in the flux field, but even then, we need a general area first. Luckily, it’s pretty obvious. Sorcerers are naturally, unconsciously drawn to magic. The first city was built by our ancestors on the strongest point, and Aski, the city furthest from the first, was built upon the weakest point, mostly by mortals.”

“Back to the beginning,” Quinn muttered, more to herself than to anybody else.

“It’s only fitting,” Caiden joked. “Full circle, right?”

“Right.”

“Could someone please explain this whole thing to me, please?” asked Scarlett, putting her hands on her hips in an impatient manner.

Quinn sighed. “It’s a long story. We’ll tell you on the way.” Or parts of it, anyways.

For the first time, Caiden noticed that the light was coming from the other side of the cavern, through a large chute that was probably used to deliver food and such to Ripley. They must have modified the enchantments on this particular shield to allow food to pass through.

Quinn raised her hand, and the side of the cavern exploded.