Haruspex nodded off again, drifting into sleep to the deep rhythm of Revol’s voice. He was talking to the friend-cloud, as he called them, reassuring them that they would be able to take shape. She’d told him that she worried their closeness might be slowing them down, and that they’d need to find a way of separating them for it to happen.

“Forge is awful quiet,” Reev said back.

“I’m serious,” said Haruspex.

“Me too. He hasn’t tried to take shape once.”

“Then how do you know which one is him?”

“Can’t you tell?”

One patch of cloud was noticeably larger. Besides that, when she listened, she could feel the energy of each of her friends. Forge was calmer here than he ever was in Briah, so she had to listen extra hard.

So Revol took to offering them comfort, now and then pushing one of Cat’s buttons just to see him try to form a hand with one finger extended.

She leaned her head back against Revol’s chest. He tightened his arms around her waist, and she wrapped her arms over them, gripping the backs of his gauntlets.

“Hey,” he said.

“What’s up?”

“I mean everything I’m saying to them. We’re all gonna be okay.”

“I know.”

“You know I mean it? Or you know we will? Or all of the above?”

“What about none of the above?”

“Whaddaya think this is? Multiple choice?”

She laughed, causing her visor to fog briefly. Her skullfort then seemed to become more than a helmet by virtue of her will and the fog was cleared.

“I like what you’re trying,” she said, “but I’m afraid it won’t work.”

“You think we need to scare ‘em?”

She waved a hand at the friend-cloud. “Hey, Cat, you know you or Euk don’t take shape again then Reev’s in charge.”

Revol said he heard a scream.

“You did not. They didn’t even laugh.”

“Well,” he tightened his arms around her, “I think you’re funny.”

She tucked up her legs and they floated through nearly tangible purple clouds in a fetal embrace. When they came out of the clouds, they saw land.

“No kidding,” said Reev. “Man, I’m tired of floating.”

He let her go and they descended, drawing the friend-cloud along with their voices. Haruspex didn’t realize how badly she missed solid ground until they landed.

“Check it out,” said Reev.

“What?”

“This place as atmo. Breathable too.”

She checked the PIP in her visor. “Wow. I guess it makes sense though. We made our new bodies here. And our gear.”

“Ya know, if we can breathe, that means we can get naked.”

“With our team floating behind us?”

“We’re trying to scare ‘em, aren’t we?”

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She wanted to believe she saw a reaction from the friend-cloud, but it was hard to tell what they were going through.

“How do you think they feel?” she asked.

“Squishy?”

“Reev…”

“I don’t know, Ru. I’d like to think they were miserable, because then they’d be more motivated to change back like we did. But it seems like something’s stopping them. Besides, right now, I’m more concerned with the lunatic who ran off to fetch the monster she plans to feed us to.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. Didn’t you catch the crazy vibe off that thing?”

Haruspex sighed. This time her visor didn’t even fog. “She seemed helpful before.”

“But how ‘with it’ were you? I barely remember my time here, and I’d rather not remember anything at all.”

“I thought you were with me. But I guess you weren’t.”

He was walking a little ways ahead. He stopped and turned when she said that and put his hands around her skullfort.

“I thought you were with me, too.”

She pushed his hands away and hurriedly took her skullfort off, then fumbled at the seal around his, awkwardly pulling the latch. They were kissing before their gear hit the ground.

“So, gravity’s a thing,” Reev said when they were picking their skullforts back up. “Hey guys, why don’t you float down a little closer to the ground? That way you won’t fall on your asses when you, you know, change back to normal really quick. Don’t wanna rush you or anything.”

Ru held back a small wave of tears. “We need to give them time.”

“No, Ru. We need to get them to hurry. We have a universe to save, remember?”

She laughed. “You mean a galaxy.”

“I think we’re in more danger than that. Look at this place. There’s only eight of the bastards, and they made all this.”

Haruspex looked around their horizon. The sky was shifting shades of red with violet patches that rained white pollen like seafoam, all beneath a stormy planet that brooded over them with its cloud piercing gaze. There were far off mountains with groves of golden needled trees on their foothills, and luminous hills that straddled deep and shaded valleys. Away north a green ocean steamed as it lapped onto pink sands. They walked through the dream of a goddess; feminine lovely with a whisper ever caught between her lips.

And there was a vast space beyond. Nowhere near the scope of Briah, but large enough for multiple worlds, and Revol’s point was saliant; there were only eight of the bastards.

“Why would they invade us,” Haruspex thought out loud, “when they can make worlds of their own?”

“Maybe they’re doing something else.”

“What else could they be doing? Sending soldiers into our territory is an invasion.”

There was a rocky outcropping bursting from the pink and orange soil. Reev sat on a smooth lump of emergent stone. “Haven’t you noticed how different the Tangents are acting this time? It’s almost like they’re nervous.”

“Because they only sent one commander and a few troops?”

“Yeah. Last time they all came and went crazy.”

“I’ve heard the theory that the first breach was accidental, explaining the chaotic behaviour of the Tangents.”

“Makes sense to me. When they finally retreated, they were all huddled together in the same spot, like they were waiting for something.”

Ru smiled faintly. The others had questioned her attraction to Revol. She had told them that she liked him because he made her laugh, when the real reason was that he made her think. “They figured out what happened before and where it would happen again.”

He shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe they were developing a way to cross over, and it worked better than they expected.”

“And this time it’s going as planned. It makes sense. The Phrastus Belt grew slowly oved a long period of time. No one even noticed the breach for decades after the dark space between the Belt and the Verge appeared.”

“They had plenty of time to slip a few scouts through. Maybe even plant a few spies. I’m not saying they aren’t invading. I’m just saying we shouldn’t make assumptions.”

Her stomach tightened. She wanted to go back to their own plane and reunite with the other Harbingers, but an opportunity was before them now, and while she didn’t like it, they couldn’t ignore it.

“You thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?” she asked.

“If it involves you getting out of all that armor, then yeah.”

“Reev, I’m being serious.”

“So am I. It’s been a while. Okay, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking we need intel.”

He seemed disappointed as he looked around and up at the sky, but he nodded acceptingly. “Yep. We do have an opportunity before us. Here’s the thing; if we’re gonna do some recon, we’re gonna need a team. Gonna be hard to reconnoiter while we’re walking the cuddle puddle.”

“You hear that, guys? Time to…”

She went quiet and still.

“What’s up?” asked Reev.

She nodded towards a nearby hill. There was a light moving towards them, casting a blue glimmer over the hill’s luminous yellow grass. It was Netz.