The survivors had blocked the path leading to the fire escape off the third floor. Somehow, the wild Eidos hadn’t figured out where they were. It took Julian, Andre, and Mariah an hour and a half to reach them, but in total there were about thirty survivors hunkered down throughout the steps.

“Does any of you have an Eidos tamed?” Andre asked the crowd.

A few hands went up in the air.

“Good, let me show you how this works.”

Andre spent the next few minutes showing the few who had captured Eidos how to summon them. Maria updated their maps for them, showing them the outline of the Eidos population in conjunction with the safe zone at USF.

By the time the survivors were on their way, it had been two hours since they had started this journey

“You think Oryx is ready by now?” Maria asked.

“Should be. Here’s to hoping.”

Andre summoned Oryx. The antelope looked like it always did. At least, it did compare to the first few times Julian had seen him.

“Maria, I’m going to suggest you summon your new Eidos,” Andre said.

“You think that’s a good idea? It sliced Oryx up pretty badly back there,” Julian said.

“That’s my point. We need to make sure we don’t have any hiccups between them.”

Maria shrugged. “Okay then. Let’s see…” She pressed summon, and purple glowing particles flowed from her bracer, pooling together to give form to the little monkey from before.

Oryx didn’t budge, or let on like he cared.

“Hmm, that’s weird,” Andre said.

“What is it?”

“Oryx doesn’t seem to recognize the monkey. It’s almost as if it’s a completely different creature from before.”

“We can figure this out later,” Julian said, stepping forward.

The monkey jumped, climbing up Maria’s back and hiding behind her.

“She is scared,” Maria said, reaching a hand back to scratch the monkey’s head. “She will get used to this. It’s just going to take some time, won’t it, Matilda?” Maria asked confidently. She held her arms out, and the monkey climbed into them.

“Matilda?” Julian asked, smirking at Maria.

“I think it’s sweet.” Maria smiled lovingly as she held Matilda in a hug.

Julian sighed. "Let’s get a move on. We still have two more SOS signals to check out."

Everyone mounted Oryx, and soon they were off down the street.

The next SOS beacon was in a small cafe, but as Oryx arrived, other people with Eidos had already arrived and were helping people out of their hiding places.

One of the other tamers waved them down, causing Andre to pull Oryx up to a stop.

The tamer waving them down was an older man, just greying, and standing beside him was a large praying mantis that came up to his waist.

“Hey guys, looking for a safe zone? It’s fixing to get dark soon.” The tamer asked.

Andre shook his head. “No, thank you. We were actually coming here to help, but it looks like you beat us to it.”

The older man smiled. “I’m glad to see there are others out there trying to do good in this mess. Be careful and stay safe.” He held his hand out, which Andre shook.

With that settled, Oryx took off towards the final SOS beacon, and they had an hour and a half left before sunset.

“That was nice,” Maria said. Matilda had settled into holding on to Maria’s back.

Julian nodded. “Like he said, it’s good to see people trying to help in this mess.”

As they got closer to the last beacon, more Eidos were making an appearance.

Oryx managed to dodge most of them, and only a couple of times did Omen have to appear out of Oryx’s shadow to take out a few Eidos who got too close for comfort. Most of them seemed to ignore them, though.

“I wonder why they aren’t getting closer. They don’t appear to be as aggressive as before.” Andre noted.

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“Oh! That’s because of Matilda.”

“Huh?” Andre asked.

“Matilda has an ability that suppresses their presence. It was why it took so long for our bracers to detect her,” Maria said.

“But Omen could detect her easily,” Julian added.

“True, and all his attacks did extra damage as well. Maybe mental is weak to ice and darkness?” Andre asked out loud.

“God, it is a game,” Maria cringed.

Julian chuckled. “Regardless, her ability is great. Good looking out, Maria. You too, Matilda.”

Matilda squeaked in response, her large eyes wide as she watched out around them.

“She said thank you,” Maria translated.

The sky was already a deep shade of orange and purple. Dark clouds were starting to roll in, signaling a storm. Still, the aurora effect and continual eruption of light from the tower was glowing over the city, unceasing.

The last SOS beacon was at a warehouse. Large passenger vans covered in Artino Industries logos were parked outside, and the place looked deserted. However, sounds of Eidos fighting and gunfire raged close by.

“Do either of you know what this place is?” Julian asked.

Maria shook her head, but Andre soon replied. “If I had to guess, this is one of the storage warehouses Artino uses. Even with all the space in the towers, you wouldn’t want to keep everything under one roof. He still kept warehouses like this for off-site departments.”

Maria pulled up her map. “A frontline has been established to try and take back the tower. Since the Eidos were pouring from the place, I can only imagine what it’s going to take to get through them.”

Andre pulled Oryx into a gas station parking lot that was across the street from the warehouse and slid off his back. Julian and Maria joined him before he called Oryx back into his capsule.

“Everything okay?” Julian asked as the last of Oryx’s particles returned to Andre’s bracer.

Andre nodded. “I could tell Oryx was tired and still recovering from his fight, and right now he would stand out like a sore thumb. With Matilda small enough to hide on Maria and Omen in the shadows, we should be fine. Worst case, I smash the summon button and Oryx bursts out on anything trying to hammer us.”

Julian nodded and looked back at Maria. “How are you and Matilda holding up?”

Maria was busy looking around the parking lot, turning her head in the same direction as Matilda.

“Maria?” Julian asked.

“Hmm?” Maria hummed at him before slowly shaking her head. “Is the bond always so detailed? Matilda and I had a whole conversation on our way here.”

“Conversation?” Andre asked, stepping towards her. “Eidos don’t speak.”

“Matilda does,” Maria said, nodding at them. Even Matilda joined in and nodded along with her. “Like, it’s across the bond for sure, and I think it has something to do with her affinity? The girl is brilliant.” Maria fawned over her.

Matilda chirped softly, rubbing her cheek against Maria’s, causing her to giggle.

Julian suddenly felt Omen interrupting them, a warning as footsteps echoed nearby.

“We have company,” Julian warned them.

“Quick, inside,” Andre said, stepping through the busted front door of the station. Julian, Maria, and Matilda joined him, hiding behind the clerk’s counter.

Across the road, people were walking down the length of the warehouse on the sidewalk. As they got closer, Julian could tell that they were wearing what looked like riot gear or body armor. On the front vest was the Artino Industries logo. They carried guns strapped over their shoulders.

“Think they are from the front lines?” Maria asked.

“I don’t know,” Andre answered, his brow furrowed in thought. “If they are fighting, and they appear to move around easily enough without worrying about wild Eidos, then why the SOS signal?”

“Think it’s a recruitment beacon for the front lines?” Julian asked.

Andre shook his head. "I don’t think so. Maria, can you locate the source of the SOS beacon?

Maria shrugged. “I can try. Give me a moment.”

Andre and Julian watched the men enter the parking lot of the warehouse. They stopped short of the door, sorting through their pockets. Pulling out a card key, they swiped it, causing the front door to unlock and open for them to enter. The door swung shut behind them, locking firmly.

“Okay, got it,” Maria said, bringing her bracer down between the three of them to show them. “Looks like the beacon itself is deep beneath the warehouse.”

“Beneath it? You sure?” Andre asked, his eyes questioning.

“I’m fairly sure. Enough to want to check it out, anyway,” Maria answered.

“Okay then,” Andre said, turning his attention back to the warehouse.

Julian looked from Maria to Andre. “Andre?”

“Yes?” He kept his attention out the window.

“Is there something you’re not telling us?”

Andre looked back at Julian. “What do you mean?”

“You picked the route, knowing it would lead us here. Now, here we are. What do you think is in that warehouse? Did you even know it was an Artino warehouse?”

Andre listened to Julian, nodding as his face showed multitudes of emotion. He leaned down from the window, sitting with his back against the wall. “Honestly, I knew this was a warehouse, but I didn’t know it belonged to Artino. I don’t know what’s inside, but if he has guards working out of it, you best believe I want to see what’s inside and why that SOS beacon is still going off.”

“So it could be a trap,” Maria added, looking between Julian and Andre.

“Could be,” Andre answered, “but we won’t know until we get in there and see.”

Julian looked down at his bracer.

[Time Remaining: 39:20:15]

“Okay, I’m in,” Julian said.

Maria looked up in surprise.

Julian continued, “I trust you for saving us. Even if you had ulterior motives to capture Omen, you didn’t have to take us to the safe zone, and you didn’t have to trust us with your connection to Dr. Miura,” Julian held his hand out to Andre, “but once this is over, I want to hear everything you know. Deal?”

Andre looked from Julian’s hand to Maria, then back to Julian. He looked him in the eye, studying him.

“We have a deal,” Andre said, smiling as he took hold of Julian’s hand.

A noise from the warehouse caught everyone’s attention. The door had opened, and more guards were coming out in body armor and weapons. Some were even loading Eidos capsules into their bracers.

“First, we need a keycard,” Andre said.

“I think we can do something about that,” Maria said, smiling as Matilda chirped on her shoulder. “But we might need Omen’s help.”

Omen stirred from the shadows, his boredom being drowned by curiosity.

“He’s in,” Julian said.

“Awesome! Send Omen across to the parking lot, but don’t get too close. We don’t want to alert their bracers to his presence. Hide him under a van.”

“You get all that?” Julian asked out loud.

A soft shadow rippled out from behind the counter, heading out the front door.

Julian could sense Omen wanted a fight, so he sent a wave of patience to his wolf. If they could get inside, who knows how much fighting awaited them in there? Omen sent back a wave of excitement, picking up his pace towards the vans.

Maria looked out the window with Matilda.

No words were exchanged, but Julian watched Matilda nod slowly before her eyes turned a shade of purple.

Across the street, the guard in the rear suddenly tripped over his feet, causing the others to turn around. Laughter erupted from the group.

“You okay, Conway?” One guard asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t know what the hell that was,” Conway replied, groaning as he got to his feet.

The front guard had stopped putting his keycard away. “Alright, fall in line. We’re going to war out there. Thanks for the laugh, Conway. Try not to get under feet out there with the monsters. They’ll crush you, and us.”

“Yes, sir,” Conway replied.

Matilda was still focusing on the group, watching them intently.

As the guard went to put his card away in his pocket, a soft, almost invisible purple light enveloped the card in the man’s pocket. As the guards marched away, the keycard slipped out of his pocket and into the shadows of the warehouse.

Maria smiled smugly. “There we go. Omen should be able to fetch it easily, now.”

Julian smirked. “Show off.”