I take a hesitant step forward, then back. The shop’s open. Now’s my chance to sneak inside. If they see me, they’ll kill me, but if I don’t take a chance, I might be missing my only opportunity to get Noli the help she needs.

Fighting my indecision, I creep out of my hiding spot, approaching the dark void of the open door with a shiver. Quiet, indistinct voices waft from within. I cross the road, hugging the wall that leads into Cloud’s Artifacts. Just a few feet from the entrance now. I take another step—

A light inside flickers on.

I freeze as cries of alarm ring from the building. Fear jolts through me. The last time I heard yelling like that was when the predator—

Saru and Tetara stumble out the front door, arms laden with jars and flasks.

“What is this?” a man’s voice comes from inside. “Thieves!”

“We didn’t think anyone was here,” Saru says.

“We don’t want trouble,” Tetara adds.

“Trouble?” the man scoffs, stepping outside. “Says the people who break into my shop and home in the middle of the night?” He’s brandishing a staff with a blue stone glowing at the tip. I give him a quick Check.

[Hemral Cloud, Conjurer Wizard, level 21.]

A wizard! But only half Trenevalt’s level. Ten levels less than Zyneth. This is who I’m pinning my hopes on?

“We’ll pay you back,” Saru says, retreating a pace. “But we can’t hand these back over. They have to be destroyed.”

The light in Hemral’s staff grows brighter, casting the alley in a wavering oceanic light. “I’m not going to let you destroy my merchandise and just walk away.”

“Please,” Saru says. “This is for everyone’s safety.” Her plea is desperate, yet strong.

Hemral scoffs. “As if that—”

“There’s a rogue summoner,” Tetara cuts in. “They killed our friends last week. In Peakshadow. Did you hear about that?”

It feels like my limbs have turned to ice. I’m frozen to the spot.

Hemral’s eyes narrow with suspicion. “Ay, I heard about some trouble up in the hills. Sorry for your friends. What’s all this got to do with my shop?”

Saru takes a step forward. “We saw it all first-hand. A shadow creature that killed anything that got in its path. That killed my team. Tetara managed to defeat it, but it vanished.”

“A summoned monster with a glass foci,” Tetara grunts. Unlike Saru, her eyes are burning with hate instead of regret. Wild, instead of stoic.

“And I imagine you got a good look at the summoner?” Hemral asks, weapon still raised.

Saru hesitates, then shakes her head. “We don’t know who they were. But we know they could only have come this way, and if they try here what they did in Peakshadow, a lot more people will die.”

Hemral sighs, his staff dipping. “You’re just kids. It’s not your job to fight this mysterious summoner on your own. Leave it to the city guard. Come on. Bring those back inside and we’ll have a chat.”

Saru looks to her companion. “Perhaps we can convince him.”

But Tetara shakes her head, taking a step back. “We can’t allow any summoning materials to fall into the wrong hands.”

Finally, my ice cracks. Echo, I call. Check their supplies.

[Summoning candles, summoning crystals, null arcanum salt—] Yes! Finally. [—null arcanum-enriched chalk—] And the chalk!

But just as quickly as my hope soars, it comes crashing back down as I realize the direness of the situation. Tetara and Saru’s crusade against summoning materials started before I even got to Harrowood, and if it’s as thorough as it seems, these meager supplies might be the last batch of null materials in the whole city.

I eye the jar of salt in Tetara’s arms warily, and the packet of chalk in Saru’s hands. I just need to grab one. Just one.

“If we hand these back over,” Tetara continues, “How will you guarantee none of this will be sold to any customers?”

Hemral scowls. “That’s not your call, girl.”

“See?” Tetara says to her friend. “I told you he couldn’t be reasoned with.”

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I tense. No, please, you guys can talk this out.

Hemral raises his staff once more. “I’m warning you.”

Saru hesitates, glancing between Hemral and Tetara. Can she talk her down? Dammit. I’m sick of being so helpless. If I had brought my cheat sheet with me—if I could just tell them all what happened—

Then, everyone moves at once.

Tetara steps forward.

Saru calls, “Wait!”

Hemral jerks his staff toward Tetara, a blue light flashing from the crystal. With a wave of heat, a fireball flies toward her.

Tetara doesn’t even flinch. She takes the hit square in her chest, the jars in her arms exploding in the blast.

No!

Shards of glass and burning material spray through the street. Tetara shrugs it off like a sunburn, dumping the burning remnants of her supplies to the ground.

Hemral swears. “You two will pay for this. I’m part of the Merchant’s Guild, you know!”

This apparently means as little to Tetara as it does to me, as she only snorts, stepping around the burning pile of supplies, planting herself between Hemral and the flickering blue flames. “Saru!”

Face filled with tired resignation, she steps up to the fire and throws her supplies—and my only hope—into the blaze as well.

I watch in horror as the box of chalk goes up in flames. No, she can’t do this, not when I was finally so close! I raise my glass as if reaching out, desperately wishing I could reach into the fire and pull them free.

And a shadow rises from the cobblestones, stretching like fingers for the flames.

Fear bolts through me like lightning. The predator! No, how did it get here, my Void isn’t at 100% yet. But the wavering intangible abyss before me can only be one thing, and it doesn’t matter how it appeared because I have to run, run—

Tetara’s eyes dart toward the shadow’s movements, then she sucks in a startled breath, eyes widening at the void-hand clawing its way into existence. After a moment of frozen silence, she rips her ax from its holder, face contorting with fiery hate. “It’s here!” she roars.

I stumble back—away from Tetara or the predator, I don’t even know—and the clawed hand jerks in my direction. I’m lanced with panic as I scramble to get away, but the hand bobs after, as if pulled along…

…like a kite on a string.

My mind races. Something’s different. The predator’s mind isn’t overwhelming me, and I don’t feel that ache like I’ve been split open. In fact, it takes me until now to realize I haven’t been; there’s no crack in my glass. No ink leaking out. Just the hand-shaped void, which I can distantly sense. Almost like…

Hesitantly, I mentally prod the shadows. And they respond to my will, the darkness retreating a respectful distance.

“What?” I hear Saru call. “What is it?”

They don’t matter. All I can focus on is the void, and the brimming horror as I finally understand. It’s the fraction of the predator that I had Attuned. Those shadows are responding to me. They reached out for the burning supplies because I wanted to. But I don’t want this. Not this way. Horror bleeds into revulsion as I try to throw the shadows away from me. It splatters across the street, but the spots of inky black creep back in my direction, as if drawn by a magnet.

I back away, tripping over myself in my panic. No, no, I don’t want it! Get it away from me! Get it away—

[Replace item in inventory?] Echo asks.

I don’t care. Just as long as it’s gone, as long as it can’t touch me—

The void evaporates, gone in an instant.

[Item returned to inventory.]

I stare at the empty spot of the street, numb with fear or relief, I’m not even sure. It’s gone, at least. I don’t even—

The cobblestones explode into shrapnel of rock. Three of my legs collapse as debris flies through them, shattering the limbs in a spike of pain. Another stone pings off of my vial with a sharp crack.

[12 points of Piercing damage sustained.]

Tetara roars. “Where is it? Coward! Show yourself!” She yanks her ax from the ground, casting a shower of dirt and pebbles over me. She wheels around, swiping her weapon at imaginary foes.

“What are you doing?” Hemral asks, his voice somewhere between irritation and concern. “You’ve gone mad.”

“The summoner was here,” she seethes, rounding once more on where the void had been. “Didn’t you see? It was here!”

“I think you need to calm down.” The way Hemral is now holding his staff appears more defensive. He eyes the large crevice she’s carved out of the street.

Saru seems equally confused. “Are you sure? I didn’t see it. Tet, you’re getting worked up.”

“I’m not getting worked up!” Tetara yells. “It was here!” There’s a strange glint in her eyes. Even in the night, even in the glow of Hemral’s blue flame, something red is burning brighter in her gaze. Her breathing is getting heavier. Ripples of orange flicker beneath her skin and wisp across her muscles.

What’s happening? I ask Echo, attempting to drag myself back. Amidst the darkness and debris of the destroyed supplies and broken street, I’ve apparently gone unnoticed, but I can’t count on luck to stop me from getting stepped on.

[The orc is becoming Enraged,] Echo says. [Enraged: An ability which grants the user heightened strength and resistance to all forms of damage, at the expense of the user’s mental awareness.]

And she was about to go Hulk in the middle of a city. Because of me. Because of that damn void. If she hadn’t seen it—if I hadn’t Attuned it in the first place—if I had figured out what that Void stat meant sooner, if, if, if—

Saru grabs Tetara’s arm, and the woman flinches. “It’s not here,” Saru says. “You have to calm down.”

Tetara grinds her teeth, swinging her head from side to side as her gaze darts down the streets. If I move, she might see me. And honestly, I’m not even sure that I don’t want her to find me.

Hemral fires a blast of blue into the sky. Saru and Tetara take a step back, their faces lit in cobalt light as the flare flickers out.

Tetara rounds on him. “What—”

“The guards will be here soon,” Hemral says, mouth set grimly. “If you’re around when they arrive, you’ll be arrested for destruction of Guild property.” He nods to Saru. “Get your friend some help. I’ll spread word about this… summoner of yours.”

Saru pulls on Tetara’s arm. “Thank you.”

Tetara keeps her glare locked on Hemral for a long moment. Then she sighs, passing a hand over her face, and the flickering light dies out beneath her skin. “I’m fine. Alright. Let’s go.”

The women turn away, shoulders hunched. I can only watch as they vanish down the street, oblivious to the doom they just sentenced me to. My legs are broken, so I can’t walk. My cheat sheet is gone, so I can’t ask for help. And now my last hope is left burning in the street.

This is it, isn’t it? It’s over. I lost. There’s no way for me to get back to Noli in time, let alone with a way to save her. The scene flickers a silent, cold blue as I sit there, alone, watching the stars wink indifferently above as I wait for the end.