The return to the dry heat of the outback after spending weeks in the damp swamp and the Crocodilian sewer tunnels should have been a relief. It was far from it. I tried to stretch in the over-stuffed cart that Orion had seemingly pulled from his ass only to hear a chorus of angry muffled muttering from my travel companions. All of us were stuffed in here. Me, Nora, Kendrick, Theo, Cassie, Stella, Boopzy, and Gabby. Gabby looked the most pained from being tied and I couldn’t blame her, the way they’d trapped her wings, crushing the feathers and straining the joints at her shoulders looked like hell.

Sob trudged along behind the cart wearing an ugly collar covered in skulls that bound his magic. It was hard to see him from my place among the mountain of people in the cart but what I saw was odd, to say the least. Having his magic bound meant his mane and tail could no longer exist. Seeing a horse without them was like seeing a turtle without its shell. It was just plain wrong.

Frank, like Sob was bound although his binding came in the form of a cage that rattled and bounced over our heads. The cage was held by a sad-looking pole jammed into the side of the cart. Frank looked completely dejected. He’d compressed himself into the likeness of a ball with his beak pressed tight against his feathered chest. He barely moved and more disturbingly was completely silent.

The leather strap tied tight around my head pulled painfully as it dug deeper into the weak edges of my mouth. The leather was damp with my saliva and maybe a little blood, judging from the taste. I guess I shouldn’t complain too much. I had been thrown on top after all and the way my ass ground into Kendrick’s ribs felt unpleasant enough for me let alone him. Every time I moved the man shot me a withering glare and muttered through his own leather strap.

All in all this whole situation was just plain embarrassing. All of us had been so easily disarmed and bound by two people. Sure, one of them had a literal army of the undead at her command but still. We had a Witch, a powerful Forerunner, and a Daughter of Umbra on our side discounting all the others. That alone should have been enough.

Like I said, embarrassing. Don’t hold it against me.

I swear to our Goddess that if you move one more time you won't have to wait for these buffoons to kill you because I’ll do it myself!

Kendrick’s voice roaring inside my head made me jump, slamming my weight into him all over again and sealing my fate at his hands. I didn’t look at him, avoiding the deathly glare I was sure he was throwing at me.

I’m uncomfortable, I thought back.

We are all uncomfortable you idiot.

I was silent for a moment before I thought, how are we going to get out of this bullshit?

Maybe you can make nice with your little friend there who likes to play with dead things. Turn her to our side and I think we’ll win somehow.

Oh, right. Because talking to her is so simple. She’s not the Miranda I used to know. She changed when I got shoved into the Shadow Realm.

People don’t just change you know. Something happened. Something you don’t know enough about. So talk it out. Stop moving!

I’m not moving.

“Where are we going now?”

The sound of Miranda’s voice seemed so loud after my silent conversation with Kendrick. Every time I saw her or heard her speak my mind was thrust back to the times we’d fought together. Escaping the Fellowship of Fayum. Taking down the false King at Castle Condamine. Every single time it felt like she was snatching at something deep in my chest. She took it and ripped it out with her rejection and downright hatred for our little group of misfits that she’d helped forge. I felt my fingers drawing up into fists as I ignored Kendrick and shifted around, glancing out the other side of the cart where Miranda rode a pretty little pinto.

Orion rode beside her on a horse as white as snow while a pink glowing skeleton man drove the cart. “We take them to the final seal and we break it,” The man answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Miranda hung her head, her hands gripping the reins so hard her knuckles whitened. “Where is the last seal?”

Orion yanked his steed to a halt and glared at the girl. “I have told you many times before, it is none of your concern. Let me show you the way. All you need to do is back me up with your magic. Is that so hard for you to understand?”

I wanted so badly to punch the asshole in the face. It seemed like all our troubles had come from him. Alright, the Crocs had something to do with it but this man was always there in the background playing his little games. He’d been in control of the horrible body part sacrificing church. He’d corrupted Ryan and through him the Outsiders. He’d stolen Miranda from us and even tried to sacrifice Theo to Melumek in a bid to set the angry god free. Even back before I even knew what the hell was happening this guy was out there breaking seals, whatever the hell they were, and trying to kill us all. That’s what releasing Melumek would mean; death for everyone. You can’t win a game when you’re dead.

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We needed a way to take him out. Without Orion, we stood a chance at making it to Nigel, the true Nigel not the gnome kind, and breaking this hell the Guardians had thrown us into.

Alright, you’re getting a little ahead of yourself, Kendrick whispered inside my head. First of all, we need to get ourselves out of this. Then we can plan a murder.

Would you get out of my head already? I snapped, purposely moving this time.

Ouch! For fuck sake, Joe. It’s not like I was reading your diary. I’m just skimming your surface thoughts.

I don’t like it.

I don’t like your ass grinding into my chest but here we are.

Miranda and Orion had fallen silent now. I wished they hadn’t. Where was the typical villain monologue that revealed all their secrets so the hero could easily thwart them? (yes, I’m the hero in this situation… stop laughing!) It’s like they were trying to make my life difficult or something.

The sun gleamed off a stick of gold searing my eyes and making them water. I blinked through it and the odd spots that came with being temporarily blinded. When I could focus again it was to see Miranda’s scepter bouncing in place behind the belt of her now black dress. Miranda couldn’t cast her magic without it.

I tried to smile but all it did was cause me more pain. I laid back in the cart, closing my eyes against the brightness of late afternoon as my brain slowly ticked over the information I had at my disposal. Orion was my main problem. I’d met him many times before but still had little knowledge of his true power. If he was a Forerunner like Kendrick, Jitta, and Cassie, then he would be more powerful than us simple players. Even the few of us who were blessed by gods.

One problem at a time, Joe.

I ground my teeth. No matter how many times I told him to stay out he just came right back. I think I liked it better when Kendrick would drop in for a quick visit and then disappear for months on end.

Hey, I’m here to help you. Show a little gratitude.

Yep, I much preferred it when he wasn’t crawling around inside my head. Right, so all we had to do was steal Miranda’s scepter and hogtie her. She wouldn’t be a threat that way and neither would her army of the undead. Then, we could free Sob from his magic binding collar and we’d have the full force of our ragtag team to take on Orion. Should be easy enough.

Night came faster than it had any right to and suddenly all of us were dumped on the rapidly chilling ground. The cart returned to the ether from whence it came and the now jobless skeleton took up position beside the door of the small shed our captors had claimed. A shed I recognized from a very long time ago. A stray thought flickered through my mind and I wondered if there would be another gun hidden in the outhouse round back.

The fact that I knew this place crawled with large scorpions made me shift uncomfortably against my bonds. Gabby’s whimpering distracted me from my discomfort. The girl lay beside me, shifting aggressively as she tried to ease the pain of laying on her crushed wings. Theo was worming his way toward her but I was closer.

With a lot of awkward shifting, grunting, and shoving I managed to get her onto her belly, from there, she lifted herself onto her knees and turned her head to the starlit sky, her face slack with relief.

Flickering firelight spewed from the shed window and from within the sound of voices murmered endlessly. Funny how they were chatty now that I couldn’t so easily eavesdrop. The firelight flared suddenly and the voices stopped.

Orion has left the building, Kendrick practically shouted.

I couldn’t even be mad at him, not when we actually had a small chance of success. I shimmied and rolled until I made it to Nora. Boopzy had been tied in place against the woman’s arm but he lifted a tenticle to wave at me as I neared. Nora lifted an eyebrow at me as I unceremoniously shoved my face against the Tentarat. His reach had been severely diminished but that didn’t matter so much when I was right on top of him.

Without prompting the Tentarat wrapped his tentacle around the leather in my mouth and yanked until the combination of slobber, blood, and force had it dangling around my neck. I reeled back as much as I could, breathing through the pain of my torn lips as I worked my aching jaw.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Nora’s eyes flew open as she realized what had just happened. She rocked and rolled and murmured, practically chewing on her leather strap as she tried to angle her head in a way that Boopzy could reach. I moved forward, ready to take the thing in my teeth and yank it free but paused a finger width away. Her eyes were opened painfully wide and she’d started shaking. I frowned, unsure why she wouldn’t want me to free her from the strap. With a shrug I pulled away, chewing on the knots that kept Boopzy bound until my teeth were threaded with wet strings of torn rope.

I never managed to completely loosen the knot but Boopzy was a special creature. He didn’t need a lot of wiggle room to flatten himself and squeeze free.

“Set us free,” I said, rolling to expose the ropes keeping my arms and legs bound.

I waited, growing frustrated when Boopzy didn’t immediately start working on the ropes. I turned my head, angering my neck at the awkward angle only to see Nora climbing to her feet, free from her bindings. I glared at Boopzy but the Tentarat seemed unaffected.

Maybe forcing Nora and Boopzy to be friends had not been my greatest idea ever.

With more force than was strictly necessary, Nora yanked the ropes keeping me bound free, and then moved on to the next member of our group. I rubbed at my wrists as I rushed to Kendrick, working to set him free the same way. Orion and Miranda might have stolen our weapons and equipment but our fingers were good enough.

With Kendrick free I moved onto Stella. The warrior dog whimpered as I worked on her bindings and slammed me to the ground when I set her free. I flinched at the noise of it and looked at the skeleton guard. He stood there with his bony arms crossed, his glowing eyes staring ahead. He was indifferent to our antics.

I doubted he would feel the same way when all of us descended on the door he guarded.