My stomach twists itself into knots as my mind follows the connection all the way to my coin right in front of my apartment. Everything feels loose and ethereal for the moments it takes, like my body and mind aren’t in the same place, and when I finally reach the other end of my relocation, it feels… intense. Like staring down at a massive drop on a rollercoaster, knowing it's only seconds before the plummet.

There’s going to be something different about this. But… I can do it. I take a deep breath, put on my mask, and focus wholly on my awareness.

“Start flying away.” I tell Ursula as I let go of the controls. “If everything doesn’t work out… I… don’t know how to apologize to Fleur.”

Ursula takes the controls with a somber nod. “If this doesn’t work, Gambler, there’s nothing you could’ve done for her. I’m still not a hundred percent on how you’re going to reproduce the environment of the krarig without risk, but I know you can do it. So go do it.”

I confidently return her nod. Relocation flares through my awareness. And for the briefest of moments… everything stretches. The horizon contorts and twists in ways that don’t make sense, the ocean dips down to nothing, and the clouds in the sky thin out so much that they’re barely white stains against the blue. My stomach jumps as my awareness strains to keep me… me.

Patches of silver-white stain the world. Fate glitters every which way, cutting through the patches like slashes of orange. Huge chunks fall away, only for larger chunks to appear somewhere else. I watch the cycle of destruction and creation for what feels like hours, but my body moves so slowly that I know it isn’t right.

Before my hand can reach for the strangeness, it all disappears. Horrible metallic screeching and a sound like concrete shattering snaps me back to reality, and I nearly tear my head from my neck looking around to get my bearings.

I’m… not outside. My awareness feels everything all around me–walls, floor, ceiling–and a tunnel off to my right. Something must’ve picked up the coin and thrown it far away. Maybe… I’m in the sewers again. That’d make sense.

I tentatively peel the mask off my face for a second. My eyes don’t adjust. Utter darkness seals me in, and I slip the mask back on as my heart thunders in my chest. Metallic screeching. Concrete shattering. A coin that isn’t in the same place as it was. It can only mean one thing.

The subwyrms are destroying the city. And Noland has no idea where the hell I am.

“Shit.” I hiss through clenched teeth. “Shit shit shit, shit shit shit!”

March’s voice crackles into my ear. “Gambler! What’s wrong?!”

Something creaks and rumbles down the tunnel. The ground trembles as it moves. It doesn’t take an artist’s imagination to know what’s waiting for me. Or… what made this tunnel in the first place. I desperately turn my head to try and find some other way out, but what I’d thought was a solid wall is actually extremely tightly packed rubble. Which is honestly worse for a cave-in risk.

“Subwyrms! One of ‘em ate my coins, so Banker won’t know where to find me!” I whisper a little too harshly. The noise and tremors get louder and more intense. “Get me data on the shitters! Can I fight them?!”

“Okay, coming right up!” March’s keyboard frantically taps away.

Something huge pokes into the bubble of my awareness. A rounded head, like a worm’s, but split perfectly down the center. Along that split blink dozens of glassy, bulbous eyes. The split opens ever so slightly, revealing a toothless hole that goes on and on, with pulsating rings of… things… that exert a terrifying amount of magical pressure.

I snap my mouth shut and hold my breath. Another peek out of my mask shows beams of light shining down the tunnel, completely illuminating it like daylight. They aren’t just damn eyes; they’re headlights. So it’s going to see me. I don’t have time.

“Architect!”

“All the info I have on subwyrms is completely different! There’s, like, a hundred different kinds of them, ranging from threat level one to threat level sixty! How many eyes does that one have?”

A quick count gives me a pretty high number. “Thirty-eight!”

March nearly chokes on her spit. “RUN!”

“There’s nowhere to run!”

“Then… just… I don’t know!” She says with desperation creeping into her voice. “A subwyrm’s threat level is equal to its number of eyes!”

O-oh. It’s threat level… thirty eight. That’s high. Really high.

“Please tell me either you or Banker can do something.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I press up against the back wall. Chunks of debris dig into me, and I feel my body flush with fear. Call said the subwyrms were growing. Most of the things started off super weak, but this one’s powerful. The Preservation left all this behind. They evacuated the city, and left it to rot. Just like… the…

Anger bubbles up in my throat. “Just like the krarig. Did they plant this, too?”

“We’ll look into it later. Banker incoming!”

A gold lightning bolt crashes through the ceiling, splattering liquid metal on the ground and walls. I step back in surprise, since my awareness didn’t catch it at all, but it somehow knows that it's gold. All the metal shifts and squirms until it takes the form of a person.

Noland adjusts his tie, glances back at the subwyrm, and scoffs. “Disgusting things. Oh, and welcome back–haven’t seen you for a while. How’s it going?”

“Not the time.”

“No, I guess it isn’t.” He chuckles. With a wave of his hand, something thunders down the tunnel. The subwyrm just… dies. “Okay, with that out of the way, let’s get moving. I’m half informed on the plan, but I’d like to be fully informed before you do something that could endanger the resort.”

I stare dumbly at the subwyrm–which, by all right, should still be alive–and try to form words. He just… waved his hand at it. And it died. No external or internal damage, no tremors, just sudden and peaceful death.

“How’d you do that?”

Noland waggles a finger as he clicks his tongue. “Don’t ask questions you won’t like the answer to. Now, Architect tells me that you’re in need of a teleport assist. And after that, you might need a ton of Worth. I can help if it’s specifically a spell that you can cast without instantly paying the entire cost, but if you have to fully cast it before it appears, then you’re shit out of luck.”

I blink twice as a golden portal appears behind Noland. “Uh, it’s relocation. I have to use it once to designate a target–”

“Then we’re good!” He cuts me off with a grin and grabs my shoulder. “Should we go right to the platform Architect made, or do we need to stop first for those… friends of yours?”

“Razi and Diane?” I frown, and… yeah, they need to be rescued first. Since rescuing Fleur will kill the krarig. “Them first, but we’re going to need to keep an eye on them. I don’t think they’re lying to me, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to sell us out to the Preservation somewhere down the line.”

Noland flashes me another smile and a thumbs-up. “Heard you loud and clear. I cleaned up the meeting room just in case something like this happened, so we’ll stop by there first. Now–on you go!”

He shoves me towards the portal, but I’m already walking, so it barely comes off as a push. Everything shifts as I appear in the middle of the meeting room. Not quite on top of the table, but close enough that it feels lucky I didn’t. Until I turn around and see the portal’s still active right behind me, with Noland casually walking through as well.

With a flourish of his hand, he signals for me to go ahead. I reply by steeling myself against all the strange sensations once again, and pull on Diane and Razi’s relocation coins. It takes a moment to connect, just like before, but this time they just snap into place. Diane appears a second later. Razi follows immediately.

They both look around in a daze for all of five seconds, eyes glassy and unfocused, then collapse to the ground. A puddle of vomit slowly builds around Diane as she quietly retches, and from wetness in Razi’s pants, he lost control of his bladder.

“...Alright, I wasn't expecting that to happen.” Noland says flatly. “Architect, get the medstaff down here. We’ll get them cleaned up and give them the good old ‘you’re not quite hostages, but you’re not allowed to leave’ speech when they’re up and running.”

He bends down and sets Diane on her side so she doesn’t choke on her own vomit, then steps gingerly over Razi, careful not to get his shoes wet. Somehow he does it without a hint of judgment of annoyance in his body language.

“How far’s the platform again?” I ask when he dusts off his pants and stands tall again. “Because the longer we take, the more Worth this is going to cost us.”

“Miles. But I can just do this.” He leans over and taps the portal frame. The image shifts from the inside of a tunnel to an ocean view slightly tinted by thick glass and dull metal. “Destination’s set again. Let’s go.”

I hesitate for a second for no real reason, then step through. Noland joins me instantly this time, and the portal frame collapses behind us. Countless golden coins fall to the ground, each pinging against the metal once before they turn into golden magical mist. I choose to ignore how much Worth that must have cost, pull out the four coins I need, and flick the three relocations connected to the hearts as far away from each other as I can.

Fleur’s, I keep on me. If I fail… I want to apologize to her face as she dies.

But I don’t plan on failing. Noland puts a hand on my shoulder, and I feel something connecting him to me. Our differences are made frustratingly clear. His power–his Worth–feels like looking out over an endless ocean. In comparison, mine feels like a kiddie pool. Not just smaller, but cheaper and more restrained.

“Actually, the explanation can wait.” He pats my shoulder, then pulls his hand away. Strands of gold connect him to me, and in my awareness, I can see those strands travelling towards my coins. “Take the risk, Shelby.”

I lick dry lips and nod. Mostly to him, but also to myself. I’ve never relocated anything like this before, and I probably should’ve practiced with much smaller things before, but that’s all too late now. My awareness entwines with Nolan’s skill. His immeasurable Worth dwarfs my own, and before I can even try to put a single Worth into my skill, his surges forth and funds them.

Snaps echo up my spine. Something in my brain flickers, and the outlines of three hearts overlay themselves onto the platform. I breathe a sigh of relief and force Noland’s Worth into my relocations.

Weight. Salt. Grease. Two massive entities vying for supremacy, neither willing to cede an inch in their combat. Fleur eagerly tries to help me. The krarig resists me with all its might. I feel warmth trickle down my nose, eyes, and ears. Everything wobbles as the outlines shift. Raise. Come together to form a much… much… much larger outline.

An entire krarig superimposes itself onto reality. I barely have a moment to scream warning before Noland motions at the coins, and they soar off into the ocean. The krarig, completely alive and enraged, relocates to the coast of the resort.

And I can feel Fleur screaming.