Deep knowledge tugged on me, pulled me, whispering this was the proper path. I put my future in the hands of fate, letting the strings guide me. Unusual confidence sang through my veins, and I lifted my head high with the newfound strength burning through my veins. Any lingering fear was burned away, and I stepped forward.

There was no time for panic.

“Ani!” I called out with a snap of my finger, ordering him to my side. My troublesome but ever-loyal kitten jumped over a stalagmite. Obediently, he stopped at my feet, the robot gaining quickly behind them.

I grabbed Bearard by his armpits, hefting him up like a shield in front of me. Ani arched his back, standing his ground. The robot stopped inched from Bearard. Almost tenderly, it reached out, attempting to grab Bearard.

Bearard placed a tiny paw on the robot’s arm, and the pair’s eyes shone so bright I had to tilt my head. A great cry arose from the both of them. Gently, so as not to startle, I pulled Bearard back a little distance, wrapping an arm around him to keep him steady. Ignoring the sharp pain that came with the movement, I looked the fragment in the eye and tried very hard not to squint my eyes shut.

Momentarily I saw the image of a teenager in his place, clinging to each and every piece of his collapsing puzzle, as the pieces dropped through his hands like sand, and more memories fell away.

There was a sharp intake of breath from my right, where Cove was slumped against the wall.

I thought back. Back through my dreams of Bearard, my vision of the teddy bear, and further back still. Of the connecting thread of each of those moments, the pull on my desire to help. I took a sharp breath and focused on that feeling.

The light leaked out of their eyes and through their bodies, swirling through the air like pollen in the spring. They gathered together, outlining the young man–or teenager–trying desperately to hold himself together. Bearard fell limp in my hands; the robot dropped lifelessly to the ground as the last of their pieces were collected together. Even so, there were gaps in his form, and it was clear that much of him was still missing.

A see-through golden hand rose to his forehead, and he looked up at me, his eyes filled with awe and gratitude. “I remember my name! Thank you, Hayden!” his voice still had that strange, not-really-there quality that I’d heard from Bearard.

Tiny bits of golden sand fell from his figure as I lost concentration, but I quickly reversed it.

“Now what?” he wondered.

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Now, someone else would take over.

A hand tapped my shoulder, and we turned to see Cove, barely standing and bracing himself against the wall. His breaths were measured and deep. “If you. Give me. A moment. I’ll take care of it,” he said, hardly able to speak.

Ranch clawed at his leg, and he looked down at her with slightly panicked eyes. I bent down and picked her up, holding her up to Cove. Gold dust swirled through the air.

Cove shook his head. “I already borrowed all the magic I could from her.”

His shoulder shifted forward as he spoke, revealing the bruising on the back of his arms. The bruising was already turning yellowish green, looking a few days old. Physical magic, I realized, used to heal.

Shifting Ranch to one arm, I reached my other out, offering to share my magic. Cove took my hand unhesitatingly. Focusing on my inner flame, I slowly and measuredly pushed it through my hand, trying to temper the heat so I didn’t leave another burn on his skin.

Cove flinched and almost yanked his arm away from me. His skin flushed darker as the heat from my magic flowed through him. I fed him more and more energy until my vision started darkening around the edges. I ebbed the flow of energy and staggered to the side, catching myself on the wall.

As Cove’s breath evened out, mine grew more ragged.

With the extra energy, Cove pushed himself off the stone and fully faced the fading fragments. He pulled a small, thumb-sized object from his pocket and reached both hands out in the fragments’ direction. The tugging sensation returned to my chest as the fallen fragments returned to their rightful place in the young man’s form. He smiled briefly, then was sucked away, falling into the item Cove held in his palm. His palm began to glow as bright as the fragments. When not even the tiniest sliver of golden dust remained, he tucked it back away before I could investigate.

He reached a hand back out to me. I took it, and he helped steady me from the wall. When I felt steady enough to move on my own, I looked back up.

Something crashed to our side, and I nearly tipped over as I turned, black spots dancing across my vision.

A number of robots had gotten stuck behind my makeshift wall, trying and failing to climb it. Cove looked at the barrier, then looked at me, impressed.

“Did you do that on your own? The physical magic should have worn off.”

“I convinced them to do it for me.”

He walked forward to inspect the wall, staying a few feet back so he wouldn’t be crushed if one fell. On his back, mottled yellow bruises stretched from his wrists, beneath the tears in his shirt, and up along his neck. Dried blood clotted in his hair and stuck to the top of his shirt.

His mouth opened, and he turned back around to speak. Catching my eye, indecision crossed his face. Cove smiled, but it came out as more of a grimace. “I healed the head wound right up. The rest of it will have to wait if we hope to get home anytime soon. It cost almost all the magic I had stored up to heal myself even this much. The entirety of your magic would not be enough to fix the rest.”

Indignation burned through my veins and drained out. I didn’t have the energy to be frustrated with my lack of power.

Figuring Cove could handle the rest on his own, I dropped against the wall, ignoring the pokes as my back scraped against the natural dips and bumps of the cavern. I tucked my knees up against my chest, almost more exhausted than I’d ever been in my life. A mana potion or two would not have been unwelcome.

Soft fur brushed against my arm. Ani. I let that arm fall to the floor, allowing Ani to brush his silky fur against it.

Footsteps sounded from where the robots were still attempting to escape. They paused, and a zipper unzipped. The footsteps moved again, stopping next to me. Heat radiated from Cove as he dropped to sit down.

A plastic wrapper pressed against my arm, and I turned to see Cove, already eating a granola bar, holding one out for me to eat.

I took it in my hand, then pressed my weary eyes back against my legs. Mustering up the energy, I pried open the wrapper and ate it as quickly as I dared.

Cove gave me a few minutes to rest before he stood again. “We should check on Mattie and Jack. The Mayor wasn’t supposed to have gotten down here.”

Propelled by a sense of duty and the little energy I’d recovered from the food, I labored to my feet and grabbed my backpack.