With a flick of his aura, he parted space, connecting this warehouse to his own.

Whipvine gave him an incredulous look.

“You still haven’t explained to me how you’re able to do that.”

Terry just winked and stepped through the portal into the warehouse office. He immediately recognized the sounds of a commotion on the warehouse floor. As the others streamed through his portal, the pull on his aura was a distant thought.

Down on the floor below, a hundred people were rushing about, while a dozen ghouls stood guard at the entrances.

He couldn’t help it—this felt like an invasion. No, more like a violation. His warehouse, his lair, was now swarming with his grandfather’s people and he didn’t like it one bit.

But worse that that, was the man he saw gazing up at him from the floor below.

War Crimes flashed him a smile, then a wink—almost in parody of the wink he had given Whipvine moments earlier.

“Why do I hate that man so much?”

Terry turned to see Tania at his side, glaring down at the revenant below. He chuckled, shaking his head.

“I don’t know…but I feel the exact same.”

As they marched together down the stairs to the warehouse floor, War Crimes met them.

“Fancy seeing you all here,” the revenant said with a grin. “Weird, I specifically stationed ghouls on all the entrances.” He studied them intently, a sly smile on his face. “Do we have a Traveler among the bunch, then?”

“What is this?” Tania blurted out, ignoring the man. “These idiots are ruining my system.”

“Ah, dear Titania. Delightful as always.” He turned to look back at the people running about and Tania took the moment his back was turned to give him the finger. “The Emperor has seized this operation in the name of Wichita.” He turned back, his eyes settling on Terry. “It’s illegal to grow unsanctioned fruits and vegetables within the city walls.” A corner of his lip turned up in a smirk. “Pests, you see.”

A notification flashed into view, startling Terry.

Quest Complete: [Feed Wichita]

Calculating reward…

New Upgradeable Affixation slot created — current rank: D

System Note: This slot will rank up with the user.

Quest Given: [Free Topeka]

Emperor Necroton and the Council have turned Topeka into a warzone. The people suffer. Free Topeka from the influence of its neighbors.

Reward: Variable

Before he could process those notifications, Whipvine stepped forward, one hand unconsciously clenching a whip.

“Enough, Fletcher. I’ve already explained the situation to them.” He turned so his body blocked War Crimes out of the conversation. “You all have the Emperor’s writ to leave the city. But he insists you come to the palace first. He has some stipulations on that writ. As for you two,” Whipvine said, turning toward Terry and Tania. “The Emperor has requested your return to the palace.” He hesitated a moment before continuing. “You’re not to leave without his say so.”

Tania scoffed defiantly. “He’s putting us on house arrest?”

War Crimes spoke from behind Whipvine.

“Clothed, fed, and housed. There are worse situations for an orphan to find herself.”

Her face darkened and she started to move around Whipvine, but Terry settled her with a hand on her arm. With a careful glance, he indicated the four Elementalists. Unlike Tania and himself, their home was the Market. And as far as he knew, without Vlad, they had no way back. They were his responsibility and he needed to stay focused on that.

“Okay, Whip,” Terry replied with a placating tone. “Just let us say our goodbyes.”

Whipvine studied him for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly. But War Crimes stepped around his fellow revenant, his hand trailing to a pistol.

“I know one of you is a Traveler.” War Crimes tone was deadly serious for once. “If I get a whiff of a portal, the caster gets a face full of lead.”

Terry felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He wanted nothing more than to rip open a portal leading into solid stone and shove War Crimes through it. But he forced a smile on and nodded.

“We understand.”

The revenant eyed him a moment longer, then flashed Terry his bone-white teeth in a parody of a smile.

Terry led the others a few feet away, maintaining eye contact with them so they would see his cues.

For some reason, he had a sense that the Emperor’s stipulations were a ploy to tie off loose ends. There was a time he would have considered that idea paranoid, but he had seen how ruthless his grandfather could be and he didn’t want to risk their lives on the bet that the Emperor could be altruistic.

That was a losing bet if he’d ever seen one.

Once they were out of earshot, Tania turned to him with a snarl.

“Fuck house arrest,” she hissed. “I won’t live in a prison.”

“What about us?” Tristan asked quietly. “How will we get back to the Market?”

“We’ll have to find one of Terraform’s people,” Katie said. “That’s the only way.”

“But where?” Alan asked.

A panic was starting to form among them and he could feel the anger roiling off Tania. He held out his hand and leveled a steady gaze at the group.

“I have an alternative.” He slowly panned his eyes to each of them. “If you’re willing to hear it?”

“Anything’s better than roaming the wastelands between cities,” Katie said.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Terry nodded, locking eyes with Tania before speaking.

“I say…we leave Wichita together.” He felt the shock in the others’ auras but kept his gaze on Tania. “I say…we head where we’re needed most.”

Her eyes searched him in confusion, then a sly smile formed on Tania’s face.

“Topeka?” she whispered.

He let his own matching smile form in response.

No one spoke for a moment, then Katie broke the silence.

“I’m with you, Terry.” She chuckled quietly. “After everything I’ve seen you do, there’s no doubt in my mind you’re gonna accomplish great things. I wouldn’t mind being a part of that.”

“Me, too.” It was quiet Peter who spoke, shocking them all for a few moments. “I’ll follow wherever you go, Terry.”

Alan nodded agreement, but Tristan glanced skeptically over Terry’s shoulder.

“But how?” he asked softly. “That psycho A-ranker is watching us like a hawk.”

“Leave him to me. Just be ready to jump into the portal.”

They all exchanged looks before nodding, though he could sense their auras shifting wildly in nervous anticipation. He turned to see Whipvine conversing with War Crimes about a hundred feet away. But Terry wasn’t fooled into thinking the revenants were distracted. For them, clearing a hundred feet could be done in a blink. More than that, War Crimes pistols could be fired with unbelievable accuracy and speed.

It was a risk, but one they all were willing to take.

Splitting his focus, he prepared a portal, imagining a familiar place where they could regroup before setting off. With another part of his focus, he began to activate Master of Light.

Even though he hadn’t actually activated a Skill yet, War Crimes’ head perked up, his eyes narrowing. He cut Whipvine off and began to approach, his hand trailing to the pistol at his hip.

Terry activated Master of Light, both turning the group and himself invisible, then started walking away, creating distance between him and the revenants. With another application of Master of Light, he also bent the light away from War Crimes eyes to effectively blind the man. With all three instances of Master of Light running, he finally finished the portal, willing the opaque oval into existence with a whoosh.

So many things happened at once, Terry could only process them after the fact.

Tania and the four Elementalists leaped through his portal—he felt the pull on his aura, though he couldn’t see them. War Crimes cried out as he was blinded, wasting a precious second to push his power out, drowning the aura around his eyes, effectively killing the Skill. At the same moment, Whipvine dashed for the portal, looking to cut off the group’s escape.

As the blinding effect of Master of Light dissipated, War Crimes drew and fired three shots, the sound making Terry’s ears ring. He felt one of the bullets hit his portal, the sheer energy of its passage smashing the portal closed, his aura not strong enough to transfer that much force at once.

He didn’t try to hold it open, knowing instinctively that five bodies had passed through already. Whipvine reached the portal just as the bullets arrived and Terry saw the revenant twist through the air—presumably to dodge one of the bullets that had nearly hit him.

With Tania and the Elementalists gone, only Terry, Whipvine, and War Crimes remained—though Terry remained invisible.

Whipvine whirled on the other revenant, his face a mask of fury.

“Did you take a shot at me, baby killer?”

War Crimes also looked furious, but that anger appeared directed toward where the team had fled. But as Whipvine charged the man, he turned his attention away from where the portal had stood to address his fellow revenant.

“I was discharging the portal, you fool. When I take a shot at you, it’ll be from ten klicks on a windless day.” He leaned in with a humorless smile. “And I won’t miss.”

Terry simply shook his head in disappointment. He could have taken his portal with the others, but stayed behind to see just how doggedly the two revenants might pursue. Considering their current bickering, he had worried for nothing.

“Hey, War Crimes,” he called from across the warehouse floor, letting his Master of Light drop. Both revenants’ heads shot up in surprise. “Fuck you.” Then, Terry gave him the finger and opened another portal, stepping through before either of the men could react.

When he arrived on the other side, he let it go, taking in the well-lit exterior of the sanguine warehouse. His sunlit portals still remained, shining brighter than any stadium lights ever could.

Crunch loped over from where he had been waiting with Burg and Blood.

“My prince?”

There was a lot of subtext in those simple words, even without the accompanying aura shape to clarify.

“The Emperor intends to lock me in the palace—perhaps for good. He doesn’t perceive me as a hero or a villain—just a nuisance to be managed and contained.” He studied Crunch’s face, then Burg and Blood behind him. “But I refuse to be managed. I refuse to be contained. I’m heading to Topeka to continue undoing the pain and suffering inflicted by my family.” He hesitated, afraid to say what needed to be said. “I understand if you three can’t follow…but please, don’t try and stop me.”

Aura rippled between the three as rapid-fire ghoulish grated against his ears, too fast and nuanced for him to follow.

After some back and forth, Crunch turned to address Terry.

“Our duty to protect prince. We go where prince go.”

Terry felt his heart unclench, a smile touching his face. He hadn’t realized how much it would have hurt to leave the three ghouls behind until this exact moment.

With a flex of aura, he opened a portal to where he’d sent Tania and the others.

“Please wait for me there. I just have one more thing to do.”

----------------------------------------

Solomon Rosenthal

A thousand feet beneath the surface. In utter darkness.

Over a year had passed, according to Penelope’s child. Over a year in complete darkness, cut off from his element, his aura drained. Sol’s mind had turned against him.

It was a fate worse than death.

He’d contemplated embracing death many times, considered the ways he could make it happen in the tight confines of his cell. There were no tools to cut his flesh or bludgeon himself against. Only the hard stone walls and his thin blanket. He had regarded that thin blanket a thousand times over the months, imagined hanging himself by it and finally embracing sweet release.

The truth he had finally come to realize about himself—the awful realization thrust upon him against his will—was that…he was a coward.

He finally acknowledged it after decades of denial.

I’ve faced the Swarm, he had told himself. I’ve clashed with Emperor Necroton a dozen times. I was one of the first to complete my Capstone and claim true power!

How could a man with my accolades be a coward…?

But the thing about being forced into a tiny cell with no visitors was, it gave one a lot of time to self-reflect. More than he had wanted, but just enough to strip away the veneer of lies he had built around his psyche.

He no longer entertained grandiose ideas of breaking free and raining fire on Wichita in righteous vengeance. The thought of burning Terrence’s city to the ground had lost all appeal.

That wasn’t to say he had lost his will to fight; far from it. With him gone, it was easy to imagine the state of Topeka. It wouldn’t be a stretch for Terrence to have claimed the city for himself. Or worse, the Council—those self-serving sycophants.

When he envisioned returning to free his city, it wasn’t riding in on a ray of glorious sunlight like he would have once done. No, his imprisonment had fundamentally changed him.

Were he ever to be free of this damned cell, he resolved to be circumspect, strike from the shadows in sharp contrast to his dominion over light.

He would never allow himself to be captured like this again.

Idle daydreams, he admitted. You’re never leaving this hell, Sol.

And then, the hallucinations began.

Light streamed into his vision, subtle, no brighter than a pinprick of daylight, yet burning his eyes as if he were staring directly at the sun.

He scampered away from the pain, pressing his face against the stone wall in primal fear.

Why! he raged. Why would my mind play such a cruel trick on me?

But no matter how long he ignored the tempting mirage, it didn’t dissipate or leave him to his quiet suffering. It continued to burn at the corners of his vision and he slowly, hesitantly let his eyes open.

His aura—neglected for so long, he’d forgotten it existed—began to stir. Power called to him, tantalizing and seductive.

It was a trick of the mind…right?

He hated his cowardice, hated how he feared the illusion. With a growl, he turned to face the light interloping into his pitch-black prison.

His breath left him, his thoughts flipped upside down.

A small, fist-sized portal split the air a few feet from him.

Streaming through that portal was a view of a tiny stone room. On the ground, a small candle burned—the very source of light that had seemed so unbearably bright a moment earlier. Propped against the candle was a slip of paper.

He leaned in, blinking away the prolonged disuse of his eyes in order to focus on the words written on its surface.

Return to the light, Sol. Your city needs you.

- Terry

Time passed as he tried to convince himself that this was some trick—that Terrence was baiting him with a sliver of hope, just so it could be yanked cruelly away.

But as he waited for the prank to run its course, he realized that the candle continued to burn down, nearly a third of its wick used up already.

The flame reached the edge of the note propped against the candle, and fire flared up as it caught on the paper. The intensity of the light increased as the paper burned, revealing five more candles inside his cell, scattered about the floor.

With a flash of determination, he grasped the opportunity—and damn Terrence to hell if this was all some trick. The light responded to his pull, streaming from the burning paper and the lit candle through the portal. He fed it into his core, deep inside where he stored his energy.

For so long, that core had been dry, guttered out entirely from his final attack.

But for the first time in what felt like years, there was power there.

And with it…hope.