Whatever trinkets I may rely on, I am not a Syche. The Tomegetherian I used to rip the marrow from my captor’s bone was a vestige of Corpus. A useful tool but it lacked the raw offensive power of the Syches.

The other Tome in my possession, far more suited to the task, I had of course loaned to King Walthier to slay to Dark.

The second man was far away, coaxed there as I had planned. He could not react in time to save his compatriot, but he now would kill me. My bare feet broke open anew as I sprinted over the jagged landscape and into the paltry cover of wilted trees and dry brush.

-Flesh but not so much Blood

###

Kael slammed his palm into the stonework and sent an orange pulse of energy streaking down the stairwell. The explosion chased after. Screams sounded from below as the A.R.P.A. facility shook like the walls were made from cardboard.

Shoulder first, Kael burst through the double doors that lead into the light of day. Whatever mirth he had experienced during his rampage was gone as took one step outside.

The panoramic before him splintered from time, seemingly frozen. Gianna was closest. She held the left side of her chest, a plume of blood spouting forth from a scrap of metal driven just south of the bone. Sparks sizzled off her fingers as she stood over a charred, blackened corpse of what had to have been a human. Doctor Batholomew was three feet to her right, face first in the snow with his hands over the back of his head and neck. Out in the parking lot, three men lay splayed around each other, one naked. It should have been the first thing he saw, but Joshua was one of the bodies.

It got worse. As time unfroze and Kael raced forward, a red halo stained the white powder around Joshua’s head.

He slid to a stop and rolled his brother over. One hand pressed down over the approximate location of the wound as he hoisted Joshua to a sitting position, if only to get gravity to do some of the work.

He used the sleeve of his assassin’s cloak to wipe away the red as he screamed to the Doctor and the girl, “What happened?”

Doctor Bartholomew was already halfway across the parking lot, running to assist. The girl was still mercilessly blasting the corpse on the ground with one bright crimson red explosion after the other; the charred corpse must have had nothing left to immolate, but Gianna still found a way to pull flames out of it.

Bartholomew made to Joshua. He wrapped his fingers around Joshua’s skull, cradling it as his thumbs opened the eyes. “Metal,” the Doctor huffed, reaching for Joshua’s wrists. “Looked like the Syche was aiming to impale him through the temple, but your boy here was in the middle of turning.”

“And he didn’t get a second shot off because. . .” Kael could hear the girl laughing now; he wasn’t sure if she had been doing that the entire time.

Bartholomew ignored the not-a-question, took a clump of snow, and cleaned Joshua’s forehead. “Just a gash. Deep, maybe a chip to the skull, but no immediate problems if I’m right. Let me check for any reasons to panic before we move him.”

Kael wanted to be mad. He had told Joshua one-hundred times over they were only going to break out Doctor Bartholomew. Still, the same heroism that had got Joshua slashed across the head by rescuing that psychopath guard had also brought along—Kael heard her laughter and cursing trailing off—the psychopath who saved him.

“Throw on some of their robes, Doctor,” Kael commanded, gathering his thoughts. “We’re going to need to move quickly and I can’t have you freezing. I'll try and get Joshua on his feet.”

Gianna skipped over—each flick of her toe throwing powder into the air, and cocked her head to look at Joshua. “We shouldn’t move--”

“I know!” Kael snapped. “But we need to run now. You know better than me how many Syches are in that building.”

Kael maneuvered Joshua’s arm over one shoulder and grasped the hem of his pants, ready to bend at the knees.

“I’m good. I’m good,” Joshua grunted, eyes still closed. He wiggled out of Kael’s grasp and puddled onto the ground.

Kael resumed trying to pick him up as Joshua flailed. “My head already got ripped a new one, my pride doesn’t also need a colostomy. You said something about leaving? What retreat plan are we on? B or 3?”

“Foxtrot,” Kael answered, not moving too far away from his brother, just in case.

“That’s bad. Why are you still here then?”

Kael gritted his teeth and nodded to Bartholomew. “Josh knows the way. Keep him safe and I’ll find my way back with your daughter.

“I’m not leaving without—” the Doctor started, shuffling the black cloak over his shoulders, but Kael was already over the fence.

###

“We’re following you then?” Gianna picked up a stick from a deformed pile of snow and poked Joshua in the leg.

“Yeah, let’s get going,” Joshua grunted, eyes still closed. His hand weakly rose to his forehead and touched the wound. “What happened anyway?”

“That prison guard tried to kill you,” Bartholomew said, shuffling Joshua towards the gates.

Joshua teetered forward unsteady, his head a bit dim and woozy. “What a strange thing to do. All I did was try and help him.”

It wasn’t until Joshua reached the top of the cliff that the blood stopped trickling past his eyebrows and he could see straight. Apparently far enough away from imminent death, if not a more protracted one, the noise levee finally broke:

“Where is my daughter!?”

“Where are we going? What’s for lunch?”

“Talk about it while we walk about it,” Joshua dismissed. He needed to herd them further west and into the wilds, out from the possibility of harm.

They couldn’t fight, they couldn’t run to the city, they couldn’t hide. All Joshua could do was follow the cliff face parallel to what the Tirían’s considered a highway until someone collapsed—probably him. It would be days before they reached another town and Joshua had to pray his brother would be able to follow the same route and catch up. Kael’s powers should help locate them, but even that wasn’t a guarantee since he would light up like the second moon for any Dark Element Syches searching for them.

It seemed an awful lot to explain in the moment so Joshua promised himself he’d smooth things over when his brain wasn’t throbbing.

That time came three hours later over chattering teeth. Joshua was getting cold even dressed for the weather; Bartholomew was freezing. Gianna had plucked a twig from a low-hanging branch and lit it to share between them for a modicum warmth.

The cliff had turned north, vehicle sounds prompted them to retreat further towards the mountains and the forest line. Joshua had stayed far enough away that any Syche riding along the highway shouldn’t be able to sense them, but that was assuming a certain level of strength. If they had a real powerhouse, who knew how far they could probe.

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Kael was nowhere to be seen. Even if it was to be expected with the wind picking up and visibility dropping by the hour. Come on you idiot, the longer you take the harder it is to find us.. Judging by the clouds, it would snow again soon. The group could very well reach the port in three days without seeing Kael or Emilie.

I should have done reconnaissance for weeks. I should have had twelve additional plans. I should have done anything other than this.

Three days. Hard west. Boat back to Selah. Train back home.

The real discomfort hadn’t started yet, but he was already drifting off into the future, remembering the now as a distant memory.

I could leave a message on the HOILA? No, we don’t have any codes that unbreakable. Maybe just a quick note to let Kael know I’m doing okay.

A quick survey for frostbite and they continued on.

This is to say, more or less, that things continued in this manner until twilight: Joshua stewed, Bartholomew froze, and Gianna was a collection of adjectives Joshua didn’t think were invented yet. Was she happy? Angry? Tired? The closer she got to one, the more clear it became that was not how she was feeling.

By the time Joshua did call a stop, he had been receiving demands in each ear from his companions. He didn’t bother to ask for help as he got to work slopping together an igloo.

The winds howled in earnest that night, but no one minded much around a fire—with darkness this far north good and truly fallen, the smoke that slithered out of the top airhole in the igloo seemed acceptable. All they lacked was food. Joshua had gorged on dried fruit, nuts, and granola on the hike up to the facility and couldn’t complain, morally. Gianna and Bartholomew were already half-starved from their time in prison, and Joshua worried that if they did complain, that would be that much more energy expended.

He’d have to keep an eye on animal signs tomorrow. Maybe cut his arm off and let them roast that. Anything to keep them alive.

Joshua rubbed his hands together and looked around at his two companions, leaning against the ice walls with their eyes closed. “So. . . ” Joshua doddled. “How’s everyone doing?”

Bartholomew opened a scowling eye before tucking his chin back down to rest.

Gianna stretched as she considered. “Little bored if I’m honest.”

“Is that, a problem?”

“Not at all. You just asked. Is this one of those questions people aren’t actually supposed to answer?”

“No. It isn’t. It’s just—” Whatever observation Joshua was about to make caught died in his throat as his ears tingled at the sound of the wind. “You hear that?”

The sharp whine in the wind grew in volume and unmistakable words pierced the night: “Daddy!”

Bartholomew jerked up just in time for a small child to come running through the entrance of the already-cramped igloo and vault into her father’s arms. Bartholomew flailed, trying to keep her from falling back into the fire, but was laughing all the same.

“Sorry about that,” Kael said, stooping his head at the entrance and stopping once he noticed there was clearly no room. “She behaved all day, hard to be too upset at this point.”

Joshua was beaming but clumsily hid that smile as his brother’s gaze drifted his way. “Got the tent?”

“No? I brought a single pack with food and blankets. It will have to do.”

Not today righty. Joshua was so focused on his arm, it took him fifteen seconds to notice Kael bobbing his head over to Bartholomew. He wants to have that conversation right now? Can we have one day without that stupid treasure hunt? Joshua shrugged, content with rescuing two people from death row and ready to sleep on that. Today’s act alone was a better deed than Joshua would ever achieve chasing make-believe.

Joshua winced as his brother began to speak, but luckily Kael had the decency not to interrupt the father and daughter nuzzling: “I’ll get to work on an annex if you want to help, J. Big day tomorrow.”

“Not without the proper permits you don’t.” Joshua scrambled after him.

“And how was Uncle?” Bartholomew’s voice echoed behind.

The group woke to a high-pitched sound screaming through the peaks. It blasted like thunder but lingered, twinging up. They bunkered down bug-eyed, but could see little from their hovel. Kael and Gianna both reached out and felt nothing. Breaths came heavy and rattled as four of the five weren’t sure if a wild animal was about burst through the wall or an assassin was going to cut their heads off. But Joshua thought he recognized the noise.

Only, his theory didn’t make any sense. Not one bit. Tyré didn’t even have an air force.

After thirty minutes without the whine carving the air, Kael patrolled the camp as Joshua divvied up the few rations. Gianna got a double portion since she was both Syche and prison starved. Joshua abstained. There would be days to come and not enough food to go around.

If someone were to starve, it best be him.

Of the seventeen fantasies he had about dying in a sacrificial blaze of glory, slow starvation was never one of them.

The trek began anew with Kael shouldering the blankets and forty percent of the food that remained. Spirits were higher than yesterday, and so far away from the road, chatter sprung up, like daises through the snow.

With Emilie clinging to his back like a baby red bear, Batholomew asked, “How sure are we that we’re heading in the right direction at this point? Can’t use a shortwave computer connection out here, could be used against us too easily.”

“Perhaps a telemeter?” Gianna inquired, staring so far away into the sky that Joshua was surprised she had heard the conversation.

“Joshua is our telemeter,” Kael grunted. “He’ll find Barovitche.”

Joshua eyed Gianna at that name, Barovtiche was the port where she was caught and her comrades killed, but she was no more or less twitchy than normal.

Kael’s going to have a fit about her once we have the energy to argue. I need to come up with some practical arguments why bringing her along will save her life; and, why that’s a good thing.

The rest of the day, every minute/second/hour melded into a single moment repeating into infinity. Same as yesterday, just with Emilie crying now.

Joshua desperately wanted to join her.

Somewhere in the middle of the day when the sun was so long gone behind ash gray clouds that time became a mystery, their path too became a mystery. Joshua either hadn’t memorized the Tirian map as well as he thought or every mountain did in fact look the same.

This forced them back to the cliffs, an hour march south.

Kael plopped down besides Joshua, belly first. “You’ve turned us around haven’t you? We’re going to be back where we started.”

Joshua ignored the insult and studied the ebb and flow of the cliff line. He needed to translate that to a top-down picture he could translate to the map in his head—an act that might have been pushing it, even for him. It was a learned skill, he wasn’t born with any bad blood that led to hyperfixation. The problems he did have, well, he came by those through experience.

After fifteen minutes, Joshua was no closer and Kael fidgeted. He could hear the rest of the group crawling up behind him.

Kael said, “You’ve got sixty seconds before I scuttle down the cliff and ask for directions.”

The useless insult didn’t motivate Joshua. It wasn’t like a car could drive the roads carved below them this time of year anyway.

“Huh? That can’t be a….” Kael’s voice trailed off.

Now Kael was just screwing with him. At least someone was in good spirits.

Gianna crawled up, putting ample room between her and Joshua. “That’s has to be a tank,” she said.

Joshua was about to tell them both to shut it, but he saw it too now. Trundling its way along the cliff face and throwing powdered snow before its treads, a monstrous snow plow drove forward. The plow was borderline too large for the narrow road, but that only aided it in sending a veritable waterfall of snow careening off the side of the second, lower cliff.

In a minutes time, Joshua could see that Gianna had been right, a bevy of supply trucks, and tanks, inched along behind the monstrosity.

“Some exercise for the Tyré military?” The Doctor schooched Emilie and himself closer to the group as well.

“I wanna ride,” Emilie moaned.

“Ssh.”

“Gianna?” Joshua asked. “The convoy was behind a bend. Why did you suspect tanks?”

The girl squirmed in the snow, maker herself smaller, flatter. “It might be because,” her voice was muffled, having shed her head into the snow, “Tyré isn’t a sovereign nation anymore.” The silence forced her to continue, but she only required one word: “Taerose.”

And that one word dragged the silence on even further. Joshua was relieved to know that Gianna could feel shame though.

“Taerose, invaded, Tyré?” Kael asked.

“Today, I think,” Gianna said, poking her head out of the snow. “The Dark Element was in the planning phase before I got thrown in prison so I’m not the best to ask. Kill the head of state, blackmail politicians, blame Taerose and declare war, Taerose gets to invade as the victim.”

Now if only she could inflect her sentences; Joshua hoped that ‘victim’ was sarcastic.

“Shush, everyone,” Kael snapped. “If Taerose is here, then we are on a whole new clock. We need to get to the boats and get off the island before we’re blockaded in. We’ll be stuck here months otherwise, and that will be enough time for the black robes to find us regardless of what we do.”

“And the fastest route to the port is—” Joshua knew, but he wish he didn’t.

Kael continued, “We have a ride here. Infiltrate and avoid detection. If we brute force it and steal the lead plow, we’re just going to get an air strike called on us. Joshua?”

Of course he needed to make the plan a reality. ‘Do the impossible Joshua.’ The cold faded as he thought. “If it was just me and Kael—”

“Kael and I,” Emilie interjected.

“Yes, thank you.” Joshua continued. “If it was just us, I’d say cause a distraction, crawl underneath a truck, hold for dear life. But it’s not us.”

“And that’s stupid anyway,” Gianna added.

“Steal uniforms?” Bartolomew offered.

“While hilarious, that wouldn’t work even with just Kael and I. No. There’s A.P.C.’s so the trucks are probably hauling supplies rather than men. We need to get all five us in the back of one of those.”