{Before we agree to anything, let me make it clear, we aren’t sure how many of us are going,} James proclaimed, {None of us came here because we are friends and I have been meaning to test that. As far as I know, this Dorian of yours could be hiding the fact that he is a maniac.}

Azul seemed taken aback. {You’re not?}

{I wouldn’t call us enemies, but we are more like random people who all ended up in the same bad situation,} Selina agreed.

{How are you planning to test them?} Azul asked with interest.

James smiled. {I thought I would take advantage of this situation you put us in. From every angle, this seems like a kidnapping. How will they react in this type of crisis situation? That is what I aim to find out.}

Selina looked concerned. {Don’t you think that is going too far?}

{Selina, we are criminals. You and Howard may be innocent but the rest cannot be tested with something minor. We all claim to have turned away from our lives of crime but we still lived that way,} James explained, {If someone is going to stab us in the back when we need them the most, we need to know now.}

The situation James described sent chills down Howard’s spine but kidnapping wasn’t a joke. The person in the most danger because of this plan was Azul.

{What about Azul?} Howard demanded, {If the others overreact they might try to kill her.}

{I won’t let her die, but I am sure she can manage a little danger after dragging us here in that manner with no warning,} James said. It became very apparent that James was still mad about that. Not that Howard blamed him.

{I’ll be fine,} Azul chimed in with an excited smile, {In fact this sounds fun. I will help!}

{Are you sure?} Selina asked her in concern, {Howard is right. You could die. The other locals don’t like us that much either.}

{Do I look like someone who cares what they think?} Azul asked, {They are the ones who shunned me. But I am curious, how do you intend to find out what your companions are doing?}

Stolen novel; please report.

James looked at Selina and her eyes widened in surprise. {You mean the scrying magic I figured out?}

{Scrying magic?} Azul asked in confusion.

{I call it that because it resembles something similar from stories I know,} Selina explained, {When I look into water with Wisdom I can see far away places and sometimes I can hear them too, but they won’t have any idea I am looking.}

Howard recalled all of the times she seemed to show up wherever he was, or seem to know what he had been doing when he hadn’t told her anything and felt extremely uncomfortable.

Azul on the other hand was even more excited than before. {That sounds incredible! Can I see!}

{Sure,} Selina replied and called some water with her usual grace before gathering it together as if it were in an invisible basin. Then she poured some Wisdom into the water and it slowly began to glow before the surface became flat and smooth like glass and began showing them images. The image settled on Miranda and showed her as she was urgently talking to Leon and Natalie.

“-were gone!” she was explaining, looking panicked, “So I went back to find Howard but he was also missing. Are you sure you haven’t seen him?”

“Are we being picked off one by one?” Natalie asked.

“Does it matter?” Leon asked, looking stressed, “If Howard is gone we are as good as dead.”

“Not necessarily, and we don’t know for certain Howard is dead,” Natalie pointed out, “The people here are more likely to throw us out than kill us themselves, and Howard can take care of himself. Right now we should worry about what we should be doing and trust that Howard and the others are still alive.”

“Howard might be fine, but Selina is a city girl. Do you honestly think she could survive out there?” Leon demanded.

“She hasn’t even been missing for a full day,” Natalie reprimanded, “Besides, city girls may surprise you. I think we should meet up with Jonathan and see what we can do from there. We can’t help anyone else when we are still in danger.”

“Jonathan?” Miranda asked, “Are you certain?”

“I am, and the sooner the better,” Natalie maintained.

Miranda bit her lip. “I still have Selina’s gondola,” she said, “I am not really that good at controlling them, but I do know how to enchant them to fly.”

“You know what?” Leon asked in surprise.

“That will work,” Natalie nodded, “Let’s grab what we can of the essentials, especially the weapons and go. We don’t know what will be waiting for us.”

“What if they are being held captive?” Miranda asked.

“Then once we are in a more stable situation we will rescue them,” Natalie told her, “We aren’t in a situation where we can lose anyone right now.”

As the three prepared to leave everyone looked up from the water.

“That was unexpected,” Selina muttered.

{What were they saying?} Azul asked.

{They are moving out with Jonathan so they don’t get picked off before they can rescue us,} James explained, {Or rather, Howard.}

{Howard is as popular as ever,} Selina agreed.

{What about Dorian?} Azul asked.

{What if we see how he reacts to Jonathan?} Howard suggested, {That should help him understand what he is getting into as well as how he might react overall.}

{That could work,} James agreed then turned to Azul, {If you want Doiran to come with us, you have to convince him yourself, and you have to help transport our things out of the colony.}

{The second one will be easy, but the first,} Azul hesitated, {Dorian doesn’t even know who I am and he will be just like the others now. Once he sees my eyes it will be over.}

{Then he couldn’t have come with us in the first place,} James reminded, {Jonathan’s eyes are also red. Far redder than yours.}