I watch Skychaser, with his wounds now mostly seared shut, dive into the water and help the three get out. I follow the four along the water as they are pushed from shore with Dakota, and when they get close to the sharp beach of rocks, I use Leash to pull them closer.

But I have to quickly stop just as they get onto the rocky shore, my brain touching that limit and about to melt. From there, I just help pull the rest up physically. Once we are all on the shore and have discussed the situation, we start to look for Johnny.

The last any of us saw of him and Blake was the two in the air while falling. I'm worried for the girl as a Motherbound touched her, but I think it was okay based on how she was fighting. It wasn't a Manipulator; those are the only ones that can turn the living. Or at least quickly. Skychaser's caution about me earlier tells me that we don't know everything there is to these beings.

So, we walk through this rocky underground river, looking for danger and Johnny. We almost continuously see Motherbound spiraling in the river, getting slammed against rocks and torn apart. But rarely are they on the shore, and when they are, Bonfire and Silas do most of the work; Skychaser and I are still recovering. Lennox is, well, Lennox, and Dakota is watching our back, barking if he hears anything.

The underground river, the Connector, is massive and sprawling. It is also dark; the only light source is a glint from the waters. But, besides Bonfire, his flames generate enough light to keep our surroundings visible and enough warmth so we don't feel the chill of the wet river.

And as we walk during our search for the two missing, I abruptly pause, a thought coming to my mind like a candle in the dark.

"Skychaser?"

The Bado twists, his feathers clinking as he turns to look at me.

"Yes?"

Seriously, I ask him a question.

"Where are our people and your tribesmen? I thought they were at the bottom of the spire. How did we end up here? I saw no paths out from that pit while we were falling."

The Bado's eyes flicker up and down in the habit of his people as he speaks, a scratchy voice coming from his beak. Skychaser rubs the back of his neck, his talons sliding against some of the feathers on his back.

"They are, just not Sky Spire. I must have misspoken or led to a misunderstanding. That is my bad. They are hiding within Blight Spire, not Sky Spire. Bonfire and I came from there to try and escape without getting attacked by any Nahullo or chased down and converted by these Motherbound. The safest way was to sneak out and go along the river to where I was born, Sky Spire, the spire I know best. Also, at the time, there were few enemies in the Connector, so we had little issue escaping, besides my hounding father, Skywanter, of course."

I nod in understanding, but my heart sinks a bit. So this means we have to go to Blight Spire, where the most wonderful density of Motherbound, Nahullo, and, well, death in general is.

Fantastic. I start to walk a bit faster, feeling an urgency to find Johnny and Blake.

"Okay, let's get moving then. We need to find those two before anything happens to them."

Everyone agrees with me, as they should, I'd be worried they were replaced if not, and our pace accelerates from a walk to a run along the shore. I'm really hoping that they got out of the water fast enough not to be drug too far, but it's not looking like that's the case. Had they been behind us, they would have seen Bonfire's fire.

As I finish thinking about things and seeing his fire, I hear teeth clicking from above during our sprint. I look up, curious and prepared to fight, as my headache is unhurriedly fading to meet the twilight eyes of the silvery darkness of a Tonguer on the roof of the cave.

I point up at the creature above and let everyone know.

"Above! Tonguer!"

The first to react is Silas, but the distance stops him from doing much. The same goes for Bonfire. Skychaser is the last to respond, just as the Tonguer starts crawling toward us from the ceiling, its decayed steel wings scraping against the ceiling. Skychaser, however, attacks it with zero hesitation. Lightning builds up in his wings before deafening us for a split second as a line of blue connects his outstretched four talons to the Tonguer above.

Instantly, the creature falls with a shriek, landing right on the edge of the bank of the river before being blasted in by Bonfire's flames. Then, screaming bloody murder with a shrill voice, the Motherbound is swept away by the raging river. The two working together remove the threat in less than five seconds. Impressed, I go to congratulate Skychaser on the power of his skill, half jealous about its potency, but I meet a Bado doubled over and panting for his life.

"Good Jo–are you okay?"

Skychaser waves at me before pushing himself back to a standing position.

"I–I'm fine. Lightning like that just takes a lot out of me. Didn't want to risk it getting close, though."

I nod, curious about his capabilities and how best to use him in a fight. Then, I ask him something else as we restart our movement.

"How many of those can you do? Fully rested and right now? We're likely about to fight a whole bunch more, and without Johnny to do the intelligence gathering, I might as well."

The Bado walks forward some more, regaining his stride after just a few and replying after almost a half dozen.

"Probably one more right now. Fully rested, however, I can do about four Lightning before losing consciousness. A more reasonable one is Shock, which is similarly powerful but requires touch. I can do about ten of those fully rested."

Nice. I wasn't honestly expecting him even to be able to do one more of those. That Lightning seemed very powerful. It straight up paralyzed that Tonguer and made it fall from the ceiling with smoke coming from it.

It seemed similar yet different from Hura's, the demon's more focused on damaging the body. I think Skychaser's may be a split between damage and control. Paralysis and a set of claws are a deadly combination.

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We keep walking through the underground river for about another hour, coming across a few more scattered Motherbound and several Plagued before I feel rested enough to try Echo. And once I do, I sit down on a slick slab of rock that is missing any sharp edges and focus inward, only glancing at my companions who will be guarding me. Most are, at the very least, scratched up like Lennox, but some are pretty wounded, like Skychaser and Silas. I hope damages to the wings aren't permanent and that undead heal, well, at all. Unfortunately, I don't think I've seen any healing without Birdie's help. Not that Silas or Lennox have gotten hurt since we left the Underworld, though.

But I push away those thoughts and focus inward, Tempering my senses to focus solely on my hearing as I funnel a large amount of braided Ether into my ears, finishing off Echo. While I do so, I feel my headache coming back with a vengeance, but I should have time to investigate and find Johnny and Blake if they are in this cave. If only Johnny still had Downpour. I bet we could hear his gunshots.

I close my eyes and focus outward, feeling the vibrations of the world coursing through me from my ears. The sounds of the raging river fade away as I hone in on the distant echoes of noise—the noise of movement, clinks, clacks, and growls. Then, with a deep breath, I open my eyes and concentrate by tightening my blind eyes on an unknown point before me, feeling my hearing sharpen and extend beyond what is naturally possible, even by the most precise beast.

Straining my senses even further, I try to isolate the sounds of any human-like noises from the chaotic roar of the water. Finally, the faint echoes reach me, and I hear the distinct dull and slapping sound of a piece of steel hitting flesh, followed by a grunt. Feeling as though I have found what I'm looking for, I focus harder, trying to locate the source of the noise amidst the echoing noise of the cavern.

Unable to pinpoint it directly, I bring the noise backward with my mind, trying to make markers with my mind along the river. The fight, then a… I think Dreadmarked walking with a rumble, then a cluster of Plagued tapping their claws on the stone below, then finally, closest to us, a hiding Stigmatic, its rough breathing telling of its location.

Abruptly, I open my eyes and release my Ether as I stand quickly, relaying my findings.

"Found them! Well, at least Johnny. I heard a piece of steel, similar to a gun, and a grunt. We need to move; I think he's fighting, and we have some company on our way there!"

The group nods and starts moving immediately, except for Lennox, who is chewing on a rock in boredom. Grunting in the effort, I pull the Stoneclad to his feet.

"Please try to be serious, Lennox. Okay?"

The child-turned-gargoyle stares at me blankly, bits of red growing on his stone skin. Then, sighing, I just turn around and run toward where Johnny is. I can't handle this kid.

With the wet floor and my lack of extra Ether to waste on anything but the absolute necessity, I am forced to run a fair bit slower than Bonfire and Silas, who seem to be the most combat-ready of us all. I barely even run faster than Skychaser, a Bado, the race known for how slow they can sprint, the beings much better at gliding or climbing with claws that act like hands.

But I don't let anything deter me as I rush toward Johnny and whatever he may be fighting. The man is without his most eminent tool, and from what I heard, Blake isn't helping him. So they might even be separated. That would be bad, really, really bad.

First, we come across the juncture where I heard the breathing of a Stigmatic in hiding, and as we run, I point it out to Bonfire.

"Stigmatic behind that rock up ahead, Bonfire! You get it, then catch up!"

He does as I say without reacting, flames spewing from his palms and some from his feet that cause him to move even faster. The split-second image of him canceling his group's speed while falling with a gout of flame comes to mind. Before, I never once thought about using fire to manipulate momentum, but it might be quite well suited for that.

We continue to run forward, coming across the group of Plagued who appear to be covered in scratches and lacerations of stone with bodies soaked in water. These must be those that were able to get out of the river. I ask the undead man to take care of these.

"Silas?!"

"Gotcha' lil' bossman."

He flips a coin in his hand, the gold reflection sinking into his skin, turning it gold. Then, he barrels straight into the front, Plagued and pushing them all out of the way as he pulls a hatchet from the sheath on his back, a flicking coin in his other hand. The man promptly slays them as Lennox, Skychaser, Dakota, and I continue onward.

The next obstacle is the Dreadmarked. Who is better for it? Me or Skychaser? Probably Skychaser. I can even sic Dakota onto it after the Bado shocks it with Lightning. That should put it down, right? Sounds good to me. Then, I, and I guess Lennox too, can help Johnny.

While I sprint, I pull out the six rounds within the cylinder of my gun that I saved, putting them in my pocket. I'm going to give them to Johnny the second I see him. The Gunfighter will be able to place them far better than I.

Quickly, we turn a corner of the underground river with our feet slamming against the slippery stone floor as we see the Dreadmarked made of a Bado within orange chains just a few dozen feet away. Its left arm is engorged and disgusting. It also seems its left wing has gotten stuck and melded with it, putting steel and flesh into one appalling amalgamation.

I call for Lightning to meet the flesh.

"Skychaser! Light 'em up! All the way!"

A grunt of acknowledgment hits me just as I finish my words.

"One–second!"

Sparks of blue light appear beside me for half a second before another deafening blast emerges, putting smoke on the Dreadmarked as the Motherbound stumbles in pain. Burnt flesh is all over its enlarged arm.

Seeing that it is injured but not entirely out, I ask Dakota to finish the job as Skychaser falls to his knees. I'm unsure if I'm making the right calls, but I don't have time to worry about it. Hesitation could spell Johnny's death.

"Dakota! Get it, boy! Just be careful!"

A high-pitched bark reaches me as an orange bullet bursts right past me, dark Ether gathering on the bullet's claws and jaw. Before I take another step, Dakota rips a chunk out of the Dreadmarked's knee and takes it to the ground.

"Good boy! Catch up with Skychaser!"

Trusting Dakota to finish off the Dreadmarked off a similar Sigil, I keep onward, pumping my legs underneath me as fast as I can without Ether to supplement my lacking strength.

As I approach, more sounds of fighting reach me. Painful grunts, sharp clangs, dull thuds, and constant shifting. Pushing myself even faster with Lennox not far behind me, the child of stone not having to use Ether much until now as he doesn't fight all that much, I climb to the top of a small lip of rock and throw myself over it.

When I do so, I see two figures cloaked in the darkness of the underground river, locked in intense hand-to-hand combat. Then, focusing a bit, I see with my eyes that both are wrapped in dark blue chains, markers of 6th Sigils, and a bit to the left, I see a crumpled-up humanoid swathed in light blue.

I move toward two figures fighting tooth and nail as I glance at the other figure, recognizing it as Blake. She advanced!? How!? It's only been three months at most since she last rose!? Is she going to be alright!? Not another Vernon! Please…

Stopping briefly to check on her, I see that slivers of silvery light are embedded within her neck. My heart sinks with pain as I see the telltale sign of Darklight invading someone, but as I look closer, I gain a bit of hope.

Blake has the ghost from a Motherbound she seized earlier wrapped around the Darklight, just barely keeping it from spreading. Her body is curled up against the rocks, shaking and shivering. I step toward her but am forced to change my focus as the two fighting come closer, allowing me to see who is who.

A Bado, a tall birdman wrapped in pure midnight steel feathers and lightweight on his feet, fights against Johnny, the Gunfighter without a gun. One wields the power of Darklight in its grasp, something with the nature of corruption, as the other wields only an empty gun.

I step in, pushing what little Ether I can into a Leash, wrapping it around the legs of the Bado, obviously infected with the taint. Yanking it as hard as I can, I try to pull it off its kilter, but it flips and abruptly disappears from my sight, somehow joining the cavern's darkness.

And the second it does, Johnny screams to me and Lennox, who is just watching.

"Get close! Back to back! This is the Taintwrought from earlier! It can disappear into shadow and attack from it too!"

Skychaser's dad!? I quickly react to this news and jump toward Johnny as Lennox does the same. I put my back against the Gunfighter, and with all the speed I can, I push the six bullets toward him without saying a word.

He inaudibly reacts and loads the revolver so fast that I can't even catch a second of an open cylinder. And that's a good thing, for the moment afterward, a shadow appears out of nowhere, somehow invisible even to my sight of chains until he emerges from the dark.

I take out Intervention as I fling the weapon out to put it between the Skywanter and his target, Lennox. A claw warped in Darklight screams through the air toward the Stoneclad faster than the inexperienced child can react. But not faster than Johnny or I.

The barrel of Intervention takes the blow from Skywanter, warping the steel so far that it is almost impossible to use. Any shots from now on will be massively off-sight, perhaps even blow up the barrel. But in return for the nearly ruined gun that will have to be fixed later, Johnny twists and puts his barrel against Skywanter's head. My eyes follow down Johnny's arm as I see several open and bleeding wounds that lead to the Bado's eyes flickering toward him in such a menacing way that I feel it doesn't care about the threat.

Johnny doesn't relent against the bluff and pulls the trigger of his gun, sending lead thunderously toward the Bado's angular face. But the moment the hammer hits the firing pin, the creature disappears in a puff of dark smoke.

I glance at Johnny as I pull out my dagger. The Gunfighter spits some quick words while he uses one hand to rip and tie a strip of cloth from his clothes around the bleeding wounds on his arm.

"Narrowing down his abilities. Seems to be some short-range teleport based on shadows. Bonfire with you?"

I nod and give him the rundown before Skywanter arrives again, asking if it will attack again.

"Yeah, he's on his way. And Skywanter's gonna come back, right?"

Johnny spins the cylinder of his gun with a simple reply, the flick of his cut-up hand imbuing Ether into the rounds, just as a claw comes from above, a small shadow created within the stalactites above.

"I hope so."