“Alright.” Said Stella after we found and talked to her. “Show me the data.” I pulled out a pen and paper and started sketching out a quick map of Callus, with notations for where large gatherings of enemy Ascendants were at last update. Last update was pretty much instantaneous, because Callie and I both had parallels running through Piece of Mind communicating with each other through the bond.

She scanned my notes, nodding slowly. “Well, I think it’s pretty clear Valen is a trap. That and Rajak will be the first place they expect us to hit. As much as I’d love to free my people, the actual combat will probably be more dangerous than the occupation.”

“I had a similar thought.” I said with a grimace. “But I don’t know the rest of Callus well enough to pick a secondary target.”

She stared pensively for a minute, then tapped a spot on the map. “Trevally. Dox and Revna are both lighter defended, but those might be bait. Trevally is light on manpower, but not compared to the other cities, the guild master is a teleporter, and I’ve been there before, so I can guide us when we arrive.”

“It’s a bit far though.” I grimaced. “Do we have any means of transport? I guess Gabe’s charger maybe?”

“I can take someone else too.” Said the Adamant. “Bethy can transport people in her Domain, so if I carry her…” He trailed off, and the vampire girl lit up. It was basically the same plan we’d used to get here, but given both of their capabilities, there was a good chance of them avoiding problems as a two man team. It would damn sure be less obvious than trying to steal a shuttle or force march an army.

I glanced at the angels. “I’d be happier if he had backup just in case. Can you two fly fast enough to keep up with the charger?”

“It won’t be a problem.” Said Holly, cracking her neck. “This planet is so…floaty. I haven’t been anywhere this low rank in my entire life. Trust me, we’ll make good time. Plus, we’re fast enough to provide a distraction once they get there.”

Serah nodded solemnly. “We can kill two birds with one stone.”

“Why would you say that?” Demanded Holly. “We have WINGS. Do you know how big of a jinx that is. If I get killed because of your bad jokes I’ll haunt you for eternity.”

Abel snorted. “You don’t want her around for eternity, trust me. As far as I can tell that’s how long she’s been complaining already, so I know from experience.” Holly glared at my mentor, who stuck his tongue out at her.

“Children.” I said with a sigh. “Focus please? We’re about to raid an occupied city on a besieged planet where everyone is looking for us. Now, Stella, who exactly are WE looking for. I assume it’s not just one person.”

She shook her head. “Trevally has four E-rankers. The Unity guild master, the WCP branch leader, and a pair of crime lords. The Unity rep for that city is Walker. He has an ability that lets him fold space as he moves, every step is ten miles. That might not seem like much, but given how fast Ascendants can walk, it’s a huge advantage. If we get Walker, especially if we combine his ability with Mr. Brightlaw’s charger, we’ll have the run of the whole planet.”

“What about the WCP manager?” I asked. “Is their power something that can help us?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know her as well. I’m pretty sure its Flicker. Her ability is a sort of smoke transformation. Not the undisputed strongest on the planet or anything, but fairly scary to have as an enemy and nearly uncatchable. The crime lords there are Dead Eddie and Sam Slaughter. Eddie is some kind of undead, and he’s nearly impossible to hurt at the same rank, and Sam gets stronger the more blood he spills. It wears off after a few weeks, but in conditions like this…I wouldn’t want to screw with him.”

Abel snorted. “He’s a hack.” We all looked at him. “Slaughter was in the Titan Twenty with us back in the day. Well, more like he was on his way out when we hit the scene. Big thug with a chip on his shoulder, always sneering at everyone.” He cracked his knuckles. “If he gives you a problem I’ll take care of it.”

“So Abel is dealing with Savage.” I said with a laugh. “I’ll approach Flicker. I’m a Wyndham, and she might know Zeke. I have the best chance of getting her on side. Stella, can you recruit Walker?”

“Easily.” She said with confidence. “He’s notoriously pigheaded, but it’s not like I don’t have experience with that.”

Bethy raised a hand. “I can handle Dead Eddie. Vampires have a special status among most human seeming undead. I’m not sure what species he is, but he’s almost definitely heard of daddy. By the time I’m done, he’ll be your loyal follower!” She gave me a big cheesy thumbs up and a fang filled grin.

“I hesitate to unleash you on Callus unchecked.” I said with a laugh. “Take Gabe with you. Chelsea, you’re on distraction duty with the angels. Mom says no need to hold back. You’re allowed to go all out. Both abilities.”

My sister’s face twisted into a cold smile. “Well isn’t that nice. I can’t wait to get some experience with that.”

“Zeke said to tell you to stick to ranged, and the mix should be one to ten dark to flame.” I tried to keep the comments vague, but I knew she understood.

“Alright.” I said after we went over a few more things. “We need to move before they have a chance to catch their breath. If they grind down all the resistance it’ll make things that much harder. Gabe, you ready to ride?”

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My friend nodded firmly. “Any time.” He snapped his fingers and his starlight charger manifested next to him, glimmering like the night sky.

“Archimedes!” Squealed Bethy. She leapt onto the horse, snuggling into his lightspun mane. “I missed you so much you big good boy. Mean old Gabe wouldn’t let me see you.” She beamed at us. “When Gabe and I were on daddys ship he used to let me ride all the time.”

The big man put a hand over his face. “Bethy, we’ve been over this. The horse is a construct made of my energy. He has no emotions. You can’t bond with him. Or name him. Because he isn’t real. And scoot back, I’m the one steering, we have to use my Path for this if we want to make the best time.”

Bethy pouted, but scooted back with a sigh. Gabe rolled his eyes and climbed onto the horse. “Now. Time to go. Everybody close your eyes and count to ten…nevermind too late!” Bethy’s Domain exploded out, covering Abel, Stella, Mel, my sister, me, Benny, Celine, Jessie, and Randall.

We left behind Nat and the others to guard the civilians, and it was odd seeing the world melt away as the Domain covered us.

Domains were complicated. I knew there was a spatial component from seeing Lark do his thing and restrain all those S-rankers, and we’d used it to get here, but I still didn’t understand exactly how it worked.

Bethy’s Domain, from what I could tell, was a ‘seed domain’ like the one Tartarus had used. Lark had made it for her, and it was extremely powerful because Lark had basically condensed the entire vampire mythos into his singular domain by killing and eating all the other vampires outside his family.

I wondered if the thing my dad had said about not following the same Path as a god would be a problem for Bethy. Or maybe Lark had already altered his own Domain to clear the Path for her, I couldn’t imagine him sabotaging her future.

As we took off, I couldn’t even see the outside of the Domain, though I could sort of feel the motion. I turned to Benny and Jessie. “Hey, you two be careful ok? Stick with Stella. Randall is a badass, so as long as you all stick together he should be able to cover for any weaknesses. But just…don’t do anything stupid.”

Benny snorted. “Coming from the mayor of moronville. I should be telling you that. But yeah, we’ll stay low. Get in, grab the E-rankers and any of their associates and get out. Leave the fighting to the distraction team.”

“Unless you see an opening.” I corrected wryly. “Then take a shot. Once we’re all back together I fully expect Gabe to kill a few when he’s breaking the encirclement. There are ten of them in town, so we’re not outnumbered much, but they have backup at plenty of nearby locations, so we can’t afford to drag our feet.”

He snorted, drawing his sword. “Don’t underestimate me, nerd. I’ve been training. My Path of the Dracolich is powerful as hell. Plus it’s FOCUSED, unlike your cavalcade of half assed demon forms.”

“Yeah, because a dead lizard is so much scarier than infernal royalty.” I sneered. “You wish you had my kind of muscle.”

“You’re both very tough.” Said Jessie exasperatedly. “I wish Callie was here to shut you up.”

I snorted. “Callie’s not the boss of me!” I paused, double checking the bond to make sure she hadn’t heard that. I would have noticed if she tapped into it, but better safe than sorry. “Also…please don’t tell her I said that.”

Benny started laughing, and I just winked. I wasn’t afraid of my wife, but a little levity made the situation seem less dire.

“Don’t underestimate these people, kid.” Said Abel as he walked over to where we were talking. “I know it’s tempting to assume that being well travelled makes us invincible, but Slaughter is a competent guy. I’m sure I can take him, but it won’t be quick and easy. The only upside is I know if I beat him he’ll fall in line. He’s cocky, but he has a code.”

I grimaced. That was just the locals, we also had all these assholes following the dark gods, and who knew what they could do.

There was a pulse of warmth, and I smiled. Callie felt my worry and had sent a flash of reassurance and love. It really did help no matter what the situation, I felt like I was drinking a warm cup of tea for my mental state.

Finally, we came to a stop. It was easy to tell once you knew what you were looking for, the moon had been turning slowly as we traveled, and now it was stopped. The Domain retracted, leaving us all standing in a warehouse in Trevally (I assumed). “We’re here!” Said Bethy cheerfully. “Quick trip, huh?”

Gabe was leaning against the wall. “Quick but not easy.” He wheezed. “We picked up a tail halfway, and I had to shake them. I need a minute.”

The angels stepped up, bringing Chelsea with them. “We’ve got it. We know what to do. Go make some noise.” My sister sounded eager, and I considered warning her to be careful, but surprisingly, Bethy beat me to it.

“Hey, this is important ok?” Bethy said gently. “So don’t rush it. Get in position and just do what you need to do. After I finish with Dead Eddie we’ll come and help out, ok?” Chelsea gave her a grateful smile, and we all headed out to accomplish our assignments.

I stepped out into the street, doing my best to stay out of sight. Liberal use of Double Trouble let me skip wide open spaces, and my Eye of Revelation helped me avoid any concealed watchers. I followed the directions my parallel fed me from Callie, and finally arrived at my destination, the entrance to the Trevally WCP branch.