Kit awoke in darkness. She abruptly sat up, rubbing her eyes. She had a faint feeling like she had a nightmare about her sister being hurt, but it was too foggy to remember. She thought she woke up in the middle of the night, but she quickly realized this was different.

“Esther?” She called out.

She could hear Esther stirring.

"Kit?" Esther groggily said.

"I can’t see..." Kit said. "I think...I might have lost my sight. Can you guide me out of here?”

“I can’t see either...is it night?”

Kit looked up and around for for any sign of light. Fear setting into her, she stood, and felt around the room for the walls. Her fingers brushed against the room's sole window. She couldn’t see anything outside, though. Maybe it really was still night.

"Can you use your powers?" Kit suggested. "Or the sword, maybe?"

"Ah!" Esther got Ihli's blade out, and it illuminated, warding off the darkness. It stayed at their feet like smoke.

"What happened here?" Kit asked.

"I don't know," Esther said. "It doesn't seem like anything good, though."

Kit followed Esther out of their room, and they cautiously checked on the others. Sora was awake, particularly shaken, holding Serril in their arms, who lay completely still.

"I think...he's breathing, just," Sora said. "Everyone's frozen..."

They couldn't find Charmaine, so the group went outside to find that the city had completely changed. Gone were the artificial lights above them, replaced with charred overgrowth, as though a burnt swamp infected the area and spread all around. Citizens of the village, dragon and Eteros alike, were completely still.

Something sloshed on a pond of bubbling muck. Charmaine was balancing on a crate, trying to stay afloat.

“Oh. hey!” Charmaine said, spinning towards the group. “The hell happened here?"

"What are you doing out of bed?" Esther asked.

"Is now really the time for that...?" Kit asked.

"Maybe Charmaine did this," Esther said.

"Why would I...how would I?" Charmaine said. "Can you toss me a rope or something?"

Esther used Ihli’s sword to create a path towards Charmaine. With no darkness to float on, she and the crate she clung to dropped to the ground. Kit helped her to her feet.

"I was...well, alright, don't tell any of these guys, but..." Charmaine said. "I was maybe stealing a little bit."

"Stealing?" Kit asked.

"Yeah! They had it coming, making us work right when we got here," Charmaine said. "I was gonna be a good worker bee by day, and get some good stuff by night. I got a big castle to fill, alright?"

"So did you see what happened?" Kit asked, wanting to move on from this.

"Everything suddenly went dark," Charmaine said. "It sounded like...a tidal wave crashed through or something."

“Have you seen anyone else?” Kit asked.

“Just you lot so far.” Charmaine said.

Both Charmaine and Sora were rattled, and for the first time Kit could almost understand the two being friends, even if she didn't know much else about their relationship.

A branch of one of the newly grown yet decaying trees cracked off and fell into a different pond of muck, splashing towards the group.

"That sword killed the gunk, maybe it can fix this?" Charmaine asked.

Esther tried using it on the rest of the place, but outside of the sinister looking liquids, it didn't have much effect. The forest seemed to never end. Kit couldn’t see any landmarks other than the dead trees, it was like the city was completely gone. The wind wailed around us like anguished voices.

“Do any of us have a plan or anything?" Charmaine asked.

"For now, maybe we need to just retreat," Esther said. "Hopefully Serril gets back to normal if we get out of here..."

"Enemies of the Verdant Colony, your journey ends here."

A gust of howling wind brought with it a horrid voice that surrounded them. It carried itself around in a way that none of the group could tell where exactly it came from, so they circled, unsure of where their enemy might strike.

"I will give you one chance to overturn the artifact you've stolen, or I will slay you where you stand."

Stomps rang out like the tolling of bells. A group of Obsidian Hunters stepped out from the darkness. Kit stared in disbelief at the group of armored warriors approaching. Obsidian Hunters, an elite force of soldier hired by the Verdant Colony. Then two Verdant Colony military officials joined them. And with one of them...

"Myles!" Kit shouted. "It's Myles!"

Myles was beaten and bruised, but it was her. She could barely process seeing her sister again after so long, let alone reuniting like this. "Don't hurt her!"

"It's much to late for that," the woman said. "I am Captain Wren. If you do as I say, she won't be hurt any further."

"Kit..." Myles said. "Don't listen to a word they say." The Verdant Colony commander holding Myles punched her across her face.

"Stop!" Kit yelled.

The hunters advanced on them. Esther held the sword out, ready to fight. Kit had no idea what to do, and it looked like Sora and Charmaine were in the same boat. And poor Serril still was completely frozen.

"Hm?" Esther sensed it moments before it happened. She possibly faintly heard something familiar and reacted before she even recognized what it was. Or maybe sensed it on a deeper level. Either way, she was able to push her friends back in time for the barrage of fire from a familiar plane flying by.

"Cloudy Eye!" Esther yelled.

"Fire!" Wren yelled as the Obsidian Hunters changed focus to the plane coming around for another pass.

Esther took advantage of the moment to flee, with Sora and Charmaine already running. Kit didn't move though.

"Kit, come on!" Esther said, grabbing her hand. Kit turned back, eyes desperate.

"But Myles!" Kit said.

"We'll save her, don't worry!" Esther said.

There wasn't time to argue. The group took off back into the twisted trees. Esther ran in the path of Cloudy Eye's plane; the engine noise was clear in her mind now. As was its sputter. And the sound of it taking energy bolt hits from the hunters. And the sound of it rapidly heading downward.

They ran until they heard the plane landing. Wren and the Obsidian Hunters had hopefully lost their path, at least for a few moments. Esther spotted the plane first, landed in an open field of the charred foliage.

Cloudy Eye hopped out of the plane, and Esther rushed to him. While Cloudy Eye still had his mask on, Esther felt like the expression on it was warmer somehow. The two embraced.

"How many planes are we going to crash this week?" Esther asked.

"Hey, I didn't crash this one," Cloudy Eye said. He tilted his head to the side. "How many planes did you crash?"

"Well...there were at least two," Esther said. "But one wasn't my fault!"

"And it wasn't even a plane, really!" Kit said.

"I was saving their lives," Sora said. "And shouldn't we maybe keep running away?"

"I don't know how much more running we can do," Charmaine said, nodding ahead.

While the field looked vast at first glance, it did not go very far, a valley of decaying dirt and dark gray sand.

A large fortress stood in the center. It had the appearance of a mix of VCV and Calestian architecture, which made me feel sick. Bright bland walls were interrupted by a giant arm welded into the middle. A gate made of a head like the underground wasteland, except with a regular set of doors where the mouth was. A ring of Echela waste surrounded the building.

"What happened to this place?" Esther asked.

"A powerful spell," Cloudy Eye said. "That woman leading the group, Captain Wren, is a powerful sorcerer."

"OK, I have a few more questions," Kit said. "Who are you? How do you know any of this? What do we do? How do we get Myles away from those guys?"

"I'll do my best to answer, but..." Cloudy Eye grunted. He stumbled a bit, and Esther rushed to his side.

"You good?"

Cloudy Eye limped even with Esther’s help holding him up. Esther helped him sit down.

“I’m fine.” He said, before his good eye blinked out. "That landing was just a bit rougher than I was maybe ready for."

Esther sighed. “Now’s not the time for your act,” She said. “We know we can trust them."

It was maybe a risk with the newer members of the group, but Esther's gut told her it was alright.

“I just need…repairs.” Cloudy Eye said. Esther smirked at her mentor.

“I guess they would have found out soon enough if they continued traveling with you,” Cloudy Eye said.

Esther helped Cloudy Eye take off his mask. Behind it wasn’t the metal face of an Eteros, but the face of a human. Esther turned to Kit, knowing her reaction would be the best seeing this.

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