It was dawn. The first sunlight glistened on the soaked cobbles of the road. Leaves and debris were scattered throughout the streets from the previous night’s storm. Even some light damage had been sustained to some of the buildings. 

Mylo almost tripped on a fallen slate roof shingle, stumbling forward a few steps. 

Karn jumped as he did. He had been on edge since Mylo had told him about what had happened to Fenn. He kept a meter away from him at all times and seemed reluctant to say much outside of the occasional requestioning of events.

Mylo took notice sometime into the night, but he thought it best not to mention it. If Karn had told him he had been possessed by a shadowlimb, he would have been cautious too. He was just glad that despite that, Karn was still trying to help him.

"Listen, she could be here, but I'm not 100% positive if she’s even on shift today,” Karn said as they neared the central loop. 

She was really the only option for Mylo. Telling other civilians risked widespread panic, and telling capital guards risked trouble. If they had taken his dad’s books, there must’ve been a reason, and maybe this was it. It was true that what was happening to him was not something his school had ever taught him about shadowlimbs. The red-eyed variant was not once mentioned in his years as a student.

They traced alongside the shopward side of the central loop. It was opening hour for the town, and many people were already out and about. Some were patching their storefronts from damage procured from the storm. Others waited patiently outside for first dibs on fresh pastries. The scent of which wafted through Mylo’s nose. It was nauseating for him. Eating was the last thing he wanted to do right now, especially things he was so fond of sharing with his family. 

The guard station was barely a few shopfronts ahead, and Mylo began to pick up his pace as the anticipation for answers was growing within him. He had struggled to wait out the night. 

“Wait, Mylo, let me do the talking,” Karn insisted. He briefly fluttered his hand over Mylo’s shoulder before taking the lead.

They were mere meters from the door. An entering guard in a typical collared white uniform gave Karn an odd stare as he took the door from him. They entered behind him, and Karn made his way to the front desk, where the guard was just getting settled in behind it.

Mylo had only been here once before, to pick up his brother after he had ran off during a school field trip into town. A memory that crawled its way into his head upon his entrance into the building. 

Mylo tried to peek behind the guard, seeing a couple doorways behind him. He hoped Karn’s insider was in one of them.

“What can I help you kids with?” the guard questioned. He sounded drowsy, and his hair had a bad case of bedhead. On his left breast was a single yellow patch. He was only of first-level clearance.

“Is Willow in yet?” Karn questioned.

The guard sighed and turned his head behind him. “Willow!” he shouted.

“Yes,” a salty voice called back.

Mylo sighed in relief; she was here.

“Some of your friends are here to see you,” he replied.

They heard the wooden doorway creak open. Coming out the door was a girl their age. She wore a crooked guards cap on her head, and a messy, dark-haired bun protruded out the back of it. She eyed Karn curiously as she approached the desk. 

Mylo recognized her from a couple classes he was in. They hadn’t interacted much except for the passing hello. She was reserved at school, typically sitting in the back careless about what she learned or didn’t learn. As a prominent guardsman's daughter, she really didn’t have to worry about much. 

“What do you want?” she asked in a heavy whisper to Karn. She laid down her arms on the polished wood. Her sleeves were rolled up all the way to her elbows.

“It's about the, uh, homework assignment,” Karn replied, unsure of his own excuse. 

"Homework? Oh yeah, the homework,” she said, snapping her fingers, almost blowing their cover. “Jon, can I take them to the back?”

Jon sighed, “Just don’t do anything that loses me my job.” 

"Yeah, yeah,” Willow replied. She urged them behind the desk, and they followed, entering into the leftward door that she had come out of. She took a seat in a swivel chair behind a large, circular, dark wood table in the small gray room.

They didn’t take a seat in any of the other chairs. Their urgency wouldn’t allow it. 

“You really shouldn’t be coming here at my job about this,” she advised. “I told you this is a secret.” She whispered the last word for emphasis. “But regardless, how was it? See any spooks out there?”

“Mylo?” Karn questioned, turning to him. 

Mylo gave a nervous sigh. “What do you know about red-eyed shadowlimbs?”

“Red-eyed shadowlimbs?” Willow questioned, “I uh wouldn’t know.” She broke eye contact with them, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. It didn’t bode confidence in her answer.

“Willow, I think one might've kidnapped my brother,” Mylo replied.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Willow replied. “They can’t get through the walls.”

“I don’t think it did,” Mylo said. “It's inside me.”

Willow’s demeanor changed as soon as he said it. There was a look of shock in her carmel eyes, like she knew something they didn’t.

“How long ago did this start happening?” Willow questioned.

“Just last night, I saw a shadowlimb, a red-eyed one, in the drainage tunnel,” Mylo replied. “Why? What do you know?”

“I don’t know what I know, only rumors,” Willow responded. She was starting to panic. 

“It's bad, isn’t it?” Mylo questioned.

"Well, no shit, it's bad. You're possessed by a shadowlimb,” Willow stated.

“Is my brother gone? Am I going to die?” Mylo asked, getting more worried.

“Listen,” Willow started, trying to get her words out more calmly, “I’m not privy to a lot of what happens in the capital, even though, you know, my dad’s got a pretty high ranking. Things get around though, and so do rumors of people being possessed or having strange abilities. I don’t think the capital has much of a tolerance for it.” 

“What do you mean by that?” Mylo asked.

“They’re going to execute Mylo?!” Karn exclaimed, understanding what she meant by it.

“I don’t know. I told you I don’t know everything,” Willow replied, trying to take back a little of what she had said. 

Mylo finally took a seat in one of the chairs, drooping his head low. He had become aware of one too many things today already, and it wasn’t even noon yet. 

‘What can we do?” Karn questioned, taking the lead for a Mylo that was already getting low on hope.

“I can’t do anything. I'm just a trainee,” Willow said.

“But your dad. You both live in the capital sector, right?” Karn inquired.

“Shit, you want me to try to get some information, don’t you?” She asked, squeezing the bridge of her nose. 

"Well, can you?” Karn questioned. “This is serious here.”

“Yes, I can—I just—I've already been caught so many times snooping,” Willow replied. “My dad always has eyes on me.”

“What exactly are you trying to find?” she asked.

Mylo looked up to her. “My dad’s journal; I think they have it. It's got a bunch of information he collected from the outside world and shadowlimbs.”

“What’s it look like? Good chance it's in the capital’s high clearance library,” she replied.

“It's red, and it's got gold-colored detailing,” Mylo responded. “At least that’s what I remember it looking like—is there any chance I could come with you?”

Willow sputtered her lips. "Maybe. I would be in serious trouble with my dad if he found out. He doesn't like seeing me with boys either. There's a chance he might just kill you if he sees you. But considering you might already be on your way out, I guess why not?” She answered, almost becoming hysterical now. Admittedly, it was a lot to put onto someone. 

Mylo nodded. “Whatever it takes to get my brother back.”

Willow hung her head back against her chair. She seemed so exasperated by the prospect. “Ugh, you guys are going to owe me big time,” she said. “And my dad isn’t going to let me out of the capital sector for months after this.”

“No offense, but your dad kind of seems like a prick,” Karn interjected.

Mylo turned to him, raising an eyebrow. He didn't disagree, but did he really need to say it?

"Ok, sorry,” Karn apologized. “He’s a guardsman, I know.”

Willow tilted her head from side to side. "No, you’re right. He is kind of a prick, and he's always there when you least expect it.”

“So what are the odds, do you say?” Karn questioned.

“Oh minimal,” Willow replied. “What a homework assignment this is.”