Mylo could make out the figure that had burst into the room from his vantage point on the ladder. He was a tall, bulky man with a red guard leader uniform snugly wrapped against his muscles. His short, dark hair and caramel eyes matched that of Willow, his daughter.

"Willow!" he yelled again, his face red with anger.

Willow didn’t respond, instead clasping onto the last rung of the ladder and pulling herself back on top of the balcony. She reached back down and hoisted Mylo up by his sleeves, avoiding burning his skin again.

Mylo had to secure the journal he had recovered from falling out of his waistband. He bounced up onto the balcony with his feet. 

Willow didn’t take even a moment to run and leap out of the open window and back onto the shingled roof of the library. 

Mylo followed suit. The reduced blood flow was catching up with him though, as his run became more of a walk. His body was sweating profusely, trying to keep his body temperature down despite his activity. He pulled himself out the window. Daylight washed over him. The sun felt violent as its rays pierced his skin. It was like his skin was boiling. 

"I can’t,” Mylo cried, falling to his knees. His vision was fading, dark corners forming around his eyes. His whole body ached, and his chest felt like it was about to explode. He might have finally taken his body in this new state too far. 

"Mylo!" she yelled, already having slid down to the lip of the roof. “He can’t catch us.”

Mylo tried to get back up, pushing himself off the ground. His whole body shook until it collapsed again. He was considering just telling Willow to leave him behind and find Fenn for him. He didn’t want to do that to her, though. He still had some fight in him. 

He bit his bottom lip and jumped up. He stumbled down towards Willow, kicking away loose pieces of slate. She had to catch him by his collar before he stumbled one step too far off the roof. 

There were two and a half stories below them. Two and a half stories of white stone brick they would have to scale. Even if they did manage it, there were about six guards waiting there for them.

 "How?" Mylo questioned, unsure if there was any possible way out of the situation. 

Before Willow could answer, they heard the crunching of slate behind them. They turned to look at who had joined them, but they already knew.

He stood tall with his fists clenched in anger. His red uniform now matched the color of his rage-filled cheeks.

“You have some explaining to do,” he growled, stepping forward with heavy footsteps.

A cloud above them covered up the sun, shrouding them in a dark shadow. 

Mylo felt pinpricks ignite across his skin as a cooling numbness started to take over him. 

“Do you know how many excuses, how many times I've had to insist you were a fit for this job?” Willow’s dad fumed.

“I never wanted this stupid job,” she replied.

“You’re my daughter!” he yelled. 

Mylo wanted to flinch from the booming voice, but his body stood still. He felt his jaw drop limp as his vision began to close in further and further. He wasn’t in control anymore.

“Who is that?” Willow’s father asked. “What is he…”

Their voices faded as his sight went black with the fading of his heartbeat. He shut his eyes and opened them again. It was the same as the night before. He was floating in the abyss, except this time it was accompanied by a falling sensation. His weight felt like it was shifting downward, wherever that was now. 

“Willow!” He heard as a distorted scream. 

Had they fallen? Would he awaken with a broken back? Would he awaken at all? 

The falling sensation vanished as it felt like an energy surged through his veins. It was like icicles were piercing his innards as it traveled from his frozen heart and out his fingertips. Was it the feeling of death?

“Mylo,” a softer voice echoed around him. "Mylo, what did you do?” 

It had to be Willow. She sounded scared, confused. It was just like Fenn the night before.

“What’s going on?” Mylo tried to ask, but he knew the result would be the same. No one could hear him when he was here, in the darkness of the void.

“Mylo…” she trailed off in a voice that sounded on the edge of tears. “What are you?”