“Here’s the claw,” Milla said in Pangs’ office. “You must give us the other one, right away.”

  “You succeeded? So quickly? Rivia would be proud of—”

  “Sir, please—that thing has Lechi and Garder. They need our help.”

  “It took them?”

  “It took Lechi, and Garder went after her,” Jeryn explained. “But we’re confident they’re alive somewhere. If we have the claws and can open portals to cross dimensions, we might be able to find them.”

  “I see… You’re right. Let’s hurry. Give me the claw you have.”

  Milla handed it over. Seeing it for the first time in full light, she saw that it was old and damaged. She worried how well it would work, if at all.

  “Right.” Pangs took out the other claw from his desk, “Red meets blue. Positive and negative… If it works for the demon, then it should…”

  He held them out, examined them for a moment, and then thrust them forward in the space above his desk. The two points met and started to tear a hole in space. Everyone grew enthusiastic for a moment.

  But the hole didn’t open properly—when he tried to do so, the red claw merely dragged the rift open a few inches before failing and closing it again. He tried several times, but the results were unchanged.

  “Blast…” Pangs coughed. “This claw is too worn… It must be.”

  “W-what can we do? We can’t go back there…” Milla said.

  “No, of course not. Don’t worry just yet—we have enough tools here to repair this now that we have samples of how they function. Yes, now that we have it and know, somewhat, how they work, we should have little problem mending it. We’ve already worked on the blue before.”

  “But Garder and Lechi…”

  “They’ll have to hold out for another hour or so. Once we get this claw repaired, you can use our portal and start your search from there.”

  Milla and Jeryn looked at one another, disappointed by the news.

  “One question, sir…” Jeryn spoke up.

  “Yes?”

  “Why did you reopen the portal? I thought you were keeping it closed to stop the Guard from getting in.”

  “I got reports from several of my men observing you from afar. They saw the demon cross dimensions. When you didn’t come back… I feared what had happened. But I had to give you a chance, and I’m glad to see that you managed to survive and return to us.”

  “Is it still open right now?”

  “No, it’s recharging. But we will leave it open when it’s done in case those two make it back.”

  Jeryn and Milla remained as Pangs set off to start working on the claw. Garder and Lechi were stranded, and they couldn’t even be sure in which world. There was every chance that they wouldn’t be seen again.

  Garder awoke midday in hunger. He had hoped that last night had only been a bad dream, but his arm was still broken, and the two of them were still stuck in the cave.

  Without saying anything, he took out his last food seed and made it grow as much as he could. The payoff was small again, as he still couldn’t find the strength to improve his effort. His broken arm was sapping away the energy right out of him.

  “Had a nice sleep?” he asked, almost jokingly.

  “Not at all,” Lechi sighed. “We won’t make it, will we?”

  “Don’t say that yet… I’m at least rested. I can think of something.”

  “You can’t even cast properly. We’re stuck out here.”

  “No, really, don’t worry yourself. I’m sure Jeryn and Milla are looking for us right now. Don’t be so pessimistic.”

  “It’s called being realistic. They’re not going to find us here, Garder. We have to move ourselves.”

  “Well, if you carry the sunlamp, I guess we could get…”

  There was a roar in the distance that echoed off of the mountains. The two froze and looked out of the cave.

  “It’s been waiting us out,” Lechi said. “It knows we’re here.”

  “B-back—get back. Huddle against the wall.”

  There was another cry, this one closer. Then a heavy thump from above that rattled the stones in the cave. The demon was right on top of them, and Garder could hear its movement and its sniffing of the air.

  Then it leapt upwards, its shadow spreading throughout the cave, the wind from its moving bulk blowing inward. It flew back, twisted around, and rammed its head into the cave with no concern for its own safety. Lechi screamed, and the two ducked back as far as they could go.

  The demon furiously bit the air in front of it and wiggled to try and squeeze through the opening. It pulled back out and then attacked again with its two clawed hands in front, gripping either side of the cave and trying to push itself in further using all of its massive power, while tearing apart segments of the mountain above in the process.

  “Go away!” Lechi shouted. “Leave us alone!”

  As if possessed, it continued its relentless assault. Garder stood defensively, his sword in his left hand. He looked for any possible weak spots to strike, but the beast moved too wildly to focus on any one area.

  The edge of the cave began to crack, and the predator worked its way up several feet. Garder realized that if he didn’t find some way to counter the creature, it could easily reach them. He braced himself for his attack, and then leapt forward without fully thinking it through.

  He struck his sword directly in its snout. It stopped moving for a moment, but didn’t seem otherwise bothered by the infliction. Its skin was tougher on its face—the sword could have broken if it hit any harder. The demon bucked, sending Garder flying backwards with sword still in hand.

  He realized the trouble he had just gotten himself into, and he only had enough time to regret his attack and clench his teeth for coming pain.

  He hit the ground and tumbled several times. He did everything possible to slow himself, but it was too late—his broken arm spread out, and his hand slipped right through the sunlamp’s bubble.

  The pain was instant—an intense burning followed by numbness. He pulled his arm back in the moment he could, but there was nothing to be done. His right hand from the wrist up had dissolved into the atmosphere.

  He screamed in agony and cursed as loudly as he could several times, holding his arm to his side in great pain.

  “God damn it,” he muttered as he wrapped his messed uniform around his cauterized wound. “Damn it all… now my whole hand’s gone.”

  “Garder!” Lechi cried as the demon took off again behind her.

  “Heh, now I’m really messed up…” he grumbled. “Useless, even.”

  “Come on now, get back up. You’re not hurt that badly.”

  “But I—I can’t cast spells at all!”

  He noticed the demon coming back for a third attack. Despite his suffering, he stood again and readied his sword.

  Its impact nearly sent him back to his feet, but he held steady. The demon snarled viciously, its jaws just a few feet away. Garder didn’t care anymore. He wanted to reciprocate as much pain as he could.

  He cried out angrily and charged at one of its grasping hands. The demon was in too much of a rage to even notice the attack. With a burst of vigor, Garder struck at one of its twelve fingers with his remaining strength.

  The sword cut completely through a digit. The demon reacted by slamming its head against the cave wall, and then pulling out with a shriek. It fled into the sky, just as enraged as it had been when it began its assault.

  The finger Garder had sliced off dissipated into the air as black smoke, but the attached claw remained. He slumped against the cave wall and slowly holstered his sword with his remaining hand.

  “You scared it off,” Lechi said, picking up the sunlamp and bringing it closer.

  “Yeah. I guess so,” he replied as she noticed what he was holding.

  “G-Garder! You got us a blue claw!”

  “I know…” he sighed and picked it up. “Maybe I was thinking after all,” he added with a small smile.

  “We can get out of here now, right? I think you just saved us.”

  Lechi took out the red claw she picked up from earlier. She looked at the two in her hands, and then began cutting the air with them. She tried several different movements, but there was no response.

  “Lechi… Try touching their points and then pull like you would opening a bag…”

  “Oh,” she said and tried the suggestion.

  Upon meeting, a bit of electricity flowed from the center point into the air, and a small hole formed. She looked at Garder excitedly, and with some effort, ripped open a small tear in space. It glowed with blue energy for a moment, faded into dimensional static, and then changed completely to show the stars above the Sahara.

  Garder got up and peered through. The sand dunes were below.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Quite a drop,” he said tiredly.

  “It’s as close as we can get. Let’s get out of here, okay? I just want to go back and get my doggy. I don’t want to meet the demon again.”

  “Right…” he sighed and picked up the sunlamp.

  “Why are you taking that?”

  “Um… To give it back, I guess,” he replied in a pain-induced daze.

  “If you say so,” Lechi said and lowered the two claws. “I don’t know how long it stays open, so you first.”

  Garder poked his head through the portal, looked around, and then jumped through. He hit the sand below leg first and collapsed into it. Lechi followed, almost landing on top of him. Above them, the portal shimmered in the night for a few more seconds before closing on its own. He picked himself up and took in the surroundings.

  “You see the mesa anywhere?”

  “Um…” Lechi spun around. “Oh, yeah—over there. It’s pretty far.”

  “Great…” he moaned in pain. “Here, you carry this.”

  He handed her the sunlamp, dimmed and useless on Earth. The two began their trek back towards the mesa, Garder struggling to keep himself alert. Lechi frequently had to tug on him to get him to move, and she could tell that he was in a bad shape. But City C would be able to fix him right up, albeit with a bionic hand replacement. They just had to get there.

  It was slow progress, and by the time they had crossed the desert and made the difficult climb up the dune, the sun was beginning to rise in the distance. But the portal was just ahead. The group would be reunited soon. Garder felt relieved, but he could now only slump down tiredly just in front of the hangar, unable to continue for the moment.

  “Garder, come on! We’re almost there! If the portal isn’t open, we can just make one now. Hurry!”

  “Can’t… I have to rest for a minute.”

  “I’ll leave you behind if you don’t hurry,” Lechi said and set off.

  “Yeah, yeah… I’ll be there in a minute… Just a minute…”

  He looked at the ground and breathed deeply. He heard approaching footsteps and considered them to be Lechi’s. They stopped just behind him.

  “Lechi, what do you want from me—” he started before he looked up and noticed the strange boy gazing down at him.

  “Hello, Garder,” he greeted.

  “Um… who are you?” he asked, trying to keep his eyes open.

  “Don’t worry about that. But I’m afraid I’m here to kill you.”

  “Yeah, right…”

  “You’re better off believing me and not struggling. I’ll let you pop a kill pill if you want. Got plenty. Less mess that way.”

  “Oh, come on… Look, I don’t know who you are, but do you have any idea what we’ve just been through, you little punk?”

  “No need to get hostile. Just die. Sounds like you could use the rest.”

  “What the hell…” Garder muttered.

  In a quick movement, the boy reached around his shoulder and pulled out the sword from his back. A moment after he touched the hilt, he slammed the blade down to the ground in front of him. Garder just barely rolled out of the way and took out his own sword in defense.

  “Garder?” Lechi called out as she noticed the scene. “Who is that?”

  “I don’t know. Stay back.”

  “You don’t look well…” the boy said. “There won’t be much pain, I promise. ‘Course, you never forget the taste of a kill pill.”

  “Get out of here… leave us alone.” Garder coughed. “Look, we just want to get back to the City, okay? Leave us be.”

  “Can’t let you do that. I have to kill you here.”

  “I’m an Aurrian knight. Don’t underestimate me.”

  “Oh, I don’t. But in your shape, I know you’re not going to be a challenge.”

  The boy then unleashed a barrage of downward swings. Each time he defended against one of the savage blows, Garder expended a large amount of his small reserve of energy.

  “Forget him! Just run!” Lechi called in desperation. “You can’t fight now! You can’t even cast alchemagi!”

  “You can’t?” the boy asked and looked at Garder’s sleeved arm. “Did you lose your hand or something? We can fix that, you know.”

  “Shut up…” Garder growled and thrust his sword forward.

  The boy attacked again, aiming at the neck. Garder dodged it, but the boy used his new stance to swing around and attack his back. Elegantly, Garder whipped his blade up and over his shoulder to deflect it without turning around. He then elbowed the boy in his stomach with his broken arm. As he winced in pain, Garder took the moment to get on his feet.

  The boy, however, possessed the ability to leap far enough above Garder’s sword swing and land on shoulders. The extra weight brought him crashing to his knees, but instead of finishing him, the boy quickly dove off again and repositioned himself in front of his opponent.

  “I enjoy a good ol’ sword fight. Most just resort to fancy alchemagi.”

  “What do you want?” Garder growled and limped up in pain.

  “Are you going to keep asking? I have to kill you. It’s orders.”

  “Why? I haven’t even done anything to anyone!”

  As Garder felt his heart pump faster and the sweat drip down his back, the boy laughed and attacked so quickly and hard that Garder couldn’t block it completely. He took a deep cut on his left arm, and the boy leapt back again before Garder could counter.

  He had to press what was left of his uniform against his wound. There was something numbing in the cut—was the sword lined with poison? No—if it were, he would have been dying already.

  “Oh…” the boy sniffed the air. “Your blood. It’s… so rich.”

  His eyes and smile grew wider. He jumped into the air with increased agility and twirled, making his dark blade go into a full 360-degree vertical spin. Garder deflected the incredible attack, but barely just. The boy was relentless—he spun forward like a tornado and struck with another sweep. He could strike from any direction at high speed; he became dangerously unpredictable and had gone crazy with a terrifying bloodlust.

  Garder finally realized he couldn’t win. He would have to make a run for it. He got up and made a dash towards the portal where Lechi was waiting, but stumbled. The boy was back on him, and in desperation, he raised his sword just in time to knock away a lethal attack.

  “You’re making this tough on yourself,” he said. “Would you just trust me and let me kill you? It’s easy.”

  “You’re insane!” Garder snapped and got back to his feet.

  He tried to head back towards the portal again, but the boy leapt in front of him and pushed him back with a flurry of jabs.

  “You’ll only cause more pain to yourself if you resist.”

  Garder felt his weak grip lose his sword, and it went into the air above him. He tried to reach out and grab it, but the boy was too fast.

  “There we go!” the attacker yelled.

  The next thing Garder knew, he was completely petrified. He heard his sword clang behind him. He looked down and felt the trickle of blood.

  The boy, his eyes looking deeply into Garder’s, stood quietly. With one hand, he held the sword firmly and said nothing. His blade had struck hard, right below the heart. Garder couldn’t believe it—it was like it hadn’t actually just happened. His whole body had gone so numb that he couldn’t even feel the cold steel in his chest.

  “There. Was that so bad?” the boy sighed. “It could’ve been worse.”

  He yanked his sword out and held it at his side. Garder fell to his knees and covered his wound with his broken arm. He coughed several times and looked over at Lechi. She was quiet and still, both of her hands covering her mouth in shock.

  He dropped further and had to use his left arm to keep himself off the ground. The boy knelt down and spoke to him in a friendly tone.

  “My blade is laced with a powerful chemical painkiller. So, you won’t feel much as you die. Relax. It’s just flesh and bone. Not you.”

  “W-why?” Garder mumbled. “Who even…?”

  “You’ll find out. Just remember that I offered you a faster way.”

  “Garder! Get up!” Lechi cried.

  The boy turned and looked at her. She jumped in fright and froze.

  “Hello, little one,” the boy said, his voice retaining its warmth.

  “Don’t you… hurt her…” Garder sputtered and hit the ground. He forced his head upright and looked longingly at the portal of safety he was so painfully close to. “Don’t…”

  “Oh, Garder—I don’t hurt children,” the boy said, kneeling again. “No matter what their true age is. I just don’t do it. Don’t worry.”

  He stood up, walked to the hangar, and tucked his sword away into a corner before coming back out again.

  “Relax,” he said. “The more you cling to life, the more it will hurt.”

  “You… you damned freak…”

  The boy laughed at the remark. He walked up to the cliff and looked down at the jagged rocks below.

  “Well, I’ve got to go,” he said with a yawn. “We’ll be seeing each other shortly, and maybe you’ll even come to like me.” He then took out a small yellow pill and crushed it between his teeth. “So. Think I’ll die before I hit the bottom?”

  With that, he gracefully leapt off the edge with Lechi and Garder watching, neither able to understand or believe what all had just happened.

  “W-what the hell…”

  He turned himself over and scooted a few inches to prop himself against a rock. With a trembling hand, he covered his wound. His chest was numb, and his blood already felt cold. Lechi, shaking, came over and looked at the fallen knight. She shook her head and got down next to him.

  “Oh, God… Garder…”

  “He, um… he got me…” he winced in pain.

  “Just hold on. I’ll get help.”

  “M-Milla… I’ve heard vectors c-can… heal wounds. Get Milla…”

  “But—”

  “J-just go. Get Milla for me…”

  Lechi took out the claws and fumbled about with them. She couldn’t steady herself enough to use the pair again. But then she turned around at the sound of a portal being opened. Milla and Jeryn had just appeared on the other side, and they noticed Lechi immediately.

  “Lechi?” Milla called out in surprise.

  “Milla, Jeryn! Garder’s been hurt! Hurry!”

  “Garder?”

  The two hurried over to the rock Garder was leaning against. Milla gasped once she saw his wound. Jeryn took off his goggles and looked on in amazement that he was still even alive.

  “M-Milla, hi… Um, c-could you fix me? You think?”

  “Who did this to you?” she knelt near Lechi and ungloved her hand.

  “Some… weird kid with a sword…”

  “W-where is he now?”

  “At… at the bottom of the cliff,” Garder laughed and winced again.

  “What?”

  “Yeah… he leapt off. After doing this to me, he leapt off…”

  “I don’t… Why’d this happen?” Milla asked as she formed thousands of tiny vector lines that could heal the wound. But it was something she had rarely done before. She wasn’t sure if she was even doing it correctly.

  “Garder, calm down. Don’t speak,” Jeryn said next to him.

  “Y-yeah, I know, Doc,” he chuckled and began breathing faster. “Don’t speak, k-keep your eyes open. I know the routine.”

  “Calm down. You’ll only make it more difficult…” Milla said.

  “Yeah,” Garder wheezed. “Okay… I’ll calm down… But Milla… the sword went straight through. I’m bleeding from the other side, too…”

  Milla paused in her work and looked over. Blood was forming a pool under Garder. She quickly realized the extent of the wound and felt a sense of desperation overwhelm her.

  “No…” she murmured and started vectoring again. “Garder, just, please, hang on…”

  “D-do… do you think I’ll really disappear forever? I wonder… what kind of existence is that?”

  “No—of course not. Don’t talk like that.”

  “Will it be peaceful? I could use some rest…”

  “Garder—stop. Please.”

  “I-I could’ve had him… I could’ve won. But I got beaten up saving Lechi… and fighting that creature…” Garder began to drift off.

  “Keep your eyes open! Come on now, look at me!”

  “I hate dying with them open. Hate it, hate… Too scary… So, hey… Just in case, I think I’ll close them for a while. But I’m right here, okay?”

  “No! Look at me!”

  “I’m here…” he murmured. “I’m not… going any…”

  “Garder!”

  His incoherent mumblings faded into silence. Milla kept attempting to heal his wounds desperately, but made no progress. A few seconds later, his shoulders went limp. She was too fixated to notice and kept on her alchemagi—until Jeryn pulled her away.

  “Milla, he’s… You did what you could…”

  “No!” she cried and started once more.

  She continued with more determination, but suddenly Garder’s body glowed for a moment, and then faded off into orange smoke that dissipated into the air. All that was left were his blade and torn clothes.

  “No! No!” Milla pounded the ground. “You can’t do this to us!”

  Tears were already streaming down Lechi’s face, but she kept quiet and couldn’t move even just her eyes. Milla looked at her and started crying as well. She put her glove back on and used it to dry her tears.

  In Aurra, the universally older you became, the less you felt emotionally about anything at all. But on Earth, Milla could no longer understand why that maturing apathy existed. It was the first time in her present life that she had ever cried, and she found that she couldn’t stop.

  Jeryn got up and took a few steps back to leave Milla in peace. He looked off at the rising sun, unable to fully comprehend all that had happened over the past day’s time.

  “Why…” Milla said. “Why did this happen? Why couldn’t I…”

  “Milla…” Lechi murmured and grasped her hand.

  “Garder… I can’t believe it… We’re never going to see him again, are we? No matter what, I’m not going to… In any life…”

  “Milla, enough,” Jeryn suddenly said sternly.

  “Jeryn…” Milla looked up.

  “Garder’s still out there, somewhere. And we can find him now—we can travel in between the dimensions. He’s out there. Maybe he’s in Aurra somewhere. Or maybe in Hold. That’s right—if he’s there, we’ll pull him out before he goes back to Earth. I don’t know how, but we’ll find a way.”

  “But…”

  “Pick yourself up, and let’s go back to the apartment and think about this. Listen: your brother still exists, in one way or another. Do you really buy into what the Guard says? Do you really believe you’ll just disappear forever if you die in the opposite world? I don’t think that’s even possible! The human soul can tolerate so much—think about it. The soul is invincible. All we have to do is find him and bring him back.”

  “Jeryn…” Milla stood up and composed herself. “Do you really think… Garder is okay?”

  “He’s somewhere. No one disappears forever. They can’t—that’s what I believe. And we can find him. I… I promise. And I don’t make those often. Someone knows the truth. Let’s get back to Pangs.”

  Lechi leaned on Milla tiredly, who then wrapped her arm around her. Jeryn put his hand on Milla’s shoulder and smiled assuringly.

  “We’ll find him,” he said once more.

  “Yeah…” Milla replied quietly. “We will…”