A weight thumped the top of the warper, and something scraped the metal. Claws? I squinted, trying to adjust to the darkness, but even my Guardian vision only revealed blurry gray outlines. The next thunk struck the windshield, and my heart struck my chest in response.

I jammed the key harder in the ignition, producing a faint rattle that quickly died. My second attempt made no sound at all.

Beside me, Isalio sighed. "Told you the warper was shit."

"Isalio, can you do something? Can you call the beasts off?"

He scoffed. "Rem, I can't even control my own beast."

I wanted to know more about that, but that was a discussion for another time. "If you take off your cuffs, can you power the engine?"

"I doubt it," he said, but he slotted the key into the cuffs even as he spoke. He drew a breath...and slumped back against the seat with a pained exhale. "Nope, definitely can't."

Panic swelled in my gut, but I forced myself to even my tone. Isalio's life still depended on me. "Alright, easy. Just put one cuff back on, and I'll get us out of here."

A cuff clicked in place as he whispered, "Alright."

His unquestioning obedience further tightened my gut. Fuck, he was way too vulnerable right now. He trusted me far more than I trusted myself.

Another smack, this time to the side of the warper. The metal machine tipped to the side.

I forced myself to refocus. To escape this place I needed to at least know where I was going. A memory from long ago crossed my mind—an object digging into my side as I hid in the back of the warper. Guardians stored tools back there. Could any of them help me?

I nudged Isalio aside and twisted to rummage through the storage space at the back of the warper. My fingers brushed a sharp tool, a rough coil of rope, and then the rubbery cylindrical shape I was seeking.

A flashlight.

I switched it on, and to my relief, light spilled through the interior of the warper, gleaming across the splintered glass like a string of bulbs and illuminating fingerprint smudges on the sleek door handles. The space outside was less well illuminated, shaded green and distorted by the cracked windshield, a thousand tiny paintings of jagged black lines.

I shifted toward Isalio. Dark shadows on sweaty pale skin, tousled hair, eyes squeezed shut. He didn't look well, but he was certainly breathing.

Thunk.

Through the windshield, I glimpsed a horrifying sight—a winged beast with three gaping mouths, eyes white all the way through, and several rows of razor-sharp teeth. Claws like butcher knives dragged over the windshield before its wings beat the air again.

The crack spread, lines spasming out like lightning. A shivering, and a tink.

Dread swamped my gut. I seized Isalio's arm. "It's about to break. Let's go!"

"Wha—"

I shoved open the door and tugged us out just as the windshield shattered in a tinkling waterfall. The creature dove straight into the fallen glass with an enraged shriek. Then a dark blob blotted my peripheral, and I swung the flashlight around to see another beast swooping toward us. I tackled Isalio, covering his body with my own as the beast bared down. Claws grazed my back.

Pushing Isalio's chest to keep him down, I scrambled to my feet and yanked the Demon-Slayer mace from my belt. I pointed the flashlight at the returning beast and prepared to swing the mace.

On the beast's next dive, I slammed the mace into the side of its head.

All three of its mouths opened wide in a screech, forming a dissonant chord. The beast smashed the ground several feet away and skidded into a tree, wings and claws flailing.

I wheeled around, beaming the flashlight through the trees to try to see the way out. Thickly-wooded forest suffocated the light on all sides, until in one direction the flashlight found open space beyond the trees.

Hope lit my chest. The edge of the forest was just a short run from here. I started to reach for Isalio—and another beast pelted right into me.

Heat flared through my shoulder as a claw sank deep. The flashlight slipped from my fingers, hitting the ground with a fwump, and the light dimmed to weak, obstructed beams. With a grunt of pain, I seized the beast's neck in my now free hand. The three mouths snapped open and shut close inches from my face, wafting sour gusts of breath.

I swung the mace again, but with the beast so close, I could only crush one of its wings. It clung to me, crookedly, mouths snapping even closer.

A little flash of light. Then the beast slumped against my chest and dropped, collapsing at my feet.

I blinked through the dim light at Isalio, who sat with one arm propped behind him and the other raised before him. The fuzzy light beams caught patches of pale skin and wide amber eyes with dilated pupils. His raised hand curled back into his chest, and the hand propping him gave out so he fell onto his back.

Fuck, if I didn't get us out of here fast, he was going to kill himself trying to save me.

I stooped to snatch the flashlight and started toward him. Transferring the mace and light to a single hand, I grabbed him and tugged him to his feet. I dragged him toward the edge of the forest, praying we could get out before any other creatures found us.

The bushes around us erupted in a flurry of leaves.

When I jerked the flashlight toward one of the bushes, the bush appeared to sprout thorns, impossibly long and sharp. Then a thousand needle-like legs decimated the foliage around us, and the creature emerged.

I dropped Isalio to raise the mace. With my first blow, the creature ripped in half. The two halves continued moving, loping off opposite directions. I whipped around to meet the next set of scuttering legs, bashing the creature's head. The body folded back like a fan, and the legs writhed around the smashed body.

I hauled Isalio to his feet again and spun us toward the gap between the trees. Meanwhile, an army of a million legs scuttled behind my back, quickly gaining on us. The edge of the forest was close...but not close enough.

When the nearest beast was just about to reach us, the sound of legs was replaced by a sizzle and a hiss. Putrid smoke wafted to my nostrils. I craned my neck and swung the flashlight back to view the spectacle. Something was wriggling through the ground below the burning creature. A worm the size of a man. Pus oozed from its sleek scales, and green gas billowed above it.

The ground below my feet rumbled...and erupted.

I grabbed Isalio harder and ran faster, ducking tree branches. Soil and shrubs disintegrated beneath my feet, and green gas stung my eyes and burned my lungs, but I kept running. Isalio's feet dragged beside me, unable to keep up. The burning soil melted through the thick soles of my boots, singeing the bottom of my feet.

The ground in front of me disappeared under a bed of squirming worms. I shoved the mace and flashlight into my belt, wrapped my arm tighter around Isalio, and grasped the nearest tree branch.

I leaped.

A stab of protest raked through the nerve endings of my injured shoulder, but I managed to cling to the tree branch long enough to change our trajectory. Our feet skimmed over the swamp of worms and landed on firm soil just off to the side.

A few steps later, we broke past the treeline.

Isalio's legs tangled in mine, and I stumbled, sending us both crashing to the ground. I released him, grabbed the flash light, and twisted around, preparing for an attack.

The woods beyond us appeared hauntingly calm.

On the other three sides, star-speckled skies outlined the crests of sand dunes. Aside from a rustle of wind over sand, silence enveloped us.

I shook my head, unable to believe the sight. "They stopped. You said they were staying in the forest because they were afraid if they left, Demons and Guardians and humans would band together to banish them. But seeing how fast they stopped..." My voice was weak, interrupted by panting breaths. "There must be some force barring them from leaving. Maybe they're waiting for a leader strong enough to disrupt that force."

When he didn't answer, I shifted to face him. He lay very still, other than the spasmodic heaving of his chest.

"Isalio?" I propped the flashlight on a high spot between us and grabbed his wrist to feel for his pulse again.

He yanked his arm back to cough into his sleeve. At first, his wheezing breaths weakened his cough into a spiral of gasps and splutters. When he managed to suck a decent breath, he hacked up a glob of blood. Then he rolled back onto the ground with a faint groan.

I grabbed his hand, feeling cold and sweaty skin. "Are you ok, Isa?"

"Who are you?" he rasped, eyes still closed.

My heart sank. "I'm Remgar. I'm the Guardian who you—"

"No, I mean, who the fuck are you, Rem? That was...we had no chance, and you just...how did you do that?"

"How did I do what?"

"How did you transform into such a badass?"

I blinked. "I didn't do anything impressive. I barely got us out."

"No one has escaped that forest before."

"Well, we weren't very far in."

He started to laugh, but the laugh turned into another coughing fit. My chest tightened as more blood drenched his sleeve.

"Hey, what's going on with you?" I tried to ask gently, but fear tightened my voice. "Is this because you've used too much energy, or..." The worse possibility stuck in my throat, so I pushed out an adjacent question instead. "What did you mean when you said 'it's inevitable?'"

He steadied his breath and pushed up sitting, though he quickly fell back to his elbows. "That flying beast got you good. You should wrap that."

Frowning at the subject change, I followed his gaze to the claw wound on my shoulder. "That already stopped bleeding. It'll heal on its own, as long as it's not poisoned. And if it is poisoned, wrapping it won't help much. But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Will you heal on your own? Or do you need...?"

His lips thinned. "Don't you dare suggest I take lifeforce from you again."

"I'm sure you can take a little without hurting me—"

"Stop. Don't fucking tempt me. Even if you weren't injured, I wouldn't risk that again."

I wasn't ready to give up on the subject, but he sounded too angry to reason with right now. "Then at least explain to me what's happening. Why do you keep coughing blood?"

He squinted past me. "What's that on the horizon?"

Grudgingly, I turned to see what he was talking about. Lights bobbed over the nearest crest of sand. Had the Demons found us already? But no; when I pulled the figures into focus, I recognized the larger frames, the muscular movements, and the gleaming red hair of the one in front.

I released a breath of relief. "It's Fraschkit and her team. And there are more Guardians in her group than before, so the Guardians from the dungeon must have joined them."

"Well, then." His voice was bright, but sharp. "That's great—you can join your team, and I'll just head back into the forest."

I shot him a hard glare. "You're coming with me."

"Why?"

"I can't leave you here. You can't even walk."

"That's not your problem."

I sighed and dragged a hand over my face. "Isalio...we need you, ok? We won this one battle, but we lack the numbers and materials to last long-term. Plus, the Demons didn't know any resistance remained until today. Now it's only a matter of time before the Demons wipe us out. We stand no chance without your help."

I half-expected a snarky response, perhaps 'And that's not my problem.' Instead, he fell silent, gazing out at the growing light on the horizon. Lights spilled down the crest of the dune, a constellation of bright spots over the shiny sand as though the stars were bleeding into the land.

When his eyes returned to me, he sounded embarrassed—apologetic, even. "While I appreciate the sentiment, I'm not sure the other Guardians will see things that way. You do realize I'm not exactly...well, they all hate me. And for good reason."

"Guardians can't do worse to you than Demons have already done."

That was the wrong response. I knew it the moment it left my lips, and I knew it even more when he shrank a little, eyes falling to the sand by his feet. I touched his shoulder, but his eyes remained downcast. The defeat in his posture tugged at my heart. He really did have nowhere to go. No hope.

So I brushed my fingertips down his arm until my hand met his, and I slotted my warm fingers through his cold ones. "Listen, people can change their minds. I used to hate you too, but that was before I knew you."

His eyes lifted to mine. "So you're claiming you don't hate me anymore?"

There was a bit of sarcastic venom in his voice, but I could hear the fear beneath it; could see the dark flicker across his amber eyes, dimly lit by the flashlight and the stars. My answer mattered to him very much.

"I don't hate you," I confirmed. "And I won't let the other Guardians hurt you."

He turned his face away from me.

"Isa?" I squeezed his hand, studying the raven hair on the back of his head and the harsh lines of his shoulders. "They'll be here soon. So what's your answer? Will you join me?"

I heard his mouth move, though the rest of his body was very still. After several seconds, he said, "You really think I can help?"

"I know you can."

He dragged in a breath, and his shoulders deflated. Then he pulled his hand from mine, dug the other cuff from his pocket, and snapped it over his free wrist.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I said. "You're too weak to handle two cuffs right now."

He twisted back toward me. Replacing the vulnerability from before, fierce determination burned in his eyes. "You want me to go with you, right?"

"Yes," I said, hesitantly, unsure of his point.

He dropped the key into my lap. "Then they need to know I'm your prisoner now, and not the other way around."