There were times when Riven seriously supposed fate or destiny or whatever it was that dictated his future besides him—because after all, there was always that ounce of luck or fortune that affected one’s course of life—was looking to take him entirely out of his own life’s equation. For instance, what odds were there that his bag would tear? That the Sept crystal would fall down and land right next to Glaven?

That it would interact with his Essence in such a way as to shove him back to his comatose state?

This was an appropriate time to burst out all the creative curses he’d been taught by his friends at school but never had a chance to properly use them. But most involved blaspheming the Scions, and he couldn’t do that. They’d saved him more than once, after all.

Pendle approached like he was already the victor. Which maybe he was, but Riven would be damned to the Chasm’s last Realm before he admitted it. “Surrender, Morell. It’s over.”

“It’s not over till it’s over, you giant monkey’s arse,” Riven said with as much grace and poise as he could muster in his bleeding-legged, broken-shouldered state.

“How isn’t it over, you idiot? Look at you. You’re broken and useless. You think you can keep up your shield but your brother used up all your Sept, didn’t he? How long do you think you can keep it up before it breaks and you die?”

All good questions, though Riven didn’t want to figure out the answers to any. He forced himself to stand, his leg trembling at the strain of Tam’s bullet still digging into his flesh. Scions, he really should have taken it out by now somehow. Any longer and he might have to amputate his whole leg off for gangrene or some other infection.

He had his Sept though. Riven had his Essence, and with it, he was going to beat back Pendle and get Glaven out of here. They’d been at it for too long now. Who knew who else was coming in to check on the hospital that had turned into a battleground for Essentiers.

The hospital started shaking again as Pendle’s greenish-yellow Essence expanded, the sphere of twisting, virulent air growling large as an elephant. At his feet, bits and pieces of the broken ground were swirled into his personal maelstrom, all reduced to nothing in the pressure.

Without warning, Pendle shot twisting air bubbles at Riven. He had his shield up, the pockets of over-pressurized air dissipating as soon as they struck his golden Essence but Pendle didn’t stop. He kept shooting his air pockets at Riven regardless of what effect they had. Useless. And the idiot thought his Sept could out last Riven’s when he was being so callous?

Riven focused for a second, corralling the flow of the pressure from within himself to form his Essence armour. Pendle was close enough such that Riven didn’t need to worry about being close to Sept. He’d either have his own at hand or be close enough to Pendle’s to draw from that instead.

He charged.

Pendle grinned, round face stretching wide as though he’d swallowed a fish on its side, head and tail poking at either cheek.

Riven’s heart thudded even faster in alarm, but he didn’t stop his charge. Soon as he got close enough—

Pendle shouted, and his aura of twisting air expanded even farther. Pockets of the air shot everywhere this time, at Riven and past him on either side, at the cracked walls all around, even at the ceiling far above. Riven’s armour protected him, letting nothing of the impact with the pressurized air inside, but the hospital broke. A large crack made him halt, heart jumping to his mouth as he twisted around.

A chunk of the ceiling was falling on Glaven.

Of course. Damn brute had lured Riven in so he could strike at defenceless Glaven. Not if Riven could help it.

He yelled, focusing on his brother. Survival. He might not need Glaven to survive this, but what about the overall picture? Riven, Father, and all of Providence might fall without Glaven Morell there to hold up its standard and rally the rest to battle. He was key to their survival. For Riven’s survival.

Golden lines shot out and formed a spherical shield around Glaven. It absorbed the impact from the falling debris, shattering but letting nothing touch the comatose Essentier inside.

Riven was knocked back to next week. His armour reformed just before he crashed into the wall, which already quite weakened and crumbly after Pendle’s great efforts, now broke completely and buried Riven in rubble. Good thing he had his armour. At best, it was an annoyance to push himself out of the debris, though his leg was screaming at him.

Damn Pendle. Arsehole didn’t even let Riven be properly worried about his own brother, using the distraction to club him. And he was back to hammer in his advantage too.

As Riven pushed away the rubble, Pendle stood before him, hand reaching through the debris to grip his throat in a vice. He lifted Riven out of the rubble, dust sliding off his golden armour and raining to the ground, the aura of pressurized air and flickering green-and-yellow Essence abrading against Riven’s armour. Cracks spread out, white fractures lining the armour, and flakes of Riven’s Essence competed with the dust to see which fell to the ground faster.

Held at arm’s length, Riven could only punch Pendle’s fist, but he did so anyway, disregarding how futile it seemed. Punching Pendle’s arm but had no effect either. He might as well have punched an iron rod.

Pendle punched him back, giving rise to more cracks and craters on his armour. Riven struggled, but the brute’s grip was too strong, the combination of his twisting, ripping, and tearing air and his repeated strikes breaking down Riven’s armour too fast for his Essence to fix the fractures and replace the falling pieces.

Riven closed his eyes. He held the pressure down, damping it closed so that his armour nearly crumbled at Pendle’s attacks. Then, just as it filled him to the brim, feeling as though it was about to bust out of his control, he let it out. Golden lines shot out him with the force of a falling mountain, and his armour renewed itself, expanding to a spherical shield faster than thought. It struck Pendle, throwing him back and peeling his hand clenched around Riven’s neck.

Gasping for breath, Riven tried to rise. Pendle’s fingers and clawing grip had left deep gouges on his neck. His expanding shield had thrown Pendle back, but the brute was rising too, the storm of air around him strong as ever and still flickering with greenish-yellow Essence.

“You’re going to die, Morell,” he shouted.

“You keep saying that.” Riven coughed. Scions, his neck felt like it had been pulled out of shape. “But look, I’m still alive. So is Glaven. You should be the one dying of embarrassment already, failing to kill one measly Thirdmarked and a comatose Essentier.”

Pendle growled. His Essence flared, the aura expanding even more. And then his anger vanished, replaced by a devious grin. Riven’s heart thudded hard again. What—

He was attacked from behind. His shield protected him from the worst of the hit, but the barrage of Tam’s Puppets meant his golden Essence was pitted with too many cracks and fractures for him to see through it properly anymore. Worse, he’d been thrown far from his Sept stash and from Pendle as well. So no Sept for poor Riven to draw in more Essence.

Tam stood over Glaven’s prone form, surrounded by his pink-webbed Puppets. Riven’s jaws grinded against each other. How long had he been waiting to strike, waiting for Riven to be thrown away from Glaven, and more importantly, his bag that held all the Sept?

How much had Pendle planned? It all looked as though he’d been manipulating the entire course of events since falling down from the first floor thanks to Glaven’s attack.

Maybe this was what it was like to fight a seasoned Essentier, not a near-sighted one like himself and Tam. A true Secondmarked, one who thought several levels ahead when the chance to do so presented itself. Even the fact that he had “cornered” himself on that little ledge of the floor seemed planned ahead now. Thought out beforehand to fulfil this greater purpose.

Riven shook his head. No that was silly. It was Glaven going unconscious again that had given Pendle, and Tam too, a new lease at life.

“See, Morell,” Tam said, placing one boot against Glaven’s head. “It is over.”

Riven growled. “Get away from him before I come over and make you get away.”

Tam only laughed, digging his boot deeper into the injured area of Glaven’s head. Shit. Riven’s shoulder throbbed in sympathy. Pendle had done the same to him in Glaven’s room.

Riven looked around, eyes dancing from Tam and Pendle to all around him taking in the ruined hospital and glimpses of the world outside. What was he to do now? They were going to kill him and Glaven any moment. Riven’s chance of succeeding was small even when he wasn’t outnumbered, and with the two of them here working together, there was no way in the Chasm he could make it out of here alive.

His options were limited. Well, depressing really.

Stalling? For what? Riven had no idea what the condition of the rest of Providence city was, or what Father might be up to. For all he knew, Orbray might have struck out and killed the overambitious idiot already.

Escape? How? On his ruined leg, running was out of the question. He’d need an enormous distraction to keep both of them occupied, and even then, somehow find a way to carry Glaven out with him. No way in the Chasm was he leaving his stupid, comatose, bastard brother behind.

“End of the line, Morell.” Pendle focused again, his aura of ripping and scything air growing huge again. “I promise, if you surrender quietly now, I’ll spare both your lives.  All you need to do is put own your shied and come with me.”

Riven shook his head. “Hah. As if you’re going to let me live.”

“Dead Essentiers are useless Essentiers. Waste of potential. The High Invigilator knows this and hates that it might come to that. We both know it doesn’t have to. Come surrender, We could kill you right now anyway, but I’m giving you a chance. Don’t squander it.”

Riven’s heart was thumping like mad. No way was it going to last long if it kept beating at this rate. But what was the point? He wasn’t surviving this anyway. Riven had come to the end of his line, just as Pendle said. All for the actions of damned Father.

Then he spotted a gap in the broken walls. His heart beating even more furiously if possible. Something was coming. Something metallic, rushing fast as a charging bull, the noise of an overworked engine growing louder and louder with every frantic heartbeat. Riven grinned. Some good luck finally.

Pendle and Tam both turned, but it was too late by then. The engine’s whirring had overtaken the whole area, and the car rammed through the gap as thought powered by lightning. For a brief second, Riven’s grin grew wider as he spotted the driver—Rio, crazy Rio with his crazy grin, insanity dancing in his light eyes and banishing his habitual languidness.

Then the car struck Pendle, vehicle and Essentier both crashing into the far wall.

Riven didn’t waste his opportunity. Tam and his Puppets were both gawking, mouth having fallen open wide enough to swallow Riven’s whole fist. Especially as it crashed into his face seconds later.

He used the distraction rush to his brother, and his Essence grew strong again as he neared his Sept, the flow of pressure turning from a trickle to a raging torrent. His Essence-encased hand crashed into Tam’s mouth, and as the pink-webbed Puppets rose to strike Riven, he focused, blasting his Essence shield out to throw them back. They hit the far wall and shattered to too many pieces. Tam was shot backwards too, rolling and thumping on the floor as he struck the far wall.

“Riven!” With a loud honk, the car reversed out of the cloud the crash had thrown up. Rio waved at him to get in. “Grab him and get in! Hurry!”

“Some help would be appreciated,” Riven said, bending to gather his things into his bag before Rio got out. Wouldn’t do to make him wonder about the Sept crystal right now.

Rio got out of the car and rushed over, thankfully after Riven had shoved the crystal in his bag and covered it with his clothes. He put his extra ammunition inside too, though some of the bullets had faded to a muted glow.

“Hurry,” Rio urged.

“I’m going as fast as I can,” Riven said. He really was. His damn leg was giving him trouble though, slowing him down as he did his best to gather the remaining magazine rounds.

Rio lugged Glaven onto his shoulders and started trudging away. “Well, you need—”

The spot where the car had crashed flickered green and yellow, then exploded. Riven threw up his shield to protect himself, and Rio and his brother too, from the debris. Nothing hit them, but Riven hardly noticed that. His attention was fixed on Pendle coming out of the dusty gloom, his pocket of ripping and tearing air throwing off the cloud of hovering dirt.

“Shit.” Rio unceremoniously dropped Glaven to the floor, and Riven caught his brother before he hit the ground and worsened his condition. Rio rushed forward. “Get into the car and start driving. I’ll distract him.”

“Traitor!” Pendle shouted. His Essence went from minute flickers to a blazing inferno around him, the twisting air making what was left of the building thrum and vibrate. “How dare you betray the man who showed you so much kindness and compassion! Don’t you have a heart, you demon? Where’s your sense of duty and honour? Where is your loyalty?”

“Why don’t you die already, you big brute?” Rio shouted back.

He focused and sent his purple lines flying everywhere. They didn’t get through Pendle’s defence of virulent air, tearing off as soon as they touched the air. But he shot it elsewhere too, and as ever, his Essence drew in the surrounding environment to him, particles of the ground, bubbles of the air, all conglomerating at his body as though his Essence were roots drawing in water and nutrients. They formed a weird, misshapen blob of armour around him.

Pendle didn’t hesitate. He threw blast after blast of air at Rio, who did his best to dodge. He was hit a few times, though his armour took the brunt of the impacts, leaving him unharmed.

Riven remembered that he had places to be. Ignoring how his leg shrieked, trying to induce him to make the same sound, he pulled his carpet bag over one shoulder and dragged Glaven along with his free hand. Not the best treatment for a comatose man, but Riven’s only priority here was getting them all out of here alive.

Miraculously, he reached the car in one piece. He threw his bag to the back seat, and bent to the task of pushing Glaven inside somehow.

The fight drew away his attention.

Rio was still dodging Pendle’s shots, but then he froze. Even as Pendle readied to throw another pocket of destructive air, Rio didn’t move. Riven’s eyes widened. Rio couldn’t move for if he did, Pendle’s shot would hit Riven and worse, the car, ruining any chance for them escaping this place alive. But no. Of course, he could. Riven had his Essence to protect himself and everything near him, after all.

“Rio,” Riven shouted. “Get away. I’ve got this covered.”

Rio ignored him. What in the Chasm was that arsehole doing? Pendle charged the air around him to a blitzing point, his Essence flickering bright enough to shade the whole area in a chartreuse hue. Then he threw his largest air pocket yet.

It rushed forward, big enough to tear apart a train caboose. At the last second, Rio threw himself down to lie flat on the ground, his purple Essence lines fanning out all around him and drawing in pieces of the ground to armour his back. Pendle’s blast of air passed over Rio, shredding the armour to pieces, and if Riven wasn’t mistaken, there was quite a bit of blood thrown up too.

But he didn’t have time to worry about Rio. Pendle’s blast shot straight at him. At him, his brother, and the car they meant to use as an escape vehicle.

The pressure built and shot out of Riven faster than he could think. His Essence erupted out in golden lines that weaved and compressed the air into his shimmering, auric shield, all happening faster than thought. Far, far faster than Pendle’s charging pocket of air, which struck the golden shield harder than any before.

Riven survived as the air dissipated, but it had left its mark. Most of his shield was cracked and lined with fractures, the white pitted everywhere making it nearly impossible to see what was going on outside.

But Riven had to see. How was he supposed to be safe, and keep his brother safe, if he couldn’t tell what was happening?

He focused on safety this time, at the illusion that everything was all right because Pendle had made no further moves. His shield broke and the Essence faded, revealing exactly why Pendle hadn’t continued his barrage on Riven.

Rio had distracted him.

Somehow, Rio had thrown up another dust cloud, which obscured most of what was going on between him and Pendle, but Riven caught sight of shadows swerving in the gloom. A second later, the dust cloud cleared just enough to reveal Rio charging straight at Pendle and his sphere of ripping and tearing air. There was a lancelike structure in his hand, likely made of the floor particles his Essence had stolen, and he rammed it straight at Pendle’s guts.

 The twisting air began to shred the lance, tearing it apart piece by piece to reveal what it really held. Rio’s Essence. The lance was nothing more than Rio’s Essence wrapped over it in alter after layer to form one, very thick thread instead of the regular, hair-width threads he normally shot everywhere. Riven gasped as the purposed became clear even in the second it took to strike Pendle. The brute’s Essence-induced storm could only take it apart from the surface, so even as it broke down, the final layer still made contact with Pendle.

That was all Rio needed. A single magenta strand survived the mauling of Pendle’s twisted air, and as soon as it touched Pendle, it pulled. It managed one second’s contact before it too was dashed away. But that was enough. Blood burst out of Pendle, a gaping wound opening up near his guts and threatening to spill his innards.

Screaming at the agony, Pendle jumped back, clamping his hand over the wound to prevent anything falling out.

For just a moment, Riven had seen within the brute, and now he couldn’t breathe. There had been a mess of dark colours, coils of what could only have been intestines, and bile rose in Riven’s throat nearly as fast as the pressure of his Essence normally did. Scions, that was disgusting.

Rio tried to press his advantage. He whipped up his own storm, one made of purple lines flashing and flickering the air as they scythed all around him, and then rushed forward. But despite his fist-sized wound, Pendle was ready. The air thrummed and blasted outwards.

Riven never got to see the clash. There was a shout behind him, too close, and he was thrown to the ground. His head bounced off the broken floor with a sharp crack, his vision going woozy at the pain as a weight pressed down on his back.

“That’s enough, Morell,” Tam hissed from above him, voice dripping with malice.

Riven struggled. It was too feeble. Tam’s grip on his arm was strong as a vice, his knee digging into his spine hard enough to make it snap in two. Stupid. He’d been so stupid to have gotten distracted by Rio and Pendle’s fight, and now he was paying for it. Worse, Glaven would be paying for it too soon enough, if Riven didn’t do anything.

There was soft snick, and Riven’s hammering heart went up a notch in its effort to break free of his ribcage. Bastard Tam had pulled out a knife. His Coral knife probably. Or maybe Riven’s. Who knew.

Worse, there was a scuttling all around. A familiar, dreadful creeping all around. Of course, now that he was close to Sept again, Tam could use his Essence to recreate his Puppets.

“Don’t even think about using your Essence,” Tam said. The bite of the knife on Riven’s neck made his skin go cold. “Any stupid moves, and I’ll tear your head off, understand?”

Riven swallowed, the action making the skin of his throat press painfully against the knife edge. “W—what are you going to do?”

“Shut up! Just shut the fuck up. You’re going to pay for all the trouble you’ve caused.”

It took an enormous amount of effort for Riven not struggle. Even with the knife pressed against the soft and vulnerable area of his neck, he still had to work to relax his muscles and not tense up, giving the wrong and fatal impression to Tam. He was caught. Doomed. He’d die anyway, so why bother keeping himself alive like this? It wasn’t like some miraculous opportunity was going to present itself.

No, he had to think. There had to be some way of freeing himself, of getting Tam off and kicking his arse so good, he’d forget that he’d ever wanted to be an Essentier. The knife was too close to use his Essence nearby. And he couldn’t free his arms either. Scions, there had to be—

Riven went still and closed his eyes. He couldn’t use Essence where Tam saw, which was on himself, where he needed it the most. But there were other paths to survival.

The pressure came up roaring like a volcanic eruption, but Riven placed his implacable grip on it, shaping it, moulding it, and coaxing it until it was situated at his legs. Then he let it out in a trickle, tiny golden lines shooting up behind Tam’s back so he didn’t notice.

Tam lifted up Riven’s head all of a sudden. “Now you’re going to feel the pain, your arsehole.”

Before Riven could ask, Tam slammed his head back down onto the floor. Fire blazed out of his skull, the agony tearing cracks through his whole head. Riven cried out, the knife still pressing into his neck and scoring a bleeding, burning line in there, and he desperately tried to keep a hold on his Essence. If Tam saw, he’d be ruined. It wasn’t easy. Tam lifted his head back up and slammed it down again. And again. And again.

By the time Tam stopped, Riven’s mouth was flooded with scalding blood, the entire right side of his head having turned into mush. His cheeks felt as though he was trying to use them as pouches like squirrels, but for lava instead of nuts. The knife’s kiss was a thin serpent of lightning trying to worm its way deeper inside. He kept his eyes shut, afraid that what he’d see would make him lose his grip on his Essence.

For through it all, Riven had maintained the constant flow of Essence from his legs, forming into a sphere slowly but surely.

Tam was breathing hard above Riven. He was shaking, the pressure from his knees varying every second, and Riven realized the bastard was laughing. Laughing. That arsehole.

The sphere of Essence wasn’t big enough in all honesty, but Riven had had enough. With a moment’s focus, he made his Essence shield expand outwards. All in less than a second. The shield shot outwards, and the weight on Riven’s back lifted, Tam shrieking as he went flying. He was finally free.

With a groan, Riven forced himself to his feet. Every little movement sent sharp stabs through his head, every step forward was pressing hot irons against his cheeks. But he went on. This was his only chance to get out of this pandemonium.

There were rapid steps behind him, and Riven whirled around, facing Tam charging in. Rage twisted his features so Riven wasn’t even sure he really was Tam anymore. Riven was about to throw up his shield when his feet were bitten hard. He screamed, losing his focus as he looked down. One of Tam’s Puppets had grabbed his ankle in what passed for a misshapen head, its makeshift teeth grinding his bones and tearing his flesh.

Tam rammed into him, and they both tumbled to the ground. Riven struck the floor hard, a strong sting claiming his back though he managed to prevent his head from bouncing off the floor this time by keeping it a little raised. Tam’s weight drove all the breath from his lungs, igniting the coiled pain that had sat there since Pendle had stepped on him.

When Tam tried to grab his arms again, Riven spat in his face. Tam cursed in disgust, and Riven punched him in the jaw. He fell back.

Tam’s Puppet charged in again, and Riven lashed out with his feet. His injured feet, to be precise. He connected, and the Puppet went flying back, but the bullet squirmed and Riven shrieked at the agony.

There was no time to focus and get his Essence. As Riven pushed himself up, Tam was back, throwing his punches everywhere he could. Riven tried to protect himself, but Tam rammed into him, and they went rolling on the ground again, spitting into each other’s faces as they tried to get on top of each other. At one point Tam had his hands around Riven’s neck, while Riven clawed at his wrist with one hand while punching his face with the other. They rolled again, snarling like beasts, rabid dogs reduced to the barest instincts to win.

To survive.

Somehow, Riven got a leg between himself and Tam, then kicked back and upwards. The moustached arse was thrown back, and once more Riven rose. This time, he didn’t waste a single breath before hie brought out his Essence armour.

He faced Tam, but before he could even move, another Puppet jumped on his back. The weight of it made Riven stagger, and Tam took advantage, flying in with a flurry of punches. Riven’s armour protected him from the worst of it but it started to crack under the pressure. Enough. Scions, he’d had enough.

Riven twisted around and threw himself backwards, too quickly for Tam to react. They all fell to the ground once more, but this time, Tam was crushed by his own Puppet, which was only stuck on Riven for the purchase it had on his armour. Tam cursed in pain, his jerk and twist pushing Riven off.

It took a little too long for Riven to focus, but he got rid of his Essence. He was far from safe of course, but his armour was a hindrance for once. The Puppet fell off his back as soon as his Essence disappeared, and Riven turned to kick it away again. Soon as it went sailing, he charged towards the car.

Enough was enough. He’d had it with that moustachioed bastard.

Riven jumped into the car, slamming the door closed and locking it closed. He knew the rudimentary basics of driving, though Father had always said it was beneath him and insisted on chauffeurs, which meant Riven had no practical experience. No problem. It should be easy to figure out.

There was no time to figure it out though. Riven jerked the gearstick around until the car jerked forward a little, though it was hardly moving at all. Right, he needed the pedals. Which ones though? No time to deduce out which. He stamped his foot down on the nearest one, and all the car did was go absolutely still. Damn it, wrong one.

A hammering of metallic crashes and scratches made Riven jump in his seat. He stared to his left, then screamed as one of Tam’s Puppets threw itself against the window, cracking the glass. It fell out of sight, but more Puppets attacked everywhere else, clawing at the doors and biting at the tires. Shit. Tam wasn’t going to let him get away.

Riven stomped down hard on the other pedal. Too hard. The car’s engine roared, and it shot forward too fast, leaving Tam’s Puppets behind. Too fast for Riven to hit the brakes as Tam rose in front of the car, which crashed into him and ran him over, the whole car wobbling over him as though he was speedbump. Too fast for Riven to even start feeling horrified. Too fast to stop the vehicle from ramming right into the fight between Rio and Pendle.

Rio jumped at the last second, hitting the windshield and sliding along the roof to fall behind. The car blitzed into the crumbling wall, and though Pendle made a brave attempt to fall back, his leg got caught. He fell with a scream.

Rubble and dirt rained on the car, blocking the world out of Riven’s sight as he finally slammed the brakes.

“What are you waiting for?” Rio shouted from behind. “Get going!”

Riven could hardly breathe, much less drive a car. There was blood on the bonnet and crimson spots dotting the windshield. He’d killed Tam. He’d run over the bastard with his car, and no doubt if he looked behind, all he’d see was a mangles red mess.

A blast of air came out of nowhere and possessed the car, Pendle’s personal storm twisting the chassis and ripping at the glass. No time to think. Dan it why couldn’t any of them give him a little time? All he knew was that he had to get out of here.

Behind him Rio was still shouting, “Go!”

So Riven did, flooring the accelerator. The car shot forward, and Riven left the madness and his first murder behind.