The front door to the research facility was unguarded when Riven had limped back there. Orbray’s soldiers were still busy looking for him outside. A good thing, considering he only had the Sept he’d reloaded into his gun. This place was supposed to be filled with Sept, most likely in forms he could use, but if he wasted what he had before reaching Nivi and figuring out where the extra Sept was, he’d be dead.

Damn injured leg made nothing easier.

The first step Riven took inside of the facility’s main building was the last he took with some relative ease. He froze when he went in, then threw himself against the walls to the far side of the room. More soldiers were guarding the hallways. Of course. He’d been stupid to expect they’d leave no one behind. If anything, it seemed they had lain a trap for him. He’d stumble in, relieved to initially see nothing wrong, but the goosebumps on his skin hadn’t abated and he was too aware of things.

Rifle muzzles glinted under the light of the hallways. A damn trap. Of course he wasn’t going to be able to stroll to Nivi all the way. Riven wasn’t even sure he could find her. Would she be in her office, or had they arrested her and kept her detained in some other, more secluded room?

No, he was getting worked up over nothing. He’d get to her office and ascertain things for himself. This was the last time for derailing his intentions with groundless worry, panic, and anxiety.

Had they seen Riven when he entered though? That was the important question. Had they seen him jump back and hide? If he’d been spotted, they knew he was waiting to counter their trap and whatever he did next would be under much greater scrutiny, for his sudden appearance must have raised their hackles. Riven sighed. He was going to have to work with the assumption that he was still unknown, that this trap of theirs had been set beforehand instead of something that they had come up with just now.

Riven pulled out his gun and fired down the hallway in the opposite direction to which he’d been headed. At first, there was no other noise, the silence following the thunder of the shot lying heavy as a mountain. He shot again, erratically this time, several blasts ringing down and through the hallway. There might have been more soldiers waiting with a trap in that direction, but it didn’t matter. No noise or answering shot came at first.

Of course, they’d be wary. Riven pushed himself off the wall and crouched down to hide behind a column and a trash-can. He waited.

There was no way to tell for how long. He tried counting breaths and heartbeats but he lost the counts soon, his ears pricked for any other telltale noise. This was a game of patience after all. He needed to keep waiting.

Eventually, the soldiers who’d been waiting moved. The sounds were low at first, but with all his attention bent towards them, Riven heard their soft footfalls as they rose from their hiding spots and rushed down the corridor, their thumps increasing in volume with every step.

Riven was afraid his heart would give him away as the soldiers passed. It was beating hard enough to burst, the stupid thing. He pressed himself against the column as the soldiers rushed past, and as soon as they were past him, he rose too.

No time to waste. He charged in the opposite direction, his own steps masked by the ones from the soldiers.

He turned a corner, only to come face to face with another soldier.

Survival. Everyone’s survival depended on his survival.

His Essence came faster than though, forming the same golden armour. The man was too surprised to scream, too surprised to even react properly, but Riven stayed steady. His arm drew back, then rammed forward in a vicious punch straight to the taller man’s jaw. The soldier fell, knocked out cold and with a trickle of blood seeping out of his split lips.

Riven jerked forwards, but he didn’t get far before stopping again. The corridor ahead came to another intersection and voices were coming from it. Unfamiliar voices. Behind him, the soldiers’ returning steps grew louder, perhaps having realized that Riven’s shots must have been a distraction.

He was trapped. It was stupid to think he could infiltrate the facility on his own, especially when it was so closely-guarded.

“Hey!”

Riven’s head whipped around to stare at one of the side doors adjacent to the corridor. The opening was tiny, the crack so small, no light entered to illuminate who or what had opened the doorway for him. But he knew that voice. And dark eye glowed in the darkness, and if Riven focused, he was sure he caught sight of dark green scales.

“What are you waiting for?” demanded Franry. “Come in before they find you.”

Riven didn’t need to be told twice. He rushed into the room, Franry scooting back to allow him access before softly but quickly shutting the door closed. “What are you doing here, Franry?”

“I’m trying to help, what else? You were about to get yourself killed in there. I can’t believe you’re an Essentier. I didn’t expect them to be so dumb.”

“Hey, I saved you, you know,” Riven reminded. “Besides, where are we?”

“A storage closet. Come on, let’s get out of here.”

“Wait, hold on a moment. I need to rest.”

Franry didn’t sound happy about it, but the little boy-demon grunted and Riven relaxed. His heart was finally starting to calm down. It was impossible to tell if this really was a storage shed in the darkness, and he couldn’t spot any tools or anything of the kind. But it blocked out all sound. For a moment, he could pretend there were no soldiers outside this little closet hunting him down, waiting for him to spring their traps and charge into a blood bath.

“What’s going on here?” Riven asked. His words came haltingly. He’d never talked to Franry properly before.

Franry’s brilliant blue eyes were easy to spot in the gloom. “Bad men attacked. They took over all the buildings, and have held up everyone in the cafeteria. Ma is safe and hidden, and I think Auntie Nivi is her office. I think they were all waiting for you to arrive.”

Riven had gotten as much from the soldiers. “When did they attack?”

“Earlier today. They came all together, and took over the whole building. I think they know about us too, but they haven’t asked yet.”

For a moment, Riven wanted to tell him not to worry, but how much could he really say? How much could he really promise? As much as he wanted to help Franry and Arrilme, he wasn’t in any position to do so. He had priorities to take care of first.

Franry started pulling him by the hand. “No time to waste.”

He led Riven out into a thinner side-corridor that had no soldiers either, past closed doors and windows that bled no light, then up a small flight of stairs made completely of stone.

“A secret stairwell made for escaping from fires,” Franry said, probably for his benefit. “I’ve found out a lot about the whole place.”

“How are you doing Franry?” Riven asked. “Have they been treating you and your mother all right here?”

“They have. I used to see strange things, and I still do a lot of the time, but they’ve been helping me control it.”

“And do they ask for anything in return?”

“Well, they did hurt me once. Pricked my skin with a big needle and sucked some things out like pesky mosquitoes. Ma said it was just them taking a sample, and that we owed it to them.”

“Is Arrilme okay?”

“Ma’s fine. She sometimes acts like me though, like she can’t see me and needs to be somewhere else to find me even though I’m right there in front of her. And Auntie said they don’t know if they can ever fix that.” Franry flashed him a smile. It looked sinister with his slightly pointed teeth. “I’m happy though, and I should’ve said it earlier, but thank you! Ma says thank you to you too!”

Riven’s heart lifted, and he smiled back. “You’re welcome, Franry.”

They reached the third floor, and Franry paused at the door, placing an ear to it as though to check what was going on the other side. Riven made to do so as well, but Franry waved him off, frowning until he stayed still.

“There!” Franry whispered excitedly. “They’re gone from the corridor now, so we can cross.”

“Cross?”

In response, Franry pulled out a small key and opened the door. He checked both ways in the thin, shadowed hallway, then scurried to the other side, pulling Riven along. Franry unlocked the door on the other side and quickly led Riven into another dark room. They didn’t stay here for long. Another hallway and two more doors later, Franry paused beside a column in another dark corridor that opened up to a wide one Riven recognized.

The wide corridor that led to Nivi’s office.

There were more soldiers there, and Riven had no idea how he was supposed to distract them and get inside. Apparently, neither did Franry. Riven couldn’t blame the boy. He’d done his part in bringing Riven this far undetected, and the rest was up to Riven to figure out.

It was tempting to go in guns blazing despite his wounded leg, but it was worth noting that any commotion would draw the attention of everyone in the vicinity, and most of that attention would be antagonistic, if not downright malicious. No, Riven had to think strategically. A distraction seemed to be the best idea, but how in the world was he going to get them away from here?

Pendle. The idea hit him in seconds.

“Franry, I want you t go back into hiding,” Riven said.

“What?” the boy protested. “But I want to help!”

“You will,” Riven said. It hurt a bit to lie, but he was doing it for the boy’s own good. “I need you to be my trump card and wait till I call you, all right. Stay within earshot of the office, but remember, you have to stay hidden at all costs. Understand?”

Franry’s demonic face looked up at him, his blue eyes twinkling. His mouth was set in a serious line, and there was a certain sense that if he had still been a regular boy, it would have looked ridiculous. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good, now go.”

Franry nodded, then left. Riven just had to hope the boy followed his orders and stayed hidden. He had no real intention of calling Franry out while there were hostile soldiers around. It was bad enough they thought Riven a traitor of some kind, and it would be even worse to reinforce the idea that he was a co-conspirator with Deathless. More importantly, he couldn’t let Franry get hurt.

But now was the time to act.

Riven pulled out his gun, and focused. The pressure came out of him, and he held it at bay. He aimed his gun at the far guard and fired. His aim was true—the shot took the guard right in the neck and he fell, crumpling to the ground with hardly a sound. The other guard got no time to shout or raise an alarm. Riven let out his pressure, and his Essence formed a tight ball of compressed air around the guard’s head. Surprises froze him. Then he started struggling a moment later. If it worked on that brute Pendle, then the guard wouldn’t last long.

Swallowing, Riven strode forward. That shot was loud, and he was sure there would be people coming in to check up on the situation. All the more so because it was near Nivi’s office.

He was right. The door opened to let another guard out, who was as careful as he could be, but he nearly collided into Riven. Even as the soldier fell back a step and started to let out a shout, Riven had his Essence ready. He let the pressure out in golden lines that shot straight at the man, closing him up in a shield. If there was one thing he had learned, it was that he couldn’t use his Essence at multiple spots. Probably lacked the power and experience for now.

But no matter. The guard he had tried to suffocate had either passed out or was dead. There was no time to feel anything for him.

Riven focused for a second again and the shield around the other guard disappeared. He stumbled around, breathing deep and eyes wide, still too disoriented to make any sound, though Riven wasn’t about to give him the opportunity to make any noise. With another fraction of a second’s focus, he reforged his Essence armour and punched the guard’s head. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious.

“You managed to get in!” Nivi said, staring wide-eyed at the guard. Then her eyes fell on Riven’s wound. “But you’re hurt. Last Realm, your leg looks awful.”

Riven could only muster a tired smile. It hadn’t taken a lot out of him but the mental exhaustion made him want to take a seat. “Don’t sound so surprised. And it should be fine. It’s been like that for most of the day now.”

“It is a surprise, so I can’t help it. But it’s a pleasant one.” She ushered him inside and directed him to the chair before her desk, then closed the door softly behind her. Once done, she began rummaging through her drawers and cabinets. “Tell me everything that’s happened.”

“We can’t wait here,” Riven said. He had only taken the seat to pause and rest up momentarily. Damn, but he wasn’t used to being an Essentier yet. “They’re going to notice the bodies outside and then come charging in.”

“What did you do?”

“Killed one, maybe two. Not sure. We need to go right now.”

“Not until I’ve treated you.”

“That has to wait. We can’t risk getting caught.”

Nivi didn’t argue further. She snatched some papers from her desk, pulled out a gun from her drawer, and finally pulled out a large med-kit before bidding him to lead the way. Riven lingered just a moment on the gun, before heading out. He paused at the door and went out carefully, the pressure primed beneath his skin ready to be used. Just to be safe, he asked Nivi to get up close, then he used his Essence to form a shield around them, one that moved as they moved.

“Your Essence is impressive. No wonder you’ve survived this far.”

“I like to think it’s more my ingenuity and skill that allowed me to come rescue you.”

“Oh please, you sound like your sister. Rose is always so overconfident in her abilities. Not her Essence mind you, but her own innate methodology of using it. Which is all good and true, but your methodology revolves around that powerful Essence. Not hard to be a little thankful for it, now is it?”

“I’d like to debate that, but also, my leg hurts.”

“Wouldn’t have if you waited.”

Riven should have realized earlier there was no winning a conversation with Nivi. He kept silent as he crept back the way he had come, Nivi following just as quiet. The guards were still lying on the floor, and Riven had to battle the impulse to check up on them.

He found the way back to Franry in moments, thankful that he wasn’t interrupted. Though it was curious why no more soldiers had come up by now after his gunshot had gone off.

Franry jumped when they entered. “You made it! I was going to go look why you were taking so long.”

Riven blinked. Taking so long? He’d been rather fast about it all. Franry just wasn’t an Essentier so didn’t know any better.

“Are we safe here?” Nivi asked, keeping her voice low. “This seems like a side-meeting room.”

“You don’t sound like you know your own research facility, Nivi,” Riven said.

“I don’t know every nook and cranny, thank you.”

“I think I do,” Franry said, quite helpfully.

Riven gave her a pointed look as he eased himself down onto the floor. He winced when the bullet in his leg was jostled.

“Anyway, you need to tell me what’s going on outside, Riven.” She sat down next to Riven and put the med-kit between them. “I’ll need a good story while I patch you up.”

“Are you… like a surgeon or something.”

“I know he basics of operating yes. My specialty is looking into how the body is affected by Sept after all.”

She bent to her task as Riven told her about everything. He didn’t hide any of it, nor did he try to make it seem less unpleasant for Franry’s sake. Riven explained everything from Father’s plan, through Orbray’s countermeasures, all the way to how he had escaped the battle at the hospital by running over a fellow Essentier with his car. It didn’t feel right to hide, any of it. He even went so far as to tell her everything Mhell had said, including Orbray’s intentions regarding the Scions and their Chosen, and his suspicion that Knightforger was behind it all.

Nivi was a good listener. Well, either that, or she was too busy focusing on her task of fixing Riven to bother interrupting his tale. She had pulled out several ointments and instruments from the kit, then proceeded to open his bandage. Riven’s eyes were inexorably drawn to the wound, and one look was enough to make his spine shudder, his tongue shrivel, and his stomach roil in disgusted rebellion.

The wound was glistening, puckered, and raw. A gory red hole where the blood appeared to be suppurating, and Riven quickly looked away. He might not have eaten much but he didn’t want to spew back up what little he had.

Into this mess, Nivi operated.

Scions, why hadn’t she given him something to bite on first. It was all Riven could do to not shriek out as she used some sharp instrument that looked like tweezers to poke into his leg and pull out the Sept bullet. The instrument was sprayed with antiseptic, which made the stinging all the more vicious. Thankfully his story was long, so he had something to distract himself with, but it became an increasingly erratic recounting as he was forced to pant, gasp, bite down on his lips, and generally pretend he was being tortured in some underground dungeon.

Riven bit his arm when Nivi jerked hers and freed the Sept bullet from his leg. Tears smothered his sight, but he blinked at her in gratitude.

“That’s the worst of it,” she said, looking quite relieved. Something told him she had never operated like that before. “Now we just need to add some ointment, cover the wound with cotton, and wrap it all up in bandages.”

Which she proceeded to do. Only problem was that it hurt like he was being ignited from the inside. The fire was at times cold as a blizzard, at times hotter than the Septillion sun, and at others, it was hot and cold at the same time. All Riven could do was bite down on the agony and try not to scream.

It wasn’t until Nivi had wrapped the ointment-flooded wound with clean bandages that he could finally take some time to think.

“Do you know how many guards there are here?” Riven’s voice was weaker than he’d like, but he was still panting and gasping a little. The wound was still livid as magma.

“Are you planning to free the whole facility by yourself?” Nivi asked.

“Well, why not?”

“You can’t succeed. There are far too many of them. What was your original intent in coming back, Riven? Don’t tell me you’ve found us a subject?”

“My brother is here. He’s in the car, comatose, but—”

“Shit!”

Riven’s heart thumped. “What is it?”

“You shouldn’t have left him alone.” Nivi looked fearful, almost defeated. “These soldiers aren’t the only people Orbray sent.”

Riven went cold. “Essentiers?”

“They went out into town, so I haven’t seen much of them, but they should be returning any time now. You have to get yourself and your brother to safety. Forget about whatever you wanted to do here, your first priority needs to be you.”

“But I have an actual job here. A message from Father to your Invigilator. I need to get it to her.”

Nivi looked away as if considering. Weighing options that all seemed more horrible than the last, stuck between the cliffs and the sea. “I can help with that. What’s the message?”

Riven pulled out the missive he’d been given from his jacket pocket. Despite all that had happened, despite the fighting and running, the letter hadn’t even been touched, just drenched at the corners with his sweat. Which was disgusting, sure, but at least it didn’t have a hole in the middle like his leg. “How can you help?”

“I have channels to get this to the Invigilator. You need to get out of here and find your brother.” She leaned in close, her voice a whisper that brushed his ears. “He’s planning to kill the Deathless here too, but you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll keep them safe and I also intend to free the facility itself. I just need some time.”

It shouldn’t have been possible for Riven to feel any colder than he was, but his very soul had frozen. That bastard Orbray was planning to kill off Franry and Arrilme all because they were Deathless? His fingers twitched. Scions, those guards outside had better be dead, or Riven was going to make sure they were.

“Let’s get you outside,” Nivi said. She helped him up, and he leaned on her. “Franry, can you find us a way out?”

“Where am I supposed to go then?”

“I’m sorry you had to come here at such a volatile time. Could you find a way back home to your mother? I can assure you Orbray won’t come after you when you get out of Severance Frontier.”

It was good Riven was leaning on Nivi. He was too busy thinking of the implications of simply leaving it all behind to walk properly on his own. Was it possible for him to escape, to leave behind this stupid war Orbray had setup? He’d slink back to Mother, empty-handed and without any cure, no different from when he’d left her. Then she’d die.

In which case, it should have been his priority to get the research facility running in its usual manner again. So he ought to stay back, expunge Orbray’s dogs, liberate the facility so everyone could go back to working as they were supposed to.

But then, his thoughts fell on what he’d seen with Mhell. On what he’d learned from the witch. Knightforger was one of the Chosen, perhaps one of those who intended to bring down the Scions for whatever nefarious purpose they had planned, and his Father was wrong. Utterly wrong. Any attempts at converting Knightforger to their side would end in disaster when he revealed himself to be the mastermind behind it all. That would lead to Father’s destruction, and subsequently to Rose’s. To Viriya’s.

How could he allow that to happen?

“I’m going to bring Glaven back here,” he announced. “You’re going to fix him up, and together, we’re going to keep the Sept crystal safe for now. Then there are other matters I need to see to.”

Nivi’s hold on his arm grew tighter. “Riven, you’re still only a boy. You don’t need to get involved any deeper with this. You can still—”

“Doesn’t matter. I’ve decided, and that’s that.”

Nivi made no further protests. The way outside wasn’t anywhere near as difficult as the way in. Even at the end, back in the little closet where Franry and Riven had met, there was no sign of opposition. The ones who’d lain in wait, ready to trap him, were gone. Or perhaps in better hiding spots.

Riven waited for a while to make sure nothing was wrong, but he got the inkling he was free to go and said his goodbyes to Franry before heading out. Despite the danger and his protests, Nivi accompanied him. His back prickled, but he spotted no hidden guns, heard no quiet breaths. There were big questions hanging over his head still, but he had to focus. Get Glaven out of danger. The rest would follow in time.

They made it outside and all the way to the car in one piece, meeting no one along the way. But it became obvious why soon after.

“Well, looks like the infamous littler Morell finally showed up,” drawled a voice.

A woman popped out from behind the car, wearing the navy uniform of an Ascension Essentier. The diamond badge pinned to her shoulder gleamed like a third eye. Firstmarked.

Riven cursed. Yet another trap, and he’d walked right into it again.