I let Myra go before me. There was still some fighting going on and I had to find Roberto or whatever his name was. Checking for that gun, and assuming it hadn’t exploded yet. Considering there weren’t two gigantic holes it was a sure bet that it hadn’t yet.

  I found him near the rockslide beating a brigadier with his gun. Good boy! At least he wasn’t a dumb ass like some others here. I hurried to them and shot an ether blast, knocking the brigadier unconscious.

  “Roberto! I need to see your gun,” I said, pointing to the bloody, bludgeoning weapon he held.

  Shrugging, he handed it to me. “ It stopped working a while ago. Some people told me to keep it from stalling, so I used it as a bludgeoning tool instead."

  I inspected the weapon ignoring the bloody smears on the pommel. Near the handling cartridge, was a familiar rune. An eight-pointed star. Further in the matrix, there were others. This weapon was packing power, which was a problem when it stalled. It took a few run-bys, but I found my answer to the problem. I removed an array of useless runes, giving extra power to the gun when it exploded.

  Someone wanting to end the technology, or those using said technology, had overcharged these guns.

  My thoughts went to Myra, and I growled.

  I knew who to blame for placing Myra in that room with these weapons.

  I ran out as if red ants were hounding me. Far more brazen than regular fire licking my heels since, on Sapherine, it was possible.

  I sprinted outside past a great dome-shaped building, where Nero traveled by me. He stopped and spoke. “As a watcher of fates and worlds, I must say my apologies. Datha made a great mistake, Jonah. She told Myra of her being the reason for your demise.”

  “Shit, you mean Datha broke an oracle’s sacred vow? This won’t go unpunished by Noali or the fates. What the hell was she thinking?”

  “Indeed,” he agreed. He could see farther than me, but I didn’t ask. I knew to wait. Everything would be clear once the signs showed, and the pieces started falling into place for me. As a seer, it was my job to wait for these signs, and piece together what the fates of Sapherine showed me.

  “Where’s Myra?”

  “She is in a lone bunker to the east of here. Jonah if you leave, Datha won't be far behind. She’ll always follow, especially now that she won’t have her gifts.”

  I patted his back. “Yeah, I know I haven’t decided yet, but don't forget you and the others overstayed your welcome already.”

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  He said nothing at first and I started my track toward Myra. "I sincerely apologize. It was not my place."

  I turned. "It's not me you should apologize to."

  I continued to the east where the foliage was thicker. Through the vegetation was a lone white building made of stone walls and an adamantine roof. Others were already lying there in a pool of blood. Brigadiers. All. They wore Athnie’s symbol. Red sashes over red tunics and cream pants. Out of the side, something glinted, and I managed to summon Whirl Devil.

  Clang!

  Nervous mahogany eyes sparkled in determination. Then she realized who she was fighting and shifted her sword.

  “I thought you were another brigadier,” she said shivering.

  I leveled Whirl Devil with her shoulder and gave her a light tap. “My, do I look like a freaking fire pansy? I mean I’m wearing a t-shirt and jeans!”

  “Not to mention boots,” she said pointing at my hiking boots. She wore a pair like them, and I bet she was dreading when she would have to exchange them for high heels again.

  She smiled at me although her eyes were cloudy as if listening to something far away. A weird reception only she could hear. I’d read up about her illness. Right now, she was not with me.

  I snapped my fingers in front of her nose. “My!”

  She snapped to and blushed. “Sorry.”

  I shrugged. “It’s fine. I thought I would find you broken about what Datha said, but you’re taking it rather well…”

  A tear left her eye, and she hugged herself. “I…I don’t know how to react, Jonah,” she whispered walking inside and to the only place to sit. The inside of the bunker was full of scrolls and junk. Boxes with fifty thousand years of dust on it. She sat on the sturdiest one of them.

  I followed her shell-shocked form, which let out a sniff every few minutes. Her nose was a rosy red. I sat on the dirt ground beside her, ready to listen to her tirade, but she had none, which worried me more. Myra was one to say her peace, not bottle things inside her.

  I leaned against her knee and glanced up. Her eyes were cloudy again. I pulled on her pant leg, and she glanced down with dead eyes. “Come on My. Tell me. What exactly did my sister say?”

  “She said I would be the cause of your demise,” she murmured, as once more tears fell.

  I shook my head. "She’s only…”

  “Telling the truth! I am a big liability right now! Even you’ve said it!”

  I winced. I needed to watch my words around her. I didn’t mean half of what came out my mouth most times. I was working on that, but it seemed I managed to injure Myra unprovoked again.

  “Myra, you aren’t a liability. I was wrong. You can…”

  “I have no powers, Jonah. I don’t want to go crazier than I am, but without them, I’m a sitting duck here! I am going to go to these temples. I am leaving the Resistance and everyone behind me. They rejected me anyway.”

  “The slaves don’t,” I said, but the look in her eyes made her answer clear enough. Not now, but Datha would work on it. I was pretty sure she already was.

  “Fine,” I huffed, standing. “We leave.”

  Myra sighed. “Jonah, I’m doing this alone.”

  I screwed my eyes, warding off the headache this would cost me. “Oh, hell no! Whatever Datha said, screwed you over far more than you think. I’m not letting you take unnecessary risks like I know you will.”

  She sniffed again. “But what if you…what if I can’t…what if you…” she lowered her eyes from mine afraid to say the word.

  I wasn’t. “Die? Perish? Kick the bucket? Then I do. We can’t stop fate, and Datha is gonna pay dearly for messing with the cosmic laws. We die cause we have to. That’s the end of it. It’s still foggy what I see, and I don’t think it’s my life I lose as in die, but something else entirely.”

  She held my hand fast to her chest, and I blushed. I could hear my heart pounding. Please shut up you stupid thing!

  “Your soul? That’s worse! Please don’t do it for me,” she pleaded, her eyes sparked with life. Instead, I freed my hand and draped it on her cheek, patting it.

  “Not a chance, My. I’m the sidekick, it's my job remember?” I said pointing my thumb at me.

  She smiled and said, “Remind me about paying you hazard pay when we get back to Earth.”

  I laughed and held her close to me. “If we ever get back to Earth that is.”

  She hit me.