After the conversation and decisions were made, Jareth took his leave to begin hunting down information, both on Weaver’s base and on the medicine that could help Axel’s group safely accelerate their cycle time.
Once they left Jareth’s hotel, Axel and his group headed to the local Vanguard tower to schedule a descent into the Trial to complete their current cycle.
Thankfully, the process was standardized across all Vanguard locations. With four people, they could secure a slot quickly, though they declined the option to take on a freelancer, as they were still wary of a spy slipping into their group again. Their slot was scheduled for two days, so the team split into pairs to gather the supplies they’d need for the planned stay in the Trial.
After leaving the Vanguard tower, Sky broke off to retrieve materials from their last hunt, with Roran accompanying her. She stated she would craft replacement equipment for Axel, as his main weapon had been destroyed. Meanwhile, Axel and Aria went to purchase food and other essentials to replace what had been lost during the attack.
They used up the last of their meager funds on these replacements, as Jareth hadn’t yet had a chance to sell the spoils from their last hunt and distribute the shares.
Everyone planned to regroup at the new inn they were staying at once their tasks were complete.
The roadways were busy with passing carriages and wagons traveling to and from the market. The sidewalks were littered with loose stones—either from the overhangs of the higher levels of the city or from the ancient buildings that surrounded them.
Axel walked side by side with Aria, holding her hand, when he suddenly felt a tight squeeze—one of their silent signals for danger. Glancing over, he noticed her wings were stiffer than their usual fluttery state, though she otherwise appeared calm.
“We’re being tailed from the air,” Aria said in a low, steady voice. “And up ahead looks a lot like the trap we fell into in Greenhaven.”
Axel looked forward and spotted a pair of carts that appeared to have collided, their drivers now engaged in a fistfight.
“Do we walk into it or go around?” Axel asked, keeping his pace steady, trying not to betray any suspicion.
“We’ve got some Harmonizers following us, so Aria thinks we could confront it. But neither of us is wearing armor, and your weapon was destroyed last night. Still…” Her voice grew heated. “Beating on someone would feel really good right now.”
Axel could hear the tension in her voice as she seemed to radiate the need to vent her anger from last night.
“Let’s avoid the risk, dear,” Axel said, deciding that the danger outweighed the satisfaction. “We’d likely be outnumbered, and I’m still not in great shape.”
“Fine,” Aria sighed. “But we better kick a lot of crimson asses in the Trial.”
As they neared the accident, Axel leapt over the carts while Aria flew above with a few light flaps of her wings. Axel did not want to take a detour and walk into a trap zone like the last time.
After landing, Aria took Axel’s hand again, and they resumed walking. But Axel noticed the area was unusually empty, aside from the traffic jam caused by the accident. A strong sense of foreboding settled over him. He squeezed Aria’s hand this time, signaling that he was ready for trouble.
“Axel, you’re always so hard to find,” a familiar male voice called out. “We even prepared several surprises for you this time, but you wanted to do this the hard way.”
A red-haired man stepped out from a side street, blocking their path.
Axel immediately recognized him as Jack, a bounty hunter who had attacked him, Aria, and Lyra after they had first gained their powers. Axel remembered Jack’s force negation ability, but wasn’t sure of his other powers.
Then he felt the shift in air pressure behind him. That had to be Jess, the teleporter, and likely the rest of their old ambush crew. One had elemental fire and pyro abilities, and the other could restrict an opponent’s movements.
“Do you really want to do this now, Jack?” Axel asked in a flat tone. “This is not a great time.”
“Why not?” Jack replied with a vicious smile. “You seem to be down a companion, and my team has only gotten stronger since our last encounter.”
Sighing deeply, Axel swiftly grabbed Aria and threw her into the air while Jack was still enjoying the sound of his own voice, never breaking eye contact. During their training with Rex, Axel, and Aria had run through scenarios just like this, preparing for ambushes.
Axel immediately connected a gravity anchor between Jack and the top of a nearby building, then rolled to the side.
All of this happened in the span of two seconds, catching the ambushers behind Axel off guard. He took some satisfaction in hearing Jack scream in surprise.
Axel was glad he dodged when he did, as a whip of flame lashed through the space he had just occupied. But something was wrong as he could feel a force restraining his body’s movement, making it hard to move at all. Each limb felt like it weighed a ton. Then, an invisible force slammed into him, sending him crashing into a wall.
Despite the impact, Axel managed to maintain his concentration; keeping Jack out of the fight was critical. Pain and a system notification told him his shoulder was damaged, but not severely. His regeneration was already working on the injury.
Fortunately, he was now out of Aria’s attack zone. A moment later, a small, compressed ball of fire landed at the bounty hunters’ feet.
The only warning they received was Aria’s shout, “Fireball!” which was then followed by a blinding flash of white-hot flame.
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Axel felt the shockwave, but not the heat; he realized the Krellian with the flaming whip had diverted the heat from the blast away. Still, the explosion flung the group across the street. Jess landed in a trash can, caving in its side, while the other two slammed into carriages, shifting them but causing no major damage.
Knowing time was short, Axel sprinted toward the two Krellians while they were stunned. He planted a kick into the restrainer’s knee, hearing a loud crack, then followed up with a punch to the side of the head—enough to take him out of the fight, if not permanently.
But he paid for it. The flame-whip user had recovered and lashed out.
Axel felt searing pain across his back and the side of his head, nearly blacking out. He fought through it, but knew he had lost his hold on Jack as the gravity connection was gone.
Not wanting to risk involving the nearby carriages any more than they already had, Axel ducked a second swing and grabbed the unconscious restrainer, hurling him into the path of the next attack.
The flame user had to release his power to avoid injuring his ally and caught him mid-air. Axel hadn’t been able to thrown him hard, given how off-balance he was from the last whip attack, but it bought him a moment of space.
Axel used that moment to check on Aria. She was locked in a close-quarters fight in the sky with another of her kind who was clearly another ambusher. The fight looked intense, and Axel knew she wouldn’t be able to help him for a while. Axel also noticed the telltale signs of wind blades on the buildings, explaining why Aria moved into such close range in the air.
Then, a Harmonizer stepped out from the shadow of one of the carriages near the Krellians. Another appeared and tried to grab the teleporter, but his hand passed through empty air as she vanished.
Axel scanned for her and spotted her next to Jack, helping him up.
“Retreat!” she shouted and vanished with him.
The Aurelian, bleeding heavily, broke off his fight and pulled out a gem, disappearing in a flash. The two Krellians vanished next, slipping from the Harmonizers’ grasp, much to the officer's anger if Axel was reading his body language right.
Axel suddenly realized he was surrounded by air, and the pain on his back had spread from its original location. He looked over his shoulder and saw that most of his shirt was on fire. Aria had removed the air around him for a moment to extinguish the flames, then landed next to him to check over his injuries. Noticing that he was healing, she sighed in relief, but Axel could tell he was not healing his internal and bone injuries as quickly as he was seeing warnings about low resources.
Axel really hated Jack next, as he was then questioned by the officers about what had just happened. After hearing Axel and Aria’s explanation, the pair was escorted to a local station for further investigation and protection.
Once again, he found himself at a Harmonizer station, making a report and explaining what had happened to more officers and a captain. After several hours, it was ruled as self-defense as Jack was a known bounty hunter with a history of causing trouble while pursuing targets.
After being released, Axel had to calm Sky down. He and Aria were much later than planned, and their friend had been very worried. When Axel arrived, Sky was skittering back and forth in the lobby of the inn before leaping to him when he opened the door. Getting a flying Sky to the face was not what Axel was expecting at all.
Roran took the attack in stride, only asking for details about the attackers. He then led the way back to the new inn so everyone could rest and prepare for the Trial.
Sky told Axel she would need to make his gear inside the Trial itself, as she was low on gems. Fortunately, they could gather everything they needed, including powers, once inside.
-----
Axel was in a new room under Harmonizer protection, as his old one had been destroyed the night before. They still needed him nearby for further questioning—both about the ambush earlier that day and the previous night’s attack.
He was sorting, storing, and inventorying the gear they had gathered that afternoon, along with what had been salvaged from Aria’s room, when there was a knock at the door.
Aria, who had been packing quivers full of arrows, paused her task and went to check. After a glance through the peephole, she stepped aside to let Jareth in. He entered carrying a large saddlebag.
With a light toss, Jareth dropped the bag in the center of the room. It landed with a solid thunk.
“I’ve got a gift for your group to use while I work,” Jareth said, stretching his shoulder. “There’s a message stone in there we can use to contact each other when either of us gets new information. It can be used three times, so don’t waste it unless it’s urgent.”
“Is there a non-urgent way we can reach you?” Axel asked, moving to inspect the bag.
“Leave a message at the Merchants’ Guild for a Hawken Winters if it’s an emergency, or Jacob Summers if it’s not,” Jareth replied. “There are also several storage devices in there with all the meat and cores from our last hunt. That should cover the twins’ share, along with the materials Sky took. I’ll sell the rest to fund our operations, but it’ll take time.”
“We’ll leave a message if we get anything from our source,” Aria said, returning to her gear.
“That works. Good luck, you two,” Jareth said before stepping into a shadow and vanishing.
“Are you okay?” Axel asked.
Aria only shook her head in response.
Axel opened the bag and found four items inside: a belt, a necklace, a pouch, and what had to be the message stone, which was a small black sphere etched with tiny runes. There was also a note attached to the belt, which Axel picked up and read:
‘Dear Axel,
I know you’ve likely lost trust in me after everything that happened. I understand that my explanation may not have been enough to change your or Aria’s mind about how I used you, but it was the only choice I saw at the time.
These gifts include a necklace with a small storage space that removes the weight of its contents. It was something my wife cherished, and I hope Aria will treat it well. It can summon items to hand with a thought.
The belt holds all the meat, cores, and funds. It only reduces the weight of stored items by half, so you’re likely the only one strong enough to carry it.
The pouch is for Sky—it holds many of the tools she’ll need to rebuild your gear.
Good luck in your Trial,
–Jareth’
Axel handed the necklace and note to Aria. She read it silently, her expression tightening into a frown—conflicted, but not surprised.
Axel strapped on the thick belt, its large buckle inlaid with a beast gem. It was heavy, but not enough to slow him down. After a moment, his Journal synced with the belt, and a stream of information began to flow, just as Jareth had described. The belt’s internal space was filled with meat, cores, and coins, all neatly cataloged.
“Aria feels like this is emotional blackmail,” she muttered, still holding the necklace.
“Then why are you using it?” Axel asked, transferring gear into the belt by touching the gem with his left hand and the item with his right. To retrieve items, he’d need to reverse the process, right hand to the gem, left hand to summon.
Thankfully, all storage equipment followed the same access protocols, so Axel was able to adapt to the belt quickly. Though normally a Journal would not have detailed information on what was inside and the information would be more of an instinctual thing.
“Aria can’t return it right now, and it will be useful in the Trial,” she replied, her voice steady but her eyes sharp as they met his. “When we get Lyra back, Aria will return it, and then punish Jareth for what he helped happen.”
Axel nodded, understanding the weight behind her words. The room fell into a quiet rhythm as they finished packing, the silence filled only by the soft clinks of gear and the occasional rustle of cloth.
When everything was finally stored and ready, Axel took Aria’s hand and led her to the bed. Unlike many nights before, there were no whispered jokes or playful teasing. They simply lay beside each other, wrapped in silence, holding one another close.
There was comfort in the warmth of her presence, in the steady rhythm of her breathing. But beneath that comfort was a shared ache, an unspoken grief for the friend they couldn’t reach, and a burning resolve to bring her back.
They didn’t need words. Not tonight.
