Lea stood in the entryway, shoulders squared though her pulse beat high in her throat. Across from her, Elise Vogel and Rosette St. Jon were a picture of Paladin severity that could make anyone feel inspected down to the marrow.
Elise was the first to speak her voice clear and even, yet heavy enough to command silence around it. "Thank you, Lea. You stepped into the operation last night with little notice, and you did not falter. That level of cooperation isn't overlooked."
Lea inclined her head, brushing damp strands of hair behind her ear. "It was no problem. I did what I could."
Elise's lips tilted in something that wasn't quite a smile, more an acknowledgement. "Good. Then let me tell you why we're here now. There are two new outlaws recorded in the bounty board."
Lea's brows lifted faintly. "Outlaws?"
"Ruben Rayo and Corbin Monet." Elise didn't pause. "Their crimes include major involvement in the Gresham district incident."
Lea's eyes didn't flicker. She gave a slow nod, playing her part carefully. "I don't think I've noticed those names. But I haven't checked it as of late."
"Perhaps not," Elise nodded, though her gaze sharpened fractionally. "But statements gathered from survivors of the hotel suggest that they were there. And maybe they even took part in a fight against the killer."
The silence pressed. Lea's head tilted. "Well, I searched all of the third floor and found the place a mess. But I didn't find any bodies there."
Rosette shifted at Elise's side, her red hair waving in the weak gusts of wind. She eyed Lea like she was trying to peer into her mind. Lea learned from Corbin that it seemed she was able to control things of a red shade. So no mind reading.
"It's fine." Elise said, shelving the matter for a new one. "I only wanted to make sure you were in the know. The boys have landed in the city, and we cannot afford ignorance."
Lea's jaw eased. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Is there anything else?"
"Yes." Elise's voice answered sharply to pick up the dimming mood. "I would like you to join us in a current investigation."
Lea lifted her chin slightly. "What investigation?"
Elise folded her hands neatly at her waist, her silver hair shining in the doorway light. "I was briefed this morning. A new threat is spreading here, a substance, some form of agent that drives civilians into a frenzy. They attack one another. They attack themselves too. The council in the city fears it may be Ego use. They've requested our aid in finding the culprit and bringing them in."
Before Lea could answer, another voice came from the hall.
"That's the news I mentioned before."
Kade stepped into view, his tall frame casting a shadow across the wall as he leaned against the threshold. His eyes cool and assessing as they fall on the two Paladin.
Elise's gaze flicked to him. For the first time since stepping inside, her mouth curved into the faintest echo of civility. "Kade. Thank you too for joining last night."
He gave a dry nod.
Rosette's crimson eyes slid to him, but she remained silent, arms folded.
Lea exhaled once through her nose, then nodded. "If the council has requested it then yes I will join. Tell me what you need and I'll be there."
"Good." Elise dipped her head with approval. "There will be a meeting tonight. Be sharp. This city has drawn too many bad breaths in quick succession. The Stillman attacking last night. The assassination. The civilian attacks… and those outlaws." Her eyes met Lea's. "Keep your wits about you."
Lea answered in a steady tone. "I will."
Elise stepped back into the drizzle, Rosette pivoting with soldierly precision to follow. The two figures left and Lea waited until she couldn't see their figures anymore before she closed her door.
___
The door clicked shut, leaving the house in silence that pressed across the wooden floorboards. Lea lingered in the entryway for a heartbeat.
When she turned, Ruben and Corbin were already stepping out from the back hallway where they were ready to start running, their socked feet whispering against the floor.
Ruben's eyes were dark and restless. And they stared deeply into Lea's. "I think they know," he said flatly. "Or at the very least, they'll start noticing patterns to connect the dots and connect us."
Lea blinked, taken aback by the sharpness of his tone. "What?"
"They were circling it," Ruben pressed, voice low but edged with certainty. "Elise didn't come here to just give thanks. Or ask you for help on a mission you most likely would have been called to. She wanted to see your reaction to our names as she mentioned them. The nets already tightening." His jaw tightened. "And I want to leave."
The bluntness hung in the air.
Lea's brows knit together, genuine surprise flickering across her features. "Leave? Now?"
Corbin stepped forward, his presence filling the space with the kind of steadiness Ruben lacked. "We're grateful for everything you've done," he said firmly, his voice carrying a conviction that was hard to argue against. "But it's time for us to go."
Lea raised a hand, almost in protest. "Hold on a moment. You shouldn't…"
"Where would you even go?" Kade's voice cut through the room, flat and direct. He pushed away from the wall he had been leaning on, arms folding across his chest as he leveled the boys with a soldier's stare. "Do you even know what you'd do once you're out there? Run to another city? And when that one gets too hot, how many more do you plan to burn through before you decide to give up?"
Neither boy spoke.
Kade's expression hardened. "I've been a Paladin for nine years. In that time, I've hurled outlaws more times than I can count. I worked with special units. Every single one of those runs ended the same way, captured, killed, or they embraced the rot waiting for them and became the very monsters people said they were. That's your path if you keep running blind."
His words struck like hammer blows. Corbin's jaw tightened, but he stayed silent. Ruben stood with his hands slack at his sides, staring at the floorboards.
"You need to think on your next moves," Kade continued. "If you're innocent, if you truly believe that, then you'd better find something to keep you sane while you run. Because this world won't make it easy."
His gaze turned to Corbin first. "You. I know you've set your sights on the top spot of being a Warlord." Then he looked at Ruben. "But what about you?"
The question dropped in him like a stone in a pond. Again. It was the same question he had been asking himself for a long time now. And again, he had no answers and the silence was unbearable.
What did he want? The thought twisted in circles until all that remained was the image of Corbin's back ahead of him, only getting further and further away.
Ruben felt like he was just the tagalong friend.
The friend that would eventually weigh the real star down. The shadow.
"It doesn't matter." Corbin's voice cut across the silence, sharp and decisive. His hand landed on Ruben's shoulder with unyielding certainty. "We'll just keep running. If we die, then so be it. What matters is that we don't lie down and die quietly." His eyes flared as he swept his gaze from Lea to Kade. "We're not going to give them that."
Then, with a sudden pivot, Corbin leaned forward, his tone fierce with challenge. "You were special units, right? Then tell us, how should we plan our way out now?"
Kade studied him in silence, the weight of his gaze heavy as stone. For a moment he stayed quiet and only started scratching his chin, as if debating whether it was even worth speaking. Then he exhaled through his nose.
"There are many ways out, without them noticing," he said. "This city has a station for the Infinity Train. If you're clever, you could vanish and get one. Further south, there are unicorn herds, if you tame one, they can walk across the ocean itself. Might carry you all the way to an island if you're lucky."
Lea pinched his sleeve sharply, "That's stupid."
Kade shrugged, unbothered. "I know. For you, both ideas are bad. But do you even know what the Infinity Train is?"
Ruben sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. "Yeah. It was first introduced in the year 415 by someone only known as the Master Conductor. Historians think that he came from Adarion, the lost nation up north, since that's where the first station was. The train runs through the Threshold which is just some separate space. It links checkpoints all over the world. Every nation except Atlantis. If you board in one city, you step off in another, thousands of miles away, in less than an hour."
He paused, his voice growing quieter, more internal. "It's an Ego tool, born of a wielder. After he died, the train kept moving. For a few years after his death it was mainly only afforded by the rich, tickets cost a fortune. The governments intervened. Paladin were too vital. So anyone with a Paladin license could ride for free."
There was more but Ruben couldn't remember it all, but he knew that it was something he wanted to try out one day. He planned on it when he got his Paladin license, but that was a dud now.
Lea folded her arms. "That's good."
Ruben then wanted to ask something so Kade couldn't keep asking these silly questions.
"What's further south?"
"There are some islands there." Lea said. "Old tribes used to live there. But that was a long time ago. History says they already left and spread out to integrate with the rest of society."
Corbin crossed his arms, nodding to himself. "We will stay here. In Brumália. The city is supposedly falling into problems. This may sound bad to say for the future Warlord, but if it gets bad me and Ruben will be able to slip away." Corbin said. And yes, that did sound a little heartless for someone who wanted to be a future number one protector.
Ruben lifted his head, eyes dark but steady. "No. If the city falls into chaos, I want to stay."
Corbin shot him a glance, almost incredulous. "Stay? Why?"
"Remember that girl Willow McCarthy from the hotel?" Ruben asked. "She said she worked for the media. So she may already be working on publishing the story of the assassination with us in it, in a more positive light. So if she's still in the city chasing another story, maybe we can put ourselves out there in an even better light. Then who knows how things can turn out."
Lea's eyes widened. "That is smart. But it is beyond reckless. Too dangerous. The city will have even more Paladin in it that are also tackling this problem."
Corbin's laugh was humourless. "We've been in danger since the first suspicion fell on us."
Kade's hand rose to his chin again, thumb dragging along his stubble as he thought. "It's actually not such a bad idea. People may second guess the media, and there's nothing about you guys to the public yet. Only Paladin."
Lea turned to him, shock drawn on her face. "You can't be serious."
"I am." Kade's reply was simple.
Lea shook her head. "I don't think it will work."
Kade then snapped his fingers. "Well they gotta try something. And the Pillar of law did say that they have a month. If we can figure out this case before then it may do us all some good."
Corbin pushed back his chair, rising slowly to his feet. "Then we leave tonight. On our own terms. We don't want you getting dragged into trouble if we're caught. But we'll send updates when we can."
Ruben stood as well. Together, the boys bowed their heads, the gesture unpolished but sincere.
"Thank you," Corbin said simply.
"For everything." Ruben added, his voice quieter but no less sincere.
***
The office on the other end of the call buzzed faintly, voices murmuring behind the receiver, but none of it softened the words leveled at her.
Sera Weber sat hunched on the edge of her bed, her phone pressed tight to her ear. "I was close. Closer than anyone in this branch has ever gotten. I'm sure The Stillman was somewhere in that room. And there was even an assassin there, from Jacob's guild."
On the other end, the man chuckled, a sound too polished to be kind. "And yet, nothing you can prove. Weber, you're wasting your time and our resources. These ghosts you chase don't end up in cells. Come back to Branneth, work cases that can actually be completed. You'd do yourself a favour."
Her lip curled. "I've done solid work for this station. More solved cases than anyone in the region. But I get overlooked far too often. And we both know it's because I have an Ego that is 'useful for the job' and I wasn't born with flesh hanging between my legs."
The silence stretched just long enough to sting the other end of the line. "I don't know where you got that from. But I'll make this clear, if you continue chasing this dead case, your pay will be withheld until you're back on standard assignments at the branch."
Sera shut her eyes. The bed springs creaked under her as she leaned back, exhaling a long, slow breath. "Maybe I should take a much needed break then."
The line went dead. She shoved her phone deep into her pocket, the anger still pricking beneath her skin.
Her room was small but tidy, though the neatness was disrupted by the blur of a boy darting across it. Fionn Ó Briain's laughter rattled off the walls as he clutched a battered toy car, running laps over the floorboards.
Earlier when she asked what he was doing? He had told her that he was jumping around the room like Ruben.
She let it be. She was intrigued by the necklace on the boy though. The shamrock had flown back to him on the back of a small dragon. And the dragon had fit into the loop and wrapped itself around the boy and then seemingly fossilized itself, or shedded its skin and turned to dust.
Sera's eyes followed him, softer now. The feeling of the necklace was soft with little bumps of the scales from the shed skin.
But anyway, she had taken it upon herself to wait until the representatives were ready to be off with him. They had arrived earlier in the morning through travel with the Infinity Train, they were just finishing paperwork to send to his father's body home to Eirath.
The door creaked open. One of the representatives stepped inside, his coat damp from the drizzle, folders tucked neatly under his arm. Sera stood as he entered, brushing her hands down to her thighs.
"I've decided," she said. "I'll follow along."
His brows arched. "Really? Why?"
She nodded. "I want to see Eirath."
From the floor, Fionn's head popped up, he clutched his shamrock in his palm. A smile spread across his face. "You'll like it there."
The representative's lips curved in mild intrigue. "What brought it on?"
Sera hesitated only a second before replying. "An old case. There's some history tied to Eirath. I need to follow it."
The man's smile widened as he extended a hand in welcome. "Then, welcome aboard."
Fionn lifted his shamrock like a trophy. "Welcome aboard!"
A soft smile formed on her face. "Thanks."