Cili’s hand was wrapped tightly around Galina’s arm as she yanked her through Aethereon’s streets. Citizens whizzed by overheard riding atop skyboards—wooden or metal boards adorned with infusions that let the boards glide along the air, though only usable at high altitudes.

  The smell of baked goods from nearby shops flooded Cili and Galina’s noses as the two dashed through the streets and squeezed between long lines of people pouring out from surrounding bakeries.

  “Are you sure we should skip all of these?” Galina asked. “I don’t mind waiting in line.”

  “It’s fine,” Cili assured Galina, refusing to slow down. “These are all tourist traps. I’ll show you where the real good stuff is.”

  A few minutes later, Cili pulled Galina around a corner to a tight street corner. They were far from the other bakeries close to the city’s center. The stone street was wildly uneven; Galina had to keep her eyes glued to the floor to avoid stumbling to the ground. Despite the lack of benches and chairs, the cramped street was lined with people sitting down, devouring piping hot food.

  Looking closer, Galina noticed everybody sitting down had a flash of red somewhere on their person. The most common was a pocket square in their suit. Others had a streak of red in their hair.

  “Are these all cardinals?” Galina whispered.

  “Yeah,” Cili replied. “This is the spot only they know about. It’s got all the best places, and it’s far from any touristy spots, so nobody comes by. Willow took me here all the time.”

  “I see,” Galina said. Though she had her hesitations about visiting a spot where only members of a criminal organization ate, at this point, she had been pulled away from so many amazing smells that she was just dying to eat. “So, which one are we going to?”

  “Follow me,” Cili said.

  During the brief moments Galina could afford to look at something other than the ground, she caught glimpses from the cardinals around her. Their eyes didn’t instill a sense of danger, but rather suspicion and surprise. Fortunately, a simple smile and nod seemed enough to satisfy their curiosity for the time being.

  At the end of the street, Cili stopped Galina just in front of a bakery. The smell of a woodfire char and bright vanilla danced up Galina’s nose. Her eyes drifted to the wooden sign above the establishment where the words “Baker’s Hoard” were burnt into the wood.

  “Cili!” The young man at the counter exclaimed. He reached a hand down to Cili revealing sky-blue scales.

  “Evan!” Cili quickly shook the man’s hand.

  “Nice to meet you,” Galina said.

  “You as well,” Evan replied. “What’s your name?”

  “Galina.”

  “If you don’t mind waiting, a cardinal is helping me bring in some ingredients,” Evan said.

  “Do we have to wait?” Cili asked.

  “Once he’s done I’ll make sure you guys get the first batch,” Evan said.

  “No takebacks!” Cili exclaimed.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, why are there so many bakeries here?” Galina asked.

  “Altitude,” Evan responded.

  “Altitude?” Galina inquired.

  “Because of how high up Aethereon is, it changes how you bake,” Evan explained. “There are certain things you can only make at this altitude.”

  “I see.”

  “Are you here to see Willow?” Evan asked.

  “Yeah,” Cili confirmed. “I wanted to get her something first.”

  “Sorry to say this, but I think someone might have beat you to the punch,” Evan said.

  “Alright, that’s everything!” The voice came from a door behind Evan. “Can you take a look to see if everything’s okay?”

  “Coming!” Evan exclaimed. “Just give me a second, I’ll be right back.”

  The voice sounded vaguely familiar to Galina, but she struggled to remember exactly where she had heard it before.

  A moment later the door cracked open, and a sudden rush of revelation surged through Galina. She knew exactly whose voice that was.

  Emerging from the door was a man with messy white hair, dark skin, and a bright red coat. “Alright, let me know if you need anything else,” Xavier said. He removed his gloves and rubbed his forehead. “What the hell is this headache?”

  Galina froze for a moment thinking of what to do.

  “Xavier!” Cili exclaimed. She spoke before Galina even had a chance to react.

  Xavier’s head whipped toward Cili. “Cili!” he exclaimed, before looking up at Galina. “Oh.”

  Galina smiled and waved.

  “Perhaps it's best if we all sit down on the street for a moment,” Xavier suggested, exiting the bakery.

  “Let’s,” Galina replied.

  “Ah!” Cili exclaimed.

  “Blow on it first,” Xavier said. “I shouldn’t still be telling you this.”

  Galina chuckled. “Cili’s mentioned you briefly, but what exactly is your relationship?”

  “Well I’ve known her longer than I haven’t,” Xavier said. “For most of that time, I was effectively her babysitter. Whenever she and Willow wanted to go out I always had to go with them.”

  “I’m sure that was fun,” Galina remarked.

  “Eventful might be more accurate,” Xavier said.

  Galina noticed Xavier’s eyes were not looking at her, but rather past her, fixated on her staff.

  “Does it bother you?” Galina asked.

  “It just makes me feel ill,” Xavier said. “Like a general sense of nausea fused with a splitting headache.”

  “Is that why you called Galina a ‘genocidal bitch’?” Cili asked.

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  Xavier groaned. “Eh, technically.”

  “I worried you’d start attacking me when I saw you,” Galina admitted.

  “Not in this city, and not when you’re with Cili,” Xavier said. “If she trusts you, then I kind of have to.”

  “Why did you have such a reaction to me?” Galina inquired.

  “It was less of a reaction to you and more a reaction to your staff,” Xavier explained. “Once I looked at you, and realized how old you are, my perspective changed. Do you remember anything from when you were young?”

  “The first few years of my life are blank,” Galina said. “My origins aren’t of any particular interest to me, but I can’t say I’m not curious.”

  “Well don’t get too excited. I don’t remember things too well myself,” Xavier said. “I and I believe you as well, are part of a group of people gifted with telepathic and telekinetic abilities. I’m unsure as to whether you came from my home or a different group. For my group at least we lived tangential to the outside world. We lived in the wilderness but would often visit civilization, some even moving in permanently.

  “I couldn’t tell you the origin of our powers. To be honest, it was probably explained to me at some point, but I wasn’t a very good listener. I preferred trouble over lectures, though one often led to the other.

  “One day I was visiting a town and saw figures dressed in robes and ornaments, wielding staffs much like the one you have. I know not how or why, but something in me knew that I shouldn’t return. At the time I attributed it to survival instinct. In hindsight, it was likely someone sending me an emotion. My older sister had married a man in the town. She kept me hidden.

  “It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize what had transpired. The fires from my home should’ve made it obvious. Perhaps I did know and just didn’t want to accept it. The figures waltzed through town a few days later. Turns out blood is hard to wash out of white no matter how hard you try. Just when they left I saw them using the staffs to tap into our gifts and telekinetically load crates into their wagons.”

  Galina stared with hollow eyes at the staff. “I guess that would explain why you had such a strong reaction to seeing this. To be honest this thing was very precious to me. It’s the only thing I have from the part of my life I can’t remember. Now I know how you feel. Just looking at it makes me feel ill.”

  “Why does it bother Xavier, but not you?” Cili asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Galina admitted.

  “Could be overexposure,” Xavier hypothesized. “You’ve just gotten used to it.”

  “I wish I didn't have to rely on it,” Galina said.

  “Rely on it?” Xavier asked.

  “Without it nearby everyone’s mind becomes an open door,” Galina explained. “Their thoughts rattle around in my head no matter how tightly I plug my ears. It’s debilitating.”

  “No one I knew struggled with that,” Xavier said.

  “Well that comforted me very little,” Galina said.

  “Don’t you get it, Galina?” Cili said. “That means you’re special! You’re super duper strong.”

  “It’s the craziest idea. Could be a sign of high potential,” Xavier remarked.

  “Unless I find some way to rid myself of this staff without going insane I doubt I will live up to that potential,” Galina said.

  Xavier reached into his coat. After a little bit of rustling around he pulled out a book with worn pages, burnt edges, and a cover so damaged the title was illegible. “I got this from my sister.”

  Galina took the book. Opening up she expected text but instead found a series of strange geometric symbols, more reminiscent of runes than letters.

  “My sister said that it was a special kind of language only we could understand,” Xavier said. “I would’ve learned it eventually, if not for … well you know.”

  “Are you sure you want to give this to me?” Galina asked.

  “I’m not getting much use out of it,” Xavier said. “I just kept it hoping an answer would stumble into my lap. Even then, I was always more interested in revenge than answers, but even with Cardinal’s information network, there's been no signs of those staffs anywhere. Which means either someone beat me to punch or they ran out of targets. Worst comes to worst I made a copy.”

  “Wouldn’t you rather give me the copy?” Galina asked.

  “It’s back in my apartment, and I’m way too lazy,” Xavier replied. “Besides my handwriting is a fucking mess, I doubt you could read it.”

  “I’ll see if I, or one of my smarter companions can decipher this,” Galina said. “Thank you.”

  “Speaking of your companions, I’m realizing that this conversation has wildly derailed,” Xavier said. “I wanted to ask, how large is your group, and why exactly are you here?”

  “You have to promise not to get mad at me,” Cili pleaded.

  Xavier gave a scornful look toward Cili. “Ok. I promise.”

  “Ok there were seven of us, now there’s six of us. One of us died and it was really sad, so we want to bring him back, but he’s been dead for a long time, so we need to revive him, so we need Willow’s help. Right now he’s in a dagger, so I think he’s fine. We don’t know how to get him out exactly, but we can figure it out.”

  “Slow down Cili. Slow down,” Xavier insisted.

  Cili cut herself off and took several short breaths.

  “So, you told your party about Willow?” Xavier asked.

  “She did,” Galina said.

  “Fuck,” Xavier muttered under his breath. “She seriously trusts you huh?”

  “We’ve all saved each other's lives at some point,” Galina said. “But we did fail. We’re here to rectify that mistake.”

  “What’s done is done. I’ll take your group to the boss and he can decide from there,” Xavier said.

  “Thank you!” Cili exclaimed.

  “Even if he says yes, there’s still a problem with getting Willow to help you,” Xavier said.

  “Oh don’t worry we know about the immortal assassins coming after Willow,” Cili assured Xavier.

  Xavier paused before he spoke, shock etched into his face. “Okay, so there’s two problems. The first is whatever the fuck you just said. The second is that Willow has been unable to use her skills for quite some time.”

  “What?!” Cili exclaimed. “Is she okay?”

  “Physically she is safe, though given what you’ve just said that may not last for long,” Xavier said. “There was an incident a while ago. To be honest I’m too knowledgeable about it myself. It happened when Aethereon was attacked, and forced to make an emergency landing. Willow leveraged her powers during the ensuing battle, drastically shifting the tides in our favor. However, in the aftermath, she has refused to use her skills again.”

  “Was it monsters that attacked you?” Galina inquired.

  “The attack was organized, and orchestrated to happen specifically when the patrol of dragons was out of the sky,” Xavier explained. “It had to have been people.”

  “But Aethereon is the capital of a chapter. That’s a declaration of war,” Galina remarked.

  “Listen, I don't know all that much,” Xavier admitted. “I fought till we were back in the air. That was the extent of my involvement.”

  “I want to see Willow. Right now!” Cili insisted.

  “As do I,” Xavier said. “Come on. On the way explain to me everything you know about these assassins.”

  “Wait!” Galina said. She raised a finger and tapped Cili on her forehead. “[Link].”

  “What was that for?” Cili asked.

  “So you can tell me how to get to where you’re going,” Galina said.

  “You aren’t coming?” Cili asked.

  “You’ve been there before. I’ll only complicate things,” Galina explained. “Besides, someone needs to get the others.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Xavier remarked. “The best we can do is get to Willow as fast as possible. I hope Nihil is with her.”

  “Nihil?” Cili inquired.

  “Willow’s new personal guard,” Xavier said.

  “Oh,” Cili said. “Are they like friends?”

  “I would say so, yes,” Xavier said.

  “Are they close friends?” Cili asked.

  “Cili, I’m sure Willow is dying to see you,” Xavier assured Cili.

  “Dying?” Galina questioned.

  “Poor choice of words,” Xavier admitted.

  “Well, you’re nothing if not consistent,” Galina joked.

  “Not the time for this!” Xavier exclaimed. “Can we please get going now, because, by your own admission, Willow’s life is in danger!”

  “Well, I’m sure Nihil certainly won’t be enough to take on those assassins,” Cili said. “So I agree we should move as fast as possible.”

  “Thank you!” Xavier exclaimed. He turned to Galina. “Find us whenever you’re ready.”

  Once Cili and Xavier disappeared from the alley, Galina readied herself to head back to the rooms Wistoria had given them and wait for the other Hangmen to return.

  “Well, he was surprisingly pleasant,” Galina said to herself. She glanced down at the book Xavier had given her and tucked it underneath her arm. “I’m glad we didn’t kill each other.”