Odell was glad that Hal didn’t feel the need for them to scale the side of the resort's other tower. They cut across the building and began a slow ascent up the stairwell to the top floor, where the green-haired sisters ought to be waiting.

  The Hobusian prince was impressed at how well Hal was able to climb the steps. While he had to stop to take the occasional breather or to loosen a cramp in one of his legs, the Netzian boy remained even breathed and showed no signs of weakness. It was as if Hal’s whole life had been spent training to climb these stairs—which Odell knew was a ridiculous thought, but he couldn’t help but ponder it.

  Was it sheer dedication to save his sisters that propelled the younger boy? He had shown plenty of stamina before, so that seemed off. Was it simple youth or a difference in builds? Odell wasn’t that much older, and though his legs were shorter, Hobusians were known for having strong legs. Was it that the prince had simply lived a simpler life? He couldn’t come up with a case against that one, but the march up the stairs demanded attention be swapped from thoughts to not falling over.

  The only grace was that Hal, hurried as he was, remained willing to stop and let Odell catch his breath every couple of floors. The green-haired boy said little; the urgency to save his sisters was clearly on his mind. Even stopped, Hal’s red eyes would occasionally dart up to where they had left to climb. Odell saw no reason to argue. Whether Hal was right about his sisters needing saving or not, the netzian’s mind was locked in on the task at hand.

  Odell just had to make sure he could keep up for now. If there was ever a moment he wished he had brought his Needaimus, it was in the stairwell. They could have simply floated up to the top floor and saved so much time and energy. Odell hoped all was well outside. If things weren’t so serious, they would get back with the younger twins, and everyone could have a good laugh.

  Though they still needed to find Gwyn and Fiona, so perhaps the good laugh would have to wait.

  Around the 8th or 9th floor, Odell began to hear the sounds of rain pattering the walls outside the stairwell. When they reached the 12th floor, the rain was getting heavier. By the time they emerged on the 17th floor. It was a heavy downpour. The stairwell exited into a sort of lobby area. Wooden beams opened to reveal decorative panels surrounding a large glass window. What kind of view was meant to be seen was unknown, as the deluge was intense enough to obscure the darkened sky and ground.

  Thunder boomed loud enough to shake some chandeliers overhead. A flicker of the lights accompanied the rattling, though the hotel hallway remained well illuminated.

  It could only be seen as a bad omen. The fact that a storm was raging as hard as it was so early in the year was worrying in and of itself. Odell worried it could only end badly.

  Hal said nothing as he stomped down the hallway in the direction of their room.

  “Hal, hold on, wait up a moment!” Odell cried. He chased after the Netzian boy, who didn’t slow down. Odell trailed behind until the door came up. There were no guards. There were no signs of trouble. Everything was completely ordinary. Hal kicked the door open.

  Gabriella and Isabella yelped from inside the room. They were sitting on a bed, playing cards with two unusually small Needaimus snuggled up at their sides.

  “Big brother!” Gabriella said, holding a hand over her heart.

  “You jerk, I was going to win!” Isabella jumped from the bed and tried to kick Hal in the shin. He sidestepped his sister with ease and looked all around the room. Doors were flung open and curtains shoved to the side.

  Odell was at a loss. “What are you doing? Let’s just take them and get them to safety. We still have to beat up the guy in charge of all this.”

  “You may beat up whomever you wish. My priority is my sisters.”

  “Wait? Is there a bad guy?” Isabella asked. She made a devious grin and eyed the Needaimus on the bed. Gabriella pulled both small Needaimus close to her and shook her head. Isaballa nodded in reply.

  “Some idiots with their plans. I came to pull you out before you got hurt.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Isabella flexed her noodle arm, “we could take down any bad guys!” Hal shook his head and pressed her back so she moved in the direction of the door.

  “Take only what is necessary and get moving.”

  Odell was surprised by how quickly his sisters followed Hal's lead. Despite grumbles he couldn’t make out, the twins got ponchos on and tucked away some items in their pockets. The small Needaimus bonded to the twins' arms, the left arm of Isabella and the right of Gabriella. Or so Odell thought, once they got their ponchos on and hoods up, they became harder to tell apart. If not for Isabella’s shorter hair and Gabriella’s longer hair, he was sure they would be identical.

  Thunder continued to shake the whole building, and lightning grew ever more intense as it lit up the sky. Even once they got out, Odell wasn’t sure where they might go. Hal continued to look around the room, pulling mattresses off the beds after the twins had cleared off, and checking underneath. Odell shook his head. He was just being silly.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Another flash of lightning came as the twins walked to Odell, and Hal had his head under the bed. It blinded the entire window with bright light, possibly striking just outside, and with its end came the appearance of a Zenotote. He scratched at his pale blue scales and glared at Odell.

  “In the room. Just as I was told.”

  The twins jumped and spun around, little arms held up with fists at the ends, as if they could do something. Hal was up quickly as well, but was already next to their new opponent. He tried to throw a punch, but the Zenotote caught it in a cupped hand. He glared smugly at Hal.

  “A pesky one. Likely to get into much trouble.”

  Hal vanished. Gone without a trace as the Zenotote’s ability teleported him away.

  The twins cried out in unison, “Big brother!”

  Odell gritted his teeth. It was just like back in Nun. This man, Evron, had a strong ability. And the prince was powerless to stop him before. But things were different now. Right?

  “Where did you send him?” Odell forced his voice as harsh as he could manage.

  “Young Bloodmurder?” The Zenotote laughed so hard his head jerked back, “Ah, you must be good friends with him. I have, how shall we put it, sent him away at random. A little trick I like to do—though perhaps you remember. He could be just down the hall. Perhaps caught up in the woods outside. Perhaps at the bottom of the ocean. Maybe even still in a collapsed cave without air. The possibilities are endless, which is why it is my favorite trick. Oh, what a nasty look, my Hobusian friend. He could very well still be alive. Random is random after all.”

  Evron chuckled to himself like he was in on some grand joke and didn’t want Odell catching onto the punchline too soon.

  “You think you can hurt my brother?” Isabella punched a little fist into a little palm and stepped forward. Odell quickly picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Gabriella soon met the same fate. “Hey, put me down, Odell, I need to go beat that guy up!”

  She sounded almost as if she was about to cry. Why wouldn’t she? Hal could very well have died right in front of her, and not even in a dramatic way; it had happened so fast it was diabolical. Odell worried for Hal as well; he didn’t know how to convey that to the twins, but he knew he could get them out of there.

  He sprinted to the door. Evron appeared with an outstretched hand right in front, but Odell expected that. The man wasn’t all that clever. He ducked under the arm well before it appeared and quickly exited into the hallway. To say his legs had recovered from the stair climb would have been a lie, but he powered through.

  Hal had to be okay. Odell at least hoped that was the case. So, it was his job to get the twins to safety. There wouldn’t be a happy reunion if Odell failed this job.

  “Come on, Odell, let me fight!” Isabella whined. She struggled in his arm, but wasn’t able to muster enough power even to pose a challenge for him. Odell said nothing. He needed to be focused on Evron. One touch from the Zenotote meant he was whisked off to who knows where. Without the natural counter of Fiona’s ability, Odell had to rely on wit if he was going to survive.

  The first strike had been from the front, expecting Odell to run into his hand. And Evron relied on simple motions to make use of the teleporting. It was common for teleporters to have difficulty moving so rapidly through space. Only Fiona, as far as the prince knew, was able to blip around so quickly and freely without seeming to get sick.

  Thinking back to their first fight. Evron had focused on using his teleportation to get next to people quickly and used the psychological tactic of making people vanish to create unease.

  Odell began to weave down the hall and kept a short mental count in his head. Every five seconds, then he would reset. He could do as much even with the noise from the siblings, it was like trying to time the intervals between odd sounds in a vehakul when trying to troubleshoot—though this time it was life or death.

  Evron tried to appear in front again, but Odell was on the opposite side of the hallway due to his zigzag pattern. He noted how many seconds had passed without slowing down.

  The ornate wooden hallway went by in a blur as he kept up his sprint. Soon, however, the dreaded stairs would return, and he wasn’t sure how well his burst would end up there.

  Rain blasted Hal’s face so intensely that he had to close his eyes. He groaned, his body was coated in mud on his back and drenched on his front. The jerk had decided to drop him somewhere deep in the woods, likely still close to the resort, by the type of trees Hal saw before he had to shut his eyes.

  “I’m going to kill him,” the green-haired boy declared. Against the storm, it was as if he said nothing. He sat up and trudged through the mud until reaching a tree with a large enough cut in the bark to make for a shelter. Hal squeezed inside and took a breath. He looked out all around for the resort. Even in the storm, the giant building with many illuminated windows should still stand out, but nothing was in view. He was either far enough away not to see it or looking at the wrong side.

  Hal groaned. His being away meant Odell needed to save his sisters. The Soldier wasn’t sure how he felt about that. In one sense, Odell was likely to take up the task, being somewhat responsible. He was certain the prince would try very hard, but he wasn’t sure if it would be good enough. His sisters, at least, had smuggled their Needaimus with them—even though he and Haliegh had told them not to—but they were inexperienced fighters, and this foe wasn’t one to hold back.

  Hal didn’t like relying on others. He should be the one who had to be relied on, and especially with Odell, it felt wrong.

  Hal rubbed his face; his hand was wet, and his face was wet, so the end result was more wet. He wasn’t sure what his goal was.

  The storm showed no signs of letting up. It probably would go on for hours with this sort of power. The ground, already so muddy, was a bad sign. Too long, and he might not be able to make it back safely. The thought of dying alone out in the dark woods pissed Hal off.

  He pushed from the tree and checked behind it. Still no resort in sight. He would need to search for another landmark at this rate. Time was of the essence. Hal shook his head and began sliding through the mud.

  “Do your best, Odell. I’ll catch up when I can,” he said to himself. The wind howled against his words and threatened to shove him to the ground. Rain assaulted his body with more stinging than rain ought to be giving. He didn’t like it, but he would trust in the Hobusian prince for now. It was really a matter of not having a choice but to do so, but Hal decided to pretend it came with a little more reasoning. At the very least, Odell seemed to have bulked up some since Nun. Hal hoped that wasn’t just for show.

  But the mud sure was a pain. He cursed at the slippery ground as he continued to trudge through the rainstorm.