"B—But, sir," One of the agents stuttered. "Destroying the Rift means we will be separated from the Terran world. We'll be alone."

"Yes," The Commander said, his blue eyes darkening. "It also means if we fail, their world will remain as long as we are not connected. They don't have to suffer because of a war they don't even know of."

No one said anything to that. The Commander's words echoed in Elena's ears. If we fail. That meant he was expecting the possibility of failing. Commander Mordino Elena knew never thought of failure as an option. So, most probably he knew who they were up against. But Elena had no idea who would want to destroy both worlds because of the Devils. She knew of no one who had that much of a grudge against the Devils.

Civilians were coming out of their houses one by one, looking up at the main base and talking among themselves while trying to put out the fires. Elena wondered what they were doing when the fires were lit. It couldn't have gone unnoticed unless they noticed it but chose to do nothing.

"The spell is working," Elena heard Nella mutter beside her as if in a trance.

"It does?" She asked, turning wide-eyed towards the woman.

"Of course, it does. They want us to know where they are," Mordino said, scowling at the lighted street below them. "They want us to follow."

"That means we are not following them, right?" Kaz asked.

"No," Mordino turned to face the crowd. "That's exactly what we are doing."

"Oh, great," Elena and Kaz muttered at the same time.

* * *

Nella Alden's tracking spell lead them to a mass of half-collapsed buildings in the abandoned part of the Lost City. A single large warehouse stood in the middle of everything, surrounded by dusty grounds that were protected by a wire-link fence that was starting to break off at some places. The moon was still up in the sky, a glittering nail shape surrounded by stars. Their jeeps unsettled the dust and they rose in puffed clouds, making Elena's throat itch. Once—even before Elena was born—this part of the Lost City had also been inhabited until the population decreased drastically and people left their houses to get as close as to the Rift. That was when the Devils have been established: To control the people trying to cross over the other side of the Rift and the harm they caused to the human world. Tonight, they will either win or they will make their last stand.

"It's unusually quiet," Maverick noted, looking up at the buildings surrounding them. "I thought they were expecting us."

"The calm before the storm," Kaz muttered, his hands in his pockets.

"Split up and check the buildings," The Commander ordered.

"If something happens, you know we are your best chance, right?" Elena turned to Mordino, straightening her back.

His eyes went from her to Kaz, studying them. He sighed, "I know."

Elena nodded, turned on her heels and strode towards the warehouse. The others—Maverick, Kaz and Nella—followed her after a moment of hesitation. She found a part of the wire-link weak enough for them to break through. The fact that they were still not attacked made her tense. None of them said a word, all of them were tense and ready for an attack. Elena felt her powers tingling at her fingertips. Nella's ring glowed a dark red, its light pulsing which meant they were close to what they were looking for.

This warehouse, unlike the first one, was filled with packed racks, cardboard boxes, barrels and whatnot. There were polythene sheets hanging off the racks that added an eerie feeling to it as Elena made a ball of light appear in her palm, lighting up the empty space. It also turned out to be larger than they expected.

Someone seemed to have cast some sort of a spell on the warehouse to create more space because there was an iron staircase leading to another floor above them.

"This is creepy," She heard Nella mutter under her breath.

"I agree," Elena whispered back.

"If we are done enjoying the scenery..." Kaz raised an eyebrow at them.

Elena took a deep breath, bouncing on her feet to calm her tingling nerves. "Here goes nothing."

She felt like a mouse walking into a trap because of a slice of cheese, completely aware of the danger that lies ahead but desperate to get the food. That's exactly what they were doing; knowing there was danger ahead but ignoring it for the sake of the Lost City.

"Where do—"

Footsteps echoed through the warehouse as someone descended the iron staircase. Maverick and Nella pulled out their guns. Shadows thickened around Kaz, making it hard for Elena to manipulate her powers. She rose one of her arms over her head, providing light while the other was ready to attack.

The light fell upon a hooded figure in sweats and a dark jacket. They could only see the lower half of the man's face which had a light stubble, his lips shaping a smirk.

His voice echoed off the walls as he spoke, rough and unfamiliar, "Welcome to the show, children."

The clicking of guns was heard from every corner of the warehouse, dark figures appearing from the shadows and behind all the racks and boxes with barrels of their guns levelled at Elena and her friends' heads.

We are surrounded.

"Shit," Kaz muttered.

"Put down your weapons, now," The hooded figure said from the staircase, his voice oddly calm. "And put out your powers too." He waved a gloved hand at the two of them.

Elena saw Nella hesitate, looking over at Maverick who nodded. They placed their guns on the floor, raising their hands over their heads. Maverick tried to get in front of the others but got another half a dozen guns pointed at him. Kaz and Elena looked at each other. If Elena turned off her powers, they will be in utter darkness which gave their captors a good chance to shoot them.

"Now!" The man shouted making all four of them jump.

Kaz shook his head slightly raising his hands. Elena raised her hands too, slowly letting the light fade.

"Oh, come on, put off the light, girl," The man said, his voice sounding mocking. "We are not going to shoot you. Not yet anyway."

Reluctantly, Elena turned off her powers. A click sounded from somewhere making her tense expecting a gunshot but it turned out to be a light switch. The warehouse was suddenly filled with light.

"Thank you," The hooded man said, slowly descending the staircase. He threw back his hood revealing a face that might have been handsome once but now had a long jagged scar running across his face. There were burnt marks on his right cheek. His hair was grey and slicked back with gel. There seemed to be a permanent smirk plastered on his face.

From the corner of her eye, Elena saw Nella narrow her eyes at the man like she was trying to remember something.

"Who are you?" Nella asked. "What do you want?"

The man clicked his tongue. "You might not remember me but I remember you. You weren't much then, just a girl. And for what I want, revenge."

The word echoed off the walls of the warehouse making the hairs at the back of Elena's neck stand straight. Her instinct told her to run.

"Revenge from who?" Maverick asked.

"The Devils."

Kaz huffed a laugh. "We don't even know who you are."

"No, you don't," The man glowered. "It's not specifically you I want revenge on but you are in my way and I don't like it. Also, you two," He waved a hand at Elena and Kaz. "have powers that might be useful for me."

"If you are going to destroy everything, what are you gonna do with our powers?" Elena asked.

"Oh, I wasn't going to destroy everything," He grinned. "It was just a threat to get you here."

Elena felt like she might faint. From the expressions of the others, she knew they were all thinking the same thing. They have already destroyed the Rift.

"So?" Elena asked. "We are here. What do you want?"

"Where's your Commander?"

The four of them kept silent. Whatever this man was up to, it was against the Commander. Also, they didn't know where he was; he was inside one of those buildings out there.

"As you can see you can't get out of here alive. So might as well as give answers to my questions."

"What if we don't?" Kaz asked.

"We don't know where he is," Maverick said before Kaz could get himself into more trouble. "We don't know where Commander is."

The man laughed. "Even if you don't, I think you can help me get to him."

They said nothing.

"We won't help you," Nella said finally.

"But," His voice drawled. "Don't you think he will appear from wherever he is if his sons are in danger?"

Elena's eyes widened. How did he know?

"Don't look so surprised. I know he keeps it a secret, but I love secrets. Also, this one looks exactly like him when he was your age," The man smirked at Kaz.

"Then let the others go," Maverick said, his voice tight. "Keep me and let the others go."

"No..." Elena shook her head at him.

"I'm not stupid," The man said. "I'm not letting any of you leave here unscratched."

"So you are just going to shoot us?" Nella asked, her voice raising.

"If I have to."

"Do you really think we would let you win without a fight?" Nella slowly put down her hands, taking off her ring, unnoticed.

What is she doing?

"You can see you are surrounded, right?" The man frowned.

Elena felt Nella's hand slowly slip into her pocket, her ring scratching against her leg. Now the ring was with Elena. But why did she take it off?

Nella stepped forward; the man's hand dissappeared behind his back. She said, "Of course, I can see it."

"What are you playing at?" Their captor asked, his brows furrowing.

Nella gave a crooked grin. She moved so fast that Elena didn't see when. One moment, she was grinning up at the man with a scar; the other moment she was pointing a small pistol at him. She kept a second gun.

"I knew it!" The man cried, his hand reappearing from his back with a pistol.

Two shots rang through air: One his, one Nella's.

A ringing silence followed them as the coppery smell of blood filled the air.

Total word count 17,490