I knew loss.

I knew pain.

This wasn't either of those things. It was power and darkness, a feeling of being completely in control while having none. I wanted to hear Deimos say what I feared, that way it would make it real. If it was real, there was a chance to stop it. Fight it.

My lip quivered, I couldn't hide my emotions. Artemis returned as Paytah caught up to us, the pair standing near each other yet neither approached me. My sword felt too heavy in my hand, its pulse and need to fight overwhelming as I had never felt more determined or defeated.

"Where are they?" I scream, the tears falling now and I drop my arm as it becomes too much.

"I'm not sure. There wasn't any snow there, just a cliff or something like it. Maybe a valley?" Deimos hesitantly answered. "I'm sorry. I saw them fall."

"But you didn't see them die."

"I'm not sure how humans could survive that. One was burned, badly." He cringed.

"Elise, you should-" Artemis came closer, her unease obvious.

"Yeah," I agreed.

I moved before I realised I actually was, spinning to turn back to the sobbing power who still wasn't recovered from whatever Deimos had done. He wouldn't get the chance to either as I gave my blade what it wanted. The sobs changed to a gurgling gasp as the sword cut deep just before his throat. Red eyes opened in time to look into mine, and his hand reached out to grab onto my leg. I felt the heat in his grip, yet easily kicked free. The redness left his skin as I removed my sword, a thin wisp of smoke leaving the wound I left behind.

"Take me there." I demanded, turning back to Deimos.

"As you wish." He held out his hand and I took it, ignoring the protests from Paytah and Artemis. "This is it."

Sure enough, we were at the top of a cliff. He didn't mention the huntresses that had already been killed. Looking at a couple, bullet wounds told the story of their demise, much like the large cuts and stab wounds on others. Magic was weak here. They were not powered like their former leader, the only had their training and what magic they borrowed like witches, called upon from another source.

"What did you see?" I ask, surprisingly calm as I headed to the edge.

"He pushed them. His arms were like flames, they either burned, as one of them did, or they were pushed back. Looks like they were winning up until then." He nudges a corpse with his foot. "I can sense fear, terror. It leaves a smell, makes everything look dusty to me. There isn't much here from them. Just the one who got hit with the flames, he was already hurt when that happened."

"Zane is the bravest." I assure him, not dwelling on the details.

"I can tell." Deimos agreed softly.

They had been greatly outnumbered. The mission had brought them here under the pretense of a dragon sighting, but they were not dragons at all and a small army awaited them. The team had really turned up at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The earth was black and scorched beside me; it was as Deimos had said. Two lines reached out from a starting point. I saw a handgun just to the left, and bullets littered the ground that had never been fired. A few other small weapons could be found if you look hard enough yet I didn't care about any of this. They weren't Zane's usual go to and none of what I saw had his tell tale Z mark on them.

"I don't think we can climb down." I finally give up attempting to. "See you down there?"

Deimos nods and we're just as quickly looking up at the cliff with Artemis joining us.

"The others are returning home. Your team as well."

"Ok." I keep searching.

"I don't know what you will find, Elise." She sighs. "But I will stay."

"Go back to your brother."

Artemis grabbed my arm, and pulled me close, turning away from Deimos. "If he knows I left you here with him, he'll kill me. I don't know what's been going on, but that is not someone you get left alone with!"

"So far he is the only other one of your kind I've come across lately that has helped me, not tried to kill me, so I'll take my chances." I snap, pulling free.

Artemis groans and I hear her following behind me, before we all spread out around the bottom of the cliff and keep searching. It's nearly dark before we regroup, none of us successful in finding anything except for the deceased remains of the burnt Tracker mid-way down the wall on a small ledge.

"This is ridiculous. Where are they?" I groan, kicking a small rock by my foot.

"It's as though they disappeared. If they landed, we would know. If they were up there, we would have found them." Deimos sighed, as Paytah, riding the large Gryphon came swooping down.

"How goes your search, Hunter?" Paytah dismounted and the creature put his head to my hand, nudging it.

I gave it an apple, earning a few whistles which had the smaller one joining us seeking out the same.

"Hopeless. It's like they vanished."

Paytah stoked the large ones neck, looking thoughtful before he jumped back and stared at the pair of them.

"What if they were saved?" He wondered.

"By them?" Artemis and I asked in unison.

"It is possible." Paytah almost sounded excited. "They normally seek to help those in need. I have heard tales of impossible rescues."

"Do you talk bird? Is there like, a fetch command?" I turn to them, an apple in each hand. "First one to bring me my friend gets both apples!"

"It doesn't quite work that way. They would have taken them somewhere safe." Paytah grabbed the lead around the large one. "Where did you find them?"

"Somewhere in the snow, near a cave. They found us," I tell him.

"Come on, I have an idea," He climbed back onto the creature and held out his hand, pulling me up to sit behind him. "We'll be back in a minute, Hunter you may hold tight."

"I'm sure it's just like-" I screamed as we suddenly took off, grabbing onto Paytah as if my life depended on it, and ignored the way he laughed as we went higher.

It was not like riding a motorbike, a horse or any other thing I've been on. It's wings whooshed with each flap, its whole body shuddering with the movement as I could feel its muscles tighten and release beneath me. It's legs clawed at the air, in steady jostling movements that had me rocking side to side, yet from the angle I was sliding backwards. My knees dug into the fluffy sides, while I prayed I wasn't hurting it and as we hit the clouds, I finally found a rhythm that made the whole process slightly easier. Paytah was talking but I couldn't hear him.

Daring to look down, I wish I hadn't.

"Fordig!" He called out and the gryphon screeched, slowing slightly as its friend joined us.

Marshmallow clouds now covered the ground from view, white and grey hardly moving so they looked as if we could land on them. Looking up, and endless blue sky stretched up and out into space and I rediscovered my scarf was back around my neck, quickly pulling it to cover my face up as the cold returned with vengeance.

Paytah turned slightly, tugging my arms back around him tightly as we hovered before he pointed down. Understanding, I barely had time to make sure I was holding on when the creature dove back down, wings coming in close as we fell from the sky like a torpedo.

I screamed again, unable to stop myself as my face was pushed against Paytah's back. We slowed, and evened out. No snow fell but the remains of the last storm were all around. Our breaths created mist, and as we appeared to be stuck in space, with nothing changed or moving around us.

"How do you like flying?" Paytah called.

"Ask me once we're back on land!"

His chest vibrated with another laugh and I watched the smaller one that kept pace beside us. It kept its head turned slightly, seemingly scanning the ground beneath us as we flew along. The pair chatted, chirped and screeched, before we landed with surprising gentleness. I couldn't move, stiff and cold behind Paytah, until he got off first then helped me.

"Gofig!" He waved his hands out to the north of us and looking around, I was positive this had been where we had first arrived.

"What does that mean?" I ask, following him as the gryphons move off.

"Ah, how do I translate, gofig means to hunt or retrieve? I tell them to bring what they found to me. Hopefully they hid them away somewhere like they would when they hunt."

"We couldn't have just asked them to start with?" I snap.

We had wasted so much time already.

"No. Perhaps. I didn't consider they would leave the camp to help your kind, especially after the attack. They avoid conflict. The fact they even brought us here is a good sign." Paytah sounded impressed, yet I couldn't push down that anger.

We went up higher, through the rocks and over boulders. I was even more positive this was near where I had first arrived and hated that I had been so close, and then left.

"If they took them, they may have brought them up here. This land is where they would be comfortable. They live in our mountains. It is similar." Paytah explained, perhaps trying to distract me as with every step I took I was mumbling curses and threats against the over sized birds and everyone I'd ever met. Ever.

I stopped as we made it over a particularly large boulder. Looking back, we'd climbed fairly high up and as I watched the small one swooped down it vanished mid-air. Paytah was breathing heavily beside me, and we both stopped as the larger one did the same.

"Did they just?" I asked.

"It must be another gateway!" He started running, only I grabbed his arm and took us closer instantly.

It was definitely a gateway. I could feel the energy of it before us and reaching out, I followed my hand through into darkness. We weren't outside anymore either. Damp, musty air felt thick and suffocating to try and breath. I got us each a torch, and looking around the cave was more like a dugout tunnel and ahead of us the gryphons trotted along like it was the most natural place for them to be.

The tunnel didn't go far, opening up into a cave. Rocks blocked the majority of the opening, yet at least the air was fresher and easier to breath up here. The pair gave soft little chirps as we neared, and seeing a boot on the floor behind them, I rushed forward.

"Zane?" My hands were shaking as my voice broke, yet the person who wearily tried to sit up to look, wasn't him. "Where is he?"

"I-I- don't. Know. He fell. On the way here." The Slayer stuttered, shivering despite it not being cold here.

His other leg was twisted and bent awkwardly beside him, his forehead was covered in blood and there was a nasty cut.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"I'm Elise. This is Paytah." I knelt beside him, bringing some water to his lips which he eagerly took.

"The others?" The Slayer asked after a second sip.

"I'm just looking for Zane now." Our eyes met; he understood.

"He'll be looking for you, I remember him mentioning your name." He closes his eyes and leans back.

"What happened?" I ask. "The gryphons brought you here?"

"Yeah, we tried to help but we couldn't. We were attacked, there were so many of them. Then this old guy came. Everyone was scared of him. I don't remember much. I hit my head." He closed his eyes, frowning. "Next minute, Zane's got me and we're jumping off a cliff. There was fire. Lots of fire. My leg got caught on something, or someone grabbed it. I don't know. Then these things had us. I dropped our bags, don't know why I had them though."

Things were making sense.

"We need to get back, and to a hospital. Zane has to be out there still."

Paytah nods and we move the Slayer back into our world where Artemis was waiting. She looked closely at his face and frowned, glancing subtly behind us.

"He is not your friend." She points out.

"He's here, somewhere. Can you take him to one of our hospitals, or Ailin, please?" I ask, not giving her a choice as I slip out from under one of his arms to throw it over her shoulders. "Zane!"

The trio disappear and I scream for Zane, walking aimlessly around the portal and through the rocks. I'm cold, struggling to focus and feeling like I'm going to throw up when Deimos reappears.

"This way." He says simply, and climbing between two boulders, his foot slips on snow yet it doesn't slow him down as he moves swiftly down and across, off the path and down again.

I follow with much less grace, mumbling curses the whole way until we're standing in front of a small gap that's created a cave. The smell of smoke lingers, and inside a small pile of orange amber are dying fast.

"Zane!" I rush forward, ignoring what ever Deimos had to say.

He's beside the attempted fire; cold and motionless. He doesn't even flinch as I touch him and rolling him over, there's blood across his front. Carefully checking his jacket and shirt, the cut is deep and my hands turn red as I try to stop the bleeding. I slide around as best I can, cradling his head in my lap as I see his eye swelling.

"You're going to be okay." I tell him, and the next instance it's all behind us as we're in the hallway at the hospital. "Doctors, we need doctors!"

My screaming gets instant attention and sure enough an army of nurses and staff come rushing over. Reluctantly I let them taking him and I'm still sitting on the floor when Ailin appears. She stands me up and we wash my hands, yet my eyes are stuck on the door they took Zane through.

"I didn't. I had no idea when I sent them. I'm sorry." She says hugging me tightly.

Kara is soon with us, Artemis, Penny, Colton too. I can't look at them. I can't talk. I can't think. They all can, and do. Their voices a non-stop buzz in my ears while all I can think about is how cold he felt to touch. I didn't know if he had even been breathing. I didn't check. Should I have, would doing CPR helped?

I focus on Artemis, trying to work out why I knew she was important right now and then it hit me.

"Muz, his honey stuff. Where is it?" I demand, jumping up.

"It's gone." She says softly, looking at her feet.

"Get more!"

"I can't."

"Then where is he so I can get it?" I practically scream at her.

"He's gone, he came while we were out. He's leaving this realm, finding a new one to settle in until everything is over." She explains quickly. "I thought about it too Elise, I went to try and see what we had, and Apollo told me what had happened. So many of the lesser gods of this world are leaving while they can."

"Then, where is Apollo? He can heal. He can fix this."

"To ask that of him, you would swapping one life for another. He is too weak!" The subtle hint of anger was unmissable.

"She's right." Kara added softly, putting an arm over my shoulders. "We all want Zane to be okay, and the healers here will do all they can. You know she's right."

I pull away and move to sit by myself.

No one bothers me now.

At some point I must fall asleep, as my family that take the place of the others and its Mums hug I fall apart in. She holds me close, strokes my hair and we cry together. Jordan stands near us looking as grim as my Dad who holds Mums' hand and stops any of the staff whenever they go past for an update. There isn't any news, so we wait.

"Elise." Jordan leaves his place against the wall and moves closer to us.

The doctor coming our way looks tired, and he doesn't look happy to see us. He wipes his brow and looks at his clipboard, coughing a little to clear his throat.

"You must be the Buntings?" He asks, and I nod. "I'm Doctor Michaels. We've managed to stabilise the patient, and are transporting him across to the ICU ward as we speak."

"He's fine though, right? He survived the surgery?" I ask.

"I can't give you a definite answer right now. Zane was in a bad way when we got him in, multiple fractures, severe internal bleeding. We've done all we can, and it's not-"

"Can I see him?" I interupt.

The doctor hesitates, before answering.

"Visitors are to be one at a time, immediate family only." Doctor Michaels looks at my Dad and I don't want to hear anything else. "I'll get one of the nurses to take you through when he's ready."

I stand at the door until he appears, not listening to the reality he's now explaining to my parents. Jordan holds my hand and gives it a squeeze as the nurse reminds us only one at a time. I follow him obediently down the hall and into the ICU, sanitising my hands and removing my phone as I'm told. I wasn't prepared to see Zane this way, I thought he'd just look asleep on a bed, with a few bandages. Instead, an army of machines surround him with more cords and tubes stuck onto him than I can count. I'm scared to touch him in case I knock something important and so I just stood there, listening to the beeps and the thing I'm pretty sure is breathing for him if my experience of medical shows has taught me anything.

I can't stay long, letting my family go in too and yet I'm back before I know it. There's a chair now, a small jug of water and two plastic cups. I wonder if they left one for Zane, expecting to wake up and just pull out the tube in his mouth. Seems like it would make you thirsty. There are two straws as well.

The nurses come and go. None of them say anything, just give me sad little smiles as they check something beeping or the chart at the end of the bed. Their shifts change, new faces appear. Mum and Dad leave. Jordan too. Kara comes back with Artemis and I tell the doctors to send them all away as the night turns into days.

I'm not leaving Zane.

He can't leave me either.

"I mean, I don't think you ever did thank me for saving your life and Jodie's that day. I know you don't really like to talk about her, but I know you care despite always claiming not to. We both have a habit of saying that, don't we? What a couple of idiots we are. You were much more of a jerk back then though, you've gotten better with age." I sigh, sitting back in the chair and resting my feet up on the bed.

No one mentioned the change from uncomfortable hospital chair to the single armchair I now sat on, or did anyone seem to question where my clothes went and why I was now in something much more comfortable. I even got a pair of slipper socks for Zane's toes, pink ones that were super fluffy and knew he'd hate to wake up wearing, but secretly kind of love because they were in fact, so damn comfy. Like Jordan and his onesie.

I swirled the whisky around in the glass, listening to the ice cubes clink together before taking another sip.

"Don't be mad by the way, I've been so good lately considering everything. This, this is your fault." I tell him, letting that familiar tingle come over me. "I mean, you were teaching. Safe and fine at an Academy. I didn't have to worry about you. Penny and Co, yes. Raya, yes, but for different reasons. My brother, of course, though having Annipe with him helps. Alfie is MIA, but you. You were just. There. Doing your thing. Yet, here we are. When you wake up I am going to kick your ass so bad for making me worry like this."

"You should make coming back sound more appealing than that."

I froze mid sip and slowly turned to look at Cain who took a few hesitant steps from the shadows by the door he had been hiding in, right as my glass dropped from my hand.