"Stand back!"

Violet sprinted after the sound of Em's voice, passing nothing but empty halls and too silent classrooms. Her heart pounded as much as Em's voice held unwavering authority, as quickly as her feet brought her to the doorway. Pressing her back against the wall, she fingered the arrow tattoo out of habit. She wasn't supposed to harm any children, but the instinctual threat still lingered. She couldn't help but wish for the bow in her hand and a clear, calm path to bring Em to safety.

"I said stay back!"

She peered through the open door, seeing a tangle of children pressed into the corner. Desks were set up like a barricade between them and Em, yet it did little to demean his terror. With his face masked and voice muffled, he hardly even needed a dagger strapped to his belt to demand authority.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt any of you..."

Her eyes fell on a child at his arm, clearly only a few years younger than him. Her face was bright red with terror while tears streamed down her face. Staring at Em's grasp on her wrist, she couldn't help but whimper.

"Leave my children alone!" A teacher cried, clinging to more students than her arms could hold. "They didn't do anything! They didn't..."

"We're trying to protect your students!"

Violet twitched with adrenaline as Em's grip tightened on the girl's wrist, moments from shattering her bone. She ached to step in, to whisk them both back to Home, but she knew better. All Em had to do was escort Sharise from the room and all would be over.

"You think we can explain every last danger in this world?" Em was screaming, his face turning red beneath the mask. It was almost as if he was in pain... "You just have to trust...trust us that there's more than..."

He stumbled and Violet held her breath as he dropped Sharise's wrist. Gripping his scalp just as he had done at Home, a gasp escaped his lips.

She couldn't wait any longer. Jumping like a bolt of lightening, she flew into the room and drew her bow against an unseen attacker. The mind reader was closer than they would have liked, barreling into Em's head without hesitation.

The copycat flashed through her mind as she barked orders at the class, then again as she grabbed Sharise's wrist. His name haunted her mind as she screamed at Em to get a grip, but all he did was howl.

Fingers with nails as sharp as daggers clawed at his scalp. Human curses and swears bled from his lips.

"Get it out!" His voice was high with fear as he tumbled to the ground.

"Em, get yourself together!"

"Get it out of my head!"

'Violet drew her bow against the invisible threat, dropping Sharise's wrist as she prepared for a fight. The mind reader must be close, must be powerful if he could infiltrate a Guard's mind. Yet as she stared at the student's terrified faces, she knew none of them could touch him. They were all too young.

"We don't have time for this!" She screeched as she moved towards the door, but all Em could do was scream. He was curling up, crying as someone else took over his mind. She couldn't imagine the pain of something tearing apart her thoughts like weeds in a garden, but she didn't have the thoughts to spare. All her concentration was on the task before her.

She glanced at Sharise cowering on the floor to her teammate screaming for his mind as a plan began to form. Em was maybe, 200 pounds? She could never judge weight well, but with all the enhancements the Guard went through, it was hard to weigh much less. Built from finely tuned muscles and with an appetite the size of the moon, he was a giant of a warrior. Sharise, in comparison, weighed nothing more than a toothpick.

Violet tossed the plan through her mind, debating her own strength versus every other factor, but eventually decided she didn't have much time.

She swung the bow over her shoulder and yanked Sharise off the ground. The girl squealed like a mouse as Violet hoisted her over her shoulder, darting around to Em. His wrist fell into her gloved hand; his body riveted with pain as she dragged him to the door. Violet's mind worked a million miles an hour as she yanked him into the hallway.

Bishop was supposed to lead the stupid thing, not her. So then why was she dragging a hapless member of The Guard through a school while Bishop calmly cleared the halls? As adrenaline coursed though her like blood, Violet balanced Sharise across her shoulder and moved as quickly as she could with Em on the ground.

"Get it out!"

"I know!" She screamed in response as they rounded a corner, one step closer to the paint portal. "Just calm down!"

He was getting harder and harder to drag as the panic set in. And as if his frantic shrieking and withering weren't enough, Sharise was under the impression that her tiny fists could harm Violet. One after another, she pounded on Violet's back with brutal fear.

"What's wrong with Em?" It was the first thing out of Bishop's mouth as he rounded the corner. Besides his standard dagger, a backpack spilling who knows what was in his hands.

"Mind Reader's back." Violet bit with a quick yank on Em's wrist. His screaming was getting out of control. "What's with the backpack?"

"Some student's." He was out of breath, the adrenaline of the mission pulling away all of his energy. "I know it's not why we came, but she had a ton of illegal goods. Even Phoenix ash and that stuff's basically poison."

Violet glanced at Bishop and his backpack, then back at Em as he screamed. There were already too many incidents on their mission, too many mishaps. Em was supposed to be healthy enough for the field, Violet was supposed to bring the two kids downstairs, and all of them were supposed to be back five minutes ago. Their mission was running far too long, and she doubted Em's screaming was doing much to comfort the kids.

"We need to go." Violet breathed as panic swelled in her mind. She could already imagine Fae's look of disappointment and the mounds of dirty dishes.

Nodding his head, Bishop tossed Violet the backpack, gripped Em by the shoulders, and hoisted him over his back. The motion was fluid and swift, and within moments, they were running towards the paint portal.

She hardly felt it as the paint swallowed her whole, or as the air was torn from her lungs. The fifteen minutes of terror swarmed her thoughts, the blood rushed to her head. She just wanted it all to be over...

...and then it was. Collapsing onto the concrete floor, she fell to her back as the adrenaline began to fade.

Two fully armored Guards -she couldn't tell who with their masks- were there waiting. They instantly whisked Sharise off her feet and pulled her away despite every protest and struggle she gave them. Compared to their strength, she may have been a rag doll as they escorted her down the hall.

Violet's head wouldn't stop ringing with Sharise's screams. They were German -she recognized it instantly- yet there was too much to process. The ceiling swam as her heart pounded; her lungs felt like she was gulping oceans of air.

Turning her head, Bishop was sprawled next to her and just as exhausted. His chest rose calmly with each breath while a backpack spilled its contents by his side. It almost would have been laughable. They had completed their first solo mission. They had reached their goal and brought Sharise safely to Home, and they had done it with dozens of beginner mistakes. It almost would have been laughable, that is, if it weren't for Em.

Curled on the ground and whimpering indecipherable phrases, he clawed at his scalp. The mind reader was back and refused to let him go.