Algor's dawn was red as blood.

The colour filled the sky, ominous, foreboding. I looked up, squinting in the light, and shivered. I'd discarded my jacket, my shirt, my shoes. They'd only hinder me when I submerged myself in the pond in search of the necklace. Goosebumps ran over my skin as I stood in the breeze, waiting, wishing for warmth. I'd never liked feeling so… Exposed.

Harris sat next to where I stood, leaning against a weeping willow, hugging his knees. He'd stopped screaming and raging, but his eyes were reddened from crying and he looked exhausted. His sword lay next to him, but he didn't look at it, didn't touch it. Isla could have picked it up and told him she'd keep it without ever getting a reaction out of him.

"You okay?" I felt obliged to ask the question, though I knew the answer. He wasn't okay. I didn't feel so okay myself either.

"Don't think so." Harris' voice was hoarse from overexertion; I was surprised he hadn't lost it entirely. "I… Thought I could save her, you know? Thought I could be, like, like… A modern-day Hercules or something. It was naive."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." He sighed. "I just… I couldn't help. Too late. She's gone."

I nodded and didn't say anything anymore, for what was there to say? I could tell him everything would be okay, but I didn't believe that myself. I could tell him he'd find someone else eventually, but he was mourning, and those words would be the last he'd want to hear. So I left him with his sorrows, turning my attention to Isla, who approached with the hand of glory in her hands, keeping it from Harris' sight. There was a chance he'd flip if he knew we'd taken his girlfriend's hand, even though he was so out of it he barely even noticed what went on around him.

"All set," Isla announced, holding the hand out for me to take. She didn't show explicit discomfort at holding it, but I still felt she was eager to be rid of the thing. "I've kept you alive for this, Jack. Now you can fetch me the necklace, and when we get out of this place, your debt will be repaid."

I grimaced as I took the hand. "Or I could die trying."

"Chin up." Isla smiled, gave me a well-intended, painful clap on the shoulder. "You've got the hand, don't you? And we've already gotten so far. You'll be fine. You'll be sipping cocktails in Los-fucking-Angeles in no time."

She seemed excited, almost cheerful, and I couldn't judge her for it. We've already gotten so far. Finally, the end drew near. All I still needed to do was dive into the pond beneath that cursed, blood-red sky and emerge victorious.

My silence didn't satisfy my boss, who gave me a final thumbs-up. "Remember, cocktails in L.A." We'd made it this far together, and now I had to finish the job. We'd made a good team while it lasted, Isla and I. There'd been struggles, there'd been danger, but we'd made it work somehow. Maybe, in another life, I thought to myself, we could've been friends.

I had to get this over with.

Steeling myself, I made my way over to the pond, the lit candle held by the severed hand warming my bare flesh. Our DIY-ing had succeeded; Isla had found a small candle while searching the stilt house, while I had taken care of the magic. Many items, I knew from the forums I'd scoured, were suitable vessels for magic, and a hanged person's severed hand was among those. Magic itself could be led to that vessel like electricity from an outlet. I'd tinkered and managed to lead some of the magic powering my watch into the hand. The end result wasn't perfect, but I'd tested it, and it had functioned fine… I supposed.

I plunged headfirst into the water, wanting nothing more than to be done with the whole ordeal as soon as possible.

With all my might, I wished to render the guardian motionless when he showed up. I breathed in deeply, held the hand tight, and dove. It was dark in the pond; dark and dirty, muddy and murky, the bottom full of plants I didn't recognise. I hated being in that water, but luck was on my side: the hand of glory's candle, powered by magic, burned underwater and lit my way, bright as the guardian's eyes.

And when I saw those eyes right in front of me, I screamed.

Bad move. Opening my mouth filled my lungs with gross water, and I swam up in the water in a panicked frenzy, coughing, trying to get the liquid out of my system. I gasped when I felt fresh air on my skin again. It was a miracle I hadn't dropped the hand.

"All good?" Isla called out from the shore.

I panted, but I was still alive. The guardian could have eaten me by if it had been able to move. I'd seen its eyes, but the beast was immobilized. Excellent. All I had to do was remain focused now that I'd gotten over my shock.

After letting Isla know it was going smoothly, I dove down again, swimming to the bottom of the pond to study it. It wasn't deep; in fact, the whole pond wasn't so impressive. A good place to hide a magical artifact. A place so insignificant it's easily overlooked. I moved past the guardian, studied the plants and scoured the whole pond, only moving back to the surface for air. And after five or ten minutes, my searching paid off.

A glint caught my eye, golden in my glorious candlelight, and I knew I'd hit the jackpot. I sped towards it and found the treasure I'd gone through so much for: the draconite necklace. Pure gold, with a green draconite gem for a pendant. A beautiful jewel, entangled in the tendrils of a grasslike pond plant.

Fast and steady, or I'd have to come up for air and dive down again. I grabbed hold of the necklace, pulled at it, but it was stuck. Stupid fucking plant, refusing to let go of its treasure: it reminded me of the vines that had kept Harris captive, and that memory pissed me off. If the plant wouldn't let go, I wouldn't let it live. Bracing myself, I grabbed its vines and yanked, using all my strength to pull it out roots and all.

It had taken effort, but I'd succeeded! I held the plant in my left hand, the coveted necklace in the other. And the hand of glory…

The hand lay in front me, at the bottom of the pond. Its candle flickered as if mocking me.

Fuck. Guardian.

I'd already lost precious seconds, and I didn't even bother trying to pick it up again. Swim. I had to swim like my life depended on it, because it did. Panic, fear, adrenaline, it all coursed through me as I swam to the surface, back to the shore. I felt a force behind me as I sped forward with the necklace, arms and legs mowing around wildly. The guardian's eyes were hot and blazing, teeth bared; I didn't dare look behind me, but it was after me, fuck, it was after me, wanting the necklace, thirsting for my flesh and blood and I was almost there, almost-

I clawed at the sand of the shore, at the bug-filled reedmaces I'd despised earlier, and hoisted myself out of the water. I scrambled away from it like a madman, breathing heavily, and I swore I could feel teeth clamping down behind me, narrowly missing my feet. I still held the necklace in my hand, green gem and gold glowing in the bloody light of dawn.

When I felt safe enough, I turned around in the sand, sitting back, wheezing, staring at the pond. I didn't dare look into the guardian's hellfire eyes, but I saw its body, its sharp claws, the whole damn beast standing in the water, unable to get out.

And I laughed. I laughed, because my nerves overwhelmed me, and because it was fucking funny. I'd made it. After all I'd gone through, all the fears I'd seen materialised, all the misery and discomfort I'd experienced, I'd made it. I held the necklace in my hands, my necklace now, the necklace that beast had tried so hard to protect, and the sheer triumph coursing through me entertained me to no end.

"Who's boss, fucker?" I yelled at the monster, grinning, unable to resist. "Who's got your fucking treasure now? Me, you got that? And there's nothing you can do about it!"

The guardian stirred, but remained in the water, and I kept cackling, fingers digging into sand. I didn't even feel cold anymore; the necklace warmed me right up. It filled me with a victorious sense of achievement: I'd worked hard to get it, and now I could finally enjoy the fruit of my labour. My necklace. My necklace now.

"Jack." Isla's voice sounded sharp behind me, and a warning lay in its tone. "Throw me that necklace, as soon as you can."

Throw Isla the necklace? I turned my head slowly, glanced at her and Harris, who stood warily next to her with his sword. Why would I throw them the necklace? I had worked to obtain it. It was to pay off my debt. Isla and I had agreed that she'd keep me alive and I would fetch the necklace. But if I gave her the necklace now, would she still keep me alive and help me out of Algor? Or would she abandon me here, leave me with the monsters and shadows?

Who was I kidding? Of course that thought would cross her mind. I had to keep the necklace close, to use it as leverage. And besides, said a voice in my head, why give her the necklace at all? Isla stayed true to her word, but I'd betrayed others before. I could do it again. Vanish with the necklace, use the money to disappear to where even Isla Faulkner couldn't track me down. Finders, keepers, wasn't it? I'd done all the finding. It would only be fair if I also kept.

"No," I growled back, "not now. Not yet."

Isla gritted her teeth. "I mean it, you fucking fool! You'll regret it if you don't throw me that necklace now, before-"

"Watch out!" Harris yelled, cutting her off, and I frowned, turning back to the guardian.

It moved. Out of the water, onto the shore. It did what we'd thought it incapable of.

I sat paralysed, glancing at those fiery eyes approaching, frozen in fear. How could this be? It wasn't supposed to leave the water, it's only job was to protect the necklace. The necklace… My necklace… Did that drive the beast to the shore? A desperate attempt to retrieve what I'd stolen, even if it cost the guardian its life?

Away. I had to get away.

Too late.

I'd moved too slowly, didn't react fast enough to escape. An excruciating pain lanced through me, black and white spots dancing before my eyes. I dared to glance down, at the creature with its teeth sunken into my abdomen, and saw blood already gushing, soaking my pants.

The world slowed down and became a blur.

My ears rang. Distantly, I heard a shout or something like it, breaking through the incessant ringing, but all I could do was blink in confusion as hurt tore through me, only to fade with each passing second; the pain was so intense I grew numb to it fast. Shadows crawled over my body, worming their way inside through my wounds. My consciousness was slipping. When I saw the gleam of a silver sword and the guardian's head come off its body, its days as numbered as mine, I barely registered it.

Should've thrown Isla the necklace. Should've trusted her and forsaken greed.

My breaths were jagged as I lay back in the sand, cold and shuddering and bleeding, attempting half-heartedly to keep the blood and my organs inside my body. Those guts on the black floor, I thought, in that dream, they were yours. Snippets of that dream raced through my mind, Emily's laughter, the shadow lady holding my heart in her hands; snippets of dreams and memories, twenty-six years passing by in seconds. I thought of the beggar in Paris, of the omen of death on my doorstep and the church grim buried by the walnut tree, of whom we'd thought he'd go to Heaven.

No cocktails in Los Angeles for me, huh?

Harris was kneeling next to me, I realised, wearing a look of sheer powerlessness. He'd done well; he'd killed the beast responsible for my coming death, but didn't understand he'd already done enough. He looked around, as if an ambulance would come for me even in Algor, as if it would be ridiculous if that didn't happen. Maybe, to him, I was another person he hadn't been able to help.

"Please," I whispered to him, without quite knowing why, "please… Let me rest… Just put me… Let me… rest."

And those, I suppose, were my infamous last words.

~~

Total word count: 29.768