My father stood on the steps outside of his shanty. Rain sluiced over him, plastering his shirt to his shivering frame. His wide eyes fixed on the distant storm, jaw open.

"Go back inside, Dad!" I yelled. "Hide in the cellar."

He pointed a trembling finger at the lightning streaking the sky. In the white flash, I saw his mouth move to form a word: my name. Did he now remember who I was? Or was he still Hefgar to help me?

I grasped his arm and forced him back into the shanty. I flipped up a rug and tugged open the trapdoor beneath it. As I guided my father's feet down the ladder, he provided no resistance except for an occasional twitching and mumbling. I had the uncanny sensation that I was kidnapping him instead of protecting him.

He probably would have reacted with the same lost gaze.

I swallowed hard. "Stay down here until I—" I wanted to say until I come back, but what if I never did? "Stay here until this is over."

Without another glance in his direction, I snagged the key hanging at the bottom of the ladder and located the Demon-Slayer mace Hefgar had once used. Though fourteen years had passed since the weapon had killed a Demon, the rubber-infused obsidian spikes remained sharp and—hopefully—lethal.

With the mace clipped onto my belt, I burst back out into the pouring rain and darted toward the warper. I unlocked the shackle, freeing the warper, and scrambled inside. But when the key slid into the ignition, I paused.

The last time I rode in this warper, my family died.

Unwillingly, I craned my neck to seek out the space in the back where I had hidden, squeezed away under the storage shelf. Now, the space looked impossibly small.

How had I ever fit in there?

There had been room for my First Guardian action figure, too. The toy had prodded my chest while I held my breath, waiting for my mother to start the engine. While rummaging for my Guardian uniform—really just a costume my father had stitched together for me—the toy had tumbled out of the drawer. And in that moment of need, her proud posture and triumphant fist had inspired me.

When the Demons overpowered us, the First Guardian toy had slipped from my fingers. The clatter of plastic against the marble floor drowned in the roaring thunder and the yells of my family.

'Remgar, run!'

My feet, lungs, and even heart had frozen still, but my eyes had moved, seeking help from the fallen First Guardian.

Covered in blood, the toy looked far less inspiring.

A pinching pain drew me back to the present—the metal key dug into my clenched fist. In a rush of reckless abandon, I twisted the key, punched the buttons to program the warper to head toward the base, and jabbed the start button.

The engine whirred, and thunder boomed, rattling the windshield. Fear twisted my gut. Was I any more competent than the delusional boy who hid in the storage compartment of this warper fourteen years ago? Maybe I would do more good cowering underground alongside my father than I could do anywhere else.

But how could I hide in safety, while the Guardian Leader Rakimar met her death? While my best friend Borgal faced a horrific end after all he'd been through? While Isalio...

What the fuck was happening to Isalio, and why did I even care about that?

Still, kissing him had planted some kind of responsibility on my shoulders. Whether he was getting tortured or torturing others, I couldn't sit back and allow it to happen.

I cranked the speed dial up to full power, and the warper bolted forward.

Rain slashed the windshield, blocking my view. When the warper jerked off-kilter, I grasped the dashboard hard enough that my knuckles whitened. But the bumpy ride was nothing compared to what I saw when the warper reached the base.

Our secret resistance was now a children's playhouse with the roof pried free. A waterfall of rainwater streamed into the gaping cavern. The sky was invading the ground.

I spotted the concentric circles of the tunnel and landed the warper somewhere near the runway, but the warpers and Guardians usually in the transportation center were nowhere to be seen. And when I stepped out, blood splashed up beneath my boot and filled my nose with a metallic tang.

I snatched the Demon Slayer from my belt and prepared to fight...but no enemies approached. Bodies littered the room. A few pale Demon corpses were strewn amidst at least twenty Guardians. Bile rose in the back of my throat, and tears sprang to my eyes. Was I too late? Were all of the Guardians here already dead?

"Stay away!"

The shout drew my attention to the back corner of the transportation center, where a Guardian swung a mace at a prowling Demon. This Demon looked every bit the monster I imagined. Its snarl bared five-inch fangs, its claws glinted like paring knives, and ratty wings jutted out from its shoulders to flutter around its feet like a moth.

The sight knocked me back for a half-second. Was this hideous monster truly the same as Isalio?

I forced myself to focus on the Guardian, who I recognized as Kardki, a new security member in the transportation center. Behind her, several Guardian bodies twitched. She was protecting the wounded, even as she limped and faltered. The sight swelled my heart with pride. But though Kardki was putting up an admirable fight, the Demon's grin grew each time the Guardian lashed out with the mace.

It was playing with her.

I charged toward her, but before I had reached, the Demon lurched past her defenses and sank its claws into her arm. Kardki howled and slipped to her knees. I sprinted up behind the Demon and struck it in the back of the head.

The Demon's claws retreated from Kardki's arm, and it slumped forward into a pale pink mix of blood and water. I drove the largest spike of the mace into its back. With a screaming hiss, the Demon fell motionless.

Dropping to a crouch, I sliced a swath of cloth from the Demon's shirt. While I wrapped the cloth around the jagged cuts on Kardki's arm, she forced out trembling words.

"They've left, Brother Remgar. The rest of the Guardians." She grimaced and sucked a breath through her teeth as I tied off the cloth, but then she continued. "As soon as the High Prince appeared, our noble team took the warpers and fled. They..." Her eyes flicked to the barely-moving Guardians behind her, and her voice dropped even quieter. "They left the rest of us here to die."

I swept a glance around the room, searching for the faces of those I knew best. I couldn't find Borgal or Rakimar, but Marqan lay in a pool of blood, eyes stuck open.

I never thought the sight of him dead could sock me in the gut like this.

Kardki followed my gaze and swallowed. "The High Prince sucked the life from Marqan in less than five seconds, without even laying a hand on him. He's...he's too powerful, Brother Remgar. We can't fight him."

Fear strained my lungs, but I forced a deep breath and peered down the dark corridor beyond. Water continued to pour into the halls, the splashing drowning out any possible footsteps. Where was the High Demon Prince now? Had he already found Isalio? Would he come here to finish off everyone else?

I turned my gaze back to Kardki. "What about Rakimar and Borgal?"

"Rakimar refused to abandon the base, and Borgal stayed to protect her. I saw them running for the control room."

Before I could respond, another piece of land above us crumbled, and an avalanche of sand tumbled down into the base, covering half of the runway near us. The water poured in faster, swirling around our feet. If Guardians behind Kardki didn't die of their wounds, they would soon drown.

Meanwhile, voices echoed from the main hall, growing closer. Though the voices were muddied by the flow of water and rolling thunder, they were far too smooth and far too gleeful to belong to Guardians.

My heartbeat ratcheted a few notches. Forcing my analytical mind to remain in control, I turned to scan Kardki. The blood had soaked through the wrap on her arm, but she still appeared alert.

"Are you strong enough to drive a warper?" I asked her.

A frown furrowed a brow, but she nodded. "Yes, I think so."

"Then take this." I grabbed her hand on her uninjured arm and pressed the key into her palm. "Get the wounded into the warper, and bring them to the nearest town for medical attention."

Her frown deepened. "And what will you do?"

But I didn't answer. My boots splashed through water as I ran toward the main hall, the rosy spray splattering my pants.