Cameron practically dragged me across the field towards the small cabin, clutching my wrist in an almost death grip. 

"Okay, Cam, I know it's important we get there, but I think you're cutting off the circulation to my hand." I said, raising my eyebrow at him. 

"Oh. Sorry." He said, and his grip loosened slightly. 

"Are you okay? You seem a bit...on edge." I said, catching up so I could walk beside him instead of being dragged behind. "Like, I know you get nervous a lot, but you seem more nervous than usual." 

"I don't know." He sighed. "I guess...it really is actually happening."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I knew we were actually going to have to battle this guy, we all did, but...Notch, now it's actually happening. We're going to be facing off against Darklox maybe as soon as tomorrow, possibly sooner if that's the better option." He said, tugging on the hem of his shirt the way he always did when he was nervous. "I just don't know if I'm actually ready."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "Of course you're ready!"

"Yes, the kid who still doesn't really have the hang of a sword is definitely ready." Cameron said, rolling his eyes slightly. "I know you're only trying to make me feel better. You don't have to try and convince me that I'm not incompetent just to protect my feelings."

"Okay, first of all? English, Cam. We've talked about this. And second of all," I said, and nudged him in the arm to get him to look at me. "I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. You're going to be just fine tomorrow, I know it. You're the one who figured out how to stop the Crystal, remember? You're the one who protected Macey when we were fighting off those copies of ourselves in the maze. Nether, you're the one who figured out a plan to meet up with everyone else so we weren't stuck there forever. You're the first one who got out of the fear room. You got me out of the fear room. So maybe you're not a great fighter, but who cares about that? You're smart, Cam, really freakin' smart. You'll be just fine." 

"...you actually believe that?" Cameron asked, his expression almost hopeful. 

"No, I just said it to make you feel better." I said, my tone flat, before smiling at him. "Duh, of course I believe that. And hey, I'll be right there with you the whole time. Promise."

"Thanks, Shane." Cameron said, smiling a little, but his expression shifted back to a worried one after a few seconds. "Hey, can you promise me one more thing?"

 "Well, that depends. You're not going to ask me to promise to do something incredibly embarrassing, right? 'Cause I'd probably do it, but you'd owe me one." I said. 

"No." Cameron said, shaking his head. "I want you to promise me that tomorrow, if it is tomorrow...don't try and play the hero."

I stopped, raising an eyebrow at him. "Wait, what?"

"I don't want you to just throw your life away." He said, not quite meeting my eyes. "Seriously, you do it all the time. You run straight into danger without even thinking about it, and I don't want...I don't want to have to watch you die, okay? Promise me you won't do that tomorrow. I can't -- we can't lose you."

I'd expected a lot of things, but I hadn't really expected that. He was right, of course, Cameron was always right. I always did go running straight into danger, but I never really thought of it as 'throwing my life away'. I always just found it fun to be right in the center of the action, and hey, if I kept people safe along the way or got to kill something bad, even better. But the look Cameron was giving me made it clear. I was worrying people. Or, at least, I was worrying him. 

"I promise. If it freaks you out that bad, I'll play it safe." 

"Would it be possible to get that in writing?" Cameron asked, but he looked relieved. 

"Oh, ha-ha. Wow, Cam. You pour your heart out about how much you care about my safety, and then you don't even trust me enough to believe my promises? Harsh." I said, grinning at him. 

"Because you've done so much to make me believe you have incredible impulse control." Cameron said, rolling his eyes. 

"I have perfectly good implus...whatever it is that you said." I huffed, and grabbed a hold of his wrist. "Come on, we're gonna' be late, and it's my turn to pull you across the field and almost dislocate your shoulder. Let's go." 

***

"So, what's the plan?" I asked, glancing up at the adults.

"That's what we're here to talk about." Dad said, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "All we know at this point is that Sky has to go in first, and be alone."

"What? Says who?" Jenna asked. 

"Says Darklox, if we want to save the girl." Sky said, watching the shadow girl, Jess, messing with something that looked like a hologram screen in front of her. "And that's what we're going in for -- Jess, what are you doing?"

Jess barely looked up. "I'm seeing if I can get a map of the new base...someone's had to send the information out on it somewhere..."

"You can do that?" Alyssa asked, her eyebrows raising in surprise. 

"I can try." Jess mumbled, messing with the screen. "It's supposed to be an easy way to get information out amongst the Shadows. There are so many of us, and all, apparently it'd be too tedious to tell us everything face to face."

Cameron seemed to perk up a bit when he saw the screen. "So, it's similar to having a television, only one that can be transported?"

"I guess that's a way you could put it." Jess shrugged. 

"That's...that's fascinating." Cameron said, and he started to walk towards her, but I grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back. 

"Yeah, we get it, Cam, you're a tech nerd. But there's more important things going on here, such as why didn't you try this before?" I asked, looking over at Jess as I said the last part of the sentence. 

"I figured we'd get there before I worried you all with how big the place is -- got it!" She said, and turned the screen around, revealing what looked like a complicated maze of twisting corridors and random pointless rooms.

"That's...dear Notch, the place is huge." Deadlox mused, staring at the map with wide eyes. 

"Yeah. He tends to be a bit of a 'go big or go home' kind of guy." Jess muttered, and messed with the screen until it zoomed in on certain places. "This right here is the only place you can get in from above the ground. Which means, unless you feel like tunneling in, that'll be the way you're going."

"That'll have to be it, then." Sky said, staring at the way in. "He has to know I'm there, or nothing we do is going to work."

"We could try sneaking in, getting the girl and leaving." Cameron's dad pointed out. "And then launch a full-scale attack."

"You can't sneak in to this place." Jess said. "He's got Shadows watching everything. They'll be able to sense your presence before you're even close to getting inside, trust me on that one."

"So, sneaking in's out, then. Great." Jerome said, with a clear sarcastic tone behind his voice. "Because that makes this a lot easier." 

"Nobody said this was going to be easy, man." Dad pointed out. 

"Taking on a Notch-knows-how-old demon?" I asked. "Oh, yeah. Piece of cake."

Deadlox glanced over at me, then back at my dad. 

"Y'know, I think your kid's the reason they say 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree'."

"Am I supposed to be offended by that?" I asked, raising my hand slightly. 

"No, you're supposed to say, 'wow, thanks, my dad's been my hero for as long as I can remember'." Dad said. 

"Ohh, okay, Sorry. Take two." I said, and cleared my throat. "I'm offended."

"Hey!" 

"I hate to break up the banter over here, but we kind of have to focus, guys." Jason said.

"He's right." Sky said. "Jess, where do you think they'll be holding her?" 

"My guess?" Jess said, and zoomed in on a tiny room towards the bottom of the screen. "They're probably keeping her as far away from the entrance as possible, just so you can't run in, get her, and run out." 

"Alright. So I'll have to just give myself up, then." Sky said, and immediately after those words had left his mouth, protests broke out.

"What? Are you crazy?"

"You can't just hand yourself over-"

"What if he doesn't keep his end of the deal?"

"Maybe they're not keeping her there-"

"GUYS!" He yelled, getting the rest of us to shut up almost instantly. "Look, I don't like it either, okay? But it's the one chance we've got to get her out. We can formulate a plan around me being in there. If he knows where I am, I can try distracting him enough to get our forces in."

"He asked you to bring him the amulet in exchange." Quinn's dad pointed out. "What's he gonna' do when he realizes that you don't have it?"

"It's not like we have any other choice." Sky said. "How far out can the Shadows detect someone?"

"I don't know the exactness of it..." She said, looking at the map. "Somewhere around ten to fifteen blocks away? Might be a bit less than that, but I do know that it doesn't go over fifteen." 

"Perfect. So we'll gather everyone about twenty blocks away or so. We'll hide everyone behind trees or rocks  so they can't see us normally. I'll go in, get the girl away from him, and run. The second I'm out, full scale attack." Sky said, pointing at random places in the map as he spoke. 

"What if you don't come out?" Dad asked. "What happens then?"

"Give it fifteen minutes." Sky said. "If I'm not out in fifteen, just go."

"Sounds good to me." Jess shrugged, and the window disappeared. "I mean, once he's in there, Darklox is gonna' be pretty damn distracted, alright. You're all he's cared about this whole time." 

"Wait, what do you mean, all he's cared about?" Ssundee asked, confusion showing on his face. 

"You mean he's never told you?" Jess asked, suddenly looking surprised. "Huh. Figured you'd know. His only real goal, the reason he ever came to this dimension in the first place, was to kill your buddy Sky over here."

Silence. 

"What?" Ty asked, and Jess shrugged. 

"Look, I have no idea why, either. But I know he obsesses over the idea. But for some reason, in this dimension, he can't get you. Something about this dimension is keeping him from killing you. It's why he's so adamant about getting that dumb amulet of yours - wait, you guys seriously didn't know?" Jess asked, staring at their expressions. Us kids stayed quiet, looking at the floor, or the ceiling, or anywhere that wasn't out parents' faces. 

We may have forgotten to mention that tiny detail. 

Sky shook his head slightly. "Okay, look, that doesn't matter. If he can't kill me for some reason, then he can't kill me, no matter how hard he wants to. I'll be safe." 

"Sky-" Jason started, but Sky cut him off. 

"We're ending this tomorrow. For good. Are you guys with me?" Sky asked, glancing around the room. 

There were a few seconds of silence before a chorus of "yes" from everybody filled the room, even though some of the adults still looked a little worried. 

"Alright then. We should start spreading the word. We need to make sure everyone knows before dark." Sky said, and left the cabin, presumably to go do just that. Jess disappeared seconds after, probably to go talk to Tyler about something, and everyone else started to leave the room. 

Cameron grabbed a hold of my hand, squeezing it gently. 

"Don't forget your promise." 

I didn't hesitate before squeezing back. 

"I won't." 

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