But then something moved in the corner of Deadlox's eye. He tore his gaze away from Sky and peered down the beach. Sky apparently saw his friend's sudden change in demeanor and caused his new wings to disappear, which made the area around them much darker in the growing twilight. He edged closer to Deadlox.

A silhouette was stumbling from the trees. It appeared mostly humanoid, with the exception of its head and there was an injury on its left leg, judging from the limp. Deadlox placed himself in front of Sky, slowly moving towards the figure.

"Stay put," he hissed to his friend, and leaped into the air. He beat his wings at silently as he could, flying until he was directly overhead of the injured creature. With a battle cry, Deadlox dropped down in front of the figure and lashed out, grabbing them by the throat. When he got a clear view of their face, he immediately let go. "Quentin?"

The medic was gasping, having fallen to the ground after Deadlox had released his told on him. He rubbed his throat and squinted up at him. "Deadlox? You...made it! Is Sky...here?"

Quentin was a mess. His face and the tattered rags that passed for his clothes were covered in mud and dirt and some seaweed. Bruises had blossomed wherever they could, further discoloring his already blue skin. The number of cuts he had acquired were uncountable, and his left leg was indeed in a splint.

He smiled weakly, seeing Deadlox surveying him. "Do I really look that bad?'

"Worse," the demon told him, and helped him to his feet. "What on earth happened after we escaped?"

Quentin's expression became dark. He clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

"I killed them," he muttered, locking eyes with Deadlox. "The Marenatio empire is gone. I destroyed the main generator, which caused the air pockets to collapse."

He was, in all honesty, shocked. Sure, Deadlox had killed before. Plenty of times. But he doubted that Quentin had, since he was a medic. And to all of the sudden have the weight of what could be considered genocide on your shoulders...to be looking at the one on whom that weight rested...it was a little much. Even for him. He swallowed, nodding after a moment. "Okay," was all he could really say.

With his heightened senses, he could hear the sand sift behind them, which signaled Sky's approach.

"I thought I told you to stay put," he said, turning to face the brine. "What if they had been an enemy?"

"Then they'd be dead," Sky replied, but his eyes widened when he saw the familiar face standing with Deadlox. "Quentin! What the heck happened to you?"

"You don't want to know," Quentin said gloomily, and sank down into the sand with his head in his hands. Sky tilted his head at Deadlox. It made his heart melt a bit. He leaned forward. "I'll explain later," he murmured in Sky's ear, who nodded.

"We should get him to the city," Sky said.

Quentin looked up sharply. There were a couple of lines down his face where the grime was less intense, like he'd been crying. "Spruce City?" he asked, hope in his voice.

This surprised Deadlox. "You know of it?" The medic nodded eagerly.

"The safehouse for immortals, and the fabled sister city of Kaon!" He rose shakily to his feet. "The city of the dragon. You must take me there! Please!"

Deadlox held his hands up. "Calm down. We will take you there." He glanced at Sky before looking back at Quentin. "And...thank you. Very, very much. We wouldn't have escaped without your help. Sky would be dead in that arena. We are in your debt."

Quentin smiled at him - a genuine smile. "I couldn't see anyone else die in there. The only favor I ask in return is to be taken to the city."

"Of course." Deadlox slid Quentin's arm around his neck and put his arm behind the medic, supporting him. "Sky, run ahead and tell them we're coming." As the brine ran off, Deadlox shouted, "Don't forget your amulet!" He saw Sky swerve sharply to grab the amulet off of the beach. He noticed that Sky didn't put it on, but still ran instead of flying.

"You must be a pretty terrible scout if you can't find a giant city," Deadlox commented during their hike. Quentin chuckled. "That wasn't rude at all. But I believe that the city has wards of some sort. And it's a large island and more difficult to navigate when you can't fly."

Deadlox nodded, an awkward smile still on his face. What does one say to continue a conversation with someone they barely know? He decided to ask a question that had been circulating in his brain since they escaped. "That warrior that I fought. What was that salute she did?"

"Dawn?" Quentin looked up at him. There was a glimmer of sadness in his eyes. "It's the salute of the Guardian Society." Deadlox didn't reply, simply waiting for him to elaborate. "They were a rebellion of sorts," Quentin explained. "The Marenatio Empire was damaging the ocean's ecosystem in their raids and mining and such. The Guardians are ancient creatures of myth dedicated to protecting the ocean. So, since that was the group's main goal, they felt that it was appropriate to name themselves after the Guardians."

"Why did she let me kill her, though?" Deadlox winced. That probably sounded bad. "She told me to. She whispered it when she had an ax to my throat."

Quentin grimaced. "I don't know." Deadlox internally rolled his eyes. Of course you don't. "Well, that doesn't matter right now," he said firmly, trying to sound optimistic. "We just need to get you to the city."

The medic opened his mouth to reply when the ground trembled beneath them and a shrill shriek rose from ahead of them. Deadlox's heart skipped a beat. Sky. "Sky!" he yelled, accidentally dropping Quentin. He quickly helped him back up and glanced around uncertainly.

"Sorry about this," he apologized, and Quentin's eyes widened as Deadlox launched them into the air and set him on a thick tree branch. "This is so you won't get attacked or anything," he told him, and quickly flew in the other direction.

"You could have just left me on the ground!" Quentin's yell followed him as Deadlox darted through the trees, hoping that he was heading in the correct direction. Fear raced through him. Please let him be okay. Not an attack, please. We need a safe place. He needs a safe place. Another yell echoed through the trees, much closer this time and clearly not belonging to Sky. Deadlox swerved sharply to the right and flew straight into a clearing.

In the clearing were three scouts and Sky, and it was illuminated only by the scouts' lanterns and small bursts of light from the brine. They were fending off a creature that flew and was loosely shaped like a small dragon, but consisted of a dense cloud of smoke. Red circles glowed on either side of what looked like a head. As Deadlox watched, it belched an ink-like substance out of its not-even-solid mouth and at one of the scouts. He dived out of the way just in time, and the stuff landed on the brush behind him. It made a sizzling sound and the plants started to disintegrate. Several similar patches of dead, crumpled plants were scattered about the clearing.

What is that thing?

Deadlox caught Sky's eye, and the brine looked relieved to see him. "It doesn't like light," he yelled, and the demon nodded. Sky pressed his hands together and when he drew them apart a ball of golden light grew between them. He lobbed it at the smoke creature, and it passed through but drew a pained - or infuriated - screech from it. Deadlox landed and raced to one of the fallen lanterns.

"Watch out!" someone yelled, and Deadlox felt someone barrel into him and send him tumbling just as something splashed where he'd been a millisecond before. He held the lantern up to see who had saved him - Quentin? - but the creature was still focused on him. It dove down towards him, and suddenly he couldn't breathe. Smoke surrounded him and he struggled to draw air into his lungs. Panic coursed through him, and he fell to one knee. His lungs were burning and his eyes - which normally could see in the darkest of nights - were watering, blurring his vision.

He was saved by a sudden wind that hit him and the creature with such force that he was thrown to the ground. Blinking rapidly, coughing, and wheezing, Deadlox struggled to regain control of his senses.

"Whoa, man, take it easy." He heard Sky's voice and felt his warm hand on his back. "It's okay. The...whatever that was is gone. Ant saved you." Deadlox looked up, and a blurry figure gave a weary salute. As his vision became clearer, he could see that the scout - Ant - was raising his hands and seemingly directing the wind to dispel the last of the dark smoke that had made up the creature. It appeared to have just been scattered to wisps - which was fine with him.

Another thought occurred to him. Deadlox narrowed his eyes at a blue figure leaning against a tree that had survived the attack. The Mudkip glared back at him. "I really don't appreciate being left in a tree."

"You left him in a tree?" Sky raised his eyebrows at Deadlox, and the demon growled in annoyance.

"I thought you were injured," he snapped. "How did you get down? And get here so quickly?"

Quentin just gave a small smirk. "I have my ways."

"Hey, I hate to interrupt." Ant stepped in Deadlox's field of vision again. The other two scouts followed. "But we need to get to the citadel. Now. That thing isn't of this island, and I have a suspicion that it's not from any of our allies, either."

"I thought they couldn't find us here." Sky looked alarmed, and Deadlox lightly touched his arm.

"They can't." Ant looked troubled. "But they did. I don't know how, but we need to inform General Seto." He glanced at the other two scouts, one of whom was examining a small patch of charred skin where some of the inky substance must have splashed him. "We need to move out. There may be more of those things, and since it's dark out, we'll be sitting ducks." He jogged over to his fellow scouts and aided them in gathering their supplies. Deadlox turned his attention to Sky, who looked fearful.

"They can't find us here, right?" the brine whispered. Deadlox gave him a tight smile, taking Sky's hand in his in a comforting way. "Right," he replied quietly, but that wasn't even convincing to him.

(Mistake corrected 3/30/17 - name of sister city corrected from Aecredia to Kaon.)