With a few hours of sleep under our belts and the sun rising over the tops of the hills, we gathered to plan our next move. Piper's first suggestion was breakfast.

"How much food do we have left?" said Kea.

"If we're very careful, enough for today and one more meal tomorrow," Piper said. "Would you mind, January? You're closest."

He stood up, retrieved four packages from the crudely-constructed saddle bags we'd made for Louis and began handing them around. He looked at me uncertainly as he approached.

"I am glad you are safe," I said, which was true.

He gave me a small smile. "Ah, yes, thanks to you. I apologize for causing so much trouble."

"There is no need to apologize." An awkward silence fell between us again. I turned to my food package, wondering how I was going to open it with one hand, and noticed light fading from it. It had been opened for me. I looked back at January, but he had already walked off. "Thank you." I wasn't sure if he'd heard me, since I could barely hear myself.

Kea ate their meal quickly and got right down to business. "Alright, here's what I've been thinking. We can take turns riding Louis to save our strength, but we still can't hope to reach the safe house until late afternoon tomorrow. It'll be slow going - we've gotta move carefully over these hills so we're not spotted. At least the playing field is a bit more even now; Trinette still has more people, but she doesn't have her gun. We hope."

"Her..." January paused.

"Yeah. We saw what you did with it."

"Oh. OH." He stopped eating. "Oh." There was a long silence. January looked as if he expected to be struck by lightning any moment.

"Where did you learn how guns work?" Kea said at last.

That clearly wasn't the question January had been expecting. He stammered incoherently for a few seconds. "I... uh... Truthfully, my family owns a few. All I knew is that I never wanted to see it used again. I would've destroyed it utterly had I the power."

"I was equally impressed with your rope trick," Piper said. "Makes me think Louis had some help getting free earlier."

"Ah, yes, that. I did fiddle with his harness a bit. I could relate to being held back by something and thought it might be better for us if he was loose."

"And it worked." Piper smiled at him.

"I'm glad. I was so worried." He looked at Kea. "Is that... all you wanted to discuss?"

"For now. We'll need to have a long talk once this is all over. A very long talk." We ate the rest of our meal in silence.

The day was spent traveling, keeping to whatever cover we could find and staying away from the crests of the hills except when Kea went up to scout. I was still weaker than the others and rode on Louis' back whenever Kea deemed it safe. We had to trust Piper's navigational skills to keep us headed in the right direction; January had only a vague idea of where his house lay from where we were. The awkwardness between the two of us remained. We didn't say a word to each other for hours at a time.

It was all rather surreal. I knew that I didn't have a left hand, but it still felt like my hand was there. My vague sense that something was missing had nothing to do with my injury. Thinking about it too much gave me a headache, but I had little else to do, since we were moving in silence. Kea had finally gotten their way on that point.

It was growing dark when we came around the shoulder of yet another hill. The number of ruins around us had been slowly increasing, as if we were passing through the ghostly remains of an ancient metropolis. We could just barely see the river below us, a dark, winding gash between the piles of stone. January pointed suddenly at a low stone arch some distance ahead. "I recognize that. You need to come through here to reach the house."

Kea let out a sigh of relief. "Finally! Actual progress. Maybe it's a sign that we should get some rest."

"Sounds reasonable," Piper said. "We should each catch a little sleep, then get going before the sun rises and continue on until we reach the safe house."

"Yeah. We can eat at the same time we're on watch, too; get it all over with in one cycle," said Kea.

After a little bit of searching, we decided to take shelter in the remains of one of the nearby buildings. It was built back into the hillside, offering extra protection from prying eyes, and had a few standing walls near the entrance which were large enough to conceal Louis. Piper and January set to work clearing our sleeping area of debris while Kea rebandaged my arm. January wandered near us at one point.

"So... is it alright?" he asked quietly, not stopping his work.

Kea nodded. "The wound sealer is still intact, so you could say it's as good as can be."

"I'm glad." He worked in silence awhile longer. "You know, I'm truly grateful to have gloves. There are innumerable splinters in here."

"Yes," I said, "they are quite good to have."

"Uh, yeah, I like gloves too," said Kea, but I shook my head.

"Your gloves hardly count."

"What? You got something against my gloves?"

"Indeed," said January. "They neglect to cover the fingers, which is arguably the most important function of gloves."

"My gloves are just fine."

I shrugged. "If you say so." We laughed and I felt better than I had all day.

Piper and I took second watch. We were both tired, having gotten only a little more sleep than the previous night, so it was difficult to stay awake and keep a careful eye on the land around us. I was glad when the stars finally began fading in the sky and a line of light grew on the horizon. I was much less happy when we began to spot movement among the ruins. I slipped back into the building.

"Wake up, everyone. The bandits are coming!"

Kea was awake and outside almost immediately. They took one look around, then groaned and rubbed their face. "They're coming this way, that's for sure."

January had scrunched himself up like a caterpillar and mumbled when Kea poked him, but soon he too joined us. As we watched, more moving figures appeared, this time in the opposite direction from the first group. Kea grumbled. "It's not gonna be safe to try and hide it out here until they pass."

"In that case," January said, "I suggest we make our move now. It won't be long before they're fully upon us."

"You got it. We're leaving." Kea led the way over to where Louis was hitched and freed him, then we started off in the only direction left to us. Kea and Piper started debating between themselves whether it was worth piling everyone on Louis and making a run for it. He wouldn't be able to carry us all far, but he'd be fast. That argument ended when we rounded the next hill and saw where we were. The edge of the land fraction.

"Cornered." Kea looked miserable.

"Take heart, Kea," January said. "We're still close."

"We'd be close if we hadn't been spotted so soon." They slumped down, dejected. "The bandits are probably headed this way. We have to come up with a new plan, fast."

January looked around. "Perhaps a ledge will do? I could lift us to an unreachable spot for a time."

"Wait!" I stared at him. "You can lift people?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be able to?"

"It is a rarely needed skill and the training process is dangerous. Risers in the Sanctuary are never permitted to do it. You have actually lifted a person before?"

"Indeed. How did you believe I escaped from Trinette in the first place? She attacked my hotel and my police escorts told me to hide while they dealt with the situation. I panicked and only thought of getting away. When the police left my room, which was on the fourth floor, I made my way to a window and stepped out. After making sure there was no one in the alley beneath, of course. I used my power to slow my fall and ran off through the back streets."

"Well, that explains that," Kea said, still morose.

"January, exactly how adept are you at carrying people?" I said eagerly.

"I fear I don't know how to measure my ability at that skill. Why do you ask?"

"If I remember correctly, your original plan was to escape to your home on the surface."

He frowned at me, but then his eyes grew wide and an unusually confident smile appeared on his face. "I see! Yes, I could do that."

Piper nodded, smiling as well. Kea looked uneasy. "You're not suggesting we jump off the land fraction?"

"Yes," I said, "precisely! We would finally be safe. No one could possibly follow us there. They might even lose track of us entirely."

Kea's right eyebrow twitched and they balled their hands into fists. "Then let's do it."

"Are you absolutely certain you won't drop us?" Piper said.

"Very certain. I can carry everyone - except for Louis. I doubt he'll remain still and his struggles would almost surely break my hold."

"That's alright. He belongs here. He's probably more than ready to amble on back to that field we found him in." Piper rubbed Louis' neck tenderly. "Thank you, Louis. Honestly, you were probably the most capable member of this team." We all patted Louis sadly while Kea took our remaining water bottles from his back.

"Alright, it's now or never," they said, and we headed for the edge. Looking over, we saw a layer of clouds below us and, far below that, glimpses of the featureless brown plain of the surface, but before we could make the leap, a small commotion made us turn around. Louis was distrustfully eyeing a green-haired woman with violet eyes. She only had two goons with her at the moment and, more importantly, no gun.

"Really, Duke," Trinette said, "suicide is a little extreme, don't you think? Ellon's not a bad place." January only glared at her. "I'll even let your friends go this time. What are they, police officers? Bodyguards?" She looked at me. "Come to think of it, I've seen you before somewhere."

"Yes, back in Mierre, though I was clothed rather differently."

She raised an eyebrow. "Right. The fugitive Seer. People from the Sanctuary always have a certain air about them." She turned back to January. "Come with me. It'll be better than death, I promise."

"I decline," January said, and stepped off the land fraction. Kea followed him immediately while Piper paused just long enough to give Trinette a jaunty wave.

The bounty hunter seemed more amused than frustrated as she looked at me. "Really? Is this the future you choose, Seer?"

"Yes. I do not envy you yours." I turned and followed the others.

For a few breathless moments, I was in free fall; clouds rushed up to surround me in their damp, white blanket, but before I had time to really panic, a soft light began to glow around me. My speed gradually slowed. I soon caught up with the others, all of them bathed in the same gentle light and drifting downward like autumn leaves.

"Good work, January." Kea sounded calm but looked extremely nervous.

January waved a hand slightly. "Let's not be too congratulatory. There remains a great distance between us and safety."

We did our best not to disturb the Riser's concentration further. We fell in slow motion all that morning, watching the clouds get ever further above us and the flat, yellow plain get ever nearer. The sun was hot and we soon found ourselves grateful for every passing breeze. Somewhere around noon we finally landed on a mix of brown dirt and yellow sand with a soft thump. We all sat down immediately, drinking in the feel of solid ground beneath us. A glance back at the sky showed tiny glimpses of the fraction through the cloud layer.

"Is this even real anymore?" Kea gasped. "I can't believe we actually jumped off the land fraction!"

Piper was on her back, gazing upwards in wonder. "Hah. Alright. How far do we still have to go?" She glanced over at January, who had been lying on the sand with his eyes closed. He roused himself.

"What? Ah, yes, my home. It depends a great deal on how quickly we travel. I know the direction we must go from here, at least."

She nodded. "Well, that's good enough for me. Let's get started."

Kea jumped up. "Right. We can't take long. We only have a little water left." January rose more slowly.

"You may be interested to know that my employees have placed strategic caches of supplies at locations along the route, in case of emergencies. We will almost certainly be able to restock before arriving at our final destination."

They gave a sigh of relief. "Good. The desert is the last place you wanna be with no supplies. Point the way, January. We've gotta move."

We moved, but not quickly. Heat, fatigue and hunger began taking their toll. My arms and legs felt like they weighed twice as much as normal. We all began shedding as many layers of clothing as we could; January removed his vest and gloves, Kea took off their heavy jacket and turned their scarf into a turban, Piper tied up her heavy skirts as best she could, and I removed my cloak, my gloves and, finally, not without a last lingering twinge of guilt, my veil. The others looked at me briefly as I did so, but made no comment.

Eventually we came upon a long line of parallel metal strips raised slightly above the level of the plain. January grinned broadly. "Oh joy, the railroad! We're definitely on the correct track, if you will."

"So what do we do now that we're here?" said Kea.

January pointed to our left. "If we follow it that way we'll arrive at a storage location." He was right. Before long a vaguely town-shaped pile of debris shimmered out of the haze ahead of us. Abandoned settlements had loomed up in the distance on either side of us before now, but January aimed straight for this one.

"So, you know this place?" Kea said.

"Yes, I'm certain we passed by it when I first left to visit Mierre. There's almost definitely a cache."

They nodded. "Okay, I'm sure everyone is thinkin' it'd be real nice to collapse on the ground right now, but we better find the stuff before we lose all the light. Let's split up. And be careful. This place looks really unstable, and I don't have the energy to dig you out if a building falls on you."

We all wandered around the area, peeking into various crumbling structures, but it was Kea who found the supplies - pre-packaged food of a much higher quality than we'd had before and a large tank of water. January used his power to distribute the items, opening the packages for all of us as they dropped into our hands.

Piper laughed. "That's a pretty neat trick, but does it really take less effort than just opening the packages normally?"

"I imagine it takes equivalent effort, but this way is so much more exciting."

Piper smiled and I chuckled. "Thank you, January," I said.

"Do you have any idea what this place is? Or used to be?" Piper continued, looking around.

"No. I imagine scholars come down here at times, but for the most part they prefer to stick to the fractions. Understandably."

Kea was digging into their food packet with gusto. "How much longer 'til we reach your house?" they asked between bites.

"As best I can tell, it will be several hours yet. It's nearly sunset now; there's little chance we'll be able to reach it today."

They sighed and nodded. "Okay. Why don't we all get some sleep and start again tomorrow?"

"Not a bad idea," Piper said, and with that we all stretched out on the ground in the long shadows of days gone by.