Thanks for the reviews, people! Keep it up!

I forgot a disclaimer for the last chapter, so this one applies to both this and the last chapter. Ya know what? I think I'll just make it apply to the whole story.

Disclaimer for "Mercenaries Don't Die": I don't own nuthin'.

Chapter 7

Over the next few weeks they managed to settle into a routine. Their mornings were generally a hectic affair of getting five little girls ready to go to their various destinations. The day usually started around sunrise so they had enough time to get ready, but they usually ended up running to get everyone wherever they had to go and the suite was generally left in a state of disrepair, clothes flung everywhere, toys underfoot and a rapidly growing dog trying to fit himself under the table to catch the scraps of food that were generally sent his way by Damini and Ianthe. Kero had long ago given up on hauling them to the mess hall and Cook had taken mercy on her by sending servants up every morning with food for all of them. Then the clean up process would begin, which inevitably involved Kero kissing one wound or another and the aforementioned clothing scattered all over the suite, including Kero's bedroom. The resultant catastrophe for the girls' room and the candlemarks the clean-up of that room alone had Kero eyeing the wall between her suite and the empty suite next to them speculatively and wondering how much effort it would take to knock the wall out. Then she would remember that would be more she would have to clean in her precious free time and would forget the idea for the time being. Then the mad dash for the classrooms would begin. The Heralds living around them were getting used to the racket of screaming girls and one large dog running down the hallway every morning and the Heralds that were awake were beginning to wave to the little girls as they screeched past them.

The girls had been delighted when they awoke the morning after Tarma and Kethry's midnight visit to discover they too had braids with wildly colored beads and had spent the morning playing "Crazy Shin'a'in" after Kero had explained their Shin'a'in ancestry as best she could. The dog had become a warsteed and Acacia had become a Shin'a'in warrior, defending her "shaman" (Ianthe) and the "princess" (Caia). Damini, who was more interested in trying to figure out how to get into one of Kero's locked weapons chests, became an evil sorceress. Caia had been unphased at the prospect that the Shin'a'in did not have any princesses, and merely pronounced that for the purposes of "Crazy Shin'a'in" there would be a princess. Kero just shrugged and went back to trying to explain why the chests were locked to Damini.

Now Kero was beginning to think she had a handle on the whole childcare challenge, as she thought of it. They had made it an entire month without any broken bones or severed limbs. Surely this had to be a record. So now, in celebration of this amazing feat of childcare, she was treating herself to an afternoon of quiet. The older girls were in class, Damini was spending the afternoon with her favorite Karsite and the baby was currently being passed around by the Queen and every other female Herald that came within a certain radius. The baby had been surprising Kero over the last week. She was loosing the red wrinkled look and was actually starting to look cute, in Kero's opinion. The family resemblance was still unapparent, but Kero was confident she would begin to see it soon.

Kero opened the heavy wooden door and bent with a sigh to pick up the letters that had been slid under the door in her absence.

:Bill from dress shop, expected that…bill from armorer, did not expect that; thought I told him to charge it to the Bolts' account, not my personal account… Remind me to fix that, love.:

:Hm? Were you talking to me?: Sayvil's voice was drowsy and content as she sunned herself in the weak winter sunlight while leaning against the heated wall of the salle.

:Mm. Remind me to fix the bill with the armorer. Mmph. Here's another one.:

:Another what?:

:Bill. This one is from some merchant named Jarnem. What did I buy from him?:

:Shoes.:

:That's right. For the girls. That's funny; it has been paid. I didn't pay it, that's for sure. Don't have enough money this week.:

:Does it say who paid?:

:Says the charge was transferred to the Heraldic account. I didn't do that. Maybe he made a mistake…:

:I think I remember Talia saying something to you about the Heraldic Circle covering some things for families.:

:Things like shoes?:

:It would make sense.:

:I need to check into that. Well, this is interesting.:

:What would that be?

By now Kero had made it through the minefield that was the common area and successfully negotiated her way through the doorway to her bedroom. Eldan's things were still mostly piled on the other side of the room as Kero had not had any time to put his things away over the past month. She was hoping he would be back soon. Surely two fully grown and battle experienced Heralds could handle five little girls better than she was currently handling them. She turned and fell back to sprawl across the bed, then raised the letter so she could read it.

:It's the report from the Herald who tested the girls for Gifts.:

:About time. Who has what?:

:Ianthe is a firestarter, expected that, Damini is mage gifted, expected that. Caia is healer gifted, did not expect that. Bardic maybe, what with all the drama that child produces, but not healer. I should probably look into getting her started at Healer's. Ah. A letter from Healer's demanding I enroll Caia immediately.:

:Does Acacia have anything?:

: "Results inconclusive." What is that supposed to mean?:

:He doesn't know what she has.:

:Hmph. Just like Acacia. Have to pry any information out of her. Baby can't be tested for another few years, obviously.:

"Anyone in here?" Talia's voice called from the door to the suite.

"Do you have anyone under the age of twenty with you?"

"No."
"I'm in the bedroom."

Talia tripped her way through the common room and almost fell, but managed to grasp the doorframe to the bedroom.

"How do you six survive in here?"

"Mm?" Kero was reading yet another message, this one a status report from the Bolts. "We live just fine. We clean up in the evenings."

"They create this in the morning?"

"Mm-hm."

Talia managed to negotiate the floor of the relatively cleaner bedroom and flopped onto the bed next to Kero.

"I wanted to see how you were doing."

"Tired. Worn out. Exhausted. Happy to have the afternoon free."

Talia smiled, tucking her hands under her face. "I remember when Jemmie was a toddler. He was constantly into things. I thought I was tired when he was a baby, but the toddler years were even worse."

Kero rolled her head so she could look at Talia. "Why haven't you had any more babies?"

"Not enough time." Then she blushed at Kero's quirked eyebrow. "Not like that, you lusty wench. Not enough time to raise two kids and make sure they both get the attention they need. Selenay and I were wondering how you were managing with two full time jobs and five children."

"As you can tell from the state of our common area, not very well. You should see the girls' room."

The dog wandered in and hopped up on the bed, ignoring Kero's order to get down, and made himself comfortable on Eldan's side. Talia grinned as the dog placed his head on Eldan's pillow and heaved a sigh.

"Looks like he's pretty used to that side of the bed, if you ask me," Talia joked, and Kero grinned in response. However, there was an edge of sadness to the grin.

"I keep telling myself I should really stop him from getting up there, but there are nights when I desperately miss having a warm body on that side of the bed. Usually I make him sleep in front of the door to the girls' room, but on those nights I just let him stay there. Pathetic, huh?"

Talia's expression softened. "Not really. How long have you two been sleeping together now?"

"Counting or not counting those few weeks in Karse?"

"Those don't count. Sleeping in a bed, I should say. Or camp cot, now that I think about it. The cave doesn't count."

"Forever."

"Mm-hm. Since we're asking personal questions, why haven't you two been handfasted yet?"

Kero grinned, this time in complete cheer and mischievousness. "We're waiting for the last of the Bolts' bets to expire."

"They still have bets on days? This many years after the war?"

"Yep. Shallan bet ten years."

Talia's eyes glinted. "That's not too far away now, is it?"

Kero saw the glint and shuddered. "Don't even think about it. Just because your wedding got turned into a huge extravaganza doesn't mean mine has to be. Fifty people, maximum, will attend this wedding."

Talia smiled at the mention of a wedding, then frown at Kero's pronouncement. "What about the Bolts?"

"The feast after is a different animal."

Talia grinned. "Ah. I was wondering how the woman who taught us Heralds how to party was going to get off not even having a party for her own wedding."

"That will probably be huge and the gods only know how we're going to pay for that one."

"Will you wear a dress?"

"I haven't even thought about it Talia."

Talia levered her upper body up and regarded Kero cynically. "Kero, you cannot tell me you have not even thought about what you will be wearing but you have thought about the party that will come after."

"I'm a merc, what do you expect? Party first, details later."

Talia snorted. "Right."

"Helloooo?" The voice came from the door to the suite.

"We're in here, Elspeth," Talia called out.

"Oh, good." Elspeth successfully negotiated the minefield and plopped herself on the bed, giving the dog an enthusiastic rub. Kero raised an eyebrow at Elspeth's grin.

"Are we having a little party and someone not tell me?" Kero's voice was wary.

"No." Elspeth sounded perplexed. "Why would you think that?"

"You people in here?" Jeri's voice floated toward them as she too stumbled over clothes and toys. "Hey, people." She shoved the dog out of the way and plumped up Eldan's pillow so she could lounge comfortably. Kero folded her hands over her stomach and regarded the trio that had made themselves comfortable on her bed.

"Anyone else?"

"Did we get the time right?"

Keren and Sherrill stepped through the doorway and each perched on the bed. Kero covered her face with her hands and groaned. "What are you up to?"

"Ah hah!"

Kero jerked her hands down and stared at Talia standing in front of her wardrobe, holding up a long cream silk gown that was beautiful in its simplicity.

"You do have a dress!"

She jumped off the bed and grabbed the gown from Talia, then shoved it back into her wardrobe, quickly closing the doors. "It's not my wedding dress, Eldan and I are not getting handfasted anytime soon, and I don't know what all of you are up, but I don't like it one bit."

Jeri held up a fat purse and jiggled it, making the coins jingle. "We, dear Captain, have been given money and orders to drag you out and make you buy some things for the girls, Eldan and you. A celebration of making it through your first month as an instant family."

Kero leaned back against the wardrobe, folding her arms, and narrowed her eyes at the happy group. "Whose money and whose orders?"

"Daren and Selenay."

"We can pay off these bills, too," Elspeth said, holding up the letters Kero had been reading. "Plenty of time later to go into debt."

"Let me get this straight. You want me to go to the market with you and spend the Queen's money."

They all nodded enthusiastically. Kero raised an eyebrow.

"You want me to go be 'one of the girls.'"

They nodded again.

"You don't want me to sleep, like I was planning on doing because I'm worn out from chasing five children."

Their faces fell. "Come on, Kero," Elspeth wheedled, sounding more like the teenaged princess she used to be and less like the grand mage she was now. "It's just one afternoon and you don't even have to spend your own money. Buy some toys and dresses you don't have to make for the girls, get something nice for Eldan, maybe get some more gem carving supplies, maybe get some clothes that don't have armor plating for yourself…"

Kero raised an eyebrow, then glanced down at her current outfit of breeches, shirt and leather armor tunic.

"I have clothes without armor, Elspeth."

"Really? Why don't you step away from that wardrobe and we can really find out, along with admiring that wedding dress you have tucked in there."

"It's not mine."

"The wardrobe?" Jeri grinned. "If it's not yours, Eldan sure has some strange tastes."

Kero rolled her eyes. "The wedding dress. It's my grandmother's. It got sent to me along with some other things that belonged to her and Tarma. Most of it is in storage, but I kept some things, like the wedding dress, with me, to make sure it stayed safe. Figured maybe one of these days someone might need it. The Bright One only knows I have a ton of cousins who might want to borrow it. Maybe one of the girls will want to use it when she gets married. Caia has already found it and loves it."

"Right." Sherrill chuckled. "Keep saying that, Kero. We all really know why you keep it in your wardrobe instead of tucked away in a chest with the rest of the wedding clothes that go with it, which were also in your wardrobe. You and Eldan hadn't been planning to get married without telling anyone, now were you?"

"No." Kero scratched the back of her head. "Why would you think that?"

"Uh-huh."

"In light of that transgression against the female members of the Heraldic Circle," Talia pronounced, "you, Kerowyn shena Tale'sidren, are herby sentenced to go to the market with the aforementioned female members and to buy frivolous items. Failure to obey this punishment will result in the head of the Bardic Collegium finding out that you and Eldan were planning a secret wedding."

Kero paled. No one could ever say that a ceremony had occurred without the head of the Bardic Collegium weighing in, and the opportunity to crash the wedding of someone like Kero would be impossible to pass up. The resultant wedding would be full of ruffles of flourishes that would kill Kero out of sheer mortification.

"You are a dangerous woman, Talia."

Talia smirked. "I always get what I want, Herald-Captain."

Several hours later, Kero stumbled to the door of the suite, and wished she actually was drunk instead of just feeling drunk. As she had never enjoyed being "one of the girls", she had never participated in an expedition quite like the one she had just completed. Coming on top of her previous exhaustion, she now discovered the expedition had drained the last of her energy reserves and she now wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for the next week. The noise coming from inside the suite convinced her that sleep would be far from coming this night. She braced herself for the onslaught, shifted her various packages, and opened the door.

Alberich looked up with an unmistakable expression of relief as she entered. She had wondered who they had gotten to watch the girls when the shopping expedition progressed well after sundown, and it looked as if Myste and Alberich had gotten the job. Myste was currently chasing a naked Damini with a night shirt. Dami took the opportunity to try to streak past Kero into the hallway, but Kero caught her handily around the waist and lifted the toddler before she could get into the cold hallway.

"Oh, Kero, thank the gods." Myste stood up, dripping wet and out of breath. "How ever do you handle them?"

Kero realized that she, too, was getting soaked from the squirming toddler, who appeared to have just taken a bath. The others were in their night clothes and Alberich was trying to round them up, but inevitably one managed to squirt out of his grasp and take off across the room.

"Troops! Lights out!"

At Kero's barked order, they quickly squared up, turned in unison and marched into Kero's bedroom for a story before lights out, as was their usual routine. Kero grinned at Myste's rounded eyes.

"There's a reason I call them my little mercenaries."

Depositing her parcels on the table to the side of the hearth, Kero hauled Dami up more firmly in both arms, then began to sniff enthusiastically at her neck and down her arms in a game they played. Dami squinched her shoulders up and her eyes closed in preparation for what she knew was coming.

"Hmmm, Dami, you smell good. Almost good enough to eat!"

With that, Kero began to "munch" on the toddler's arms, hands and neck when she could get to it. Dami shrieked with giggles and began squirming and kicking her legs. After a thorough "munching" Kero snagged the nightshirt from Myste and quickly bundled Dami up in it, the set her down and gave her a gentle push in the direction of her bedroom. Dami grinned and pattered through the door to play with her sisters, who, from the sound of it, were currently jumping on the bed.

By now, Alberich has located and chair and sunk down with a groan. Myste was searching for a towel to mop up some of the water that had invaded her clothing. Finding one, she sank down in a chair next to Alberich, who appeared to be dozing off.

"A job for the young, chasing younglings is. Fortunately, my job, it is not."

Kero grinned and kicked his chair. "Up and at 'em, old man. I have a story to read and you won't like waking up in that chair with a toddler dripping porridge all over you. Thanks for the afternoon and evening off."

Alberich cracked an eye open, then yawned and opened the other. In spite of the exhaustion he must be feeling, he appeared happy after his hectic afternoon chasing the hellions that were now affectionately known among the Heralds as the "Minibolts". The former weaponsmaster had aged quite a bit in the last few years, yet still retained the physique that had helped him survive his years in the Karsite army and as a Herald. His long grey hair was contained in a neat queue, and he still favored his dark grey leathers. Myste had not aged quite as much, but she still occasionally gave Kero the impression of an insane owl when she blinked behind her thick glasses, one whose duty it was to burrow to the very bottom of a question and dig up all the answers.

"I'm not sure if I should say the pleasure was ours." Myste grinned. "At least the evening was interesting, not just in the Shin'a'in sense of the phrase."

Alberich chuckled and slapped Myste's knee lightly. "Come. In bed, we should be. Early, the sun awakens." He stood with a groan, grabbed Myste's hand and hauled her up, then ambled toward the door. Then he stopped and regarded Kero with a small smile. "Written, it is, that no more than a person can carry is given to him. Perhaps, the right woman for the right job, found has been." Then he followed Myste out the door.

Kero stood in the wasteland of toys and clothes that was her common area for a few moments, untwisting Alberich's words, then analyzing them. Then she smiled at the compliment, turned to her parcels and extracted a special present for the girls.

"Everyone had better be under the blankets by the time I get there!"

More giggles ensued and she heard the sound of the blankets being pulled back and the sounds of chaos as four little girls found their preferred spaces. Kero waited until the sounds settled, then headed for her bedroom with the book hidden behind her back.

All four had made it under the blankets and had left space for her, as usual. The baby was sleeping in her crib, so Kero pulled the crib over next to the bed. If the baby was awake, she would normally let Acacia or Caia hold the baby during story time. Ianthe and Dami were only allowed to hold the baby if Kero was helping them. Kero toed her boots off, then placed the book where the girls could not see it and pulled off her leather jerkin so she was clad only in her soft shirt and breeches. Then she picked the book back up and hid it behind her back again.

Acacia regarded her levelly. "Aunt Kero. What do you have behind your back?"

"A surprise."

Dami's face lit up. "A pwesent?" The toddler had become remarkably proficient in her language skills over the past month, which, at the moment, mostly consisted of Karsite, Shin'a'in and Rethwellen oaths, along with a few key terms such as "food", "spoon", "water", "potty", "flower" and "present".

"Mmhm. A present for all of you. But you have to share."

"Auntie Kero! What is it?" Caia's voice was impatient and she squirmed in the big bed. As Kero looked over all of them, she was once again surprised at how well they were all doing. They had all gained weight over the past month, and Dami was starting to become downright chubby. Giggles occurred more often than not and mayhem was more controllable if more frequent as they realized the most they would get was time in the corner, or a paddling if something they did was truly dangerous. Acacia was the only hold-out, never offering Kero any affection, but she was following the rules, which Kero regarded as a huge step in the right direction. Kero was no longer The Enemy, but had been downgraded to The Inconvenience.

"Auntie Kero!" Ianthe was squirming now as well. "We wanna know!"

"Oh…all right."

Kero jumped up on the bed and walk right up it, then pulled back the covers, dropped down and wiggled into the small space the girls had left her. She leaned back against the piled pillows and Dami and Ianthe, who was now known as "Tee", assumed their positions snuggled up on either side of Kero. Acacia and Caia, as the two oldest, assumed the outside positions, snuggled up against their sisters. The girls "oohed" over the present. The book of fairy tails had cost Kero a large amount of the purse Daren and Selenay sent, but it was worth it. It was bursting with colorful illustrations and the leather cover was tooled in intricate designs.

"Pwetty…"

"Yes, it is pretty. And it's all ours. We don't have to return it to the library because I bought it at the market today."

"Will it stay on the shelf with the rest of the books? The books that you won't let us look at?" Ianthe sounded disappointed at the prospect that she would not have unlimited access to the book.

"It will go on the shelf, but you can look at this one." The last thing Kero wanted was the girls investigating her books on tactics and strategy. She had enough problems combating the daily skirmishes. If they all turned out to be military geniuses as well, she would have a problem slightly bigger than the problem involving Ancar and Daren's missing army from almost ten years before. "Which story should we read tonight?"

By the end of "Sleeping Beauty", Dami was sound asleep and the rest of the girls were not far behind. Tee rubbed her eyes and settled her head back on Kero's shoulder when Caia and Acacia got up and headed to the girls' room to await being tucked in.

"I wanna sleep with you tonight, Auntie Kero."

Kero frowned. The girls knew the rule. They were only allowed to sleep with Kero if they had a nightmare or if they were ill. She pushed back the blonde curls on Tee's forehead and rested her palm there in a gesture she remembered her mother using on her when she was Tee's age, then frowned.

"You feel a bit warm. Do you feel sick?"

"No." Tee squirmed. "Itchy."

"Itchy?"

"Yeah."

:Sayvil?:

:Your guess is as good as mine, Chosen. I know nothing of human ailments, but if she were a filly, I would say she wanted attention. Surely one night in bed with you will not harm anything.:

Kero pondered for a minute, then nodded decisively. :You're right. I'll let her sleep with me tonight. If she says she is still feeling strange in the morning, I'll take her to Healer's.:

"All right. You can sleep with me tonight."

Tee nodded and waited for Kero to blow out all the candles, bank the fire, tuck the girls in, and put the bar across the door- more of a measure to keep the girls in than anyone out- before snuggling down with Kero for the night.

" 'Night, Auntie Kero."

"Good night, Tee."

Pain.

Kero jerked awake to find that her nightmare was reality. Flames roared in the room, and she was shocked for a moment to see that she, too, was in flames. The choking air dragged her back to reality and she quickly rolled to the floor in an effort to put out the flames in her shirt and one leg of her breeches.

"Tee!" She gagged on the thick air and forced herself to call out again. "Tee! Baby, wake up!" Kero dragged herself upright only to see the most horrifying sight of her entire life. Flames were literally crawling out of Ianthe, who lay unmoving on the bed, which was now completely engulphed. The baby's crib was starting to catch, and Kero was amazed the crib had been preserved this long. She made the heartbreaking decision in an instant. She did not know if she could save Ianthe, so she moved for the baby instead, grabbing her up and heading for the girls' room.

:Sayvil!: she screamed. :Help!:

Her mental screams were met by the thunderous pounding of Companion hooves on the door to the suite. Kero did not stop, just continued heading for the girls' rooms, on her hands and knees, now, in an effort to find clearer air. Flames were running down the stone walls of the common area like water, and Kero was terrified of what she might find on the other side of the door to the girls' room. The dog was in there, determinedly pulling the girls from their beds. None were stirring, and Kero did not let herself pause to think of the implications. She started grabbing girls and dragging them to the common area. Sayvil burst through the door and Kero heedlessly threw Acacia's still body on Sayvil's back. Heralds flooded into the room and took the baby from her, grabbing up Caia and Damini, trying to force her to leave the suite.

"No!"

Kero struck out at the hands around her, using all her lethal expertise to get away from them and run back to her bedchamber, not able to breathe at all now. All she could think was to get to Ianthe. She could barely see when she entered the room, her eyes tearing from the toxic air, the intense heat and the blinding light of the flames. Heedless of any more damage that could be inflicted to her, she reached out and grabbed Ianthe. Kero was vaguely aware of Sayvil screaming in her mind, of her own screams of pain, but ignored them in an effort to save the little girl.

"Kero!"

Alberich appeared at her side and forcibly pulled her back, beating out the renewed flames in her clothes as he blocked all her attempts to make him release her. She screamed and raged at him, using every skill she knew to beat him off her, but he grimly carried her flailing body from the flames. Once outside, he pinned her to the ground, but was knocked off with a well-aimed elbow. Kero dragged her body off the ground, only to be held from running back into the flames when Alberich resorted to brute force and wrapped his arms around her, pinning her arms. She was no longer aware enough to use what she had spent a lifetime learning and merely struggled, pulling against Alberich's larger and stronger body. Realizing she was no match, she resorted to her voice. She screamed, sobbed and yelled at the Heralds who were laboring to put out the fire, begging them to save her little girl.

Alberich hung on grimly and prayed that he would be able to save Kero, knowing the remaining children would need her. He was aware that Kero was in desperate need of a Healer, but he yelled at the Healers that tried to approach to back off, knowing Kero would most likely kill anyone not trained to defend themselves in her effort to get to Ianthe. His heart broke with every screaming sob that tore through her body, and he knew Kero would never be the same and would always carry this sadness with her. As he watched, the flames seemed to crawl out of the walls, and Alberich began to realize this fire was not natural.

:Kantor-:

:I see it. Firestarter. The child might as yet live.:

Alberich turned to yell for Griffon, but the Herald was already galloping up on his Companion, followed closely by Elspeth, Darkwind, Talia and Dirk. Abruptly, Kero's knees gave and Alberich was forced to support her weight as the fight seemed to melt out of her. The Heralds and Guardsmen who had been fighting the fire were no longer concentrating on putting the fire out but keeping it from spreading. Elspeth and Darkwind moved quickly, setting up spells to keep the fire from spreading while Griffon leaped off his Companion's back and ran straight into the flames.

Kero's screams had died away and she merely lay in Alberich's arms, fighting to breathe through the lung damage and sobs, staring at the flames. Talia knelt before them and smoothed Kero's hair from face, careful of burns, and looked into Kero's eyes. The heartbreak and desperation broke her own heart, and she felt tears well up. Then Talia summoned her strength, and entered Kero's mind. The pain, guilt and recriminations cut deep and Talia knew she had her work cut out for her. She also knew if she failed, four little girls would most likely be searching for a new mother figure, if they lived. Talia began to battle.

What seemed like candlemarks later, but what was in reality only a few minutes, Talia was brought back to herself by shouts. She looked up to see Griffon running from the burning suite, carrying a bundle that dripped fire behind him. He was using his own firestarting Gift to shield him from the flames, and he headed straight for the nearest source of water he could find. Dirk ran behind him, knowing his experience in training extreme Gifts would most likely be of some help in what he knew they would have to do. Griffon slid to a stop by the well he himself had trained by, and Dirk drew up a pail of water to dump over the pair in order to give Griffon some relief from the constant battling he was doing with his Gift. It slowed the flames for a moment and Griffon drew a breath.

"Can you do this?"

Dirk nodded. "With help. Talia!"

At his call, Talia came running, and her stomach lurched at the sight of more flames beginning to crawl from the child. Dirk grabbed her hand and brought her attention back to him.

"We need to seal off her Gift."

Talia winced and nodded. It was a brute strength approach, and the only one that could save the child before Reaction killed her. She drew a deep breath, knelt next to them, and began battling again.