Thirty-Three || Taken

They hung back at Rod's meadow for a little while, giving Rue some opportunity to acclimate to the Arc Edge. Rod had an assortment of tatami training dummies he used for blade testing and set up a small series of them for Rue to use, and after a little while he had more or less gotten an idea for how much force he needed to use before gravity and weight did the rest for him. It would take more practice than that to commit to muscle memory, but once he had a handle on what he was doing the rest would come naturally.

Mint had stayed behind to watch, but she wasn't terribly interested in his progress with the blade, at least not for its innate purposes; she had been watching to see how often the phantomite reacted. Without direct contact it wouldn't channel his magic constantly, and for a little bit she was concerned about the uneven reaction. They needed to be able to reliably generate whatever magic he was using if they were going to stand against the Book; failure to react to the Book was highly damaging, if not potentially fatal. They couldn't afford chances.

After a little while, though, she realized he had been holding back. The first phase of his work was all testing and determination, trying to find the sweet spot for the power he wanted to put behind the axe, trying not to overcompensate or underestimate it. Once he had that down – once he began working in earnest – the blade started to react to him with almost flawless consistency, and by the end of the brief training session every swing was accompanied by a fine arc of cobalt.

"Think you got it?" Rod asked.

"I should," Rue replied. "Not that there's much leeway if I don't."

"You're free to keep testing her, if you need to."

He shook his head. "We shouldn't be out of town for too long. Belle and Duke are there–"

"Among others," Rod added.

"–but I feel better being there myself," Rue finished.

Rod understood that.

They left the meadow and started on the way to town, but before they were quite on the main road through the forest Mint stopped them both. "Hold on," she said. "Before we head back. There's something I'd like to see."

Rue took only a few seconds to guess. "The lake."

Mint nodded. "The lake."

. .

Mint stood at the apex of the hill, looking down into the bowl of the lake. The altar stood in the center, silent and motionless as ever, but even from that distance she could feel the difference in the air around it. She squinted and shifted to the side; before her, the altar seemed to shimmer and refract.

"That's what Duke was talking about," she said. "Definitely looks like Trap Master's doing."

Rue was standing beside her, squinting down at the altar and frowning slightly. "Yes," he said after a moment. "Why aren't they using the Book?"

Mint looked over her shoulder and cocked an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"Why aren't they using the Book?" he repeated. "We saw what Trap Master can do, and, well, he's good, yes. But they're holding a Relic. Why have him work for hours to seal off the ruins when they could have just done something with the Book?"

"Thick as my sister can be," Mint said, "she does recognize patterns. Probably figures using the Book to generate a seal isn't going to be terribly effective when she's fighting a guy who can rip through its spellwork."

"But she can do other things with it," he said. "She didn't need to weave a spell." He waved across the lake toward the old town. "She could have relocated a building on top of it, or sunk it into the lake– or if she can't manipulate the seal itself, raised the water table until it was sunk. She could have covered it under rubble. Done what Elroy did for his labyrinth and woven the sides of the altar back on themselves so you wind up stepping through to the opposite side of the lake. There are so many things I can think of to keep the seal safe– I can't imagine a properly trained mage wouldn't be able to come up with something better."

"Properly trained," Mint repeated. "You're making quite an assumption."

"Dismissing your sibling animosity," Rue said flatly, "I really don't think somebody who's been using a Relic for years would just ignore it."

"She might have panicked," Mint said. "No, scratch that, she did panic. Made a pretty great face, too." She frowned. "But you're right. She'd default to the Relic. She might not be creative with it, but she'd definitely have done something." She considered the options for a few seconds, then nodded to herself. "Doll Master's idea, I'm sure."

"Even then, why not defend it more thoroughly?"

"He is a properly trained mage," Mint said. "Even if Maya can't come up with good ways to use the Book, he'd be able to suggest something. And even without it... yeah, you're right. He'd have a better way of defending it than having Trap Master set up an explosive field." She paused. "Assuming he was looking for a permanent solution."

"But if he wanted a way of re-opening the path easily..."

"So we were right," Mint said. "He's definitely after the Relic."

Rue folded his arms and stood quite for a moment. Then, finally; "Do you know why?"

"Does there need to be a reason? This is either a Relic to end all Relics, or a working prototype to do the same thing. If Doll Master knew it was here, why wouldn't he want it?"

"Fair."

They were quiet for a few more minutes, looking out over the lake and into the town ruins. Mint searched for any indication of movement, although she doubted she would see anything; surely they weren't foolish enough to camp right on the edge of the lake bowl. They had to be somewhere deeper.

"We're gonna have to take this fight to them," Mint said. "Maya doesn't commit to something unless she's sure of the outcome. She thought she could drive us off last night and that didn't work out, so she's going to hunker down until she's certain she can win– and she'll probably overcompensate, which means she'll be right, and that'll be bad."

"Will she call in reenforcements from the kingdom?" Rue asked. "If she does that, there'll be too many people here to keep this private. Carona will have to get involved." He hesitated a moment. "I don't want them involved."

"I hear you," she said. "And I don't think so. The way Doll Master was talking to her last night– this is his operation. Maya's going to be a major problem, but he's the one behind this, and I doubt he wants any more East Heaven involvement than he's already dealing with."

"Could we speak to her, maybe? If she knows Doll Master isn't working in their best interests..."

Mint burst out in a loud, barking laugh, and Rue came to a halt, slightly wide-eyed and visibly concerned. Mint shook her head.

"Sorry," she said quickly, trying to catch her breath. "No. No. Let's be real here; is she more likely to believe you and I, or her precious advisor? And, in case you're having trouble answering, let me remind you that she and I didn't get along at the best of times, and you broke her Relic and nearly gave her a heart attack." She cast him a quick smile. "Which, again, nice job."

He sighed and shook his head. "I just don't want this to end... badly," he said.

"Nobody does," Mint answered. "Which is why we're going to have to move first." She turned away from the lake. "But not now. They'll be on the defensive."

"So we have to wait long enough for them to lower their guard, but not long enough that Maya can put together enough resources to come after us herself."

"Yep." She started back toward the forest. "Things're gonna get dicey."

. .

When they returned to town, things were almost back to normal. The foot traffic was still lighter than usual, even for early afternoon, and the conversation among people was still muted and short, but businesses once more had their doors open and several more vendors and greengrocers had set up their stalls again.

"Well," Mint said brightly, "looks like we didn't miss anything."

"Rue, Mint!"

They both turned at the sound of the call, and saw Klaus, balancing with his cane, making his way toward them. He waved broadly with his free hand and gave them a welcoming smile.

"I was wondering where you'd gotten off to," he said. "Anything new?" At the question, his eyes flicked to a spot just over Rue's shoulder. "Ah. That's a yes."

Rue blinked, then realized what Klaus was referring to. "Oh. Yes." He slid the Arc Edge off his back and presented it for Klaus to see. "Rod forged it. It's coated with a layer from our phantomite."

Klaus leaned in, adjusting his glasses to get a better look. He nodded, impressed. "Yes," he said. "I vaguely recall somebody mentioning they needed the phantomite last night..." He looked over to Mint. "That was you, I take it?"

"My idea," Mint said. "I made Mira retrieve it."

"That makes more sense," Klaus said. "Very nice. What's the occasion?"

"Killing stuff," Mint said mildly.

Klaus laughed. "Well, that was a somewhat foolish question."

"What are you up to, sir?" Rue asked. He returned the axe to its place along his back.

"Listening around town," Klaus said. "After everything that happened yesterday I thought I might want to speak to everybody personally about it, get their opinions, see if they knew anything. Nip any rumors in the bud." He gestured toward the entrance to the back alley. "I was just heading out to visit Jargen and Annette, maybe Hobbs if he's in. Care to join me?"

Mint shrugged. "Nothing else to do right now."

"They might've heard something from everybody who went back to the bar last night," Rue added.

Klaus nodded. "Just my thought," he said. "Shall we?"

"Sure," Mint said. As Klaus led the way toward the alley, the two fell in behind, and Mint spoke up again. "Where're the girls?"

"Out at the fields," Klaus said. "Elena's putting together something. She wanted it to be a surprise, but Mira refused to let her leave the walls without her."

"Is Prima with them?" Rue asked.

"No, he's back in the house. Elena forced him to stay behind. Didn't want to ruin the surprise." Klaus chuckled. "No boys allowed."

In short order they emerged out near the wall and turned toward the tavern. Klaus took a few steps toward it, then faltered, then stopped.

Rue and Mint had already done the same.

"The lights aren't on," Klaus said quietly.

Rue stepped forward. "Is that... unusual?" he asked. "It's still pretty early..."

"They open early," Mint said. "Usually serve lunch for a couple of hours, then just stay open all the way through until early morning." She paused. "The lights should be on."

Rue and Mint exchanged a glance.

"We're going in," Mint said, and immediately shot off for the entrance.

Rue gave Klaus an apologetic smile. "We'll, ah, we'll see what it is," he said. "Please wait our here, Doctor."

Klaus almost moved to protest, but stopped himself short and smiled. "Of course," he said. "Just be careful."

Rue nodded, and took off after Mint.

Mint had been kind enough to wait for him at the door, but the instant he was at the foot of the stairs she turned the knob and pushed the door inward. It swung open without complaint, and Mint stepped inside.

She had been expecting something utterly nonchalant– maybe a blown light, a broken lantern, something casual that had gone wrong and made it seem the windows were dark. She had expected all her coiled anxiety to be for nothing, and as soon as she burst in demanding answers Jargen would look at her from behind the counter, probably cleaning a glass because he was a bar tender and they did that kind of thing, and then politely ask if she could shut the door and stop letting the draft in and would you like a drink, young lady?

That was not the case.

She walked into the tavern and found it dark– completely dark. The only light was what little filtered through the smoky windows, what spilled in through the open door. Mint stepped in very carefully, instinctively holding her breath, and peered around. She looked quickly back and forth, relying on her peripheral vision to see movement, relying on her ears in case she heard a sound– chairs settling, footfalls, breathing.

Rue followed her a moment later and stopped just where she was. He made himself silent, listening to the interior of the tavern, squinting into the darkness.

"Close the door, please. You're letting in a draft."

Mint snapped to attention, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. Her eyes still adjusting to the dark, she could only just make out a shadow within the shadows, a dark figure lounging right near the bar.

"Maya," Mint hissed.

The figure moved – Mint couldn't quite see how – but the white of Maya's garb seemed to melt suddenly from the darkness, appearing in a fluid, liquid movement as the figure moved. She adjusted herself, standing now, and faced the two of them as they stood on the tavern's threshold.

"I believe I said please," Maya said.

At that word, the door snapped shut, a loud bang followed by the much quieter click of a mechanical lock. All at once, the noise shook Mint out of her stupor, and she whirled around to face the door, yanking at the knob. It refused to budge. She slammed her fist against it, kicked it, rammed it with her shoulder, but the door stood absolutely, unnaturally, solid.

Rue hopped down to the proper floor of the tavern and turned to face the figure. Without the intrusion of the light through the door, it was easier to focus on the darkness and make out the figure standing before them– not that her voice had left any doubt. Or much doubt; Maya was speaking somewhere deeper in her throat, her voice lower and smoother and almost a purr.

"What are you doing here?" Rue asked quietly. "Where are Annette and Jargen?"

"Visiting friends," Maya said serenely. "Don't worry. I have no reason to hurt them, so they won't be hurt."

"Answer the first part," Mint spat, but she didn't turn around. She ran her hand across the door, searching mentally for the interior of the lock. She found it, but when she did her heart sank against her stomach; the interior was already overloaded with magic. So, too, was the edge of the door, held firmly in place, flush against the wall, by fine spellwork. She cursed under her breath and wheeled.

"Language, dear Mint," Maya said. "As to why I'm here? I had a feeling you'd come here eventually. You seem to enjoy frequenting this establishment. I don't understand why. I have it on good authority the bartender waters down the drinks."

"What...?"

"Ah, but we're not here to discuss the ethics of bar management," Maya continued. "I hoped to see you here because, well, I wanted to discuss things."

Rue almost jumped. "You– you want to talk?"

"Very much."

"Then I have to tell you," Rue said quickly. "Before you arrived at the altar, Doll Master was–"

"I'm fully aware of what Doll Master is doing," Maya said. "In fact, I approve wholeheartedly."

Rue stared at her, his mouth hanging open slightly, taking several seconds to put together his response. "You– approve? But– but you said–"

"Well, I've had a night to sleep on it, consider the situation, and recognize the intelligence of his opinions," Maya said. "Which is, again, why I've come to speak with you. I understand you're in possession of a powerful magical construct– a type of homunculus, specifically."

"What the crap is a homunculus?" Mint snarled.

Rue bristled. "You mean the Prima Doll."

"It's good the company you keep is intelligent, dear sister," Maya said, "to make up for your own ignorance. That is exactly what I am referring to."

"What do you want with him?"

Maya laughed, a sound that hung strange and silvery in the shadows. "Isn't it obvious? It has only one purpose."

Mint clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms. "You slippery little bitch," she growled. "You want the Relic, too. What? Your Book isn't enough for you anymore?"

"The Book cannot hope to compare to even a fragment of what is sealed within that altar," Maya said. "I should have rid myself of it ages ago."

Mint narrowed her gaze.

"Oh, but how rude of me to hold this conversation in the dark," Maya said. "And I've gone to a bit of trouble to set up an appropriate atmosphere." She clapped her hands. "Lights!"

All at once, tiny explosions burst through the room, casting to light dozens of tiny, dancing flames. They were not, however, entirely open, and threw strange, jagged shadows across the walls, the ceiling, the floor. Mint stared, wide eyed, as their shape abruptly coalesced, and her next words were practically a shout.

"Pumpkins! Are you kidding me!"

But that's precisely what they were. Scattered about the tavern were dozens of tiny jack-o-lanterns – on the posts, on the chairs, on some of the tables, hanging suspended in the air, scattered across the bar itself. The primary table held the largest of them all, nearly four feet tall and possessed of a crooked, sharp-edged grin, empty eyes slitted as though it were caught in the throes of laughter. It sat silent atop a mound of dead vines, knotting amongst themselves as they spilled out onto the floor around the table, forming a macabre bed for the massive pumpkin.

Maya stood illuminated in the midst of their dusky light, her own smile cast wider than possible in the strange, twisting light, burgundy eyes narrowed.

"I know how much you love them," she said. "I thought this might help ease the environment of our... negotiations."

"This doesn't ease anything!"

Rue took a step back, looking quickly around the room, keeping his teeth clenched shut. Slowly, he managed to drag his attention from the jack-o-lanterns and back to Maya. "What– what negotiations are those?"

"Give us the Prima Doll," she said simply.

And she said nothing more.

He waited, but when she remained silent, he spoke again. "Negotiations require both parties to receive something," he said.

"Very well," Maya responded. "Give us the Prima Doll, and your friend the doctor will remain unharmed."

His brow furrowed. He stared at her. Then he jumped back and flew to the nearest window, peering out through the smoky glass as best he could, but even as he stared outside shadow and light from the jack-o-lanterns sent strange, rippling patterns over the glass. He pulled away, blinking rapidly and shaking his head. He pressed his hand against his forehead, fighting off the first edges of an encroaching headache.

Mint remained where she was, rigid, teeth clenched tight, visibly seething. Maya tilted her head and looked up to her, regarding her with that same strange smile.

"One of you has to answer me," she said quietly.

"You won't," Mint whispered.

"I haven't seen you for years, dear sister," Maya said. "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Something out of the corner of her eye moved. Mint's attention snapped immediately to the massive pumpkin on the central table. She watched it for a few seconds, several seconds, but when nothing else happened she turned again to Maya.

"You wouldn't," Mint said.

"I will," Maya hissed. "I will do whatever is necessary to obtain that doll. I will bring this entire town to its knees if need be. You will not and can not stop me."

Now Mint responded with a smirk. "Yeah, right," she said. "You saw what happened to your Book last night. You really think you can take us?"

She laughed again and spread her arms. "You fool," she said. "I already told you. I don't need the Book."

Movement again, and when Mint turned to face it, she blanched.

The large jack-o-lantern again, but this time, as she watched, the vines that lay coiled beneath it started to move, slithering across the table, bundling up beneath the pumpkin's core. The vines reached out, wrapping themselves along the edges of the table, crawling up the sides of the pumpkin, trickling into its jagged grin. They coiled and bunched and writhed inside its hollow body, briefly blotting out the fiery light inside, then suddenly tunneled out of its side. The vines that had torn through the body slumped next to the jack-o-lantern, then twisted, twined, bloated and broke open into three more appendages each, which in turn extended and curved to form a pair of powerful, three-clawed arms.

It slammed the arms down, shifted, and lifted itself off the table. The vines beneath bunched up, then extended, lifting the jack-o-lantern's body up above the table. The pumpkin's jaws spread further, the flame in its mouth crackling and hissing, and the vines reached forward, to the end of the table. They pulled, and the jack-o-lantern lurched, dragging itself to the edge of the table. The vines spread downward, oozing to the floor, and pushed, and the jack-o-lantern rose clear off the table and started to make a slow, shifting path toward Mint.

"Of course," Maya continued, "this is simply a parlor trick, a party novelty."

The pumpkin's ragged mouth opened, and it extended its dead-vine arms, thick claws scraping the air in pursuit of Mint. She pulled back, snapping her remaining halo into her hand and trying to concentrate. She dragged the moisture out of the air around her and bound it before her, creating a small, hovering ball of water. She held it just in front of her hand, watching the creature as it continued to half-drag itself to her, its claws biting into the floor and leaving splintered furrows in the wood behind it.

"Happy Halloween!" Maya said.

The jack-o-lantern suddenly thrust forward, mouth agape, its candle roaring. Mint hurled the ball of water into its mouth, straight at the flame.

The water crashed into the candle, engulfed it, snuffed the flame. The jack-o-lantern staggered back, using its vines to keep itself upright, and Mint waited. What an obvious weak spot– right in the mouth, right at the glowing thing. Maya might have learned a few tricks, but she was still–

Her legs were suddenly swept out from under her. Mint crashed back-first into the ground.

She groaned and tried to force herself upright, but the vines wrapped around her legs and hauled her bodily back toward the pumpkin. She was yanked into the air, suspended upside-down above the massive gourd, its face turned upward to face her. Trickles of smoke emerged from between its teeth.

Maya laughed. "You really thought you were being clever, didn't you?"

Mint whacked at the fine with her halo. "Kind of, yeah," she snarled.

Suddenly an arc of blue light caught her eye, sliding sideways across her vision, slamming into the fine that held her suspended. She barely had time to react as the vine was severed, forcing a burst of wind beneath her to slow her fall and keep her from crashing face-down into the ground. Just below her, Rue threw himself fully out of her way, and she managed to land on her feet alongside him.

"What took you so long?" she growled.

"It wasn't that long," he said. "I was trying to break the window."

"No luck?"

"No."

The jack-o-lantern hissed and pulled back, yanking itself on top of one of the tables, cradling its severed arm vines. Maya leaned on a nearby chair.

"Now imagine," she said, "what I could do with one of these."

"Freak out small children," Mint said.

Maya shrugged, raising her arms and shaking her head. "Oh, you think too literally," she said. "Although I imagine seeing one of these, barreling toward you and spewing fire, might do well against more than just small children. Imagine planting them around town, big and small, hiding in the eaves of buildings or on rooftops until nightfall. They're dreadfully agile." She reached over and patted the mass of vines. "It's easy to scale into an open window, cling to the ceiling and wait for someone to arrive... and I hardly think everyone in this town is a warrior."

Mint froze.

"You– you little–"

"But I only have the one," Maya said, heaving an overblown sigh. "Still, think of what I can do with just this one."

Rue tensed. "What would that be?"

Maya smiled.

"Cause a distraction."

All the remaining candles went out at once. The magic in the air shifted. Mint wheeled to face the door.

"It's open," she said. "It's open!"

She threw herself at the door, threw it open, and lunged out into the alley. She cast a quick look around. She swore. She turned as she heard Rue following just behind her.

"Klaus is gone," she said.

"I see that," Rue responded, and he immediately charged clean past her and out down the alleyway. Mint did not follow immediately. She closed her eyes and cast out her thoughts, feeling out the magic in the area for anything unusual. Nothing. Clean. He wasn't there.

She opened her eyes, braced herself, and ran after Rue. She emerged out of the tunnel and staggered to a halt, panting and looking quickly around. It took her only another moment to find Rue, and see that he was running for Klaus' house; it was only a second more before she looked up and saw the rest.

Klaus was standing with his back to the door of the house, leaning against it for balance and brandishing his cane as though it were a weapon. He was focused on a figure just in front of him, a man in a goldenrod coat, his hair bright red and gelled into spikes. Trap Master was pacing in front of Klaus, his stance tall, a superior smirk riding on his lips.

"Seriously?" Trap Master asked. "Your second line of defense is a crippled old man? You gotta be kidding me."

"Trap Master!" Rue shouted. His yell went ignored, and he came to a stop several feet from the scene, nearly twitching in frustration. He started to duck side-to-side, his grip on the Arc Edge turning his knuckles white. As Mint approached, she saw why; fine-spun magic formed a tall barrier around Klaus and Trap Master, cutting off the rest of the town. The rest of the town, for their part, was generally keeping well away from the scene of the confrontation, but all eyes were on them.

To Klaus' credit, he didn't react, either. He stood his ground, standing tall and straight as he could on his bad leg, and leaned forward, lashing out with the cane. Trap Master pulled back, easily dodging the blow, and laughed.

"Oh, wow, you're actually serious."

"Absolutely," Klaus snapped. "You're not getting in this house and you're not touching my family."

"I'm not going near your family," Trap Master said. "I just want the doll. Hand it over and you and your wife an' kid can go back to... whatever the hell it is you even do."

Klaus lashed out again. Trap Master danced back, easily keeping out of range of Klaus' wild swings, and Klaus only managed to keep from throwing himself into the ground by latching on to the doorknob and yanking himself backward. He hit the house again, but held his balance.

"Absolutely not," Klaus said.

"Man," Trap Master grumbled. "Here I was hoping you'd face-plant."

"Leave," Klaus snarled.

"Or what? You're gonna wave a stick at me some more? Yeah, I'm impressed."

Mint came to a stop at the edge of the barrier, and decided immediately that looking for a passage through was probably not the best use of her time. She opted then for a different approach, and drew in a breath.

"Hey, porcupine-head!" she hollered. "Your fight's with us, not him!"

Trap Master turned to face her. "Mm, yeah, wow, that's a tempting offer. But, y'know, I think it'd be just a hair easier to fight the old guy with the bum leg. Just a thought."

"I am forty-eight!" Klaus shouted.

"So yeah, no, I like my odds right where they are." He turned again to face Klaus. "Now where were–"

The distraction was just enough. Klaus cracked his cane against Trap Master's face.

Trap Master staggered, his eyes wide in shock, rubbing his cheek where Klaus had hit him. He stared at his hand, at the little specks of blood that he had drawn, and then looked back at Klaus.

Faster than could be followed, he hurtled the distance between them and slammed his fist into Klaus' chest. The blow had enough force to lift Klaus off the ground for a moment, and a moment later he crashed back on the stone. His bad leg gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground, clutching his chest and struggling to regain his breath. He tried in vain to rise, but Trap Master stomped on his back and pressed down, keeping him thoroughly pinned.

Mint had not expected that. She stared, cold and numb, unable to move.

"Bastard!" Rue screamed. "Let him go!"

"No."

Trap Master's response was frigid, low, quiet. He drove Klaus harder against the ground.

"Listen up, shit-hog," he hissed. "I'm tryin' real hard to be nice about this and I'm not appreciating this whole hitting back thing, okay? So lemme make this clear. The boss doesn't want casualties, but I've got orders to do what I need to do and this is what I'm gonna do. You give me the Prima Doll, and I won't grind your head into the pavement. We clear?"

He punctuated the question by pressing down on Klaus' back again. Klaus' only possible response was an unintelligible shout of pain.

"What was that!"

"He's gonna kill him," somebody whispered.

"We have to do something."

"Graham tried. You saw how he got burned–"

Mint glanced quickly, trying to force herself back to action. She had to think, she had to–

"Rue," she whispered, and he immediately turned to her. "I think I can get you over the barrier. If I can–"

"Stop!"

The voice was small, high-pitched, nearly cracking from terror, and just enough to silence the closest members of the crowd. Mint went quiet, too, and Trap Master looked up and stepped back, releasing his hold on Klaus.

Prima stood at the door, his eyes wide, his whole frame shaking.

"Stop," he repeated. "Stop hurting him. I'll go with you."

Klaus tilted his head, looking toward the door. "Prima, don't," he breathed, his voice thin and slightly watery. Prima ran over to him and knelt beside him.

"It's okay," he said quietly. "If I don't– if I don't, he'll kill you, and then he'll hurt Mira and Elena and the rest of the town and– and I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to be hurt for me." He laughed– a thin and utterly unconvincing sound. "I'm just a doll. I'll be okay."

"That's not–" Klaus couldn't finish the sentence. He drew a long, ragged breath, trying to speak again, but Prima cut him off by wrapping his arms around Klaus.

Trap Master suddenly grabbed Prima by the collar of his shirt and yanked him back. "This is real touching n' all, but I think we're leaving before I need to puke."

Prima staggered a bit, found his footing, and nodded. "Yeah," he said. "L-let's go."

Trap Master slashed his free hand, dispelling the barrier in a rush of energy and cold. Then he stepped back and, Prima in tow, flickered out of existence.

Immediately Rue shot forward and knelt next to Klaus, dropping the Arc Edge in the process. Mint ran toward the spot where Trap Master and Prima had disappeared to. The town started to move again, rippling murmurs and shifts of uncertainty. A few of them townsfolk started forward, but before they could get much closer Rue threw his hand out, indicating for them to stop.

"We need space," he said quickly. "Mint, I need you over here."

Mint nodded and slowly turned around. "Yeah," she said, still somewhat in a daze. "Yeah, of course."

"You can heal, right?" he asked.

She shook herself and quickly stepped forward. "Damn right I can," she said. Shock was wearing off; the wheels in her head were turning rapidly. She took Rue's place next to Klaus and immediately drew her ring next to him, channeling power through it and concentrating. Rue slid out of her way, muttered a quick "I'll be back", and disappeared into Klaus' house.

Mint was a good mage, but she had not been much trained in healing arts. She knew enough to be able to take care of superficial, shallow wounds, which is what she was doing now, but she knew there was internal damage and she didn't trust her skills enough to risk trying to knit that back together herself; a wrong assumption could prove fatal.

But she could keep him stable, at least for a bit. And she had to keep him conscious.

"That was immensely stupid," she said.

He exhaled. His breath crackled.

"I mean, immensely stupid," she repeated. "What were you thinking? Don't actually try to answer that," she said quickly. "I think you might've ruptured a lung. Or punctured it. Look, I don't know, I just know that sound you're making is not a sound you're supposed to be making."

"You have... terrible beside manner," Klaus breathed.

"Yeah, well, there's a reason my fallback after 'emperor of the planet' isn't 'nurse'."

The door to the house swung open again and Rue emerged, carrying with him a small phial of liquid. Mint recognized it as Elena's little healing bottle.

"You think that's edible?" Mint asked.

"Can't make things worse," Rue said. He knelt next to Klaus and brought the bottle to his lips. "You need to drink this, sir."

Klaus made a sound of affirmation, and Mint tilted his head enough that they would be able to get the elixir into his mouth. Rue empted the contents of the bottle. Klaus managed, with some difficult, to drink it down.

They waited. Some of the gathering shifted a little closer.

Klaus closed his eyes and winced.

"Ah, it's– it's bubbly," he murmured.

"Courtesy of Fancy Mel," Mint said. The words came out in a single exhalation, flood with relief. "You'll probably feel a little weird while that does whatever it does."

"Better than the alternative," he said. "Help me up."

"Nope," Mint said flatly. "Give it a few minutes. I don't want to move something that shouldn't be moved."

Klaus sighed. "You're right, of course."

Rue stood up and turned to face the crowd. "We're okay," he said. "It'll be fine. You can, um... do what you were doing."

Some of the gathering peeled away, slowly returning to where they had been. Most of them, however, stood nearby, enraptured or stunned or nervous or afraid. From the group, one of the older men stepped forward. Mint recognized him as the old adventurer, Graham; she also recognized his hand was bandaged.

"Lotsa strange things happening these days," he said. "What is all this? What's goin' on?"

Rue raised his hands. "It's complicated and getting worse," he said. "And I'm sorry, but I can't explain right now." He gestured behind him. "We need to attend to Klaus."

Graham frowned, clearly unhappy with the statement, but nodded and turned away. The explanation seemed good enough for a few others, and another small exodus occurred, stripping away more of the crowd. It wasn't enough for some of them, though; they remained, murmuring and questioning, although nobody else came forward and Rue was not going to stand there long enough to give them a chance.

He turned back to Klaus and Mint, and together the two of them helped haul Klaus back to his feet. Mint held him up while Rue retrieved the axe and fastened it back on, and then, together, they walked back into the house, a growing wave of voices following them.

"Got to do with them, absolutely has to."

"This is nuts. Never in all my years–"

"Did you see that crystal? That ain't normal."

"They've been fighting dragons and demons. Neither of them is normal."

"So what... what can we do?"

Mint flicked her wrist, and in a powerful burst of wind slammed the door shut behind them.

Rue cleared off some of the accrued junk from the coach, and they let Klaus sit down there. Klaus sat back, eyes closed, for a few seconds before he let out a low, almost animal moan and leaned forward, burying his face in his hands. Rue and Mint stood back, exchanged a glance, and then quietly excused themselves into the next room. When they spoke, they kept their voices low and quiet.

"So," Mint said, "we're boned."

"How so?"

"How– are you kidding?" She waved out the door. "They just got Prima. They're gonna take him to the lake and undo the seal and get the Relic and whatever they do from there I'm betting – and this is just a hunch – that it'll be something bad."

"Fair guess," Rue said, "but that's not the case."

Mint arched an eyebrow, and Rue reached into his satchel and produced a metal disk, attached to a chain. Mint took it from him and felt it hum in her hands. She looked up immediately.

"The amulet," she said.

"Smart of him," Rue said. "He can't open the seal without the boost from the amulet, so he left it here."

Mint stared for a moment, her expression slowly sinking. "Oh," she said. "That's not gonna trick them for long. They'll come back for this." She looked over her shoulder. "And I don't think they're gonna give the town a chance to just hand it over again."

Rue nodded and held out his hand. She gave him the amulet, and he placed it back on the dining table. "We have to go after them," he said. "And we have to do it now."

Mint nodded. "This is war, now."

"Trap Master probably teleported back to their base," Rue said. "You think we can follow the magic?"

Mint blinked, frowned, considered. "Never tried that before," she said, but slowly a smile spread across her face, and she nodded. "But yeah, sure. Totally doable." She almost laughed. "He'll lead us right to them."

"Then we go. Now."

"Now."

They turned and immediately headed for the door. As Mint reached for it, she felt something grasp her wrist– not an aggressive movement, but one that told her to stop. She looked over to Klaus. His expression was blank; his eyes were rimmed red. He looked pointedly between the two of them, said nothing.

"I'll make him pay," Mint said.

"I don't care about that," Klaus said. "Just bring him home."

She nodded. Rue nodded. Klaus let her go. They left.