Scarlet sat down onto the hard plastic of the spot she'd picked out in the stands, as close to ringside as she could get, and immediately regretted her decision to come see the fight in person rather than watch it live from one of the many more comfortable spots available at one of the many other available spots at the arena, like the competitor's lounge. Blitz and Ruta had gotten the call that they'd been selected to fight SABL, or whichever two members they'd elected to go forward, and she, like the good friend she was, had gone in person to support them.
The chairs themselves were made from a hard red plastic,made primarily with longevity in mind. The stands could, and usually did, hold thousands of spectators when in use, so a material and design that was both easy to clean and would stand the test of time was needed. Unfortunately, this meant that basically every seat outside the lounges, the private boxes, and their viewing areas weren't exactly the most comfortable thing to sit in. At the very least, the fight being scheduled so early in the morning meant the sun hadn't had time to heat up the seat so that it burned to the touch yet.
Deciding to just make the most of it, Scarlet started taking bites of her popcorn. Knowing there would be a good few minutes before both duos were finished getting their gear together, she briefly wondered if she had enough time to grab a drink, only to hear a familiar voice coming her way.
"Is this seat taken?" Ruby asked, sidling her way closer. In her hands were two large cups of soda, one of which she wiggled as an obvious bribe.
"Nah, it's cool, go ahead." Scarlet hadn't planned on turning her away regardless, but the free drink did win over a bit of enthusiasm, patting the hard seat next to her in an open invitation.
"So, how have you been enjoying the festival?" Ruby asked, taking the seat beside her student, placing the drink in Scarlet's cup holder.
"It's fun, but really, I'm just happy to finally be able to sit back and chill, y'know? We've been busting our asses this year."
"I know. Trust me, I know." Ruby said, chuckling awkwardly at her own words.
Scarlet shifted in her seat, not knowing if that comment had meant to be reprimanding, or just an observation. Either way, it was clear that Ruby wasn't just talking about the monotony of her paperwork or the constant grind of training and studying on her end. It was a pretty open secret that the staff were aware of what she and her team had gotten up to and didn't like it, so to be called out on it so openly probably wasn't a good sign.
"Is this the part where you chew me out over going after the cult?"
Rather than the scowl Scarlet was half expecting, Ruby's face turned more thoughtful, something between nostalgia and contemplative wistfulness. A part of her did want to scold her and the rest of her team for making her worry, but she knew that would be a little hypocritical with all the times she had broken Beacon's rules and led team RWBY into acts that were also technically vigilante justice, considering none of them had been licensed at that point either. It was hard to be mad when her student had only done exactly what she did years ago.
"Nope, you did what a Huntress is meant to do, I can't punish you for that." Ruby spoke warmly, a clear sense of pride showing through before the Professor suddenly turned serious once more. "That's actually why I wanted to talk. I wanted to apologize, none of what's been going on this year should have been on your shoulders. We should have… I should have been there for you more. You shouldn't have had to handle that situation, and I'm sorry I helped make you feel like you couldn't trust me to handle it."
The guilt in her tone was obvious, she'd left her student alone to figure out a scary new revelation in her life, and in doing so, put her in the same situation as she'd been, fighting her generation's battle while she should have been enjoying life.
Scarlet nodded, a similar contemplative look on her face. She couldn't really bring herself to be angry with the woman, not anymore. She had been pissed in the moment, when everything went down, but she saw her teacher's efforts to make things right, working with a criminal to learn who had targeted her students, helping Jet with her weapon, and who knows what else behind the scenes. The more she calmed down, she kept coming back to the moment they'd first met, to that thousand yard stare she gave her after realizing who she was talking to.
It made her wonder, what had Mom done to her to make her so scared of her own student?
"It wasn't all about that, I just… I wanted answers." That was what it came down to, not the way people had looked at her, not even the attempt on her life. It was not knowing who her own family was for her entire life before Beacon.
"Did you get them?" Ruby asked empathizing with the girl, knowing full well what it was like to feel she'd never really known her own mother.
"Not really, I can't see my Mom being some fanatic like the guys Jin and Jet fought, it just doesn't fit her." she sighed, leaning back against the stiff seat. Looking back at her teacher, she could see Ruby reach out, but stop short of actually touching her, like she was made of glass and touching her the wrong way would cause her to shatter into a thousand pieces. She hated that look. "I'm not pissed at you anymore y'know."
"Really? No one would blame you if you were, I wouldn't blame you if you were."
"I'm just… tired of being angry at everyone. I was angry at Lumi, I was angry at Jet, I'm still kinda angry at Mom and Dad… but I don't really feel like adding more to that." Shaking her head, she put on a smirk. She was done letting herself be down about this sorta stuff. "Besides, it was good practice, I might even be as good as someone like you already."
Ruby knew it was probably just a joke, a youthful boast that she'd also made to Dad and Uncle Qrow when she was feeling particularly confident. But, just like her dad and uncle, she couldn't resist putting the young Huntress in her place.
"Pfft- please. Do you know what I got into during my first year?"
Scarlet raised an eyebrow, both curious and challenging her to mention something that surpassed helping take down a cultist base.
"I stopped Vale's most famous criminal from robbing a Dust store before even getting in, I blew up Lumi's mom, stopped a White Fang plot three separate times, beat an Atlesian Paladin piloted by that same criminal, caught your mom breaking into the CCT tower and fought her off while wearing heels, and then I survived the Fall of Beacon. All at fifteen, because I got admitted two years early." Ruby said smugly. Okay, she understood why Qrow and Dad did that, it felt pretty good.
"Okay, damn, remind me never to get into a dick measuring contest with you." Scarlet scoffed, unable to argue, as that definitely had her beat.
"You'll lose, every time."
Scarlet rolled her eyes but couldn't hide her smile. Compared to having the woman watch her like she was worried she and Luni were going to start a second Great War in her classroom, being talked to like an adult for once was refreshing.
"Seriously though, I'm proud of you for handling as much as you did. No one would blame you for deciding to just walk away from it all." she continued, surprising Scarlet as she reached over to tussle her student's hair, catching the small smile she tried to hide.
"That isn't me, I'm way too stubborn."
"Do you get that from your mom or your dad?"
"Both, definitely both…" Scarlet said, wistfully reminiscing on the many arguments neither of her parents would back down from, no matter how small.
"If you want answers, maybe stop taking a page out of their book and just talk to them." Ruby said, remembering her own limited memories of her own mother, someone she had been told her entire life that she was so much alike, but had never truly known. "I know you're angry, rightfully so, but enjoy what time with them you have, not everyone is lucky enough to be able to ask their mom for advice when they're feeling lost."
Scarlet pursed her lips. A part of her wanted to argue, but maybe she was right, she couldn't ignore her parents forever, not when she still loved them. Looking back over to Ms. Rose, the young Faunus's expression softened. If there had been any lingering doubt clouding her mind, it disappeared the moment she laid eyes on her professor. The sad look in her silver eyes told her everything she needed to know.
Stepping into the arena, Blitz felt the familiar warmth of the sun hitting her tanned skin, and she basked in it, letting the rays wash over her. Unlike many of her fellow Vacuans, who did everything in their power to avoid the unrelenting heat that came from above, she'd always found comfort in how it felt. Granted, that might have been due to how her Semblance converted ultraviolet rays into additional energy for her, as even now, she could feel her Aura passively absorbing and transforming the searing light into her own power to use. It was a familiar and comforting feeling of strength and security.
Eventually reaching their spot in the arena, she stared down her opponents, her white eyes gaining a hardened edge and her jaw shifting in clear irritation, an unusual look that most of her peers would find unnatural on her face. Her opponents, however, were both used to and unbothered by the look as she stared down the pair across from her with a mixture of frustration, disappointment, and regret. Were it anyone else, Blitz would have given them a smile and wished them luck in the upcoming fight.
Siyah didn't get that treatment, not after he'd spent his first year being a royal pain in the ass to just about everyone but his team. It was a damn shame, she saw how he was with his team, how there was more to him than just being an edgelord with too much strength to throw around for his own good, but she'd long since tried being nice, and that didn't work, so maybe putting the boy in his place in front of the whole world would.
"You know, normally I'd say something about how I'm not gonna enjoy putting you face down in the dirt." she said, the beginnings of a confident smile creeping on her face "But you? Oh, I'm gonna have fun knocking you down a peg."
The two SABL members were both unbothered by her declaration, Beryl barely reacting beyond letting an amused huff blow out of her nose, and a moment later, to no one's surprise, Faust detached from her form, the blank humanoid slowly taking its more monstrous shape. Siyah just rolled his shoulders, easily twirling Damocles, the zweihander that had been resting on his shoulder, and pointing it at his upperclassmen with a smirk.
"Please, the only thing you're going to feel is how hard I can knock you on your ass."
Blitz just sighed, by now she knew what to expect out of him, even if it was disappointing.
Beneath the pairs, the arena's mechanism started to shift as their battlefield would be decided. Unlike the full team matches, the duo portion of the tournament would only have one biome selected, forcing every combatant to adapt to the same environment. A few moments later, the rest of the arena rose around the main platform, a lush forest suddenly surrounding them on all sides. Blitz paused at the environment, as a native to Vacuo, that sort of thick vegetation was something she'd only ever read about in class or seen on the holoscreen. She'd never fought in it, no one in the arena had, but the others didn't need to worry about the sun being blocked by the thick foliage.
Her reaction to the arena didn't go unnoticed by her partner, the country girl nudging her leader softly to get her attention before speaking.
"Ya' sure you wanna do this thing one on one?" Ruta asked, pumping a shell into Cattleman, the shotgun extending its mechanism into its hybrid halberd form. "With our Semblances, we could end this in like a minute, tops."
"He won't learn anything if we win like that, he needs to be put in his place." The blonde woman was touched at her friend's concern, but it wasn't just about beating them, it was about showing him that he wasn't the big tough bastard he thought he was, that he still had plenty to learn from his peers.
On the opposing side of the arena, Siyah had similarly noticed Blitz's less than thrilled reaction to the chosen battlefield. While he was also annoyed that they'd have to fight in an unfamiliar environment, her reaction confirmed what he already knew, that her Semblance wouldn't be as powerful, and she couldn't use it as freely as she did during the opening round, a plan already starting to brew in his mind.
"You deal with the hick, Blitz is mine." he spoke confidently, leaving no room for Beryl to object to his order.
"What's wrong, can't take a woman talking back to you?" The other member of SABL asked teasingly, shooting him a smug look over her sunglasses that went unacknowledged by her leader.
"I put up with you plenty already, don't I?" he retorted bitterly. Even to Blitz and Ruta across from them, it was obvious their conversation carried more tension than what belonged in standard banter. For now though, the two ignored it, seeming to set aside their differences to fight their upperclassmen instead of each other.
There wasn't much more time to speak anyway, as a few moments later, the match started.
The moment the buzzer went off, Blitz moved in, bursting forwards in a flash of light with the aid of her Semblance and closing the distance between her and Siyah almost instantly. But, as she swung her scimitar, dubbed Daybreaker, at the boy, she was taken off guard. Instead of effortlessly cutting into the boy's Aura, there was a great metallic clang as her blade was stopped by his own. The speed and force of the impact sent the pair sliding back, their boots sliding along the masoned stone and sending them both back to the opposing edges of the treeline. Blitz immediately retaliated, using the break in the skyline afforded by the central arena to her advantage to quickly recharge and launch forwards again . Anticipating her renewed assault, Siyah acted quickly, kicking her feet out from under her once she manifested again in a burst of light, before shifting his blade to change the direction of her momentum, throwing her over him and through a tree, landing somewhere in the dense foliage.
Beryl glanced over her shoulder, an almost bored look on her face as she watched her leader follow his opponent into the forest, his big dumb macho bravado out for all to see, and she sighed, expecting nothing less. Like most boys, his fragile little ego needed immediate repair after having Blitz so openly talk down to him, but in this instance, it was more useful to her to let him have his little tantrum, so she refrained from properly hitting him while he was down. The sound of Faust's growling cut through her thoughts, reminding her that she had more important matters to deal with at the moment anyway. She turned her attention back to Ruta and Faust, only to see the two already locked in combat. Stabbing the halberd's point into Faust, Ruta opened fire with Cattleman, unloading several gravity infused shells into the construct, forcing it back, and causing a scowl to draw itself on Beryl's face. Apparently, she'd have to step in herself for this one, how tedious.
"Okay then cowgirl, let's play." she muttered, drawing her dagger from its sheath and closing the distance.
Blitz ducked under a wide swing from Siyah, narrowly evading the overhead blow he followed up with, and taking a swing of her own, one that he blocked by once again raising his sword and parrying the blow before slamming the pommel of Damocles into her nose. Reeling from the pain, she jumped back, swearing in frustration. She couldn't move nearly as fast as she wanted to in the wooded arena they fought within, as not only was the shade provided by the thick brush overhead significantly lowering how much sunlight she could absorb, there was basically no space for her to get to top speed while using it, meaning she had to be smarter and use it in bursts.
Knowing she was at a disadvantage without her Semblance, she focused on keeping him at bay, already needing to use her Aura just to properly block the powerful blows from his massive blade, each one pushing her back as her underclassmen continued his advance, smirking with that damn smug grin of his. A moment later, she realized why, backing into a tree. With her having nowhere left to run, he swung his sword, forcing her to use a burst of speed, and, not being used to fighting in such a cluttered environment , she tripped, getting her foot caught in a root and falling flat onto her face. She quickly scrambled to her hands and feet before turning her head back to face Siyah, only to see that he'd effortlessly cut through the tree that had been behind her.
Seeing her on the ground, Siyah didn't let up in his assault, not hesitating for even a moment to take advantage of her vulnerable position, raising his sword overhead to cleave through as much Aura as he could in a downwards strike. But, right before his sword made contact, the familiar, now elusive, flash of light from her Semblance followed her as she moved out of his swing. He braced himself, already knowing from watching her fight what was coming next as a hard punch aided by Comet, the hidden knuckle dusters that formed the handguard of Daybreaker, hit him in the gut, making him cough as he doubled over in pain. Then, before he even had a chance to recover, a follow up uppercut to his jaw sent him stumbling back, hitting the same tree that he had turned into a stump just moments ago.
"C'mon, is that all you got? I thought you were gonna knock me on my ass." Blitz taunted, casually flipping her sword as she watched the boy fume in anger as he wiped his mouth.
Only, he didn't stay fuming. Instead, he grabbed Damocles with both hands and activated its mechanisms, the weapon shifting as the blade retracted and began to take the shape of a firearm while he drew a belt of ammunition from within his jacket. Blitz's smug grin was wiped away as she realized that she was now staring down the barrel of an LMG, fully loaded with ammunition, and with a borderline murderous glint in its wielder's eye. With a pull of the trigger, he opened fire with a storm of lead, forcing Blitz to once again speed away, hiding behind a tree for cover. Taking a moment to try and let her Semblance take in what little light she could, she was interrupted as several rounds blew right through the tree she'd hidden behind, forcing her to speed away yet again.
Siyah held firm as he fired into the trees with reckless abandon, his constant rounds cutting down the thinner ones and forcing Blitz out into the open. Unfortunately for him, this also had the side effect of creating enough openings in the treeline to let more sun in, something Blitz took full advantage of, moving into the light to take advantage and recharge. Realizing his mistake, he started to advance, marching forward as he kept his aim focused on her, roaring in unison with Damocles as they unleashed their fury. But now invigorated by the renewed sunlight, she could simply deflect the rounds as they came, staying still for a moment longer to drain him of his ammo before rushing in.
Seeing this, Siyah shifted Damocles back into its original form, swinging it as he did so to try and hit her as soon as it fully reverted, but she was leagues faster, closing the distance and slashing at his exposed abdomen. However, mere milliseconds before her blade reached him, he suddenly disappeared, teleporting a few feet back and out of her range, causing her to miss and leaving her open. Blitz yelped as Damocles was brought up and across her chest in a rising cleave, knocking her back several feet. Wincing, she brought her hand up to her chest, feeling for any damage as Siyah let his sword rest on his shoulder.
"What, you thought just moving fast was all it took to beat me?" he scoffed, obviously taking a great deal of pride that he had landed such a hit on his upperclassmen. "Either put some real effort in, or give up now and save me the trouble."
Blitz groaned, openly cringing at his gloating, rolling her sore shoulder before pointing Daybreaker at the boy with a sneer.
"Gods above, it's like you're trying to sound like some edgy game protagonist. Did you steal your lines from the same place as your outfit?"
It was a petty, somewhat spiteful comment, but it wiped the smile right off of his face, so she considered it a victory.
Ruta did everything she could to keep up with the pair, but try as she might, the combined assault from Beryl and her construct was slowly but surely proving to be too much. Despite how bored and disinterested Beryl had always seemed in combat practice, she apparently wasn't stupid, as whenever she'd start going after Faust, the summoner was suddenly right behind her, either stabbing at her back or ducking around to her unguarded side and stealing a cut, and gods forbid she go after her actual target, Beryl. While Faust was undoubtedly the more dangerous of the two, the damage she inflicted on it wasn't getting her any closer to victory. Unfortunately, it was well aware of this, as every time she even looked in the blonde's direction it was right there to defend her, being laser focused on protecting her and giving Ruta no room to breathe.
Their last combined assault sent her back into the center of the arena, clearly doing everything in their power to keep Ruta from reaching the forest and using the shade to activate her Semblance, which meant she'd be doing this the good old fashioned way. Readying herself, Faust rushed in yet again, both of its arms extending into blades as it swung at her wildly. Aiming at the beast, she pumped a round into the chamber and fired, but when your opponent didn't feel pain, the threat of taking a few pellets wasn't much of a deterrent. Realizing her mistake too late, she was forced to take another slash from the translucent beast, but managed to recover before it could overwhelm her, throwing a retaliatory strike with the point of her halberd and forcing it to move aside to avoid being hit.
Beryl made no move to get in close, there was no need, at their current Aura levels, she was more than confident Faust could handle her on its own for the remainder of the fight. It wouldn't take long now, she was close, the creepy looking hick was already on the ropes just a bit longer and Siyah would finish up with that speedster leader of hers and help bring her down. Or, better yet, maybe she'd take her opponent out first and be the one to save him? Oh, that would be satisfying, to still achieve victory as well as getting to lord over the fact that she had to save him in the end. She decided that was exactly what she would do, it was just too satisfying not to.
Meanwhile, Ruta was forming her own plan. She knew she could take her opponent out quickly, with how little Aura she had left from bringing Faust onto the field, it might only take one hit, but she actually needed to close the distance to do so. For the moment, she just kept fighting with her summon, thrusting Cattleman at it in an attempt to force it back. Unfortunately, it evaded and grabbed a hold of the halberd, trying to pull it from her grasp. When that didn't work, it changed tactics, spinning around and dragging her with it, picking up speed, her feet eventually leaving the floor under them as she spun around faster and faster. Crap, she had to do something quick, otherwise she'd lose her grip and be flung quicker'n a cat on a hot tin roof!
Wait, that was perfect!
She waited two more spins before letting go of her weapon and praying that she timed it right, turning and holding her elbow out just in time to slam it right into Beryl's face, the impact sending them both sprawling out onto the ground as a buzzer sounded off. Getting to her feet first, Ruta looked up, smirking as she saw Faust starting to fade as its master had run out of Aura, using its last moments to stare her down with its eyeless face. She paid it no mind however, instead looking down at her underclassmen as she groaned on the ground, glaring up pitifully at the woman who'd defeated her.
"Oh, sorry, did I hit'cha too hard there missy?" Ruta taunted, looking down with a lopsided smirk. "Or are ya' just mad this cowgirl outsmarted you?"
Beryl just continued to glare in response, too sore to get up and do anything else.
The two leaders found themselves in a stalemate, their blades locked as neither of them were willing to give ground to one another. Both were pouring their Aura into their strength, trying to get any form of leverage on their opponent, but both finding none. Blitz was at the end of her rope, as while their fight had opened up some light for her to absorb, it wasn't nearly enough to give her a lasting advantage against Siyah, and now she was fighting completely without the aid of her semblance. This was bad, if she didn't find a proper source of sunlight soon, she might actually lose.
She jumped back, narrowly avoiding a swing from Damocles, with Siyah all but ready to follow, only he didn't. He jerked forward like he was trying to, but his body didn't follow suit, instead remaining in place. The two of them looked down, only to see that a pitch black set of vines had wrapped themselves around the boy as Ruta held her hand out, keeping him bound with her Semblance. Breathing a sigh of relief, Blitz walked up to her bound opponent, drawing Comet from its place on Daybreaker, and delivered a single, incredibly hard gut check, bringing his Aura down below the threshold and eliminating him.
"This isn't over." Siyah growled while wincing in pain, looking Blitz dead in the eye to make sure his words sank in.
"Oh, it absolutely is." Blitz declared, before high fiving her partner and raising her arms in victory, basking in the cheers of the audience.
Even before she'd left, Carmine knew that she was heading into a bad situation. Convoys going dark typically meant either a Grimm or bandit attack, and with how important of a task this was, it ruled out them encountering a sandstorm and simply forgetting to reestablish comms. At least, it better not have been something that stupid, not when she'd missed her student's match because of it. Deep down, she knew it was almost certainly worse than that though, with the best case scenario being that she'd find an abandoned convoy and would need to track whatever trail they'd left behind. At worst, she wouldn't find a trace of them at all, their memories swallowed by the vastness of the desert.
As she neared their last known location, she slowed the sandrider to a halt so that she could get a proper lay of the land. Like most of Vacuo, the land was indistinguishable from the rest, but an obvious set of dunes amidst the endless sea of sand stood out as a good spot to hide for the night. Shutting off the vehicle, she made her way closer, holding her sais ready to strike. She could smell the blood before she saw it, all but confirming her fears, hardening herself as she reached the peak. As expected, she was met with the grisly sight of bodies in the sand. She could tell that one was completely mangled beyond recognition, even from a distance, and another, while mostly whole, was too covered in blood to properly make out who the dismembered corpse used to be at a glance.
Focusing instead on the bodies she could identify, she ran to Onyx and Asher, relief flooding her as she realized the pair were both still breathing from the slow rise and fall of their chests, just unconscious from exhaustion, dehydration, and their wounds. Reaching Onyx first, she rolled the woman onto her side, and after looking her over and deciding her wounds weren't serious enough to impede her movement, she pulled out some smelling salts from her pack and held it up to the Faunus's face before cracking the capsule. As she inhaled the fumes, the unconscious woman gagged,suddenly jolting up and covering her face as the fumes burned in her nose.
"Get up," Carmine said firmly as she pulled the survivor to her feet, bracing the dark skinned woman as she stumbled, one again checking for signs of any serious damage. "Does anything feel broken? You aren't bleeding too bad, but some of these wounds need proper attention."
"I-I'm good, just sore…" Onyx choked out, finally getting on steady feet as Carmine let her go. "Ugh, that smell, what i- oh fuck…"
She trailed off, her heart sinking as her eyes landed on Durga's remains, left to rot in the sun. The two women stood in silence, the harsh reality of their failure hanging thick in the air. After the initial shock, Onyx started to panic, turning around and running towards the unmoving frame of her lover.
"Shit, Asher!?"
"He's alright, just knocked out, same as you were not even a minute ago." Carmine assured the panicking Faunus, handing over the smelling salts before heading over to the final body.
Turning the husk over, she gagged. The body reeked of rot and decay, like it had been there for weeks, but if the gun in its remaining hand was any indication, it had clearly been a part of the fight. Prying Onyx's handgun from the body's cold and stiff grasp, she paused, finding a tarnished ring with the Crown's insignia on it, one that looked a lot like Gillian's old ring. Swallowing, she turned her attention to the body's head, half buried in the sand, and slowly moved the veil of long, greasy, matted hair out of the way to reveal its sunken grey face. Her heart clenched as she confirmed the body's identity, as even in its current condition, she knew that face.
"What the hell happened to you Queenie?"
"Is… that the Grimm?" Onyx asked, still looking Asher over.
"She's not a Grimm," she muttered, laying Gillian's body onto her back and closing her tired eyes. "She is... was… a friend."
She'd known, on some level she'd always known, that Gillian and her brother's ambitions had caught up with them, but to see the woman she'd respected and cared for reduced to that… It was a painful truth to swallow.
Confident he was okay to move, Onyx held the smelling salts up to the boy's face, giving him a deep inhale of the same noxious fumes that had jolted her from the depths of unconsciousness. With a raspy gag, Asher pulled away instinctively from the fumes, blinking as his eyes tried to adjust to the sudden light.
"Hey, shorty, you with me? C'mon, let me see you."
"Onyx? What happened? Where's Durga?" Asher asked wearily, still only half aware of what was happening as the sun blinded him.
"Don't look," Onyx whispered, pulling his head into her chest, away from the bloody sight behind him as Carmine pulled one of their blankets over Durga's body. "Just… trust me, you don't want to see."
The seasoned criminal turned Huntress sighed as she pulled her Scroll out, hitting the icon with Theodore's face on it, preparing to give the bad news.
"Theo, it's Carmine, I've located the convoy. The escorts are both alive… but the Maiden's been killed."
Hearing her tired report, Asher went stiff in Onyx's arms, a low ringing in his ears as the reality set in that he'd failed all over again.
