He drew his hand over thick claw marks engraved into the wooden beam of an abandoned building. The roof, once supported by two porch beams, collapsed in on itself opposite where Mouse stood.

  Taiga stopped beside him, his eyes dark, staring at the broken pillar and mangled remains of the other. Scattered glass freed from its frame cracked as Taiga stepped over it. He leaned over the empty window frame, his body cast into the shadows beyond Mouse’s sight.

  “Was it like this last time y’all passed through?” Taiga called once he’d retreated from the window.

  Field shook his head, mouth quivering slightly. “I fancied the inn owner. He was a lovely man.”

  Around them, six buildings stood in a semi-circle. They were sprawled out fairly to give each other space, but close enough to be easily seen from the road only a few dozen meters away.

  Even as they approached from afar, the rest stop had been far too quiet. Alarmed, Ku and Telania had rushed off first. By the time Mouse and Taiga got there, they confirmed not a single soul was left in the place.

  No bodies lingered hope in their minds, though Mouse saw no point in keeping such luxuries. He stepped through the doorway, stilling himself to watch for any form of movement from within the shadows. But only the dust floating through sun streaks moved.

  Barstools were tipped, a few tables placed to the side while two others appeared knocked over at some point. Bottles of alcohol still lined the back shelves, and glass mugs and ceramic cups littered the countertop.

  Torn curtains were drawn over the west facing windows, though the eastern facing ones were hung back. His steps creaked the floorboards as he stepped inside. Through the window, he spotted Mimi and Ku inspecting the building to the left.

  “Mouse?” He ignored Taiga’s call, stepping behind the counter. The cash register rang an order at 384 daud. A wadded up scarf lay on the ground, red stained deep into one side of it.

  Taiga followed his line of sight, and neither of them said anything for a moment. There was nothing to say, other than the obvious. A curtain hung over the entryway to the back room, and Mouse peeked around it, only to find the backdoor opened ajar.

  Taiga wandered to the stairs, climbing them as Mouse checked out the back door. He wasn’t gone for more than a minute before rushing back down the stairs. “We need to leave.”

  “What’s wrong?” Mouse turned to him. Taiga’s face had paled, eyes dark and stern on his.

  “The magic is messed up here.” Taiga grabbed his arm, pulling him out of the tavern and back into the light. He released him, though he took a few more steps away.

  “What does that mean?” Mouse looked back to the inn, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.

  Taiga stepped close to him, checking around for eavesdroppers. “The magic is corrupting. Upstairs,” he lowered his voice, “death lingered. The magics in the air were disturbed by whatever happened here.”

  He grabbed tight on Mouse’s arm, “do not enter any of these buildings again. Understand?”

  The sternness in his voice made Mouse nod. He couldn’t see the flow of magic like Taiga, but he’d never seen him react this way to it either. Taiga pulled a headscarf from his pack, wrapping it over Mouse’s head. “Taiga, was it demons?”

  Taiga’s hand froze, before wrapping the scarf over Mouse’s shoulder and sighing. “I don’t know. Maybe when they failed at Winolin, they headed here. It’s been a few days at most since this place was attacked.”

  “You hot or something?” Field eyed them a short distance away. Mouse watched Taiga tack a smile on before turning, “the sun’s a bit bright, is all.”

  Mouse’s eyes fell to Taiga’s fingers, clutching the cloth of the scarf tight enough for the threads in the fabric to stretch. He touched his fingers to Taiga’s, grabbing his attention, and tapping them lightly.

  “The demons aren’t here now. Do you think they failed?” He’d pushed the attack on Winolin to the back of his mind. Taiga had always been better at figuring stuff like this out and, more than anything, he didn’t want to think about demons becoming intelligent enough to follow plans and orders.

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  He still doubted there was a rip to the Beyond somewhere in northeastern Lanria—

  No. He’d ignored it. He hid behind words of impossibility. He followed precedent and grounded knowledge. He focused on what he wanted to; the Guardian Spirits.

  A tear at the seam of the demon realm would be disastrous in ways no one could predict. Intelligent demons slipping through the cracks meant so much more was wrong with the Guardians and the land than he could fix.

  Mouse swallowed not just his prickling fear, but also a deep chasm of—

  “It’ll be okay,” Taiga whispered to him. “I’m not sure how yet, but it will. So calm down.”

  “I am calm.”

  Taiga watched him. “No, you’re not.”

  “Well, do you have any idea on how to fix this?” He caught himself snapping, and backed off. This had all been an impossible task from the start. Ever since Queen Nolara stuck them with that damn mission… fucking he and Taiga along with it. Everything had gotten messed up ever since then. “That human queen gave us an impossible task. And she knew it, too.”

  Taiga blinked at him, before checking around them. “She has no way of knowing how serious the situation is.”

  “Why are you defending her?”

  “I’m not. I’m staying level headed.” Taiga lowered his voice. “The queen said it herself that she didn’t know why the Guardians were corrupting.”

  “She knew demons were appearing here. She blocked that information from reaching the capital. Why? And why wouldn’t she tell us? She’s not stupid enough to think they weren’t connected.”

  Mouse breathed deep, trying to keep his temper in check. He’d pushed and pushed and pushed it off. And for what? A rest station in the middle of nowhere was attacked and the land left to corrupt.

  And if the land here was so vulnerable, then what about Pnendua? Taiga and Mouse were trying to figure out a way to save them. But they hadn’t yet, and who really knew if there would be a way.

  What if Pnendua was already corrupt? Already wasting away in a land far from him, while they focused on the demons and imbalance. While the queen kept important information from them, and then ordered them to slaughter his family.

  The queen would pay for Pnendua’s death with her own.

  “Okay, stop.” Taiga placed his hands over Mouse’s ears, his fingers sliding between his curls. “Calm down.”

  “If something happens to Pnendua because we can’t figure this out—”

  Taiga shushed him gently. “Nothing’s happened.”

  “Not that we know.” His voice bubbled out of him, every word drawing fear and anger into each breath.

  “Okay, so what do you want to do?” Taiga kept enough calm for the two of them. His fingers and palms kept Mouse’s eyes focused on him.

  “I don’t know.” He paused. He did know. “I want to save Pnendua from corrupting.”

  Taiga nodded, “and our best chance is to figure out what caused the initial imbalance in magic. If we can restore it, the magics will calm. And if we can’t then,” he brought his head forward, tapping his forehead against Mouse’s.

  Mouse’s eyes fluttered closed, letting the coolness of Taiga’s skin settle his nerves. “Then?”

  “Then I’ll work to repair any damage done.”

  Mouse backed off, blinking at him. Taiga seemed to expect his reaction, his smile unwavering. “That’s…”

  “The best option we have, isn’t it? The Ganakri are beings of balance. We restore life to the deadlands once the magics there stabilize.” Taiga shrugged, “it makes sense that I’ll do it in the stead of my people, right?”

  “But—”

  “It has a chance to save Pnendua.” Taiga turned towards Sweet Bun, who munched on grass beside the road.

  Mouse closed his mouth. The undertaking of such a responsibility was not something Taiga could manage alone. Something so monumental would surely only work as a last resort. Still, at least they had the option.

  “You sure?” His voice broke. Taiga stayed away from the Ganakri’s lifestyle for many reasons. Mouse didn’t know them all, for he never ventured to ask. But he knew the decision was not easy for him.

  Taiga nodded. “Calm now?”

  A yell jolted them to attention. Taiga looked Mouse over once more before turning to the sound. Mouse stepped past him, listening to continued screams from a building on the far end.

  Field jogged over to the building, his hand reaching for his sword. Telania stepped into the building with her weapon drawn as Mouse and Taiga approached. Before they arrived, Ku stumbled out of the building, coughing and yelling.

  “Don’t go in there!” He sputtered, before pulling himself to the grass and vomiting.

  “What happened?” Taiga jogged to him, patting Ku’s back between heaves.

  Mimi uncapped a waterskin, kneeling down and giving it to him. He took a swig, swished it in his mouth, and spat it out. She mumbled something to him, which he nodded to before she got up and went to fetch something more from their horse.

  “What happened?” Taiga asked more sternly this time. Mouse hung a few steps back. He checked for Telania, who heeded Ku’s words and stayed out of the building. She walked over, sheathing her sword.

  “It’s bad. Mangled. I haven’t seen anything like that before.” Ku’s voice shook, fingers trembling as he struggled to gulp down more water. “There’s at least seven or eight of them mauled up there.”

  “Was,” Field cleared his throat, “was the inn owner there?”

  Ku shook his head. “You don’t get what I’m saying. There were no people. There were only pieces.”