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Sherry stared at the empty field. No. No, no. Not good. Jake had been there, and horsemen and now they weren't and Armagnac was laughing.

Turning Stormy, Sherry didn't even try to hide her panic. "Did you see? Did they just take Jake?" She looked around, wondering where Gale was. Had Marcus followed Stormy?

"Stormy, we can't... We have to go get him," she was already moving toward the spot where she'd lost seen Jake.

Stormy was huffing and puffing by the time she reached Sherry, and just in time to half-believe what she was watching was just an illusion of the sand and heat getting to her. She openly stared at the two horsemen and felt her chest go tight as Thane immediately was summoned into her hand, for all the good it did. Crap. CRAP.

"The moon guy--Marcus? He was on my heels," she murmured to the woman as an aside (just in case they had to start worrying about more of them getting taken) as she shuffled forward, only vaguely able to feel the deep horror pooling in her stomach at one of their own getting caught. The greatsword was now her dowsing rod as she moved forward and tried to see if she could "catch" where the pair of ponies had disappeared by waving the weapon around in the air. Stormy was, for all intents and purposes, on automatic. There was a burning desire underneath it all, cloaked by the self-imposed mechanism of disassociation, but for now it was nothing more than an ache in her chest to get back their friend.

"They won't get away," the trainee simply and most determinedly added, and the burning fire within crackled merrily. She had no idea how they'd do it, but if not here, then there had to be a portal somewhere in Deus they could locate a horseman hotspot and go from there . . . Or maybe the heat was getting to her.

When Jake finally came to, he realized several things.

One. He was in a lot of pain.
Two. He apparently couldn't move.
Three. He was no longer in the desert anymore.

Trying to remember what happened only made his head feel like it was going to explode.
He didn't really want anymore explosions.

Letting out a groan, he tried to move, but found that he was still bound, and every bit of movement made him ache all over.
Where the hell am I?
Panic starting to set in, he shifted a bit more, ignoring the pain screaming inside his head. Speaking of which...

...Chester?
No response.
CHESTER!
Even just trying to talk to his weapon telepathically was making his head ache. He had been trying to ignore the horseman, but now he found himself glaring at him, gritting his teeth. The only thing he regretted was not finishing off that damn child... and maybe dragging Sherry and Stormy into this... and maybe being stuck running this mission. Ok, fine, that was a lot of things to regret, but at least his stupidity put himself in danger. The others were fine... right? Maybe they'd get stuck cleaning up his mess (he never wanted to see Bethany for as long as he lived, which was... probably not long), but other than that, they weren't the ones who stupidly got themselves captured and holed up in what seemed to be some sort of horsemen lair.

"You don't scare me." he hissed. "Do your worst."
He only hoped the anger in his voice masked the fear behind it.

He was going to kill Jake, if he ever found him.

Somehow Sherry and Stormy had managed to get ahead of them, though Gale wasn't entirely certain how that had happened. Most likely it had been because they had each taken different paths, or perhaps it was just the way the world moved. Either way, when Gale finally managed to crest over the next ridge, it was to complete and utter chaos.

Horsemen.

Two of them, Gale noted, his eyes narrowing behind the tinted glass of his goggles, his lips pressed together in a thin line. Two Horsemen of what was most likely the War clan, judging by their appearances. Two Horseman who were towering over two...

...two very familiar people -

"No," Gale said, and ran forward, his breath catching in his throat, fear seizing his chest like an icy hand, and it was suddenly like being back in the Sahara again, watching the monstrous creature rise out of the sand and drag Ben into the gaping depths of its mouth, making it difficult to breathe, to think -

"NO! STOP!"

He could see them ahead, he could see them falling -

- someone was screaming.

JINHAI!

<< I'm ready. >>

Instead of shooting, Gale spun the rifle around in his hands, gripping it somewhat unceremoniously around the barrel and swung it like a bat into the side of one of the Horsemen, where it resounded with a loud crack. He spun it back around, gritting his teeth, and slipped the strap of it around his neck, flipping the gun up to point it directly at the first of the two Horsemen.

"Let them go," he hissed, breathing heavily, and the screaming was still there, still ringing in his ears, and he was pretty sure he knew who was making that awful sound because Gale himself had made a similar sound when Caelius had stabbed him. He opened his mouth, a scream of frustration escaping his throat.

"LET THEM GO! MARCUS!"

The reaction the air gave them, the sign that they'd found it had made Sherry very happy for an instant. The Fear she felt thought, nearly all happiness away. It was strong and...they were no longer in the field. Lair. Her mind called the word forth, and Sherry caught a glimpse of stone and serpent and bone.

Horsemen. If Sherry'd had time to guess, she would have said they were War. Unfortunately, she didn't. They were bigger than the girls, and faster, too. Sherry tried to move on instinct towards Stormy, but the Horsemen were too fast for that. She didn't see the blow that hit Stormy, but she felt the Horseman's attack hit her shield. The next thing she knew, she was in the dirt, her ears ringing. Horsemen hit hard apparently.

Her hand tightened around Armagnac, though she wasn't sure when she'd summoned the weapon. Before she had any real chance to contemplate just how much crap she and Stormy were in, Sherry was aware that the other two members of their group had shown up. Relief of a sort washed over her as she tried to rise. She'd thought she heard screaming. She needed to make sure Stormy was ok, and they needed to find Jake.

Armagnac wasn't laughing anymore.

She hadn't expected to find the portal just like that, so Stormy had a comically surprised expression and the portal seemed to be "sliced" in midair back open. Fear suddenly overtook her for a moment, though it was only Thane's content sound that told her it wasn't entirely just her making. She barely had time to react, to assure Sherry they cold grab Jake and get out, to so much as update the boys as they arrived that a rescue was necessary, before they were overwhelmed.

At best Stormy caught the interior with the beginning of an observation about the architecture before she was blindsighted. A soundless cry was all the trainee managed when the spear pierced through her shield like it was jelly, and her body easier than that. It was like Fate conspired to make sure she was a damsel in distress somehow, and that day was no different. Thane howled for her as she crumpled against the wall she'd been thrown against, curled against the wound as her hands tried to clutch the torn skin and fabric together. It was the strangest thing, feeling her heart race so hard that the blood came out like a steady, trickling river through her fingers.

At least last time she had died before she felt the pain. This was a thousand times worse.

Jake's screaming finally was joined with her own as the cavalry came, the world a mess of blurred, dimming colors and a merciless thudding from her wound. More than just from pain and fear, it was a screech of self-loathing that she couldn't do more, that she had seen this coming somehow by being just the basic trainee on an otherwise well-equipped team.

< < Get up! Make them pay! > > Thane didn't understand the limitations of a living body, confused and enraged by the amount of pain his wielder was experienced.

She spat blood instead and, shaking, dazed, and ready to pass out, Stormy fumbled to get her coat off and staunch the bleeding.

It seemed even horsemen had some sense of preservation. Outnumbered, one of them moved to engage Marcus while the other retreated. One shout and a feigned move concealed by a blast of dirt later and both were running into the horsemen den, a deep concave tunnel winding downwards, their footsteps loud and heavy as they shouted-

- The shout heard from the War horsemen still sharpening his spear. "Visitors." He turned to calmly look at Jake. "Worthless as you Hunters are, I only have the deepest respects for your regard for your kin. Companionship is what builds a bond, and ultimately, a force, an unstoppable idea." He was already on his feet, shutting the makeshift cage door behind him. "I will return, there is still much Fear to be harvested, it is not good to waste a harvest."

His footsteps retreated, leaving Jake with the smaller horsemen, a small weedy-looking thing, staring at the Death trainee intently.

The recon group of Hunters would barely get any rest before they were attacked by what seemed like an unstoppable force. A thick muscular mass of a horsemen descended upon them, feathers and bone necklace rattling as he snapped his spear in half, wielding both ends. He picked up the recovering Sherry almost effortlessly, hurling her at Marcus, the distraction buying him enough time to lunge at the Moon Hunter with the sharpened point of one spear. The weapon clashed with Marcus's Fear shield, and then threatened to shatter as the War horsemen bore down, teeth flashing, eyes wild as he focused on pounding Marcus.

The two sentry guards who had retreated in turn regrouped, facing Gale and Stormy. They moved quickly, hissing to intimidate as they closed in, forcing both to attack close range. Cuts seem to appear almost magically, severing the Hunters as their eyes could not follow the sheer speed of the sentry horsemen. These were not practice dummies or shadowlings in a training course, these were seasoned fighters who were moving in specifically for one purpose alone. Something smashed hard against Gale's head, for a moment his vision swam, making him exposed and vulnerable. A second grabbed Stormy's arm and-

- It snapped so painfully and easily like paper. This is what it meant to be weak and entirely helpless.

*

Meanwhile, the scanner said only one prompt on its flashing screen.

High threat level detected. Request backup?
[Yes ] [ No ]