Shiv narrowed his own eyes. "Were you followed?"
Duncan frowned. "Of course not. What does it matter if I was?"
"Are you kidding me? After all this work I put into this new home, you think I'm going to let some church goons come in and ruin it?" Shiv rubbed his face and sighed. "Where is Blaze? Why couldn't you rescue her on your own?"
Duncan looked at Shiv with a strange expression as he responded. "The powerful priest lady has custody of her. I couldn't even scratch her." He glanced around. "Do you have a map?" Shiv shook his head. "Ah, well… she's in a city on the coast. She's going to be transferred to the underwater city any day now, so the sooner we head out, the better."
"Next time we have a time-sensitive mission ahead of us, start with that." Shiv growled and stood up. He looked around quickly, then just growled and kicked the wall. "It doesn't matter if this place goes to hell anyway. After all, my AC is dead." He made a frustrated noise before walking to his room. He grabbed a few changes of clothes he'd bought from the villagers as well as some supplies before returning to find Duncan examining the diamond he'd broken earlier. "C'mon, let's go. Time's awaisting."
Duncan set it down carefully then nodded at Shiv and headed to the place they'd entered. He waited respectfully for Shiv to remove the wall, then replace it with a muttered "it might be on the way to hell, but it might not be, too." and then he jumped. Shiv followed immediately after, without a backward glance.
And so the journey to Destroy Everything resumed, though Shiv didn't know it quite yet.
***
It started differently than all of their prior journeys. Usually, they would set a good pace that everyone could manage and hold that until they reached a good spot to resupply or destroy.
Now, however, Duncan was hard pressed just to keep Shiv in sight. The speed at which Shiv was moving was too much for Duncan, who was a high level user of air, traditionally the speediest of the eight elements.
They traveled in the directions Duncan pointed them in with speed enough to turn trips that used to take weeks into a matter of days.
Their first stop was a hidden city far in the mountains. There, they found a city filled with determined people with high morale, but an undercurrent of sadness and loss complimenting the vibe of the place. There were also far more people than houses, and it soon became evident that much of the city was underground.
A few questions of the local inhabitants brought them to the biggest, most militaristic building located on a hill in the city. There, they were greeted by a familiar, burned face.
"Burnface! You're alive!?" Duncan laughed and slapped the teenager on the back.
"Well, yeah. Why'd you think I was dead?"
"Oh, I didn't." Duncan replied as he pushed past the bewildered man and into the house. Shiv followed, ignoring Burnface and all of the other familiar faces that were present inside.
"Where's Briggs?" Duncan asked.
"Depends. What do you want him for?" The man in question asked from atop a set of stairs. Behind him was a pretty woman with a fierce look about her.
"Briggs! How are ya?" Duncan beamed and bounded up the steps to clasp his comrade's hand. "Oh, don't freak out…" Briggs froze, no doubt remembering other times Duncan had said the same thing, "but there's a fat woman behind you."
Briggs' expression became annoyed, and the fierce woman blushed prettily. "She's not fat. She's pregnant."
Duncan blinked. "What's the difference?"
Briggs took a deep breath and shook his head. "You know what? I actually missed you." He sent a respectful nod Shiv's way. "So what brings you two here?"
"Blaze is in trouble." Duncan replied quickly, as if he didn't want to give Shiv time to reply. "We stopped by here on the way to where the church is holding her, in the hopes that you will accompany us in freeing her."
"Are you confident in your chances of success?"
"We will be if you accompany us." Duncan replied with a confused look.
Shiv watched with interest. He knew that Duncan had an ulterior motive, of course, he just hadn't figured out what it was yet.
"I… wish you luck, but I can't go. Is there anything I can provide you that would make the task easier?" Briggs said.
Shiv was surprised, but didn't say anything. He stared at Briggs, trying to determine if the short, icy man was certain, then nodded and turned around. "Come along, Duncan. Briggs isn't going anywhere."
He left the building and looked around the city. There was something… off about it. He just couldn't tell what.
With a sigh, Shiv launched himself into the air, again on the hunt for Blaze.
***
"I know what you're doing, Duncan. If Blaze actually had been captured, you wouldn't have gone anywhere until you'd freed her even if the archbishop herself was your opponent." Briggs stared at the door that Shiv had just walked through.
"True." Duncan replied with a grin that quickly morphed into a frown. "But why won't you come?" He pointed at the fat woman. "It's her fault, isn't it."
Briggs glared at him. "No, it's not… well… partly, yes. I just don't want to… no, I can't be part of destroying the world anymore."
Duncan laughed. This was rich. "You really think, after everything you've done, that you can just walk away and be done with it?"
Briggs had a strangely peaceful expression that was accentuated by a hint of determination-no, stubbornness. "I have accepted that I'm going to be spending eternity in whatever hell the gods have created for people like me. But I've also accepted that I can't let my past mistakes prevent me from trying to do even a bit of good before I die."
"So… what? You go and get married? Have a couple kids? Save a couple people? Build a city made of refugees from cities that you-might I remind you- helped destroy?" Duncan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're just creating one more target for our dear leader to eliminate." He opened his eyes and stared into Briggs' with an intensity he didn't know he possessed. "He's powerful. You thought Shiv was powerful before? That guy was a joke compared to who he is now. And not only that, but he's back on the prowl. He's back on the mission. You know he's smart enough to figure out the same thing you did about Blaze." Duncan turned to leave. "He's going to start his path of destruction again. That's the real reason he's come back into the spotlight. Only this time, not even I can stop him." He laughed. "Hell, not even you and I together could beat him. No, the only way he can be defeated is if you were somehow able to team up with the church and make an army of people just as powerful as we are now." He reached the bottom step and smiled sadly at Briggs' wife. "I'm sorry, woman of my friend. You… no, we, are all going to die soon. My guess is that we've got a year left before this world will come to an end. Until then, enjoy your lives, I suppose."
***
Shiv stood atop a hill that gave him a great view of the city that Blaze was being held at. Duncan was standing a few steps behind him bouncing from foot to foot.
"Are you done pretending to be cool?"
Shiv shrugged.
"Right, well, that city down there is the farthest outpost for the church, so they don't have a huge presence, and the democracy that rules it has been very divided recently, so we should probably… where are you going?" Duncan began to share the information he'd gained on the city, but Shiv just rotated his shoulders and launched himself to the ground in front of the gate. He landed gently and slowly approached the massive structure, which was currently closed due to the late hour, and punched it.
The gate flew backward into the city, damaging a few of the brick structures within, and alarming the guards, most of which just stood and stared at Shiv in shock as he walked through the newly opened gate and surveyed the city before him. "Which part is Blaze at?"
"What?" Duncan looked like he was just as shocked as the guards.
"Where. Is. Blaze." Shiv enunciated each word clearly and with annoyance.
Shiv shook himself and gestured. "She's in the castle over at the opposite end of the city."
"Why didn't you start with that!"
"You didn't give me any time!"
Shiv knew this was true, but gave Duncan a dark look anyway and threw himself forward, his entire body smoking and smoldering from the heat he was emanating.