The mortals, however, found themselves caught in the same gunfire as the mages. The handful who had stepped outside at the wrong moment were met with a battery of lead before they dove for the nearest cover.

The High-King didn’t sleep. He spent the whole night in Emma’s room watching over her has she finally passed out. He sat on the bed beside her in the dark room, stroking her head as she snored restlessly.

The scream woke Shade up instantly.

Everyone retired for the night pretty early. The plan was to wake up at the crack of dawn and start moving again, so the mortals suggested they get as much sleep as they could. And with nearly all of the rooms here in good condition, a good night’s sleep actually appeared possible.

With the highway no longer an option, it forced them to divert their journey back the way they came in order to take a longer and more scenic route. Which nobody was happy about. It extended their journey to twice the length they should’ve taken to reach their destination.

“Analysis?”

Scarlett remembered being scared. So scared she couldn’t breathe. The monsters were out there and they were getting closer. There were so many people around her she couldn’t move. They were shouting and screaming, and finally she was shoved to the floor grazing her hands. She dropped the toy she was carrying and it was crushed under a dozen stomping feet. She wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. She was too scared.

The sky darkened as the combined group journeyed deeper into the mainland, away from the coastline onto a stretch of concrete. They followed the roads onto a highway littered with vehicles that cluttered all five lanes. Emma remembered seeing a lot of roads like these on her last visit, vast roads used for transportation. It made her think of home, how they never had anything like these connecting their cities or kingdoms.

As soon as they saw the smoke, the mages knew something was wrong. Brunhilde immediately sprinted up the hill and Hanson ran to catch up with her. The other mages followed behind with the mortals bringing up the rear, all of them rushing up the hill as fast as they could. They crested the hill rise and looked down into the cove they had hidden away in, only to freeze in horror at the sight that awaited them.

They peered down at the ghouls and hounds roaming the streets below, using their scopes and binoculars to scan the area around the Space Needle. The hordes had moved on, leaving a manageable cluster remaining by the entrance. “We’ll wait five more minutes and then move out” Clark said, passing the binoculars to Hanson to examine the terrain.

With the threat of the mutations averted, the monsters safely locked downstairs with no knowledge of their location, the survivors found little need for one of them to keep watch. This allowed all of them to rest after wearing themselves out on dancing and laughing. Each of them ended up falling asleep the moment their eyes closed, the soundproof room casting a gentle silence over them all. It was one of the more peaceful night’s sleep the mortals had experienced in some time

“They looked really mad” Scarlett whispered as they hurried out of earshot.

Seattle used to be a tourist hotspot before the event. Shade remembered visiting this city on his travels around the Unknown Region. He didn’t stay long and he always wanted to visit the famous landmark towering over the area, but the lines were too long for even him to wait and be patient. Seeing it now after all these years brought a tiny sense of nostalgia, wishing he had more time to spend in this world before it ended. Now it was dark and grey and decrepit, the once nois

Kaleb kept his eye on the sorcerer as they journeyed onward through the wasteland.

“What do you mean you’ve made a deal? ”

Shade fought the nausea rising in his throat as he was dragged kicking and flailing through the air, the grey landscape spinning around him as he wrestled with the powerful arms wrapped around him cloaked in shadows. He couldn’t see who had scooped him up from the clearing, interrupting his argument with Emma, but he didn’t need to be a genius to know he’d just been kidnapped by a Death-Hunter.

Smoke from the ruins of Needle Point continued to funnel up like a plume behind them as they made their way through the trees. The brittle leaves crumbled each time one of them brushed against one, the petrified bark ghostly white, the lifeless dirt crunching under their feet. Valerius examined the terrain while his advisor studied it in fascination. “I’ve never seen a landscape so devoid of essence” he remarked in wonder.

“Ow! You stepped on my foot!” a female voice yelped in the darkness, followed by the sound of shuffling and cursing.

“Come on, follow me!”

Clark had suffered his fair share of concussions over his career, but he’ll never get used to the pounding in his skull or the ringing in his ears after an explosion. Nor will he ever grow accustomed to the pain that follows it.