Andi walked quietly toward the flames. More carvings were written on the ground with what looked like coals from the fire.

“Someone’s slightly obsessed,” Dex said as Andi knelt to look at them.

It was then that she felt the presence of someone else shifting in the shadows.

“Interesting, that you would invite us here, but choose to hide when we finally arrive,” Andi said softly to the darkness.

She could feel the warmth of the fire, welcome in the chill of the space, and Dex’s body close against her back. If she couldn’t have her swords, she’d definitely settle for him as her backup. He’d taught her to fight, after all.

“Well?” Dex called out. “We’re here for the party.”

Silence was their only answer.

But then, across the room, a set of tiny red lights blinked into being. Gone one breath, and there the next, floating in the shadows.

“You must be into games, if you’ve teamed up with Soyina,” Andi said, moving to the side. The red lights followed her as she paced by the fire. They did not blink, only tracked her with a devil’s stare.

Andi stopped walking and squared herself with the flames between them. “What do you want from us?”

The red lights shifted, and Andi heard a clicking noise, the tiny tap-tap-tap of what sounded like an animal’s claws. “Well?” she demanded, even as a shiver ran over and through her. She wasn’t afraid. She would not be afraid.

Dex pressed a reassuring hand to her back. “If you won’t speak to us, we won’t waste our time any further. Soyina would be more than happy to play creepier games with us.”

The red lights flared as Andi spun on her heel, following Dex’s lead away from the fire, back toward the tunnel to the undercity.

“She stole everything from you, did she not?”

The voice that spoke was shockingly deep. Metallic. Inhuman. It sounded even worse than it had on the feeds, somehow more imposing in person. As if it were speaking into her very soul.

Andi stopped, tilting her chin ever so slightly to the side. “Who?” she asked.

“Nor Solis.”

From the corner of her vision, Andi could see the darkness moving. She could see the tiny red lights shifting, glowing brighter with each syllable the figure spoke.

“She has stolen a lot of things from a lot of people,” Andi answered. “But yes. She stole my crew.”

“And what would you be prepared to give, to have them back?” The lights flared again and again, each time that metallic voice uttered a word. “The answer is simple. Get it wrong, and you’ll leave here at once, unharmed.” The lights moved upward, the tap-tap-tap clicking in time with the motion. “Get it right, and I can give you what you desire most.”