My feet slam against the pavement like a stick to a drum. The sound echoes through the streets light thunder. With each passing moment, the sound of steps behind me increases ever faster. Each time their foot lands against the stone, it sounds like a gunshot.

  I whip around the corner, press against the wall, and hold my breath. The steps stop. I clinch my eyes shut, praying that they won’t find me.

  A hand clutches my wrist, I scream out in agony as it feels like my arm will snap under the pressure of their grip. I squirm and manage to pull away from the killer, and begin sprinting in the opposite direction.

  With every step I take, I start to sink into the cobblestone. I pull my foot out, liquid concrete dripping from my shoe. I take another step, and sink in again. I sludge through the street, trying to make my way from the killer but I just keep sinking.

  Now waist deep in the street, a body slams down in front of me. It’s Avis. His face is contorted in fear, covered in blood. I try to scream but nothing comes out. I force myself to turn around and try to go the other direction, but another body falls in front of me, it’s Dardania.

  Her face is disfigured from the attacker, but I can still see her features. Dardania and Avis both start to sink into the stone until there is nothing left before me. Before I can even think about moving, Madison falls to her knees in front of me.

  “It’s hi—”

  Madison falls face first into the street and begins sinking into the pavement.

  The world becomes blurry and my eyes begin to burn from tears. I open my mouth to scream, but again nothing comes out.

  One by one the street lights go out, until only the one above me is lit. A shadow emerges from the darkness, reaches out, and places their hand around my throat. I claw at the arm around my throat, but with no success. Finally, my voice doesn’t break and I finally let out a guttural scream.

  I shoot up straight in the bed, Avis at my side, gripping each of my arms.

  “It’s just a dream.” He assures me, his voice frantic. I reach out and touch his face gently.

  “You’re alive.” The words get caught in my throat, tears stream down my face. “It wasn’t real.”

  Avis gently nods.

  “It wasn’t real.”

  I lean forward and place my head on his shoulder. He lets go of my arms and wraps his arms around me in a loose embrace. I have never hugged him like this before, but in this moment, I wasn’t even remotely thinking about that.

  The images of seeing everyone dead just before I woke up keep racing through my mind. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to forget them.

  “You were all dead.” I say, my voice scratchy. I slowly recount the dream to him, telling him everything I could remember. Though, I would be happier to just forget it ever happened.

  “It wasn’t real.” Avis repeats to me again. I knew it wasn’t, and the panic I felt from the dream was starting to fade, though I haven’t moved from this position just yet. His body was warm, and I felt safe in his arms. In this moment, it just what I needed.

  “Since arriving here, I have seem some pretty messed up stuff. Hell, the day I landed here I was almost executed and watched a man explode from the inside out. But this felt different. Darker. More twisted. Somehow more violent than anything I’ve seen so far.”

  I know it doesn’t make any sense. I’ve seen people literally killed right before me, but this killer felt worse than all of that. I can’t quite fathom why, but it did.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Not all evil is the same.” Avis slowly raises my head so that we are face to face. “I’ve come face to face with the worst of the Order, but my parents are far worse in my opinion. So I get it.”

  I just stare at Avis, our eyes locked, not saying a word. I wasn’t sure what to say honestly. There was such a softness in his eyes, they were filled with compassion. He has a very hard exterior, literally and emotionally, but when you look into his eyes all you can see is empathy. He is someone filled with great love and passion. If I had a choice, I’ve never look away.

  “I’m just waiting for the sarcasm.” I chuckle softly, he smiles.

  “Well, keep waiting. I’m not a monster ya know.”

  “I never thought you were, but you love a good quip.”

  “I do, but not right now.”

  “You’re gonna make me think something is wrong.”

  Avis smacks me on the arm. I groan in pain.

  “Think something is wrong? Damn, I guess I’ll stop showing you compassion.” Avis goes to pull away but I stop him from doing so.

  “No.” I whine, a smile on my face. “It’s just different.”

  “Look, I like you and I have this weird desire to protect you. It’s a new one for sure, cause Dee is pretty much the only one I’ve had. So, just… yeah.”

  “You have a lovely way with words.”

  “Oh shut up.” Avis smacks me in the arm again, and pulls away, and walks away from the bed. He stops in the middle of the room, and turns back towards me.

  “Just don’t die, okay.” I say to him as he gives me a warm smile.

  “I won’t.”

  ****

  “Why do you all look like co conspirators colluding on some sinister act?”

  I stare at the table where Madison, Prisha, Dardania, and Trevor are all huddled around a book. They all slowly raise their heads to look at Avis and myself.

  “We have a discovery.” Dardania says dramatically.

  “Gasp! What could that be?” I ask jokingly, she smiles.

  “Nothing crazy, but I think the next step of the story is here in Anz?. Lucias traveled here after the death of the Diviner. For what reason is unclear. This pilgrimage of his is quite vague in it’s writing. It talks about the steps he took, but much of what is described is about the world surrounding him.”

  “This may be a dumb question, but what is a Diviner?” I sit down at the table and pour a cup of coffee. The familiar warmth of the drink is just what I needed after my horrible sleep last night.

  Everyone at the table looks to one another, all looking confused.

  “Not entirely sure.” Prisha responds. “The religions in the world prior to the Order have been all but lost to history. The gods mentioned in the Order of the Saint are the gods of old, but what the structure and belief systems were are still a mystery.”

  “We’ve tried to find information on it, but it all appears to have been destroyed.” Dardania closes the book and stares off into space for a few seconds. “So, no idea what a Diviner is.”

  “Herc was the child of the Diviner, prior to him killing his own father. Somehow he ended up in servitude to Lucias. There is still so much we don’t know though.” Madison adds. We all sit in silence as we all get lost in thought.

  “Whose Herc?” Trevor asks, his face contorted in confusion. I chuckle.

  “The original Magician. Well, not like the original mage magician, but the first one to hold the title The Magician of the Arcana.” I answer. Trevor nods.

  “Got it. Herc, Magician. Word.”

  “We don’t really know much more than that. So where do we find this altar?”

  “Um…” Dardania pauses, she starts to look concerned. “Well, we came to a conclusion that it is the altar in the church.”

  “I’m sorry what?” The words fall out of my mouth? “That sounds like it can’t be true.”

  “To the best of our ability, that would be the location of it.” Prisha responds. “How we get to it without any of you being caught and no audience is a mystery.”

  I feel like a robber. Some clandestine meeting at the docks while all dressed in black. That is us right now, standing outside a church, about to break in. We couldn’t exactly come up with a better plan than this. Like, how do you manage to have alone time with an altar in the largest church in town? You don’t, unless you break in after dark.

  Trevor grips the handle and pulls. The handle breaks and falls from the door and slowly creaks open. We all sneak in, trying our best to keep quiet.

  In the most cliche way, the altar sits at the center of the church with a single ray of moonlight illuminating it.

  “Oh come on, like who lit this scene?” I say out loud, maybe a little too loud.

  “It is a little on the nose.” Madison adds.

  “Word.” Trevor says, we all just turn towards him. Like what? “What?”

  As we approach the altar, text begins to appear on the stone.

  ‘When the Divine Goes to Die

  Who should then seek Justice?

  But a Fool, Priestess, and Magician.’

  “That’s less poetic than the first one.” I say disappointed. “But I’m going to go out on a limb and say we meet the original Justice of the Arcana.

  “Stands to reason.” Prisha agrees.

  “Well, shall we?” Madison motions for myself and Trevor to approach the altar. This time there is no giant beam of light this time, it’s much more subdued. Well, here we go. We all take a step forward and reach towards the altar and drift into another world.

  Really into the Arcana Killer saga now!

  Who do you think it is?

  Comment and let me know what all you think!