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He was too late. The Black Sands were burning. Cloudians were screaming as they scampered from their huts, horror heavy in their gazes as they looked at the Shadlings overrunning their camp.

The Shadlings hissed and hooted and howled, as they speared anyone who happened to cross their path on their long, black claws. Their eyes swam with delight with every life they snuffed out.

As a trio of shadows passed, kicking over a flaming cart and cackling, Lucy dipped behind a nearby wall. Smoke clawed at his eyes, and his vision started to blur. He heard screams and pleas. Behind him, something whimpered.

He whipped around, claws out. "Who's there?"

The whimpering turned to sobs. "Who's there?" He moved slowly toward a pile of overturned food sacks. Flour and grain spilled into the sand alongside something crimson. He swallowed hard, knowing what that third thing probably was. Hadn't he seen it already? Hadn't he been coated in blood already?

Kneeling, he started to move aside the sacks. "Whoever's—"

He stopped as he looked into the brown eyes of a Cloudian child. The boy was dark-skinned, his hair black, his body dirty. His shirt had been spotted red, and both the knees in his trousers were worn, exposing the broken, bloodied skin beneath. The boy held his hands over his face, though through the fingers, Lucy saw his whiskers trembled. "Do-don't com-come closer."

Fear flashed in the boy's radiance, but so too did something else. Courage perhaps.

Lucy patted the boy's head. "What's your name?"

"Wh-why should I tell an Ug-go like you?" The boy spat, smacking Lucy's hand away.

He flinched, and shook his hand, pretending like the boy had inflicted pain. At this, the boy puffed outward, just like Lucy hoped he would.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Lucy got to his feet. "But if you don't, I'm not taking you to safety."

The boy's cheeks grew round. "Why would an Aelurian take me to safety? Your troops have been gathered at our borders since moon rise."

Lucy's stomach tensed. His shoulders stiffened. Reven hadn't managed to keep the Moonborn Houses in line while he was gone. He hoped he'd at least pulled off keeping Crum's head away from the executioner's block. At least until Lucy could return and tell them all what he'd learned at the Order.

"Fine." Lucy threw up his arms, turned, and took one step in the opposite direction. "If you don't want my help," he called from over his shoulder, "I'm sure others will. Take care, iron fist." He raised his hand and gave a little wave, before taking another step forward.

"Wai-wait!" He felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to find the boy's fingers curled around it. "I-I'm..." his radiance blossomed with embarrassment. He glanced at his bare feet, toes curled in the sand. "I'm Ari."

"I'm Lucy." Smiling, he scooped the boy up in his arms. The boy recoiled. "Wh-what?"

The boy fiddled with the ties of his shirt. "It-it's just," once again, his gaze dropped to the ground, "I've never been this close to an Aelurian before."

"And?" Lucy surveyed his surroundings. All the huts in the vicinity were engulfed in flame, their thatched roofs lit like matchsticks. He heard crashing coming from inside and hoped that the Cloudian families that had called them home had fled. And had managed to avoid Gravious's forces. He knew he was asking for a miracle, but... like he'd overheard a maid say at the castle, when a king cried for another. Miracles could happen; he desperately needed to believe it.

"You're ugly."

The boy's words snapped Lucy to attention. "Excuse you?"

Ari furrowed his brow and his whiskers jerked. "Ugly. Especially," he sniffed, "your whiskers. Ugh." He spat his tongue out at Lucy and shook his head.

Lucy chuckled and Ari raised his head in surprise. "It's just—" Lucy ducked behind another cart as three shadow soldiers passed dragging a family of four by their ankles. Their mouths were gagged, but he could see the terror in their eyes. He adjusted himself to make sure Ari didn't see. "You remind me of someone I know."

"They call you ugly?" Ari perked his ears, and his radiance seemed to calm, melting into a buttery yellow.

Lucy nodded. "All the time."

"They're smart." He folded his arms over his chest and jutted his chin.

"She sure is." Darting to the next house, Lucy let his words slip. He hadn't meant to, but with the end of the world upon him, he found it was easy being honest. "I wish she wasn't though."

"Why?"

"Because, maybe then, she'd like me more."

Ari's thick black eyebrow arched above his eye. Lucy noticed he had a trio of freckles on his temple. "Do you want her to like you more?"

Lucy gulped, then pressed his palm into the boy's hair. He grimaced as pieces of his hair spiked in all directions.

"You ask too many questions."

Ari harrumphed. But his question stayed with Lucy as he navigated the charred remains of the camp. Did he want Miss Puffs to like him? Had he ever desired someone's affection aside from Abby before? Weren't Abby and his brother enough? Or had he grown even more selfish over the years; did he want more? And was what he wanted a mouse-woman with unruly magick and a heinous mouth who was always called him ugly?

And what of him now? Threatening to kill the royal advisor, getting his hands bloody? This new him, this violent, pushy Aelurian, she'd surely find him repulsive. Maybe he was ugly, deep down, where he'd been told it mattered most. Maybe he was all darkness, zero bright spots.

"Hey, Uggo!"

Lucy dropped his gaze. "Must you really—"

"Over there!" Ari pointed a hut not on fire at their front. Huddled in its shadow was a handful of Cloudians, no older than Ari.

"Friends of yours?"

Ari nodded.

"Well," Lucy said, putting the boy on the ground. "What say you? Want to heroically rescue them?"

Ari huffed. "Heros are idiots."

Lucy took a step forward. He'd have to put himself in the open, if he were to get to the kids. "Yep, they certainly are."

Still crouching, he made a mad dash to the other side of the sands, Ari following at his heels. He kept his breath held, his ears twitching in every direction to make sure they weren't ambushed. Or no arrows whizzed past their heads. Luckily, the Shadow King's troops seemed done with this area. They made it to the kids without problem.

"Ari," a girl with dark braids said. She pushed forward from the throng and pulled Ari into a hug. He grumbled under his breath, but eventually caved and wrapped his arms around the girl. "Cora." Ari's radiance flushed a bright pink.

"Hey Furtail." A boy with blue eyes and long dreads stared hard at Lucy. He was taller than Ari, broader in the shoulder. Probably older. "Who's the freak?"

Lucy snarled. "What do you—"

"That freak rescued me," Ari said, stepping forward and putting an arm out, as if protecting Lucy. Despite the kind gesture, Ari's insistence he was, in fact, a freak, stung.

"Oh?" The boy cocked his head. "Looks like a weakling." He kicked the ground with a sandaled foot.

"And what about me strikes you as weak?" Lucy hissed. He was huge in an Aelurian body, muscular and lithe. Strong, fast, agile. Heightened senses.

"Your whiskers." Lucy frowned. "They're nothing like Cloudian whiskers."

Again, what was it with Cloudians and their whisker superiority complexes? He sighed and tugged Ari's sleeve. "Well, they don't want saved. Let's—" he turned. Red eyes burned back at him.

Then the black mass split and released a horrible screech into the air. Lucy cupped his ears, as did the Cloudian kids.

The one shadow multiplied into two. Three. Four. On all sides, they were surrounded by snapping mouths and red eyes. Lucy pulled the kids into him.

"Look here." The shadow that had alerted the others of their presence, wobbled forward, it's inky black mass oozing along the sand. "What a rare sight. An Aelurian and ratta scum." The shadow cocked its head. "Were you indulging in a little late night snack?"

Lucy tsked. "I don't eat children."

"Shame." the shadow said, expanding its girth so it stood eye to eye with Lucy. Spikes shot out of it in all directions as its eyes glowed. "Because we do."

The spikes shot forward. Lucy could bat maybe two or four away, but the attack meant dozens were trained on him. The other shadows cackled as the spikes headed straight for Lucy's head. He braced as the tip of one grazed his muzzle, and then, it ignited. The spark erupted into a flame that engulfed the shadow's spike. Then more fire. More flames, with insatiable appetites. With every flame that licked at the shadow's body,  it screamed. By the time, it retracted its spikes half of them had been burned.

"Get down!"

Lucy didn't need to be told twice. He fell to his knees and yanked Ari to the ground. The boy stared up at him quizzically, eyebrows knit together. "When a disembodied voice tells you to get down," Lucy said, noting the heaviness in the air, "you listen."

"But what if its another enemy?" Ari said, his head sandwiched between his arms.

Around them, the shadows screamed and yelped. Lucy heard sizzling and snapping, and the immense heat caused him to swelter. Sweat ran down his coat. "It doesn't appear to be an enemy."

Finally, the screaming died down, and the air cooled. Lucy chanced a glance. They were surrounded by circle of ash. No shadows in sight. The kids also raised their heads, and as murmurs spilled from their lips, a fairy-but-not-quite skipped from the shadows. She was breathing hard, her curls stuck to her face, one hand clutching a pendant at her neck. She pressed a palm against the side of a hut and smiled.

"Impressed?" Margoliesse Fennick, savior extraordinaire, said.

Lucy had never been happier to see her. He got to his feet, dusted himself off, and was careful to avoid the piles of charred shadows as he moved toward her, a magnet drawn to its opposite.

He surveyed their surroundings once more and smirked. "And here I'd thought you'd turn them all into toads."

Margo's grin widened. "That's a punishment reserved just for you."

"Oh?" he said, running his claw along the wall. "Is that so?" He leaned in, and sniffed the sweat and fire off her clothes. He knew now wasn't the time to joke, but he'd been through so much, and she had shown up just in time and he simply couldn't resist, self-restraint never being his strong suit, "Maybe Miss Puffs likes me more than she's willing to admit?"

Margo stiffened, and frowned. But her radiance showered them both in soft pink light. "Wh-what!" She jumped to her feet. "Why I would never, ever, ever –"

"Hey, was that you?" Ari peeked his head around Lucy's leg. Sighing, Lucy moved away from Margo as the kids clamored around them, pushing Lucy further off to the side. Discarded like a dirty tunic, as though he hadn't helped in the slightest. "Did you really do magick?"

For the first time ever, Lucy saw Margo clam up. She didn't puff her chest out like he thought she would. Instead, she hung her head, her shoulders slumped.

"Magick is forbidden for Cloudians." Cora elbowed Ari in the ribs.

The one who'd called Lucy a freak, because obviously he'd been so frightened he'd gotten his words mixed up in his brain, stepped forward. "Yeah. Practicing magick ruined our homeworld. There's no Cloudian stupid enough to take up the practice—"

"Lady," Ari stepped forward and tugged on Margo's sleeve. She glanced down at him, a feeble smile on her face. Ari beamed. "You're awesome!"

She blinked. "Yeah," Ari continued, his whiskers bobbing up and down as he frantically nodded. "You fried all those shadows back there—" he turned, and pointed at the piles. "turned them to ash, just like that." He bounced on his feet, and ran his hands over themselves. "C-c-can I..." Ari kicked a piece of brick into the wall. "Can I be like you one day?"

Margo gaped. And in the ensuing silence left by her non-answer Ari's face fell.

She blinked, her usual self snapping to. "Ye-yes!" she stammered.

Ari brightened easily. "Really?"

"Yes! Magick's easy to learn." Ari's eyes widened. "I-in fact," Margo stood straighter, her shoulders stiff. There was the puffed bag of pride Lucy'd been expecting. "I'm a Wizardess." It didn't go unnoticed how she dropped the 'practicing' part, but Lucy thought it was about time she gave herself the credit she was long overdue.

"Will you teach me?"

Cora scuttled forward, and latched onto Margo's other arm, green eyes glittering. "And me, too?"

"Cora?" Ari glanced at the girl, who had wound a braid over her finger. "You want to—"

"She protected us," the girl whispered. "Magick protected us." She glanced up at Margo, and nodded. "Ari's right. You were awesome, lady."

At this, Margo reached down and stroked the girl's cheek. Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a hunk of glistening cheese.

"What's that?" Ari poked the gelatinous mass. The others tightened their circle around her as they exchanged curious glances. Margo tore off a piece for each of them. "It's cheese, from Exul," at this Cora released a tiny gasp. Another kid sucked in breath. Margo chuckled, tucking a braid behind the Cora's ear, "I know. Hemma are supposed to be horrible, but they're not all bad. And, they make the best cheese ever." She pointed and then took what remained of the hunk and put it in her mouth. The others followed her lead, albeit tentatively, "and it's what gives me my strength. If you want to protect others, you have to eat a lot and grow up strong."

Ari smacked his lips and dragged his sleeve over his mouth. "It's good! Real good!"

Cora giggled, her eyes sparkling under the moonlight.

Even the brat that had mistakenly called Lucy a freak perked up at the treat.

Margo stood, brushed her hands, and then looked solemnly at Lucy. "We have to get them to safety." He nodded. "I've been sneaking Cloudians to safety beyond those dunes over there." She pointed west. "There's a cave, pretty well hidden."

"You never fail to amaze me," Lucy said, his words worsening Margo's flushed radiance.

"That's because your ugly brain won't allow you to recognize how great I am."

Lucy shook his head. "No, I think I understand that pretty clearly."

Margo's eyes flitted from him, to the kids. She wrapped a curl around her finger and swallowed. "After we drop them off, we find Abby."

His jaw dropped. "She's here?"

"Sebbi and Axion, too." Lucy blinked. "We saved him," Margo whispered. "Got the antidote." Something Lucy hadn't realized had been constricting inside him relented. He gave a long, slow nod.

"They're here." Margo nodded. He couldn't believe it. "Among all this?"

He couldn't help himself as his eyes scoured his surroundings. He hoped he could spot Abby from where he was, even though he knew it impossible. The Black Sands stretched on for miles.

It was stupid of him, really stupid, but back home, Lucy'd always managed to find her in the crowd. Her blonde hair wrapped in ribbons. Her smiling, or frowning depending on how many pre-dawn visitors she'd gotten at the shop. Her feet never staying in one place for long. She was always moving. Forward. Toward something.

"Lucy," When Margo said his name, Lucy turned slowly, an unfamiliar heat rising to his cheeks, "there's something about Abby you ought to know." Her brow knit together. "She's...she's a child of the light."

Lucy took Margo's hand in his and nodded toward the kids. "Let's go," he said, pulling her forward, the kids falling in line behind them. As she stumbled to match his pace, he whispered, "I don't care what she is. She's Abby, and I'll do whatever I have to to ensure she's safe."

Margo nodded. "Same."

"Then," he smiled and worked his fingers between hers. To his surprise, afterwards, Margo gave him a reassuring squeeze. For a second, he was able to forget about the Order. About Feign and all the blood. He returned the gesture, carefully applying pressure, the heat that had settled in his face quickly becoming unbearable. "Let's say we get these kids to safety," he stammered, "and then we find our family." 

Margo nodded, the moon paling in comparison to the smile she had tossed his way.

She deserved all the cheese in all the realms, he thought, turning away to cover up his burgeoning embarrassment, and then some.