Ryder sighed, unwilling to meet my eyes. "I'm a bounty hunter," she explained uneasily.

I nodded. "Who enlisted this bounty?" I asked her, even though I had a vague idea who was behind this.

"Omaculous. Why? My business is no longer yours." She crossed her arms grumpily.

"I thought so."

"What's it to you?"

"Nothing. Just..." I spared a glance at Drake. His face was slowly turning red with anger, and his muscles had tensed up.

"...Well, actually, we need your help." An idea began to form in the dark crevices of my mind. Drake turned to me with a look of confusion etched on his face. I sighed before continuing, "But first, we need to figure out how to get out of this deathtrap. And to do that, we need Ebony."

Drake interrupted, "But you said that he was gone. How are we going to get him back?"

Elrond looked between us. "If I can be of any assistance, just say the word."

I glanced at the people around me. All misfits, each with their own heartbreaking story. "I'll need all the help I can get."

They smiled at me, and we began to devise a plan to find Ebony. My sister would help us track Ebony, while Drake would serve as the protector for our group. Elrond and I would talk reason into Ebony when we found him. Now, all that was left was finding him.

We watched Ryder as she scoured the ground, looking for any sign of footprints. "What size is Ebony?"

Drake piped up. "Eleven in men's." How does he know Ebony's shoe size? Creepy.

"And do you perhaps remember what kind of shoes he was wearing?"

Drake looked at the ground, a faint blush on his cheeks. "I think he was wearing Nike tennis shoes."

She nodded. "That's him all right."

I piped up. "So you've got his scent then, right?"

She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I am a tracker, not some sort of rabid animal."

I held my hands up in surrender, and stood back as she began muttering to herself. She bent down and grazed the ground with her fingers, then pivoted sharply and began walking northeast.

We quickly followed suit. After about one hour of trudging through what felt like moldy bread, Ryder stopped in her tracks. She angled her neck toward a slowly receding figure walking about fifty feet away from us.

"That's who's going to save us?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah, you have a problem with that?"

"No, except our 'savior' is now licking the ground."

I spun around just as Ebony began to wipe his mouth of drool. I shook my head. Ebony would never do that. Something's wrong.

I turned toward Elrond and gestured toward Ebony. Elrond waved his hands, telling me to go. I sighed, and jogged toward Ebony.

I tapped him on the shoulder, and waited for him to respond. He turned around in confusion,  his eye darting around, looking for the source. When he saw me, he crinkled his nose in disgust, and marched a few paces away from me. I ran to catch up, and realized that something was off about Ebony.

I grabbed him by his shoulders, and jerked him back. He flipped around to face me, and yelled, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Ebony, it's me. Harley. I need your help. You see--"

"Who is Harley? I've never seen you before in my life."

My voice faltered. "W-what?"

"Get away from me, stranger."

"But Ebony--"

"But Ebony nothing! I don't want to hear another person's crazed train of thought today. Or ever!"

"Another? Who else have you been talking with?"

"I am not obliged to tell you of all people. Who I talk to is my business."

"Was it one of our group?"

"I would never associate myself with anyone like that. I need to find people with power, control. Then I'll be happy." He said the last statement to himself, trying to reassure himself about something.

"Ebony, I have powers. Just come with me and we can help you."

"And risk being kidnapped and held for ransom? I know how you people are. And I said I wanted people with power, not meekly powers. Power means you have influence, connections, and so much more."

"Ebony, if you could just tell me what happened--"

"Of course not! I've already spent too much time talking to a total stranger. I'm off to go and find some friends. Now, run along back to your group."

I turned around, and dragged myself to our group. Elrond stepped forward.

"Soo...how did it go?"

I looked up, locking eyes with each member in our group.

"Ebony's lost his memory."