Missing

Tests

Dark clouds blocked the strengthening moonlight, leaving the nearby street lights to stand unrivaled. The black silhouette of the half-finished mall loomed over us like a final boss at the end of a good video game. A shrill cry of a raven cut through the silent scene as we studied the environment.

"Shao," Declivity started. "Lead the way."

With a nod, The Hunter guided us through the maze of construction vehicles, stacks of wood, and pools of steel pipes. Mountains of dirt and rubble erupted from the ground like monuments, eerily illuminated by the harsh light surrounding us.

Soon, we arrived at a blood-soaked clearing. Bloodied pipes were toppled over from their neat stacks. Dust coated palettes and upturned concrete. Large pools of water and ice gathered around the clearing.

Glancing at The Hunter, I saw his shoulders raise and his fists clench. Only pausing for a moment, he strode across the clearing and around the corner of a wood pile. Following his lead, we found a strange sight.

Between two large mounds of broken concrete, there was a wooden post stuck upright in the dirt. A rich blue and violet shred of cloth clung to it and gently swayed in the mild breeze. A short way behind it was a familiar piece of tan armour. It was broken, having entire chunks of it missing and it seemed to have scorch marks that took it away from its former glossy glory. A little bit further was a broken section of a mask.

It was designed like Declivity's but had panels of armour segmenting it. Now the lens in this fragment was cracked and the armour was dented and broken. The cloth that held the mask to the rest of the costume was shredded far beyond repair.

I immediately recognized the armour as McGwire's, the light reflecting off of his StrikeStone emblem too well. Fury boiled in my stomach as I imagined the battle that had taken place. McGwire, where he never shied from a fight, was a softie at heart. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the scene.

Cam, however, hurried to the broken costume. Picking up the mask, he studied the damage that had been done to it. The rest of us were soon at his side. The Hunter studied a gap between the two large chunks of upturned concrete.

"What happened here?" I heard Blitzwing mutter. He was glancing back to the clearing, his dark eyes glistening with concern.

"Guys, I found something," Hunter announced, drawing our attention away. Declivity stood up and we followed him to where Shao was kneeling.

There was another shred of cloth, this one much different than the one on the post. It was torn in jagged edges on one end, but the other faded into mist in a marbled swirl of colour. The colours on the piece swirled and danced around one another.

The base colour seemed to be dark silver. Orange and red curled around each other while pools of rich purple arrived underneath them briefly before fading back into the silver. Small flecks and spirals of metallic blue materialized from the mist and rolled up to the mangled tatters of the cloth, dispersing as they went.

It was pinned to the dirt by a small jagged chunk of concrete, the mist dancing around it before dissipating out of sight. Shao was holding a corner of it, angling it towards the light.

"What is it?" Blitzwing asked tentatively.

"I ... I don't know; I've never seen this before," Declivity answered, studying the other-worldly fabric.

"Well, it's not Mic's. Maybe it's from someone who took him?" I suggested, craning my neck to get a better look at the cloth.

Cam looked up at The Hunter, waiting for an answer. Finally, Shao shrugged.

"I'm not sure. I don't remember seeing anyone with anything that even resembled this," he answered, shaking his head. He lifted the concrete off of the mystical cloth and handed it to Blitzwing to put in a pouch. "I'm sure it'll lead to something, though."