Missing

Back to Base

The half-finished mall laid outlined by the moonlight, but something looked off. Someone stood at the top of the crane in front of the mall. A long cloak billowed out behind them, part of the bottom missing. The end of the cloak itself faded into a thin mist.

"Mir, you see that?" I asked. I kept my gaze locked on the figure.

"Yeah, I do. Looks like we found the owner of that cloth. Find a safe place and get back to base; I'll see who this guy is."

Without waiting for me to say anything, Blitzwing shot towards the crane. Sure, hoard all the fun, why don't you? I chuckled to myself. Turning away, I glided towards the blood-soaked clearing we had found earlier.

There was one large chunk of concrete resting at the side of the clearing, a few rods of bent rebar sticking out. Thinking that to be sufficient cover, I landed.

"SpellBinder, do you copy?" I asked into my comm. A long moment later, I heard Jack's voice crackling through the static.

"Yeah, I hear you. Are all of you there? Did you find Mic?"

"No, it's just me and McGwire; we actually found him! The others are busy. I'll explain more when I'm there."

Jack paused for a few heartbeats. I could practically hear the gears turning in his head. "You'd better explain as soon as you get back."

There were a few moments of silence before an airy hiss filled the air around us. Like before, green and brown mist swirled around each other in a sphere. A heartbeat later, the colours opened up to show the base infirmary, but it was like I was looking at it through water. Jack was standing just on the other side. Connor was still laying on one of the beds beside him, one of his arms now in a sling.

"Wait!" The cry came from behind me.

Turning around, I saw Mir gliding towards us, his wings fanned out to slow himself down. He landed hard, staggering a bit but staying on his feet. McGwire, who was closer, helped steady Mir.

"Are you alright, my friend?" he asked.

Blitzwing looked uneasy. "Um, yeah. I'm good. Thanks."

We walked through the misty portal and back into the infirmary. Once Jack made sure Mir's wings had made it through, he closed the opening, the coloured mist dispersing in the air. Jack was immediately looking over McGwire, checking for injuries while I wearily leaned against one of the beds. Satisfied that Mic was fine, Jack turned his attention to me.

"Ok, where are the others?"

"We encountered hostiles while we were there. Shao and Cam are still fighting them. There's only two of them; they'll be fine. Personally, I'm just glad we–."

"Wait, what happened to you?" Jack's voice raised in a panic.

Hurriedly, he went to one of the many cabinets in the room, retrieving a change of clothes. Tossing them to me, he ushered me to the bathroom.

"Come right back out so I can see what happened. I'll ask Star if she'll be willing to fix your costume."

He's changed a little, I thought as I closed the door. He's getting way more protective of us. I mean, with everything that's happened it makes sense. We're like a family. If one of us goes missing, we're bound to notice. Jack has always been protective. It's part of why he chose to be the medic and not go to the frontlines. It's so strange to see how this is affecting the others.

Once I had gotten changed into a blue tank top and shorts, I saw that Jack had been busy. He had prepared one of the medical tables near the back of the room where we were. An overbed table had been rolled over, various medical supplies lay strewn across it haphazardly. A few of the cabinet doors across the room rested partially open, betraying Jack's anxiety.