As they boarded the carriage, Adeline settled into her seat across from her mother, smoothing her gown carefully. The coachman cracked his whip, and they set off through the cobblestone streets of the city.

Something big was planned, he knew.  Was it true that the Duke was a heretic?  The city held two churches, large structures dedicated to the God Annis. The true God, the one that the priests spoke of.  Everything else, the priest told him, was demon worship. Heretics and murderer...

As they moved through the fields, the tall grass whispered secrets of danger with each gust of wind. Aria's eyes darted from shadow to shadow, her nerves frayed from years of constant vigilance. The sun beat down mercilessly, and sweat trickled down her back, her once-fine clothe...

Six months later...

"We haven't seen their kind here in years," Maribeth said.

Princess Aria ran through the woods alone, feet cut from the rough ground and muscles aching. Tears streamed down her face and terror pounded in her heart.

Abigail watched in horror when Haatim disappeared into the crevice. It seemed like watching through a blurry window, as she remained only vaguely aware of her surroundings. Still locked in mortal combat with the demon, it tried to finish crushing her.

Nigel's eyes lit up as an idea struck him. "Wait a second," he said, pulling out his datapad. "Now that the power's back on, maybe we can access the station's systems and find some useful information."

He couldn’t help but blink and take a deep breath. Mahkinson turned, eyes still on Gregory, and waved a hand at the executioner. The sword was raised once more. Gregory knew that what he was likely getting himself killed but didn’t give himself time to make a rational decision.