Reina was too far gone.
The ground lurched before carrying them away into the rushing currents, the murky gravel strewn river conjured by the ex Stormkeeper dragged him through the muck and stained what little clothes he managed to salvage from Gizmo's explosion. Hawkins clung to Sleek's tombstone with everything he had, desperate to ignore the wailing howls of the struggling wolves, the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and the less than stable ground slowly sinking into the abyss.
The attempts to plug the water and divert it with tunnels crumbled under Axis' weak infrastructure after so much damage, digging and reassembling from Tinker Moles and Traited alike. But still the wolves fought to swim underneath the currents, struggling to fill the holes and evaporate what little water their flame-touched mane could.
The Singfall siren was a pinprick of aquamarine light against the broken building's support, wide-eyed and head back, marvelling at her power. Hack had managed to create a few shaky pillars to help with the wolves' fatigue but Hawkins knew the Sand Wraith was struggling against the sudden sinkhole and slick surfaced ground.
Despite the numerous earthquakes attempting to topple the Singfall siren, her arms are still wide, rain bucketing down while it fuels her rage to send Axis into the damn ground along with them. Odi perched on Hack's head, exhausted but steadily breathed flames onto any waves that came near in an attempt to dry out the ground despite the rising steam.
Precariously, the water continued to rise to waist high levels and attempt to drag them into a whirlpool of debris, bricks and dust and down into the depths but Hack sent a concussive blast of sheer rock. It allowed a makeshift bridge from him to the rest of the group to try and give them a breather to cling to before having to waste any more energy swimming against the currents. Reina barely even glanced in their direction.
"That wasn't enough to stop her? Fine."
Hack grumpily shifted his footing, struggling to ignore the pull of the rapids spinning them into each other and fought to remain standing despite his crumbling prosthetic. Trying to catch his breath, Hawkins silently prayed to Axis to fight back, to help restore it in exchange for a final stand against whoever dared to harm it. But as he stared at the broken chimneys, abandoned buildings, manoeuvrable roads and walls were long gone and damaged beyond repair. No amount of praying would change that.
"Hack you don't have to do this. We'll find another way to keep Memoriam safe. We always do."
Odi's voice was strong despite the overwhelming noise of the water and nuzzled his neck, making the old Sand Wraith chuckle. The lukewarm water shifted around his waist and he locked eyes with Hawkins still precariously teetering near the Soulcatcher Grove. He smiled, saying nothing and everything all at once. Hawkins' heart dropped and let go of the tombstone.
"No. I'm done trying to cover up for their mistakes. If Cricket wants to know what happened to her so badly? I'll show her myself. Once I deal with her."
Hawkins eyes went wide, his mentor giving himself no resistance to the oncoming sinkhole, letting it take him away as he tried to follow suit. His Earth Trait barely slowed against the sludge-like water, eternally waiting to reach the centre of this behemoth effort to sink his home. The Smoke Traited desperately tried to reach him, wary of his lack of swimming ability but darted from each crumbling rock that came his way.
Fear clawed at his throat along with the disgusting mix of rain, gravel and silt from Axis' leftover terrain but he didn't care. He dove under the weight of Reina's Trait, barely controlling his desperate limbs and breathing even as Hack remained out of sight and the amber eyes of the Scale Shrieker being the only thing that gave him guidance. He couldn't see the twins. He couldn't see the wolves. He couldn't even see that unnecessarily hostile elf. But he'd be damned if he'd lose sight of Hackerby Longsnout.
"Go, Odi."
"No!"
"Odiphilis."
"Please. Protect him for me. Like a Guardian should."
Hawkins wanted to scream out in pain, in rage, in agony but the hazy water forced him to focus on the dark shape only a few metres below him. He clamped his eyes shut to avoid the brick dust in his eyes, the floating debris still buoyant thanks to Axis' latent Charger Craft stored within it. He couldn't hold on for much longer.
"Rushling, my nephew. Give me strength though undeserving."
He could hear his mentor pray to an Agar he'd never met, the collar on his shirt being dragged back by a sharp pain nipping at his neck. Odi. He fought her away, the tension in the water began to change, Hawkins' focus drifted from sheer exhaustion and lack of air but he couldn't, he wouldn't give up. He knew what was coming. He knew what Hack intended to do. He knew if he let it happen Hack wouldn't survive it.
"Anirri, my Fatekeeper. Burn away this sight. For your compass asks of you. One last time."
Hawkins' vision snapped open wide, a wordless cry burning his throat as the surface of the water rippled like a thousand eyes watching him. But although the judging gaze seemed to set its sights beyond the murky brink of this damp prison it was the amber hue of a power he could name but didn't recognise that made him weep for what came next.
"Ignite."
"Hack!"
Hawkins fell into weightlessness. Wrapped in scales he never asked for. An embrace that wasn't what he wanted. That was too perfect. Too sharp. No water held him now. Just empty air, bracing and cold without the warmth of the Hanging Sun or the embrace he needed most. He broke away from Odi's attempts to keep himself, ignoring the stinging gravel scouring his knees without a droplet of moisture in sight.
"No, no, no. Where...where is he? What...where is he?" He demanded, scrabbling at the ground as if attempting to piece together a puzzle in the pitch black.
"Hawky..."
The Smoke Traited flinched at the warm ground, ignoring the Scale Shrieker calling for him.
"Don't you dare. Don't you dare call me that. Only he can call me that." He said savagely, the dragon finally free from her cage only to be yelled at.
She towered over him, keeping a watchful eye on the clearing still strewn with broken rubble but there was no trace of any rainfall that had continuously bucketed down. No one else was in sight, no injuries covering her dirt-covered scales and even her wings seemed to be in working order. But after everything they had gone through to get her back the sinking feeling in his chest made him realise. He didn't care.
"Jeremiah."
Hawkins whipped around, his fury directed towards the voice as the glow of his desperate Fire Trait burnt the very stones beneath him. The dull amber light flickered out and let out a whisper of smoke enough to make the figure cough. The Sand Wraith was hunched up against a broken wall, still crumbling between his claws as he let the dust fall harmlessly against the familiar sight of his grimoire.
"It didn't work. Why...why didn't it work?"
Hawkins had never seen him like this. His anger lessened just a touch to approach him slowly, the broken Sand Wraith drew his knees up to his chest and kept his grimoire tight under the crook of his arm. Hawkins peered at his mentor, his haunted eyes far more startling than he had ever seen them. His grimoire surrounded by chains. The Lockbind.
"You..."
Hawkins failed to find the words.
"I was ready and willing. I gave my all to the Timekeeper but-"
Hack's words were cut short by Hawkins' punch.
"Idiot! You fucking idiot! You really think dying would have saved us? Would've saved me?"
Hack clutched at his jaw, spitting out what little blood was drawn from the punch and dared to explain his reasoning after everything they went through.
"I owe the Timekeeper a favour. I thought...if I repaid that tonight, the Lockbind would disrupt Reina's crusade. But they denied me. The curse...my curse denied me of that and Kirai-"
"I don't give a damn if you're still cursed. I don't give a damn it you owe the whole damn world a favour. Clearly we're going to have every natural disaster thrown at us for the next several hours and not having you here does not change that!"
His hand throbbed with pain, unused to violence but unable to stand by and watch his mentor devolve into a shell of his former self even as he turned his back on Hack.
"So get your damn head out of your ass and quit sacrificing yourself for someone else's trauma." He added, heading back towards Odi despite the rush of exhaustion from the adrenaline ending.
"You've never stood up to me like that before." Hack said quietly, shuffling his position a little like an awkward teenager.
"Yeah, well. You've never done something so incredibly stupid before."
His retort fell on deaf ears, Hack still hyper focused on how his initial plan failed.
"I'm a necromancer, Hawkins. Even if I die-"
"No. Even if you can change that, even if you can survive that what would be the point? What would be the price? Your memories? Because that kind of power, curse or not, doesn't seem to come for free Hack. You only need to look at Cricket to know that."
"You don't even know..."
"I know enough, Hack. Hell's I've seen enough. Shadow Traited. Triads. Memoriam. All of that. All of that is nothing compared to losing you. Or did you not think of the people around you, the people who love you and the people who still wait for you?"
"Rush...Laia, no. He would..."
"Just like Fidget would." Odi added, reminding him of the contract they held as fellow Agars.
Hawkins didn't need to say anything more. The look on Hack's face was enough.
"You knew. You knew from the very beginning I was hiding something and you still...you still kept quiet."
Hawkins gave him a smile, keeping the distance in case of retaliation but more for his dwindling anger than anything else. When Hack set his mind to something he rarely thought of the consequences. Whatever incantation he had tried to use to negate Reina's Trait was blocked by the red hot chains winding around his grimoire.
His arms shook as he held the lifeline close but Hawkins took his arm and wordlessly helped him to stand. Despite the fatigue setting in and the Sand Wraith's awkward prosthetic, the duo embraced and finally Hack let him in.
"I trust you, you idiot. Thought you knew that?"
The Sand Wraith's weight grew heavy with the burden of holding in so much for so long, the grip on his grimoire going slack at last as he clung to Hawkins with everything he had and sobbed. The Smoke Traited managed to steady himself, still weak but determined not to break his hold on his mentor.
Hack grimoire refused to dissipate, spinning precariously while the glowing red chains dimmed to silver as the Sand Wraith wordlessly poured his heart out over everything that had happened to him over the course of being cursed. Hawkins wiped his eyes, the complex emotions he felt not only from the Sand Wraith himself but the melancholy grimoire hovering patiently beside him.
Hack couldn't say a word. It was the nature of a Lockbind. For today, he didn't need to.
Hawkins couldn't help but laugh, the purple scaled grimoire headbutting his leg like a cat vying for attention as they stepped back a little, stretching as his joints cracked ominously but gently, rested a hand on his mentor's grimoire. Breathing slowly, his head tilted upwards as his vision filled with the flashes of memories before he drew his hand away and his smoke, along with the grimoire disappeared.
Hawkins let out a wry chuckle not unlike his mentor before him, running a hand through his filthy, dust and grime covered hair. That confirmed it. It seemed whatever mystical block on his Trait that had plagued him for so long now confirmed what little information he knew about this whole scenario. Either way, he was the Bookkeeper.
Hack fiddled with his prosthetic leg as a distraction more than a necessity, knowing full well how he had helped him. He smiled, nodding at the awkward placement of his Trait and silently promising to discuss an alternative that didn't aggravate him as much. For now, necessity was everything. Perhaps, that was what helped him feel a little more at peace with his ability to connect to other grimoires.
The smell of the cold air, clear from any hint of rain, reminded him of the countless days spent in the library pouring over books and texts even as the sky burned bright into the early hour of the Hanging Sun. It was the chill of the morning spent content with the knowledge he had fought so desperately to learn even as a child. It was the feeling he had lost a long time ago. Being content with himself.
Maybe that was why he was chosen as Bookkeeper to help others feel right about themselves too. Whether it was over their Trait, grimoire or finding a purpose in a world clouded in death. No matter how small. The grooves of his Trait weapon fit perfectly in his hands, the sheen of the metal making him feel pride for the first time since that awful day. Until a flash of flame brought that memory piercing forwards again.
A claw gripped his collar, pushing him back to the forefront of his mind as his short, rapid breaths became slightly steadier as his vision came into view. This time it was Hack who supported him, leant close into his shoulder for support as the trauma of the memory slowly ebbed and flowed enough to let him breathe again. His gaze focused in on Hack, his grip gentle on his shoulder but far fiercer on the hilt of some kind of weapon. His Trait weapon. But ultimately far more different. It was a staff. The Fatekeeper's staff.
"Apologies for the wait. But my uncle's planning to double cross Reina for you. Again."
Gidget's bad habit of popping up out of the ground didn't deter Hack one bit but Hawkins jumped out of his skin, clearly jump scaring was a specialty of Tinker Moles. Or perhaps it was Gizmo's family who simply had a flair for the dramatic. The Tinker Mole was propelled forwards as he fell out of the hole he had created and two other creatures broke through from the earth, completely unaware and covered in mud. Blaize and Hazard charged straight for the stumbling Smoke Traited and barrelled into him like a couple of puppies.
"When?" Odi asked, attempting to ignore the wolf twins' antics but the tweak of a smile betrayed her serious tone.
Gidget adjusted his hard hat, looking around warily for any sounds of rain but it was like Hack's failed attempt to call for a Keeper's boon had erased any signs of Reina or Cricket in the vicinity. Hack leaned heavily on his staff, the unfamiliar Trait weapon assisting his makeshift prosthetic as much as he could. He didn't know what Hack had attempted but the staff continued to stick in his mind and Hack's memories along with a tentative theory. Hack had tried to sacrifice his grimoire to call on the Fire Trait of a Timekeeper.
"In about three seconds."
Gidget's casual tone woke Hawkins out of his cuddle pile, Blaize brushing a brief bit of healing against him to try and relieve him of their shared duties. Hazard flanked the Mediator, growling as the smell of smoke and Tinker Mole arrived on the winds. A flicker of flame spread to Odi's wings in an apology, Hawkins Trait attempting to make up for the way he had yelled at her earlier. She ruffled her wings gingerly, still wary of the wounds Cricket had inflicted on her.
"You promised I'd get revenge, you foul beast!"
Gizmo's voice echoed across the entirety of the clearing, rising plumes of smoke peered through the wasteland as the explosions lit up the darkness like beacons against the night. But somehow, some way not one of the bombs came near them or the ground beneath them. Hawkins had to squint to see the chase between the wily Tinker Mole and the steadfast Singfall siren, Reina using the little moisture in the air to assist in any way she could while Gizmo charged at her with the full force of a Crafter with nothing to lose.
"Did I? Oh I must've forgotten."
Reina's wry grin sent a lurch of fear and dread, the faraway sight of two grimoires being caught in the frenzy of the battle between an ex Stormkeeper and an angry Forger Crafter. Hawkins desperately tried to think of a way to lure Memoriam away from the demented Singfall siren but the moment the fear crossed his mind Gizmo tossed his Craft right into the fray.
Just as Cull had done to stop Cricket and Hawkins had done to the Earth Overtaken so long ago, Gizmo had used the grimoires curiosity and Reina's gullibility to his advantage and launched a flurry of bombs right at the black grimoire. The Singfall siren was blasted back in an instant, the explosion caught her full in the face even as her attempt to shield herself with her arms and her Trait.
Hawkins was dragged down into the dirt by a familiar claw, his vision barely able to keep up despite the rising smoke and flame. He could hear the others coughing and choking to try and duck down from the backlash of the dust but the Smoke Traited didn't need to worry. He stood and began to run in to find the Crafter, Gidget popping his head back under the comfort of Axis' supports.
Hawkins Smoke Trait gorged on the new environment, the smoke clearing like a river of calm as the black grimoire floated down to them while the Infernal Triad veered off to the right and remained out of sight. But not from a beady eyed Smoke Traited like Hawkins.
"There's something else you forgot about!"
He could hear Mantis' voice calling to whoever was on the other side of the curtain, the Mediator finally thriving in an environment that wasn't doused with cloying rain and cold. His sight adjusted quickly to the smoke cloud, his breath no longer struggling against the overwhelming heat now it had dimmed to the smoky exterior Axis was once infamous for.
Guilt clawed at his stomach for all of those who struggled against it but before he could finish the thought his feet stumbled backwards. Gizmo wordlessly tugged him back, a claw to his snout despite his clear exhaustion and tipped a few leftover pebbles glowing with amber rage into his pocket.
Hawkins blinked in surprise at his gesture, the Tinker Mole rolling his eyes before pointing to what looked like an overgrown mishmash of blocks and railings like a Miner Crafter had attempted to rebuild based on Hack's Trait rather than his own. He glanced back, Cull giving him a quiet but stoic wave while Gidget snacked on what looked like jerky that the Fire Traited had most doubtedly kept to himself and smuggled in along with his Insta Rolls. They were strangely well prepared.
"What might that be?"
Hawkins flinched, diving beneath Gidget's barriers before he could even register it. The Singfall sirens melodic, echoing sent chills down his spine recalling her alluring gaze even without locking eyes with her. Every breath he took was heavy, the chill of her Trait burning his chest even with the drifting smoke attempting to aid him.
The eeriest part of Reina's mirage wasn't the lack of injuries from the earlier explosion or the lack of eyes on Cricket but the fact there wasn't a single drop of rain. Hawkins hunkered down, peering through the small gaps in Gidget's walls in an attempt to see something, anything in the distance that could allude to the change in weather. Then, in a stroke of obviousness despite the Divide that loomed above the Mediator looked up.
"I'm not just a Traited."
The crazy half elf stood atop the makeshift battlements made in minutes rather than years and held the entirety of Reina's sinkhole in the palm of her hand. Her Windspell aura blazed across the night sky, bathing the usually dull grey surroundings of Axis and herself in a glow of fury. The fury of a Stormkeeper.
Hawkins knew little to nothing about Forecasters but he knew a kamikaze plan when he saw one. His mouth tweaked into a smile, knowing exactly where she had gotten that from. Tucking his theory into the back of his mind, he braced himself for what came next and tossed the beads of Forger Craft into the fray.
"Mantis! Now!"
Cull's shout directed Reina's gaze right towards them, frazzled by the minature bombs returning once more but the Singfall siren continued her attempt to heal herself with her Trait only slightly bothered by the minature explosions. Hawkins gave her a wan smile, poking his head out just enough to see her fins flattened against her back and made sure to only look at her midriff.
She was clearly mentally scarred by Gizmo's last attack. It didn't matter if her wounds healed over or her legs kept moving. If her mind wouldn't let her fight then her Trait weapon wouldn't follow suit. Hawkins knew that all too well. It was the sight of a broken soldier fighting to stay alive.
Attempting to fight against her mental block, Reina set her eyes on their slapdash fortress, infuriated by Gizmo's constant allegiance change and ran to attack him. But Gidget had gotten lessons from seeing a Sand Wraith at work, his Miner Craft somehow moulding the hard ground beneath her into a wiggling mass that kept her in place. It was in the shape of a symbol. A Hammerlocke symbol. Attack.
"Hold on to something, idiots!"
Mantis' shaking legs and uneasy footing betrayed her determined roar, all the attention gravitating towards her as a giant whirlpool swirled ominously above her. Her grimoire, pages open wider than he'd ever seen as Trait and Caster worked in tandem despite her gritted teeth and with a flash of sky blue the grimoire snapped shut.
The whirlpool vanished. The sinkhole stopped. Reina broke free. The clearing around them erupted.
The sheer force of Mantis' combined spell formed into a damn tornado, the lack of rainfall finally making itself known despite the centrifugal energy of the rushing wind and rainstorm. Hawkins clung to the fraying battlements, the surrounding area being swept away like wet clay.
If it wasn't for Gidget's strange connection to Axis, his animate foundations wouldn't have forcibly pinned them in place and Hawkins was sure he would've been carried along with the siren. The Infernal Triad remained steadfast in front of the Tinker Moles, the winds whipping past as Cull's Trait warmed the air around them.
"Hold on, Mediator! Don't worry about the Sand Wraith, the wolves know the plan. Just keep still." Cull roared, desperate to make himself heard but Hawkins only caught every third word.
He could barely see against the rising dust storm, his advantage being swept away with the conjuring winds and tsunami strength waves that had only one purpose. To tire the Singfall siren and wear her Trait down to nothing. Mantis was submerged in the Forecaster aura of her own making, the whirling force of her attack changing and shifting into a large falcon guiding the whirlwind of Trait and Caster combined into the single opponent in front of her.
Hawkins peripheral flashes amber, a twisting like dragon symbol burning against the Trait strewn night sky before being blotted out by a searing display of Water Trait. The symbol still burned in his mind, the feeling he had seen it before dimming in the face of overwhelming fear. Reina wasn't down yet. She still had some fight left in her.
Despite all of that crushing weight and destructive winds the Singfall siren refused to give up, kneeling at the sight of such power before slicing through it with her own. The deafening sound of nature's disasters halted beneath the slice of her blade, the falcon's cry descending with each cut made as her fins trembled beneath the power of such a grimoire. Until she was met face to face with Mantis' Wind Trait.
Reina stumbled and it was needed. The half elf with the unusual concoction of wind and rain but not to the degree anyone ever expected, not storm but sheer force of will that seemed to stretch endlessly all the way to Neridia and back in an instant. It was the unknown yet familiar power that had a name he couldn't quite place but Mantis' expression paired with Reina's inevitable defeat to an unyielding force. Complete and utter stubbornness.
Hawkins turned his head away as Reina fell into the expanse of endless wind, his grip barely hanging on to the small clump remaining from such a large structure. Memoriam took its cue from the Triad, reinforcing the Mediator from behind and repelling as much as Mantis' tornado as possible. Until the tornado became a squall, a squall became a flurry, a flurry became a gust and gently, simply became still. Hawkins' heart still beat furiously between his ribs, unable to move even as the rain petered out and the old memory of Axis became clear.
Just like rain dripping on an oil canvas, the darkened sky brightened just enough to peel through the wax like structures becoming solid against the gloom. The gossamer sheen of morning dew brushed over night and dragged the smoky streets forwards once more into the front of the frame, no longer broken or abandoned but filled with potential. Just like every Traited who passed through these dreary but ever changing streets.
Half expecting the sun to peek through the surrounding darkness like a beacon of victory, the wind and rain Mantis had summoned remained steadfast much like the floods and droughts that had once threatened Tarragon and Neridia. But unlike the Hanging Sun or Hack's Pulse the burrowing plants he had begun to sprout crept around the newly restructured buildings like crawling vines rapidly growing and settling into the brickwork.
Rain dripped slowly off the hooked flowers and slowly re-emerging wildlife, a flurry of movement caught Hawkins attention before looking behind him. Gidget shook out his fur, covered in a thin layer of spray and soil while Gizmo grimaced at his dishevelled appearance repeatedly brushing himself down. Mantis remained at the centre of the clearing, gingerly walking down the plinth she had kept herself tied to despite it slowly descending back into the ground.
Hawkins let out the breath he was holding, the relief at seeing everyone alive even as Cull threatened to set Gizmo's fur on fire as he continued to try and use his Forger Craft to dry himself off without accidentally exploding himself. Mantis continued to steadily rejoin the group, hovering back a little as if waiting on something and trying to recover as much stamina as possible.
In a rush of sound that reminded him of a waterfall, Mantis stuck her arm out just as a set of ferocious talons streaked by and perched ominously but obediently beside her. The half elf gave her familiar the first genuine smile Hawkins had seen from her in a while, the falcon mimicking the turn of her head as she studied him closely.
He was made from rain speckled wings and teary streaks that formed its feathers to eyes that held every attentive word that was latched onto the carrying winds no matter where the direction. The falcon's powerful wings outlasted any conditions that were thrown at him, his beak forged from the harshest frost while his shimmering plumage sent teardrops scattering and dissipating. Before Hawkins could even blink, the familiar dropped into a short bow that was almost too quick to catch, Mantis gently stroking the falcon's feathers in gratitude.
"Thank you, August."