Devlin was at the top of the staircase, finally facing off against the man he had come here to see. The force of his own leap combined with Myles' help had been enough to launch him pretty high in the air and he had come down swinging. The veins on the sergeant's forehead looked ready to burst. Looking at him from this close, Devlin could see details that he hadn't from the ground floor. The man was wearing some kind of metal gloves, and spikes decorated his military uniform like studs. He was tall- much taller than Devlin- but the most striking thing about him was the look in his eyes. Before he had looked at Devlin with a palpable superiority and cockiness. Now, the only thing in his expression was rage.

  "You want me to deal with you? I'll make you regret coming here." There were still soldiers around the man, but they backed up at his declaration.

  Devlin didn't grin as he squared up with him. His response was simple. "You're a bad soldier."

  Devlin crouched down and went to leap at the man again. He drew his arm back to throw a punch, just to feel those metal gauntlets slam into his face and send him flying hard into the wall.

  Devlin got back onto his feet and didn't waste time before running at the man again. This time he waited to make his move until the last second, ducking down to slide past him and hitting the back of his knee with the hilt of his sword. He had intended to go for the sergeant's back as he fell, but it seemed he had failed to knock him down. Before Devlin could get another move in, the man had one of his metal gauntlets wrapped around his throat and was lifting him up in the air. Devlin gripped at the metal fingers with his hands, kicking his feet to try to get loose, but it did nothing to help him. He felt the other fist crash into the side of his head. A moment later, he was being thrown across the room and slamming into one of the walls once again. His sword fell from his hands and slid somewhere across the floor.

  "You ready to give up yet, kid? Taken enough of a beating? Maybe if you get on your knees and beg I'll spare your life."

  Something flashed in Devlin's eyes at those words. He was a little shakier when he got back to his feet this time, but there was still no hesitation.

  "Why would you even become a soldier just to hurt people who can't fight back?"

  "Do you really believe all of that stupid altruistic garbage about duty and innocents? There's no such thing as an innocent man. I'm the one in charge of this town. The people should be thankful that I treat them so well here. If they have a problem with how I run things, they should get stronger and protect themselves."

  Devlin's knuckles dripped blood onto the floor. "So if you're stronger, you can do whatever you want? Well I'll show you what that's like when I take you down!"

  Something caught his eyes behind the sergeant and the beginnings of a grin started to return to his face. He braced himself on his hands and feet, and then took off sprinting. He faked as if he were going for the sergeant's legs once more, and then directed his aim higher at the last second. His fist slammed into the sergeant's stomach at the same time that Myles kicked him from behind, pushing him into Devlin's attack.

  Unfortunately, though they had managed to send the man staggering, the punch he had been throwing connected at the same time. The sergeant's fist slammed into the side of Devlin's face. He hit the ground hard and had to struggle to get back on his feet.

  Myles hadn't stopped moving, and used the gun that was still in his hands to hit the bastard again before spinning it around and swinging for his head. The first hit connected, surprising Myles, but when he went for the head shot, a metal hand came up at the last moment and wrapped its fingers around the barrel of his gun. Myles was ripped forward as Holke jerked it out of his hands and then there was no time to soften the blow of the metal fist slamming into his face. Myles fell to the ground. Before he could breathe, a steel toe boot slammed into his side. He felt himself roll across the floor. He tried to push himself up onto his knees, but then another kick sent him flying back several more feet. Footsteps approached him, and he struggled again, bracing for another hit. He would not lose like this. He had to get up.

  But then there was someone standing in between him and Holke. His eyes widened when he realized it was Devlin. He had seen that last hit he had taken to the head. How was the kid still standing? The hair on Myles' arms raised with goosebumps as if a cool breeze was running through the room.

  Devlin's voice was low and angry. "You hurt my friend."

  Holke laughed. He drew back as if to kick Devlin down, but the boy was already moving. Somehow, he stepped just around his leg, and slammed a kick of his own into Holke's chest. The large man went staggering back several feet.

  Devlin used the second he had bought to glance at Myles. "You okay?"

  Myles was halfway to his feet now. "Don't worry about me."

  "Wanna finish this guy off together?"

  Myles wore a dark grin. "It would be my pleasure."

  "Launch me again?"

  "You go high, I'll go low."

  Devlin stepped behind Myles and then took two running steps. Myles cupped his hands together and boosted him up in the air. Without wasting a second, Myles himself started running, curving around to come at his target from the right. While Holke was looking up at the man approaching rapidly from above with his fist cocked, Myles launched from the side, using his hands on the ground to propel both his feet hard into the man's knees from the right hand side. He heard a crunch as something broke.

  The man didn't even have time to fall. Devlin reached out one hand in a grabbing motion as he flipped through the air, and then he pulled it back to wind up for his strike. The punch hit Holke square between the eyes, the man in question too distracted by the pain in his legs to get his hands up in time or dodge away. It knocked him straight backwards towards the balcony, which snapped as he slammed into it. He fell backwards into the air and then dropped to the ground head first. A loud crash filled the room as he hit the floor below, and the tile around him shattered. Myles and Devlin walked to the railing together to look down at him, but the man did not get back up. Myles couldn't help but glance at the boy next to him, surprised once again at his strength. Myles was no stranger to fighting, but he wasn't sure he could have hit the man as hard as Devlin just had.

  Devlin turned to the other soldiers in the room who were still standing. They had hands on their weapons, but looked too afraid and wary to approach.

  "Did any of you guys help the bandits kidnap Sasha too?"

  No one said a word at first, eyes widening at Devlin's glare.

  "I asked a question!"

  One soldier who must have been the next highest ranking after the sergeant stepped forward. "We are soldiers, sir. We would never work with bandits, and we have been investigating the disappearances in this area." The other soldiers had taken a step back as they had faced off against the sergeant, no longer stepping in to fight. "If what you and the sergeant said was all true, then he needs to face justice. We all heard what he said here. We will look for evidence to back these accusations and see to it that he is properly dealt with."

  "Oh. Well, that's great!" Devlin smiled at the man.

  The soldier turned to one of his comrades. "Go. Lock him up until we can settle this." The man followed orders without hesitation.

  "I guess our work here is done," Devlin said. "Let's get out of here Myles."

  The soldier who had been speaking to them stepped forward. "I am afraid I can't allow you to go anywhere. You have infiltrated and invaded a military base, destroyed our property, and attacked countless numbers of our men. All of those things are serious crimes. Furthermore, I simply can't let you go anywhere until this whole matter with the disappearances has been settled and guilt has been determined once and for all."

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  "Aw, come on! We just did you guys a favor, taking out that jerk."

  The soldier bowed his head slightly in a respectful way. "If we find that what you have said here is true," the man said 'if', but the look of utter disgust he threw Holke's way betrayed some of his feelings, "then I am sure that will be taken into consideration when determining your sentence. And if you were involved in locating our missing residents, we may even owe you our thanks."

  "Oh!" Devlin's eyes brightened and he smiled again. "No problem, mister." He looked towards the stairway, but then his eyes widened as he froze. "I almost forgot!" He ran back to pick up his sword from off the ground and slid it back into its sheath. Myles felt like smacking his palm against his forehead. As Devlin moved, a couple of soldiers shifted to block the stairs.

  "Regardless," the man continued, with a bit of a nervous voice, "The army does not take the destruction of property or involvement with the types of crimes in question lightly. It is our duty to ensure the proper order of justice is carried out."

  Devlin didn't understand. He whispered to Myles, scratching his head. "Is he thanking us or not?"

  Myles didn't say anything and he didn't take his eyes off of the man.

  Two new soldiers approached hesitantly. The man who had been talking spoke again. "It would be best if you would cooperate until we are able to sort this out. I am sure you understand." The soldiers reached for two sets of handcuffs and it was clear what their intentions were.

  Devlin was still looking at the man who had taken charge. "Oh, sorry, but we're actually leaving. We were just here to finish a deal and take down that jerk." Devlin pointed at the sergeant who hands were already bound behind his back and was being pulled upright by two men.

  Holke seemed to have regained consciousness and was listening to their conversation. He looked up at the two of them from the ground floor and started to laugh as he made eye contact with Myles. "You don't even know who I work for, do you? Did you think you could stand in the way of his business twice and get away with it? You're a fool to have come here." Myles kept his eyes on the man until the soldiers started dragging him away.

  Devlin glanced at him questioningly for a brief moment, and then finally noticed the men approaching them with the cuffs. His expression darkened. "I told you, we're leaving."

  An alarm went off throughout the facility and a voice rang out. "Reinforcements are arriving. The suspects must not be allowed to escape!"

  The soldier in front of them tried to say something. "Don't worry about that. Just cooperate with us now and we'll shut that alarm off." It did make sense. They were innocent of most of those crimes, and they would likely be released in a few days after their names were cleared. That was assuming they ended up siding with a foreigner and a stranger over one of their own officers. Not to mention whatever Holke had been implying. Still, it seemed that the man in front of them at least, was on their side.

  Myles glanced at Devlin and knew the moment he saw his eyes that the kid would definitely not be cooperating. Myles swore before making a decision, grabbing him by the forearm, and taking off at a run before he could attack that man and get them into an even worse situation.

  "Hey! Stop!"

  Myles ignored the shouts and pulled them around the side of the balcony the way he had come in. He heard the sounds of footfall as the reinforcements made their way towards the main hall on the first floor and pushed himself to run faster.

  They slammed out the door to the outside, and saw troops pouring into the gate. Myles leapt off the staircase, and ducked behind the stairs with Devlin at his side. He watched quietly, waiting for a moment. He was disappointed to see that they had stationed a whole squadron to block off the entrance, guns facing towards the interior of the base.

  Myles was back to being weaponless, and both he and Devlin had taken some serious hits. He was trying to evaluate their odds against the men at the gate when a soldier's voice called out from the top floor balcony. "The intruders have been spotted making a break for the back gate! All hands, after them! We cannot allow them to get away with this!"

  All of a sudden, the defenders were following orders and running away from the gate. Myles was shocked. Either this was the luckiest coincidence that had ever happened to him, or that soldier had just lied to save them. He counted down three seconds after he could no longer see the men, and then he and Devlin made a break for it. A couple of shouts went up as the men who chased them out of the hall finally did their job and spotted them, but it was too late and they were outside the walls. They made it several streets from the base before ducking into an alleyway to catch their breath.

  Myles turned on Devlin, choosing to blame this all on him rather than admitting to his own part. "What in the hell is your plan now?" He asked Devlin.

  "I'm kind of hungry. You said you knew a good place for snacks around here?"

  "That's what you're thinking about? The army is after us!"

  "They can't bother us while we're eating."

  "What!? Yes, yes they can!" Myles paused for a minute, but realized that maybe there were worse ideas. It certainly wouldn't be predictable. He let out another impressive string of curse words that Devlin didn't recognize, then led the way to another alley several streets down. There they entered a small tavern Myles had been to once before. When Devlin attempted to sit right at the middle of the bar, Myles dragged him to a table tucked in the corner.

  In less than a minute, a waitress had already asked them if they wanted a bowl of the day's special and put a couple of drinks in front of them.

  Myles got to the point. "Devlin, what the hell was that?"

  "Ooooh! Food!"

  The waitress plopped down two steaming bowls of stew in front of them, and Devlin ignored him in favor of digging in with gusto.

  "Seriously. Did you even have a plan when you led us here to the Cape in the first place?"

  "Of course, Myles. I'm looking for the Brink."

  Myles frowned. "What is that? I've never heard of it."

  "If I knew where it was, I wouldn't have to look."

  Myles massaged his temples. He tried a slightly different tactic. "Why are you looking for it?"

  Devlin seemed pleased by the questioning as hummed as he took his next bite. Myles felt his patience running thin. "That's where the road is."

  Myles waited for him to continue. He didn't. "The road to where?" He prompted.

  Devlin put down his spoon and grinned up at him as he answered. "The edge of the world, of course."

  Myles frowned. "I've never heard of a town by that name."

  Devlin looked at him as if he was slow. "It's not a town. It's the edge of the world. You know, the place where the world ends."

  "That's what you're looking for? Is that even a real place?"

  "We'll have to go there to find out." Devlin was staring right at him now, blinding grin back on his face, and food momentarily forgotten on the table. "So, what do you say? Will you come with me?"

  "You're an idiot. And you're going to get yourself killed."

  Devlin didn't seem bothered by his words. "Everyone dies one day."

  "So that's it then. You're not even worried about this mess with the army. You're whole plan is to chase some place you don't even know is real?"

  Devlin finally took another bite of his stew, then he shrugged. "Why should I worry about what they think? They're not coming on my adventure." He paused. "'Sides. I made a promise." He didn't elaborate on what that meant.

  "You're something else."

  Devlin just grinned. "Maybe, but I think you might be crazy too."

  Was he? Myles thought to himself. He was still sitting there after all. He couldn't help but think of something an old mentor of his had once said. The man had told him that he needed to find his own dream. He had said that the world was vast and full of opportunities and that just because the path he had been on had ended, didn't mean there wasn't a future for him. At the time, the words had only pissed Myles off, too angry and stubborn to understand what he was trying to say. Now Devlin was here repeating that same sentiment to him despite having known him for less than a day. 'Where do you want to go?' Devlin had asked him. 'What is your dream?' It pissed Myles off now too.

  "Plus," Devlin continued. "Seems pretty dumb to for you to stay here when the army's chasing you down."

  Was that his plan? Force Myles to come with him? "Who's fault is that?" Myles let out a huff and repeated his words from earlier. "We got food like you wanted. The army is still on the hunt for you. What exactly do you intend to do now?"

  Devlin's hands started fiddling with a gold chain around his neck that Myles hadn't noticed before. "Don't worry, Myles. It'll all work out." Devlin looked back at him again. "And I told you. The plan is for us to find the brink and cross the border."

  "Why do I bother asking. And stop saying 'we'. Just because we happen to be in this situation together right now, doesn't mean I'm agreeing to forming any kind of team with you."

  "Of course you are! Now we just need to find people for the rest of the crew and we'll be all set."

  "Do you listen to anything I say?"

  "I listen!" Devlin said defensively. Then he smirked. "You said that you were going to leave once we got to this town. But you're still here." The look Devlin gave him was just a hair too insightful. Myles wished he could argue, but the kid had him on that point. "Besides, you're not going to leave, because you still owe me for saving you from those bandits."

  "I'm pretty sure you're the one who owes me after dragging me into this mess." Myles said it as if he hadn't followed him straight into that army base. As if Devlin's particular brand of crazy hadn't pulled him out of the back of a prison wagon at a time when Myles didn't know if he had cared enough to help himself. As if he wasn't enough of a mess all on his own. Myles had tried to help some people today, and for once, he might have actually done more good than harm.

  "How about this." Myles finally said. "If your plan is to find the border- or this brink, or whatever you called it- and get out of the country, I'll help you get there." It was the thought of leaving the country behind that ended up making the decision for Myles. Maybe it was time to try again somewhere else. And though he would never admit it to him out loud, he was pretty sure the kid had saved his life not just once, but twice. He could survive traveling with this kid for a short while longer if it meant making things even. Besides, he found that he didn't want to be caught by the army, and he wasn't stupid enough to think that he could escape them all on his own. "But that's all. When we get there, we go our separate ways, you hear me?"

  Devlin grinned wickedly like he had just won a great prize. "It's a deal."