'You've given the sword away.' Niall near whispered as Dolon descended the steps into the ship's hold. 'I saw Kartwright with it.'

  Dolon stepped off the stairs and squinted his eyes, trying to see in the dim light. 'Niall? Hear me out.'

  'I gave that to you. It was a gift, a reward.'

  'Niall.' Oh man! 'Hear me out, I did it for the Harlequins. For you!'

  'I was coming to really like you, Dolon.' Niall emerged from the shadows, his dark eyes reflecting what little light came from above decks. 'I'm disappointed.'

  Dolon had to be firm, he could not show any fear or hesitation. 'Listen to me, it's about the Winged Men.' Niall continued to walk towards Dolon. The Sniper's eyes were adjusting to the low light, he could make out the shapes of the other Harlequins in the shadows. 'Lucas and Broadway are gone, they've been missing for months!' Dolon took a risk, he stepped toward Niall and then stood his ground. 'They've abandoned Churash!'

  Niall paused. 'What?'

  'I swapped the sword so that Kartwright would tell me.' Calm down, please. 'The Winged Men don't have their leaders any more.' This will put a smile on your face. 'You can take their position now, you can-'

  'Where did Lucas go?' Niall spoke in shock.

  'I don't know.' Dolon spoke, but Niall did not hear him.

  'This isn't like him, he wouldn't just leave. And Broadway too?' Niall was lost in thought.

  'Does it matter, you can dispose of the Winged M-'

  'I know that!' Niall shouted.

  Dolon shuddered. Stacey came out of the dark and placed a hand on Niall's shoulder, an odd gesture. Something Dolon had never seen before. Niall shook Stacey off. 'Don't touch me!'

  'Niall...' Stacey was sullen.

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  'I need to think about this.' Niall said, then his body flashed and fell to glitter, he was gone. Logged out.

  'What the hell was that?' Dolon asked. Stacey collapsed onto a crate. Gerome and Archer stepped from the shadows.

  'I want to know too.' Gerome showed an unusual concern.

  'Just forget it!' Stacey found his feet and stormed upstairs.

  'What's got him riled up? Why is Lucas going missing such a bad thing? We should be drinking to that one.' Gerome put his hand to his mouth, as if gulping from a cup..

  Archer shrugged his shoulders, nonplussed. Dolon followed Stacey to the upper deck. He found the masked man leaning over the side of the boat, staring into the blue. Kartwright was at the fore, watching ahead. Dolon stepped to Stacey's side and leant on the rail with him. 'Are you OK?'

  'No.' Stacey hung his head low.

  'What's going on? What's with Niall? I thought he hated Lucas and the Winged Men.'

  'I told you guys to forget about it.' Stacey wiped his eyes.

  Is he crying? 'Stacey, I'm concerned. Let me know what's going on, maybe I can help.'

  'Don't bother!'

  'I am bothered!' Dolon slapped the wooden rail. 'Niall was freaked out down there. I've never seen anything like that happen.' Silence. Stacey continued to watch the water. Dolon gave him time, holding his tongue for a moment.

  'I trained as a Druid with Niall and Lucas, we were friends back at the Forest Temple. I won't go into detail, but we ended up parting ways on not so great terms. Some time later, me and Niall found ourselves at Churash and Lucas was there also, with Broadway.' Stacey sighed. 'I still consider Lucas my friend, and a rival. The Winged Men and the Harlequins have always competed, I think because Niall deep down still wanted to feel connected to our friend... But Lucas was always a step ahead of us. He gained the favour of the royals, had his pick of rewards and recruits. I can't see why he would just up and run, it's not like him.'

  Dolon frowned. 'Broadway was pretty dedicated to the cause too. If both of them have gone missing, it must mean something big has happened. They might have defected.'

  'Lucas...' Stacey wiped his eyes again. 'It's not like him. I think for myself, maybe Niall too, after everything that's happened, we've finally seen an end to our friendship with Lucas. We really don't know him any more. It's sad...'

  'It is.' Dolon agreed. He thought about how many friendships were lost to him, all due to his disconnect from people through working for the Information Broker. How relationships were just a means to an end. They never lasted past their usefulness. He found it sad too, yet played the part all the same. He put his arm around Stacey's shoulder. 'Remember, you still have friends here.'

  Stacey looked up at Dolon, a tear in his eye. 'Yeah.' He smiled. 'I do.'