Volanta

Pippa was starting to lose feeling in her arms and her shoulders ached. The few men who had sided with Peter hadn't been gentle when they yanked her hands behind her back and tied her up. She wished more than ever for her old clothes, because the slinky silk thing she was wearing made her feel even more vulnerable. Peter had brought her out to the jungle, where three other men were waiting. Pippa prayed that Captain Sorenson and the others were all right.

She shifted on the rock where she was perched, trying to flex her fingers and get some feeling back. One of the men glanced her way and she froze. He smirked and sauntered closer to her.

"Feeling a bit uncomfortable, pet?" he asked in a low voice. "I can untie you, if you do something for me."

Indignation won out over fear and Pippa spit at him in reply. He scowled and raised a hand to strike her, but one of the other men stopped him.

"Peter said not to touch her, Gillis," he snapped. "You're to leave her be unless she tries to escape."

"Peter'll never know," Gillis protested, eyes sliding back to Pippa. The older man jabbed a finger into his chest.

"He'll kill us all and cut us out of the deal if you leave a mark on her."

"He already left a mark on her," Gillis grumbled. "You think she gave herself that nice purple bruise?"

"Ain't your business or mine what Peter does with her. Shut your yap and go stand watch. I can't trust you alone with her."

Gillis stalked off with a curse and the older man sat down on a fallen log across from Pippa, staring at her with a stony expression.

"The Volantians will kill you," Pippa said. "You know that, don't you? You're four men. How do you expect to get away with this?"

"Peter reckons they're too smug to be watching us closely enough." The man shrugged. Pippa racked her brain, trying to remember his name.

"It's Hestin, right?" she asked. "You have a family back home, don't you?"

"Aye. Most of us do. Why do you think we need the kind of money Peter is offering?"

"But if you get caught, you'll never return home. What will your families do then?"

Hestin ignored her, so Pippa tried another tactic. She raised her voice slightly to get the attention of the other two.

"How do you even know you can trust Peter? Maybe he's going to let you three take the fall for this and slip away with the Heart, keeping the money and fame all to himself."

"Hey, she might have a point." Gillis was frowning.

"Don't be daft," the third man snapped. "Peter can't pull this off on his own. He needs us."

"Yeah but what if-"

"Don't let this little bitch get into your head, Gillis. Pull your head out of your ass for five minutes of your life, would you?"

Gillis scowled, flushing slightly. "Don't talk to me like that, Hugh. I'll kick your teeth in."

"Oh will you now? I'll believe it when I see it, you pasty faced mama's boy." Hugh laughed and Gillis launched himself at him, punching him in the face. They went down in a tangle of arms and legs. Hestin cursed and roared at them to break it up, standing and going to pry them apart. Pippa rose to her feet and edged into the trees, trying to be silent. Her hands were bound but if she could just make it back to the city, someone would help her. When she was far enough from the brawling men, she bolted.

It wasn't long before she heard an irate shout of, "idiots! Catch her!"

Footsteps blundered through the trees behind her and Pippa ran faster, ducking branches and trying not to lose her footing. Someone slammed into her from behind and knocked her to the ground. Pippa squirmed frantically, trying to get loose. She was flipped onto her back to find Gillis leering down at her.

"He did say not to lay a hand on you unless you tried to escape," he said, grabbing her by the hair. She screamed as he dragged her up, then jerked her knee up. He clearly hadn't been expecting it and he let out a wheeze and staggered back slightly. Pippa turned to try and run again when another pair of arms caught her. She tried to fight them off until she heard Rena's voice.

"It's me, Jahasha! Relax."

Pippa sagged with relief as Rena cut her wrists free. The skin was chafed and her sore shoulders protested when she rolled them. Then she flung her arms around Rena, startling her.

"We need to deal with these men, and then go save your spotted man."

"How did you find me?" Pippa asked, but the question was answered when Jasper began winding around her ankles. He hissed at Gillis as the man finally righted himself. He seemed unsure what to do with Rena there. Hestin and Hugh barreled through the trees behind him and stopped short. Hugh's hand moved to his boot; he'd likely stored a gun there just like Peter had.

Before he could retrieve it, a disk of metal sailed through the air and sliced clean through his neck before boomeranging back to Rena's waiting hand. Gillis fainted dead away and Hestin stood frozen, eyes darting from Hugh's headless body to Rena and back again. She held the disk up menacingly and he dove into the trees.

"I'll send scouts to find him. He won't get far," Rena said. "Let's go find that Peter snake and your artist before they destroy the island."

Rena grabbed her hand and towed her through the jungle, Jasper loping along next to them.

"Assuming they figured out where the Heart is, they'll be beneath the palace," Rena said. "We must get there before the snake man is able to take it."

Pippa could barely keep up with Rena's long strides and her heart was hammering so fast she could barely breathe. She was terrified of what would happen if Oliver helped Peter, and just as terrified of what would happen if he didn't. Pippa was fairly certain that Peter wouldn't mind killing Oliver if he didn't give in and give Peter what he wanted. Rena shouted something in Volantian to a few guards who were standing at the entrance. They looked bewildered but when she snapped at them again they sprang into action, several heading for the jungle and another running inside. He was probably sent to find Fenro; Pippa heard his name mentioned.

Rena led Pippa down into the deeper levels, farther down than she'd ever gone before. She thought for a moment that they had come to a dead end, but then Rena pulled on the arm of one of the gleaming white stone statues, and the wall opened to reveal a staircase. They ran down it full tilt; Pippa nearly went toppling down more than once. They emerged into a cavernous room, with great stone sarcophagi surrounding a pillar, at the center of which there hovered a stone orb filled with a silver-blue light so bright it hurt to look at it.

"You made it." Oliver looked relieved as he stepped out from behind the pulsating light.

"Where is he?" Rena demanded.

"Right here, my dear." Peter stepped out of a shadow, raising his gun and pointing it at Rena. She didn't look afraid, but she eyed the weapon warily.

"The power of the Heart is beyond your comprehension," she told him. "You cannot simply take it and bend it to your whims."

"I can always give it the old college try," Peter replied. He cocked the pistol and Pippa reacted without thinking. She flung herself forward, slamming into him with all her weight, which wasn't saying much. But she succeeded at least in making his shot go wild, echoing loudly as the bullet bounced off of stone. Oliver and Rena both moved in to help her and Peter used his free arm to lock Pippa against his chest, pressing the barrel of the gun to her temple. Rena and Oliver halted. Jasper snarled and leapt, sinking his teeth into Peter's leg. He jerked and kicked the leopard aside.

"Don't hurt him!" Pippa cried, squirming in his grasp as Jasper whimpered. Peter just tightened his grip.

"Do we really need to make this so hard?" he asked conversationally. "Tell you what, I'm going to keep this pointed at Pippa's lovely little head, and I'm going to take your little ball of magic light, and I'm going to leave. Everyone goes home happy. Well, except the good doctor. He'll have to stay here of course."

"You'll never even get out of the palace, you idiot," Rena scoffed.

"I imagine I will if I've got your Heart with me."

"You cannot take a heart from a body and expect the heart or the body to still work."

Peter didn't seem interested in listening to her, dragging Pippa with him as a human shield as he moved closer to the Heart. Pippa was growing tired of men taking her hostage. Peter had his arm wrapped tightly around her upper arms, but she was able to reach up and grab his arm, holding it as she bit down so hard her jaw hurt. He yelped in pain and actually let her go. She tasted blood and shuddered but at least she was free. She rammed an elbow into his gut for good measure before darting away and Oliver took advantage of the distraction to sprint forward and catch Peter by the front of his shirt. He balled his fist and punched Peter square in the jaw.

Peter seemed rather stunned to find himself being so brutalized by the two of them. Oliver punched him again and Peter snarled a curse at him, trying to lift the gun to shoot him. They grappled with it for a few moments before it fell to the floor and slid away. Pippa watched in alarm as they traded blows. Rena seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to use her bladed disk to take Peter's head off. Jasper just kept snarling, his hackles raised.

Peter finally got the upper hand, banging Oliver's head savagely against the side of one of the stone tombs. His face was covered in blood and his hair was a mess; in the glow of the Heart, Peter looked positively manic. He grabbed a dazed Oliver by the shoulder and shoved him at Rena, catching her off guard so that she didn't have time to use her disk. Peter whirled around and grabbed the hovering stone sphere, struggling to pull it down. The light began to flicker wildly and Rena let out a small cry, swaying dizzily. Oliver caught her before she fell. Peter freed the stone from the pillar and it started to shudder even as the light began to dim. Rena sagged in Oliver's arms, her disk clattering to the floor.

Panicked, Pippa knelt to retrieve the fallen gun. Its weight felt unfamiliar but comforting in her hands, and before letting herself think about it too much, she raised it and fired just as part of the pillar began to collapse.