She appeared to be deep in thought, then she looked down at the yellow dress she was wearing. Sending Meena an apologetic grimace, she grabbed at the decorative ribbons which fluttered around her waist, creating the illusion of a belt.
With a few gentle tugs, she broke some of them free from their stitching.
Meena nodded, not entirely sure what Ezra was planning.
Ezra nodded at Meena. She was ready.
Spreading her palm wide, Meena positioned a rock on her open palm. Putting her other hand into position, she prepared her fingers and leaned around the corner.
She flicked the rock from her hand. It flew in a beautiful arc, bouncing off the far stone flagstones with multiple resounding echoes.
The two guards instantly jumped to their feet, staring at the wooden door where the sound originated from.
Meena barely held in a scream as her own finger instantly stung with pain. She ignored it. Taking advantage of the soldier’s surprise—and turned backs—Meena stepped into the tunnel and threw the larger chunk of rock as hard as she could at the soldier on the left.
The soldiers were turning around, but not fast enough. Meena’s rock hit her target on the side of his head, and he fell to the ground, stunned.
She flinched, but immediately turned her attention to the other soldier. He was standing completely still, his eyes wide open with shock as he stared at Ezra.
Turning to her companion, Meena heard Ezra let out a low, painful groan. Her hands were held in front of her palm, facing forward, and her head was curled down toward her chest.
“Bind his hands,” she said. “Quickly.”
The ribbons Ezra had been holding were scattered along the ground.
Meena picked up the longest she could see and ran down the tunnel.
The soldier stood there, immobile, as she approached.
Within moments, she had his hands bound behind his back. “He’s secured,” she called.
Ezra dropped her arms, letting out a deep bellow of pain. She sank to her knees, her hands clasping her stomach.
Meena ran back to her friend. “That was magic,” she said. “Are you alright?” She reached out to touch Ezra, but the woman held up her hand and shook her head.
“I will be,” Ezra said. “I need a moment.”
Meena grabbed some more ribbons from the ground at her feet. “I’m going to secure the other before he wakes up.”
That was chaos magic. Ezra didn’t have to say it for Meena to recognize it.
Slightly ashamed of herself, Meena felt relieved to be putting space between her and the chaos Quotidian.
She didn’t think she was afraid of the woman—Ezra had multiple opportunities to harm Meena if she had wanted to—but this new knowledge did make Meena uncomfortable.
She kept her eyes on her task while consciously waiting for Ezra to recover.
“Are you alright?” Meena asked again, after the moments stretched out too long.
Ezra finally sat up. “Getting there, thank you.”
Without turning her back fully on the other woman, Meena tested the wooden door. “It’s locked,” she informed Ezra.
“I can use chaos magic,” Ezra responded.
“I noticed,” Meena said.
“That was how I planned on unlocking the door,” Ezra explained. She got to her feet and slowly walked the length of the tunnel, keeping her hand on the wall for balance. “I just need a few more moments.”
