Everyone flinches as glass cascades around us, each window breaking as a flier swoops in, donning the Belwar nine-pointed sun on their chest. I’ve never been so thankful to see a wizard who not minutes ago held a knife at my back.
Guess our fifteen minutes must be up, and good thing too. As a forest of nets and binding spells rain down on the gruesome horde before us, Kalyan and I punch our way through what moments before was an impenetrable circle.
“Cover me!” I yell as I run to the unopened wicker crates. Kalyan’s arms blaze to white and his deep voice shouts as he faces the Vencrin who aren’t running or fastened to the floor. I rip at the wicker fibers of two crates and they fray in my hands. Packets of Bloodlurst stare into my face. But no firelight.
“It’s just Bloodlurst, crate after crate of Bloodlurst.”
“We don’t have much time, Red!” Kalyan shouts as he heaves a Vencrin over his shoulder and lets him crash to the floor.
“Blood. It should be here. I can feel it.” But maybe the pulsing faintness I had felt earlier only means it was once here, once sat in these crates until it was shipped to Moolek or Gods know where. I need to question someone. I had almost broken that guy before the shooting fireball.
I gaze around at the havoc surrounding me. Balls of light and smoke stream through the air. Bodies are scattered on the ground. No one would talk to us before, when they had the numbers on their side. But maybe now…
Out of the corner of my eye, a black cloak flutters toward a window. And I know that cloak. I memorized that back.Here? He’s here?
“Night!”
Kalyan whips up toward the sound of my call, white arms blazing.
“The leader.” I point.
Kalyan’s eyes widen as understanding hits.
“He’s getting away. We’ll leave the rest to the Guard.Tvarenni!” I shout, running toward the stairs. Kalyan follows.
When I hit the landing it’s empty. I step up to the window, infusing Hubris the Second with magic, and then veer back. There isn’t a balcony, only shards of broken glass and a sense of dread pooling in my gut. A crack of lightning illuminates the cloaked flier in the distance. He must have just…fallen.
Kalyan stretches to peer at the cracked remnants of the building as I gather some distance.
No second thoughts. If that wizard did it from this height, so can I.
“What are—? No! Red, don’t.” Kalyan reaches for me, but I’ve already pushed off. I’m already falling. A low curse follows.
“Makria!”I scream into Hubris. Red sprouts from my hands and into the skyglider, but even as I push Hubris beneath me, I don’t feel the cushion of weightlessness. All that’s left is fear, gravity, and the mad flapping of my kurta against my skin. Wind pounds in my ears. I spiral.No. I’m—I can’t.
Fear of the fall brings you closer to the ground!Mr. Burman’s voice bellows in my head. I must level out.Whoosh.The roof of a one-story house zooms by.Blood. Blood. Blood.
Fear of the fall—
I have one chance. With a yell, I squeeze Hubris with my thighs and thrust my hands downward, pelleting wind at the ground. Gusts of air ripple and dirt blusters into my face, and I’m…flying. The cushion of levitation has never felt so magical. I cough out relief and choke on fear in the same breath.
Above me a magic-infused skyglider glows white. Kalyan followed me.And he got control of his skyglider much faster than—
He skids to a stop beside me. “Do you have a death wish?”
I gulp for a few seconds, staring at the wind-rippled ground.
“I thought I was about to watch you die,” he says.
I allow myself to glance over and regret it as soon as I read his expression. Anger, worry, alarm, they each find their own feature to weave in the pain I’ve caused. And that’s with his mask on. “I’m fine,” I sputter.
He snaps to one emotion—sadness. “Smoke—”
“He flew that way.” I pour speed into Hubris and shoot forward. We’ve lost enough time as it is. And this is why my “nothing more” should be sustained. We can’t care about each other like that. Trust. Rings. Nothing more.
Kalyan and I skim the rooftops, hovering between cover and the visibility necessary to find our target. He shoots me looks every few seconds. I feel his eyes, his concern. But I’m fine. I had it under control. Maybe.
For a few minutes I think we’ve lost our target, even with both of us casting sensory spells to heighten our sight and smell, even with our added speed.
