The first thing Emily noticed as she regained consciousness was the dryness in her mouth—it felt as though someone had packed her gums with cotton wool. A jostling sensation followed, her awareness sharpening to the rhythmic motion of Alex carrying her down a spiraling metal staircase. Around them, the rest of the Wandering Fangs moved in a tense formation.

  Tremors rippled through the earth, sending loose grains of sand cascading from the walls like dry, whispering rain.

  Emily blinked rapidly, her vision clearing as she coughed and spat, trying to rid her mouth of the unpleasant, stale taste.

  “What the hell happened?” she croaked, her voice rasping.

  Alex turned his head sharply, his expression shifting as though he had just realized she was conscious.

  “Good you’re awake, get down, you’re heavy,” Alex grunted.

  Emily would have been annoyed at him if it didn’t feel like she was currently thinking through molasses.

  “You know you really don’t know how to treat a lady. Is that why I haven’t seen you with a woman?”

  Alex shot her a scowl that screamed ‘Not now’, but Emily just shrugged as she got her shaky legs under herself.

  “What the hell happened back there, how did we get out?”

  Alex frowned as he glanced ahead.

  “You mean after you got hit but the Priestess? We retreated but both she and that man followed. The only reason we managed to get out was because of the army's arrival. Umbra is in the wind but that robed individual… I don’t recognize him.”

  Emily blinked a couple of times before a strange sensation appeared in her chest.

  “Why is that such a big deal? I’m sure there are plenty of people you never…met.” Emily said as she glanced around at the surrounding people. Most looked too exhausted to bother paying attention to them, but you never knew.

  Alex seemed to think over her question before he shook his head.

  “Normally it's not, but it was the woman that bothered me. She is quite well known, she has a title that brings her back to life if she is ever killed in combat. The thing is, she shouldn’t be here.”

  Emily furrowed her brow. That was so unfair, a title that made it so one could never die. How did she earn that, and more importantly how could Emily steal it?

  Alex continued talking, startling Emily from her thoughts.

  “She shouldn’t be able to leave the city unless all the Cardinals agree. The only circumstance I can imagine that happening is if it were a direct order from above or... if he were the Chosen One mentioned in the letter.

  Emily’s thoughts turned to Cosmo’s new face. He had looked rather handsome but Emily hadn’t recognized him by his body, but his powers. Which also meant there was a good chance Cosmo was under a contract like her.

  Emily wouldn’t say it now, but she felt that she needed to tell Alex what she knew when they finally had a moment alone. If Cosmo was still in there, his natural gifts made him incredibly dangerous. Still, as long as he remained himself, they would be fine—after all, the big goodie-two-shoes were easy to manipulate if you knew what you were doing.

  Another rumble shook the lands above.

  Emily frowned and looked around.

  She found Kael and Seclia quickly, and both looked fairly concerned. Gerade was still out of it so the Wandering Fangs command structure was heavily weakened.

  Emily glanced at Alex again.

  “Did you see if Juest arrived up there?”

  Alex simply shook his head.

  There were soldiers up there but I never saw any of the city's powerhouses. The forces chasing us suddenly broke off though he didn’t look happy about it.

  Emily scratched the back of her head. She was missing something here.

  Why would they fall back at this point?

  Perhaps it was to reinforce their walls, but that still didn’t make any sense.

  By this point, they had arrived at the opening to the gorge. The water rushed past below them but the scent of something burning was carried on the winds. Alex’s head shot up and he pushed past everyone to get to the ledge. Emily followed and saw the gorge just as she remembered it.

  The city sat nestled there completely intact but Emily’s eyes widened when she felt rather than saw the massive amount of source coming up from below them.

  “Alex what is going on?!” she hissed.

  Alex’s eyes remained locked on the gap in the earth but he eventually found his voice.

  “I’ve seen this before. The Red Cardinal is down there.”

  Emily glanced down into the darkness.

  “But I thought there was a veil over the gorge, wouldn’t the city know? How did he get down there?”

  Alex pressed his lips together.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “The Cardinal is a whole nother beast altogether. If he wanted to sneak down there then there’s not much that can be done.”

  Emily shifted and gazed up at the city.

  “Okay, so how bad is it?”

  Alex finally took his eyes off the opening and leaned down.

  “The last time this happened, the city fell.”

  Emily's heart rate accelerated.

  She had scores to settle in the city. Not to mention they needed supplies if they were going to continue their journey.

  “Well, then we’d better get across this place sooner rather than later,” Emily said rolling up her sleeves.

  “Wait-” Alex started.

  “Alex, so help me. If say we need to go down there I’m not going to take it well” Emily hissed.

  Kael arrived next to her at this point, but he was staring directly up.

  “I think he had other things on his mind.”

  Emily followed their gazes up to the top of the city where she could just make out the bridge. The structure was fully extended connecting it to the other side of the gorge. It made sense as they would have needed to lower it to get their armies across.

  From here Emily could see that there was fighting taking place up there. The colorful array of spells and gleaming weapons flashed in the night skies.

  Massive birds flashed through the skies and metal constructs led the charge. By the looks of things they were winning, but it was hard to tell at this distance.

  Floating above the bridge was a flickering orb of flame and shadows. Emily could only guess that was Juest from the way fireballs sheered off from it and launched themselves into the masses directly above them.

  This would have been devastating for the enemy army but walls of negative light kept springing up at the last second to rebuff them.

  Emily's eyes widened when a couple of stray spells crashed in the nearby rockface and sent huge chunks of sandstone hurtling down above them.

  “Inside now!” Emily yelled as she pulled Alex in by his collar.

  Everyone got away from the edges as rocks crashed into the railing and tore it apart. The shriek of metal echoed, still ringing as it was swallowed by the gap.

  Kael cursed and looked around.

  “Alexander, Emily, and Ashe get over here.”

  Emily and Alex glanced at one another and moved over to where everyone was gathering. Selia nodded to Ashe and they all turned to look at Kael.

  “Okay, I want out of the area as quickly as possible. But leaving in our current state would be suicide. We at least need to resupply. You’ve all been in the city, how quickly can we get resupplied?”

  Emily glanced up at the battle as Ashe spoke.

  “Fairly quickly if we can just get across, but as of right now we’re on a clock. From the look of the surrounding source big is about to happen and we don’t want to be here when it does.”

  Kael hummed and glanced at the remains of his men. For the most part, everyone looked exhausted, but there was still a flicker of hope as they stared at Kael.

  They would follow him.

  “So, it’s either escape into the wilds or take our chances in the city. Not much of a choice,” Kael said, turning to look at Alex and Emily.

  “You two said you need a guide to cross the desert? Well, you’re in luck—I’ve just become available. We’ll head into the city, get what we need, and depart. But know this: I’ll be taking a bonus.”

  Alex glanced at Emily before nodding silently.

  It seemed they got what Alex wanted, though whether they’d actually get there was another story.

  “Good. Now, anyone got any ideas on how to cross this damned gap?”

  Emily glanced down at the chasm, a smile creeping onto her face.

  “Just one—but it’s at least fun,” she said, walking toward the opening.

  Kael, knowing Emily well enough by now, recognized the kind of “fun” she meant. Though he scowled, he didn’t stop her.

  When she reached the edge, Emily scanned the surrounding area for runes. It didn’t take long to find them. She began crafting a blood ward to unlock it, simultaneously pouring her blood into the nearby grates, and letting it mix with the water below.

  Turning her attention back to the ward, Emily saw it respond—just as she wanted. She didn’t aim for efficiency this time. No, she wanted to make a scene.

  Starting with a low level of power, she allowed the ward to contest her. The two wards clashed, but the opposing one couldn’t contend with Emily’s strength. At this point, overwhelming it was simple for her—easier than ever before in fact.

  The barrier that sprung into place shimmered brilliantly before shattering in an instant, the sound reverberating like breaking glass. A blaring siren followed, shaking the area with its deafening wail.

  “Now we wait for our taxi,” Emily said, unfazed, as she continued letting blood drip into the waters below.

  Alex squinted at her, but there wasn’t much time for questions. They didn’t have to wait long.

  The response time last time had been quick, but it paled in comparison to what it was now, with the city in full combat mode. Lorethil’s units must have had some advanced method of battlefield communication because, within moments, a unit broke away from the top of the bridge and dove straight down toward them.

  Emily turned her attention to the center of the room just in time to see a platform rising out of the water. But to her surprise, there was no golem on it.

  A little disappointed, Emily turned to meet the riders as the rest of the Wandering fangs got ready.

  The ravens descended and their riders let loose several bolts at everyone, not even hesitating in their attacks.

  Emily whipped out a large screen of blood and covered a majority of the opening before stepping through the screen, Kael following.

  That was when she saw a familiar frame and a wicked smile appeared on her face.

  “Well if it isn’t little Roland. That's not a nice way to greet your friends” Emily said as she smiled at the man.

  His eyes widened and a scowl appeared.

  “Hold your fire! Emily? How are you are you here, woman?! You are wanted in connection with the assassination attempt of an official.”

  Emily’s smile fell as she remembered that Silvaren’s punchable face.

  “Look, I’m sure there’s a misunderstanding here. I will come willingly, but we have just escaped the enemy's clutches. We need a lift to the other side.”

  “My men and I are not your personal carriage drivers. Now lower your screen so that we may see the rest of you.”

  Emily groaned at the colossal waste of time this was but reabsorbed the blood. Letting his men get a good view.

  “You are all under arrest until we can determine the level of danger you pose to the city.”

  Emily glanced at Kael and saw that he wasn’t pleased, his scowl deepening.

  “We’re a mercenary group that just escaped your enemies. I’d heard Lorethil had a more tolerant reputation.”

  A dangerous glint entered Roland’s eyes.

  “None of that matters right now. You will be captured because of your association with this woman,” he snarled.

  Alex stepped up beside Emily, his voice thick with sarcasm.

  “Great plan, Emily. At least I got a couple of days of freedom.”

  “Hey, I didn’t see you coming up with anything,” she shot back.

  “Well, you didn’t give me a chanc—”

  “Enough! Bind them!” Roland yelled as the first Ravens began to land, their dark forms edging into the large space.

  The beasts squawked menacingly as more of them entered. By the time Roland had descended, only a few riders remained airborne, circling like vultures.

  “Surrender quietly. Your skills will be bound, as will your hands. Only then will we—”

  Emily glanced at Alex, and he must have caught the look in her eye because, without warning, he bolted. Launching himself at the nearest Raven, he leaped into the air, planting both feet squarely into the chest of the rider. The two figures crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs, throwing the room into chaos.

  Emily’s laughter rang out, sharp and delighted.

  Moments later, blood erupted from every grating in the room, surging into the space and wrapping around the dozen riders and their mounts. The two remaining Ravens in the air tried to gain altitude, but cords of blood shot out from the nearby waterfall, ensnaring their riders and dragging them down.

  Roland started to shout orders, but his voice was conveniently silenced by a band of crimson wrapping tightly around his mouth.

  Kael was the next to move, only a moment behind them.

  “Men! Take them down, but do not kill!”

  Blood points: 309