Mikhail strained his hearing. He’d heard the silence of the house and the forest shift, and it had woken him up. He couldn't make out exactly how many there were outside, but he gathered from the directions of the sounds that they were all around them. As silent as he could, he got out of bed and lay face-down on the ground. The fireplace had gone completely out, only moonlight shining through cracks in the walls helped him see.

He crawled towards Katya and Nebo, being careful not to make a sound. He was sure if the people outside heard or saw anything betraying the fact that the people inside weren't asleep anymore, they'd take action.

Katya still slept soundly, and Nebo was quiet as always. Mikhail thanked the gods for that.

He carefully raised to a kneel next to them, and put a hand over Katya's mouth.

Her eyes sprang open and she tried to yank it away, but he grabbed her hand before she could.

He shook his head, not sure if Katya could see it. “Calm down and be very still,” he whispered. “The house is surrounded.”

He removed his hands.

“How did you even notice?” She said.

He grinned. “In my old line of work, if you didn't keep your ears open at all times it could very quickly mean the death of you.” He thought of his old pal Jotka the Cat, and how he'd been stabbed in the neck after failing to hear a guard coming during one of his burglaries. As it turned out, he didn't have nine lives after all.

Katya sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “Damn it all, I didn't sense the wards I put up around the house because I was exhausted.” She thumped her own head. “How could I’ve been so stupid?”

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“Is that a rhetorical question or-?” Mikhail asked.

Katya stayed silent.

“Sorry,” Mikhail whispered. “I tend to make bad jokes in worse situations. You wouldn't have a secret hatch somewhere we could use to get away from here, would you?”

“No,” Katya said. “I put too much trust in the wards.”

A bang on the door broke the silence. “Either you open this door, or we’ll blow it to pieces. Your choice!”

Mikhail whispered to Katya. “Can't you cast that magic you showed me before, the one that can hide us?”

“I can, but it won't last long enough, and they could bump into us in such a small space.”

Mikhail sighed. “Then I guess it's going to happen the old-fashioned way, with a pair of daggers and a rifle.”

Another bang on the door thundered through the cabin. “This is your last chance, don't make this harder than it needs to be!”

“No,” Katya said. “there’s one other way.”

Mikhail squinted. Why didn’t she bring this up earlier?

“I can open a gate through which we can escape to my world.” She hesitated. “I saved this magic for emergencies.”

“But aren't you exhausted?”

“I am, but I’ve always kept some of my magic hidden away in case I needed to use this.” She handed Nebo to Mikhail, waking the boy in the process. “Hold him close, I need to use my hands.”

Katya closed her eyes and started chanting. The room submerged into a thick pressure, drowning out the sounds from the person on the other side of the door. Streaks of deep red lightning flashed everywhere in the cabin, and Mikhail swore he could hear the person outside shouting something. Bullets and splinters of wood came crashing inside, but slowed to a standstill before reaching them.

Mikhail saw Katya trembling in the flashes of red light, but still her hands confidently weaved an unfamiliar pattern in the air.

A streak of bright light formed in front of the fireplace. At first it was the size of a needle, then it grew larger and larger until it was Mikhail's height and width. The pressure and deep thrum of magic hurt his ears, and he pressed Nebo's head against his chest, covering the boy’s ears. He looked back just in time to see Katya open her eyes. A blinding white light shone from them, and she’d stopped moving her arms.

“Go.” She mouthed, and a weak smile formed on her lips. She tried pushing Mikhail through the portal, but as she did he caught her arm and pulled her in with him and Nebo. They fell through the portal together, and Mikhail held them both close as they did.