Nael held the windstone up to the air, ready to alert the Red Hand.

Before the satyr could speak into the stone, Gray let out a squawk. She dove toward him and gripped his arm in her talons. The windstone tumbled out of his grip and rolled further along the pier, bouncing toward a cargo crane. It tumbled onto a wooden pallet, and a moment later, the crane began lifting the pallet up.

By now, most of the dock workers had turned to watch. A crowd gathered along the edge of the wharf, and others leapt down onto the pier to try to pull cargo and supplies out of the way.

Even if Gray’s assault had pushed Nael back a bit, the satyr stayed on his feet. He shook his arm, and his griffin pounced at Gray. Though the beast was smaller, the griffin hit Gray with such force that it let out an audible boom. Gray tumbled back, fluttering her wings to stay upright.

“Gray!” Pirin called. “Are you alright?”

I’m unhurt, she replied.

Pirin glanced over his shoulder for just a moment. Myraden and the other wizard dueled across the wharf. Unleashing a barrage of quick blows, the seafolk woman pushed Myraden toward the line of people waiting to get on the passenger liner, driving her with fast and hard blows.

But Pirin couldn’t spare any more focus. Nael was already moving. He charged, running a hand along the flat of his sword as he sprinted. He filled the fuller with shimmering griffin Essence. Before he reached Pirin, he swept his sword through the air, and the Essence flew in an arc towards Pirin. It had the shape of a glowing eagle’s beak, searing hot and razor sharp.

Pirin ducked under the first arc of energy, but the second flew low, threatening to cleave him in half.

If Gray could disrupt techniques with enough rushing air…

Piring threw a desperate Winged Fist forwards. The pulse of air dispersed Nael’s Assault technique into a cloud of loose blue sparks. Nael leapt through the curtain, stabbing with his sword. Pirin deflected the first thrust, but barely. No matter his skill, the satyr had brute force on his side. Pirin ducked under the next stab.

Nael drove his sword through Pirin’s cowl and into the tall barrel behind him. Gray wrapped her beak around the hilt of the sword and tore it out, freeing Pirin, then smacked Nael with one of her wings. The satyr pushed both of his arms outwards, unleashing a wave of blunt, uncontrolled griffin Essence that blasted both Pirin and Gray back into the stairs behind.

Nael and his griffin ran towards the cargo crane and leapt onto the platform. With a growl, Pirin sprinted across the pier after him. The crane rose further, carrying its last load of barrels away, along with Nael and the windstone.

Pirin climbed a set of stairs that wound up the base of the crane, taking them two at a time.

Fly? Gray asked inside Pirin’s mind. Can we please fly, now?

“No time!” he yelled back, constricting and controlling his breaths.

She took to the sky on her own and flew towards Nael, but before she could collide, the griffin attacked, driving Gray away from the crane’s cargo platform.

Nael lashed out with another blast of griffin Essence, and it cleaved away the stairs just behind Pirin. Pirin tripped. The satyr bent down and picked up the windstone, then held it up to the rushing wind.

Pirin leapt off the stairs and onto the slowly rising cargo platform, bowling into Nael and knocking him to the ground. This time, however, Nael kept the windstone tight in his grip. He held it up to his mouth and shouted, “Dock thirteen! The Pramalisse! They’re here!”

Nael threw Pirin to the side as soon as he finished. The barrels caught Pirin, stopping him from falling off the rising platform. A sharp blast of Essence threw the barrels and Pirin off the platform.

The barrels plummeted, but Pirin clung to the platform’s edge. The crane had turned, and now, they hung above the deck of the passenger liner, four storeys in the air. If he fell, he’d break both his legs—or worse.

Nael approached, raising his boot. Before he could kick Pirin off, Pirin swung to the side, letting go with one hand. Yelling with exertion, Pirin hauled himself up as quickly as he could.

The satyr flung another beak of Essence at Pirin, and Pirin threw another Winged Fist to disrupt it. Then he stabbed his sword at Nael’s face.

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With an open palm, Nael struck the flat of Pirin’s sword, knocking it out of his grip and sending it clattering across the cargo platform. It teetered precariously on the edge. Swatting Pirin with his hand, he sent Pirin crashing to the ground on the opposite side of the platform. Pirin’s mask flew off his face. He caught it just before it fell off the platform.

Gasping, Pirin looked up. Gray and the griffin dueled in the air, and further behind, Myraden and the seafolk woman battled—now on the deck of the passenger liner. They would be no help.

Pirin pushed his mask back in place, but his connection with Gray was gone. If he tried to reform the Reyad, Nael would just kill him.

“And there you are,” Nael said, shaking his head. “Just an Embercore, relying on your gifts to push your weight around.” He spat on the ground. “I had nothing, no perceivable Bloodline Talent. I scratched my way up out of nothing!”

“But you formed a Reyad…” Pirin grunted. “A proper one, and that was luck…”

“I didn’t come here to cross words with you!” Nael widened his stance. His breathing technique sped up.

“Then why’d you say anything?” Pirin adjusted his mask, just so he could see better. He had a Bloodline Talent; he may as well use it to even the odds.

He gripped a sharp shard of wood—remnants of a barrel—in his hand, and pushed himself up.

Nael drew his arm back. Essence glittered on his fingers, and already, it started to form into a sharp beak. The air rippled around it in waves, and Nael’s arm began shuddering. The technique alone put pressure on Pirin’s spirit.

There was no way Pirin could deflect that with just air.

Pirin dove between Nael’s legs and slid behind him, then bolted upright. As he rose to his feet, he slashed upward with the shard of wood, dragging it up Nael’s back—from the satyr’s shoulders to the top of his head.

It broke against Nael’s strengthened skin, but not against his hair or the strip of silk wrapped around his head.

Nael whirled around, unleashing his attack as he spun. The strip of silk flew off his head, unveiling his eyes.

Pirin already had his hand out.

There was no time to think. In a half-second, Pirin tried to gather the satyr’s mind in the palm of his hand. As expected, the technique exploded in Pirin’s palm. He drove the Essence outwards.

The Shattered Palm clashed with Nael’s technique. The explosion of Essence disrupted the hook of griffin Essence with a great boom. The shockwave pushed Pirin back to the edge of the cargo platform. His boot hung over the edge. Nael staggered back a step.

Pirin had access to Nael’s eyes. He had to end the fight. He tried once more to call up the satyr’s mind. Once, his Embercore failed him. He ducked to the side, dodging a punch. Twice, his Embercore failed. His hand was starting to ache.

The third time, he looked Nael straight in the eyes. It worked. A misty orb appeared above Pirin’s hand. Pirin couldn’t feel any thoughts or memories. Even if he could, Nael wouldn’t give him time to do anything about it.

Pirin had to finish it the only way he knew. Abandoning caution, he forced a wave of uncontrolled Essence into the orb. It crashed onto the thoughts and memories of his enemy.

Nael stopped. His arms fell still, and he staggered back, blinking. Then he fell to his knees. He blinked, but his eyes were completely blank.

Pirin dropped his arms, then nudged his enemy. Nael was neutralized. Gone. His mind destroyed, reduced to a husk of a creature. For a moment—or…longer.

With a wince, Pirin said, “If I was so lucky, I’d have gotten that first try. You had your chance.”

He didn’t have another moment to spare. He turned around, surveying the port. Nael’s griffin fluttered listlessly down onto the pier, freeing Gray from the duel. Myraden and the seafolk woman had reached the prow of the ship, spear and sword clashing in a blur of silver, blue, and crimson.

But beyond the immediate port, a shadow of a ship slunk across the water. It had an angular superstructure, and its bridge windows flickered angrily with candlelight. Its enormous ballistae turned towards the berth and the passenger liner.

They were going to sink the passenger liner.

By the time Pirin heard the thunk-twang of the ballistae, it was too late. Two dark thistles shot across the sky. One smashed into the wharf, and the rune-powered alchemical warhead at its tip exploded, scattering wood and cobblestone shards everywhere.

Another blasted right into the base of the crane. A surge of fire disintegrated its base, tearing apart the beams and shattering the lattices.

Pirin’s legs buckled. The crane tipped.

“Gray!” he shouted, snatching up his sword before it tumbled off. Nael still sat completely still, his eyes blank and his mouth slightly open. “Gray, can you hear me?”

His Reyad wasn’t active, but that didn’t mean Gray had lost all her sapience. She’d hear him shouting. She squawked, then fluttered up to the cargo platform and perched on the tilting edge. Pirin leapt into the saddle, and she dove off.

Just before they hit the pier, Gray began flapping. She swooped, only inches from the surface of the water, then took to the sky. The crane collapsed behind them in an explosion of splinters, sparks, and wooden shrapnel.

They had a ship to deal with. The ballistae bolts had targetted the wharf and the tower, exactly where he had been.

“If we get on the passenger liner, they’ll just sink it!” Pirin yelled. Gray chirped with confusion. Without a Reyad, she couldn’t understand the intent behind his words. Still, he added, “They might anyway!”

Myraden and the seafolk wizard still duelled along the deck of the passenger liner, and while she wasn’t losing yet, she was a Catch-stage wizard up against a Flare. Like Pirin, she was still at a disadvantage.

Her skill with a spear was keeping her alive, but none of that would matter if the approaching warship sunk the passenger liner with her on it.

Pirin had to stop the warship.