‘Kalvin.’

“What?” Kal asked the empty air. He whipped his head around. “Who said that?”

The quintet had remained next to Mirthsong Playhouse in stunned silence, watching as the Godknight had fallen in battle and then been lifted into the strange machine. Lilly held her father’s hand, looking for the first time to Kal like she actually cared for the man. Jaina kept her head buried in Kal’s chest, only peering out to get an occasional look. Windham hovered about, glancing around nervously; Kal was beginning to believe this was his default state. Squirrely and afraid.

As a group, they remained deathly silent. Not out of fear of being detected—a few soldiers had actually looked directly at them—but out of a shared sense of despair and hopelessness. Kal felt that anguish profoundly, the defeat of the Godknight the final blow in a day filled with incalculable loss. He knew they weren’t safe from the Order of the Holy Ascension. Not exactly. It was just that, with the Godknight defeated, they were no longer any threat. The soldiers would get around to handling them in due time, at their leisure.

‘Kalvin, please. I need your help.’

Kal had very limited experience with psychics. It took him a long moment to understand someone was speaking directly into his mind, and it took him another moment to recognize the “voice.”

“Godknight?” Kal asked out loud. His eyes darted to the other end of City Center, now overflowing with soldiers, at the bizarre device the Godknight was now attached to. They had watched helplessly as the machine had arrived next to his fallen body and lifted him, then as the two monstrous creatures had been led to his lifeless body. The final piece had been the figure who had emerged from what he now understood was a magic portal, a figure so strange Kal could barely comprehend it.

He focused hard on the Godknight, who remained unmoving, chained and helpless, despite the monsters having attached themselves to him.

‘There is not much time, Kalvin,’ the Godknight “spoke” to him. ‘I think I can still summon enough strength to break these bindings. But not with these kaleese attached to me and the Enigmancer stealing my energy.’

“But…” Kal started, still speaking out loud. “What can I do?”

‘Anything!’ the Godknight snapped. Kal believed he sensed a sudden tension ripple through the Godknight's body when he spoke.

“Who the heck are you talking to?” Windham asked him. He was frowning, glaring at Kal like he was crazy. Kal ignored him.

“I… I don’t know what to do!” Kal said, louder now. He’d finally drawn the attention of the rest of his party, who turned to look at him. “There are soldiers everywhere! And those monsters! I’m just one guy!”

There was no immediate response from the Godknight, but Kal could still sense his mind connected to his.

“Kal?” Jaina asked, taking a step away from him.

“It’s the Godknight,” he said to her. “He’s… he’s talking to me.”

“To you?” Windham asked, and snickered. “Right.”

“He is!” Kal spat.

“Farmboy?” Lilly asked. She looked skeptical, but had turned all of her focus onto him.

‘The cages,’ the Godknight said at last. ‘Do you see the cages?’

Kal looked away from his group and back towards the bizarre ritual currently taking place, with the Godknight as the centerpiece.

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“Those floating metal things?” Kal asked.

‘Yes, yes,’ the Godknight replied impatiently. ‘If you can get them far enough away from me, it should interrupt the process. All I need is a moment’s distraction.’

“Well, how the heck am I supposed to—”

‘Kalvin!’ the Godknight thundered, and this time Kal did see his body flinch. ‘Please!’

The desperation in the Godknight’s voice terrified Kal. Still, he finally understood what he was being asked to do: the impossible.

“Those floating things,” Kal said, this time to the group. “He called them cages and said I have to… I don’t know, run over there and steal them.”

“Steal them?” Windham asked. “Are you stupid? There are hundreds of soldiers between you and them.”

“And three cages,” Jaina added, sounding much more concerned than Windham.

“I know!” Kal replied sharply. “But he’s… he’s dying, I think.”

Windham made a ‘tsk’ sound. “Dying? Just look at him. He’s already—”

“Windham, be quiet!” Lilly hissed. Windham folded his arms and pouted. “Go on, farmboy,” she said to Kal.

“He told me he thinks he can still escape,” Kal explained. “But those monsters are draining his powers, I think, and that… floating guy is putting it into those cages.”

“Putting it—” Jaina started. “Kal, that makes no sense.”

Kal shrugged. “It’s magic stuff, I guess.”

They looked at Windham, the only magic practitioner, however minor, among them. He shrunk back and his face reddened. He had no idea if such a thing were possible.

“I’ve never seen these cages before,” the High Elder spoke up. “But that ‘guy,’ as you call him… I believe that might be the Enigmancer.” There was a tinge of awe in the ancient man’s voice.

“Enigmancer?” Lilly asked him, matching his awe with her own.

He nodded. “Yes. Perhaps. I have only ever heard stories, but…”

“We can’t keep talking about this,” Kal interrupted. “I have to do something. Now.”

“Now hold on there one second, big guy,” Lilly said. “We need a plan. You can’t just run out into an army of soldiers—”

“Lilly, there is no time!” he shouted. The Godknight was gone from his mind now. Perhaps for good.

Lilly finally seemed to understand. “Okay. Fine. But you’re not going alone.”

“Lilliana, do not even think—” the High Elder began.

She spun around to face him, eyes blazing. “Father, shut up.” His jaw fell open, but Lilly didn’t waste any more time addressing him again.

“There are three cages,” Lilly said. “We’ll each grab one and scatter.”

“Okay,” Kal said. “But we have to go now!”

“Right,” Lilly said. “Windham, come on.”

“Hooooold on there…” Windham stepped back from the group, hands raised in a halting gesture. “This is crazy.”

“You keep saying that,” Kal said. “It’s crazy. Great. We get it. We still have to try.”

“Maybe you have to try,” Windham responded. “But I don’t have—”

“I’ll go,” Jaina interrupted. Kal looked at her in shock.

“Jaina, you—”

She shook her head ferociously. “We’re just wasting more time. I’ve had my head buried in the sand since this whole fucking thing started. It’s time I actually do something.”

Kal smiled and felt gooseflesh break out up and down his body. He loved her. In that moment, there was no denying it. The notion felt absurd, of course. She was practically a stranger. But it didn’t matter. He felt what he felt, and in the midst of all this carnage and death and loss, he welcomed those feelings.

“Okay,” Kal said.

“Okay,” Jaina replied, and smiled just a little.

“Then let’s stop talking,” Lilly said. “Let’s move!”

And they did. The three of them sprinted into the mass of soldiers, running side-by-side.