The two halls had arrived at the ambush site the previous day, almost exactly twenty four hours before Rafferty found herself plummeting toward the bottom of the canyon.

The mood was still light. Vincent held the door open for Rafferty as she got out of the truck, and the act drew plenty of oohs and aahs from the others. When Vincent sat down, Blaspheme and Katrin staged an argument about who got to sit in his lap, earning a glare from Rafferty, which, of course, was exactly what they wanted.

Jason and Strikes, Vincent's Roughcoat cohorts, had arrived ahead of the group, and staked out a sheltered spot. It was a good spot. The road, which Vincent assured them was the only one Alex could use to get to the tournament, ran through rocky terrain along the edge of a canyon. Alex with Malice would never see them until after the first shots were fired.

Rafferty was pleased that Jason was there. The awkward flirty behavior Jason and Sheridan provided the group with plenty of amusement, and took some of the attention away from her and Vincent.

Rafferty especially liked it when Jason tried to massage Sheridan's shoulders, but Sheridan kept stopping him to give instructions. Eventually, she'd called Lena over, and had her do Jason's shoulders, to show him how it was supposed to be done. Rafferty gathered, from the look of amusement on the Roughcoat's face, that Jason must like Sheridan a lot to put up with this.

When it was over, Vincent had plopped down in front of Jason, and looked up at him expectantly.

"Well, go on, you know how to do it right now. Your back rubs have been garbage for years, but I've been afraid to say anything," Vincent said.

Everyone laughed. Except Sheridan.

The fog rolled in the next morning, and within an hour the canyon's edge had disappeared. When Rafferty turned her head and looked down the line, Colin and Cody, the team's right flank, were little more than spectral silhouettes.

"I can't shoot in this," Blaspheme complained.

"Don't worry, neither can the bad guys," said Vincent.

It wasn't long before Rafferty heard the sound of engines.

"If I accidentally shoot some random farmer, and he leaves behind a bunch of orphans, I don't have to take care of the kids, right? We're sure that's not a rule?" Blaspheme asked.

"That's totally a rule," said Katrin.

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"Shut up. Kids are terrifying," said Blaspheme, and cocked the hammer of her gun.

The first van emerged from the fog moments later. Then another. Then a third, bright red.

Strikes planted his rifle on top of the rock next to Rafferty. He stared down the barrel a moment, then turned to Rafferty, and winked. He pulled the trigger, and the right front tire of the first van exploded. The van started to skid, and two following braked to a stop.

Cody and Seth hopped up and over the rocks, and made for the first van. Colin and Jason followed them, weapons up and ready.

Sheridan and Lena were next, flanked by Brianna, moving toward the middle van. Sheridan grabbed an arrow from her quiver, drawing her bow as she ran.

Rafferty vaulted over the rock in front of her, heading straight for the red van. She was glad it was last in line, her group's responsibility. Otherwise, Rafferty would have had to struggle with the decision of whether or not to abandon the plan. She wanted another shot at Alex with Malice and his gaudy red ride.

The van's door opened, and Alex stepped out. He glanced in Rafferty's direction, and took off running in the direction they had come from, veering closer to the edge of the canyon. He was carrying something large. It almost looked like a shield.

Rafferty ran after him, Katrin right behind her.

If he thinks he can outrun us, he's dumb. Real dumb.

There was gunfire, bright yellow pops from the van. Blaspheme stopped, returning fire, looking for cover. Rafferty and Katrin continued after Alex. Blaspheme yelled after them. She didn't sound very happy about being left alone.

Rafferty caught up to him, was only a few more strides from closing the gap entirely. She felt an urge to draw her sword, but resisted. She wasn't supposed to cut him in half, just knock him around a bit so he'd give up the location of his new weapon.

She was planning her first strike, Rafferty thought a kick to the center of the back would be a nice start, when Alex turned and faced her, a big smile on his face. Rafferty had to pull up short, but still managed to lash out with her right hand.

Alex raised the thing in his hand, which Rafferty decided was definitely a shield, and blocked the punch. When she struck it, the shield glowed blue. Part of Rafferty's brain took a moment to recognize that that was weird, but mostly she just wanted to put him down. She struck with her left hand, and then kicked with her right leg, once high, once lower. Alex caught all of the blows. He was good with this thing, and seemed way too calm.

Frustrated, Rafferty uncorked a wild right hand, her bracelets shining brightly, and Alex ducked underneath. As he rose, he smashed Rafferty with the shield, on her side just under the shoulder. There was a great blue burst, which sure looked like a great Blue burst, and Rafferty flew backwards, covering a good distance before striking the ground.

What the hell just happened?

Rafferty shook her head to clear it, and looked up to see Katrin engaged with Alex. He blocked the first pair of strikes, but then Katrin stepped back, feinting with her foot to get Alex to plant his feet, and delivered a kick to Alex's thigh that dropped him to one knee.

Before Katrin could follow up the attack, Alex tipped the shield, and there was a bright flash of light, blue light. Katrin kept her feet, but her head snapped back, and her arms fell to her sides. As Rafferty got to her feet, she saw Alex pull a gun with his free hand, and shoot Katrin in the arm. Katrin cried out, and fell to her knees.

Afraid that Alex would shoot again, Rafferty took off, running directly at Alex. He turned and fired in her direction, the first bullets passing to her right. Rafferty was moving fast, thought she might be able to make it all the way to him on a slide, and didn't think he'd keep missing if she didn't vary her approach somehow.

Rafferty hit the dirt, the ground hot and painful under her leg as she slid at great speed. Alex's shots missed high. She had only another moment before she collided with him, and she had a decision to make. Rafferty thought she could take him out with the slide, but had visions of Alex falling on top of her, gun pressed against her chest.

Instead, she popped out of the slide, and swung her fist. It connected with Alex's jaw, and he vanished into the fog.

In that first weightless moment, after Alex had somehow managed to get behind her when a few minutes before he'd been, you know, falling to his death, Rafferty thought about the fight; wondering where she had gone wrong, what she should have done differently, and just how the hell Alex had gotten back there.

Rafferty started to fall past the edge of the cliff, the stupid, smug smile on Alex's stupid, smug face disappearing behind the rock.