Nathan saw June collapse just as Caleb jumped in front of the beam. The immutable man jumped in front, arms splayed outward to catch as much of the blast as he could. The beam engulfed him, destroying anything he had on him. But he couldn’t block all of it.

A person-sized hole was cut out of the blast, but anything that didn't hit kept moving forwards. The weakened beam collided with the barriers protecting the city. Sparks of light flew as power met power, neither looking to budge. Nathan felt cracks appear in the dome as the light pushed forwards.

And then it stopped. With nothing to power it the disintegration beam used all its energy, leaving a cracked dome and an annoyed Caleb.

"Great," He groaned. "Right in front of everybody!"

Nathan had no time for Caleb's complaints. June had taxed herself past what was healthy and needed medical attention. He scooped her up in a fireman's carry as Alex held off the attacking soldiers with her cats. He ran towards the North entrance, Alex keeping up behind. He passed by Caleb, who was stripping a downed soldier and donning the equipment. He pulled on pants, hopping in chase until each leg went through a hole.

An earthquake shook the ground. Nathan didn't even think and used his blessing, breaking up the ground behind Caleb to slow the attackers. "That's the signal!" Someone shouted. "To the door!"

The rest of the militia was retreating back to the doors. A group of forgers and citizens were using makeshift guns to shoot down any soldiers brave enough to chase. Nathan rushed to the doors. "Medic!" He screamed. A group pointed down a street.

Nathan felt himself picked up by one of the cats, he didn't get a good idea which. He didn't really think to use his blessing at all so the action surprised him. "We can get there fast like this!" Alex shouted over the din.

The cats rushed over to an open plaza where various tents and beds had been set up. The area seemed divided into two groups, those who were injured by the soldiers and those who had overtaxed their power. Pulsing his blessing, Nathan found someone who could help. He pointed to a nurse that was currently handing an ice pack over to Hailey. The woman was sitting on a chair, nursing a headache.

"Help," Nathan breathed out. "June overused her power and blacked out."

The nurse nodded. "Bring her here." She directed Nathan and Alex over to an empty bed. Caleb had hopped off and ran over to his sister when he saw her.

Carefully, Nathan set his June down onto the makeshift bed. "Alright let me take a look," The nurse said.

Nathan backed away slightly, hovering behind as the nurse worked. "She a powered?" The nurse asked.

"Yes," Answered Nathan.

The nurse examined June's eyes. "What's she do?"

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"Slows things, makes them less active."

"One of the brainy powers," The nurse shined a light in June's eyes. "She'll be fine. The brain-based powers always bring insane levels of exhaustion with them if the power gets overused. She just needs some sleep."

Nathan squatted down in relief, catching himself with his hands as he sat. "Thank Pellere."

He felt the rumble of an engine below him. "Are we in the air now?"

"Yes," He heard Hailey say. "But it looks like we've got company."

"What is it now." Caleb groaned.

"More airships," Hailey answered. "Mr. Copper has been monitoring the fight with some drones and he sees the bombers coming back with an escort."

"Shit," Alex said. "And June's out for the count so we can't use her to stop the bombs."

"We got any way to shoot back sis?" Caleb asked.

"No. We've already rushed getting the city in the air. We're barely holding on as it is." Hailey grabbed her temples in an attempt to ease her headache. "Maybe we can try to launch some of the artillery to fight them off but where do we run to?"

"I can use my blessing on the engines," Nathan chimed in. "Should make the city fly faster."

"We could hide in the Rockies, or any mountain range really," Alex said.

Hailey shook her head. "We're too big for that. We'd only get found again."

"Gotta roll the dice," Caleb said. "We should go east, to New York."

Hailey frowned. "You told me New York was a wasteland."

"I lied," Caleb said. "It's worse."

"How could it be worse?" Hailey demanded.

"It's hard to explain. I guess the best explanation is that nightmares control it." Caleb answered.

"And you want to go there?" Nathan questioned.

"It's the only place I know where those fighters can't follow. The nightmares can't enter if Hailey's barrier is up." Caleb said.

"I don't like it," Hailey answered.

An airship passed over the city, signaling the start of the next battle.

"We might not have a choice," Caleb said.

"Nathan, go down to the engines. Get someone to lead you there. Tell them I said to and they'll do it. Head east for now, we'll keep trying to find an answer to this as we run but some plan is better than none." Hailey rattled off orders. "Caleb, Alex. We're going to grab anything we can that scouts and use it to find an actual escape route. If it turns out we have to dive into the fire to get out of the frying pan we'll do it but I'm not about to make it our only option."

Nodding, Nathan ran off to find anyone who could take him down to the engines. He found someone who could take him, a militiaman named Zack. The two jogged down to where Three Cities had set up their propulsion. Inside, Nathan found Mr. Copper and a group of forgers laboring over a variety of engines. Next to them stood Rover, jumping around the area excitedly.

"Mr. Copper, I'm here to get this city moving faster," Nathan said.

The forger gave him a look, thin glasses falling to the brim of his nose. He pushed them up but the sweat on his face slid them down again. "You're that paladin. The one following Pell or something."

"Pellere," Nathan answered.

"Right. Well, I assume you're here for more than talk. Can you make the engines any more efficient?" Mr. Copper turned to the assortment of engines around the area.

The entire center of the forger district had been cleared out. Nathan saw electric generators, solar panels, car batteries, and even a stack of RC cars. All of them had been wired together and were running at full speed. Rover darted around the area, pulling at something with his teeth. Nathan noticed that when he did, some of the engines would speed up.

"What's rover doing?"

"The AI? To be honest I can only guess. From what we can tell he's claiming the engines. By doing so, he can directly edit them. At least we think he can. Anything he's claimed no longer wears down and runs at max power." Mr. Copper pushed his glasses up again.

"Okay, stand back," Nathan said. "I have an idea."