The alarm echoed from somewhere in the smithery. There was no point in disarming it—they’d lost the element of surprise. So Mod’s group readied themselves to fight their way out. Mod gripped the pistol hidden in his robe and turned to face the nearby mage.

The mage on the ladder looked around in confusion before he glanced down at Mod and the others. “Oh, drat. You’ve gone and done it now.”

Mod glared at the mage. “We’re prepared to fight our way out.”

Arsenal stood beside him, her thinsuit humming with anticipation. The front door was open, but the doorway was blocked with a magical barricade. Athena muttered to herself as she tried to find a way through.

“I’m just—” The old mage tried to hold up two hands but wobbled on the ladder. Finally, he held up a single hand in defeat. “I’m just a smith.”

Athena groaned in frustration. “We don’t have time for this.”

Mod glanced back just in time to see the blue flash of Athena’s powers. She sliced through the stone wall—each flash accompanied by a scraping sound, like metal on stone. She used one final barrier to push her way through. The whole sequence had barely taken her a second, and she’d carved a triangle-shaped doorway through solid rock.

Mod did a double-take. All the times that Mod and Athena had fought side-by-side, he’d never seen her use her powers as anything but forcefields and barriers. Arsenal must’ve been similarly dumbfounded because she glanced at Mod.

But Athena didn’t pause. She stepped through the newly made doorway. As soon as she was through, the sounds of battle erupted on the other side.

“Here goes,” Arsenal said before quickly following Athena.

Mod glared one last time at the mage on the ladder, but the old man hadn’t moved. He still had one hand raised in surrender while holding perilously with the other.

Mod readied himself and followed after his teammates.

Outside, mages were already converging on the smithery. They filed out of nearby buildings with a mixture of zeal and anger. A barrage of spells came from all around the demiplane—icicles, boulders, streaks of fire, and bolts of lightning.

Athena had conjured barriers big enough to cover the entire smithery. Most spells splashed harmlessly against her forcefields—icicles and boulders shattered, and fire burst harmlessly against it. Only the lightning bolts seemed to actually hurt. Each time a bolt struck, Athena’s barrier wavered.

Mod, Arsenal, and Athena had briefly discussed strategies for using the new nanite bullets. They’d settled on one in particular. So long as these mages weren’t as good with barriers as Athena, it should work.

“Wrecking ball!”

Mod called out their plan and stepped forward with his pistol leveled. Athena leapt to his side. Athena looked over his shoulder and shuffled her barriers, giving Mod a narrow window through which to fire. Mod aimed at mage furthest to the right and opened fire.

A nanite bullet slammed into the mage’s chest, sending them stumbling backward. Before they could recover, the swarm wrapped up his face and hands. Before he was completely immobilized, Arsenal rocketed across the gap. She slammed an armored fist into his stomach, and the mage collapsed.

Mod was already targeting the next closest mage. Athena was already readjusting her barriers to give him a shot. That was impressive enough, but Athena was also conjuring a barrier to keep Arsenal safe. Arsenal followed their targeting path, disabling foes almost as quickly as Mod shot them. Athena leapfrogged the secondary barrier in front of Arsenal as she went.

Working in unison, they wrecked their way across the demiplane, as quickly and easily as punching keys on a typewriter. The mages on the far left barely had time to register what was happening.

Ten mages dropped and Mod had to spare a half-second to reload before he dropped the next four. That was enough time for the last mage to try and run before Mod shot him in the back.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The last of the mages dropped to the ground in a mixture of gasps and groans.

Athena barked a laugh. Her chest heaved with exertion as she slapped Mod on the back. “You’re goddamn fast, you know that? Both of you!”

Mod took a measured breath even though he didn’t need it. All they had to do now was—

Six more Felwardens filed out of the large cathedral. Only three were dressed like mages. The other three wore heavy armor. Their swords and tower shields glowed red with magic. The three mages’ robes were more ornate than those of their fallen brethren. Mod guessed that two of them were Magus rank. The third mage’s robes were trimmed in gold and the entire length of her clothes were woven with runes. She carried an equally ornate staff nearly as tall as her.

Mod’s group readied themselves, but the newcomers didn’t attack right away. Instead, they stood solidly between Mod’s group and the exit portal.

The third mage stepped forward. She surveyed the wrecked demiplane, not worrying at all about the pistol that Mod was aiming at her.

“You’ve made quite a mess of things… I am Branch Master Toldrei, and by the power vested in me by the Felwardens, you three are under arrest. Remain where you—”

The shot echoed through the demiplane. Mod hadn’t waited for Toldrei to finish her monologue. He’d shot her squarely in the chest.

But Master Toldrei didn’t flinch. She didn’t even react as the swarm began creeping up her neck and down her arms.

The mage’s entire body glowed with power. It poured out of her and, for a moment, it lit up the demiplane like a new dawn. The nanites dripped off of her and fell to the ground. The swarm coalesced into a small black puddle and stayed there. Toldrei stepped over the puddle, unperturbed. Her skin still glowed with a faint golden light.

“As I was saying, you are under arrest. You have the right to undamaged imprisonment.” Toldrei looked down her nose at Athena. “The trinket you're after isn’t worth your lives.”

As Toldrei spoke, the other Felwardens fanned out in three groups—one knight with one mage. She stood stoically in front while the other two mages stood close behind their respective knights.

Each of the mages were between Class 2 and 3. The knights might also be that strong. Mod and Arsenal had faced worse odds during their fights with the Deep Ones, but then they’d also had his fusion rifle and her exosuit. But now they had Athena…

Mod would’ve rather been fighting the Deep Ones again. There were just too many unknowns about the mages’ powers. And he didn’t have to hold back against the Deep Ones, either.

Mod lowered his gun slightly. Not because he was afraid, but because he was waiting for Athena.

Athena was glaring back at Toldrei, hands clenched into fists. Clearly, the mage had underestimated how much the trinket was worth to her.

Athena screamed and pushed.

Three walls of blue light scraped across the ground, each moving toward a group of Felwardens. The knights slammed their shields into the ground. Magic flared. The mages each uttered words of power, but they were lost in the cacophony that followed.

Athena’s walls of force slammed into the knights with a crunching sound. The two flanking groups were hurled backward, both sets of mages and knights tumbling across the demiplane.

Only Master Toldrei and her knight stayed standing, and only just. Both she and the knight skidded backward until they were nearly pinned against the cathedral. Both Toldrei and the knight glowed with golden power. A moment later, the barrier in front of them wavered and disappeared.

Athena stomped forward. She conjured two more barriers and used them to throw the two flanking groups and disoriented groups of Felwardens across the demiplane. The clanking receded into the distance.

Master Toldrei didn’t seem to care. She didn’t take her eyes off of Athena.

“You’re nothing but fools playing a mortal’s game…” Toldrei’s voice trailed off as she chanted another spell and slammed her staff into the ground.

The ground—the entire demiplane—rippled.

TINA confirmed what Mod already knew: “She’s casting multiple spells.”

Mod’s feet sank as the ground turned to mud. He quickly sank down to his shins. He struggled, pulling with all his strength, but the more he fought, the deeper he sank. Athena and Arsenal were stuck similarly.

The cathedral loomed behind Master Toldrei, and the gargoyles writhed. The stone creatures leapt from the building and descended toward Mod’s group.

All the while, Toldrei and the knight glowed even brighter until the runes in their armor looked like golden lava.

The golden knight strode forward. The ground solidified beneath his feet, leaving him unaffected.

Mod watched the scene unfold, unconsciously aware that the world was slowing down around him. His mind and his awareness were speeding up. At the same time, he felt the comforting sensation of TINA beside him, like she was looking over his shoulder.

Despite the display of power growing in front of him, Mod was grinning.

“Alright,” he said. “New plan.”

~ ~ ~