Axis III

“Dark matter!” she cursed, jamming her finger down on the trigger of a gun that was empty. The mistbullets hadn’t done much more than keep the Outenders at bay, although—strangely—their grins had seemed to widen as the bullets had gone off like nuclear sound explosions, dropping both Steele and herself to their knees.

They seemed wary of the gun and easily avoided all three of her shots. And Doome had been prophetic—the Outenders looked like carbon copies of herself and Steele.

Outender Steele said conversationally to Outender Axis, “Do they really think we’re ignorant of their petty weapons?”

“Apparently.”

“Perhaps we could do to them what we’ve done to their helpless spouses.”

“Smoke is not helpless!” Steele retorted, reaching for the only thing in reach—a strange sword lying on a dusty table next to them in the dark recess.

“I don’t think so.” The voice was curt. Smoke’s voice. Steele hissed in anger and surprise, backing away from the Outenders as the sword began unraveling, ribbons of steel curling around them like wisps of smoke.

“Like stars…” Axis murmured, momentarily transfixed by the steel shavings. Bits of the metal drifted toward her face, the sharp faces barely nicking her skin, an unbelievably precise warning, but Axis only had eyes for the strange effect the steel bits had on her eyes as they gleamed in the dark like the holy knights of old.

She barely missed Steele’s sharp intake of breath, but the sound shattered her revery, and she looked at her dangerous carbon copy, a plot quickly spinning through her mind. The Outender wearing her face looked almost bored, meticulously cleaning under its nails. Was it enjoying the chaos? Intensely concentrating?

Examining her own face with intensity, Axis grinned and held back a full-blown laugh—Cir had always said she was an open book, and now that her own face was so prominently on display, she knew he was right. The false Axis was feigning boredom, but that little nose crinkle, those eyes staring off into nothing… time to test that theory.

“Quick, Steele, shoot them!” Axis suddenly bellowed, cocking her own gun at the creatures.

“You know I don’t…”

“Shoot them!”

It wasn’t like they’d sat down and had a planning session, but Steele was sharp, and made a show of plunging a hand into her longcoat. False Axis’s eyes shot toward Steele, its concentration momentarily broken—the bullets may not have pierced through their skin, but the noise had apparently irritated the beings. Enough to stop the upward spiral of steel shavings, which froze rigidly in place, a million bits of glitter suspended in the black. Enough for Axis to drop her empty and obvious gun, dig into her pocket, wrap her hand around her last mistbullet, and wind back for a throw.

Cir refused to play shieldball with her for good reason.

The mistbullet hurled straight for false Axis’s chest, the eruptive sound dropping Steele and Axis to their knees, hands shoved up against their ears as the Outenders roared, an ugly thing that pierced through the mistbullet’s cacophony. Immediately, all sound seemed to be sucked into the creatures, a horrible, empty void filling the monastery before the world fell apart.

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Steele reacted quicker than Axis, grabbing her arm and yanking her to her feet.

“Not more running,” Axis grumbled, but she was just as eager as Steele to get out of the collapsing stone structure.

“Smoke and Cir?”

“Hopefully coming,” Steele’s voice was terse as she ran through the gloom, large chunks of stone smashing into the floor around them. Axis couldn’t help but yelp as a large stone face collided into the ground in front of her, the stone cheek of Lina breaking off, only to be crunched under Axis’s boots.

“Hopefully doesn’t work for me. Go on without me, I’m going back in.”

“Like stars you are.” Steele was already barreling head-first back into the darkness, calling out Smoke’s name as she ran.

Axis followed on her heels, looking for the telltale glint of Cir’s short blond hair in the darkness as she called out, “Cir! Don’t make me shoot you next.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. And I hope you didn’t lose my favorite revolver.”

“Cir!” Axis threw any semblance of decorum aside and tackled him, almost taking down the tall, lean form. His hat was missing, and his usually perfectly kept hair was loose and tangled, slightly falling into his intelligent face.

“You know I love you, but if our endearing reunion results in our untimely passing, I’m going to actually lock you out of my closet.”

“Noted,” Axis said, kissing his cheek quickly before grabbing his hand.

“Was there a reason you were running into the starstraight building from Edge?”

“Language. I wasn’t about to let you lousy End Hunters miss the chance to brag to all your buddies about how you two have actually seen Outenders.”

Cir kept up with Axis easily—too easily for Axis’s liking.

Warped long-legged man.

“Smoke?”

“He was right behind me, so I’m sure Steele’s found him and knocked the stars out of him by now.”

“Hopefully they save that touching moment for after,” Axis smiled slightly, looking up at Cir.

He was clearly focused on dodging the falling chunks of stone, but he squeezed her hand a little tighter as they ran. Axis could see the frozen steel shards in the distance and managed to shout out,

“Steel shards. Avoid.”

Cir nodded briefly, slowing only to remove his longcoat. As they got closer to the gleaming shards, Cir stepped in front of her, his longcoat held out in front of him like a shield. The shards, thinner than paper, were no match for the thick, sturdy fabric, even though the tiny cuts on Axis’s face still burned as a reminder of their effectiveness on skin.

“Steele know about this?” Cir asked under his breath.

“Yep.”

“She’s smart enough to get through then.”

Axis could see the light, the blessed light from the sun, ahead of them and quickened her pace. Cir had stowed the coat and taken her hand again. Almost at the threshold of the exit, Axis felt Cir’s grip on her hand tighten. Glancing over, the reason was obvious. The roof wasn’t the only thing caving in—the floor was also buckling, and Cir was suddenly tumbling into a large hole.

“Not today,” Axis grunted, taking her free hand and seizing Cir’s arm.

This will probably hurt, but having to make dinner for myself is worse.

But even her sarcastic thoughts couldn’t hide her concern. Bracing herself, she pulled with all her body weight, yanking Cir away from the gaping hole and straight into her. She fell, hard, but Cir was quick to help her to her feet. She winced—her ankle was burning, and putting weight on her right foot seemed like an impossibility.

“Cir,” she whispered, her eyes wide as the roof continued to rain down, large bricks of stone barely missing them.

“Say no more,” he winked, scooping her up in his arms and booking it for the light.