Kalkarka! Cara's stomach dropped. The key—she needed it now. Why was she just standing there? Move!

Adrenaline pumping, she stabbed at the lieutenant’s eye.

He shoved back his chair and drew his sword in one motion. “Not so fast, traitor.”

Boots thundered up the stairs. Three sets? Four? No, more. Her pulse raced. Invisibility gone, guards closing in, no way out.

She was so, so screwed.

The door—she had to block it! A table? No, too big—oh! That chair! The ugly one! She yanked it across the floor with a teeth-grating screech. Whatever. Subtlety was already out the window.

The lieutenant stormed around the desk, sword leveled at her chest. “There’s no escape for the likes of you.”

She wedged the chair under the door handle and spun, bow leaping into her hand. Rapid Shot kicked in.

The world slowed. Bow up. Arrow nocked. Point-blank range. Loose.

Dead center of his chest.

He staggered back, clawing at the arrow, and dropped, screaming.

The door handle rattled. Heavy thuds followed. Time running out.

The key! She yanked it from the lieutenant's neck, shoved it in her pack, and scanned the room. Nope, no hidden exits, just boring furniture and enough parchment to choke a bracka.

A knot coiled in her gut. Only one way out left.

She snatched up the lieutenant's sword and hurled it at the window.

Teal magic flashed. The sword bounced off.

By the Forest, was anything here not enchanted?

The thuds stopped. Either they'd given up, or—her chest tightened—they'd found a better tool for the job.

She closed her eyes and weaved the Emergency Message spell, just like Ted taught her. The magic flowed perfectly through her fingers, and she cast her attention out towards Ted.

“Maevdoka Ri!”

Nothing happened. Had she—?

No. A perfect cast.

Damn it. A negation field! Same reason Invisibility was gone. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

She paced. Think! There had to be a way out. She wasn’t dying like this.

Wood splintered. An axe head burst through the door. Clearly their love of enchantments hadn't stretched to interior doors.

She nocked an arrow, fixing her aim. They wanted a fight? These slave-trading bastards would get one.

Another swing smashed a hole. A guard pushed through, and she loosed. The arrow buried itself in his chest, and he hit the ground with a thud.

They'd regret messing with a Ranger.

***

Ted crouched beside Nammu, heart pounding against his ribs, eyes fixed on the guardhouse door. Come on, Cara, where are you?

Shouts echoed from within, then a crash. Ted's gut clenched. The plan was falling apart. He met Nammu's gaze, and they rose as one, breaking into a sprint. Ted drew his falchion as he ran, storing a Force/Imbue/Blast within it.

They burst through the door into muffled cries and the thudding of footsteps above. No words needed—Ted took point, weaving Farsight to peer ahead.

The spell went off, but did nothing. Cold dread settled heavily in his gut. Cara had damned well better be okay.

He bounded up the stairs into a haze of teal-purple magic. A Telepathy Negation field, but way more complex than he’d have imagined.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Looking past it, three guards lay motionless in the corridor, Cara's arrows protruding from their chests. Beyond them, a shattered door, and the clanging of sword against dagger.

Heart pounding in his throat, Ted flew into the room.

A man—the lieutenant?—writhed on the floor, arrow in his chest, blood seeping between his fingers.

Cara battled three guards in the corner, her back pressed to the wall, daggers flashing as she parried, grunting with every movement.

The guards' attacks were cautious, uncoordinated, each letting the others take the lead, and their backs were turned. Vulnerable.

Ted lunged at the middle one. The strike itself glanced off, but the blast effect detonated.

The guard stumbled to his knees, screaming in agony.

“Take left!” Ted yelled, bouncing back, readying a Firebolt in his free hand.

The guard on the right wavered, glancing between Cara and Ted. His eyes were wide, wild, begging for mercy even as he waved his sword at them both.

A collar pulsed with magic around his throat. Ted's heart lurched. Was that…?

Shit. A slave collar.

Pain twisted in Ted's gut, and he dumped the Firebolt into the wall. “We can help you. This doesn't have to end with you dead.”

Purple magic flared in the collar, and the guard went rigid. A silky-smooth male voice rolled out of his mouth. “Oh, but it does, Edwin Williams. He will do his duty or he will die. His wife, too, for good measure.”

Ted's fists clenched tight. “You're a monster.”

Nammu dispatched the third guard with a flurry of knives, leaving only the enslaved guard standing.

“I'm sorry,” the guard grunted in his own voice. His face contorted in pain, and he lunged for Ted.

Cara struck. Her first dagger parried the guard's attack, her second found the gap between his armor and his slave collar. “What had to be done,” she whispered, trembling ever so slightly.

Life vanished from the guard's eyes, and he slumped to the floor.

Ted clenched down on the useless feelings gnawing at his insides. The Magistrate had left them no choice. It wasn’t their fault. “You have the key?”

Cara nodded and wiped her blades clean. “Let’s go.”

So much for stealth. Ted hurried after her, weaving a Communicate spell between them. We need to hit the Magistrate, now.

She whipped an are-you-insane glare back at him. They knew we were coming. It was a trap.

All the more reason to strike now. Ted focused on the outside and cast Farsight as they reached the ground floor. Triggering an uprising is our best shot.

Ted's right. Nammu pressed her ear against the front door. They'll flood the city with mages and actual soldiers.

“Enmokajona!” The street outside was empty, but wouldn't stay that way long. Way's clear. Let's move!

Nammu took point, Ted and Cara behind, weapons drawn and ready. Yet still nothing—no soldiers jumping out to kill them, no firebolts flying at their heads.

A chill ran down Ted's spine. It was calm. Too damned calm.

Tall buildings hemmed them in on both sides. A perfect spot for an ambush. Ted cast his focus ahead to the next corner and cast Farsight.

An image flooded his mind—steel glinting in shadows. Incoming!

Two patrol squads stormed out, weapons drawn, clad in plate and brimming with Protection magic. They formed a line around a hundred feet out, blocking the street.

Ted glanced back towards the guardhouse. Two more squads were moving in, cutting off their escape in the same formation.

Twenty soldiers. Four mages.

Adrenaline surged and Ted sheathed his falchion. Swords weren’t going to get them out of this one. Stupid mistake, sticking their necks out for the Resistance.

The guttural voice of an orc boomed from behind. “You are under arrest for treason against the Divine Empire. Surrender, or die!”

Ted looked to the others, not that he needed to. They'd come this far—none of them were backing out now. Besides, they knew what the Divine Empire did to its prisoners. “We don’t surrender to tyrants.”

The two mages ahead fired off stunbolts.

Heart pounding in his throat, Ted let reflex guide him. He caught the bolt at the edge of a Barrier. The Barrier flickered, only barely holding on.

Cara dodged the other stunbolt and fired an arrow in return. She hit a mage in the chest, teal magic flaring up as an Armor effect absorbed almost all the damage.

These weren't low-level goons. They needed an escape plan. On me, Ted said, pulling on his mana and casting a levitation spell.

Cara and Nammu huddled around him, and the two lines of soldiers converged inward, the jaws of the trap closing around them.

“Take the male alive,” the orc commanded. “Kill the others.”

“Ratonaka Ki!” The spell flushed through them, tingling across his skin, and they rose into the air. Breathing rapidly, he drew on more mana, casting a rapid Protection/Absorb spell for Cara.

He glanced back—both mages behind readied crackling white bolts.

Dispel magic.

Pulse racing, Ted grabbed Cara, pulled her in front. “Nismaevka Ri!” Teal magic rippled out, enveloping her just as the first bolt struck.

It shattered against her leg. The impact rippled across the Absorb Aegis, but it held.

The second bolt punched through, and crackling white energy danced through them. Ted's heart jumped into his throat, and gravity reasserted itself.

His feet slammed into the ground, sending him sprawling, and a sharp twist wrenched his ankle. Pain exploded up his leg, scattering his thoughts.

Cara and Nammu landed in effortless crouches and charged the blockade ahead, firing off arrows and throwing knives.

Agony throbbed in Ted’s ankles, screaming at him to stop—no way he was making a runner. He struggled to his feet, and surveyed the field.

Every option was terrible.

Twenty soldiers, heavily armored and backed by protection magic. They didn’t flinch, didn’t hesitate, didn’t drop, no matter how many arrows or knives glanced off them. They just kept coming, swords drawn and ready to Cara and Nammu down, while the mages hung back, conserving their mana.

Pain stabbed at Ted's heart. Why wouldn't they? The Empire had this fight in the bag.

Cara’s charge faltered. She looked back, her eyes wide with a raw bleakness that sent a shiver down his spine.

Ted's insides collapsed in on themselves. He couldn't let her throw her life away in a fight they couldn't win. Not for this.

Not for him.

Jaw clenched, he turned to the orc mage behind and let the cold void fill his chest.

“Let them go,” he shouted, “and I'll surrender.”