Adrenaline shot through my body as my legs pumped forward. Cove and I bounded over chunks of concurrent and segments of buildings, glancing over our shoulders as the robot gained on us. When it started kicking rocks and rubble our way, I had enough. Thinking quickly, I yanked Cove into a partially collapsed building. Rucks thudded against the wall, but it held.
“We won’t last for much longer. Can you use Ranch’s magic? Or mine?”
Cove looked back at me uneasily. “Not Ranch. And our magic,” he said, referring to himself and me, “Isn’t compatible. You should have enough magic to teleport away. Go anywhere; I’ll catch up when I’ve regained some strength.”
If I teleported away, I could potentially drop myself into a worse situation. “Just…try,” I said, offering him my hand. He took it after a moment’s hesitation.
With my earrings protecting me, I had to be the one to establish the connection. Finding that spark within again, I sent fire scurrying down into our clasped hands. Cove’s breath hitched as it burned through him, taking residence inside the gaping maw that sat where the sea usually did. I slumped at the sudden power drain, and Cove tore himself from my grip.
He strode confidently to the breach in the wall and struck a hand forward. A bolt of lightning shot forth, and metal screeched. Cove’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Got it.”
He scurried back over to where I was resting. “I can’t believe that worked.”
I rolled my aching shoulder, surprised myself. “Me neither.”
Cove grimaced, reaching a hand to his chest. His skin was a light pink where my magic had jumped across into his skin. “Your magic burns.”
“I’m not sorry.”
“I don’t want you to be.”
He dropped himself against the wall next to me. “Still have that granola bar?”
With a groan, I leaned forward and dropped the backpack off my shoulder. I shoved one at him. “Have at it.”
“Think the robot was shocked to see us?”
I thumped my head against the wall. Next to me, Cove opened the wrapper as he laughed at his own joke. “This is going so bad; it’s almost apocalyptic.”
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My head thumped against the brick a second time, and I stared up at the ceiling. “Can we go home yet?”
“Nope. You didn’t give me that much magic.”
Ranch and Ani saved me from Cove, popping out of thin air together a few minutes later. “You ditched us.” I accused them.
Ani tilted his head. “Mrrow?”
I glared at him for a few seconds, only for him to tilt his head the other way. Whatever. It wasn’t worth the fight. My weary eyes flicked shut, and I forced them open. Cove brushed a hand on my shoulder.
“Ani’s powerful–you should replenish your magic with his while you can.” I nodded, placing a tired hand on my cat’s fur. Focusing, I reached for the raging inferno that was Ani’s magic. With an experimental tug, I yanked at it. Ani, feeling my exhaustion through our connection, pushed power toward me. He continued doing so until I was brimming with power, then tried to give me more, having spent less than half his own to replenish me.
I broke the connection and smiled at him, running my fingers over his head. “I’m fine, thank you, Ani.”
When I looked up, Cove was grinning at me. “You’re only ever that soft with Ani.”
I promptly shoved Ani off my lap. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Petting his own cat, Cove said, “Of course.”
“Did you restore your magic?’
Cove shook his head. “Ranch isn’t powerful enough for that.”
I frowned. Will we really be alright then? I pushed off the wall, moving to take a look at the robot. “I’m going to take a look at it. See if I can figure anything out.”
Dragging the robot into our little shelter was a challenging task. It was heavier than it looked, made of more metal than plastic. Cove came out to help, grabbing the other arm and using physical magic to boost his strength. It was something he hadn’t taught me yet, and envy curled in my stomach at the sight, but I shoved it back down. I reminded myself that It was my own request that we start with spatiotemporal magic.
We dropped the robot inside a patch of sunlight on the concrete floor. I shifted through my backpack, pulling out a utility knife, eager to pull this thing apart and see how it ticked.
“You packed for everything, didn’t you?”
I flipped t through the utility knife options, testing various screwdriver heads, “You’d be surprised how often these come in handy.” My case and point lay before us on the floor.
I moved to the next screw location, frowning as I noticed it was missing. This wasn’t the first time it had been opened. After pulling out a few more screws, I lifted the plate up, mindful of potential connecting wires. When nothing snagged, I lifted it fully off and placed it off to the side, taking my first good look at the inside.
It defied all expectations. Missing screws were abundant, and it was held together through sheer luck if anything. Any sizeable impact would knock something out of place. It was shocking that walking didn’t dislodge anything, actually.
Digging deeper, I noticed wiring that led to nowhere, empty slots, and mismatched parts. I pointed them out to Cove, saying, “Look at this. It’s like someone tossed a bunch of computer parts in this thing and prayed it would work.”
He leaned over my shoulder, thoughtful. “Something about that sounds familiar, but I can’t quite place it.”
I continued my poking and prodding, inspecting the fired circuitry. Some of the internal parts I could make a guess the uses for, having fixed a fair number of phones and computers in my profession. Others, I couldn’t make heads or tails of. “Do you recognize any of this?”
Cove shook his head. “I was only able to build the website because of YouTube. Computers aren’t my forte.”
With time and resources, I might have been able to discern what part was what. Unfortunately, I had neither. “Well, the good news is I don’t have to figure out how to shoot lightning out of my hands just yet. Hit their heads with enough force, and they’ll go down.”
“Good. Because I think there’s more coming,” He said, pointing over my shoulder through a hole on the opposite side, where multiple pairs of red eyes could be seen.
Maybe the dinosaurs wouldn’t have been so bad after all.