Metal book in hand, Vigo followed her back down the stairs, the metal book a slight weight in his arms as they took the stairs two at a time.

“What’s going to happen to the books?” He asked, nearly out of breath, trying to keep up with the woman.

“Collateral. Maybe the Blessed will destroy it. Maybe they won’t.”

Vigo felt a pang of sadness at the thought of all that knowledge being lost, but had no item to stop and mourn.

Huda directed them to an old stable that had been converted into a car garage, where two minibuses were lined up with engines hot. One had the sliding door open as Afra frantically waved them inside.

The mechanical door whined as Vigo jumped into the vehicle’s open side door. The hearth maiden slammed the door and squeezed into the driver’s seat, with Huda falling into the seat beside her.

Vigo looked up to see Leta’s father strapped to a medical gurney, his head swiveling around with a look of confusion.

“Fancy meeting you here, Doctor Black.” Vigo gave an awkward salute before bracing himself against the sides of the minibus as the vehicle lurched forward.

“I’d say the same, lad.” Theodore grunted uncomfortably. “But the location is less than ideal.”

“Koa, we’re secure.” Huda said into a walkie talkie, his response crackling through the vehicle’s speakers.

“Roger that, Huda. Let’s move out.”

Making a concerted effort to balance himself between Theodore’s gurney and the door, Vigo succeeded in propelling himself into an unsteady position as the radiant oranges and yellows of the setting sun momentarily obscured their vision.

Then they were dropping down a steep incline as the two minibuses began to pick up speed down the road.

“Sam. What’s our status?”

There was a pause before the boy answered. “Our electronics in the Sect have been scrambled. Timers on the small incendiaries are less than two minutes out. Our sensors are still picking up the incoming horde.”

“Did that little boy just say ‘incendiaries?’” Theodore looked around, confused.

Vigo nearly shouted in shock. “They’re blowing up the monastery!?”

“Evacuation S.O.P.” Afra called over her shoulder. “Destroys anything of value technology-wise. Plus, the fire will get the attention of the Mundane authorities, which should hopefully discourage the Blessed from lingering.”

“I think that library was something of value.” Vigo snorted before looking down at the metal book still clutched in his grip before nearly losing his footing as the minibus took a hard turn onto a forest road, the hard bumps of tree routes nearly dislodging Theodore’s gurney.

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“Scribes are human libraries, remember?” Huda retorted as she struggled to set up a digital map on the tablet as the vehicle traversed the bumpy road. “I’ve got all that information in my head except whatever is on that mystery box, which is why I needed you to bring it.”

Frowning, Afra turned her head to see the metal book in Vigo’s hand before giving her sister a scowl.

“You had him bring the mystery box!? Of all the useful things he could have grabbed, you had him take that one?”

“He’s got a lead on deciphering it!” She shouted back as her fingers flew over the tablet. “That thing has been collecting dust on our shelves for centuries and he’s gotten the closest anyone has come to figuring it out.”

Afra’s eyebrows furrowed and her lips formed a tight line, revealing her clear displeasure.

Away from the monastery, the car violently shook from a distant explosion, reminding Vigo of driving during an earthquake.

“Incendiaries have gone off-Afra! The horde is splitting.” Sam’s voice nearly made them jump as it came over the speakers. “A small group is headed for the Sect, but the rest are headed southeast towards our location.”

“Ismene! How close are we to getting out of range?” Koa’s voice was strained as the vehicle in front of them went over a particularly thick root.

A muffled voice could barely be heard as if they we speaking from a distance, “Ten… It’s about… main road… head north.”

“Got it. Afra! We’re going to hit the main road in a few minutes. You need to turn left. We’re heading north.”

“Why the hell are we going north?!” she nearly screeched, “Athens is south!”

“We’re not headed for the Vault. We’re going to the safe house in Thessaloniki via the E75.”

“That’s a six-hour drive, not to mention that the roads will most likely get shut down before we even get halfway there.”

“We don’t have a choice, Afra. We have to try,” Koa argued back. “The Blessed will closely monitor every port and airstrip within 100 kilometers of Athens. They’ll assume that we’ll make our way to the closest evacuation site out of the country. We have a plane in Thessaloniki at a private airstrip that will get us to safety with the Sect in Sofia, but we have to get out of this bubble first. If we are able to reach the E75, we can escape the bubble and send a warning back to Atreus.”

Afra huffed but nodded absently, “Roger that. North to E75 headed for Thessaloniki.” Then she turned to her sister. “What’s your status?”

“Receiving satellite imaging now.” The map on Huda’s tablet began to fill in with more details, including traffic patterns and surveillance cameras. “Still not transmitting out, though.” she muttered in annoyance.

The radio crackled once again. “Shite. Afra!” Koa called out, “Ismene’s passed out. We’re on our own now.”

“H-Hey! We got incoming!” Sam exclaimed with a fearful tone. “A herd of Night Mares is splitting off. They’re covering the terrain fast. Can’t share the bigger map with you under this bubble, but estimates show they’ll intercept us in five minutes.”

“Fuck!” Afra cursed loudly.

“What’s a Night Mare?” Vigo asked, holding on for dear life as they navigated over a stretch where the road had deteriorated to a patchy mess.

“Ever heard of the Mares of Diomedes?" Huda threw over her shoulder as she pulled open the glove box, spilling gun parts onto her lap.

“Normie!” Afra turned long enough to give Vigo a hard stare. “Under your feet is a compartment. There’s a waist harness - it looks a lot like what you use for rock climbing or via feratta. Get that on and hook the carabiner into the ‘oh shit’ handle above your head.”

Vigo looked down to see the compartment’s latch right beneath his feet and scooted to the side to open it.

There were, in fact, several sets of waist harnesses, as well as multiple crossbows, canister spears like what he’d seen Koa practicing with earlier today, as well as an assault rifle that had been broken down into parts.

Shocked, he blinked at the weapon before coming back to reality. Living in the adventure capital of the world had prepared him well for getting the harness quickly and effectively.

“Three minutes!” Huda shouted. “I’m picking them up on our maps now.”