Zeek hadn’t calmed down at all. He’d spent the entire afternoon peeking out the blinds, anxiously waiting for the sun to set. He double checked his bag: clothes, a blanket, and the bag of gold. It was all he owned aside from the mage’s robe and symbol. But he had to leave that behind; it would be too recognizable unless he melted it down. He wasn’t sure where he’d go, maybe home at first.

The more he considered it, though, he realized what an awful idea that was. It was the first place the kingdom would look for him. And it would bring trouble to Granny—the kind of trouble a few herbs, wraps, and some rest couldn’t fix. Not to mention Penny’s family, who would send them back immediately.

He debated telling Penny everything, and part of him wanted to. But he wouldn’t risk it until he understood what was happening in Numera. Or until he became strong enough not to care. Ignorance would give her some deniability if they were caught.

The book, which normally zapped him when he was avoiding work, was silent now. The pages didn’t change and the task list stayed the same. He gripped it in his pocket occasionally for comfort, running his fingers over the raised image on the cover.

When the moon crested the academy walls, he left his room and knocked on Penny’s door. She let him in and laid out food for his pack. She was wearing pants and a shirt, with her hair pulled up into a wide-brimmed hat like the men wore in Lem. She was still clearly a woman, if you caught her in the light, but in darkness it would be hard to tell.

“Where are we going?” she asked as she tied her pack shut.

“We’ll head out the western gate. It’s a day’s walk till the next town, then we head south. After that, I don’t know,” Zeek whispered.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”

“Eventually. Not here. Not now,” Zeek replied.

She nodded nervously as they left her room and creeped down the hall. Zeek flinched every time the wood creaked, or the sound of shifting bodies on mattresses echoed from behind a bedroom door. Despite the tension, they made it to the academy gates. There was a guard on duty and the metal grate was lowered, so the only way out was a side door built into the large frame.

Zeek stood up straight and walked deliberately towards the man who was leaning against the wall, watching the city. He called out to the man before coming into view.

“Evening, sir.”

“Evenin’. You lookin’ to leave? Gate’s locked,” the guard replied.

“Ah, I was afraid a that,“ Zeek answered, adjusting his accent to the guard’s. “My associate and I was entertaining one a’ the nobles. Missed the gate by a bit.”

The guard nodded with a grin. “Happens. You got papers?” Zeek fidgeted with his traveling pack, but the darkness covered his hands. Before replying, he grabbed Penny’s hat and pulled it off, letting her long auburn hair fall down her back. He pointed his chin at her with a smile.

“Was an unofficial visit,” he said coyly while Penny blushed. Taking a gold coin from his bag, he stuffed it in the guard’s hand. “Lookin’ ta keep it that way.” The guard started laughing and shook his head.

“Didn’ see a thing,“ the guard winked, before opening the door and letting them into the city. Penny tied her hair up and put the hat back on. When they were a few blocks from the academy she spoke.

“I don’t know what’s more offensive. You suggesting I was a whore or the guard believing you,” she muttered.

Zeek replied absently while scanning the open alleyways, “Two people called you pretty. Focus on the positive.”

When the academy was out of view, he led her into a dark side street. As they changed direction towards the western gate, they wove through seedier neighborhoods. Glowing shops and well-dressed people gave way to street urchins and beggars. Glass fronts became hastily attached planks of wood. The smell of cooked food became sweat and dirt.

Zeek twitched slightly each time he thought a shadow moved. He noticed a few men looking them over as they passed dimly lit bars and quiet inns. The roads were curved and twisted, quickly turning them in the wrong direction. Zeek tried to approach a person leaning on the side of a building for directions, but the sound of his voice made them scurry away into a damp alley that reeked of rotten food.

He tried using the moon for guidance, but it wasn’t visible in most parts of the street. The walls were too high and the roofs bent at awkward angles, skewing his view of the sky. He tried heading back to a main thoroughfare, but the sight of two clergy greeting people at a café made him turn and flee.

Penny was getting more nervous as they walked. Neither spoke, but she went from following to clutching the back of his arm. He felt her jump once when a rat the size of a cat ran in front of them. It was a terrifying flight, but they went undisturbed till they came upon a gang of men playing cards between aged barrels and empty crates.

The men noticed Zeek and stood up, a few grabbing knives or metal knuckles from their pockets. Zeek began backing up slowly as Penny forcefully pulled him away. He could hear her panting, but he tried to act natural. Until the man in front started running at him. He grabbed Penny’s hand and fled into a nearby alley.

The men chased them for a few streets but gave up as Zeek entered an abandoned area of the city. He ducked into an empty building with no roof and listened for their footsteps. They both held their breath, listening to the buzzing of insects and the crack of rubble under their feet. Zeek was staring at the alley they’d emerged from when he heard Penny shriek.

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He turned quickly and saw a figure clawing its way from a moon-cast shadow. Midnight black hands emerged first, pulling on the wood with taloned fingers as if the thing were stuck in water. Zeek pushed Penny behind him and circulated his mana faster, preparing to fight. As the torso emerged, it started forming faster. Zeek looked towards the door, but another creature was taking shape near the exit. He could see long wiry legs pulling themselves free of the shadow.

He whispered to Penny, “Get on my back now.” When she didn’t move, he glanced at her. She was chalky white and her terrified eyes were frozen on the creatures approaching them. Zeek grabbed her, sweeping her legs up in his arms as she clung to his front. He focused his mana on his legs and back as he crouched down and leapt over the broken wall behind them.

Penny screamed as they landed on the rotten second floor of an adjacent house. The wood cracked immediately as the floor gave out, throwing them into a pile of rubble. Zeek looked back to see more shadow creatures jumping onto the top of the walls surrounding them. They perched near each other like a line of large cats examining their prey. They had no eyes or faces, just swirling shadow outlining lithe figures with thin limbs. Their skin was blacker than charcoal, stripping them of any details except for shape.

Zeek turned and kicked the wall behind them. He felt it crack under his mana-infused strike, but the creatures were dropping down across the room. There were a dozen now, and they approached slowly as if enjoying the terror. Penny jumped up from the ground and pinned her back against the wall as Zeek swirled his mana faster and struck the wall.

The stone crumbled, revealing a room swathed in darkness but free of moving shadows. He pushed her inside as the first creature lunged at him. He half-stepped backward and struck its face with a mana-strengthened fist. It felt like hitting a sandbag, but the shadow creature shattered into smoky wisps of darkness. Zeek felt a surge of confidence until he saw another creature begin forming near the front of the room.

He retreated into the darkness while throwing rocks and wood at the line of enemies. He was rotating his mana faster and faster, paying no mind to the amount he used. The projectiles opened cavities in the creatures’ chests and riddled the wall with holes. Dust, splinters, and powdered rock reflected rays of starlight, illuminating the room enough for Zeek to watch the shadow creatures reform their chests and limbs.

“We’re trapped!” Penny screamed from behind him. He turned as the creatures climbed over the debris. He was barely able to see that they’d broken into a wide stone room. The ceiling was invisible and the walls were made of sturdier blocks. The entrance Zeek created faced an older district, but this room was newer. Designed to store goods, but currently out of use. He could vaguely see the outline of two thick wooden doors on the other side of the room.

He raced over and began striking the wall again, but it didn’t give. He ran from side to side, kicking the stone, hoping a hollow echo would reveal a weak point. But he ran out of time as the first creature entered through the broken wall. Penny began screaming for help as Zeek charged the creature.

This one was ready for him. It dodged his punch and lashed out with a claw, cutting the flesh on his arm as he tried to dodge. He knew from the exchange he wasn’t strong enough. He needed more mana.

He needed more power.

He rotated his core faster than ever before; it felt like lightning surging through his body. Ignoring the pain, he fell back on his training. He focused on distributing mana to the limbs that needed it. As the creature lunged at him again, he danced out of the way while punching the shadow’s side.

He felt its limb and chest give way, but it began crawling on the ground towards him as it reformed. A second creature entered before Zeek could finish the first. He ignored the wounded shadow and took the second head-on. Running forward, he waited for it to strike, dodging backward just before its claws reached him. He funneled mana to his leg as he kicked it in the chest, throwing the creature back into the crowd of enemies pushing their way through the hole.

He watched in horror as the flying shadow creature bounced off the stone, ripping open more of the wall. With the opening, more surged forward, tearing shadows off each other’s bodies while they clambered over each other towards Zeek. He bent his knees to rush them when the crawling shadow grabbed his ankle. He felt its claws dig into his leg as it reeled back the other arm, preparing a slash.

He pivoted and smashed the creature’s head with his foot. The force of his blow was enough to crack the wood floor, opening another hole underneath. As the planks broke, Zeek, Penny, and the dozen shadow creatures fell into a stone-covered basement. He jumped to his feet as Penny ran to a staircase behind her. She jerked frantically on a trap door in the ceiling while Zeek rushed at the closest creature and kicked it.

Its body dissipated into black smoke while the others began rising. He could see a new creature jumping into the basement from the hole above. It was even darker where they fell, but mana vision gave a vague outline of the shadows. Before he could attack again, he heard Penny scream. One of the shadows was running towards her, out of Zeek’s reach. It swung a shade-covered claw, slicing her back as she threw her shoulder against the trap door.

Time seemed to move slower as Zeek saw a change in her body.

Through his mana vision, Zeek could see Penny’s core begin to rotate. Not like his, but it emitted a burst of mana into her body and into the air. It looked like a cloud of mist had flown from her body and surrounded the shadow creature. The shadow disappeared as if a light was shined on it, and Penny collapsed to the ground.

Zeek felt rage.

The sight of her blood. The smell of debris. The beastlike shadows that hounded him. The weakness he felt when he couldn’t help her. The fear he’d felt when the archbishop tested him. As Zeek watched Penny fall, he let the rage consume him.

His mana twisted like a cyclone in his chest as he felt it begin to boil. Like scalding water was coursing through his veins. As it bubbled and spit, tendrils of mana left his body. He didn’t even try to control it, he just fed his rage into the torrent of mana and let it pull.

The air around him warped as the room began to heat. His sweat turned to steam as his muscles bulged and he felt heavier, as if his body had become stone. His footsteps cracked the floor with each step and his vision sharpened till he could see spell constructs floating inside the shadow creatures. As his fury heightened, he stopped trying to guide the mana.

He didn’t push it, he commanded it.

He forced his will on the tempestuous core and willed it towards the shadow creatures. A wave of force flew from his body, blasting stone, wood, dust, and shadow flesh against the walls. He watched half of them disappear as their skulls were crushed against the stone walls. As more dropped in, he put his back to Penny and raised his arm.

He threw a punch at the air and a concentrated shockwave surged from his fist, slamming into the newly formed pack of shadows. He snarled at the dissipating corpses and screamed, “COME!”

Suddenly the remaining shadow creatures faded into the ground and a familiar voice spoke from the open ceiling.

“We have much to discuss.”