“Storm on the Horizon! Everyone get cover ready, it'll be here by nightfall!” The shouts permeated through the city, spreading from person to person only for them to all be overwhelmed entirely by an echoing boom of a massive bell.

“What’s going on?” Erde asked quickly as he looked around with clear panic in his eyes. His head swiveled side to side as people began moving about rapidly.

“I’m not sure, let’s head back to the keep alright? Lilly, come on!” I shouted as Lilly began to wander off, she jumped a little, her eyes snapping back towards me before she took off to return to my side.

“But we just got here!” Lilly whined, she looked up with puppy dog eyes, but I just offered a shake of my head.

“Brimrose asked me to keep you two safe, and being caught out here in everyone's way during a storm is very much not keeping you two safe. Alright?” It was a struggle for me to resist caving to the desperate looks that Lilly forced upon me. But with an utterly exaggerated sigh that had her almost falling over Lilly finally relented.

“Fiiiiiiiiinnnneeeeeee.” Lilly dragged out as she slumped forwards, her face contorted and pouting heavily. “I still wanted to go see the plaza…” She continued with her arms crossing in front of her.

“Don’t whine so much Lilly…” Erde spoke as he took her hand to make sure she stayed close. “She’s just trying to help isn’t she?”

I turned to glance back at Erde with a thankful smile from his words, he gave a little thumbs up while Lilly just offered more annoyed grumbles. I was thankful to have his support as I turned to lead them towards the keep.

Elves were beginning to flock into the streets by the hundreds as we all began walking, many of them heading in different directions. Some moved towards the walls while others started frantic searches for any cover they could find. The rest were all moving with purpose to one direction, the Keep.

“Tell you what, it’s about midday, I can see if I can find someone who could ask the chefs if they could make something special, a little compensation for having to head back so soon.” I offered, glancing back for a moment only to feel dread fill my body as Lilly and Erde were now missing.

Panic was absolutely racing through my body, I couldn’t have looked away for more than ten seconds. But the streets were filling in so quickly, and everyone was so tall that I couldn’t see anything. People were moving like a tidal wave, dragging me along with the threat of trampling me if I didn’t keep up.

“Lilly! Erde!” I shouted as I desperately tried to hold my ground. Pushing against the rushing waves of Elves I managed to make my way to the side of what had once been a set of buildings, the rubble had completely collapsed giving me a chance to crawl up some of it to get a vantage point.

I turned in place, looking around the crowds to try and find any hope of seeing Lilly and Erde in the crowds, but the more it moved the less I had any chance to see them.

“Lilly! Erde!” I shouted out again, but I knew I could barely be heard more than a few feet away from the bell chiming still, the shouts of guards trying to guide the citizens to anywhere that had covered.

Finally my gaze moved away from the crowds for only a moment, and towards the walls.

I could see it moving in from the West, curving around towards the North as if it was surrounding two sides of the city and rolling inwards towards it. A massive sandstorm, with clouds that must have been miles high in the air was racing towards us. And it had come seemingly out of thin air.

I let my eyes rest on the storm for a few moments, only long enough for the first wave of the crowds to clear out enough for me to have any hope of moving. I bit down my fear as much as I could before diving straight into the crowds, with enough space between everyone now that I had a hope of moving.

“Lilly! Erde! Where did you two go!” I kept shouting, my head moving around on a swivel desperate to catch a glimpse of one of them. But I couldn’t see anything, everything was blurring together as I kept running until I slid to a stop, back in the Plaza.

The bell chimed again, louder this time, but it was probably just because I was closer to the point of origin. I had to take a deep breath to calm myself, the guards said it wouldn’t be here until nightfall, right? That meant I still had a handful of hours to search for them.

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My eyes shifted up, and at least time wasn’t betraying me too. It was just barely beginning to reach past midday.

“Lilly! Erde!” I shouted out again, my hands moving up to cup around my face in a desperate attempt to project my dwindling voice further. So many years of barely talking, raising it to a shout felt like my throat was being torn apart.

“Kirin! Help!” My eyes snapped to my side as I heard Lilly’s voice call out, I couldn’t even think. I just started running in the direction I heard it from. It was a alleyway near the wall, turned into a sort of cavern from rubble that was being cleared out, leaning against the remnants of the wall and held up by an impressive feet of just good material.

“Where are you?! Lilly! Erde!” I kept shouting, each time I tried my voice got weaker and weaker.

“Kirin!” I heard Lilly let you a shrill screech, just around a corner. I kept running, sliding as I turned, my hand flashed out to grab the corner of the wall redirecting any speed I could just for my eyes to go wide.

“Good girl, Lilly.” Andrew spoke, I recognized him in an instant. As if in memory the second my eyes landed on the crossbow in his hands my arm throbbed in memory of the pain, and bile filled the back of my throat as I saw it pointed at Lilly’s head. He was holding her by the hair, while Erde was on the ground, his face bruised and battered, pinned down by Andrew standing on his back.

“Now, ‘Kirin’, hands up, turn around and put your face to the wall.” Andrew demanded, all he had to do was gesture to the position his crossbow was held in. The head of the arrow scratching against Lilly’s skull, it had already drawn some blood where it cut just above her ear from thrashing to try and escape. “Do it now or the girl gets the same treatment you did. Except I don’t miss this time. Try and call for help, and they both get it.”

I nodded, my jaw staying firmly, and tightly shut. My hands slowly raised above my head while I turned around.

“Kirin don’t!” Lilly shouted before letting out a scream, my eyes flicked over, I saw Andrew yank her hair back and up hard enough to lift her off of the ground for a moment. My body was locked up, fear, anger, desperation, I couldn’t do anything here.

I couldn’t hear any guards around, I didn’t see any when I went running either. They must have all been helping everyone get to safety. I had no idea where Tulip was, and she had no idea where I was, or what situation I could have been in.

I couldn’t fight back, I had no idea if Andrew had any magic. His partner was nowhere to be seen either.

“Turn around now!” Andrew shouted out, snapping me out of my stupor for a moment.

My eyes flicked back towards them for a moment, I looked to Erde for a moment, just long enough to see he was still alive, and awake at that. Her was reaching for a rock next to him carefully, and I had to just hope for a miracle.

I had no choice but to listen to Andrew’s commands, keeping my arms raised but I closed my eyes as I did so. Breathing in deeply, I tried to slow my racing heart, I tried to get my mana ready to respond.

Each second felt like it was dragging for an eternity, just as I had turned to face the wall to my side I heard my chance, the shifting of a rock that had Andrew look down just in time for the sharp edge of rubble to be jammed straight into his calf.

My head launched to lock onto him, his arm shifted forwards while his leg gave out. Lilly let out a scream that seemed almost like it was in slow motion. Everything felt so slow in fact that I could feel each inch my mana was launching into throughout my body.

Every inch felt like it was growing stronger, being enhanced somehow, it reached to my left leg just in time for it to hit the ground and send me charging forwards. I felt, and heard the electrical crackle like lightning jumping across my skin.

My right leg hit the ground, surprise was being replaced by hatred in Andrew’s eyes, his face contorted with rage while the crossbow was yanked back into control. I could see the terror on Lilly’s face but she saw me getting closer, at least I hoped she did.

My left leg hit the ground again, I couldn’t have been more than eight feet away now, the crossbow was being pulled to aim at Lilly’s neck, I could see the trigger depressing slowly, I could feel dread and fear rushing through my body.

And then my right leg hit the ground, the world sped up so suddenly that I couldn’t keep up. I was moving so fast that I couldn’t quite make sense of what happened, mana exploded out from my body as I tackled Andrew, my shield barely forming as my left hand crashed into his face and let out a burst of electricity from my magic.

I didn’t spend a moment to think with Andrew on the ground, I grabbed Erde, with his arms around my neck to support himself, I did the same to Lilly with my opposite arm before I took off running back out of the alleyway.

I didn’t stop running until I was nearing the keep, my stamina giving out on me as my ears finally stopped ringing from Adrenaline. I could feel my mana receding as I lost the desperate focus that had brought it forth so easily.

I was confused when I looked back up to see guards running towards me, they were shouting something, it felt like I could barely breathe with each breath coming in and out with a heave. My eyes moved down, my stomach felt like it was on fire with pain.

Looking down I could see why it hurt so badly. My shirt had been torn, it looked like shattered glass where my shield had been, a cut went from the front of my stomach across in a glancing blow from Andrew’s bolt.

“Kirin!” Finally snapping out of my daze I looked up, seeing James approaching. “Get them to the healers! Now!” James shouted at the guards while I fell to one knee. I felt like I was about to black out, every muscle, every fiber of my body felt ready to give out. And I relented, caving to the urge to just close my eyes now that I knew Lilly and Erde were safe again.