At first, no one moved as the body of the dead mage hit the ground, blood still spouting from the cut made by Albrecht’s hidden dagger.

For everyone in the room, there was a different thought, a different reaction. The Magisters stood with mouths agape. Alverd, Kuro, and Sheena were stunned. The scent of blood and my growing hate towards Albrecht made me react purely on instinct, and I stormed forward with my maul raised, ready to stove his head in.

As expected of any self-respecting Ishmarian warrior, Albrecht’s speed rivaled my own. While the combat mages were still trying to figure out what was happening, he grabbed the one who had been standing next to the fallen mage and hauled him into the path of my weapon. The man’s skull collapsed beneath the weight of my blow, and Albrecht threw the dead weight of the man forward and onto me as he tried to swing his rune-engraved sword around at my flank.

Clever. Very clever. I can’t underestimate him. Using his own tactic against him, I pushed the corpse of the dead mage to the side, blocking Albrecht’s swing. With added force, I shoved the body against Albrecht’s arm, unbalancing him and knocking his sword arm back. Rather than try to push my advantage, I held back and waited for my comrades to join the fight.

Alverd was the first to jump into the fray. Sword raised, he gave a loud battle cry and lunged ahead, barreling into two of the mages like a battering ram. One of the mages was floored by the impact, but the other planted their feet and moved around Alverd, their staff already flaring with red light. The light took the shape of a long, pointed spear blade, and he began to spin back around to stab Alverd in the back with it.

I pointed my maul at the mage. I didn’t know why it felt so intuitive, or why I just seemed to know it was what I needed to do; as the maul’s head aligned with the mage’s staff I thought of a word in my head. Negate. The runes on the maul shone a bright white, and the man’s staff gave a sputter as its bladed head winked out.

Is it really that easy? I thought this magic stuff was supposed to be super complicated. When the runes sparked with their magical light, however, one did not last. When the runes returned to their normal pattern of soft glowing, one of them had gone completely black. I guess the runes don’t have unlimited uses. Better save the rest of them for when it counts. A quick check told me that I still had six charges left.

A concentrated needle of searing energy passing inches in front of my face brought my attention to the Magisters, who had finally snapped out of their little trance. Laspa had taken cover behind the railing of the elevated platform where the strange machinery and pod were, and she was now throwing magic at me. I couldn’t see Mattigen or Kertouli. In this case, not knowing where they are is dangerous. I better find them before they blindside me.

“Kuro!” I called out. “You’re with me! We’re going after the Magisters!” A combat mage, still not sure who was friend or foe, lashed out at me with a glowing scythe blade from his staff. I had to step back and bring up my maul to parry, and he pulled away after his blow connected to spin, presumably, to try and catch me off guard with his follow-up attack. I sidestepped right and dealt a light blow to his stomach with my maul, and he leapt backward to create space while he contemplated his next move.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” With a series of movements, his staff wove a symbol in the air, a glowing blue circle with many strange runes at six separate points. From the center of the circle an arcing blue bolt of lightning shot forth, carving a path through the center of the walkway up to where the Magisters were hiding. Kertouli finally peeked his head over the railing and brought up his staff to shield the entirety of the platform with a shimmering blue shield. Even engaged as I was, I could see the strain on the old elf’s face as he struggled to hold up against Kuro’s assault.

Kuro continued to sustain the bolt for as long as he could. I had to deal with the combat mage, but I was surprised that he wasn’t tired after only a few seconds. I’m impressed. A good warrior learns that she has to pace herself, and if even Kuro can learn such a basic lesson, then there’s hope for him yet. The combat mage swung at me again, and I parried as best I could.

The strange shape of the blade made fighting against it difficult. Even if I cross counter him, he’ll do a lot more damage. His speed and the deftness with which he wielded his awkward weapon gave him an edge over my raw strength. If I can bait him into swinging at me horizontally I might have a way to get that weapon away from him.

Over the din of everything, I heard Kertouli yell out. “Protect the machinery! It’s still drawing power from the districts. We’ll drain the entire city if we have to!” Kuro’s bolt finally faded, and Kertouli pointed his staff at Albrecht. “Capture Sheena now, and kill that traitorous dog while you’re at it!”

Over my shoulder, Alverd finished off the second of the two mages he’d attacked. He finished them off before I could deal with my opponent? I’m slacking. With both hands on my maul, I lifted my arms over my head to do an overhead strike. Seeing me open, the mage attacked me from my left flank. Just what I was hoping for. Gotcha, sucker. Forgoing the strike, I pushed the shaft of the maul forward, connecting with the staff in midswing. As my weapon hit against the scythe blade, I wrenched my body leftward, yanking the weapon out of the mage’s hand as I pushed against the blade itself. Without any means to protect himself, I reversed momentum and swung my maul back right across his face. There was a loud snap and he fell to the ground, unmoving.

The last mage came at me with her staff already angling for my head, a similar scythe blade of bright green hurtling through the air. I brought the maul around to hit the blade on the point, and the two weapons rebounded off each other. Before the mage could recover, Sheena came charging past me, screaming like a banshee. She ran the mage through with the bladed head of her staff, going so far as to kick the mage’s lifeless body free after the deed was done.

“I’m right behind you.” I patted Sheena’s shoulder. Her eyes were blazing with anger, her teeth set in a snarl. “Anger is good. Just don’t let it decide what you do. Channel it, direct it, release it.” With no more obstacles to deal with, the two of us looked at Albrecht, his rune sword at his side. He took up a stance, the runes glowing a bright blue in the dark of the chamber.

“I’m sure you hate me a great deal, Sheena.” He said. “I feel like I’ve hurt you more than words could ever convey, in ways both intended and not. I won’t defend anything I’ve done. All of it, whether necessary or not, is done. We can’t turn back time.” The runes shone brighter, illuminating the years of weariness on his face.

She took a step forward, her staff still pointed at him but wavering slightly. “That’s it? You’re not even going to try? You feel like you don’t owe me any answers?” I could hear the sadness in her voice, how Albrecht’s betrayal was tearing at her heart more than she cared to show. “I think you do. I want to see if you can manage telling the truth or if you’ll just lie to me again.”

Albrecht sighed, the sigh of an old man getting tired of the same old games. “What could I tell you? That your parents never wanted you? That you were always intended to activate the Calamity? How we used the technology we acquired from Margloom to find out how to siphon life magic to power it? Or perhaps you’d like to know how we spent the last two decades outfitting that technology into the underside of every district in Ethenia to funnel power to the Calamities under the Ivory Palace?” He waved at the giant golem behind him. “Or this one?”

Every district? Then they could kill everyone in the city with the same thing that killed those people in the marketplace? Albrecht began to prowl forward, the light from his sword growing brighter, Sheena edging away nervously in response. “One by one, the districts will be sacrificed to activate the Calamity. Once the monstrosity is awake, you will be integrated into its inner workings via that pod. There, in a state of suspended animation, your body will provide continuous power rather than your blood being used for only a single activation cycle as previous royals had done.”

Suddenly, he lunged forward with frightening speed, so fast even I could barely track his movement. His sword swept forward and drove Sheena back, throwing up sparks as it ground against the shaft of her staff, she needed to plant both her legs just to hold him off.

“Maybe if I told you that the only reason you lived long enough to see your twentieth year was because I convinced the Magisters that if we let you grow in power you’d be a better source of power for the Calamity, you’d gain the nerve to strike at me?” His face leered at her in terrifying emotionlessness.

Sheena let out a roar of pure rage, breaking the lock by holding up her hand and unleashing a blast of light straight into Albrecht’s face. I saw him throw up his arm and suddenly the flash seemed to die before it could ever fully form, and as he jumped back I saw a number of nullification runes strung along a bracelet on his arm. Of damn course. It figures a guy like Albrecht would come prepared. Well unfortunately for him, two can play his game.

I ran past Sheena with my maul raised, trying to hit Albrecht before he could fully regain his footing. Caught in midstep, he had to tumble back in a half-prepared roll that put him on his knees, the head of my maul cratering the ground where he’d been a second before. He swept his sword across the ground, the rasping sound of metal on stone my only warning before he threw gravel and sparks at me.

Then his sword flared blue and the sparks turned into white lightning, chaining between the chunks of gravel like a net. I felt pain all over my skin as the lightning burned all over, the gravel superheated to the point where they felt like coals straight out of a fireplace. I screamed, closing my eyes so I wouldn’t be blinded by his barrage, and inward I felt the fury begin to rise, begging to be let free of its cage.

I want to rage, to rip these scum limb from limb. The Magisters, Albrecht, that giant stupid golem. All of Sheena’s life has been one giant lie, fattening her up for slaughter, it isn’t fair, and I WON’T LET IT SLIDE. With a howl of wrath I opened the floodgate and felt the river wash over me. I could feel the reassuring warmth of my unbridled anger fill my body with strength, purpose, direction. Control, control, control. Direct the anger. Albrecht is by rights Sheena’s responsibility. But the Magisters are mine.

With a sweep of my arm, I shoved away the cloud of electrified stone, the rage sharpening my senses to the point where I could practically smell the burning scent of the charged air. Behind Albrecht, the three Magisters were pelting Alverd with fire and ice from their raised platform, stalling his advance.

Kertouli whipped his head around when a light began to shine on the machine behind him, steam screaming out from the pipes attached to it. “Laspa! Watch the pressure on the machine! Change district to residential quarter. The Calamity is almost awake! Mattigen, I require assistance!” Laspa hurried to the machine, pulled a lever and twisted a dial to carry out her orders.

Mattigen himself crouched back down behind the railing, and a second later there was a flash of sickly green light followed by a horrible wail. A tear appeared in the air, like a black, festering wound, leaking tar-like ichor as it opened with a sickeningly organic sound. A sound like nails on a chalkboard heralded the arrival of a creature so foul at first I didn’t even know if it was real.

A pair of claws forced the opening wider, and the sinuous form of a demon emerged in a grotesque imitation of birth. It had scaled red skin covered in blotchy, diseased-looking patches. A pair of misshapen, asymmetrical wings forced themselves out of the opening before two chicken-like legs snapped out. The claws were attached to long, spindly arms that had spines jutting out randomly along their lengths, ending in a torso pockmarked with small mouths full of gnashing teeth. One swollen eye with red veins swiveled madly at the “front” of the demon’s body, searching for targets.

Kuro practically wet himself. “Stay away from that thing! Don’t let it get those teeth in you and watch for the spines, they’re poisonous!” A mere second after his warning, the mouths on the demon let out a chittering cry that sounded like a swarm of locusts before the spines on its arms shot out like crossbow bolts towards Alverd.

Three bounced off his shield, and one was a glancing blow that ricocheted off his armor and nearly hit Kuro. He yelped as two more came within inches of skewering his head. The demon leapt (no way I would call that flying) over the railing and scrambled toward Alverd. The creature’s unsteady gait and unholy racket would’ve been enough to rattle an ordinary man, but Alverd stood his ground and braced himself.

The demon whipped its arm at him with blistering speed when it got close enough, the claws raking across the surface of his shield with a screech. The force of the blow pushed Alverd back, but he stepped forward in the wake of the blow to strike with the Sword of Evros. The dragontooth blade cut into the demon’s flesh, drawing a long line across the red skin and causing viscous black blood to spew across the stone.

Back on the platform, Laspa finished whatever she was doing. “The machine is leeching the magic from the residential quarter. In less than a minute, the entire district will be drained. Are we still directing it towards this Calamity?”

. “No! Direct it to the lesser Calamities at the palace! Then we must regroup!” Kertouli shouted back. She nodded and turned another knob on the machine, and it rumbled as it did its infernal work.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

I could’ve sworn I heard the screams of dying people as the magic of hundreds of innocent souls were funneled through the machine, life taken to give life to a monstrous abomination that would only cause more slaughter. Kuro, seeing what I could see, had had enough. Waving his staff, I watched him pull an entire chunk of rock from the wall.

Before my eyes, the rock crushed and contorted itself into the shape of a spear, the point sharpening itself as his magic sheared it and reshaped it. Blue and red sparks played along the length of the spear as the spell turned the stone into a weapon sharp enough to pierce a diamond, cutting away the rough exterior to turn the edge into a gleaming blade.

His voice took on an ethereal quality as he spoke the incantation, the magic words he told me he needed to channel the true power of his destructive power. “Let fury turn dull words into righteous metal. Take this blade hewn from the resolute stone and send it to seek the heart of a wicked soul. Let the earth punish you for this transgression!”

Laspa twisted her upper body to throw up her left hand, her right still manipulating the machinery, and a blue shield flickered to life in front of her. Again, purely by instinct, I raised my maul and aimed it at her. The runes on my weapon danced and lit up, and I smiled in satisfaction as I knew that Laspa was dead.

Not today, bitch.

The shield failed to coalesce, and the last thing Laspa saw was the stone spear coming at her. It impaled her between her shoulder blades, going straight through her body and into the machine in front of her. She made an astonished gurgling noise, then went limp, her body held in place by the spear, like a coat hanging from a nail. The machine, which had been lit up, went dark as the spear came to rest in its internal workings.

In what was perhaps the most disturbing thing I’d ever seen magic do, Laspa’s mouth opened and a small green ball of light escaped. As soon as the floating orb left her mouth, her body aged rapidly, her skin shriveling and collapsing in on itself until all that was left was a husk. The orb flew up and away, out of sight, vanishing up the opening in the ceiling where the elevator had come from.

Seeing the tide of the battle turning against him, Kertouli cowered behind the railing as he formulated his escape plan. “Mattigen! Leave the demon behind. Laspa has the right idea. We have enough to activate one Calamity. It’ll be enough.” I could hear him chanting some kind of magic, but before I could do anything about it, the demon lashed out one of its arms and knocked Alverd down.

Landing on his back, Alverd groaned. Kuro ran up to him and tried to lift him up, groaning as his weak arms struggled to move his armored friend. I looked at the two of them, then back over at Sheena and Albrecht, who were engaged in a fierce battle of their own.

They both need help. But Kuro and Alverd will be fine on their own, I think. Sheena’s the one who I’ve gotta help now. Breaking into a full run, I barreled toward Albrecht like a horseless wagon, maul held behind me and ready to swing.

Albrecht could see me charging up behind Sheena and slashed his sword through the empty air, throwing a sheet of ice across the ground under her and my feet. Without missing a beat, I jumped as high as I could before the sheet could spread under my foot. I landed ahead of Sheena, where there was no ice, but not before I heard the sound of what I assumed was Sheena losing her footing.

“I’ve been waiting for a chance to kick your arse, Albrecht! I’ll show you how a real Ishmarian fights!” Twirling the maul in a repeated circular motion, holding the bottom of the shaft, I became a dervish of dragontooth metal. I was determined to block his path to Sheena until she could find her feet. Albrecht might not have sheer brute strength like me but he’s got cunning to spare. I can’t take any chances with him.

I was doing well until he swung at me with his sword in what I thought was a standard swing, but as the blade came around toward me I saw it flicker as though it wasn’t actually there. I saw through the illusion too late; blocking high, my maul was out of position to intercept the sword when it raked across my leg. Where the blade cut into my skin, fire sprang up, fire so hot it caused agony even through my berserker rage. I fell to one knee, my blood feeling like it was ablaze, and he backhanded me with his fist, knocking me away.

She had to crawl across the ice to find a place where she could stand up but Sheena was back in the fight faster than I thought. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she lashed out blindly at Albrecht, her bladed staff sailing through the air ineffectually as she propelled herself forward on pure adrenaline.

“Undisciplined. I know I taught you better than that.” Twisting his arm and upper body with more agility than I would have thought possible, he slapped aside the staff and smacked her across the face with the flat of his blade. “I should’ve known that even when I gave you every reason to hate me, you can’t bring yourself to end me.”

Wait, what? Something’s not right here. His words struck a strange chord in me almost as if they’d been rehearsed. With his outstretched palm he unleashed a blast of wind that knocked Sheena down, and she grunted in pain as she hit the ground hard.

“You hesitate. You know what you have to do. But your foolish feelings prevent you from doing it. What do I have to do to make you hate me enough to kill?” Then he brought his leg back and kicked her in the stomach. She let out a pitiable cry that was half grunt and half sob, and writhed on the ground in pain. He placed his heel on the side of her face and pushed down, the same emotionless look on his face. “How far do I have to push you, Sheena? What do I have to say? That you’ve never meant anything to me? That I used you, the Magisters, everyone, for my own ends? What will it take?” He leaned harder, and she screamed as the pressure of his weight dug into her.

“You won’t survive the world out there if you lack the nerve to do what you have to. It won’t suffer your hesitation, and it will not be kind to those you care for if you let them down. I thought you had that steel in your soul but I was wrong. I might as well kill you right now.” The sword’s blade turned red hot and he held it close to her face, the heat from the metal sizzling. Her eyes widened in fear as the blade inched closer. Her hand tried to conjure something, but he reached out his arm and the nullification runes on his wrist shorted out her spell. Her last ditch effort thwarted, she started to cry, her tears visible by the light of Albrecht’s sword.

FUCK YOU, OLD MAN. I’VE HAD IT WITH YOUR SHIT. Rolling forward, I sprang up and sprinted toward Albrecht, maul swinging. The weapon hit Albrecht in the shoulder, knocking him back, but to my surprise he didn’t stagger nearly as much as I was expecting. FINE! YOU WANT MORE?! I’VE GOT PLENTY MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM! Battering him with a rapid series of wild strikes, I dove deeper into the river than I’d ever gone.

The pure, unadulterated feeling of rage I felt at watching him batter Sheena was unlike anything I’d ever felt. There was something beyond primal about the idea of this man abusing her trust to the degree that he had that made me want to end him in the most brutal way I could. It’s not about relatability. It’s not about sympathy. It’s just the idea that this man could be so evil and I’m able to stop him.

And I will, Evros willing. If no one else, I damn well will.

Albrecht did a decent job of protecting himself at first, but soon his defense faltered. Not even the most accomplished duelist could outlast a berserker at close quarters for long. My attacks began landing on his arms and legs. Soon I’d be breaking bones.

When I smacked his sword from his grip, I thought victory was mine at last. My maul leaned back, then went straight for his head. But to my surprise, the weapon passed through his head like it wasn’t there. The smug look on his face was the last thing I saw before the illusion faded, the image of Albrecht fading away to reveal him standing a full foot to my right, his blade already in position to strike.

White-hot pain shot through me as the sword stabbed into my side. It felt as though my insides had caught fire, and I was burning from the inside out. I sank to my knees. He could’ve sliced my head clean off with the opportunity he had. He could’ve run me right through the heart. Instead he’s chosen to deal a nonlethal blow? Why? Cruelty for cruelty’s sake? I screamed as the pain intensified. Can’t… think. Too much pain. I can’t…

“Easy enough. Like every berserker, once you’ve set your eyes on the enemy that’s all you can see, even when that enemy isn’t truly there.” His blade was yanked out of my body with a jarring lurch, but Albrecht staggered back as three large lances of ice lodged themselves in his shoulder. For the first time since the fight had begun, his blank expression was gone, now replaced with one of shock. Then he steeled himself, yanking the three lances out simultaneously with one pull. “There you are. There’s the killer I raised. So that’s what I had to do.”

Sheena, breathing hard and her face covered in dirt from his boot, aimed her staff at him. “Don’t you dare lay a finger on her. On any of them. You touch them and I end you, Uncle.” She stepped forward, the blades on her staff already arcing with gathering magical power.

He chuckled. “After all this you still call me uncle. Stop thinking of me that way, Sheena. It will make what has to come next easier.”

Gnashing her teeth, she screamed at him. “It’s because you were my uncle that I have to do this. Because I didn’t want to think you could be just like everyone else. I should’ve known better. It has to be me.” A ball of light began to form at the end of the staff, growing in size and power. “I want this, for me. Not for anyone else.”

He smirked, but somehow I got the feeling that it wasn’t arrogance behind it, but pride nonetheless. “Then do it. Strike me.” He pulled the nullification runes from his wrist and dropped them to the ground, then held his arms wide. “Do it. Seize your courage and end me. I know you won’t. You’re not strong enough to do it.”

Sheena growled in fury and aimed her staff straight at Albrecht’s heart. I waited for a lightning bolt or a fireball or even the earth itself to split open, but nothing happened. After a moment, the orb shrank and then disappeared, and all I could hear was her sobbing. Evros bless it, he’s right. She can’t bring herself to do it.

I couldn’t move. It was taking all my concentration to dull the excruciating pain of Albrecht’s attack through my berserker training, and if I tried to attack him I was afraid I might pass out from shock. How am I still in pain? The sword is gone, but I’m still feeling it like it’s lodged in my gut. Through bleary eyes, I saw Alverd and Kuro fighting the demon, which was flailing wildly against them with its talons and teeth.

“You always did need to be motivated to do anything, my dear.” He squeezed his left hand shut, and the ache in my body turned into full blown agony again. I screamed, not expecting it. For a few seconds all I could feel was my skin burning, my bones shattering and knitting and breaking all over again. Then it all stopped and I lay panting on the ground, barely able to think.

Out of the corner of my vision, swimming in and out of focus, I saw him point his sword in the direction of Kuro and Alverd. “How much more incentive do you need, Sheena? How much more do I have to hurt them before you do what you have to do? Hesitate and they die! Did you learn nothing?” The sword glowed bright blue and then the pain started again.

Evros please, make it stop, I can’t do anything, I don’t want to die like this…

Then the pain ended as abruptly as it began. Not only did it end, but it vanished entirely, not even the lingering pain I’d felt earlier. My vision cleared, I was able to sit up and see what had happened. Sheena had rushed forward and run Albrecht through with her staff. The twin blades on the end had punctured through his leather cuirass, and blood was already running down the front of his chest. He sank to his knees, his mouth silently trying to form words.

She wouldn’t have any of it. She pulled her staff free of his chest, and he fell. She rushed to my side, her hand already glowing with gentle blue light. “Hold still. He cursed you. I’ll remove it now, but then I need to go help Alverd and Kuro.” She pressed her hand against my stomach, where he had stabbed me, and I felt a familiar warmth as the wound closed.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t more of a help.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry. You did what you had to, so I could do what I had to.” She stood back up, looking shaky but ready to keep fighting. She ran off to aid the others.

Finding my balance, I stumbled over to Albrecht’s corpse. His eyes were closed, but despite that he looked like he was at peace. Godsdamned bastard doesn’t deserve this. He should’ve gotten worse. There were still so many questions I had to ask, that would never be answered now. I turned to join the fight against the demon when his hand shot out and grabbed my ankle.

I gasped, but instead of attacking me his eyes opened and he pulled a thin, small book out of his cloak, likely a pocket journal. He held it out to me in his shaking fingers. “I want… you to know. Whether you tell Sheena… up to… you…” I took the small book, and he went limp, his eyes now sightless.

Is it really worth honoring the last wish of someone like him? I looked it over. It was an ordinary thing, bound in hide and small enough to fit in a cloak pocket. Under normal circumstances I would toss this into the dark. Maybe Kuro can figure something out from it, since he wanted to know the “why” so badly. I secured it to my hip with one of my belts, looping it around the book several times to ensure it wouldn’t get loose.

The demon had put Kuro and Alverd through the wringer, but with two new combatants entering the fray it didn’t have a chance. Battered by sword and maul, pelted by magic, the demon withered under a combined assault. Kuro put another stone lance through the creature’s eye, and upon death it melted into a pool of bubbling black blood that smelled nauseatingly like tar.

Our attention turned to the platform. Kuro ran up to the platform with his staff ready, but there was no one there. “There’s a runic circle on the ground. Mattigen and Kertouli must have teleported back to the Ivory Palace.”

I looked at the lifeless machines. “Is there any way to stop what they were doing?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I doubt it. With everything broken, they probably carried out the last command, which was to drain the residential quarter of life. If Laspa was able to reroute that power to the Palace, then those people are already dead.” I felt cold despair in the pit of my stomach. Hard to believe that it could be so simple, to kill that many people and then just rationalize it. I hope I never have to find out how that feels.

We gathered around the strange pod seated on the platform. The interior had a molded chair designed to fit one passenger, and the inside was smooth, without any features at all. Sheena examined the pod, then started to climb in. Alverd tried to stop her. “Milady, wait. Isn’t this what Albrecht was going to make you do? Is this wise?”

She pushed him aside. “It’ll be alright. He intended for me to be incapable of deciding my own actions. As I am now, I’ll be in complete control of the Calamity. Theoretically.”

Alverd’s eyebrow raised. “Theoretically, Milady?”

She climbed into the pod, avoiding the straps that were meant to restrain her. “I need to focus. If I take control of this Calamity, I can destroy the entire Palace before the Magisters can launch a counterattack. We’re wasting time.”

Alverd tried to object but Sheena fixed him with a stern gaze. “I’ve hesitated enough. I’m going to do this. I won’t let people I actually care about get hurt because I couldn’t muster the courage to save them when it mattered.” She closed her eyes and breathed in deep. “Please let me do this. It’s not my duty, but it is my responsibility.”

Biting his tongue, Alverd leaned back from the pod. “As you say. We’ll be here if you need us.” He and Kuro took a few steps back. I took a second to debate whether it was worth mentioning Albrecht’s journal, then decided against it. Instead, I reached into the pod and patted Sheena on the shoulder.

“Give ‘em hell.”

She nodded. “I intend to.”