Shanahan didn't like the way things looked. Maybe he should have listened to Wyndham's orders. He would have been halfway to that other mesa by now.

He decided that he could turn this around if he could get the tracking stone from Whitehouse. The other two couldn't keep up with him without the Door carrying them around.

He doubted Whitehouse was going to come after him on his own. He acted like he had never been in a real fight against somebody else.

Maybe he hadn't. How many toe to toe slugfests did the factions have against each other? His run across the two hexes had not shown him people waiting for a boot to come down.

Maybe peace was maintained between the factions thanks to the powers deciding they didn't want to burn things to the ground if they didn't have a need for it.

Shanahan looked back at the hole in the wall. No one seemed to be there, but he was almost around the bend. This was where he found out if they had bows to kill people at a distance.

He considered his next move as he kept moving along the ledge. He needed a way back into the tower, or a way down to the ground. He was a sitting duck where he was. Once he had done either of those two things, he could think about his next move after that.

The white tower vanished into the sky above him. It was cylindrical with a staircase spiraling inside the outer wall. The stone felt smooth to the touch, with tiny creases to show where the stones had been fitted together. Warts stuck out of the outer wall for what could be lookout posts.

The peace could be a lot more recent than what he had first thought.

Shanahan looked down. Jumping down what looked like five floors to a wooden and tiled roof didn't seem like a good idea. He needed to climb and find a way inside the tower.

The Fist appeared on the ledge. He used his hand to dig handholds in the wall as he came on.

“You're not getting away from me,” said the bigger man. “I'm going to rip your head off to show to Seera. She'll regret knowing you for the brief time she'll be alive until Emil gets rid of her.”

Shanahan kept moving away from the man. His feet kept him on point as he looked around. He couldn't let that joker grab him. It would be all over for him, unless he found a way to take the guy with him.

He wasn't going to leave Wyndham at the mercy of these wingnuts. He was going to fight back any way he could.

A blade sliced through the wall ahead of him. He stopped as the stone slid out and fell to the ground. If someone was caught under that, they wouldn't feel it.

The Sword stood in the new opening. His weapon floated in the air at his shoulder as he leaned out to look at Shanahan.

“I think this chase is over,” said the Sword. “Time to give up and accept that you can't get away from us.”

Shanahan looked at the Sword. He looked at the Fist. They were both showing they had him trapped on their faces. He looked down. Five floors didn't look that bad now.

It would be even better if he could take one of them with him.

He didn't have a chance against the Sword. The floating blade would slice him to ribbons before he got close enough to do anything to the man.

He turned and ran at the Fist. He snorted black smoke as every step fell squarely on the ledge. The big man stopped grinning as he saw what the move had to be. He gripped the wall to keep from being pushed off by the weight of the smaller man.

He wasn't going to be pushed off the ledge by the Horse.

Shanahan leaped. He ran along the wall for brief seconds. One arm wrapped around the neck of the Fist. He swung around the other man's body, locking the choke in place with his other arm. He hung from the strong man and squeezed as hard as he could with his arms.

The Fist reached up to pull the choke apart. The Horse was strong, but he was Strength. Once he had a grip, he could squeeze the man's arm until the bones broke. That would be the end of things.

Shanahan released his grip. He dropped down to the ledge. He hit the Fist as the man tried to turn around to confront him. They fell off the ledge.

The wind rushed around the pair as they fell toward the street. Shanahan's feet dropped so that he was riding his enemy through the air. The Fist flailed around for anything to grab hold of as he led the way to the ground.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Shanahan kicked off from the Fist, adding more impetus to the man's descent. He hit a roof and rolled. He struggled to catch his breath. He got to his feet, walking off the pain from the impact. He looked over the side of the roof. The other weapon had cratered the street. One hand moved as he tried to recover from the impact.

Shanahan decided he wasn't going to give the man time to recover from the fall.

He went to the front of the building, nodding when he saw a small awning. He used that to drop down to the street. He ran to where the Fist was trying to shake off the effects of the long drop and sudden stop. The man hadn't been able to roll over and get to his feet yet.

Shanahan pulled the sword from the sheath on his back. It had been luck to keep it after what he had done. And the blade was still straight after the roll across the roof.

He took aim, bringing blade up in both hands. He brought it down like he was swinging an axe. He didn't chop completely through, but he would take the damage he had done.

He looked at the tower as pressure built in the air. He had got close to where he needed to be. Now it was going to be a slog.

He needed a drink.

Shanahan staggered away from the body. At least this guy wouldn't hurt anybody else.

Crackling filled the air as he made his way down the street. He wiped the blade on someone's shirt hanging on a rack with other clothes as he passed. That would have to be rewashed.

Lightning wrapped around Shanahan. He screamed at the pain as it coursed through him. He dropped to his knees. That hurt more than the first time.

Maybe he shouldn't try to kill any more of Wyndham's former friends. He wasn't sure he could take more electricity flowing through his system.

He staggered along the street. Smoke showed small fires started by the sparks from the lightning. He found a bench in the shade of a potted tree. He took off the swordbelt. He put the sword back in its sheath and put the thing on the ground as he sat down.

He needed to take a few moments to recover, but he also needed to think about what he had to do. The Sword and Whitehouse would be sending minions into the city to find him. He was too close to the tower for his own good.

And he still didn't know where Wyndham was being kept.

The pain from the lightning strike faded as he tried to breathe evenly. The tips of his fingers smelled like burned meat. He shook his hands as he looked around.

Could he circle back and enter the tower again? What was the best move?

Shanahan decided the lightning had fuzzed out his thinking. He couldn't think of what he should be doing with the fog clouding his brain. He needed a drink. Maybe that would clear out his skull.

He got to his feet. He couldn't sit any more. The Sword would be sending troops down to look for him. He needed to keep moving while he could. He didn't want to fight the whole tower.

He felt his brain clear as he walked. He felt the horse and the fist were pushing the cloud away as he moved. He reached a corner and stood there. He decided he could get into the tower without a problem.

He just needed a way to find Wyndham.

He needed a way to find Whitehouse. That would give him a way to find Wyndham. Then he could get her to the Shaper with the Gate Stone. Then they could go home.

Shanahan wondered if they had seen the lightning from the tower. Would that give them his approximate position? He had no idea how visible the strike was.

Either way, he had to keep moving around the tower, following a path away from the back of the place. That would be where they would send troops to find him. Once he had another plan, he could change direction.

Shanahan wondered if they would search the roofs for him. It wouldn't be that difficult since they could see all the roofs under the tower if those round places were lookouts.

He decided they had a communication problem unless they were using Whitehouse to give orders to everyone looking for him. His ability would allow him to pop back and forth until they had a general net laid out for him.

By this time, he could have ordered all the gates in the wall around the city to be closed. That would force the fugitive to go through the wall, or over it.

They must know he wasn't going to leave Wyndham behind after coming this far. They should be thinking about using her for bait.

So if they closed the gates, flooded the streets, and sent an alert out for a man in a green jacket, what could he expect them to do next? He had no idea how much they could do to find him in a city this big. He assumed they would pass the word around to the citizens to turn him in when they saw him.

If they were smart, they would form a line and search each building for him, and then leave a guard to keep him from doubling back into turf they had already searched. He didn't want to fight the whole army so that would further limit his options.

He doubted they could limit him that much if he could find a way to move around along the roofs, or there was a way under the city to travel.

He needed to get off the streets for long enough to see what they're doing. Then he could plan his countermove.

Soon as they found the Fist's body, he could expect them to swarm like yellowjackets. Once that happened, he would be knee deep in angry fighting men. He doubted his new strength would be able to overcome numbers of skilled fighters. They would chop him up eventually.

He looked up. The tower loomed over the city. He had to get in there and find Whitehouse and the location stone. That was his goal. How did he go about doing that?

He decided that he could climb back up to the hole punched in the outer wall by the Fist. That would get him inside. Then he would have to figure out where Whitehouse was and get the stone from him so he could find Wyndham. The rest would be getting her out of there alive.

He thought that was something he could do if he had some luck on his side.

He hoped they underestimated what he would do. If they didn't, he could expect a short break-in.

Shanahan turned and walked toward the tower. He kept to the edges of the buildings around him. He wanted to be as undetected as he could be before he made his move.

Once he was in motion, he wanted to inflict as much harm as he could before he got out.

If he couldn't rescue Wyndham, he would die trying.