I turned away from Ellie and Solomon. I told myself they’d be fine. Who in the gang hadn’t been shot? Well, I hadn’t been shot. And we’d buried past members who’d gotten shot and we’d grieved them while waist-deep in a dark undercurrent of the understanding that many more of us would get shot and buried. Vic waited for me, which I did and didn’t appreciate. I should’ve been mad at Kusuma, not her, especially since she was right for mentioning mages. Nobody else could do what I did, and if I wanted to safeguard Stefan and Marshal—and Vic—I needed to stay.

We entered the second house.

The inside looked pretty big, but everything had gone to shit. The Rail Snakes didn’t seem to mind, seeing as they had stuff everywhere: New and old food caused a rancid smell, bottles had been drunk or emptied and then refilled with new fluids, and a bunch of papers with scribbled notes littered every flat surface. I plucked a sheet sticking out of couch cushions and read. It was a record with a name at the top, timestamps, and activities. Dozens and dozens of papers, all documenting the daily lives of different people. I had no idea if the Rail Snakes did it for fun or to find targets to rob, but it creeped me out.

The second house had an L-shaped layout, and the inner angle looked out toward the third house. That wasn’t exactly right. The third house was more like apartments with a central courtyard. Chunks of corner apartments had collapsed, and the rubble had been haphazardly cleared way, leaving an opening between the L-shaped house and courtyard, and with the outside.

Our group spread across a family and dining room, the main areas of the L-shape. Aside from the spacious rooms, there was a laundry, bedrooms, and bathroom. We kept low and away from windows, finding careful angles to observe the courtyard and apartments.

Stefan whispered to the Fornax people. ‘Start a fire over there. Marshal and I will sneak into the apartments.’

‘When fire heeds your commands,’ Mr Fornax replied, ‘you can do what you want with it.’

‘Alright. Alright. And? What do you suggest?’

‘Enter the courtyard. At that range, we can sense the Snakes and direct your shots.’

‘Direct our shots,’ Stefan echoed, unimpressed.

‘We cannot sense them from here.’

I wondered if we shouldn’t wait for backup, but Kusuma might’ve been doing the same. We started the assault with the element of surprise; we needed to keep up the pressure.

Stefan’s phone vibrated. ‘Aoide?’ he answered. She’d found a vantage point that let her see into the courtyard, scope trained on apartments. She spotted movement. ‘Where?’

Movement came from multiple places around the houses. Aoide asked where we were.

‘Second house, facing the courtyard,’ Stefan answered.

Gunshot. From distance. Crack of a rifle. Aoide. A thump and metallic rattle as something impacted the laundry’s screen door. Stefan swung his pistol to the noise, getting a direct angle through the laundry’s inner and outer door.

Aoide was put on speaker. Stefan relayed her warning. ‘Coming in! Laundry and container!’

Glass and wood cracked apart as Rail Snakes tore open entrances and poured into the house. Stefan shot multiple rounds through the laundry to keep back the Snakes there. Marshal pivoted to the shipping container and held his revolver at his hip and fanned its hammer like a Hollywood gunslinger to empty all six chambers. Four Snakes fell.

‘More outside,’ Stefan relayed.

That thing I’d said about waiting for backup, well, the wrong backup arrived. We were about to get swarmed. The Rail Snakes never had any other advantage but sheer numbers. Unfortunately, that was usually good enough.

Mr Fornax threw open the sliding door going toward the courtyard. ‘Can’t stay here.’ As he stepped from the house, a wave of flame erupted from his chest, pulsing outward like a shockwave. We sprinted out, using the fire as cover. Vic’s sister guarded the rear, whipping the rooms and leaving scorched streaks.

The wave of flames got us to the courtyard, but it dissipated. We had to take cover behind a mossy fountain and pillars. I heard heavy steps from the upstairs apartments. ‘There and there,’ Mr Fornax said, directing Stefan and Marshal to two particular apartments.

‘Will you cover us?’ Stefan asked.

In response, fire rose to the fountain, steaming the still body of water into a cloud, warping glass, and darkening brickwork. I huddled behind a pillar and rubbed my eyes; my skin tingled, and breathing got harder.

Protected by the fire and steam, Stefan and Marshal reached a stairwell, climbed to the upper walkways, and opened fire on the Rail Snakes.

The fire didn’t last long. Too immense. Too powerful. Mr Fornax recoiled behind a pillar, chest heaving, magic finally taking a toll on his body. He shed his jacket, now singed at the seams. ‘Find Kusuma,’ he said to himself.

Grey robes swept into view. A man. A mage. He’d emerged from a corner door, flanking Mr Fornax, Vic, and I. His hands overlapped, palms out. The air distorted as he sent an attack at Mr Fornax.

I pushed from cover and swatted the attack. The redirected energy knocked dust from the wall. Using my magic had taken as much energy as blinking. Had I improved, or was the mage…?

The mage roared and charged but kept their hands in the same pose. Attacks kept coming, but I swatted them aside. I suspected Aries-class magic, the minor version of Taurus kinetic magic. Weak or not, he was an enemy. I brandished my knife, ready to meet him.

Then blood sprayed the wall and the mage went limp but momentum carried a corpse to me and I instinctively caught it and felt the life leak from the body. The gunshot’s origin took a moment to register. Aoide had sniped him. The corpse’s weight dragged me to the ground, where I got a better look at the robes. They were the kind senior students wore at the Academy. Pushing back the hood, I saw the mage’s features: That of a boy, not a man. He was a student, probably a couple years older than me.

Something internal triggered in me, followed by an intense and sudden detachment from the situation. I pushed the corpse aside and returned to cover.

Stefan and Marshal had killed a few Snakes and forced the rest to reposition, which put them into Aoide’s line of sight. Thunder cracks split the night as she eliminated the remaining.

Vic’s sister still held back Snakes, but the courtyard had gotten quiet. Mr Fornax peeked from around a pillar. ‘Is Kusuma up there?’

‘He might’ve escaped,’ Stefan called from over the railing.

Objects flew into the sky and tripled in size. They looked like steel cubes. But, rather than crash toward us, they shot away into the night. ‘Aoide?’ Stefan said, phone to his ear. ‘Aoide?’ My heart hammered when Stefan didn’t get a response.

We couldn’t check on her. Kusuma, and another mage, were still active.

‘He has to touch something to make it fly,’ Vic said. ‘Those things were heating units, weren’t they?’

Good thinking. ‘The roof,’ I said, starting toward a maintenance room. Mr Fornax got ahead of me and kicked the door off dilapidated hinges. Vic and I followed him up a service stairwell to the roof. Stefan and Marshal climbed up a hole in an apartment’s ceiling.

Kusuma and a short woman, the Ursa Major mage, stood on the rooftop across the courtyard. He still wore a three-piece navy suit; that alone pissed me off. Buttoning his jacket, he waved and said:

‘Victoria F. Fornax, and Eleanor Wilson. For the amount I paid, I’d hoped for a higher quality assassination. Hard to find good help these days, eh?’

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I flinched as Stefan aimed and fired. Good. Fuck the preamble. Though I waited for Kusuma to clutch his gut and change into a maroon suit, he continued to stand tall. Stefan winced and dropped his pistol. He’d fired, but at the same time a ball bearing had floated into the barrel and expanded, cracking the pistol. When? Had Kusuma moved the ball bearings the moment he heard us coming to the roof? A moment later, Marshal dropped his revolver, another ball bearing having infiltrated the barrel. No wonder Kusuma and his mage didn’t look worried.

‘Empty your lungs and cast a wide shield,’ Xandria said, her first words since the assault started. ‘Hurry!’

I flinched, exhaled until my chest hurt, and triggered my magic. I sensed the range of magic expand into a dome around the five of us.

‘There were metal spheres around all of you,’ Xandria said. ‘Under your nose.’

I jabbed at the bridge of my nose and looked down. Ball bearings littered the ground around our feet. According to Xandria, one had floated just below my nostril. If I hadn’t used my shield, Kusuma could’ve floated the ball bearing up, and then the other mage would’ve…

Kusuma frowned and flexed his wrist, trying to figure out why his powers didn’t work. Sniffing the air, it dawned on him with an expression that filled me with conceited glee. ‘It’s you. The new mage. It’s you.’

‘It’s me,’ I replied, taking a breath. The air smelled of mint from my Scutum-class magic. By taking a breath, my shield shrunk, but Kusuma didn’t know that.

‘That’s how you three survived the Auroch.’ He laughed. ‘A decade without new magic, and a random student uncovers a new constellation? What makes you so special?’ His tone dripped with childish venom. I couldn’t believe it: He was legitimately mad that a student had discovered new magic. He laughed again, wild in a way that made you think he hadn’t truly laughed in years. ‘And, what, you’ve thrown your lot in with Fornax and the Hunter-Yao gang? What did they promise you?’

‘Nothing.’

How do we continue? I thought. Stefan and Marshal’s handguns were broken, and we’d have to circle the rooftop for close combat.

Mr Fornax tacitly understood my magic nullified other sources. Like Kusuma, he didn’t know my shield had shrunk, so he could’ve launched a fireball straight at our foes. Then again, that’d tell Kusuma his own magic would work again, too.

‘Nothing,’ Kusuma repeated. ‘You’ve giving them your magic for free?’

‘I’m not giving anything.’

He stammered and balked. Pebbles floated around his shoes, an unconscious magic-based reaction to his emotions. If he sent them flying at us, I wouldn’t have the range to completely nullify their momentum. Luckily, with new magic, nobody knew the extent of my powers. Nobody knew. Playing off ignorance may’ve been our only option.

‘Go ahead and tie them up,’ I told my allies. To Kusuma, I gave a smug, condescending grin. ‘I’m guessing your escape plan involved flying?’

‘Let me get this straight,’ Kusuma said, as Stefan and Marshal cautiously rounded the rooftop. I followed them, to ensure I actually could get into range. Meanwhile, Kusuma looked like he was on the verge of a breakdown. ‘You’re not going to do anything with this new magic? You haven’t told anyone at Vandagriff or Tanstock, nor the city’s government? You’re just…you’re just…’ He unbuttoned and buttoned his jacket. ‘Tell me the constellation name.’

‘I don’t know,’ I lied.

‘You don’t know.’ He tore the button off his jacket. ‘You’re a child playing with a loaded shotgun. A nuclear warhead. Do you have any idea how your magic could affect the four cities?’

Stefan had reached him and got a length of rope from his pocket, only enough to bind his wrists. Vic remarked that we’d need to bind his legs, as well, to be safe. Without more rope, she resorted to the lanyard holding her house keys.

Meanwhile, the Ursa Major mage didn’t look so steadfast. She’d kneeled when we approached and tried to process the situation, wondering how she could distance herself from Kusuma and any blame. I wasn’t going to let her escape, not after those heating units flew at Aoide.

‘Don’t bother,’ Kusuma said, glaring at the rope and lanyard. ‘Let me live and the whole city will know about the new magic.’

‘That won’t be an issue,’ I replied. ‘You’ll die for what you did to Sergio.’

‘Amber,’ Stefan whispered, shaking his head.

Kusuma panted. ‘Sergio Nicodemo? This is about Nicodemo? Are you fucking kidding me?’ The pebbles around his feet had floated higher and higher. ‘You think I killed Nicodemo? What was he to…’ He glanced down, spotted the pebbles, and smirked.

Oh no, I said, and lunged, triggering my magic in the same moment. My range expanded, but I couldn’t close the distance. How did Kusuma move that fast? In under a second he’d shot sideways, soaring straight off the building before rising at a sharp ninety-degrees into the sky.

‘Victoria,’ said Mr Fornax, spinning, voice desperate. He screamed at the sky. ‘Victoria!’

Shit, shit, shit, I thought. Kusuma had grabbed Vic during his escape. With the speed of his flight, who knew where they’d—

Vic screamed and shrieked. It got louder. Kusuma hadn’t flown away. He’d gone straight up – and dropped her.

Mr Fornax ignited a ring of fire and burned it brightly. I didn’t understand at the time, but he tried to manipulate air currents with temperature. Hot air rises, and such. But even at maximum power, I doubted he could stop a falling body.

Vic was a dark figure falling fast in the night sky. Mr Fornax couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t. Stefan and Marshal weren’t mages. Somebody had to be around. A Sentinel flying past on patrol? No, the skies were clear.

I squeezed my eyes shut and looked down. Vic continued to fall. I didn’t want to witness the—

‘Open your eyes, coward,’ Xandria hissed. I did, and saw a chance. There.

I grabbed the Ursa Major mage and put my knife to her throat. ‘Grow that now!’ I pointed at a patch on the roof. The mage cried and panicked, but she complied. Mr Fornax, Stefan, and Marshal jumped away. Between them, a dandelion and patch of moss grew to tremendous size, engulfing the roof and plunging us into shadow.

‘More!’

‘I can’t,’ the mage cried.

I pressed my knife harder and drew blood. ‘More.’

The vegetation continued to grow, rising to meet Vic. She hit. She crashed through a yellow petal and layers of moss. Her screams got muffled by the growing green.

‘Victoria,’ Mr Fornax called, clawing through the moss. He called her name a couple more times, and finally she made a noise. My legs gave out, and I trembled on my hands and knees, taking deep breaths. Beside me, the Ursa Major mage had passed out from exhaustion, blood dripping from nose and eyes.

Mr Fornax carried Vic out of a mossy, man-created tunnel. Aside from minor injuries, she looked to be in good condition. Letting Kusuma escape pissed me off, but at least Vic…hadn’t been…

I whirled away from the distant city lights, facing the darkness. I pushed my magic further and further, far past what I thought possible, and though it lost potency, it gained a new trait. That being:

I…sensed Kusuma. My magic did. I couldn’t nullify him, but it felt like a tiny finger pressed a specific place on my forehead. He was still in the air, not far from the rooftop. He was going to make another pass at the group. I sensed his trajectory. He aimed for the person furthest from me. Marshal. I opened my mouth, about to warn that everyone needed to get near me, but that wouldn’t win the battle. Kusuma could’ve flown away, or used height and velocity to turn a handful of coins into shrapnel, but he didn’t want that. He wanted to whittle us down, force us to watch our friends hit the ground.

It needed to end.

Kusuma sped up. The closer he got, the clearer it was he targeted Marshal.

‘We should retreat for now,’ Stefan said. The others lost tension, too. Marshal started toward the unconscious Ursa Major mage, but I yelled:

‘Don’t move!’

Everyone froze. A few seconds. All I needed was a few more seconds. If Marshal got too close to me, Kusuma wouldn’t have a clear target.

‘Amber, what’s—?’

I shushed him and closed my eyes. The pressure on my forehead intensified. NOW.

I sprinted at Marshal.

A dark figure swooped in my periphery.

I didn’t use my magic. In the next moment, my feet left the ground. Air buffeted me. I struggled to breathe. Clouds got closer and ground sharply withdrew. Kusuma had abducted me, like he did with Vic. With his powers, he didn’t need to physically hold me. I flew near his ankle, though he didn’t seem to know he hadn’t abducted Marshal. His magic would’ve affected Marshal and me the same, regardless of weight.

We slowed to a stop, high in the air. I felt faint, choked by the altitude’s thin air. Kusuma had an upright posture, floating, arms crossed, surveying the city as if a deity. ‘If you have any final words,’ he shouted over the wind, ‘I can deliver them to your loved ones.’

‘Nah, no need.’

Kusuma’s gaze whipped down to me, eyes wide.

I seized his ankle and activated my powers. His flight magic got nullified. We may as well have been ejected from an airplane without parachutes. I gasped as vertigo overwhelmed me. Fighting through it, I clambered up Kusuma, until I wrapped my arms around his neck.

‘Stupid bitch,’ Kusuma screamed, skin stretched and words garbled. ‘Stupid suicidal bitch.’ He tried to push me away; I held tight.

We plummeted, but we wouldn’t hit the dandelion or moss. We’d hit the rooftop and turn into a red mess – unless I stopped my powers. Closer. Closer. Kusuma clawed my cheek. As the rooftop rushed to meet us and my allies came into view, I neutralised my powers. The struggling Kusuma instantly activated his own, causing us to float down and hover a mere meter off the rooftop.

Mr Fornax wouldn’t let Kusuma escape twice. He got close and created a flaming dome, a hellish prison. ‘Move away,’ he ordered me, opening a gap in the dome. I was more than happy to obey.

Stefan, Marshal, Vic, and I waited outside the fire dome. The oxygen supply in there must’ve started to dwindle, weakening an already taxed Kusuma.

Hunched, Kusuma glowered at each of us in turn, clothes torn or burned, a visceral and open hatred, of us as people, of our purpose, of what we stood for. His very being seemed to oppose us. He took the deepest inhalation I’d ever witnessed—smoke burning his throat and lungs—and screamed in pure rage. His scream lasted ten seconds, turning from rage to pain, a screech that paralysed me, where no amount of loathing for the man could bring me to enjoy his suffering.

His scream represented a choice. Death on the ground, or death in the air. For a prideful man like him, one option was viable.

Kusuma chose to fly.

He shot through the thick dome of flames into the sky, body ignited and burning brightly as he fled us like a shooting star going somewhere northward beyond the city limits. We watched him go, the light fading, his altitude dropping.

Mr Fornax extinguished flames on the rooftop, and as the last vestiges hissed into silence, the five of us exchanged looks. The night had gone quiet. The outcome wasn’t victory, but it wasn’t defeat. After a few deliberate moments, we left the rooftop. We still had a lot to do before sunrise.