Nadee halted before the grates leading to the exit. Through the bars, she saw a spacious storage room. Cylinder tanks that reached the ceiling filled the room, and standing tall between them were reflectors that illuminated the entire place with pale orange afterglow.

She moved away from the grate when tall shadows loomed in front of her. A moment later, their owners showed up. Dressed in durable but light bulletproof vests, the Unions stood with their backs to the wall and did not appear to have heard the intruders. Nadee counted three opponents, but she was sure somewhere in the depths of storage were more of them.

Nadee stretched her arms and leaned her elbows against the ground. Keeping her eye on the guards moving away, she lifted up the grating. She put it carefully next to the tunnel wall. She grabbed the edge of the duct, crawled out of it, hung close to the wall and jumped on the floor. In three leaps, she covered the distance to the tank, behind which she hid.

Antares joined her. He moved swifter and defter than the Kehrian woman. Living in cold, obscure tunnels of Zetherion, every mistake could cost him his life. He was accustomed to the rule that only the strongest had the chance to survive and things like unfair games did not exist. In his world, the fair ones died first. He was still alive due to his slyness, strength and cold blood.

Almost petrified Cerridwen approached the edge and looked down. At home, she’d practised even more risky acrobatics, but this time the cracked, concrete floor was four meters down and she had to do it in absolute silence, with fear overwhelming her body.

She turned her head and met the pretentious sight of large, shining eyes. Quirinus pointed at the exit as if he were showing the door for the uninvited guest. She did what she’d observed the two other rebels doing. She slipped through the hatch and jumped down.

She landed on the floor, but the noise of a heavy footstep resonated in the walls and cisterns. The Celestian girl froze and bored her eyes into Nadee who was leaning out from behind the tank and Antares who was clenching his fists in anger. Nadee moved back and waved her hand, commanding her to get away from the enemy’s range.

Cerridwen took a deep breath. Bending down, she bolted like a fired bullet. She rushed through the illuminated aisle and jumped into the dark alley between the tons of metal. She exhaled, hearing the pulsing beat in her head.

Quirinus joined the group. Antares took the lead and looking at the LiqWatch, he gave a sign to follow him. He sneaked across the maze of cisterns, halting before a wider alley, through which ran the railway tracks. They ended up at the armoured gate guarded by six Unions.

Antares pointed to his teammates, commanding them to secure the next two alleys. Cerridwen looked at him questioningly. He just shrugged and raised his gun.

The Unions’ moves had become nervous. Glancing around, they exchanged some gestures, and three of them trotted ahead with their backs covered by the fourth one. The rest moved away from the door but remained close to the wall.

At that moment, three shots reverberated in the alley. The soldier standing next to the door, the one who was walking along the tracks and covering the back of the others from enemies, dropped dead with his neck pierced inside out. Their uniforms poured in red like an unearthed ruby ore.

The three still alive Unions got out of Antares’ range of vision. They formed a triangle and turned into a narrow aisle between the tanks, crossing the slowly expanding pool of blood on the way and leaving behind red wet tracks. They passed several metres with their backs to each other and halted.

Nadee lay down on the ground and aimed at the enemy’s leg. She pulled the trigger. The Union screamed and bent down. When he grabbed the knee torn by the bullet, she struck his neck.

The last two guards turned towards the rebels waiting close. Both sides lost the moment of surprise.

Quirinus fired, but his bullet missed the Union and stuck into his rifle. The opponent grabbed the hand in which the Celestian held a gun and pulled him to the ground. Quirinus shot several times, crumbling to the floor. The guard hit his head with the elbow and wrenched his weapon away. Lightheaded, Quirinus bent down, and the Union kicked his stomach with his knee.

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Quirinus groaned with pain. He lost his balance and fell on his flank. He raised his head and saw a gun pointed between his eyes. Two shots resounded a split second later. The person in the grey uniform slid down, coughing and spitting bloody slime.

“What’s the hold?” asked Quirinus, getting up from the ground. He wiped his eyes which were splattered with the enemy’s blood. Coughing and grimacing, he grabbed his flank.

“I had to reload,” said the Kehrian woman and averted her eyes.

Antares’ gun fired a bullet that ricocheted off the Union’s helmet. The enemy Ifrit ducked and attacked from below, twisting Antares' arm. The rebel dropped the weapon and kicked the opponent’s leg. Antares tore loose and lunged ahead to reach the gun. The guard charged at him, growling and trying to stab the combat knife into his back. Antares gripped the Ifrit’s hand, and wrestling like starving scavengers, they both fell on the floor. The Union pressed the intruder with his knee and started pushing the blade closer to his throat. Antares resisted, but he felt he could no longer fight the reptile. A few inches in front of his face the metal shone with streaks of light reflecting from it.

He gulped and tensed his throat muscles as if it could stop the enemy’s blade. He was not going to die in such a banal way. He gathered up the remains of his strength and pushed the Ifrit, but the reptile only growled scornfully in response to his efforts. Antares closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. He did not want to give his life to the Union at so wretched a price.

A single shot pierced his ears with its intensity, and his opponent became motionless. Before he could understand what had happened, he lay still on the ground for a few seconds, breathing the chilled air. Despite the sore hand, he pushed the enemy off his chest and lifted his head. He opened his eyes wider and licked the corner of his lips.

Frozen Cerridwen stood near the tank. She breathed deeply and rhythmically, but her sight was trained on the Union lying dead on the floor. With stiff hands, she held Antares’ gun aimed at the defeated Ifrit at all times as if he was about to rise and dart towards her with his sharp teeth and magnificent horns.

Antares got up and brushed the dirt off his sleeve. Pupils in his eyes were still dilated. Sweat, blended with dust, drained off his face. He’d never expected help from the stranger. For a moment, he had the feeling that she would fire at him or at someone from his team. Step by step, he approached the girl.

“You…” he pointed at her, “did you fire?”

She nodded, glancing at him, then at the dead opponent.

“You can be proud of yourself,” he said, bowing his head, “you’ve just saved the Commander of The Independent Zetherion Army’s life.”

“No,” she gibbered in a trembling voice, “I killed someone, I… couldn’t…”

“Calm down.” He put his hand on her shoulder. He waited until she raised her eyes and looked at him. “Not someone, but one of our enemies. The Union. The one who never deserved life.”

“There will be more of them soon, Sir,” observed Nadee, “I’m going to plant the charge as I can’t open the door. The codes are outdated.”

“Go,” he ordered and turned to Cerridwen again. “By the unwritten law of Zetherion, anyone who has saved the life of the other has the right to demand anything, and the saved one has a duty to fulfil the demand.” He walked away, adding, “One day, I will repay.”

I shouldn’t have said it. Now she will look for an opportunity to make use of me. He glanced at the shot Union. But I owe it to her.

He approached Quirinus, who patrolled the area. Quirinus pretended not to notice his Commander and still looked around for the incoming enemies.

“What the hell are you doing?” whispered Antares. He’d spotted the shaking hands and stilted, nervous moves of his captain from a distance.

Quirinus turned towards him and raised his eyebrow. Drying stains of blood covered him from the waist up, giving him an appearance of a predator which had been pulled away from its prey just when he was about to devour it. He shook his head.

“I… I don’t understand.”

“You don’t?” Antares frowned. “You missed, even though you had that Union right in front of you.” He spread his arms. “You let him throw you on the ground like it was your first fight ever! Now, you walk around without a visible injury, and if you stop, you can’t seem to stand still. What’s wrong with you?”

“Nothing,” gasped out Quirinus, hiding his hands in his pockets, “I’m fine.”

“Don’t think of me an idiot!” growled Antares, scowling in Quirinus. The young Celestian’ pupils were dilated, and the veins around them had become red and quite distinct.

Quirinus felt himself being observed minutely. He looked sideways and dropped his head, biting his lower lip. He turned around, but Antares stepped ahead.

“I have nothing to hide.”

“Yes, you have,” reiterated Antares, pointing at him, “but you can't hide it all the time. At first, I pretended not to see it, but my patience is running out now.” He clenched his teeth and walked away to check on how Nadee was doing. He did not want to face the fact that his suspicions might be true.