Nin-Akna moved past Meleng and Quilla to stand between them and the attendants. “We are not finished.”

“This has gone on long enough,” Nin-Zyannya, the woman in green, said.

“Her Holiness has ordered—”

“Her Holiness is young and makes unwise decisions,” Nin-Zyannya said. “It is time we step in to show her the error of her ways. We demand to see what you have shown the Queen.”

Nin-Chicahua stood, clutching the locket to her. “The Will-Breaker was clear in her instructions.”

“The Will-Breaker does not rule here,” Nin-Zyannya said.

“You’re right. I do, and I have decided to follow the Will-Breaker’s instructions.”

“Enough of this nonsense,” Ses-Tlacotl said. “She has already told them the truth of who she is. They know she does not rule. So there is no need for any of us to keep up the act.”

“You told them?” the woman in white gasped. “What has come over you? If the rest of the world finds out we sent a false representative—”

“The Will-Breaker has obviously bewitched her, Fra-Cualli,” Ses-Tlacotl said. “It seems she could not be trusted after all.”

“Nin-Chicahua, you will hand over whatever is in your hands right this instant,” Nin-Zyannya said. She held her hand out, palm up, and waited for the locket to be placed there.

Nin-Akna raised her spear. “No one has bewitched anyone, Nin-Zyannya. They were on the verge of figuring it out anyway. That’s the only reason we told.”

“It does not matter,” Nin-Zyannya replied. “Hand over what you have been shown.”

Nin-Akna did not lower her spear, but she did look back to both Nin-Chicahua and Meleng. Nin-Chicahua just clutched at the locket, but Meleng wasn’t sure what they should do. Maybe they should show them?

Ses-Tlacotl swung a spear and knocked Nin-Akna’s spear from her hands. The startled young bodyguard moved to recover her spear, but Ses-Tlacotl positioned her own spear at Nin-Akna’s throat.

Where did Ses-Tlacotl get a spear? Meleng couldn’t remember seeing her with one.

“What is the meaning of this?” Nin-Zyannya demanded. “Ses-Tlacotl, how dare you bring a weapon against a devoted Youth Guard!”

“We are getting nowhere,” Ses-Tlacotl sneered. “As I said, they are bewitched.”

The woman in white, Fra-Cualli, moved forward and placed a hand on the spear shaft. “Bewitched or not, there is no need for violence. Nin-Chicahua is scared and understandably so. Her life has been threatened and—”

Ses-Tlacotl spun the spear around and thrust it into Fra-Cualli’s chest, then tore it back out just as fast. Fra-Cualli’s eyes widened as the spear ripped open her chest, and she coughed up blood.

Nin-Chicahua gasped and Quilla screamed. Nin-Zyannya’s mouth quivered and her body shook as she stared down at the blood that had sprayed over her green robes. Nin-Akna dived for her spear.

Ses-Tlacotl stabbed one more time at Fra-Cualli, who fell to the ground in a growing pool of blood. Then Ses-Tlacotl was gone.

“Where did she go?” Quilla stammered.

“She’s a mentalist,” Meleng said. “She’s manipulating our perceptions.” She must have had the spear the entire time; she had just hidden it with magic. She may have even been present for the entire discussion, hidden by her spells. It would explain how she’d known what Nin-Akna had told them. Gods, he was an idiot for not considering this!

Nin-Akna yelled something in Ninifin towards the cave mouth and the bodyguards there jumped to attention and began running towards them.

That was it! “Move!” Meleng yelled. “We have to keep moving! The more we force her to move after us, the harder it will be for her maintain her spell.” He motioned to Quilla and Nin-Chicahua, and began running towards the approaching guards. He didn’t look back until he’d reached them, and was glad to see that Quilla was right behind him. Nin-Akna was right beside Nin-Chicahua, ushering her forward. Nin-Zyannya brought up the rear.

Nin-Akna began yelling orders at the guards, and they began to form a tight circle around Nin-Chicahua, Meleng, and Quilla. Nin-Zyannya reached the edge of the circle, gasping for breath. As the guards parted a little to let her past, a spear broke through the front of her neck.

Meleng fought back at the bile forming in his throat at the sight of the blood spraying over the guards and the now partially decapitated body falling to the ground. He tried to focus on the spot right behind where Nin-Zyannya had stood. For a moment, there was something there. Like a flicker. No, more like a shadow. It was moving.

Nin-Akna yelled something that sounded like a curse. Distracted by the sound, Meleng lost sight of the shadow.

“What do we do?” Nin-Akna asked.

It took a moment for Meleng to realise she was asking him. Him? Why would she... Oh gods, right. He knew better what was going on. He really wished Felitïa was here. “Like I said, keep moving!”

“Where?”

“Anywhere. It doesn’t matter. The point is to keep her moving after us.”

At a motion from Nin-Akna, they began moving towards the cave mouth, the guards maintaining their tight circle around the non-warriors. A gargle came from behind him, and something wet hit the back of Meleng’s neck. He took a quick look behind him to see that one of the guards had met the same fate as Nin-Zyannya. Once again, he fought back the urge to vomit.

“How do we fight someone we cannot see?” Ses-Inhuan hissed.

Meleng kept looking all around as he answered. “Look for anything out of place. A stone or plant that looks blurred, or a shadow that doesn’t connect to a source. Or a distortion in the air like mist. Anything that doesn’t look right. Just remember, she’s not really invisible. She’s forcing our minds to ignore what we see, but we can fight that and make it harder for her.”

A hand clutched his arm. It was Quilla. She was shaking. He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but doubted it came off well.

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They were outside the cave now. The sun was low on the horizon and the light was getting ever dimmer. That was not going to help at all.

The guard to his front and right gasped as a spear pierced her stomach and she doubled over, her own spear clattering to the ground. She tried to grab at the spear as it ripped back out of her, but she only succeeded in tearing her hands open.

Ses-Inhuan lunged at that moment, her spear scraping across something and drawing blood. Ses-Tlacotl cried out in pain, and for a moment, Meleng could see her as she took two quick steps backwards. She vanished again as Ses-Inhuan lunged forward. This time, the young Ninifin struck only air. Then, something clattered against her spear, knocking it from her grasp. She took several hurried steps backwards, her hands held in front of her, looking each way.

Another of the guards rushed forward. Her spear was held high but it fell from her grasp as Ses-Tlacotl’s spear ran through her throat.

The guard Ses-Tlacotl had stabbed in the stomach collapsed then as well. Meleng rushed to her side, and bent over her, but it was too late. She was already dead. She looked only fifteen or sixteen.

Ses-Inhuan picked up her spear. “She is injured. There is a blood trail.”

Unfortunately, the trail vanished only a short distance farther. “She must have bandaged the wound,” Meleng said.

“This is not working,” Nin-Akna growled. “One injury to her and she’s killed five. She will keep taking us out one by one.”

“We’re moving too slow,” Meleng said. “We have to run. Force her to run after us.”

“If we run, we cannot maintain formation around you.”

“If she kills you all, you won’t be able to maintain formation either. Trust me, we have to run.”

“Perhaps we should make for the village,” Ses-Inhuan suggested. “She may be less willing to attack if there are more people around.”

“All right,” Nin-Akna said. “On my mark, run. We regroup at the edge of the village. Ready? Run!”

The remaining bodyguards spread out and they all began to run along the trail. Goats bleated and screamed in protest at their passing. The chicken-sized vultures that perched on the dragon blood and bottle trees took to the air and flew back in the direction the humans had come from.

The journey around the lake felt like forever. Meleng soon found himself gasping for air and his heart felt about to burst from his chest. He wasn’t in the right kind of shape for this. The guards and Nin-Chicahua had pulled well ahead of him, though Quilla was still close to him, struggling almost as much as he was. She looked back at him. “Come on! Hurry up!”

He nodded and tried to push himself faster. At last, he reached the streets of the village. The others were already there, huddled together. He almost collapsed as he pulled to a stop. “We...we can’t stop.”

“We need the Will-Breaker,” Nin-Chicahua said. “She’s the only one who can help us now.”

“Agreed,” Nin-Akna said. “Take us to her.”

Meleng almost agreed, but something was bothering him.

“Why do you hesitate?” Nin-Chicahua protested. “She is the only one who can face Ses-Tlacotl. You must take us to her.”

“They’re right, Meleng,” Quilla said. “There’s nothing more we can do.”

Meleng wracked his brain. Something was wrong. Ses-Tlacotl had had her spear at Nin-Akna’s throat. She could have killed her right away, yet she had killed the unarmed attendant. It didn’t make any sense. Nin-Akna was the greater threat and she’d been at her mercy. And then Ses-Tlacotl had killed the other unarmed attendant, then other guards.

“No. Don’t you see? The people she’s targeting, the ones she’s killed so far are the people without a reason to run to Felitïa for help. She wants us to go to Felitïa. Nin-Chicahua, you’re not her target. At least, not at the moment. Felitïa is. We need to keep moving. Through the streets. The more people there are around us, the harder it will be for her.”

Nin-Akna sighed and nodded. “Move.”

They moved through the streets towards the Nabrinja. Most of the people they passed paid them little mind. There were enough strangers and warriors moving about that their small group didn’t stand out, and no one looked close enough to see the blood on them. If they started dying, they might, though. Meleng really hoped he was right the added people would make it harder for Ses-Tlacotl.

“How long are we supposed to keep moving like this?” Nin-Chicahua asked after several minutes. “She can just keep picking us off. We will all die! I understand that it might be what she wants, but she has forced the situation. We don’t have any other choice. The Will-Breaker has great powers. Ses-Tlacotl herself said that she couldn’t pierce her defences. The Will-Breaker will defeat her. Please!”

Quilla placed a hand on Meleng’s arm. “I think she’s right, Meleng. We don’t have any other choice. It’ll be night soon. There’ll be less people on the streets, and she can start picking us off again.”

“Felitïa almost burnt herself out,” Meleng whispered at her. “Plus, with her ankle, she’s in no condition to fight right now.”

Quilla frowned. “I was forgetting that.”

“What?” Nin-Chicahua demanded. “What are you whispering about? Why will you not take us to the Will-Breaker?”

Meleng sighed. “Because she’s badly injured. She’s in no condition to face Ses-Tlacotl right now.”

Nin-Chicahua bent over forward, clutching at her stomach, and began to wail. “I’m going to die. She’s going to kill me. She’ll kill all of us!”

People in the street stopped to look at the commotion.

Nin-Akna leant over her. “Chica.” She began speaking to her in Ninifin, Nin-Chicahua giving loud, wailing responses.

Ses-Inhuan lowered her spear in front of Meleng to block his way. “I don’t know who this Will-Breaker is, or why Nin-Chicahua places so much trust in her, but you must take us to her. It does not matter if she is injured. If she has the skills we need, then we must go to her. I give you my word, I will defend her with my life while she does what she needs to do. But there must be no more delay.”

Meleng lowered his head. They were right. He’d let the fact they were turning to him for advice and instruction go to his head. He wasn’t a warrior or a commander. He didn’t have the skills needed to keep them alive. But Felitïa did.

“All right,” he said. “We’ll go to her.”

Nin-Chicahua looked up at him.

Ses-Inhuan removed her spear from his path. “Lead the way.”

“It’s in the same direction we were going anyway,” Meleng said.

They began walking. Meleng continued to look around for signs of Ses-Tlacotl’s presence, but could find none. It was getting too dark.

“What if I go find Garet?” Quilla suggested. “And Cerus.”

“By yourself?” Meleng asked.

“The Ninifins will never be allowed near the Arnorin apartments,” Quilla said.

“It’s too dangerous.”

“But surely the worst she’ll do is follow me. By the time she finds out I’m not going to Felitïa, I’ll have Garet’s protection, and all the Arnorin soldiers. It might even give you enough time to get to Felitïa without her being able to follow you.”

“No, by yourself, she wouldn’t need to kill you. She could do the actual bewitching thing. It would be kind of like hypnotising you into taking her to Felitïa.” Meleng wasn’t actually sure Ses-Tlacotl had spells that could do that, but he didn’t want to take the risk.

Quilla shuddered. “Forget I mentioned it then. Let's go.”