They began down the long, narrow stairs to the ground. There was no choice but to take things a little more slowly here, but Felitïa kept as quick a pace as she dared—quicker even. Her feet and legs still ached and her ankle was throbbing again.

There were people waiting at the bottom, but it took a moment for Felitïa to realise there were too many for it to just be Quilla and Fra-Tepeu. Had they found some of the other survivors?

No. There was no sign of Borisin, and most of the people were clothed like Palace guards and carrying spears. They had that jaguar with them, too.

“Zandrue—” Felitïa started.

“I know,” Zandrue said. “Keep going. We stand a better chance against Palace guards than those Volgs.”

“Let Rudiger and I take the lead,” Nin-Akna said.

Felitïa didn’t object as the two warriors moved in front of her and Zandrue.

They continued down the stairs. A moment later, Meleng called out, “Look!”

Several winged figures were gathering at the top of the pyramid, one of them carrying the staff and bathed in yellow energy. Two of the Volgs spread their wings and flew off the top. Two more followed.

“Shit,” Zandrue said. “Forget caution! Move!”

With a yell, Rudiger charged the last batch of steps, rushing straight for the line of spears pointed at him. He swung Slay and cut the tops off the spears in a single motion. He then fell backwards onto the steps, banging his head, but sliding down under the spear shafts that the Ninifin warriors tried to jab at him, despite their lack of blades.

Nin-Akna rushed between them, her own spear raised. Beside Felitïa, Zandrue nocked her bow and fired up at one of the Volgs above.

On the ground, the Ninifins were spreading out across the base of the stairs as they engaged Nin-Akna and Rudiger.

Felitïa stopped running forward. “Corvinian, stay with me.” There was no point moving any farther until there was a clear path. “You too, Meleng.” They both did as she asked. Zandrue went a few steps farther to get clearer shots with her bow. She had only a few arrows left in her quiver.

Felitïa wasn’t sure how many Volgs were flying above them now, but they did seem to be avoiding her. Maybe it was because Corvinian was glowing blue again. They were diving at Rudiger and Nin-Akna though, and this clearly startled the Palace guards, who cried out and moved back.

One of the Volgs swung at Nin-Akna, knocking her over. As the Volg landed and was about to bring his sword down into Nin-Akna’s chest, two of the Palace guards stabbed him with their spears.

Zandrue fired an arrow into the neck of a Volg that landed beside that one. “I get the impression that Fra-Ichtaca didn’t warn them about the Volgs, don’t you?” She grinned.

Nibdenoff leapt into the air and began flying down the stairs.

“Corvinian, behind me,” Felitïa said.

Zandrue rushed in front of them both and fired an arrow into the Volg’s head. When that didn’t slow him, she fired another, then tossed her bow aside and drew her sword. The yellow energy surrounding Nibdenoff shot out and swatted Zandrue aside. She flew off the steps into some plants on the tier to their side. She tumbled over the edge of the tier and out of sight. The energy then did the same to Meleng.

Nibdenoff landed in front of Felitïa.

The energy did not come for her.

Corvinian clutched at her legs, his blue energy sending a tingling sensation through her. The energy swept around her at Nibdenoff, but was negated by the yellow energy.

Nibdenoff sneered and shook the staff.

The sleep spell hadn’t worked on him earlier. Why? She probed the Room for his presence. It was dim and almost invisible. He had some sort of protection active. Could she find a way around it?

The Volg growled and reached for her with his free hand, but the energy wouldn’t let him. He tried again, but each time his hand almost touched her neck, the energy flared and his arm rebounded.

Felitïa smiled. She had no idea why this was happening, but she wasn’t about to ignore it. She knelt down. “Corvinian, put your arms around my neck.” The boy did as he was told and she wrapped her arms under his legs. She couldn’t get a firm grip because of her hands, but she hoped it would be enough. “Hang on tight.” She rose to her feet.

The Volg let go of the staff, letting it drop. As soon as he was no longer in contact with the staff, the yellow energy vanished. He reached for Felitïa, but Corvinian’s blue energy swatted him aside. She turned and ran down the stairs.

At the base of the pyramid, the Palace guards had joined the fight against the Volgs. As Felitïa tried to dart between the combatants, Nin-Akna led a group of guards in a charge against a line of Volgs, who flew into the air to avoid them.

Felitïa kept running. She didn’t have the strength or ability to help in the battle at the moment. She had to get Corvinian to safety before Nibdenoff came at him again. Corvinian’s blue energy created a path through the Volgs and warriors, but the tingling it was causing began to burn.

She nearly lost her hold on Corvinian several times, but she made it to the other side of the mêlée, to the edge of the first houses of the City. There were people outside the houses, watching.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I won’t hurt you.”

They continued to watch her and Corvinian, but didn’t move towards her.

She lowered herself so Corvinian could climb off. The burning sensation gone, she turned to look back at the battle. There were so many Volgs and only a few of them lay on the ground, while considerably more Palace guards were either dead or immobilised. Rudiger ran at a group of Volgs. He had a prominent limp, and as she watched, one of the Volgs hit his arm and he dropped Slay.

On the steps of the pyramid, a yellow light erupted again. Nibdenoff held the staff above his head and the energy shot out, over the battle and slammed into Corvinian. The boy screamed and fell over, his own blue energy crackling and spurting as it tried to fight back against the yellow.

Felitïa was about to rush to his side when two figures came into view, approaching her. One was the jaguar, and the other a woman in the uniform of the Queen’s Guard holding that big cat’s lead.

“Please, I’m not your enemy,” Felitïa said.

“Look, the demons!” a bystander said.

“This woman is in league with them,” the Queen’s Guard said. “She killed the Queen. She will kill all of us next.”

The people gasped and the one who had spoken backed away.

The Queen’s Guard pointed at Felitïa and dropped the jaguar’s lead. “Bahlam, kill.”

Felitïa sighed. In her current state, she would have to let it get a bit closer.

The jaguar crouched, then turned its head to the right at the sound of a whinny and a yell. It jumped back to its feet to reposition itself as Borisin came charging in, Ses-Izel on his back. The horse spun and kicked out with his rear legs. The jaguar hurtled several feet across the ground. It landed on its side, but jumped right back to its feet.

“Borisin says, you’re welcome,” Ses-Izel said.

“Yeah, thanks,” Felitïa said. She could have handled it, but there was no harm in letting Borisin have his moment of glory.

The jaguar pounced at Borisin, but Felitïa tilted her head, half closed her eyes, and the big cat flopped to the ground, purring softly in its sleep.

“Borisin says he could have handled it,” Ses-Izel said.

“Yeah, well, we have other things to worry about right now.” Felitïa turned to Corvinian, who was lying still on the ground. The yellow energy still crackled around him. The blue had completely vanished.

“We’ll help Rudiger and Nin-Akna,” Ses-Izel said, and she and Borisin galloped into the fray.

Felitïa knelt down and reached out to Corvinian. When her hand touched the yellow energy, it sparked and shoved her hand back. She was pretty sure the pain in her fingers increased as well, but she was at a point now where different levels of pain didn’t seem to have any meaning anymore. She reached forward again, and again it repelled her.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Why was it repelling her now and refusing to before?

There were yells from the direction Ses-Izel and Borisin had come from. Ses-Iktan ran past her, spear raised, leading a small group of people armed with a collection of spears, axes, and swords.

Jorvan flew overhead, straight for Nibdenoff. A funnel of air spun in front of him. But the yellow energy zapped out and negated the funnel of air. It slammed into the Isyar’s chest. Jorvan hurtled across the sky and out of sight.

Quilla ran up beside Felitïa. “Felitïa, are you all right?”

“No,” Felitïa answered, “but I’ll survive.”

Quilla knelt beside Corvinian. “What’s happening to him?” Her gaze followed the trail of the energy back to the Volg on the pyramid. “Why are they...? Is this...?”

Felitïa nodded. “It’s Corvinian.”

“We have to do something! We have to stop that Volg!”

“We’re trying.” Felitïa tried one more time to touch the energy around Corvinian. Again, it repelled her hand. It was something to do with the staff. She was sure of it. The distance between them, maybe?

Felitïa stood up and looked along the path of energy. The arrival of reinforcements had turned the tide of the battle a little, but not enough. The Volg numbers were still too great, and more were still arriving from the Temple.

Quilla came and stood beside her. “What are you doing?”

“Finding out how close I need to be before I can safely stand in the way of this energy stream.”

A hint of confusion came from Quilla, but it was drowned out by heavy fear.

“I’ll explain later,” Felitïa said, and began walking forward. Quilla walked with her.

When they were a little closer to the battle—close enough that some of the Volgs started to notice her—she stopped and reached for the beam of energy. Her hand rebounded again.

She headed forward again. Quilla clutched at Felitïa’s arm. “The glowing Volg. He looks familiar. Is that...?”

Felitïa nodded. “It’s Nibdenoff.”

Two Volgs disengaged from the battle and flew into the air. They angled themselves towards her. Could she get both of them fast enough? She had to let them get very close, she had so little energy left.

Felitïa prepared to cast the spell as Quilla tightened her grip on Felitïa’s arm.

And Felitïa felt alive like she had never before.

She could feel every breath of air she took move through her lungs and into her body. She felt her blood pump. She could distinguish between every yell, every swipe of a sword, jab of a spear, or flap of a wing. Every insect’s chirp, every purr from the still sleeping jaguar. Quilla’s heartbeat slowed to a calm pace and her shivering stopped.

And every remaining bit of magical energy in Felitïa flowed more freely. All she had to do was route it through Quilla and she could move it so easily to wherever she needed it. She only needed the tiniest drop to put the first Volg to sleep, and then the second.

Then she sent half of it out all at once, directing it in multiple directions. Volg after Volg fell asleep in the battle, fell over where they stood, or crashed to the ground from the sky. In the blink of an eye, they were all lying on the ground.

Except Nibdenoff on the Temple steps.

His presence was clearer in the Room now. The boundaries of his defences were visible around him. Little walls like the ones in her head. But so much feebler. They had cracks—the tiniest of cracks—and she directed the energy through them. Despite the distance, she felt his shock as she connected with his mind and he fell asleep. As he fell, he dropped the staff, and the yellow energy vanished.

Quilla gasped and let go of Felitïa’s hand.

And her senses returned to normal.

“What just happened?” Quilla stuttered.

“They called you the Catalyst, didn’t they?”

Quilla nodded.

“Now we know why.”

Most of the Volgs had woken up again after falling, but Rudiger, Nin-Akna, and the others were finishing them off. On the pyramid, Zandrue climbed back onto the steps and picked up the staff. She yelled something at Felitïa, but the distance was too great to hear.

Felitïa just waved towards Nibdenoff.

Zandrue yelled something again, but then seemed to get the idea. She pulled a rope out of her back and bent down beside the Volg. Just as she started to tie the Volg up, she stopped and jumped to her feet. She grabbed the staff again and ran down the steps.

Darkness surrounded Nibdenoff. Not the darkness of the night air, but something different. It was hard to tell from this distance, but it looked almost tangible, like it had a substance to it. And Nibdenoff just dissolved away into it. Then the darkness was gone and so was the Volg. Only the Temple steps and the night air remained.

“Felitïa,” Quilla said. “Corvinian.”

Felitïa turned. The boy was still lying on the ground, but the yellow energy was gone now. Some of the locals had approached him and were checking him over. They backed away as Felitïa approached. “I truly mean you no harm,” she said. “The Queen’s Guard was wrong. I did not kill the Queen, and I am not working with the Volgs. You saw. I was fighting them just like everyone else.”

Except they wouldn’t have seen what she did at the end. To them, it would have appeared like the Volgs just all fell over.

The people backed away, ducking into homes, or running off into the night.

Felitïa sat down beside Corvinian and Quilla sat beside her.

“I’m going to be seen as a villain now,” Felitïa said as she checked Corvinian. He was alive and breathing regularly. As best she could tell, he didn’t have any serious injuries, just a few bruises.

“Nonsense,” Quilla said. “They’re just scared. They’ll realise you saved them all eventually.”

Felitïa shook her head. “All they’ll remember is the death that has happened tonight. The death that Fra-Ichtaca has attributed to me.”

“Felitïa,” Quilla said after another moment. “Have you heard anything of Garet? I didn’t have a chance to ask the others. Fra-Chan was hurt and I tried to help her and Fra-Tepeu. The two of them are waiting in the woods with Acat and Kianto in case other survivors show up. I’m so scared.”

Felitïa closed her eyes. She had told Rudiger and Nin-Akna she wanted to be the one to do this, but now that the moment was here, terror and shock over Garet’s death took control. She didn’t want to do it.

“Felitïa?”

Felitïa.

That presence. The staff was calling to her.

So was Quilla.

“Felitïa, please.”

She opened her eyes and looked at Quilla. She couldn’t tell the difference anymore between her own terror and Quilla’s. Not that it mattered really. “Quilla, I’m...I...”

“Oh gods, no.”

“He didn’t make it.”

“No. Please no.”

“I don’t know the details as I wasn’t there, but he died in the attack on the Palace.”

Quilla sat there, shivering, and didn’t reply.

At her feet, Corvinian began to stir. “My head hurts.”

Quilla put her arms around him and hugged the startled boy to her chest. Then she began to sob.

Felitïa.

Felitïa stood up as Zandrue approached her with the staff. She held out her hands for it, but then remembered she didn’t have a way to hold it. She withdrew her hands. “I’ll take it later.” She used her arm to wipe tears from her face.

“We need to get out of here,” Zandrue said. “Before the Palace guards remember they were sent to arrest us. I’ve already sent Meleng to find where Jorvan fell. Hopefully, he’s okay. We should head to the woods north of the City. There are others waiting there.”

Felitïa nodded. She looked to Quilla, who looked away from her. A moment later, though, she nodded, let go of Corvinian, and wiped her face.

Corvinian jumped to his feet and rushed over to Felitïa. “Who is that crazy woman?”

“That’s Quilla, kid,” Zandrue said.

“Oh.” He peered at Quilla. “You’re not my mother.” Then he walked away, calling out to Rudiger.

Quilla burst into tears again.

Felitïa started to hold out a hand to Quilla, but stopped. Gods, not being able to use her hands was becoming a huge annoyance. “Give him time. He’s been through a lot. He’ll come round.”

Quilla wiped her face again, and stood up. Tears still streamed down her face. “Fine. Let’s go.” She walked off in the direction of the others, not looking at Felitïa.

Felitïa was about to call after her, but Zandrue shook her head. “She needs time too. She’s been through a lot just like the rest of us.”

Felitïa nodded. “You’re right.”

As they headed to the woods north of the City, Felitïa took one last look back at the Grand Temple and the Ninifin Palace.

A harbinger of devastation. That was what she was supposed to be.

An assassin of queens and a bringer of demons was how they would remember her. Fra-Ichtaca would see to that. Perhaps they should have killed the Voice of Frana like Nin-Akna had wanted. Would they be any better off? Who could say?

Whatever the case, it was time to get away from Ninifin. Before she caused any more harm.