“Up there, near the watch tower! It’s those two!”

“Someone with Divine Restraint, hold them down! Watchmen, stop them!” the vice-captain shouted.

I froze in place, thinking I would be bound by that glowing prison circle again.

Trent broke through my thoughts.

“Alster, keep climbing!”

“What’s the hold up?” the vice-captain barked, his face visibly straining to keep the barrier still up.

“They’re out of range, sir!”

“The smoke is starting to get too thick! I can’t see!”

Like a magic spell, those words warmed up my muscles and let me keep going.

The light barrier was keeping the growing fire out, but if anyone stepped outside, they’d be cooked alive. The smoke, now black and too thick to see through, isolated the barrier and left the knights stuck.

Still climbing, I looked up. Past Trent, two people looked down at us, their eyes looking to pounce on us as we got up. I created a water ball from above Trent and shot it. I had learned that the further away I created water from me, or the card rather, the less velocity and power it had. At that distance, it was enough to disorient them. Trent reached the top and gave me a hand. The watchtower guys only looked at us in fear and put their hands up so we wouldn’t hurt them.

They weren’t knights.

They must be hired help from the town. This will work.

Trent and I looked down. The fire below was consuming everything now. The one hundred knights were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, cramped in a space of light, while the ones in the very outer edges struggled to find legroom without exposure to the flames immediately outside. The smoke rising soon concealed us from the knights’ view.

I created a bigger water ball and let it drop as a threat to the two guys. “Don’t do anything, or you’re dead.”

They nodded vigorously.

Trent pointed past the gate. “Alster, do you see anything?”

“No. What?”

“No one’s there. That means the Holy card didn’t reach them.”

My eyes went wide. So we can turn invisibility back on once we’re out of here.

“Jump! To the grass there! Make sure you roll!” Trent said, standing on the edge of the watchtower and jumping off. This guy had balls of steel. We were nearly thirty feet high and he’d thrown himself off without hesitation. Trent landed on the grass with a loud thud, on his hands and knees, tucking himself into a roll like I’d seen people do in movies. How the heck did a villager know about that technique? And I was supposed to copy it right after?

It was my turn. No time to think.

ARGHHH!!!! FINE! HERE WE GO!

I threw myself off. For a second, I felt like I was flying. But my fantasy was broken during impact. I landed on my feet but had enough forward momentum to roll over. But the crash still sent a burn through my palms like I’d never felt before. I don’t think I’d performed it as well as Trent but I was still alive without any broken bones, so I let out the kind of laugh you do when you overcome death. Trent had already shaken off the pain and helped me up.

“Are you alright, son?”

I grimaced through the pain for a few seconds that felt eternal before finally giving a thumbs up.

He nodded. “Let’s get out of here.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

We ran as fast as we could while we still had the upper hand. Not thirty seconds later and about two hundred feet from the base, a few hands touched us as we were catching our breath.

Trent broke the silence. “Matilda?”

We had left the women by themselves, having told them to flee as quickly as possible. They’d managed to slip out of the station as soon as the gate opened, as it usually did when a small squadron of Holy Knights were coming in or leaving.

I allowed them to speak.

I still wasn’t used to voices without a body so it felt weird, like if there were angels around us filling the air with their voices. But then again, nothing about this world was normal with the existence of spellcards.

“Yes! Are you two alright?” she asked, very concerned.

“We’re fine. Are the other ladies with you?”

Five other voices confirmed it.

I turned on Trent and our invisibility. Since there were twelve targets that had been invisible, our time had shrunk to less than an hour for each of us. Now, after the dude’s Holy card had activated, the four left for dead in the warehouse had turned visible again. With only eight targets, our time adjusted to above an hour.

Plenty of time to make a clean getaway.

* * *

We walked along the main street, our sounds silenced by my new card when the pounding of horse clops in the distance first reached us. It was faint but growing louder. Trent tugged me and I unsilenced him.

“I can’t imagine the fire had gone out already,” Trent whispered. “It would be impossible to save all the horses in time. Which means a few knights broke off from the group and managed to get away with what few horses were left to get the intruders.”

“I’m betting one of them is the Alderman guy with the undo spellcard,” I replied.

Trent nodded and made a quick announcement. “If they undo our invisibility, it’s over. Everyone hold the hands of the person next to you. I’ll lead the way. We run now. Hurry!”

We picked up the pace. There was only one person with the power to undo invisibility. But the card had a pretty big range. We’d be found in no time.

To my surprise, Trent pulled us out of the main road and through the trees into one of the residential neighborhoods. I guess we’d been thinking the same thought about the card’s range. The card’s effect range was neatly shown by a dome-shaped cascade of rainbow colors for anyone to see, so we’d be able to stay out of it, but not unless we had horses.

The small forest was like any other. Insects crawled along the leaves and bark of the trees, but there wasn’t anything larger than a butterfly. Past the last tree, a hodgepodge of houses stood before us. the fences they created were lined up one against the other. But unlike the orderly, evenly-spaced ones I was used to, the territories defined by them were a free-for-all fight over space. It was like whoever lived there had fought over the land and the winners had claimed the largest space, while the others had only small yards.

There was a small stable in the backyard of one of the largest houses. But that was all we could tell without stepping foot past the fence. I tried shooting a diamond-shaped water projectile at the wooden fence. A slower one at first, then faster and faster. They were at best about an inch thick, but I wasn’t breaking through so I slammed it with my feet instead.

Through a series of repeated hits at an area, I made a hole large enough for Trent and me to rip out some planks. Soon we made a bigger hole that we could all fit through.

Whoever lived here took great care of the yard as there were berry bushes, vines, and plots of mixed flowers teeming with life. There was also a door to a baseman, but we didn’t care about that. We tried not to cause too much as we walked, eventually reaching the stable.

Three horses and that was it. I gulped, a wave of anxiety arising as our plan fell apart.

My first thought was that we’d have to leave two people behind. Two of the randoms, most likely. But Trent had another idea.

“Matilda, you and the five ladies take the horses. I trust you to guide them and return to us safely.”

What the fuck?

I undid our invisibility for a moment to conserve battery.

Then I shoved Trent’s shoulder fairly hard. “Are you crazy? We just got her back. I didn’t do all this just to go home empty-handed!”

“Alster,” he said with a grave look, rebalancing himself. “Three horses won’t fit eight people. Six is already pushing it. If they leave now, they’ll escape Alderman’s card. Security seemed lax at the gate, but it’s about to get tight. Now’s the only chance six women’ll have to catch ‘em off guard. You and I stand the best chance of making off with another horse and draw attention away from Matilda.”

I stared daggers through his face. The timer read thirty-nine minutes. I hated it when he made sense at my expense. I exhaled loudly but nodded.

“On one condition. Listen up, ladies.”

Their eyes turned to me.

“I’m not so generous that I’ll risk my life for strangers. You may all be pretty hot, but that’ll only get you so far. In other words, you get ten minutes to be invisible. After those ten minutes, I’m turning off your invisibility except Matilda’s because the rest of us will need it.”

“Thank you, sir. That’ll be plenty,” one of them said. A gorgeous redhead in her late twenties. I bit my lower lip hard. I knew I was going to regret letting them go when this was over. They would probably thank me in more ways than I could imagine.

“I won’t forget my debt to you,” a hot, busty blonde said. My lower lip was numb now. I’d never get this opportunity again.

No. There’s another way.

“Matilda, wait,” I said. Their heads turned to me. “Take them to our village first. Some of ours can escort them later. Your safety takes priority. Wait for Trent and me.”

“I understand, Master Alster.”

I waved a hand. “Go!”

Good. This way I won’t have any regrets.

Once they were gone, Trent laughed for the first time in a while.

“What?” I said, annoyed.

“Like I don’t know what my own son is thinking.”

I waved him off. “It’s the least they can do.”