Layla dragged me through the trees, urgency in every step. Explosions rattled the ground, shaking my skull.
"Oren, get up! We need to move!" she shouted over the chaos.
Red lightning screamed across the sky, jagged and furious. My throat burned; swallowing felt impossible. I leaned against a tree, coughing, and spat blood onto the dirt.
"Dormin… Rue…" I gasped, each word ragged. I forced myself upright, using the tree as a crutch. Nearby, a chunk of earth tore free, colliding with a fireball that erupted in a violent explosion.
Rue crashed into the ground near us, carving a crater. Dust and rocks billowed around us as we ducked. His armor was scorched and dented, blood streaking down his temple.
In a flash of crimson lightning, Dormin appeared beside him. Heat and static radiated off him like a storm unleashed.
"Rue, get up. We can win if we press the advantage," Dormin said, gripping Rue's arm and hauling him free from the crater.
Rue's breathing was heavy and ragged. "One more push… after that, I'm spent," he admitted, leaning on his knees.
He straightened, placing a hand on his chest as his aura flared, slowly knitting his wounds. His gaze locked on his sword, stuck in the ground a few feet away, and he walked toward it.
"Oh… did I hurt you, Rue?"
The trees around us tore free of the earth and were flung away in a flash of violet energy. Dormin braced himself, his crimson aura igniting hotter by the second. Lightning snapped and hissed through the air around him.
"Who… who is that?" I asked, struggling to catch my breath. In the few weeks I'd been here, I'd seen power. Ragnar, Rue, Charlotte, the Hunter leader but none of them compared to her.
"That's Catarina," Dormin said, eyes locked on her. "Grade 0. She was the next candidate for Grand Master, but something went wrong during her testing. Nobody heard from her after that."
Catarina chuckled, floating a few feet off the ground, her aura softening slightly.
"What Dormin says is true. During the final test, the Veiled Council decided I wasn't fit to be Grand Master. Want to guess why?"
I couldn't speak. Her presence pressed against me like a weight.
"Because I was a woman." She glared at Layla. "That's right. Women have no place in the Society. Keep that in mind. I am stronger than all of those fat fucks combined, but they refused to see it."
Dormin's stance shifted slightly. "I understand. Sixteen years in the Society, and I was only ever recognized as a Grade Three. I know what it feels like to be overlooked."
"Enough talk." Rue stepped forward, his form vibrating. Sparks of fire and violet energy twisted around him, colliding with pulses of her magick. When he struck, a shockwave slammed into me and Layla. Air roared, debris flew, and the ground bucked beneath my feet. I couldn't see their full attacks—only flashes of light, heat, and the way the earth heaved beneath us. Every nerve screamed; my ears rang, vision blurred, and I braced myself struggling to stay upright.
Catarina parried him, then raised two fingers. A small black orb appeared above them, spinning violently and tearing at the air. Trees and rubble were drawn toward it, disintegrating on contact.
"Be gone." She sent the orb hurtling toward us, and the air itself twisted around it threatening to kill all of us.
● ● ●
The world collapsed into light and pressure and for a moment… I wasn't there anymore.
"Oren, come on," Valor spoke in a hushed tone. Last time we were caught here, the owner released his dogs on us.
"Valor, why are we here again? You know Will doesn't like people coming here after dark."
We opened the window and slipped through. Gold statues and silver-coated trinkets lined the walls. Mr. Will was a known artifact hunter and widely considered the richest person in Riverdale. Me and Valor had been lifting things from his vault room for a few years now. Never anything large enough to be noticed, but enough to fetch a good price.
"Valor!" I said in a hurried tone. The room we had slipped into was his bedroom. Snores echoed from his bed like a saw biting into wood.
"He keeps the most valuable things here," Valor said, smiling as he opened a dresser drawer. He pulled out a velvet case, grinning, and motioned toward the window.
We turned.
Will stood there, blocking it, fury written across his face.
"You won't escape this time, boys."
He lunged at Valor, who vaulted over him and jumped through the window, laughing the entire time. Will fell forward and tried to grab me. I stumbled, kicked him off, and climbed through the window, dropping hard into the dirt below.
Valor ran ahead, still grinning. I pushed myself up and followed him into the dark.
On the outskirts of town, a stall with black lettering stood waiting. The man inside sat reading a book.
"You open?" Valor called, stepping up.
"Depends. You got something worthwhile?"
He stood and took the case from Valor, whistling as he opened it.
"Dark-jeweled gems from the mountains near Draznkal. That's quite the find. What will you take?" he said, holding up an egg-sized gem that gleamed even in the dark.
"Four hundred each," Valor said, arms crossed.
The man laughed. "You're crazy. These are lifted. The most I'll get is four hundred a piece. I'll do two-fifty, and that's a deal."
"No way. Those are embedded with ancient magick—that triples their value. Four hundred, or no deal."
The man inspected the jewels carefully before exhaling. "…Fine. But the next thing you bring me better be legit." He handed Valor a bag of coins and shut his stall.
Valor tossed the coins to me as we walked away. "Here. You need it more than me." I looked down at the leather sack in my hands.
"Come on, let's get drinks. Your treat."
We made our way into the Silvermoon Inn, greeted by nods from patrons as we took seats at the bar. Nearby, a group of Eratiell Guards drank at a table, and Valor watched them with something like awe in his eyes.
"Someday, I'm going to be a knight," he said. "I'll change the way things are. The oppression, the slavery, the way the Society runs things. I'll tear it all down." He glanced at me. "We both will."
I grinned, taking a drink. "Damn right we will."