I led the charge, moving fast as we fought our way toward the clocktower. This place was all too familiar. I’d spent three years here, from the age of seventeen to twenty, and nothing had changed.

  Arrow after arrow, I cleared a path ahead, with Shawn and Siva covering the flanks. Jess, lagging behind us, kept her head low. Every now and then, she would throw out a [Wind Blade] to clear the rear, but it was obvious she was still struggling. She wasn’t herself.

  The [Blowback] enchantment on my bow kept the mobs and enemies at a distance, but as we neared the tower, it was clear the Temple had already set up a defensive perimeter around it.

  The clocktower sat on elevated ground, surrounded by a wide-open area, bordered by thick shrubbery and gardens. The only obvious entry was a wide staircase, though we could have tried cutting through the shrubbery, if not for the defenses covering that side.

  Kinetic blasts, fireballs, and projectiles came at us from all angles as we pushed forward, dodging and weaving. We were getting close. I dove behind a low wall to avoid a barrage of daggers. Siva followed and we planted ourselves against the wall, catching our breath for a moment.

  Shawn and Jess were somewhere else, but our fighters were joining us, though they were finding it just as difficult to get close. They had to duck behind cover—any available protection from the constant rain of spells.

  I opened the party chat.

  Chris: Eric, where the fuck are you?

  Eric: Look right.

  I turned my head to see Eric and his team of Technomancers crouched low behind a large retaining wall, a few meters away from me. They were huddled together, doing their best to avoid the continuous barrage of spells.

  I cast [Haze], and the blinding fog expanded, cloaking us as we ran over to Eric’s crew. We crouched low, not taking any chances, though the [Haze] spell should keep us hidden.

  I grabbed Eric by the arm. “Okay. What do you need?”

  “I need to touch the tower. That’s it. But we can’t get there.” Panic and worry seeped into his voice, his eyes wild.

  “Where the hell is Shah’s team? They were supposed to be covering you.” I took stock of our surroundings. Many of our fighters had managed to close the distance, protected by my [Haze] spell, but they were all crouched low, hiding behind anything they could find—walls, flowerpots, even the occasional pile of debris.

  “We got separated. Too many of them. I... I think she’s pinned down too.” Eric gasped, and his crew nodded behind him in agreement.

  I returned to the Four Horsemen chat.

  Chris: Guys, we need to clear a path. Any ideas?

  Siva: Can’t you flash your way over to the wall with Eric?

  I turned to Eric, who shook his head at my suggestion. It wouldn’t work, he explained, because he needed to stay in contact with the tower for a few minutes. I returned to the chat.

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  Shawn: I have an idea...

  He shared his plan, and it was met with an immediate response of ‘No’ and ‘Are you nuts?’

  Shawn: If anybody else has a better idea, I’m all ears. If not, I’m doing it. Jess?

  Jess: No! And why did anyone bring her here in the first place?

  Chris: That was Farah’s idea. No one else is at camp. She’s safer here with us than alone there.

  Siva: We’re getting pelted here. These idiots don’t need Mana to keep this up. We need backup.

  Chris: We are the backup.

  Shawn: I have the backup to the backup. I’m going.

  Jess: Shawn. No!

  Shawn: Already running. Standby.

  Siva and I exchanged a glance. This wasn’t just going to be bad for us; it was going to be bad all around. I cast [Haze] again, creating a fog to help Jess crawl her way over to us. When she looked up, I could see the anger and worry in her eyes. She looked like herself again.

  “I don’t like it either, but—” I started, but Jess raised a hand to stop me.

  “And you!” she shot at Siva, glaring at him. “You didn’t say anything to stop this either!”

  Siva held up his hands in protest. “I just got back here! How the hell was I supposed to know? And… Shawn will… Shawn,” he said, his voice trailing off.

  Jess shot both of us a frustrated look before quickly outlining the plan in chat. We had our marching orders. Now, all we had to do was wait for Shawn.

  We relayed the plan to Prema, who somehow knew exactly where the fighters around us were and passed the message along. We got one message against the plan, but then the chatter went silent. I had a feeling that was Prema's doing.

  Occasionally, we popped out from behind cover to fire arrows or cast spells, but the Temple fighters had the high ground, and as Siva had pointed out, they didn’t need Mana. They could keep this up as long as they wanted. While we waited for Shawn, we received updates from Andy’s team about the fight at the stadium. The human fighters had managed to clear the mobs but quickly turned on each other afterward. The three-way fight continued at the stadium with neither one of factions able to gain a firm advantage.

  Then we got the message: Shawn was incoming. He moved from shelter to shelter, dodging through one kinetic shield after another, using the protection we’d set up to get him to us. He collapsed with a gasp when he finally reached our wall, panting hard as Jess immediately laid a hand on him to heal him. Clutched tightly in his arms, was Farisyah.

  The seven-year-old girl who had been under a [Mute] spell.

  “Ready?” Shawn asked from the ground, having fully recovered from his run.

  “No,” we replied in unison.

  Eric glanced at us, confused. His eyes flicked to Farisyah, then back to me. Understanding slowly dawned on him, and he grew pale.

  Then, like we had practiced this instead of it being a hastily thrown-together plan, Jess stood and cast [Holy Nova]. A golden dome expanded from her, creating a large shield around us. Arrows and bolts slammed against it, but the shield held strong, though it started to crackle with each successive hit.

  Shawn stood up next, holding Farisyah up in front of him, supporting her by the armpits, and gently pushed her forward so she was facing the horde of Temple defenders.

  Jess raised one arm and touched Farisyah, casting [Heal] that removed the [Mute] spell from her.

  Farisyah’s eyes widened as she realized the spell had been lifted. She struggled, instinctively covering her mouth with both hands.

  Arrows and spells continued to bounce off Jess’s protective dome, but with each hit, the shield sparkled more, its endurance waning.

  I stood and took Farisyah from Shawn, holding her back tightly against my chest. Shawn placed a hand on the back of her head, gently turning her face toward the Temple fighters and holding it there. Then, without warning, he pinched her arm — hard.

  Farisyah winced and resisted, but the pain finally became too much for her. Her resistance broke with a sudden heart-wrenching scream.

  And that's when the heads began to explode.