“Out of all your idiotic, confusing, and absurd ideas, this one takes the crown of utter retardation,” T compined as the boys shot from an alley, covering their heads with their hands. Soot and white dust from destroyed buildings covered them in uneven patches. “We don’t even know if she’s there! I bet she’s in Stormfiend by now.”

  It wasn’t overly difficult to escape. They had asked for spare robes, ciming they were cold, and then T had sprouted two of his clones, nearly depleting his inner supply. The clones had covered themselves with the robes and bnkets and dozed off, pretending to be Jay and T while the boys made their escape from the evacuation. The rest was easy, as Houstad had an extensive sewer system, and Jay knew its yout like his own five fingers.

  “Nobody asked you to come if you are afraid!” Jay snapped, tackling T away from danger and groaning as a piece of metal sliced through his thick jacket, cutting him.

  “Who said I am afraid? I am just reminding you that you are a moron!” T breathed out hard, biting his tongue.

  Supply… He needed it; he longed for it. The urge was always with him. Not even in his worst days—when Miss Williams held his hand as he howled from withdrawal and pleaded for a dose of Blush, a sensory overload drug—was the urge that bad. Because the mentors, the medicine, and Jay eventually got him through the worst, and his body flushed the filth from his veins. But the desire to replenish his supply was constant, not exactly pushing, but always whispering to drink…

  Enough! I will not eat off my friend! He refused to inhale Jay’s pain. Using someone you cared about as a battery was a line he dreaded crossing.

  “You sure you know where we are going?” asked T, licking his dry lips and coughing off soot. When was the st time he had something to drink? Yuck. A kingdom for a can of soda.

  “Trust me.”

  “That’s the problem. I trust you. To screw up.”

  “Fuck you,” Jay giggled, accepting his hand. They ventured on.

  The banter helped to stall the terror. At first, Houstad seemed weird; the troops marshaled on, not a single citizen was in sight, and they crept through the sewage system, halting their breaths as the patrols passed by. They even considered it as an advanced version of the regur trial, constituting an escape from the vigil of the elderly Miss Williams.

  Suddenly, the ground had shaken. At first, there was a single shake, followed by a relentless pounding that reached their ears. The tremors drove them to the surface, inadvertently saving them as the sewers colpsed. Houstad groaned in pain; crimson fres blossomed in the buildings. Avanches of debris had poured down, and they had heard an exchange of gunfire coming from everywhere, accompanied by the screams. At one point, he thought he heard someone calling out to them, but when they turned around, there was just another ndslide blocking the street.

  Thank the Pnet, as they headed north, closer to the orphanage, and the sounds of battle seemed to subside. The boys had debated for a few seconds; T had wanted to take the main road leading to the gates, as he had considered it an optimal way to avoid the falling debris. That was, until a missile had nded right in the middle of the damn thing, and they had rushed into the alleyways, preferring a faulty cover over none.

  “Fuck those guys,” T pointed to the clouds where a pne had dropped low enough to shoot at the defenders. Rockets met it. “Die already, scumbags! How do you know she is there?”

  “I showed them the pce.” Was that a blush on his cheeks? No, no way; it must’ve been a bruise, that’s all. “She wanted to see the ferry, then I convinced her to take the tour. That’s how we saw the moving bridge.”

  “That old crap?” T raised an eyebrow. “It’s just a hunk of bronze and old nterns. Jay, they use oil to light them. Oil.”

  “Oh, hush, will you?” Jay smiled. “Yeah, not the greatest sight in the day, but at night it’s awesome. It has that really ancient look to it during the fireworks.”

  “It was built fifty years ago,” T grumbled. “Nothing ancient about it. And how did you get there at night?”

  “The same way I bought you those comic books when I forgot your birthday.” Jay fell silent. “Sorry about that, by the way.”

  “Beat it. I was an asshole back then.”

  “You are an asshole today.”

  “But a loveable one!” They ughed.

  “And reliable,” Jay said. “Thanks for tagging along. And sorry for getting you into this mess.”

  They exited the alley, coming toward the ferry. Usually bustling with people, smelling of freshly cooked fish and sweet cotton candy, it was now a pile of rubble, and T’s heart sank. He had no idea why several missiles had been dropped on this pce, leveling the piers and drowning the tourist boats. There was no military presence in the area. They destroy for the sake of destroying. Like… like those guys. He shook his head, forbidding himself to remember. He wasn’t weak anymore.

  Saying nothing, they walked to the burning wrecks in search of Halina. That dumb bronze bridge still stood to the north, untouched except for a few fallen mps. T would rather see it fall than the ferry, as several shopkeepers always treated the orphans for free, ciming it was their civic responsibility. His stomach rumbled, begging for a snack or water, and T looked at his hands, scratched and covered in white dust, the same as Jay’s hands. They exchanged gnces, sharing the loss of a pce that had brought them so many fond memories.

  There, in the shallow waters, they spshed near the wooden support that held an open-air cafe owned by a very regal and serious Ice Fang, whose workers sneaked juice to the children when the mentors weren’t looking. Now the pce crumbled, its bright sign of a pitch-bck sword floating in the murky water, still smoking from the embers devouring the sign.

  “Where could…” Jay tugged at his sleeve, stopping T and pointing north.

  Halina sat at the edge of the road, one hand on the railing and the other in the sling. One of her boots slipped in the river, and she didn’t seem to care for it or for the thick yer of soot covering her hair. Not even the fresh cuts on her cheeks disturbed her barely conscious gaze.

  “Halina! Hey...”

  A loud ‘thump’ sent both boys jumping. Anti-aircraft fire linked up with the Horde’s aerial ship, which was taking another run. The shield burst, and the fming, arrow-shaped machine plunged from the sky, smashing into the side of a skyscraper near the river, carving a path through the floors on its way down, and sending an entire wave of crimson-fshing smoke toward Halina.

  T’s reacted ahead of any thought. He broke into the run, embracing his New Breed heritage, leaving Jay behind in an instant and closing in on the girl faster than the smoke could reach her. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her from the edge as several shards of stone pounded across his back, piercing his thick jacket. But it was okay; he wasn’t fat, no matter what others said, just thick-skinned, and his skin saved them both together.

  “T? Is that really you?” Halina looked up, blinking as the darkness billowed past them.

  “What are you doing here, stupid?” T growled, scared shitless.

  “Halina, T!” Jay broke through the dark veil and hugged them, panting and coughing. “Thank the Pnet you are safe. Hali, why are you here? You should’ve left with the rest.”

  “Why? Everything is dying.” The light disappeared again from the girl’s eyes. “Wherever I go, people die. The sister, the ambassador, those people. Even my dad wasn’t safe.” She rubbed her eyes and shook as the ship fell, blocking the entrance into the street. “The world is dying. At least you are alive. Please, just… let me be. Run, before…”

  “The world is not dying, and neither are we!” Jay roared, surprising T by taking the girl by the shoulders. “Hali, it is scary. And sad. But none of what has happened is your fault or has anything to do with you. You are wonderful and caring and smart.”

  “You are just saying stuff to make me feel better,” the girl sniffed.

  “No! Fuck no, I’m not giving compliments easily,” Jay smiled. “Hali, they told us. You were the one who warned the doggies…”

  “Werewolves,” T corrected him.

  “Wolfkins,” Halina whispered.

  “Yeah, the furries!” Jay grinned. “You told them about us, and they rescued us! Anyone else would’ve forgotten or been too stressed to mention us, but you never faltered. Me and T were about to croak, but you saved us. And thanks to you, the others who got lost were found, too!”

  “Much good it did.” Halina scowled. “You are here because of me, in danger…”

  “Because you are our friend, and we don’t abandon friends. We are here because we want to be. Tell me, Hali, what do you want?” She was silent, and Jay shook her until she whispered something. “I can’t hear you. Tell it to me, loud and clear.”

  “My dad! I want to talk to him!” She hid her face in the palm of her hand. “I want this stupid war to be over, I want us to go to the ferry together, and I don’t want you to die.”

  “Then get on your feet!” T commanded. “Hali, you are not a source of misfortune, no matter what you imagined to yourself. Shit happens sometimes.” His hands shook. The sounds of gunfire from deeper in the city intensified, and he eagerly quaffed the fading pain emanating from the fallen wreckage. “We aren’t that important to cause it. But I’ll be damned if I’ll let whatever comes sweep away my friends. I don’t care if I’ll fail; I don’t care if I look stupid; I don’t have time for any of that when you are on the line.” That werewolf taught him that. In his st dream, she leapt to face that dog-faced bastard, and he and Jay ran away. There will be a day when I won’t run. Not from anyone. “Hali, you said you wanted us to live. Well, midy, we’ll have to carry you as undignified as a sack of potatoes if you don’t comply with our humble request to accompany us willingly, and I must admit my spine is weary.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m tired too!” Jay supported him and stood up, offering Halina a hand. “Come. I promised to show you my room in the orphanage, remember? I bet it’s more of a mess than usual, but that’s where we step in. No matter what these bastards destroy, there will always be people willing to rebuild it. And I much want you and that milord of ours to be there to help fix things.”

  “You think we can?” Halina asked.

  “These filthy savages won’t take away our home,” T said stubbornly. “The army will crush them. Outsider will come, and then everything will be okay.”

  “Outsider…” the girl repeated slowly, putting a hand in her pocket to show them a figurine of the commander. Outsider was never an imposing figure like Devourer, nor did he have the awesome ferocity of Ravager. He was of ordinary size, made bulkier by his armor. But he was the first of the Dynast’s champions, and by far the strongest. A dark cloak framed him; a cwed gauntlet invited anyone to try and resist. Silvery pools of lenses peered out from under the hood, and a tingle of jealousy touched T as he noticed the reverse-jointed legs. He had a full collection of the commanders, including promotional videos, posters, and toys made in their image, and most of them misrepresented that fact, as the cloak often hid Outsider’s legs. “A nice Wolfkin gave it to me, ciming that everything would be fine. I don’t even know if the mister is alive to thank him for the gift…”

  “You won’t know if you’ll stay here.” Jay stood up and offered her a hand. “Hali, you are missing every shot you don’t take by default. We will never know what the future holds unless we go and meet it.” He softened his voice. “I am sure your dad would’ve wanted you to be happy. I certainly do.”

  “Y-yeah.” Halina swallowed and took his hand. “You’re right. I am done stalling.”

  “Great, cause we better run…”

  “Stop right there!” a commanding voice interrupted T, making him throw himself in front of his friends.

  A ragtag group of soldiers emerged from the alley the boys had come from. Orais, regur soldiers, and several guys in yellow robes and ill-fitting exoskeletons tackled the group, scaring T to death. But then he saw the insignia of a hand grasping the world. The Recimers! The soldiers dragged them from the open space before the river to the dubious cover of a nearby building, and then most of them immediately spread out, dropping to their knees and monitoring the surroundings. A gaunt, pale-skinned officer from the Investigation Bureau approached them. A blood-soaked bandage around his face covered his missing nose, and his eyes colpsed into dots surrounded by an unhealthy yellow.

  “Three children.” He tapped his forehead as if trying to wake up. “Mark, you said there were two.”

  “Maybe they reproduce via budding,” ughed a scarred woman in the orange robe, holding a trembling gun in her hands. “Boss, it’s upon them three.”

  “Three? You said two.”

  “Because I only saw the two before!” The woman licked her lips. “My power is fluctuating; it screams to me to run away or I’ll die.” She gnced nervously at the dozen of her comrades. “I am not pnning to abandon them! But I have never felt anything like this, and my power is not combat-oriented! It only warns me of danger! No clue what is causing it.”

  “James?” the officer asked.

  “The radar was cooked in the st barrage, and communications are down.”

  “Figures,” the officer sighed. “Pn our withdrawal route to the crawler. ETD is two minutes. Now you!” He pointed a finger at the kids. “You made us work our asses to chase you. What are you doing here? Didn’t you hear the announcement? How did the search parties miss you? Are there any civilians around?”

  “Sorry, mister, me stupid and got…”

  “It was my fault!” Halina interrupted Jay’s lie. “I snuck out of the truck and walked here. My friends came to pick me up. I am sorry, sir.”

  “And none of our patrols spotted you.” The officer shook his head, his hand raised to rub his nose, and stopped upon realization. “Typical. Typical. Don’t worry, kids, we’ll get you back to safety. Listen to us and do exactly as you are told, and everything will be fine.” He extended his hand to the side, and an Orais gave him a fsk.

  Without saying anything, the man uncorked it and shoved it into T’s mouth, and the boy eagerly gulped down what he assumed was water. A warm, invigorating heat washed over his body, setting his stomach on fire and blurring his vision a bit. Hearing him hiccup, the officer pulled the fsk away and tried to sniff it, cursing and scowling from the pain in his missing nose, then poured a few drops of cognac on his tongue, tasting the drink.

  “What the fuck, James? I asked for water.”

  “My bad, sir. I assumed you were asking for yourself…”

  Suddenly the pavement shook, and T assumed they had come under another bombardment and threw himself over Halina and Jay. But then he heard the loud scratching of metal against the stone and looked up in disbelief, seeing that thing. The dog-faced bastard’s cleaver was sticking out of the side of the burning ship, and the whole thing was moving, pushed out of its stuck position onto the curve and closer to the river.

  No.

  The cleaver went down, sawed through the construction, and the barrel of the gun showed in the gap, widening the breach.

  No. Please. He wet himself, praying to the Pnet and two soldiers fired their rocket unchers. The explosions ripped through the tortured ship’s engine, setting off a chain reaction that briefly reddened the hull, and then it detonated. The Investigation Bureau agent took a shard in the chest piece while shielding the children. His helmet slid onto his head from behind, a torn, half-broken thing full of holes, but it still offered some protection.

  The figure in full battle armor, bearing not a trace of the damage inflicted by Soulless One, stormed out of the erupting wreckage. The tusked helmet faced the children, and the cloak of stitched together fyed faces fpped in the air, burning and giving the bastard a demonic appearance.

  “Flesh,” T shuddered at the utter boredom carried by the helmet’s dynamics. More hordemen charged through the fmes, fnking their leader. “Caught you. No one cheats Svetaker.”

  The devil haunting our dreams. He’ll never let us go; he’ll never stop or relent until we are dead. And this time there is no one to save us. You’d be surprised how many people are willing and able to grind the bastard into a powder. He remembered Anissa’s words, a streak of liquid running down his legs as he forced himself to be ready to fight for his friends. Yeah, right. Where are they? Alone. What can I do? I don’t… I don’t want to lose my family again.

  “Dust the bitch!” The officer ordered.