Ben’s Jeep took the corner fast, right wheels almost leaving the ground as it drifted through the mud and water, the thickly treaded tires the only thing to keep it from hydroplaning.

No beams on, Seth could hardly see more than ten feet out the front window.

And Ben’s eyes were closed. His hands moved with assured deftness, transitioning between wheel and shifter every other second, his feet working the clutch and gas like he was part of the car itself. His eyes remained shut. Another curve. Swerve. Drift. Accelerate.

“Hold on!” Shouted Ben.

A jolt shuddered through the car and the went airborne, crashing hard to the earth seconds later and driving forward through the torrential downpour.

BRRRT!

The most horrifying drawl of repetitive gunfire echoed through the air, a sweep of bullets missing the car by half an inch as Ben jerked them off course from the fire from the minigun mounted on the Humvee behind them.

“Seth, Nicole. I need you to return fire fucking now!”

Nicole swung out the window without hesitation, legs locked under the seat, hip on the windowsill, and drew her handgun.

BANGBANGBANG!

Nicole squeezed off three rounds and ducked back in.

BRRRT!

Bullets missed the car narrowly again.

“Fuck me, give me your gun,” growled Ben. He snatched it by the barrel before she could say anything. “Vestra contendimus esse!” He shoved the gun back to her chest. “Kill the gunner.”

Nicole swung out again.

BANG!

Seth looked through the back window. The gunner’s arms flew back over his head and he bent backwards in the gunwell, lifeless. Nicole ducked back in the car. Ben threw the wheel hard right, shifting as he did so. The Jeep spun and began driving backwards down the mountain at fifty miles per hour. His eyes were still closed. Ben lowered his window, then grabbed the staff off the dashboard. “Jesus take the bloody wheel,” he muttered, and swung out the window in the same manner Nicole had.

“Ignis.”

The Humvee behind them exploded in a ball of flames, flipping forward down the mountainside. Ben swung back in, slamming the staff on the dashboard and throwing the wheel again as he shifted. The Jeep turned forward and surged ahead.

Ben’s eyes opened wide. “Bloody hell. I can’t see the void. They’ve got a magejammer.”

BRRRT!

The rear right wheel exploded into a thousand pieces and the Jeep swung wildly off course. Turning, flipping, rolling. The broad trunk of a pine stopped them, caving in the side of the back opposite Seth.

“This is going to... Hurt,” groaned Ben.

It did. Seth felt pain throughout every portion of his body, and a deep wave of nausea in his stomach. It felt like someone had tied a taser to his brain stem.

The pain vanished, replaced by the stinging downfall of rain. Seth fell at an upside-down angle, his shoulder hitting the dirt first. He maintained just enough presence of mind to roll with it and found himself crashing into a pine yet again. Forcing himself upright, he saw Ben and Nicole gathering themselves as the glow faded from the top of Ben’s staff.

Ben straightened his back painfully and pointed down the road. “They’re four hundred meters that way. That’s all I could manage caught in a field like that. But if they have that, they have MAGINT sensors. Fortunately, those only detect active spells. Got some nasty surprises for them. Ben drew a large revolver from his waistband and looked at Nicole and Seth. “Void rounds. Stored spell energy. Should give us just enough of an edge, but we need to get off the road before they figure out we aren’t in the Jeep. Go. Now!”

Somewhere down the road, he heard the droning buzz of the minigun.

He led the way off the road, uphill to the right as they bolted through the dense rain into the thick primeval forests of the mountains. In moments they were deep in the trees, and Seth couldn’t even see the edge of the road. The terrain was steep and thick with foliage. He already felt the beginnings of a burn in his legs.

“There’s a cliff two hundred meters up this hill,” shouted Ben. “We climb it and fight them off from there.”

Seth nodded and followed Ben and Nicole on the ascent, glancing back over his shoulder every so often. In a few minutes, a tangle of rocks and boulders loomed out of the forest, a small clearing at its base. Ben looked at them. “Sorry, I can’t risk using magic to get you up there. They’ll register it in seconds. Come on.” He scrambled up one of the larger boulders and attacked the cliff wall. Nicole followed.

Seth looked back down the hill one more time and then began his assault on the slick rocks before him.

Each handhold was a hard-fought battle, Seth’s forearms screaming at him as he left the ground, his fingers aching as he struggled for each grip. It was a short cliff, but in these conditions, and unskilled at climbing as he was, Seth didn’t know if he could make it. Ben vanished over the top first. Then Nicole. He still had ten feet to go.

Seth transferred his weight to another handhold. His grip failed. Seth flailed wildly, his feet the only thing touching the cliff face. The air behind him encircled him in a death grip. He fell. Wind rushed past him, and he could feel the ground below racing up to embrace him. The world went black.