The only roof close enough to possibly jump to had the masked woman. We couldn't go back down; not only were soldiers coming up after us but Betrad had barricaded the door to the stairs as best he could. Telen was coming, though, and he could teleport which meant even if the door held we were fucked. "Sorry. Sorry. Shit, why did I think going up would help?"

Errod put a hand on my shoulder. "It was worth a shot. Across the rooftops, right? It could still work. Just... try to get Katrin out."

And before I registered what he'd just said, Errod ran and jumped towards the roof with the woman on it. She was ready for him, but as she swung her staff like a baseball bat to keep him from landing right a flash of blue surrounded him for an instant. The shield ring had triggered. He landed, a bit precarious, and pulled out his sword - swinging it at her head in the same motion. She deflected with her staff, and it bit into the wood. With a sudden movement she twisted and pulled and he lost his grip on the weapon, watching impotently as it flew off to the side. The woman's hand glowed green as energy gathered for some kind of attack, and Errod smiled.

She clearly didn't see it coming. Errod just tipped backwards off the roof, clutching a dangling bit of her leather shirt in his fist. She jerked abruptly off of the roof after him, screaming as the green light flared and exploded while still in her hand. Katrin howled, and I grabbed her to keep her from running to the edge. "No! No, he did it on purpose! He's got a plan, just run! He wants you to run!"

"I can't!"

"You can't help him from here either! Jump, he cleared the way. Then we can come back for him. I won't leave without you, and Betrad won't leave without me. You need to do this."

She looked at me with tears in her eyes, and maybe a little anger. But she ran. She leapt at the edge and just barely made it, then turned to look down as I hurried after her. "They're not there! Where did they go?"

Betrad was right behind me, and we both grabbed Katrin and forced her to come with us. This roof was closer to the river but still not next to it, and the only building we could possibly jump to was just one storey so we'd be likely to get hurt when we landed. I was willing to risk it, but Betrad apparently wasn't because he hauled me down the steps towards the street. They were on the outside of the building which meant we were spotted before we got all the way down, but at least we had a chance.

We circled around buildings, hoping for somewhere to hide yet unable to get far enough ahead of the soldiers to get out of sight. The streets had cleared out somewhat, but people were still watching from upper floors of the buildings and shouting insults at the invaders. I had hoped that people would charge out and fight alongside us to defend their city with something more powerful than insinuations that our attackers' family trees involved a lot of loops and a few barnyard animals, but so close to the fortress they probably assumed it would be cleaned up by actual trained soldiers and didn't seem inclined to take things into their own hands.

Halenvar troops popped out of an alley just one street down from us, and we stumbled to a halt. For a moment, nobody moved. The ones behind us slowed to a crawl, the ones ahead of us waited. They knew they had us, and were being cautious. One started to float slightly, and another's hair stood on end as electricity began to crackle over his sword. Of course. A small strike team going behind enemy lines, they wouldn't send just normal soldiers. At least some of these people would have magic.

Katrin stepped in front of me, and I could see the terror in her eyes. Her jaw was set, though, and her hands were clenched in fists. "Callie, I've... I've got a spell that could help. But I've never cast it before, and it's too strong for me. I should be able to do it, it's so similar to the shield spell and I've been practicing that for a month. It just takes so much more mana."

"Yeah, okay, give it a shot I guess. Which side?"

She nodded towards the newer group of soldiers, and I turned to face the others. There was the lightning guy, and some sort of visual distortion around another one although I didn't know what that meant. Heat? A force shield? Light magic?

I felt something happen next to me, and Katrin let out a breath. "C-c-calie... I did it." Her teeth were chattering and she was clutching her arms. "Charge the others. We need them to run at us."

Betrad nodded and then yelled as he began to sprint forward. I was just a few steps behind. Lightning arced towards us and slammed directly into Betrad's sword, but it didn't slow him down at all for some reason. There were four of them in front of us and five behind, which meant we were outnumbered three to one even if you didn't take into consideration the fact that two of us were untrained. I was sure the end was here, and we were all about to die. Any second now.

Someone screamed behind us, and then another. And another. I turned and saw something horrific - one of the soldiers was stumbling back with his arm removed at the elbow, and another was clutching his chest. A third was slumped forward, propped up impossibly on nothing but air. Catching myself, I spun to face the people in front of me rather than wasting time trying to figure out what had happened. Betrad was a whirlwind, blocking strikes and swinging out faster than I would have thought possible. He was hit with another lightning strike, and again it did nothing. That was the last thing the lightning guy ever did, and he joined another soldier in the gutter. Now it was two on one, though Betrad was looking exhausted. I threw my knife at the one with the strange distortion around him and this time hit blade first, but while it stuck in his armor I didn't think it had reached all the way through.

A battle cry sounded behind me, and I turned to see Errod running towards the others. Whatever spell Katrin had cast must have failed because the one that had been hanging in the air had dropped. The two who looked injured but not dead had collapsed on the side of the road and were trying to bandage their wounds, but the two that were still up casually turned to face Errod who was holding, of all things, a plank of wood. I sprinted towards them, knowing that if he reached them before I did they would kill him easily. I'd seen Errod fight, and his bravery in no way made up for his lack of skill.

My boots slammed down on the cobblestones in total silence, the vibration magic preventing any sound. At the last second one of them turned towards me, somehow sensing me as I reached him, but it was too late. I hit him knife-first and bowled him over, both of us ending up on the ground. The other turned to swing at me, but immediately had to redirect to knock Errod's plank aside. A mirror of my own maneuver, Errod tackled the soldier and rolled clumsily into the side of a rain barrel. I pulled my knife free and slammed it down into the one Errod had hit with every ounce of my weight, feeling the thin blade pierce his leather armor. He turned, pulling the knife out of my hand, but before he could do anything else Katrin's boot swung into his face.

Errod and I quickly stood, unsure as to which soldiers were still a threat. We turned towards the other group, and saw General Telen standing there with Betrad impaled on his blade. He tilted it downwards and the body slid off the end, crumping into a heap.

"No. No, fuck. Fuck."

Katrin whispered next to me. "Callie, run. Let's go."

She was right. The way was, at least temporarily, clear - and there was nothing anyone could do for Betrad. We turned and ran, and made it maybe twenty feet before Telen appeared in front of us. I had a sudden mental image of just running back and forth until Telen ran out of mana, but of course that would never work. Errod whispered, "I saw them, they're coming, we just need to stall..."

Before I could ask who was coming, Connie burst from a side street between us and Telen, and stood there with her knives out like she was going to take him on all by herself. That stupid bitch. She could have stayed in the fort. She could have run. Telen looked at her, then at me. "Interesting. Just how many of you are there?"

Before he could get an answer, Hammersmith leapt from the roof above him. He vanished before she hit, appearing a split second later behind Connie with his sword already swinging. The world seemed to slow down, and I watched as Telen's blade sliced cleanly through Errod and Katrin in one horrible arc. Connie spun around, her with eyes wide in terror, and then shifted her grip on the knives but didn't swing - instead she seemed to be sizing him up, examining him up close. Telen didn't attack her or me, and Hammersmith was only inching closer - presumably looking for some perfect moment.

"And now, you will come with me."

I stepped backwards, trying to think. They were dead. Just like that. What could I do? How could I possibly...

Hammersmith leapt from the roof above General Telen, who was somehow back where he'd been a moment ago. Just like before he vanished, appearing behind Connie who had already thrust her long dagger backwards - his sword faltered as he howled in anguish, and it barely clipped Errod rather than slicing him in two. Connie's knife looked like it was somehow melded into Telen's plate mail armor, and at a glance I guessed at it at least two inches would also be in his flesh. He turned and grabbed Connie by the throat, lifting her from the ground effortlessly. "You will -"

But whatever he thought she would do, Hammersmith had other plans. She was there in an instant, and crushed his wrist in her hand. Telen dropped Connie and pulled away, swinging his sword at Hammersmith who let it strike her right in the neck so that she could close the last two steps to Telen and slam her fists on either side of his helm. The sides dented inwards. Telen dropped his sword as he stumbled back, and then he vanished - I spun wildly looking for where he would appear, but there was no sign of him.

"Let's go," Hammersmith said, "back to the fort immediately." There was a line of blood on her neck, just a shallow scratch - from a sword that I had seen go right through both of my friends. The other enemy soldiers were running, clearly not wanting to take on anyone that made Telen retreat. I broke from the group and sprinted to Betrad's body, but when I reached it I could see I was too late - his eyes were wide open, staring at nothing. Some tiny motion or sound caused me to look to my right and I saw the masked woman perched in a second story window, her one hand clutched to her chest and wrapped in a bandage and the other crackling with red lightning. She reached out, pointing at me, and I felt my blood run cold as I stared at the spell that was about to take my life.

The window exploded with lightning, aimless and chaotic. The woman shrieked as it struck her, the building behind me, and the dead soldiers. I took cover inside the nearest doorway and a moment later Hammersmith stepped in beside me.

"Seems clear now. What happened?"

"A spellcaster. Uh. She lost her staff, and hurt her hand, and I think that made it so she couldn't aim properly."

Hammersmith looked thoughtful. "Not a spellcaster, then. A wild mage. It's unreliable, dangerous. We'll keep an eye out." I thought back to her initial attack, the flames that lit her own staff on fire and the force push that threw her almost as badly as it had Betrad. Wild magic would seem to explain that.

Hammersmith yelled orders to some of her men that had only just arrived, and then got us moving.

I couldn't stop staring at Katrin and Errod as we hurried along. They were fine, and they clearly didn't even know they'd been murdered for a moment there. But while I was ecstatic about Connie coming to save the day, Hammersmith didn't seem to agree.

"Calliope - Constance, whatever - I cannot begin to tell you how stupid - how insane - that was. You put everyone's lives at risk."

"I had to save my sister."

"You have to save all of us. I can't allow this to happen again."

I looked over at Connie, and she looked back and nodded. She'd stretched Hammersmith's promise too far - she was going to be kept under guard at the fortress all the time now. Possibly the same for me. Logically I should be glad for it; this attack showed that they were after us specifically, and would take serious risks to get to us. Locked up in the fortress we would be safe. My mind flashed to Betrad, impaled on that sword. What if it was safer for everyone else to not be near me? It wasn't a rational thought. I could already feel myself trying to justify an escape, and I knew Connie was doing the same.

Bill had sat me down at one point, to talk to me about running away. He'd asked why I did it, and he was so fucking genuine about it that I even really tried to answer. But like so many things in my messed up brain I wasn't entirely sure. Maybe I didn't like being told what to do, and wanted to be in control. Maybe it was some stupid emotional thing and I was trying to reject others before they could reject me. But probably, even if it was a little of those other things, I just thought it was fun and I had shitty impulse control.

He'd given me his card, and said "this whole system stinks, I know. But it's dangerous to run around on the streets, sleep in abandoned buildings, eat out of dumpsters. You're too clever for me, Calliope, even if I were there with you the whole time. I could never stop you from running off and doing something stupid. So the best I can do is ask you to think about it, do some risk assessment first, and to be willing to call me if you get into trouble. That's my personal cell phone on the back - I don't care if it's one in the morning or if they've reassigned me or whatever, if you call I'll come and get you. I'd rather you just stay put at the group home, but I'll settle for a promise that you'll call if you need it."

I thought about calling that number when I was in the police station after Universal Servicing Systems. I almost did. Instead I waited it out, and eventually someone came and took me to... whatever shitty group home was after that. Somewhere forgettable. As we reached the fortress I had the insane thought for a moment that I should call him and ask him to take me away from Hammersmith, then wondered if there was anywhere on this world where my cell phone would magically get service if I somehow got it working. Almost certainly not.

But one part of Bill's talk did still apply. If I was going to sneak away and go on an adventure, I needed to acknowledge that it was a stupid and bad idea and I needed to do some risk assessment. In that moment I was sore, cold, tired, and emotionally drained. Katrin and Connie were out of mana, Errod had clearly used up the charge on his shield ring between that hit from the staff and the fall that came after, and he had lost his sword. That last part possibly made Errod safer, but otherwise it was a bad situation. Whatever we decided to do next, right now was the worst possible moment to run away.

Knowing that didn't make it easier to hear the door slam shut behind us.