Sara didn’t like how cavalier her new companion was compared to the rest of their circle. He might get killed, or whatever happened where she was, and get the rest of them stopped with him. She counted the eleven talismans she had left in her pockets, gauntlet and boots. She should be able to handle anything thrown at her.

If she had to, she could break away and finish her journey on her own.

“Do you think he has good hearing?,” Bob whispered at her side. He slid across the ground.

“Maybe,” said Sara. “The Conductor didn’t know what weapon he picked up. Maybe it’s something mental.”

“Like he can kill people with his brain?,” asked Bob. He grinned at that.

“Is that any sillier than moving the ground, or laser pistols?,” asked Sara. She touched the blaster in its holster. “He seems way calmer than I like, but that’s not a crime.”

“I guess that’s fair,” said Bob. “Some vibrations are picking up behind us. We might have visitors before we reach where we’re going.”

“Tell the others,” said Sara. “I’ll keep an eye out for any party crashers. We want to be where we can defend ourselves in the next block if we can.”

“Got it,” said the stone master. He broke away to talk to the couple, and then Wayne in the lead. Nasser placed the golden helm on his head. His posture changed, the blank helmet looking more like an angry face in the changing light of the inner ring.

Sara watched behind them. She didn’t know what was pursuing them, but knew it could be anything. The Dark were capable of some things that she wouldn’t have believed if she hadn’t seen it.

She idly wondered what kind of deals had been struck to keep the Light from

interfering. The Dark could do whatever they wanted in their own little fiefdoms. The Light just stepped aside. She had no doubt that if the enemies clashed, a lot of Dark lords would be sent home in the equivalent of bags by the forces of law and order, and freelancers.

The chance of any one freelancer joining one side, or the other, would be there. Freelancers who wanted to stay might build their own domain to keep both sides out.

She doubted that would last long unless every freelancer decided to join that

kingdom. The system would revolt against something like that. Light and Dark would probably both try to eradicate it unless it was against the rules.

The Light might recognize such a kingdom if the rules said so.

Did she want to be the one to try that out?

No. She had her kids, she had her life to get back to. She couldn’t live in the central hub without them, not knowing what they were doing. She had to get back. Forming a kingdom was for someone like Tim who seemed to have decided the rim was where he wanted to stay for however much longer he could keep fighting.

She took a moment to wonder what Tim’s weapon was as she scanned the street. Little red sparks reminded her too much of eyes as they swarmed at a distance. They would try to rush her as soon as they thought they could get away with it.

Should she wait for them to get close? Should she do something now while they were at a distance?

Something bigger moved behind the sparks. She squinted. The eyes on the ground were a wolf pack. They preceded some kind of elephant lumbering in the dark of the city.

What should she do about this? If she attacked, they might fall on her little group while they were investigating what was on the other side of the block. They might be pinched between two forces.

She decided that she preferred to work on her own, and not have people to worry about when she needed to do things.

She heard quick steps and turned. Bob held up his hands, but she knew he was doing that to make her feel safer. His control let him work the surrounding earth with his mind, not his hands.

“There was another team across the way,” said Bob. “They were under attack by some kind of hydra. Nasser and Sheira took care of it with their weapons.”

“Tell them we might have more trouble,” said Sara. “We might need to run some kind of distraction so both of our teams can make it out of this alive.”

“I think I can hold some of this,” said Bob. He looked around and sized up the

material at hand. “Sheira can heal us with her jewel. Total command is what she calls it. She just needs some time.”

“I’ll go out and distract them,” said Sara. “Can you shut off this part of the street from the other side? That might buy enough time for the other team to get on their feet and go.”

“Are you sure about this?,” asked Bob. The ground under his feet smoothed out as he took command of it.

“The only thing I’m worried about is what’s lurking behind what we can see,” said Sara. She pulled her blaster. “I’m going to do what I can. Don’t be try to come after me. Just keep going to the inner wall.”

Sara walked down the street toward the red sparks. She scanned the buildings around her. Every bit of ambient light had dimmed so she couldn’t quite make out the monsters in front of her. Something was behind the beasts, and it was twice as big as she thought. Maybe she could handle it with the ox if she could get close enough to punch it.

She wasn’t much of a living wall to oppose the shaggy things in front of her. She didn’t like the various teeth she could see now that she was closer, or the talons long as one of her fingers, or the extra forearms to go with the two supporting the weight of the front of the body.

“I know you’re smarter than you look,” said Sara. She pointed the blaster at the leader of the pack. “Go away and hunt someone else. I’ll kill any that comes this way.”

The leader of the pack leaped at her with a mouth wide enough to eat a Mini Cooper. It was slow compared to the speed from the rabbit. She should have been readier to fight will all the talismans. It would have saved her a lot of trouble.

The blaster was a slow weapon, only firing once with each trigger pull. When you had the speed of the rabbit, that wasn’t much of a problem. The problem became overuse.

She felt the metal above the grip grow warmer as she laid down a constant barrage in front of her. The monsters absorbed the light, but the heated air still set their black fur on fire, while blowing chunks out of their flesh. She moved back to keep ahead of the Dark, keeping the tide at bay for the moment.

Then the thing in the back caught up and attracted Sara’s attention. She fired bolts into the armored hide. The glowing red packets splattered open and refused to do anything else against the obsidian skin.

The thing leveled its horn at the freelancer and charged. Goring intruders was

everything it was designed to do. Nothing could stop it from accomplishing its

mission.

Wayne was suddenly at Sara’s side. He wore a smile on his face. One hand slapped a damaged wolfer into a nearby wall. The monster stayed where it hit, wisely deciding to try to heal up before it attempted another attack.

He caught the horn with his hands, sliding back as the bigger mass pushed on his thin body. Then he dug in a heel and the movement stopped.

Sara didn’t know who was more surprised; the beast or her. She swung with the power of the ox, hand wrapped in the lion paw. The unicorn fell over and struggled to get back up.

“That’s the biz, sweetheart,” Wayne said. Then he drove the horn of the creature into its eye and its brain.

“You broke off the horn of a two ton beast and killed it,” said Sara. “What kind of weapon did you pick up?”

“Nothing you would have heard of,” said Wayne. “Let’s get out of here before more of them show up.”

Sara waved the blaster to cool it off before holstering it. Combining it with the rabbit had worked up to the point the giant arrived.

“How did it go with the other freelancers?,” asked Sara. The monsters that hadn’t survived her onslaught evaporated around them in running pools of ink.

“Some flying harpies with force fields,” said Wayne. “They thought they had an extra helping of adventurer until Nasser crushed them with that helmet of his. Used their own defense against them with a snap of his finger.”

“They didn’t see it coming, did they?,” said Sara. She had a sneaking suspicion that Wayne had done some things too. She decided to let it go.

“I’m sure they saw the glow when he hit,” said Wayne. “After that, who knows?”

“You guys are really fast,” said Bob. “I thought for sure you were both goners. What was that big thing at the end?”

“Unicorn,” said Wayne. “Let’s get back with the others. We still have to get up to the inner wall so we can get to the tower proper. Once we do that, we’re home free.”

“I didn’t think we’d be fighting the whole way,” said Bob.

“Don’t think of it as fighting,” said Wayne. “Think of it as building a bridge.”

“Building a bridge?,” Bob said. He looked around at the dark streets and the moving buildings. “I don’t think that’s even possible.”

Wayne smiled.

Sara said nothing. Whatever they were building would only last as long as they were fighting for it, and they were on the field in some way. Reaching the tower would negate both of those things, unless they stayed behind and helped other freelancers get to the tower.

Sara wasn’t going to do that as long as her kids were waiting on her.

Sheira and Nasser stood by themselves. The other group seemed to be discussing what they should do. They seemed split on joining Sara’s group and going their own way.

“I think we should send them off and let them draw all the fire,” said Bob in a low voice.

Sara silently agreed with his assessment.

“We need to keep them close for support,” said Wayne in a whisper. “But we don't want to act like we’re nannies.”

“Okay,” said Bob.

“Hey, guys,” called Wayne. “We’re going to go ahead and use the left-right-left maze thing Sara pointed out. Just stay a couple of blocks over and trail us. If anything happens, we’ll help you out.”

“All right,” said one of the other group. “Thanks for the help you already gave us.”

“It was our pleasure,” said Wayne. “Keep your eyes open and move tactically, and you should make the inner wall right behind us. If you get in trouble, make some noise. We’ll be right there.”

“Thank you,” said the spokesman for the other group.

“We’re heading out,” said Wayne. He gestured for the other four of his group to lead the way. “You won’t be completely safe, but we’ll do our best.”

Nasser pulled off his helmet, and let Sheira do something with her gem before they started walking. Bob slid in the middle of the line. Dust followed him as he moved. Sara and Wayne walked at the back. He waved at the other group as they walked away.

“So what’s really going on?,” Sara asked in a low voice. One eye was on the other group as they moved down an alley and walked out of sight.