Sara never kept track of how many people she killed. Thinking back on it now, she admitted that was probably not a good indication of her unraveling psyche. But she told herself she never had a choice, and as bodies burned around her, she kept repeating that line of reasoning inside her head, hoping it would become true.

It’s me or them.

From the smoke, a man rushed out, swinging something over his head. Sara’s body reacted on its own, breaking from Tom to meet the man head-on. She punched her hands into his abdomen and filled his gut with water, then evaporated all of it at once.

The man flew back, propelled by the force of his own exploding body.

Tom yanked her up, yelling, “Have you gone mad? He was fleeing!”

“You can’t be sure of that,” Sara said. She was drenched, encapsulated in the gore she had caused. She stood but her knees were weak. That was strange. She should be stronger. She pulled up her Points Table. She had put many more points into strength, but it seemed no matter how much she increased it, the collar around her neck was still able to tamp it down.

At least it least did nothing against her magic.

Magic. The thought of it made her laugh.

They made it past the barn. Smoke descended around its sides as fire spread. It had gotten through the entire camp before Sara and Tom could even make it halfway. They were now surrounded by plums of black and orange flames, twisting higher than the lip of the crater itself.

Sara caught a glimpse inside the barn as it burned. It was filled with the charred corpses of guards, some still in their armor. The smell was suffocating, and Sara vomited again, tasting the acid inside her stomach.

Chaos 90/100

Chaos 91/100

Chaos 92/100

The winds shifted, carrying the smoke away. Tom continued to drag Sara. They found the path leading to the top and saw a lone guard standing in the middle, clicking his remote randomly at the smoke. His face was slick with sweat and his eyes were bloodshot. He was panting, turning wherever someone screamed.

As Tom and Sara approached, the guard whipped around and raised his arm at them.

“No,” Tom said at the same time Sara dashed across the distance, sinking her knee into the man’s face. She moved so fast the man’s head blew up, pieces of bone lodging into Sara’s skin. She fell, clutching her own shattered kneecap.

Chaos 93/100

Tom helped Sara to sit. “I can’t find a release button anywhere,” he said, handing her the remote dropped by the headless man.

Shouts were coming from all directions. Sara was in too much pain to tell which ones belonged to guards and which were prisoners. It didn’t matter. Everyone was an enemy here. She’d kill them all to get out of this place.

“Up the hill,” Tom said, grabbing Sara’s arms and pulling her onto his back. “Come on. We’ll figure out the remotes later.”

They made it to the incline. They could see no guards but sounds indicated the armored men were not far.

Sara’s mind was slipping. Jumbles of information clashed through her senses. She thought she heard Yuzuru’s voice. She even thought she felt his presence nearby. But when she looked around, there were only guards running towards them and prisoners running away.

She placed both hands together.

“What are you doing now?” Tom demanded in a shrill voice. “No more magic! No more!”

“It’s camouflage,” Sara said, using both the Make Water and Evaporate spells. A huge cloud of mist materialized over them. “This way their lasers will be refracted.” Sara had many more new spells but she didn’t have the time or mental capacity to go through them all right now.

Tom kept running with Sara on his back. He was panting hard, looking like he was struggling to get air. “If we can get a carriage, we can escape into the forest," he said. "We can… we can take the Corridor back across the border.” No sooner had he finished that sentence than Tom’s legs gave out. He toppled forward into the dirt, Sara tumbling after. Her knee hit the ground. Pain sent electricity through her nerves. She barely managed to keep from screaming.

The mist began to grow thin. Red lines shot through, making zigzags through the air.

Sara crawled over to Tom. “We have to go.” She grabbed a handful of his tattered shirt and shook him. “Come on. Get up.”

“There’s no point,” said Tom between labored breaths. “It’s futile. Everything. The war, my family.”

Sara slapped him. “Screw all that. Do this for you. Survive because you want to.”

Tom looked at her, and a slow smile stretched across his swollen lips. “I guess that’s the difference between us. I don’t live in a world built around me.”

Sara let him go. “What does that mean?”

Tom chuckled, his entire body quivering. “When I was captured, I had asked the leader of the guards, Jack, if he knew who I was. And do you know what he said?”

The lasers were sweeping closer. One red dot appeared on Tom’s shoulder, inching so close to his collar. “He said I was a stepping stone, nothing more, nothing less. Those were his exact words.”

Tom suddenly sat up. He pulled Sara close so that they were eye-to-eye.

“I didn’t know what he meant before, but now I do. Now, I know exactly whose stepping stone I’m supposed to be.”

Sara pushed him away just as a laser skimmed between them. Sara pressed herself to the ground and yelled for Tom to do the same, but the prince was standing up, screaming bloody murder. He started coming but the lasers found him.

Tom lit up. Flames trailed down the left side of his body, ending in a burst of sparks under his foot. He pitched forward and rolled down the slope, disappearing past Sara into the mist.