Aside from a smoldering fire and three sleeping cats, the apartment was quiet and empty. Milla soon noticed the piece of paper hanging above the mantle, and stepped out of the carriage to read it. With the stronger flow of alchemagi, the carriage seemed to hardly wane at all, and she had plenty of time to go over the note and reenter the demirriage.

  “Says that they’re all at Hekens’ office,” Milla explained and pushed the pedestal in the middle of the carriage.

  They were instantly taken to the same office where they had battled Trinqit not long ago, where a large meeting was in progress. The surviving rebels and local military were there, as well as Pip, Dak, Kyler, Tess, and Hekens himself—along with the rest of the group. Lechi and Temki sat side by side at the only table available, chatting idly with Xavier. They were away from the others, but remained attuned to their conversations nonetheless.

  “Oh, they’re back,” Hekens said as he raised his eyes above the small crowd. “Ms. Nolland, hello. We were just making final preparations and discussing the strange new climate throughout Aurra.”

  “Right, about that…” Milla replied.

  “We’ll tell you when we have time,” Garder said. “Rivia is waiting for us to report back if you’re not ready to finish evacuations.”

  “Well, yes, we are ready. The entire City has been emptied of non-essential personnel and the trains have been moved out. What you see here are the people that are going to observe the event from one of our scouting towers. You’re welcome to join us, of course.”

  “We’d better leave the City,” Shin replied. “It’ll probably be four or five hours before it actually happens, but we shouldn’t take any risks.”

  “I understand. We’re capable of getting to safety within thirty minutes. We’re literally making the last-minute preparations as we speak.”

  “Good. We have a few things we should take care of, as well.” Shin turned to Garder. “I think you and I should get checked out by Kyler. We were beaten up pretty badly in that fight.”

  “Fight? What fight?” Tess asked

  “Tell you later. Right now, we could use a professional patch-up.”

  “All right,” Kyler said. “I still have some supplies left here.”

  “And Lechi, I need you to do something for us,” Tess added. “Zalatrya’s being a little troublesome in the sub complex. Pup doesn’t want to leave the place. Do you think you could get her under control and wait for us at Substation Five? I’ve got a map if you need it.”

  “I’ll go with her,” Pip said. “We’ll be waiting for you down there.”

  “Me too,” Verim added. “You know… just in case the beast needs a little more persuading or something.”

  “Thanks,” Lechi replied. “I’m ready if you are.”

  “Yeah, we’d better get moving,” Pip agreed.

  “Alright, see you guys later,” Milla said as the three left the room.

  “As for Temki…” Tess continued. “I’d like you to go back home and gather whatever personal things you may want. I’ve already got everything I need. Rest a little bit if you need to. I’ll call you back when we’re ready. Oh, and please bring my cats with you when you return.”

  “Okay, grandmother,” Temki replied.

  “Milla, I’m pretty tired…” Rayna said softly.

  “I figured you might be,” she replied. “Tess, I think I’ll watch over these two back at your place for a bit if that’s okay with you.”

  “No objections, dear,” Tess said with a nod.

  “If I have nothing else to do, I’d like to assist you during these last moments,” Wendell said. “I can carry heavy things.”

  “Yeah, same here,” Simon added. “Well, uh, not too heavy for me.”

  “We’d appreciate it,” Hekens replied. “As is, we’re overworked trying to get every last thing resolved. Any assistance would help.”

  “Strange,” Garder commented. “City I really could disappear… Never gave it much thought until now. Bit of a sad thing.”

  “Yes, but it‘s still captured on our datastones,” Tess said. “Of course, no matter where we rebuild it, it’ll never be the same…”

  “Have you heard anything from my son?” Hekens mentioned.

  “I’m afraid not,” Milla replied. “We haven’t been able to get into contact with D recently. But I’m sure he’s fine and you’ll see him soon.”

  “Okay…” Hekens sighed. “I miss him… I hope he’s safe.”

  “Just a little longer, Mayor. We can’t give up now.”

  “Yes. Get some rest, we’ll contact you when it’s time to go.”

  Milla, Temki and Rayna returned to the warm apartment. Now with a moment to look around, she saw just how barren the place had become. She looked at the streets below, equally empty. Not a single person roamed the City, and snow and ice were building up into a blanket of white.

  “We need to get Belle, Kitsy, and Rickshaw in their cages,” Temki said. “I think they’re under my bed. The, uh… cages, I mean.”

  “I’ll help you,” Rayna offered. “I like cats, but Mom’s allergic so we couldn’t have one.”

  “You two want me to make you anything while you’re doing that?” Milla asked tiredly. “To eat. Are you hungry?”

  “There’s probably not much left,” Temki replied. “But soups or sandwiches would be fine with me.”

  Rayna nodded in agreement, and Milla set off towards the kitchen to scrounge around for whatever morsels remained.

  “You’re kind of motherly, Milla…”

  Milla stopped looking through cupboards and turned to the two.

  “Well… thank you, I think.”

  “I’m sorry about Jeryn. I know he was your friend.”

  “Y-yeah… Thanks, Temki.”

  Temki suddenly realized by looking at Milla that she had just become quite sad, and he knew that he was the one to blame for it.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up again. I just never got to say anything to you, and I…”

  “It’s okay. It’s just that… things go by so quickly now, I sometimes forget all that’s happened. Even losing a friend.”

  He led Rayna to his room, leaving Milla to contemplate a meal. All of Tess’ cooking synthids were already gone, but she did find a few cans of stew in one of the cupboards. She tried cooking them on the stove, but couldn’t concentrate. Now that she had a moment to herself, she couldn’t keep her thoughts off Jeryn, and at times, Kamsa. She had been reminded again; Aurrian goodbyes could indeed be sadder than those on Earth.

  In Temki’s small, cozy room, Rayna was helping to dig through the things under the bed to get the three cat cages. Most everything there was either a stuffed animal or another toy, all jammed into the space tightly.

  “It’s really messy under here,” Rayna sighed as she dug through the clutter. “Don’t boys know how to keep their rooms clean?”

  “I’ve only slept in here a few times, actually,” Temki replied as he pulled out the first cage. “It’s Grandmother that doesn’t keep her home very organized, because she doesn’t have enough space to put everything. I guess she kept adding toys to this room for me in case I ever came back.”

  “Oh, right, you’ve spent most of your life here in a prison…”

  “Y-yeah… But I could’ve brought danger to others if I stayed up here. I mean, at least there I didn’t have anything to fear. The guards treated me nicely. Let me roam the facility often.”

  “But that’s terrible. Were there even any other kids in that place?”

  “No. Just guards. They took me away when I was baby. And my parents, too, when they tried to keep me. And since this is my first life and I died young on Earth, I don’t really have a lot of… experience with people.”

  Rayna looked at him sadly and replied, “So we’re pretty much the same. We’re both just kids, and everyone’s risking their lives to keep us safe. I was wondering… You’re like, really good with the mind power, right?”

  “I’m a mind paradigm. That means I’ll become the strongest at it.”

  “Then you can read people’s minds and things?”

  “I can do much more than that.”

  “Could you read mine? Do you think you could find the demon? It hasn’t spoken to me for a while now. But I have to know if it’s still there.”

  “I… um…” Temki turned a little red in the face.

  “What?”

  “N-n-nothing. It’s just… I g-get a little embarrassed. Like that time Lechi tried to help me. I don’t really know why… Um, sorry…”

  Rayna looked at Temki with a flat expression and then laughed. “You’re funny, Temki. Do girls make you nervous or something?”

  “Milla and Shin don’t. But I don’t think it’s just girls. Um… I think it’s kids my age… I guess I’m not used to being around other children at all. I’m not sure how to be around them. The few I’ve seen are always so…”

  “Happy, carefree? Do you at least know what that feels like?”

  “I… haven’t really had a chance to get through childhood yet.”

  Rayna pulled out the second carrier and replied, “You shouldn’t worry about it so much. Just, I don’t know, enjoy being alive. The adults aren’t depending on you for anything—they’re the ones we depend on, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Um, does that help at all? I mean, I think you’re just a little confused about your place with the others.”

  “Ah… You’re smart, Rayna. You’re grown up for your age.”

  “I don’t think that I’m that grown up. It’s just that girls mature faster than boys. Mom and Dad told me.”

  “Oh. Really? I didn’t know that…”

  “I hope I don’t sound mean, but… have you ever even smiled?”

  “Um, sure I have… I think. Maybe just small ones.”

  “You don’t have to go around smiling all the time, since that might creep people out, but you really should smile sometimes. It will let your friends know that you’re happy, or that nothing’s wrong.”

  “If that’s a reason to smile, then why force one? Jeryn and Garder’s friend just… just died. And Aurra’s at war. And people are suffering…”

  “I know. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy about things close to you.” Rayna pulled out the third carrier from the back. “Here’s the last cage. I guess we should get the cats in these things now.”

  “Yeah. Grandmother will appreciate it.”

  “See? We might depend on the adults to protect us, but we can always help them in our own little ways.”

  Temki gave her a small smile and replied, “I think I’m a little happier whenever I get to help them. Um, Rayna…”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  “Yes?”

  “Your friend Dustin… We’ll find him for you. Mr. Wendell and Verim can definitely help you. We might just have to wait a year or so.”

  “Oh. Right…” Rayna breathed deeply. “I like this world, but I keep thinking about what will happen if I’m trapped here like Mr. Rivia said.”

  “W-well, there is a way back home, but…”

  “There is? How?”

  “N-no. I shouldn’t have said that. Don’t worry about it. It’s not actually possible. N-not at all.”

  “I see. Well, if I am stuck here, at least it’s with a lot of friends.”

  Back in the kitchen, Milla was still lost in her thoughts as she watched the stew come to a boil. A sudden knock at the door brought her back to her senses, and not knowing who it could be possibly be on the other side, she tiredly began walking over to let them in.

  But before she was even near the door, it exploded into splinters. Glowing vector lines tore the wood apart with such force that Milla could only watch in shock. By the time she could react, the lines had surrounded her so tightly that she couldn’t even move—or extend any fingers. All she could do was look Trinqit in the face as she stood in the doorway.

  “Surprise,” the pretorian said coldly. “I know, I know. What the hell am I doing back here? Look, I’m just tired of the games. I’ve come to expect a ‘hold back and let the enemy make their move’ approach from the king, but now even Drides is slipping further into inaction. I hate this place, but the kids are here, the enemy is here—so why not just come back to finish business? The time for restraint and patience is over. So far as I see, I can come and go as I please and do whatever I want. I’m a pretorian. People fear me; I should have nothing to fear.”

  “W-what do you want?” Milla replied as she tried to keep her body from swaying into the burning, atomized lines around her.

  “Those two delightful little children you carry around with you. That’s all. I know Drides still needs them, even though he keeps saying they’re better off with you or some such nonsense. All I have to do is bring them to him, and he’ll come to his senses.”

  “Milla?” Rayna peeped through a crack in the bedroom door.

  She poked her head out to see Trinqit, at which point she froze.

  “Good. I was worried I’d have to search the City. Why don’t you come with me? These people don’t seem to be taking good care of you.”

  “Rayna! You and Temki need to get out of here!”

  Temki came to Rayna’s side, noticed Trinqit, and jumped in fright.

  “Who is she?” Rayna asked.

  “A pretorian who keeps attacking us! She’s evil!” Temki replied.

  “Evil?” Trinqit laughed. “Little children calling me evil. How cute.”

  “Are you saying Drides didn’t give this order?” Milla asked as she tried to buy herself some time, for anything to happen.

  “No. He’s gone all quiet—stays down his labs, running tests or whatnot. Claims he killed the Original. What a crock.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not. Haven’t you noticed how different Aurra is? You don’t even know how powerful he really is, do you? What’s the matter? Is he keeping you out of the loop? He probably thinks very little of you.”

  Trinqit brought her lines in even closer, where they almost touched Milla, and shouted back, “Shut up! I don’t care about all of his sick little personal plans. I just know that we still need these two children. One to use against the king, and one for our project Renascence.”

  “Renascence? What do you know about that?”

  “Oh, as if I’d tell you, Millie.”

  “I’m not being turned into a synthid!” Temki yelled and stepped in front of Rayna. “And I’m not letting you take Rayna!”

  “And I’m not falling for your mind scrambling tricks again, brat. Now, if you two be nice kids and do what I say, I won’t hurt Milla.”

  “You cold hearted wretch…” Milla muttered angrily. “You hurt Garder. If he can’t get justice for Kamsa, then I will.”

  “Aw. We’re still swooning over poor little Kamsa, and now big sis is watching out for her idiot sibling. Hm, you are the older one, right?”

  “What do you care?”

  “I can tell with multiples. I pick up on these types of things.”

  “Go away,” Rayna said quietly and extended her index finger at her side. “Go away, and I won’t hurt you. Leave my friends alone.”

  “Oh, like you can perform alchemagi. I’d like to see that—”

  Suddenly, small streams of elegant bright energy formed in the air between Trinqit and Milla, condensed quickly, and exploded into a shower of sparks. The visible burst was small, but the released energy was great. Both Milla and Trinqit were knocked back a few feet—the vector lines disappearing just before Milla would’ve fallen through them.

  Trinqit got back to her feet, swore, and then noticed Milla bringing a mandala into existence. There was not time to question what Rayna had done or how, as a duel had just erupted in Tess’ once tranquil apartment.

  Though Milla began working on her spell first, Trinqit was so quick that she got her lines out before her. Milla aborted her technique the moment she saw separated vector lines forming above, and rolled out of the way as they started slamming down in rapid succession, just as they had on the train during the first encounter with the pretorian.

  As the cats tore across the room to seek hiding places, Trinqit’s lines chopped up the large, central couch into wood and fabric bits. While the two children watched the spectacle, Temki attempted to get into Trinqit’s mind, but she was successfully keeping him out this time even as she put her efforts into slicing Milla.

  With Milla putting her focus in avoiding a quick death, Temki, in a sudden act of desperation, left Rayna’s side and ran over to the boiling stew. He mustered up his strength, lifted the large pot, and flung it at the pretorian. Trinqit noticed it at the last moment and stepped aside just as it came crashing to the floor in front of her. The boiling contents exploded upwards, lightly burning her lower legs and causing her to temporarily lose control. The vector lines fired off sporadically, tearing apart not only Tess’ home, but the vacated ones above and below it as well.

  “God damn it, you little twerp!” Trinqit shouted in rage.

  She turned to find Milla again, only to see her charging at her with sword and fingers out. Vector lines swirled around her blade, and then swept elegantly in a broad arc, perfectly synchronized with the sword.

  Trinqit dodged or deflected every line, but they were only meant as a distraction; by the time they had been taken care of, Milla’s sword was bearing down on her. With nothing else at her disposal, Trinqit shifted her body just enough for the crossbow hanging at her side to take the brunt of the attack. The blade was pushed away a few inches, but Milla adjusted it in time to earn a swallow cut on Trinqit’s side. It may have only been a light wound, but it was the first time any of them had landed a hit on her at all.

  “Temki! Do it!” Milla shouted into his mind.

  While Milla fell back for her safety and Trinqit took in the realization of her injury, Temki attacked her mind from several directions. At first, it seemed to have an effect. As illusions would’ve been mostly useless and too difficult to manipulate given the situation, he relied on a standard mind shock in an attempt to numb Trinqit into a stupor.

  But Trinqit managed to fend off the attack a few seconds before it would’ve had its full impact, by sending a blast of air Temki’s way. The gust hit him hard, knocking him against the metal stove and dropping him to the floor. Surprised by the pretorian’s quick recovery, Milla couldn’t react in time to avoid the second gust that was sent her way, and she ended up in the mound of wood and cotton that used to be the couch.

  “I hate fighting other vectors,” Trinqit panted. “Always a mess, always comes down to spending more time defending than attacking. And I really despise fighting in places like this, too, so… I guess I’ll just take the kids and go. You can live if you want, Millie. Just stay in that pile.”

  As Milla struggled to get up, Trinqit looked over to Temki, and then to Rayna. She knew that she could probably only risk getting one of them, and Rayna seemed to be the priority at the moment. But with Temki on the kitchen floor and barely conscious, she figured that she could snag both with minimal effort. Trinqit smiled at Rayna and began making her way over to Temki. Rayna slipped back into her room fearfully.

  “What the…” came a child’s voice at the door.

  Lechi was standing where the door had been, trying to comprehend just what was going on in what had always been a safe, inviting place. She could see Temki helpless on the floor with the pretorian approaching him, and Milla wounded in the broken furniture—but no Rayna. Having only seconds to react, Lechi took control of the oven door, ripped it off its hinges, and launched it out at Trinqit.

  The pretorian ducked and rolled to the left to keep the door from slamming into her. The missile continued along its path, rocketing straight through the living room window and breaking the wall-sized pane. Had the door hit her directly, it could’ve killed her. Lechi’s strength was surprising to Trinqit, who watched as the child looked for something else to grab.

  Knowing that Rayna was just feet away from her, Trinqit noticed a knife rack begin to vibrate. After seeing what would come at her next, she ducked inside the room and grabbed at Rayna, just before a flock of cutlery flew at lightning speed and implanted themselves in the doorframe.

  Rayna fell to the floor and tried to shuffle away, but Trinqit caught her by the ankles, pulled her closer, got to her feet, grabbed her tightly, and contemplated again if she could get Temki, as well. But with Rayna kicking and screaming wildly, Trinqit already felt overwhelmed. She hated children and wasn’t used to handling them. And now that Milla had recovered, Trinqit was in a bad position for further fighting.

  “Rayna!” Milla called out desperately as she charged forward.

  Trinqit, holding onto her tightly, dove out of the large bedroom window, shattering it in the process. After a brief free fall, she dropped onto a waiting heavily armored Guardian chariot with cockpit open. Lechi and Milla got to the window in time to see the chariot blast away across the clear, frozen City sky. Within a minute of Trinqit showing up, both her and Rayna were gone, leaving the apartment in shambles.

  “S-she… she took her…” Milla murmured and caught her breath. “Just like that… barged in with no warning…”

  “I don’t believe this,” Lechi muttered. “Right when we thought we wouldn’t see her here again. Damn it…”

  “Why… Why did you show up, anyway?”

  “This is going to sound crazy, but the reason Zala wasn’t being cooperative was because she was fed up with the food they were giving her down there. Tess has some rairer treats somewhere in her apartment, so…”

  “You were trying to get them.”

  “Basically, yeah.”

  “Temki…” Milla realized. “He was hurt. We’ve got to get out of here and tell the others what happened. She could return.”

  “Right. You get him moving, and I’ll round up the cats and find those stupid treats Zala wants. Holy hell, it’s really freezing in here now.”

  They both left the room and split off in the ruined living area. Milla approached Temki, unmoving on the kitchen floor, and knelt down next to him. She shook him a few times, and then lifted him onto one of her arms.

  “Temki…” Milla whispered. “Wake up.”

  She shook him softly again, and he eventually opened his eyes without a sound. He looked around and got to his feet, still dazed.

  “Where’s…” he murmured.

  “Trinqit took her,” Milla sighed. “It’s not your fault.”

  “But I could’ve protected her…”

  “I don’t think so. The two of us aren’t strong enough to take her.”

  “Why is… Lechi here?” Temki noticed her, a jar of what seemed to be dog biscuits in one hand and a cat in the other.

  “She saved you. Trinqit might have both of you now otherwise.”

  “I’m sorry.” Temki sniffled. “I can’t believe I let her take Rayna…”

  “It’s really not your fault. We’ll get her back. They won’t hurt her.”

  With one cat in a cage, Lechi went over and hoisted up a second who was lapping at the steaming liquid that was covering the floor.

  “Why is there stew all over the place?” Lechi thought out loud.

  As blowing snow began to cover the surviving furniture, Temki went back into his room, grabbed the last cat, and caged it. With nothing left to do, they took the demirriage to the emptied rebel base below.

  Garder waited with all of the others at the train substation, trying to shrug off the cold that had drifted down to the depths of the platform. Everyone except for Zala, Milla, and the kids were already waiting, and with every passing minute, they became a little more nervous.

  “Damn it, Milla…” Garder muttered. “Rivia could be minutes away from obliterating this place. Where are you?”

  “I’m sure they’ll be here any moment,” Tess assured him.

  “Probably just ran into more trouble with Zalatrya. Beast’s been more trouble than it’s worth,” Hekens mumbled.

  “Now Greg, Zala has been a great help to us. She’s just young and a touch temperamental.”

  “Mayor, where exactly are we going, anyway?” Verim asked.

  “The observation tower just out of the caves,” he replied. “This train goes out ten or so miles, and has two stops. First one is at the blast door and an elevator that connects to the tower. The other stop is past the door, all the way in the evacuation caves under the mountains out there.”

  “The ones that can hold a million people?”

  “About. This side of the evacuation was going on at the same time as the major exodus, and while the train here is smaller, the ride is much shorter, so we completed this end of things a while ago.”

  “It’s gotta be crowded in there.”

  “The conditions are not great, no. The caves are about fifty percent past their design capacity. Food synthids are running out. And I won’t know what to do with everyone there until we see what happens here.”

  “Which could happen soon,” Garder emphasized. “Probably not a good place to be, right at ground zero.”

  “Relax,” Shin replied. “I think I hear them coming right now.”

  The group of about thirty turned and watched Milla descend down the steps, with two kids at her side and a seemingly satisfied rairer behind her. The City staff helped guide the rairer into the train first—who just barely fit through the door. Zala crawled to the back of the car and slumped down with a grunt as the others began to pile in.

  “Where’s Rayna?” Shin wondered once they were back together.

  Milla looked to the ground and shook her head.

  “What happened?” Wendell asked.

  “It was all so fast. One minute I’m making dinner for everyone, the next, Trinqit blows apart the door, a fight breaks out, Temki’s hurt, Lechi shows up, and Trinqit takes Rayna and gets away on a chariot. I’m sorry. There was no way I could’ve predicted anything like what happened…”

  “Damn it,” Shin growled. “I hate that woman. What right did she have? Of course, that’s rhetorical. Pretorians can get away with anything.”

  “I’m sorry about Rayna, but… Temki was injured?” Tess worried.

  “I think I’m okay,” he replied.

  “We’ll still have Kyler look him over,” Milla assured.

  “Just great,” Garder sighed. “They have Rayna. What are they planning to do with her? Make her summon hundreds of demons?”

  “We have no idea,” Verim replied. “Whatever it is, if they hurt her at all… I swear I’ll cut down everyone involved.”

  “Guys, there’s something else,” Milla said. “I don’t know how or when it started, but Rayna can use alchemagi.”

  “What? Really?”

  “She created a small blast during the fight. And I’m pretty sure that it was nova in nature. Either her powers are awakening on their own, or she’s been studying in secret. I didn’t expect that, either. And now Trinqit knows what she can do, as well. Poor kid… she must be so scared.”

  “We’ll get her back,” Shin replied assuredly.

  “That’s what I told myself, but how? We don’t even know where the pretorians operate. And we can’t get into contact with them in case there was the slightest chance we could work something out.”

  “Look, Milla, we’ll talk about this later,” Garder said. “For now, we’d better get out of this City before it disappears.”

  “Right. Um, Tess, sorry about this, but your apartment was kind of… torn to shreds.”

  “A fight between two vectors in my little old home? ‘Torn to shreds’ is pretty much what I expected,” Tess replied with a small chuckle. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just a place to sleep and eat. It might not be in existence much longer, anyway.”

  “Grandmother, we did manage to get your cats…” Temki said and handed over the cage he had been holding onto.

  “Oh, yes, thank you. I couldn’t leave my other babies behind.”

  “I have the other two,” Lechi added. “Now let’s get onboard.”

  After everyone was on the train, the doors closed and it lurched forward, bringing the last stragglers out of the City. While Zala whimpered in the back of the car, Milla spoke to Garder telepathically.

  “What are we going to tell her parents? We just lost their daughter. We took her from them, and could’ve given her back to them when we had a chance. I… I don’t even know what I can say.”

  “I know. It’s going to be tough. But just remember that it wasn’t your fault. We thought we were safe.”

  “I think Trinqit defied orders, from Lontonkon, Drides… maybe both. But it’s not like either of them will make her return Rayna to us.”

  “Then we’ll force them to. Rivia and his paradigm friends have obviously been holding out on us as far as real answers are concerned. He knows a lot more than what he’s told us. I’m sure he has some idea where the pretorians are, and how we can find Rayna.”

  “Yeah. I hope you’re right.”

  Pensive silence fell upon the passengers as the train made its way down the dark tunnel; the last eulogy the tiny, beloved City I would receive.