Strevan led us through the alleys at random. I could hear the sounds of raised voices echoing through empty streets — they were growing louder. We turned corner after corner, trying to lose them, but it was no use. Strangers to the town as we were, it didn’t take long for a group of men to catch up.

  I nearly ran into Strevan when he made a sharp turn into a side alley, but halted suddenly. I was about to ask him what had happened, when I saw them. Three men, one of which I’d eavesdropped on in the tavern. The foremost, the good-looking guy, stood in the middle, with one flanking each side. I turned, intending to run, but a fourth attacker blocked my egress, smiling.

  His warped, blue-tinted face curled into a twisted grin. My eyes flickered downwards. He was holding a gun. An awkward smile fell across my face as my hands rose slightly, indicating surrender.

  Strevan’s hand tightly gripped his pistol, aiming it towards the leader of the group. His intent was met by the others. Besides the handsome man, who was armed only with a smug, knowing smile, the other three beside him all held impressive looking blasters. I bit my lip hard enough for it to sting.

  “What do you want?” Strevan asked roughly. Although I could only see his profile from my position, his features were tightened in anger. I noticed his index finger trembling somewhat, as if begging to press down on the trigger.

  The leader stepped forward, arms stretching out as if in friendship. His teeth flashed in a bright, friendly smile.

  “Easy, we wouldn’t want someone to be hurt,” he said.

  “Then leave,” Strevan replied, dryly. His trigger finger twitched.

  “Well, we can’t have that. She has something we want.”

  My eyes widened.

  “W-what do I have?” I stuttered.

  He grinned at me greedily and pointed at the back of his hand.

  “Your Aspect.”

  I blinked, caught off guard.

  “Aspect?” Strevan asked. A drop of sweat rolled down his forehead. His throat swallowed unconsciously.

  “Neat things, aren’t they?” The leader said. “Rare, too. Like winning a lottery and being struck by lightning on the same day.”

  He stared at me, his eyes digging deep into mine. That bottomless greed felt like it was swallowing me whole.

  He suddenly looked towards Strevan, disinterested. The corner of his mouth lowered into a frown.

  “We only need the girl. Feel free to fuck off.”

  “Why?” I asked. I could feel tears starting to form. “Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  “Aspects only drop on the holder’s death,” He replied, smiling at me with a sickly kindness, “And even then it’s not guaranteed. So be a dear and die for us.”

  The standoff was broken when he suddenly reached a hand towards me. Strevan immediately pulled the trigger, shooting a lightning-fast projectile directly towards the man’s head. My eyes widened in shock when the back of his hand lit up in a blue glow.

  A small patch of ice formed in front of him, redirecting Strevan’s shot into the dirt. I dropped to the ground in a panic when I saw the other’s retaliate, dodging one of the shots by a hair.

  I heard a pained cry from one of the men — friendly fire, maybe. Strevan took two more shots, but both were blocked by that same ice-like shield. One ricocheted into the blue man’s leg, causing him to cry out. Seeing this, I rushed towards him and kicked the wound as hard as I could.

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  “Ugh- you bitch!” He yelled, falling to his knees. He raised his gun towards the center of my chest and pulled the trigger.

  At the same time, I raised my hand on instinct, and felt the familiar rush of energy flow through me. I focused entirely on the barrel of his gun, willing it to crush beneath my power.

  The tip of the firearm suddenly crumpled, folding inwards half a blink before the trigger was pulled. I managed to turn my face to the side before a bright flash of light and sound exploded from the weapon. A rush of heat burned my cheek.

  It had misfired — and what was left of the man’s once-blue hand was stained red. He clutched the stump in agony, and I turned towards the others.

  I had faced the other direction just in time to see Strevan be sent flying with a punch. I saw one lying on the ground, presumably dead from the earlier shot, but the other two were ganging up on Strevan. In a panic, my hand raised on its own, and purple energy flashed once again.

  The goon who had just punched Strevan suddenly clutched his throat in surprise. I clenched my hand and heard a loud crunch. His face turned blue, and he slowly fell to his knees, trying to understand what happened.

  Strevan looked on in shock as he clambered back to his feet. He looked towards me, surprised, when suddenly a shard of ice flew towards his head.

  I gasped, and tried to redirect it, but my power didn’t seem to work well on it — like trying to catch an oil-covered pig. It moved only slightly, and pierced into Strevan’s shoulder.

  “NO!” I shouted furiously, looking towards the leader. His final minion aimed a gun towards me, but I stretched my hand out, crushing the weapon around his hand. I ignored the screams of agony as I focused on my prey.

  The leader smiled wickedly and raised both hands. Four ice shards appeared, hovering around him in midair. I could hear them crackling, so cold they emitted vapor like dried ice. Clouds of fog rolled from them, and the air began to thicken, laden with condensation.

  All four shot towards me. They streamed vapor-like mist as if rockets. Once again, I tried to redirect them, but it felt nearly impossible to control them. I only managed to push them slightly — enough to avoid my vitals, but a shard grazed each limb.

  “Auggh—“ I gasped, my mind numbing at the cold.

  The leader smirked. “Having trouble? You poor thing.” Four more icicles formed. “Didn’t anyone tell you Aspects don’t play well with other Aspects?”

  What could I do? Strevan, although not bleeding thanks to the extreme cold, was immobilized on the ground. Think, me.

  Wait. Aspects don’t work well on other Aspects, but…

  I dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding more shots sent towards me. With my power, I grasped the air and vapor that had been emitted from the ice shards, and pulled it towards myself in a swirl.

  A cloud of thick moisture sucked towards me, spinning like a tornado. It was thick enough to obscure my vision, and I was thankful it was the same for him.

  “What?!” I heard the man say.

  Seeing a dull flash of blue through the smokescreen, I quickly brought my hands in front of me and compressed the air. A spear of ice hit me dead on. It almost completely broke through my air shield, and I was left sweating in a panic. If I hadn’t predicted his blind shot, I’d be dead.

  I heard him cussing under his breath, and the sound of his feet scraping the ground gave me a rough estimate of his location. In the quiet alley, even the slightest sound was as loud as a bullet. He had moved a few feet to my left. I had to sneak up on him, but how? As an experiment, I tried to lift myself with my power.

  The strain was heavy, and I could feel myself tiring quickly. I suppressed a curse, and floated myself over to Strevan. His eyes were closed, but he was still breathing. I gave a sigh of relief in my head and picked up his gun.

  Again, I lifted myself with my power, and pushed myself quietly in the direction of the ice-wielder. He sent random shots off, calling me out as a coward.

  “Come on out little girl! Come fight me!”

  I ignored his jabs, and approached him in the fog.

  As I snuck up on him from behind, I suddenly had an idea. I raised my hand, and dispelled the mist directly in front of him. He flinched, instinctively raising four ice spears towards that direction. I smiled.

  I floated up behind him, pointed towards his head, and pulled the trigger. Immediately, I nearly collapsed. The strain from floating myself had left me breathless.

  The ice he’d summoned disappeared along with the light in his eyes. I tried to walk towards Strevan, but nearly stumbled from my numb limbs. Still unable to fully float, I supported my weight with my power and sank into a sitting position next to him.

  I examined his wound, and hissed in sympathy. A piece of ice the size of a water bottle was sticking out of his shoulder. His blood had frozen around it, creating an almost crystalline texture. I frowned, wondering how I could possibly care for this, when the leader’s body began to emit something.

  A blue, ice like vapor that seemed to sparkle rose from his corpse. My eyes widened in surprise. Was this his Aspect? It looked similar to what had risen from the boar we’d killed.

  It formed into a small sphere of icy-blue energy. Being too exhausted to stand up, I used my power and pulled it towards us. It lazily floated over, as if resistant to my ability, before suddenly gaining speed when it neared Strevan. The sphere began spinning, shooting tiny snowflakes from itself, and suddenly dove into Strevan’s body.

  As if hit by lightning, his body flinched. He let out a loud gasp, his breath coming out like smoke. A flash of blue emitted from his hand, and his eyes opened.