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Whatever the case, the Guardians’ forces now knew we were here.

Nero and I ran through the halls, side by side. He carried Sierra on his back. I carried a shiny gold sword in my hand. I’d stolen it off of Mordon’s wall before we’d left his chambers. I only hoped it slashed as well as it shone.

We were headed for the power room, to turn off the magic shield protecting the castle. Unfortunately, we couldn’t teleport into the room. There was some kind of anti-teleportation field in place inside the castle. Another defensive measure, no doubt.

We’d only had to fight our way through a handful of enemy soldiers so far. Most of the Guardians’ forces were occupied elsewhere. Their attention was diverted outward, to the mass of soldiers gathered at their gates. Before I’d brought Nero here, he’d ordered my army to travel to the castle and create a distraction so I could sabotage the shield unhindered.

It had worked for a while, but eventually the Guardians’ soldiers realized the bigger threat was inside the castle, not outside. And now they were coming for us.

Let them come. With Nero by my side, we could overcome any obstacle, defeat any foe.

As we ran, I glanced sidelong at him and smirked.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing.” I stole another glance, chuckling.

“Something is clearly amusing you, Pandora.”

“I’m just wondering what it feels like for you, being in a woman’s body.”

He fell quiet. Finally, he said, “Everything looks bigger.”

“Everything looks bigger because you’re smaller,” I told him.

“Not all of me.” He looked down at Kia’s breasts.

“Guys,” I said, rolling my eyes.

He glanced at me, then at his borrowed breasts again. “Are they supposed to…jiggle like that when I run?”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much standard operating procedure for breasts, General.”

He looked perplexed. “It feels uncomfortable,” he said, frowning.

“It’s even worse without a bra,” I told him.

His scowl deepened. “How do you function like this?”

I shrugged. “You get used to it.”

He looked at his breasts again, then declared, “I could never get used to this.”

“It’s all about focus, Windstriker…” I winked at him. “And self-discipline. Want me to give you some lessons in that?”

He snorted.

We’d nearly reached the power room. I could already see the big, fireproof door.

That’s not the only thing I saw, though. There were soldiers stationed all along the hallway, guarding that door. Like they’d been waiting for us here. Like they’d known we would come.

Yeah, well, of course they’d known. We obviously needed to take out the power to the shield before our army could enter the castle.

I canvassed the scene, noting the location of every enemy soldier, every door, every single little doodad on the wall.

“I’ll take point,” I told Nero. “You’re backup.”

“Pandora,” he said, his displeasure apparent. “I don’t play backup.”