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Other gifted humans were amongst the crowd of fighters, some of them Claimed, some having arrived with Medora’s army, but other than waiting to see who they attacked, Alex had no way of knowing who was on which side. It made her attempts at offence all the more difficult since she didn’t want to cripple any of her own allies.

“Alex!”

A familiar voice yelling her name almost stopped Alex from ducking under the blade of aValispath-travelling Meyarin who had made it past Niyx and Soraya, but as soon as she sliced A’enara along the male’s leg—a disabling but non-lethal wound—she whirled around, heart pounding.

“No,” she gasped, and without waiting for Niyx to defeat his current opponent, she tore off across the immense cobblestoned square spread out at the base of the Obscuria where the fighting was thickest.

Running closer to the cathedral, Alex was careful to avoid Aven’s line of sight as she shoved her way through the masses and into the dark alleyway from where her name had been yelled.

“What are youdoinghere?” Alex shrieked upon seeing the white faces of D.C., Jordan and Bear, who together were fighting off a pair of Meyarins.

D.C. had a short dagger in hand and Bear held some kind of makeshift shield from a scrap of metal he’d likely found in the alley, but Jordan had no defence other than his gift, which he was using to distract the Meyarins, keeping them disoriented by disappearing and reappearing around them.

Alex’s friends were more than capable in a fair fight—Jordan and Bear were both ranked Delta in Combat, while D.C. was one level down in Gamma—but they had no training against immortal opponents. Nor did they carry any proper weapons, aside from D.C.’s measly blade that might as well have been a toothpick. They were holding their own so far, but only just. So, taking advantage of Jordan confusing the Meyarins with his gift, together with Bear and D.C., Alex helped overcome the two immortals enough that they both stumbled from the alleyway and back out into the melee.

Covered in blood splatters with combat filth smeared all over her, Alex stared at her friends, her wild, battle-freaked eyes revealing how stunned she was by their presence as she waited for an explanation.

“We asked Caspar Lennox to bring us back,” D.C. said, her voice shaking as she looked past Alex, out of the alleyway and into the raging battle. “We wanted to try and convince the elders to consider talking to you again, but when he shadowed us here, we got separated and—” She broke off, croaking as she finished, “We only wanted to help.”

Alex felt torn about her friends being there. It was dangerous—so,sodangerous. Part of her was terrified that something would happen to them. But another part was relieved they had found their way to Graevale; relieved she didn’t have to witness the horrors of this battle on her own.

She opened her mouth to tell them as much, but before she could do so, she sensed two Meyarins soaring towards them, swords raised. She didn’t hesitate to meet their attack with A’enara, her sword flashing with blue flames as she beat them back, knocking one out cold with her pommel and stabbing the other in the shoulder, following quickly with a powerful side kick into his abdomen to send him flying back into the square.

Spinning to face her wide-eyed friends once more, Alex said, “Come on, we need to—”

“There you are!”

Alex whirled around, sword raised again, but she sighed in relief at the sight of Caspar Lennox battling his way towards them. Like her, he was covered in blood, his cloak ripped and his mottled-grey features paler than ever.

Before he could reach them, another small wave of Meyarins swooped in, with Alex fighting them back again. Her friends helped as much as they could—Bear hitting them with his metal shield, D.C. stabbing them with her small blade, Jordan transcending himself and using fists and boots to beat them off. Caspar Lennox joined in once he arrived at their sides, and they soon overpowered the three attackers.

Panting heavily, Alex winced when she heard Niyx growl into her mind,Where in the name of the light are you? I told you not to leave my side!

Something came up, she quickly returned, sending him an image of her friends and her SOSAC teacher, promising to return to him as soon as she could.

“You four,” Caspar Lennox said, not even asking how Alex had come to be there. “Time to go. This is not your fight.”

“It’severyone’sfight,” D.C. said, her voice adamant even if it was still shaking.

“There is only death for you here,” the teacher returned, with no trace of his normally calm manner.

Alex could tell he wanted to be back out there, battling with his people. Instead, he was determined to whisk them away to safety. And indeed, without saying more, he reached out for both Jordan and D.C., latching his hands around their upper arms before vanishing in a cloud of shadows.

“He can only travel with two people at a time,” Bear told Alex. “He won’t be gone long, so if you don’t want to get stuck going back to the academy, then—”

Bear broke off when something caught his eye, the blood draining from his face as he bolted past Alex, intent on leaving the relative protection of the alleyway. It was only because she had so much adrenaline coursing through her body that she was able to react in time, lunging forward and wrapping her arms around his waist to keep him from certain death. As soon as he entered the square, he’d be free game to any and all Meyarins, not just those who happened upon the darkened hiding spot.

“Bear!” she cried, muscles screaming. “Stop!”

He didn’t stop, though. He struggled against her, his body writhing as he fought to get free of her grip.

“Dad!” he yelled. “Dad!”

His hoarse cry made Alex look past his shoulder to see William partway across the cobblestoned square, face to face with a gleeful-looking Gerald on one side, and the blank-eyed Calista on the other. The latter held William immobilised a foot off the ground while Gerald was swinging his tattooed, bladed whips in lazy circles, saying something to William that not even Alex could hear over the clashing steel and pained shrieks coming from all around them.

“Dad!” Bear cried again, but it was no use. William was too far away, and even if he wasn’t, he was surrounded by enemies. “We have to do something! Let me go, Alex! We have to—”

Alex released Bear, knowing he was right. She wouldn’t stand in his way—not when his dad needed their help.