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I shudder. Only one choice. “We must get to the palace.”

A vicious screech.

The boy whines and opens his eyes. He panics and scrambles to his friends under the table.

“We need to get you behind thick walls.”

They cuddle their arms and legs harder.

“Can you be brave for each other?”

One rocks on his heels and crawls out. “My mummy’s inside.”

The others follow his lead, crying for their mothers too.

“Hold hands, follow close.”

Down the long aisle of stalls we race, toward the palace. Florentius retreats with us, struggling to hold his shield. His breathing is hard, laboured. Audible over the sniffing of the children.

Close to us, to the north, the sky swarms with a dozen wyverns.

Don’t notice us.

One is terrifying enough—

It bashes against Florentius’s weakening shield and he staggers. Claws rip through the magic.

He lets out an agonised cry and falls to his knees, forcing all his power into the shield. “Get the children to safety. Wyvern water touched them.”

I whip my head towards the trembling children. Not only shaking with fear, but with the effects of poison.

Florentius is injured too.

Fear claws at my insides. I look from Florentius to the wyvern above, writhing wickedly towards us.

We’re a few dozen yards from the palace. Too far.

We have to try anyway. I urge the children into a run.

Magic blasts behind us—Florentius trying to give us a chance—

Another wyvern dips and soars between us and safety.

A shield, a shield...

The children scream as I pull them behind me and cast a measly green-hued shield.

The wyvern squalls, hail shooting from its mouth. Wingtips like ice-daggers slice the air—

The doors of the palace swing open. A female figure leaps out and twirls in the air, skirts and hair billowing as she throws a glittery silver shield. The wyvern smashes into it and splashes apart, and our saviour punches her shield towards the north.

She throws out another blast of magic. The wyvern before Florentius is hurled through stalls.

She turns to me. Big eyes, upturned nose, the gentlest of faces. Recognition, despite my mask.

A hundred feelings throttle me at once.

I nod and Veronica nods back, questions, curiosities, everything pushed aside.