Well, what are you two doing, then?

I soar up maybe 25 feet, and scan the nearby streets for opposing troops.

A group of about thirty soldiers and five heavy drones is the closest group to your location.

I nudge Maia and point. "There."

I look at the group, before nodding at Hale. "Alright, let's fucking do this then."

"I'll take them from the front, you come in from behind."

"Sounds good." I say, focusing back on the group in question, and holding my saber at the ready.

I don't wait for an argument, streaking down and landing with a superpowered crash in front of them. I pull my axe out in a shower of purple sparks. "Hey!" I shout. I power up, glowing and all, making myself an obvious threat. I raise my axe, imitating my attack from earlier, and chop down, sending a shockwave at the soldiers.

The soldiers don't hesitate, diving out of the way and firing at you. The drones power up and shoot too. You only manage to knock down a few soldiers, and even then, they don't look dead. The soldiers from before didn't shoot at all. Now that you think about it, did they even have rifles?

I shake my head and put it out of my mind. I'll deal with it later. Now, I'm getting even with the Baroness, and that means I'm going to match her kill for kill. Everyone who was left behind in Fiddler. I dodge whatever bolts are being fired at me or deflect them with my blade, and let that thought pump me up with a fresh wave of determination and anger. They're going to PAY. I rise into the air and slice down again.

I fly around the group, before diving down onto the nearest drone. I plunge my saber into it’s head, trying to do as much damage to it as possible. A few clones land on the ground, focusing more on the trolls and humans, to provide some cover.

The drone sparks and raises its arms, grabbing you with one and trying to fire the rifle into you with the other. You slice one arm to inoperation and dive out of the way, managing to only get a glancing burn on your leg. A shot echoes from one of the buildings above and one of the clones falls dead after only taking down two troops. A man with a sniper falls off a nearby rooftop, a bloody hole punched straight through his heart.

Shit!” I get back up and start slashing at the nearest troops, giving a quick glance to where the sniper just fell from.

More bodies fall from Hale's attack, this time, but the rest of the troops just hide behind them. A few fall back to behind the drones, firing from behind their legs.

Are these the same kind of drones from earlier?

Not at all. They're heavier and stronger, built better. They even have a fresh coat of paint on them.

"Maia! Move!"

I respond by shooting into the air, floating several feet above the drones and troops, before falling back to hover near Hale.

If they want to hide behind the drones, they can, but it won't help them any. I seize the nearest two drones with my telekinesis and send them flying at the remaining drones and soldiers, like a strike, from bowling the sport.

It knocks them over, and only ten of the soldier manage to get out of the way as the drones crush their friends underneath. The two drones you threw rotate and stand back up. They seem to hunker down into themselves for a moment before starting to move towards you, firing rapidly. The soldiers run in the opposite direction, splitting up and disappearing down various alleys.

Huh. On second thought, I fly back next to Hale, and glance over at him. “Hey. Do that shockwave thing with your axe again.” That may be a bit more efficient here.

"Sure." I raise my axe with destructive intent and slice.

The shockwave crackles to a halt, caught in the deadzone in front of the drones.

"If you freeze a larger group, and I set up a few of these, when you release it they won't be able to dodge." I cross my arms. "Easy."

“Oh, holy shit yeah.” I nod, looking back over to the frozen drones and shockwave. “You think one is enough for these fuckers?”

I scoff. "Better be. Let's see."

“Right.” I free my hold on the time around the drones, eliminating the dead zone.

The shockwave hits them dead-center, electricity looping around them. Their heads twitch and arms jerk, sparking and beeping in distress. Without warning, they explode. Shrapnel and fire sprays in every direction, a shockwave of their own engulfing you.

“FUCK!” I throw my hands up towards my face in an attempt to shield myself best I can from the blast.

I don't have time to do anything except bring my arms up to shield my face and swear as loudly as possible.

You manage to shield yourselves from most of it, only catching a few stray cuts.

I lower my arms and look around. Is the area clear?

You lower your arms and the large chunks of shrapnel in front of you inch closer. All of the large, sharp chunks of metal and wiring, along with the wave of blue fire, is frozen still in a purple and red glowing trap in front of both of you.

I look over at Hale, and then back at the sight in front of us. "Holy shit?"

Swiveling your head causes them to move too.

I very carefully only glance at her using my eyes. "Holy shit is right. But, uh, I think we're gonna have to be... very careful here."

"Fuck, yeah." I reply, glancing over to him without moving as well. "Okay, well shit! What the fuck do we do now?"

I scan the shrapnel. Is there any way out that I can see? A way that we could go that wouldn't get us impaled?

There are no options to move that don't end in both of you getting hurt, but you can minimize the damage.

"Okay," I say slowly, with the slightest nod in whatever direction that is. "If we move over there, we won't die. I'll try to redirect the shrapnel as we go. Deal?"

I turn my attention over to where Hale just nodded to. "Not dying sounds fucking great, let's do it."

"On three." "One." "Two." "Three." I swiftly step/fly into whatever fucking place that is, keeping a careful eye on Maia to make sure we're moving in tandem. I raise my arms at the same time, in a stunning display of telekinetic multitasking, grabbing whatever pieces of shrapnel present the greatest threat and directing them to fly elsewhere.

I follow Hale’s lead, moving alongside him into the safer area, before preparing to bring my arms up to my face once again if I need to.

The shrapnel moves even faster than Hale anticipated. A stray shard embeds itself in Hale's side, another grazing his ear. One hits Maia's upper arm and another glances across the edge of her cheek. The fire is mostly redirected around you, but you think you might have gained a few burns anyway. You both hit the ground, Maia landing on top of Hale sideways. This is still much better than dying or becoming charred metal cacti.

"Nice," I groan. "Not dead. FUCK, that hurts."

I move off of Hale, nodding. “Fuck. Fuck, yeah that hurts.” I move a hand over to the shrapnel in my arm, touching it and wincing. “You alright?”

I try to sit up and stop abruptly with a hiss, hand flying to my side. "I fucking better be," I mutter. "Shit. Shiiit." I grimace and grab the shard of metal with both hands before yanking it out as fast as possible with a strangled yell. "FUCK, that was a bad idea," I grumble, still clutching my side.

I follow suit, taking a deep breath before grabbing onto the shrapnel with my free hand and pulling it out as quickly as I can, throwing it onto the ground beside me. “SHIT.” I sit there for a second, before looking over to my cape. I grab that and rip a piece off to tie around my arm as a makeshift bandage of sorts.

I wince, and stand up, putting the pain out of my mind. I can still fight, and that's all that's needed from me right now. I pick up my axe. "Ready?"

The pieces of shrapnel sit there, side by side, blood on each one. You feel fine, all things considered. You've both been through far worse.

I get up as well, nodding. “Yeah.” I look at the two shards of metal, and then back at Hale. I point to his side, and then gesture at my cape. “You want something to cover that?”

I shrug. "Can't really wrap it. I'll be fine." I rise into the air, and reach out with one hand. Fucking shrapnel. I gather all of it into a ball, and clench my fist, packing it tightly together. It's a surprise tool that's going to help us later. "Where to next."

I kick off the ground as well, scanning for more enemies in the area.

A brightly glowing spark races through the air and hovers in front of you.

Where did it come from?

Down the street? You don't know. A message sounds from it, loud and clear to your ears. The Mountain Sun's army has entered the city.

"Hell yeah." I stare at the spark for a bit longer, that's fucking weird, before looking around the general area once again, checking for any opposing troops.

It fizzles out in front of your eyes.

"Cool." I zip around the surrounding few blocks, searching for another inevitable altercation. Maybe wherever the soldiers escaped to.

You don't see any enemy soldiers, but you do run into the army of the Mountain Sun. They're flooding through the streets, looking for a fight just like you are. A group of wolves are in front of them, along with some people you recognize.

Silas and Finn?

Silas, Finn, Ryker, and Cashel.

MALEFINN