All the guards drew weapons, anything from guns to swords, so I grabbed Layla’s arm and bolted. They began firing, loud rapid pops echoing throughout the lobby. People scattered and things began to shatter as I ran for the doors. I had hoped they’d still be functioning, but it was a slim hope and I knew it.
Sure enough, the doors attempted to open with a mechanical whine and failed. I veered off and swung Layla between me and the doors, keeping her as safe as possible as bullets and glass rained down. The sun wasn’t gone enough, my powers not fully restored, and blood began dribble down my arms and legs as we ran. I only hoped I was a competent shield; pink and red were still in the darkening sky, but as long as I didn’t get hit by anything disastrous I would heal up soon enough. I didn’t know about her.
I noted a map on the onyx wall, indicating all of the fire escapes and stairways. Memorizing the layout in a second, I angled us at the nearest door and charged into the stairwell. I spun around and slammed the door shut with both hands, tore off the handle and jammed it into the security lock. Seconds later the door rattled as they attempted to open it. Thankfully it held.
Turning to Layla, I had the words ‘we need to move’ on the tip of my tongue, but they never made it out. The elf that, moments before somehow threw a man twice her size across the lobby without blinking, was now small and terrified in a corner, silent tears starting to pour. Her body was paralyzed, a look of shock and confusion on her face.
“Layla?” I asked, tentatively.
Her voice was small and quiet. “It happened again. I lost…just…I was so angry…” she looked up at me, her silver eyes pleading. “What’s wrong with me?”
“I… I don’t know,” I answered quietly. Honestly. I knelt down and extended a hand, working to keep myself calm as the guards banged to get in. “But I will help you find out. Let’s move.”
Layla slowly reached out and took my hand. I hauled her to her feet and slung her across my back, muttering, “hold on.” I took off up the stairs, listening at each floor to see how much activity there was. At about the fifth floor I finally heard little to no movement. No guards. I slowed down on the landing and stopped in front of the door, tapping her legs to tell her to get off. There was a soft thud behind me as she half-fell to the floor, the noise of her shuffling growing louder to my ears. The more the moon rose, the less stuffy my ears felt. I pressed myself to the door to double-check.
Still nothing.
Checking behind me to make sure Layla was standing, I gave the door a quick and controlled shove, breaking through the lock. I opened the door and stuck my head around the corner, trying to see if anyone was there. Seeing no one, we crept out the door and down the hall. It was silent as a graveyard.
My paranoia was answered amazingly fast. Cackling echoed through the hall, a figure stepping around the corner. It made a sweeping motion of the hand towards me. Something small and round flew through the air. I caught the form of a grenade flickering through the dim light. I shouted, “back!!” and shouldered her back through the door, slamming it shut as the grenade went off. The explosion knocked us back, heat and debris leaking through the cracks in the door as the metal groaned and buckled away from the frame. Something in my body snapped, pain shooting across my nerves like crazy. Sun was almost down, moon revealed. It would only last for a moment.
The assassin was still in the hallway. Probably heading towards us. I tensed as I heard a small pop and smoke billowed around us, blocking out all lines of sight. I reached behind to grab Layla as I shut my eyes, relying only on my other senses, my skin crawling as a wave of cold flooded the stairwell. I crawled away before I heard Layla squeak in alarm. “Olyvia…” she whispered, harsh and raspy, “why did the smoke just…freeze?”
“What?” I opened my eyes to see a thin sheet of dirty-looking ice. Well, that explained the sudden cold. Better yet, I knew this trick and knew it worked in our favor for as long as it would hold. “It’s fine,” I panted, getting to my feet and hauling Layla up behind me. “Let’s go, let’s go!”
The ice cracked with a shuddering thud as we bolted for the next floor, another explosion shattering it moments later.
It was an old trick of Rod’s, the thief watching out for us. He calls it ‘potential magic’, and it allows him to reinforce or change the properties of anything into anything it potentially could be; in this case, a gas like smoke had the potential to turn into a solid because of the liquid components. It was the most annoying aspect of fighting him and trying to pin him down, but right now I was thanking about half the gods I knew for the break that allowed me to get a head start.
Layla yanked at my arm and I spun in time to watch her snatched from my grip, pulled into a doorway. I charged with a shout and barreled through, plowing into Rod and Layla. The three of us slammed into the ground, Rod vanishing from the tumble in a blink and standing at the end of a hallway, waiting for Layla and I to get to our feet.
At the sound of someone heading our way, I was able to get my feet under me and pull Layla up. We fled down the short hall towards another fire escape and headed for the roof. Our footsteps had been joined by multiple pairs of heavy boots, most likely a large assortment of guards having discovered our location and were now on the way to apprehend us. Or kill us. You never really knew until the bullets were flying at you.
Reaching the roof door and bursting through it, the rough wind took away our breath. Layla tripped through the opening and sprawled, crying out as Rod and I slammed the door shut.
The door thankfully locked with a firm click. Rod reached down into one of his coat pockets and produced a handful of powder. He smeared it against the opening of the door, the metal lighting up with a hot angry red. There was a fizzling noise and a flash of light and smoke and Rod quickly stepped away, trying to shake the dust off his hand. The metal around the handle had been welded shut.
He brushed his hands together to clear them of the rest of the powder, smiling. “Volcanic dust,” he said. “Always good for melting a door shut.”
Volcanic dust. Lava. Suddenly a few chases made sense.
I rapped a knuckle against the door, asking, “how well will it hold?”
“Pretty good. Let’s just say the only person this hasn’t worked on is you.” He flashed me a little sideways grin as he turned away.
I rested against the door in relief. It wouldn’t last long, but I was still thankful for a short break. I watched Rod walk away from the door, looking all around the rooftop. He was getting ideas. The man was never without a plan. He was at the edge of the rooftop, looking down, and I took the opportunity to check on Layla.
She had brought herself to a sitting position and was resting against the side of the rooftop door. Her hands were pressed over her ears and she was softly talking to herself. She shot a look of annoyance at the air in front of her and snarled out a response to something before pausing and looking over at me. I raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything except, “you alright?”
She nodded. “Physically. I mean… I… ”
“Don’t know what’s wrong,” I finished. “I know.”
“Who was that, in the hall?” she asked.
I shook my head, “I don’t know. But I could have sworn the floor was empty.” Which either meant my senses weren’t working on full or there was a hunter after us that specialized in tracking creatures like me. I glanced at Rod as he paced the rooftop, looking down and around. He had proven a reliable partner in the past. I hoped he could prove so again. He came trotting back up to us with a bit of rope in his hand.
“Can’t see any reliable exits,” he said. “We’ve gotta climb down.”
I stood and flicked at his hat. “What about teleporting?”
He shook his head, defensively grabbing the brim and twisting it away from me. “Can’t. I teleported in the building after I heard all hell break loose. Can’t use it for another few hours.”
He offered me the end of his rope and I took it after making a face. “Stupid hat.”
The metal door behind us shuddered as something slammed against it. The guards had finally made it up here. I glanced at the door to see it bend outward. Shaking my head, I muttered, “can things get any worse?”
A high-pitched cackling answered me.
Of course it did.
