"That's one way to handle it." Alex whistled as he looked down into the rater that now housed Mister Tyson's dead body. "But I had it."

"Maybe if we had an hour to spare." Bolton spat, holstering his gun and looking around the rooftop.

"That's what your curse does, then?" Alex asked.

"Cuts through defenses like butter." Bolton nodded, narrowing his eyes as he looked out over the way they'd come. "So long as a curse made it, anyway."

Alex thought back to the barrier. If Bolton had let loose with his bullet to get in, would it have destroyed the barrier? He doubted it. It would completely defeat the point of building an entire construct to amplify a curse if a single person could outdo it. Granted, there were plenty of examples in history of a single invention destroying how things were done. Machine guns, tanks, aeroplanes and drones were just a few he could name, and that didn't count the changes that had to have happened on Earth since he had been gone.

Ten years was a long time.

"I think we have a problem," Bolton whispered, and Alex followed his gaze.

In the distance, Halogi stumbled backward, splashing through the water in the distance. Alex's face dropped into a grim line. The barrier was down. Confirmed again as Halogi fell back into the outside bridge. Stones broke under it's flaming hands as it collapsed against the bridge, and the ground shook as the shockwave came after through the entire castle area.

Boom.

"We did it?" Bolton asked. "Surprised it was that easy."

"It wasn't," Alex said. "Looking out over the rest of the city. "It means Miss Malone gave up. She's running away."

"The harbor's a long way." Bolton rubbed at his chin.

"Did you not pay attention at all?" Alex sighed. "There's a gate she can run through."

"Right. But the gate's down, so that doesn't matter much." He clapped his hands together, and a smile spread across his face. "We can collect the reward and get the hell out of here."

"Think again," Alex said, his eyes still looking out over the castle complex below.

His senses extended out from there, and he could sense the metal objects in the area, along with some people running around the streets. He didn't have near the range he needed to scan the main keep, which loomed up above them in the distance. Around that keep was the gate that Harut had told them about. He just needed to get over there before Miss Malone could step through the gate. If he didn't, things would get a lot more complicated.

Groan.

Behind them, Halogi stood, its fiery arms flickering as it pushed against the water and started toward the shore again. Alex frowned, but Halogi wasn't his problem. Catching Miss Malone was more important, even if Bolton didn't realize it yet. The question was if he needed Bolton, or if he should just let the man run. His curse was strong, but Alex didn't trust him. He still remembered when Bolton had shot his crewmate in the cafe on Dry Turtle. At the same time, a good shot could end Miss Malone before the fight even began.

Bolton pulled out a cigarette beside him, placing it in his mouth as he patted down his pockets. Alex made his choice. While Bolton wasn't the most trustworthy, he was just too useful to let go. It was a risk, but a single bullet could make all the difference.

"Think about it." Alex met Bolton's raised eyebrow. "You think you're going to get a reward if Artur's killed? That's just assuming she isn't going to get reinforcements."

Bolton didn't respond, moving the cigarette to the opposite side of his mouth with one long movement of his jaw and letting his hands rest at his side.

"That's not counting what might be out there," Alex said. "You might need a noble's protection from the Military Police to get into the Core."

Bolton's cigarette dropped in his mouth, and a grim frown crossed his face.

"There's also—"

"Stop." Bolton raised a hand, stuffing his cigarette away with his other hand and dropping his head. "I get it."

"You're in?"

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?"

Alex smiled, though his stomach churned. He still didn't like dragging Bolton along, but he also didn't want to know what he would get into without supervision. Alex pushed the feeling down. He would just have to deal with it. Bolton was coming along, simple as that.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"So, what do we do?"

"We go for Miss Malone." Alex nodded at the keep.

"That's still a good distance away."

"We're going to take a shortcut."

Alex's pocket jingled with coins, and he hoped he was right that he could do it. He had gotten a little stronger, thanks to their training between Aherlow and Grim Aegis, but carrying another person, even in the second level of his curse over that distance, didn't sit well with him. He had a plant to use coins to push against as mini-steps up to the keep, and with Mister Tyson down, he didn't expect to meet much more resistance. He just had to hope that the other Fingers were defeated or occupied.

"Come on." Alex reached out a metal arm, holding it open for Bolton. "Sit here and I'll hold you up."

Bolton looked between himself and the hand. "You're joking."

"You want to walk?"

"I don't want to go at all." Bolton growled before shaking his head and throwing one leg over the hand.

Alex closed his fingers around his legs, and he had a sort of seat. It wasn't perfect, but it would do, though Alex couldn't get the image of Bolton riding in a saddle on a horse out of his head. He picked Bolton up and adjusted his grip, walking over to the edge of the rooftop as he drew a handful of coins out of his pocket. He dropped one at his feet and sent a few more flying off into the distance with a fling and a push from his magnetism.

"Coin Vault."

Clatter.

Brunhild dropped her spear. Her hand shook with a frantic energy, and she just couldn't hold on to it anymore. Her vision couldn't focus, and her spear split into many as she tried to grab it. She missed, and her burning hand touched the cold stone below.

Slap.

"Focus." She hit her cheek.

It was a side effect of the Path of Breath. The Path of Will strained the mind. The Path of Grit hardened the body beyond movement. The Path of Step sapped a person's strength. The Path of Might could overload the body and cause explosions of muscles and limbs. The Path of Breath could overload the body's systems, and force them beyond any natural limit. She could keep fighting, but every moment was one step closer to death on her feet.

Roar.

In the distance, Halogi stood from where it had fallen out on the water. A part of Brunhild's mind didn't understand how it could be so far out on the water. However, the thought slipped away just as quickly as it had appeared. Its hands hissed as it pushed against the water and stood to its full height. Brunhild stumbled as she reached for her spear again. On hands and knees, she found it and forced herself to stand. In the distance, a large ball rolled up to her, though her vision split around it as well.

"Didn't work," Cade said as he came out of his ball, his flabby form barely covered by his shredded and burned uniform.

"I don't think we can keep it down," Brunhild said as the massive Ikon staggered towards them.

"Should we retreat?"

Brunhild grimaced. She didn't like the idea of dying on Grim Aegis, but running away tasted worse in her mouth. If they folded, then all the people behind them would have nowhere to go. All the city, maybe the entire island, would eventually succumb to those flames.

Clink.

"Why'd you sign on?" She forced herself to her feet using the butt of her spear.

"Huh?" Cade turned to her, though it took a full turn of his body.

"Why did you sign up with the Empyrean?" Brunhild blinked the sweat out of her eyes, but kept them focused on the approaching Ikon.

Cade blinked and then reached up to pick his nose. "Food. They feed me better than I could."

"Hah."

A chuckle shook through Brunhild's chest, along with an electric shock of energy that bolstered her, just a little. She should have expected the answer. He was Lieuntenant Cade, after all. However, the ridiculous answer couldn't help but make her smile. Cade had joined up to keep himself fed.

"I don't know what I was thinking." She sighed. "Of course."

"It's not that funny." Cade huffed, looking back tot he towering Ikon by turning himself.

"He'll burn it all down, you know?" Brunhild staggered forward. "All the food."

"That's why we have to beat him." Cade nodded.

"Something to protect." Brunhild nodded, raising her spear and pointing it at Halogi.

Her muscles screamed at her, but she didn't care. Her heart beat in her chest like a marching drum, but she didn't care. Her spear shook in her hand, but she didn't care.

Halogi raised its hand, and a flaming orb appeared inside it. It rose from the Ikon's hand, blotting out the sun and replacing the light with a bright orange flame. Heat washed over the shore as the orb grew, brighter and larger than even the sun. Brunhild gulped down a dry lump in her throat as the strength left her arms. She had been ready to fight, but no one could dodge or block such an orb. Raw aether, burning in the sky floated aloft above Halogi's palm. Her estimation that the island might be destroyed was far too low. Such a flame would consume it.

"Uh oh," Cade said, his eyes wide and searching for an escape.

Clatter.

Brunhild dropped her spear, too much power burning through her body. "They didn't say it could do that."

It was over. Though she wanted to fight, would keep going until she dropped dead, nothing could stand against that flame. The orb stopped its growth, and Halogi raised a single finger. With one movement, it could send the orb crashing down into Grim Aegis.

Crack. Boom.

A line of purple lightning streaked across the sky, crashing into the orb before making a hard turn down into the Ikon's chest. It pierced through the massive creature and crashed down into the water below. For a moment, silence dominated the world around Brunhild. Not even her heartbeat could be heard in the wake of the deafening boom. Then a shadow, long and narrow, crossed over her, blocking the light from the orb as it collapsed in on itself. The fire, instead of raining down over the lake, dissipated in the sky with a crackling sound.

A human figure fell from the center of Halogi as the flame disappeared, landing in the water. A second figure stood out on that water, wearing the black and red of the Military Police. Brunhild recognized her, and she recognized the shape of the shadow from above her. She put the pieces together in her mind, and a manic smile crossed her face.

"The barrier's down," she said, falling to her knees beside Cade. "I'm an idiot. They made it through when the barrier fell."

A giddy laugh filled her as she saw Chief of the Sky, Adhira Arya, stepped across the water. She didn't know who the figure was that Arya pulled out of the water, nor did she care. Ropes fell around her and Cade, and several back and red suited soldiers repelled down. The nightmare of the last three weeks was over. The calvary had arrived, and everything would be put back to how it should be.

They had won.

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