“Not a care in the world.” A shadowed figure muttered. “To think they have the stones to just enjoy themselves.”

  “Would you care about the ants you stepped on on your travels, Fox?” Another shadowed figure murmured in response.

  The two shadows watched the Auction Hall from on high, perched on one of the many steppes of this District’s rge granaries. They were a dozen stories high, and yet they could make out the people below clearly enough.

  There was a fre of mana, quickly extinguished. “Are you calling us ants, wolf?” The first figure hissed, not turning towards his companions.

  “I’m saying they call us that,” Wolf murmured. “No, not even that. You don’t call an ant an ant. You simply step on them.”

  Fox didn’t have anything to say to that.

  Both figures wore shimmering cloaks, the exact color of the wall behind them such that they blended in perfectly. That color would change quickly whenever the surface behind them changed. Both wore white masks with light green lenses. One was in the shape of a fox, the other, a wolf.

  “You think it’s fine? With Quickstep here?” Fox finally asked, genuine concern in his voice.

  “It has to be,” Wolf muttered. “We won’t have another shot.”

  There was silence for a time, and then Fox muttered. “We’re not going in just to die, are we?”

  Fox looked at him, his gaze unreadable both past the mask and the lenses. “That’s why we have him, remember?”

  Wolf sighed and rose. “Looks like it’s time.”

  The air around the great hall began to shimmer and glow. It was a subtle phenomenon at first, one that people around only slowly began to notice and point out.

  The two leapt towards the roof, nding on the roof unnervingly silently. Above them, the sky solidified, a yer of blue obstructing the auction hall from the outside world. The sound of the city outside was gone.

  The auction hall was sealed off.

  There was a single, distinct moment where I saw the roof hurtling down towards me. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, I channeled my mana, letting it roar within me. I hurled myself to the side, right on top of Damian.

  Maybe with this, at least, he would-

  The world blurred.

  I swayed on my feet, almost falling over. So sudden was the transition between me sitting down and now standing. Damian swayed in front of me. He did end up falling back on his ass.

  “Anias, report.” My father’s voice was sharp, brief.

  I noticed a very rge hole in the wall right next to me.

  “Not sure, My Lord,” Anias muttered. She closed her eyes. Something in the air shifted, rushed out from the corridor we were in. “There’s some kind of barrier outside the auction hall. I can’t tell what it’s from.”

  My father had saved us in that brief second. I was sure of it.

  “What the hell is going on, Adrian?” Duke Greenward roared. His daughter cowered right next to him, a few feet away from us. Duke Greenward looked furious. Cordelia’s face was pale.

  Not just us, then.

  My father ignored them. “Anias, get these two to-” He paused, looking at the other Duke. “Get them and Duke Greenward somewhere safe.” His voice was serious, ft.

  Doom

  That was the only way to describe the wave of primal fear that went through me. Every muscle fiber begged me to run. My heart felt like it was buried in my throat. My entire body shuddered. Everyone paused. Duke Greenward’s eyes bulged so far they looked like they were about to fall out. Cordelia swayed, falling back against the wall closest to her.

  “What-” I tried to croak out.

  “That’s good! That’s good!” Cpping. From somewhere behind me. An enthusiastic voice. “You know I would have been pissed if all it took was bringing one roof down to kill you.”

  My father was the only person who moved. Perhaps he was the only person who could. I’d never known that mana could feel like this.

  “Anias, I need you to take them and run.” My father whispered. “Run far. Run fast. Blend in with the crowd if you have to, I don’t think they’re here for us.”

  “I’ll s-see it done, My Lord.” Even she sounded frightened.

  Click. Click.

  Even using my Gift was hard. It took all the willpower I had to turn my fear down. I could finally breathe again. Could move. I turned around, just enough to see.

  I noticed the sword first. Bck steel, so dark it seemed to be sucking in the light from its surroundings. A blue gem on the hilt.

  Then, I noticed the man. He could have only been a few years older than I was. Messy bck hair, sharp features. It was his dark eyes that made me take a step back. They reminded me of a wolf, singur in focus when it found its prey.

  Somehow, my soul knew this man was a Hero.

  “I’m almost honored.” My father said coldly. “To think one of your lot would come here. Why? Why are you here? Which God do you serve? Are there others?”

  The man smiled. “Don’t humor yourself. Your Gift is simply frustrating, that’s all. Don’t think yourself worthy of my presence. Your reputation has grown bigger than the man himself. I see that now. If you want answers, how about you come find them yourself, old man.”

  “Careful.” My father whispered. “The youth are ever confident in their abilities.”

  My father’s mana fred. My fear rose again.

  Click.

  “Esra, you can move, can’t you?” He whispered.

  I blinked, I’d completely forgotten about maintaining appearances. It was too te now.

  “Y-yes.”

  “Follow Anias. Don’t leave her side.” He seemed to struggle with something. “We’ll talk ter. There’s….” He shook his head. “Go.”

  Then, he was gone.

  Thud

  My father had crossed the distance of the hall in the blink of an eye. The Hero had blocked his bde, a bde I hadn’t even seen move. It sounded wrong, somehow. That wasn't what two cshing swords were supposed to sound like.

  “My Lady, you must move.” Anias hissed.

  I turned, saw Damian still frozen. I grabbed his arm, yanked him in the direction Anias was moving.

  We ran. Duke Greenward looked frozen in pce. Was Cordelia even still conscious?

  “Move or I’ll move you!” Anias roared. That seemed to snap the two out of it.

  I dared not look back.

  “Anias, who the hell was that?!” Damian yelled as soon as we ran far enough. It hadn’t taken long at all before we’d started to hear a booming noise from where we’d left the two.

  “A Hero, you fool.” Duke Greenward gasped. Despite appearances, the man was the opposite of fit. “Which means we’re damn lucky to still be alive.”

  I was heaving too, reinforcing my limbs with mana to keep myself going

  “Is- is he going to be okay?” I asked.

  “Don’t think about that right now.” Anias snapped.

  She was leading the way, apparently having been here before. She was leading us down a set of stairs, only to stop at a barred door. A purple glow settled over the door. There was a wrenching, and then the door swung open, before falling over entirely as the purple glow left.

  I could hear shouting now, the shouting only growing louder as I kept following Anias. Duke Greenward and his daughter trailed after us. The man had tried to pull rank at least twice now, demanding that he be protected first. Anias had helpfully told him that he could either follow or fend for himself. He’d rgely been quiet since then.

  There were two more locked doors, and then we were in the rge auditorium I’d only seen from above. Dozens of people crowded around the center of the pce, a circle carved out of all the chairs being tossed to the side. At least twelve of the Karr were there, their eyes watchful for their surroundings.

  One of them noticed us, moved over. “You. Who?” He barked. In his hands was a spear, one that he seemed very eager to use.

  “House Veyne,” Anias answered. The man regarded her suspiciously.

  Duke Greenward stepped forward and showed his hand. The Karr finally nodded, pointed at the crowd. “There. Safest pce. Go. Hurry.”

  “Not even a bow….” Duke Greenward muttered to himself.

  Anias led Damian and me over to the center/ More than once, a confused noble or merchant was about to walk right over us before Anias shoved them to the side. They’d look at us, look at Anias, and then proceed to back away as far as they could.

  “Anias,” I said finally, my beating heart stilling just a bit. Just because I didn’t feel the fear, it didn’t mean my body wouldn’t react still. “Is he- is he going to be okay?”

  Anias looked at me. I could practically see her weighing the benefits of lying or telling the truth. Finally, she nodded. “He should be. A Hero is a camity, but your Father has a rare Gift. Battle experience. If anyone can survive, it’ll be him.”

  I took a deep breath, nodded.

  They -for I doubted that man was working alone- had attacked an Auction House. He hadn’t sounded like he was here for my father. Something about him had been too dismissive. He hadn’t tried to stop the rest of us from running either, which meant he had no interest in Duke Greenward.

  I doubted any of the other nobles and merchants in attendance would warrant this.

  That could only really mean one thing. This attack was happening because of one of the items on auction.

  “Anias, where do they keep the items for auction? Before they bring them out?”

  “My Lady, they should have a storage room.” She murmured. “It would be somewhere close by, guarded behind a room protected by a powerful Magical Implement.”

  Close by, but not here. That was good.

  My eyes drifted through the crowd. The nobles were trying to keep up the facade of being calm and composed. The merchants were just panicking, bumping into each other, trying to exit the room, only for one of the Karr to shove them back.

  I stopped the auctioneer; he was still standing on the raised podium, trying to shout for people to be calm. Whatever he was using to project his voice didn’t seem to be working anymore.

  Just behind him was a giant obsidian circle. An Artifact, from what I could remember. I didn’t remember what it was called.

  We were safe. The only way we wouldn’t be, is if we were unlucky enough that the entire reason this was happening was-

  “Looks like all the little rats are in one pce.”

  Something whizzed through the air. I blinked. There was a dagger hovering in the air in front of me, just a few inches away. A purple glow surrounded it. Damian had one hovering in front of his face too.

  People screamed all around us. At least a dozen merchants and nobles had died instantly, daggers protruding from their skulls.

  “My Lady, get back.” Anias hissed. I nodded, quite literally stepping behind her.

  “Damian, get here, damn it.” Damian looked more reluctant before slowly nodding. “What the hell are you doing here?!”

  “Shut up.” Was that Cordelia? Either way, we all hid behind Anias.

  This rge auditorium had one main entrance. Two figures stood there now, each wearing shimmering clothes and oddly shaped animal masks.

  “You’ve gotten soft, Fox.” One of them muttered. “All you had to do was clear out some trash.”

  “That’s rude, Wolf. One of them has a rather annoying little Gift. You know I hate her type.”

  It took me until now to realize that ours weren’t the only daggers that were floating. Dozens of them were just inches away from impaling their intended targets. All of them had the same purple glow.

  Some of the Karr charged at them, glowing spears in their hands. Others hung back, extended their hands. Trails of fire, lightning, and ice roared towards the two. None of them hit. As soon as the powers got within two feet of them, they all turned and twisted, missing the two. Bolts of fire smmed into the ground just in front of them. Arcs of lightning whizzed past them.

  The Karr attacked, spears thrusting out. The two men didn’t move to dodge. Every blow just missed. Instead, they attacked.

  The one with the wolf mask clicked his fingers, daggers materializing in the air above him. Those daggers bit into the attacking Karr. More daggers materialized, those shooting off into the attacking mages before they could try their attacks again.

  It took less than five seconds. All of the Karr were dead.

  “T-those bastards!” One of the nobles cried out.

  Everyone stepped as far away from the two as they could.

  “Does anyone else wish to try?” The Fox mask called out. “Come on. I know you all like your desperate st stands. Hurry up.”

  There was silence.

  Duke Greenward stepped forward. “How dare you mock House Greenward!” He cpped his hands in front of him, channeled mana.

  Two giant stone hands shot up from behind the two attackers. Neither of them moved. Instead, the hands twisted out of the way. Instead, they crashed right into some of the merchants and the nobles that had been closest to the two.

  “W-what?” Julian Greenward’s face was completely pale.

  I was channeling my mana. There had to be some way to use my Gift to get out of this.

  Click. Click.

  My head ached. My vision focused, zoomed in until I could see everything. The pain came, but I could turn that down soon, too. Maybe with these eyes I could help Anias in some way.

  It’d destroy my cover. I was okay with that.

  The wolf masked man tilted his head and pointed right at me. “Little girl, now that’s a dangerous amount of mana you have there.” I couldn’t see his face, but I could hear the smile in his words.

  The fox mask sighed. “Really? Now we have to take one alive? I guess bossman will be pissed if he finds out we let that much mana slip away.”

  Anias turned and looked at me. “Run.” She hissed. “Behind the stage. Now.”

  “Anias, you can’t fight them.” I protested, even as Damian grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away. “W-we can help.”

  Damian yanked me back.

  Damn it.

  We ran.