The Pirates of Pacta Servanda

Chapter Eleven

Mari cursed and aimed her weapon as the Roc came to ground directly ahead of them, the Mage on the back of the giant bird gazing toward the group of Mages and Mechanics.

Alain put himself between Mari and the Roc, his hands out. “Mari, it is not attacking.”

She glared at him. “I don’t have good experiences with giant birds. You do remember that, don’t you?”

“If the Mage riding the Roc meant to harm you or me, the Roc would not have alighted on this plaza. It would have remained in the air and struck at us.”

“Mari?” Alli called. Her own weapon was leveled toward the Roc. “What’s the deal with this one?”

Mari shook her head at Alain as she called back to the others. “Hold your fire. Alain thinks this giant bird isn’t out to kill me.” In a lower voice, she spoke sharply to him, indicating the Mage on the Roc. “Well? What do we do?”

“I will speak with the Mage,” Alain said.

“You will not get within reach of that thing’s beak or claws!” Mari objected.

“I will take care,” Alain said.

He turned to face the Roc and advanced several paces, then waited silently in Mage fashion.

The Mage riding the giant creature patted the Roc’s neck. The immense bird lowered its head so that the Mage could slide off onto the pavement. Dropping the cowl of her robes, the Mage walked up to Alain, expressionless face giving no clue to her motives.

“You are Mage Alain of Ihris,” the Roc Mage said.

“I am,” Alain said.

“I am Mage Alera of Larharbor,” she said. Her eyes shifted from Alain to Mari. “The daughter is here.”

“Why are you here?” Alain asked.

“I am one of several Mages sent by the elders in Julesport to search for the daughter and report on her location to the nearest Mage Guild Hall.” Mage Alera’s gaze went back to Alain. “Instead, I have come to warn you. A Mage in Julesport had foresight of the daughter coming to this city. The elders did not trust in the foresight, but thought it wise to send me and others to search the south. They also thought it wise to inform the Mechanics that the daughter might come here.”

Alain was sure his surprise had shown despite his efforts to look as emotionless as Mage Alera. “Elders of the Mage Guild spoke with Mechanics?”

“No. The elders sent one they respected least to speak with the Mechanics.” Alera’s own impassivity cracked as she spoke, revealing anger and resentment. “The message was given, then this Mage was ordered to search.”

“Why do you warn us?” Alain asked.

Mage Alera did not answer for a long moment, then looked back briefly toward her Roc. “This Mage tires of disrespect and poor treatment. This Mage has seen her Roc ended early by orders of the elders. This Mage seeks a new wisdom, and whispers among the Guild are that Mage Alain and the daughter are finding such a path.”

“I will speak with the daughter,” Alain said. He walked back to Mari, who had lowered her weapon but was still pointing it toward the Roc. “Mage Alera came to warn us. The elders in Julesport learned by foresight that you would come here, and they told the Mechanics.”

Mechanic Calu stared at Alain. “Mages told the Mechanics?”

“I guess wanting me dead is making my enemies cooperate,” Mari said. “She’s telling the truth?”

“Mage Alera does not lie. She was sent here to search for you, but instead wishes to join us.”

“Alain, what are we supposed to do with a giant bird?”

“Like all illusions, the Roc will cease to be when the power put into it is exhausted,” Alain said. “I sense it has little time left. Have I told you that the elders have little liking for those Mages who create Rocs? The elders distrust the emotional connections those Mages have with their creatures, for every time such a Mage creates a Roc, it is the same Roc. That is one reason for Mage Alera’s desire to join us. She says the elders have sometimes forced her to end her Roc before the spell would have been exhausted.”

“They’re like a pair?” Mechanic Alli asked, lowering her weapon and gazing at the Roc with a growing smile. “Like a rider and a special horse, or one of those people who work with a rescue dog?”

Mari’s face reflected growing alarm. “The Mages told the Mechanics Guild that I might be here. If the Senior Mechanics took that warning seriously, they might be sending reinforcements to Edinton.”

“Wouldn’t they have used the far-talker to warn the Senior Mechanics in Edinton?” Calu asked, then answered his own question. “No. They would have assumed there was too big a chance of some malcontent at Edinton hearing and passing a warning to you, and they never would have dreamed that you could capture the Guild Hall.”

“A ship could not arrive quickly,” Alain began.

“There’s a rail line, Alain! The regular train isn’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow, but if the Senior Mechanics laid on a special express—”

“It could be getting close now,” Alli said. “We have no way of knowing how much time we have left.”

Alain pointed back to Mage Alera. “There is a way to see if one of your Mechanic trains approaches this city.”

Mari gave him a skeptical look. “The bird? We’re going to send a Mage we just met on a giant bird to see if there is a train getting close to Edinton?”

“Yes.”

“How far can she see?” Calu asked.

“It depends on high the Roc flies,” Alain said.

“Yeah. Like somebody on top of a mountain looking out across the land.” Calu grinned at Mari. “This is an amazing capability, Mari. If Alain says we can trust this Mage, why not use it?”

“Because you and me and Alli all know a bird that big cannot fly!”

“The Roc creates the illusion of flying,” Alain said. “Or rather, the Mage creates the illusion of a Roc that creates the illusion of flying.”

“Oh, well, why didn’t you explain that before? Now it all makes sense!” Mari said in what Alain thought of as her sarcasm voice. She sighed. “I’m never going to get used to this stuff. What’s her name again?”

“Mage Alera.”

Mari walked up to her, Alain at her side. “Lady Mage Alera,” Mari said. “Thank you for your warning.”

Alera looked back blankly.

“She does not know what thank you means,” Alain murmured to Mari.

“Right. Lady Mage Alera, would you do something for us?”

“You do not order? You… ask?” Alera said.

“Yes. I ask. Do you know what Mechanic trains are?”

Alera shook her head. “I do not know this word. I know nothing of Mechanics.”

“You have seen these trains,” Alain said. “They move more swiftly than anything that runs, and put out smoke from their front.”

“Yes,” Alera said. “I know those. The smoke snakes. They follow the shining lines across the land. Sometimes we have heard them scream.”

“Scream?” Mari asked. “Oh. The whistles. Um, we can explain that later. Could you… fly… up and see if one of those is coming toward this city from the north?”

“My Roc and I can do this.” Mage Alera paused, her head lowered, then looked at both Mari and Alain. “Does your wisdom permit my Roc to have a name?” Even though Alera did her best to hide any feeling in her voice, a note of yearning came through in the question.

“Yes,” Mari said, her attitude finally softening. “You are welcome with us, Mage Alera. You and your Roc.”

“He will cease soon,” Alera said. “But he will be again, and then his name will be Swift.” She ran to the Roc, vaulting up as the huge bird bent his neck once more. As soon as Mage Alera was settled, the Roc spread his vast wings, raised them, and leaped into the air with a push of its legs and a downward sweep of wings that sent a powerful gust of air to stagger everyone nearby.

Alli watched the Roc rise into the sky. “For the first time in my life, I wish I was something other than a Mechanic,” she whispered.

Mari had broken into a trot, heading for a group of Mechanics and commons visible near the Mechanics Guild Hall. Alain caught up with her, the others trailing, as Mari reached the group.

“I see that you survived,” Professor S’san said. “I hadn’t seen this side of you before, Mari. Reacting to a crisis, taking charge, giving clear orders, and leading by example. I knew that you had moral courage to spare, but it was nice to see you demonstrating great personal courage as well.”

Mari laughed incredulously. “Oh, please, Professor. Courage? Do you have any idea how scared I was?”

“And you fought anyway. Just what do you think courage is?”

“I… never mind. There are more important issues.”

Alain listened as Mari explained to the others what they had learned from Mage Alera. “How soon can we get out of here?” she finished.

“There is a problem that must be resolved before we can answer that,” Captain Banda said. “I’ve sized up what Mechanic Ken and the others want to take, and there’s far too much for the Pride to carry.”

“We can’t easily choose what to leave,” Master Mechanic Lukas added. “We need it all. Lathes, punches, small forges, drill presses, you name it. We need them.”

“Can we buy another ship?” Calu asked. “How much money was in the Guild Hall treasury?”

Professor S’san shook her head. “Not that much. Contrary to rumor, Guild Halls rarely have large amounts of currency on hand, especially out-of-the-way Guild Halls like this. It all gets forwarded to headquarters in Palandur or to the Guild offices in Longfalls.”

“Do any of you have any idea,” Mari asked, “what the Guild might have sent if they took the Mage elders’ warning seriously?”

“The assassins, if they could get some in time,” S’san said.

“Maybe common soldiers,” Lukas suggested. “As many as they could get their hands on. Mercenaries or loaners from anyone wanting to ingratiate themselves with the Guild. I doubt the Senior Mechanics would use commons whose loyalty might shift to Mari.”

Alain saw several commons standing nearby, obviously waiting but equally obviously not wanting to interrupt a discussion among Mechanics. “Mari, perhaps these officials have information.”

She looked. “Maybe they do. Are you waiting to talk to me?”

The officials walked forward, then as one began to kneel.

“Don’t!” Mari said. “Don’t! That’s better,” she added as the officials straightened again.

“Lady,” said one of the richly dressed officials, “we are in your debt. But we hope that you understand our ability to aid you is hindered by our obligations to the safety of our city and our people.”

“But we still want to help!” another said, looking daggers at the first to speak.

“We have been told that you intend leaving Edinton very soon?” a third asked.

“Yes,” Mari said. “We need to load this equipment, which requires another ship.”

“It also requires more heavy wagons and more laborers to get the equipment down to the docks,” Lukas said.

The officials bent into a whispered discussion and debate that was ended by one woman yelling at the others. “You fools! Here we are being threatened by a pirate whose forces are strong enough to capture a Guild Hall of the Mechanics and to defeat a monster of the Mages! If she takes a ship as well, what can we do? Our military is not capable of resisting such a force!”

Alain studied the woman, trying to understand her words and her tone. “Is she speaking a lie or does she believe this to be the truth?” Alain asked Mari.

“It’s the kind of lie that everyone knows is a lie but can pretend is the truth,” she replied.

“I do not understand.”

Another official nodded, speaking with mock grimness. “And if this pirate also demands our cooperation in providing wagons and laborers, how can we deny her? We must do as she demands. The safety of the city requires it.”

“No one is going to believe this!” the first official to have spoken insisted.

“They will when they see that dragon! And even the Mechanics will know that their own Guild Hall fell to this pirate!”

“I would not want to fight the Lady’s forces,” a woman in uniform with gold shining on the collar said as she approached the group. “My soldiers are in awe of the Lady, of her Mechanics, and of her Mages.”

A man with her, in a different uniform but also high-ranking, pointed to Mari. “She wears a knife. May I see it, Lady?”

Mari pulled the sailor’s knife from the leather belt sheath that the crew of the Pride had crafted.

The man examined it, nodded, then looked to the officials. “A sign of the fellowship. The pirates of these seas have accepted her as one of their own. My cutters are not adequate to confront this pirate’s forces, and the warships of the Confederation that are in port would require orders to act.”

“Where are the Confederation’s representatives?” demanded the first official, still reluctant. “What do they say?”

“They cannot be found,” the uniformed woman said with mock regret. “It is most distressing.”

“No one will believe any of this!” the official insisted again..

“But it is true,” Alain said, his impassive Mage’s voice demanding everyone’s full attention. “A pirate with a strong force entered this city. You could not stop her. Her force captured the Mechanics Guild Hall. Her force defeated a Mage dragon. Her force will take another ship with them, and she requires of you laborers and wagons. You can say all of that, and not even a Mage will see a lie in you.”

“We do not need lectures on truth from a Ma—” The reluctant official suddenly realized that he was about to insult a Mage to his face. His mouth twisted in a frantic attempt to let no more sounds escape.

The man in a blue uniform gazed toward the harbor. “It is unfortunate that the pirate is demanding… the Worthy Son. I will ensure that the ship’s crew is replaced with volunteers, and that the ship is brought next to the dock for loading. How quickly must this be done?”

“How quickly can it be done?” Mari asked. “Here is Mechanic Captain Banda. Please work with him.”

“Please? I have never before heard a Mechanic use that word in my presence.” The officer saluted. “It will be my honor to do as you say, Lady. Under duress, of course.”

“There may be Mechanic forces on their way to Edinton,” Alain told the woman in the red uniform.

“We cannot fight them,” she replied. “Not unless the daughter wants us to rise up now.”

“Can you remain uninvolved even if the Mechanics Guild demands assistance?”

“It would take time to respond to the Guild’s demands,” the woman said. “Perhaps a lot of time. My forces have been greatly stressed by the pirate attack and the dragon.”

“Thank you,” Mari said, awkward with gratitude. “I need to talk to my people about some other things.”

“We will be nearby until you depart,” one of the officials assured her.

As Alain and Mari walked away, Alain heard argument break out again, at least a couple of the officials terrified of what might happen to the city if its cooperation with the daughter was discovered or even suspected by the Great Guilds.

“It’s almost a relief to have some of them disagree with me,” Mari said to Alain. “I’m beginning to worry that I might start liking being surrounded by people who will agree to anything I say.”

“I do not think that will ever be a problem,” Alain assured her. “The more people are in awe of you, the less you like it.”

Mari choked out a brief laugh. “I’ve always been a little resistant to being told who to be and what to do. I guess being seen as… her… feels like people trying to make me into something else. So if I ever start to act too high and mighty, just start worshiping me and I’ll start being humble just to spite you.”

“But I already worship you,” Alain protested.

That earned him a full laugh.

Mari dove into the work of making decisions needed to loot the Guild Hall. Alain stood by, watching for signs of deception in those Mari spoke with. Mechanics Alli and Calu also stood ready to assist. Mechanic Ken came up with information and left with more instructions, while the older Mechanics like Lukas and S’san gave advice that Mari listened to intently. Open-bed wagons rolled up to the Guild Hall and large Mechanic devices were hoisted onto them. Every once in a while several loaded wagons would head for the docks, accompanied by Mechanics who appeared gleeful to be pillaging their Guild Hall.

Alain was not certain how much time had passed when he felt the presence of a now-familiar Mage and looked to the north. A black dot was visible in the sky and growing rapidly larger. “Mage Alera returns.”

Mari stared as the Roc glided low above the plaza and came to a running halt nearby.

“A smoke-snake comes,” Mage Alera said even before dismounting from the Roc. She slid off the bird’s neck and inclined her head toward Mari. “Elder, the smoke snake is on the shining lines entering the far side of the hills beyond this city.”

“Kasi!” Master Mechanic Lukas called to another Mechanic who was not yet wearing one of Mari’s armbands. “Did you get any notice of a special coming in today?”

Mechanic Kasi ran up to Lukas. “No. A special? Why would the Guild have sent a special train?”

“They got warned that we might hit Edinton,” Mari explained. “The train is just entering the hills north of here. How much time do we have?”

“From there, if they come in at the best speed they can manage on those stretches, maybe two hours.”

“That’s not nearly enough,” Lukas said. “We’d have to abandon almost everything.”

“Is there a place where we could blow the track?” Alli demanded. “Some spot where it would really slow them down?”

Mechanic Kasi nodded. “Where the trestle crosses the river north of town, on the near side of those hills. That’s the only good spot between here and there. Blow the trestle and they’ll have to climb down, cross the river, climb up, and walk along the track to get here. That’d take several hours at least. But you can’t do it. There is no way to get to that trestle before the train does.”

“Horses at full gallop—” Calu began.

“Not even close,” Kasi said. “The train is too near and that trestle is too far. Nothing could get you there fast enough.”

Everyone had forgotten Mage Alera, but now she spoke as dispassionately as ever. “If a Mechanic can do a spell at this place, my Roc and I can take the Mechanic there.”

“Fly?” Alli said, then broke into a broad smile. “Yes! She can fly me to the trestle, I can blow it, and we’ll be fine.”

Calu waved both hands at Alli. “Whoa. Wait. We have to think about this.”

“Why?” Alli asked. “I’m going to fly on the back of an imaginary bird to plant an explosive charge in front of a train loaded with heavily armed, hostile Mechanics. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Then I need to go, too,” Calu insisted.

Mage Alera shook her head once. “The spell forming my Roc grows old and fades. He cannot carry three to the river and back.”

“Alli…” Mari stared at her helplessly.

“The suggestion of Mage Alera and Mechanic Alli is a good one,” Alain said, knowing that Mari did not want to hear that but needed to regardless.

“Do I get a say in this?” Mechanic Calu asked, his eyes on Alli.

She stepped close to him and whispered, then kissed him. “It’ll be all right,” Alli added as she stepped back. “How much can I carry, Mage Alera?”

Alera looked at her Roc. “He grows weak. Carry as little as needed.”

Alli tossed her rifle to Calu. “I’ve already got the fuse I require, but I need several blocks of standard explosive compound C. Who can get it for me really fast?”

Mechanic Kasi and Mechanic Ken ran off. Alli pulled a small packet from a pocket of her Mechanics jacket, placed it carefully in one pocket of her pants, then peeled off her jacket before kicking off her boots.

“Do you want my pistol?” Mari asked.

“I’m good,” Alli said. “I just need those boom blocks.”

Alain saw the look on Mechanic Calu’s face and felt the need to say something. “I am sorry,” he said to Calu.

“Don’t be,” Calu said. “This was Alli’s idea, and it is a good idea. I just wish it wasn’t Alli doing it. But she’s right. I shouldn’t stop her from doing what she’s best at. You and I really made some choices in women, huh? Never a dull moment.”

“I do not think I have experienced a dull moment since meeting Mari,” Alain agreed.

Mechanics Kasi and Ken came running back with what looked to Alain like several bricks, though the material seemed softer. Alli pulled her shirt out of her pants and wrapped the blocks into the front, then nodded to Alera. “Tell me what to do, Lady Mage.”

Alera helped a visibly nervous Alli onto the back of the Roc, the bird eyeing her with the vast orb of his right eye. As soon as Alli was settled, Mage Alera climbed on in front of her, leaning over to whisper into the ear of her Roc.

The bird shuffled about, then ran across the plaza, hopping into the air just in time to clear the crowds and the buildings around its margin.

Mari stared after it, blinking hard. “Alain, what else should we do?”

“Even if—” Alain saw the effect of his first two words on Calu and quickly changed them. “After Mechanic Alli succeeds, the Mechanics from your Guild will still come on, though they will need more time. You will need armed Mechanics to slow them further. It is called a rear guard.”

“I’ll—” Mari started.

“No!” came simultaneously from Professor S’san, Master Mechanic Lukas, Mechanic Calu, and Alain.

“I’ll take command of this,” Calu said. “You stay back for once, Mari. How many Mechanics do you think we need, Alain?”

“It has to be enough to slow the attackers, but not so many that the rear guard is slow to retreat and cannot escape,” Alain said.

“Twenty?” Calu suggested.

“I’ll ask for volunteers,” Mechanic Kasi said. “They’ll all have rifles?”

“Yes,” Calu said. “We’ll take up positions near the railyard and see how long we can hold them up.”

Master Mechanic Lukas held out a blocky Mechanic device. “You’ll need a far-talker. This is Guild junk, but it’s all we’ve got.”

“The attackers can listen in on those,” Mari objected.

“We’ll use a code like when we were Apprentices,” Calu said. “Let’s go, Kasi. I’ll be real happy to have something to do to take my mind off of other things.”

“I should—” Alain started to say.

“Uh-uh,” Mari said. “If I have to be smart, so do you. Stay with me. No matter what anyone says, I will not leave for the ships before we’ve gotten everyone else off safely.”

Alain had thought the activity around the Guild Hall had been moving quickly before. But now it sped up, everyone working at a frantic pace. The Mages could do little except occasionally make part of a wall vanish to ease the removal of large Mechanic items.

He felt the return of Alera and called. “Mari!”

She turned with a growing smile of relief as Mari saw that Alain was pointing to the north.

The Roc glided in very low, barely clearing the buildings about the plaza, and came to a long, stumbling landing that ended near the Guild Hall.

Alli as much fell as dismounted from the Roc, followed by Mage Alera. While Alli staggered up to Mari, Alera knelt next to the lowered head of her Roc. She placed both arms on the Roc’s neck, embracing it as the Roc rubbed her with his head.

The power put into the spell completely used up, the Roc disintegrated into a shower of dust that itself vanished before reaching the ground. Alera was left kneeling on the empty pavement.

Alain saw Mari wiping away a tear as she spoke to Alli. “How did it go?”

“No problem,” Alli said, sitting down heavily on the nearest step. “My legs are a little wobbly. You would not believe— That’s for later. The important thing is that when we landed on this side of the trestle we could see the smoke from the approaching train. Mage Alera put us down right on the edge, so all I had to do was get down, run onto the trestle, find the best spot, plant my charge, set the fuse, and run back.”

Alli inhaled deeply. “Which I did. The train was coming into sight when the charge blew and knocked half the trestle into the river.”

“Were we right?” Mari asked. “Was the Guild sending someone on that train to reinforce Edinton’s Guild Hall?”

“Judging from the number of rifles that fired at us as Mage Alera and I flew off, I’d say the answer is surely yes. We had a lot of bullets chasing us before that bird got us clear.” Alli looked around. “What happened to the bird?”

“It has gone,” Alain said. He walked to Mage Alera, hearing Alli asking another question of Mari.

“Where’s Calu?”

“Commanding the rear guard,” Mari said.

“He’s—” Alli threw up her hands. “Isn’t that like a man? You risk your life, so he figures he has to risk his life. What is the matter with men?”

Alain offered his hand to Mage Alera. “Let me help you stand.”

She looked up at him, impassive and tragic at the same time. “Help?”

“As you helped Mechanic Alli do what she must.” Alain got Mage Alera to her feet, not surprised to discover that she was completely worn out, having put what strength she could into keeping her Roc going as long as possible. He put a spare armband on her sleeve. “Do you see the Mages over there? You can rest among them. We will leave this city tonight on ships.”

“Is it worth it, Mage Alain? Is… helping… the daughter a path of wisdom?”

“It is,” he said. “May you soon ride Swift again.”

Alera looked at Alain. “You remembered his name. But he is even less than a shadow.”

“Not to one who believes in him.”

It was very late in the afternoon when Alain heard the rattle of Mechanic weaponry firing in another part of the city.

Professor S’san listened on a looted far-talker, then nodded to Mari. “Mechanic Calu says the Mechanics he is facing are professional fighters. He is not trying to defend any spot, but is only having his Mechanics take stands long enough to cause the attackers to have to stop and advance cautiously afterwards.”

“Alli will kill me if Calu is hurt,” Mari said. “Where is Alli?”

“With Calu,” Alain said. “She told me to tell you.”

Shaking her head, Mari yelled at those still working. “Drop anything we haven’t already loaded! Get the loads down to the dock and get yourselves and your loads onto the ship. Master Mechanic Lukas, inform Captain Banda that he needs to get all of our ships away from the dock as soon as possible, and have all of our boats waiting to take the rear guard and others to the ships.”

She paused. “Come on, Alain.”

Alain followed as Mari ran into the Guild Hall, moving through the hallways with the ease of someone familiar with the building. Reaching the Senior Mechanic conference room, Mari waved to the Mechanics guarding the door. “Get down to the docks.”

Entering, Alain saw most of the captive Senior Mechanics sitting against the far wall, looking subdued and dazed. “They’ve been kind of nervous around me for some reason,” Bev explained. “What the blazes is going on?”

“Mechanic attack force entering the city,” Mari murmured to her. “You and the other two in here get out, lock and bar the doors to this room, and head for the docks.”

“Got it. You’ve got something in your hair,” Bev pointed out. “Right there.”

Mari shuddered as she pulled out another fragment of dragon. “Don’t waste any time. I’m going to make certain no one else is left in the Hall.”

Alain followed again as Mari ran, stopping by numerous rooms to look inside and racing off again. She stopped to order the Mechanics guarding the Guild loyalists in the dining hall to seal the doors and then run for safety.

The far-talker Mari still carried began making noise. She listened, then shook her head. “Calu is falling back really quickly. He says if he doesn’t, the other guys will cut off the rear guard.”

They burst out of the front entry, Alain seeing that the sun had fallen so low that its rays were grazing the rooftops of Edinton. At the bottom of the stairs, Mechanic Bev waited along with several other armed Mechanics. “I didn’t get to go up against the dragon,” she said, “so I’m staying for this fight.”

In the midst of the erratic crashes of the Mechanic weapons, much louder now as the fight neared the Guild Hall, Alain heard a deeper boom.

“Alli must have set a bomb to slow them down,” Mari said. She ran, breathing heavily, to where the Edinton officials still waited. “Get out of here. Get all of the commons who aren’t already at home into shelter. If those Mechanic assassins see you they might kill you out of sheer meanness.”

“We’ll see you again, daughter!” one called as the officials took to their heels.

“Everyone else is heading for the docks,” Professor S’san said.

“Why are you still here?” Mari demanded. “Go!”

S’san hesitated, then nodded, joining the tail end of the fleeing procession.

Alain saw a patch of darkness appear on one side of the plaza, then moments later saw Mechanics wearing Mari’s armbands running toward them. “The attack comes,” he said.

Bev and the others knelt to aim their weapons, Mari standing beside Alain and counting as more Mechanics ran into the plaza, heading for the shelter offered by the Guild Hall. “Where are Alli and Calu?” she whispered.

A small group of Mechanics burst out of a street, pausing to fire a volley behind them, then bolted for all they were worth across the plaza.

Before the last of Mari’s rear guard had reached the Guild Hall’s walls, while they were still in the open, a larger group of Mechanics appeared and swung their weapons up to fire, ignoring the long-range shots of Bev and the rest of Mari’s Mechanics.