Semari was moving at a magically enhanced speed, racing ahead and then having to turn back around, the others unable to keep up. Tremors and quakes shook the ground, a nearby stone wall suddenly cracking, a fault in the stone shattering open, part of it starting to slide downwards.

‘There’s a junction, but it’s, like, already half blocked, so we’re going left.’

Hadric started speaking, his voice a slow drawl that Semari couldn’t be bothered to listen to, instead listening to Kethys. She was somewhat recovered, but still looked and sounded tired, blood drying on her face from where it had trickled down from her eyes.

‘Left it is, then. Let’s hope we can get out that way. Sure as the hells don’t want to get stuck down here.’

The walls here were covered with more creepy carvings, barely visible in the low light but making Semari’s eyes crawl whenever her eyes rested on them for more than a moment. Even with increasingly large cracks torn through the stone, it was still creepy! A loud crash echoed from behind them, a cloud of dust racing down the hallway, shoving past them, debris and grit pinging off Semari’s back. She inhaled, sucking in a mouthful of the stuff, coughing and spluttering.

She leaned backwards and grabbed at Hadric, trying to pull him forward. When she touched him, magic rippled, differing powers clashing and colliding, sparks of energy coming from her hand and moving super-slow as soon as they got close to Hadric. His skin felt cold and stiff, like his body was sheathed in something, preventing them from actually touching. His movements were clearly slowed still, but she could drag him easily enough, trying to see through the haze of choking dust.

Neitha was dragging behind, even slower than usual. With agonising slowness, her hands went to her satchel and opened it. She was covered with dust, her hair turned grey with it, grit settling into every nook and cranny of her clothes. Normally Semari would have snickered, but she could hear enough boom of falling stone, another air-blast of dirt coming towards them. She turned her head to avoid getting it full in the face, waiting for it to pass over her.

When it had, and she turned her head back, Neitha had pulled out a vial of something a bright and vivid yellow, pulling a cork out and chugging it down. Her eyes flared a matching colour for a moment, her face flushing a bright red, eyes going wide. She was still moving with magically induced slowness, but looked more aware now.

Whatever was happening, was making the whole place collapse around them! Another lintel over a passageway snapped into two, the stone above smashing into the gap, closing off another pathway.

Semari raced ahead again, slamming to a stop when she came to a junction. The heavy haze of dust in the air blocked her vision more than a few paces in either direction, some of it blowing back into her face. Did that mean it was the way out?

Hadric twitched, the greasy feeling of his skin popping away as the magic faded. He spoke, his voice normal now. ‘I really hope it’s not much further to the exit!’

Kethys approached from behind, still drag-carrying Neitha. ‘I just hope we can get out at all. That way, let’s go!’

They kept moving through the passageways, racing to stay ahead of the damage, the place falling apart around them. It was getting hard to breath, the debris sticking to Semari’s face, clogging her nostrils and getting into her mouth, dry and horrible-tasting. It got into her eyes, making them sting and prickle, and making them water, everything hard to see now.

She had to keep one hand running along the wall, or risk getting turned around in the dust and confusion. Having Hadric close was comforting, even if she could barely see him. Nearby rock exploded, sending out a sharp burst of shrapnel, cutting her skin, dust immediately sticking to the blood that oozed out.

Was that a touch of cooler, fresher air, or just her imagination? Stone cracked again, and weak and pallid sunlight trickled through. Kethys hissed in pain, but Semari jumped towards out, scrabbling her hands against the sharp-edged surface, ignoring how it cut at her hands. She tried to increased the size of the gap, wrenching at stone and rock, feeling her lungs and muscles burn, choking on the dust. More sunlight started to trickle through, as a sudden burst of languor ran through her. As she swayed, Hadric moved to support her, before pushing her over and reaching past, grabbing at stony stubs and helping to pull the wall apart.

The pale sunlight intensified, Neitha helping as well, although her movements came in odd starts and stutters, manic speed between lulls. Part of the ceiling came down close behind them, making Semari scrabble even faster. She didn’t want to get squashed here!

The stone started to give way, Semari able to feel fresher air on her hands, spurring her into further motion. A large segment gave way, falling towards them, Hadric throwing himself forward and managing to turn the momentum of it aside, so it fell to the floor. Semari jumped forward, wriggling through the gap. The stone scraped and scratched at her skin, tearing her clothing and armour, especially when hands shoved against her feet, pushing her forward faster. Her head smacked against solid stone, making sparks dance in her eyes before she recovered herself enough to move again.

It was too dark to see, as she moved forward again, feeling with her hands, fingers probing against rough and fractured stone. When she reached out again, there was more space above and below, and she pressed her palms against flat rock, using it to pull herself further forward, ignoring the pain from the stony scrapes.

There was nothing beneath her upper body, and she bent at the waist, smacking her head again, before wriggling her legs out from the stone and looking around. She was in a narrow alleyway, a wooden wall a few inches in front of her face, back in the slums. An ominous noise came from behind her, and she turned to see the stone wall creak and bulge. Neitha’s face started to emerge from the dusty gloom, and Semari reached forward and grabbed her arms, yanking her forward. Neitha yelped and whined as she was pulled across rough stone, Semari pulling harder than was needed. Hadric and Kethys were more important!

Semari let go of Neitha as soon as she was mostly outside, letting her drop to the floor, enjoying her grunt of pain. She peered through the gap, seeing more dust, hearing another worrying crunch. She could see that there was massive cracks forming in the rocky wall, starting to spread and fracture, before Hadric’s face appeared from the gloom. He was broader across the shoulders, making it harder to drag him forward, his body snagging and catching in the cramped confines.

‘Come on!’ She gave Neitha a light kick, trying to encourage them to get up and actually help. She drew her foot back for another toe-tap, before Neitha got the idea and stood up. She was still moving strangely, whatever she was dosing her with supplying her with intermittent bursts of strength and focus. She reached into the gap as well, and they both pulled on Hadric.

He grunted in pain as he was yanked over rock, Semari trying to get him out a little more gently than she had with Neitha. Blood was running from his forehead, plastering dust across his forehead, but he was conscious and aware enough to quickly grin at Semari.

That just left Kethys – her purple-toned face appeared in the dusty haze, managing to move with swift agility despite the tiny space. The wall cracked again, part of the gap suddenly filled with stone. Kethys reached her hand forward and Semari grabbed hold of it, then pulled as hard as she could.

Kethys was only light, her body easily getting pulled forward, slamming into Semari and sending the two of them staggering backwards. With a roar, the crack spat out a wave of dust, cracks splintering up and down the surface along the faultlines.

All of them stepped back as the ground shook, Neitha loosing her balance and falling against a wooden building. The ground shook again, wood splintering as stone bucked and cracked.

There was a shout from behind them, Semari spinning again to see two armoured figures, swords out, advancing towards them, faces covered by helmets. ‘Servants of the darkness! Surrender to your punishment!’

Someone grabbed at Semari from behind, a soft cloth going over her face. It was wet, a thick and pungent smell stinging her nostrils, setting her brain on fire. Unable to control herself, she charged, ducking beneath a sword strike and attacking backwards. She was so close to them that they were having difficulty using their swords properly, their shields hindering their movement and vision. Her attacks rattled off armour, but it kept them distracted, until Kethys attacked. Her enchanted blade was able to cut through their armour with ease, stabbing forward and cutting through the metal rings with a single swift motion.

One of them dropped to the ground, and Semari jumped at the other one, pummelling him with swift blows, although the strikes hurt her knuckles. He managed to raise his shield and block one strike from Kethys, her sword slicing deep into the wood of his shield. When she twisted it, part of the wood sliced away, and she dropped low, stabbing upwards from inside of his guard.

Another accurate strike, skewering him through the chest. Wet-sounding gasps came from inside his helmet, as Kethys withdrew her blade and let him sink to the floor. She stabbed him again for good measure, making sure he was dead, then flicked her blade clean.

The whole place was shaking violently, wooden buildings creaking and cracking as the surfaces they were built on bent. One suddenly vanished from view, a sinkhole opening up, dropping it down into a pit. Semari could hear screaming and panic, clenching her hands into fists, feeling nails prick her skin, her muscles tight and corded. She wanted to fight, her mind filled with anger and wrath.

Someone touched her shoulder and she whirled, hands coming up, barely able to prevent herself from striking at Hadric. Her heart was pounding fast, and she wanted to move, to fight, to do something, wanting to burn energy off.

‘Fuck, Neitha, what the hell is she dosed with? And can you bring her down? We need to get out of her without her trying to fight anything.’

Semari turned and spin-kicked the wall, the whole place shaking again. She giggled – that hadn’t been her, had it?

‘It was a bit of an experiment, so it would take quite a bit to take her down.’

Semari growled – she didn’t like being a test-dummy! Rage surged up within her, and she spun towards Neitha, before Kethys grabbed at her collar and pulled her off-balance.

‘No fighting! Neitha, stop testing things on Semari. Semari, don’t start any shit, none of us are in any position to fight.’

Semari felt herself grinning – she could fight! Despite her wounds and her tiredness, she felt like she could go again!

Another one of the slum-buildings tumbled into darkness, accompanied by screaming. She could hear the pop and crackle of fire now, some of the wood now on fire. Two figures rose up out of the crevasse. Magic energy flared between them, lances and bolts getting flung between them, the dust showing magical barriers between them.

Lightning crackled out, deflected by grit and stone forming itself into a protective field.

‘I will not be caged again!’

It was hard to tell the difference between them, but a phantasmal form of shadow, all spikes and bony spurs, visible mostly as a shape that pushed the smoke and debris in the air away. The chiming of a bell got louder, the sound rising to a rough clanging noise, making Semari’s head throb and her vision blur.

A fireball exploded in mid-air, a pulse of heat washing against Semari’s face, followed by hot stone and grit. The sounds of panic and chaos intensified, more of the ground giving way, more shacks tumbling downwards.

‘Let’s go!’ Kethys dragged Semari forward by the scruff of the neck, Semari growling but moving forward.

The area lacked any main streets, but every path and passageway was crammed with people, all teeming together, streaming out of buildings that didn’t seem large enough to have contained that many people.

Another shadowy form appeared above them, a long and whip-lash thin curve of darkness, covered with spikes and spines. It lunged forward, towards the other figure, who tried blasting it with a cone of frost. In the hot air, the shards of ice swiftly melted, their impact blunted by the fire raging below – holes were torn through the shadowy shape, but not enough to slow it. A fanged maw opened, like a giant-size shadow puppet, teeth crunching down.

Someone shoved against Semari and she reacted, slamming a fist back in response, feeling the satisfaction of a blow sinking into a meaty gut, the forced exhalation of breath. She punched again, slamming them backwards against a wall. She bought her fist back, staring into a saggy and tired-looking face, rage and energy boiling through her, before Kethys dragged on her again, hauling her forward. Whatever she said was lost in the seething hubbub of the crowd, but she kept moving.

Semari pushed herself forward, swinging her fists and shoulders to open up a path. A few people turned to look at her, trying to square up against her, but those she stared down, or feinted at, making them shrink back so that the others could keep backing her up and shoving her forward.

It was hard to navigate, more magical effects getting thrown around above. The shadow-beast seemed to have the upper hand now, swarming around the other wizard, now barely visible beneath a seething mass of dark spikes.

Kethys pushed herself up against Semari, struggling to make herself heard in the loud chaos. ‘Give Neitha a boost, we’re going along the roofs. This is taking too long! And don’t fight her.’

Semari growled again, before spinning and grabbing Neitha, dragging her into position. Despite her yelp of fear, she seemed to know what to do, placing her foot into Semari’s interlaced fingers and grabbing hold of a nearby roof-edge when she was boosted upwards. Hadric and Kethys had managed to climb, before Semari reached up and grabbed at Hadric’s extended arm, half-pulled, half-climbing upwards.

The roofs were clearer and easier to make their way across, the crowd still panicking beneath them. Semari looked up again – the shadowy coils were tightening in place, magic shattering with a loud crack. She thought she heard a scream come from above her, but it was hard to tell amidst the general clamour and sound.

Ah, that was more troublesome than I expected! But now that is over. Beneath the voice, Semari heard the rapid and clamorous striking and chiming of a bell, the sound echoing around in her head. She saw Kethys stiffen, blade coming into hand as she looked around, a look of worry on her face.

Semari felt something brush against her foot and looked down to see a hand scrabbling around, grabbing at her ankle. She kicked it off as Kethys readied herself for combat.

Worry not, darkling. Your pact is met, and I release you and your kind from the oath of old. My kin may not be so lenient, should they awaken. Hmmm, perhaps I should seek them out? Or maybe not – there is so much pleasure to be had, after all.

The coils of darkness blinked out, revealing a broken and crushed human form, still hovering in mid-air. Semari could see the staff still hovering there, the crystal on the tip glowing brightly. She had to wince to look at it, before the light burned even more brightly, and then it exploded.

It took a second for the shockwave to reach Semari, a blast of concussive force colliding against her face and knocking her over. She heard a broadcast sound of pain, the other figure getting blown and buffeted by the blast.

It took her a second to recover herself, Kethys poking her with a foot. She groaned, but had enough strength to pull herself upwards, the roof they were on starting to shake. Up in the sky, the shadowy figure was plummeting back downwards, falling back into one of the rents in the ground, which was still shaking and quaking.

‘Come on! I think this whole place is about to go!’

There was a worrying rumble, far too close, and Semari scrabbled upwards. Neitha was just about managing to keep up, Hadric doing better. The ground behind them started to collapse at a faster rate, more and more buildings suddenly vanishing into an ever-expanding pit.

They climbed and scrabbed between building roofs, barely outpacing the collapse behind them, dust raining down from above, coating everything in a thick and sticky layer. Even when they were away from the crashing and colliding ground, the sounds were loud, plumes of dust rising up. Even Kethys’ skin was completely covered, making her look the same as everyone else.

When they came across a group of guards trying to keep things under control, they simply charged through, grabbing some horses from a stable and starting to ride, Semari grabbing hold of Hadric and letting him do the actual riding.