Jack edges his foot backward. No way he wants to throw down with—or, more accurately, get thrown down by—Thegn again. And neither should Corva. She came out on top last time, but last time Thegn didn’t have wings. With the open space out here and hundreds of grunts from the Umbrati horde spilling down into Lower Bule, the odds are more stacked against them than before.

Looking at her posture, though, Jack isn’t so sure that Corva realizes this. He shifts his attention to her shoulder, where Zeke crouches. The monkey is holding on like he’s bracing himself.

Corva turns her head and looks back to Jack and Lyia. Her voice is only a step above a whisper. “The second he steps clear, you two run by him as fast as you can.”

He catches Lyia giving a single silent nod in affirmation.

Jack looks back to Corva. “But—”

He stops himself, interrupted by the sight of Thegn looming right over them. Wasn’t he just on the other end of this rooftop? Smiling through the rot and decay in his teeth, Thegn swings his scythe at Corva. She takes a step forward and grabs the shaft of the scythe with both of her hands, stopping it with a hard snap.

The moment her grip sets, the smile on the old man’s face widens. Jack flinches at the sight. It’s almost unnatural how wide it is. It distracts Jack so much that he almost doesn’t notice Thegn’s wings stretching open.

From Corva’s shoulder, Zeke gets a fraction of a second to gesture with his head that Jack and Lyia should go now. A moment later, Thegn shoots upward with Corva still holding onto the scythe. Jack lifts his backpack to block the dust and sand kicked up by the force of those enormous wings beating the air. He looks up and catches a view of their silhouettes as they get smaller and smaller.

Turning his head back down, he sees Lyia already ten steps in front of him, bolting to Slim’s rooftop at a full sprint.

Jack hesitates, but resists the urge to look back skyward to see what’s happening. Shit. Can’t help her like this anyhow. He slings his go-bag over his shoulder and chases after Lyia.