Xerxes stood and reached to the hilt of his sword. But before anything else could happen, he noticed something strange. His own shadow, on the wall right in front of him.

What the hell?

His shadow grew more distinct, and he was being bathed in a yellowish, orange light. From behind.

He looked over his shoulder. Descending toward the city was an enormous, flaming meteor. It was impossible to judge the size, but compared to previous meteors he’d seen, it seemed plausible that this one contained a high-level juvenile.

He looked back down to the street below. Soldiers and mages in the procession were staring up into the sky as well.

Simeon had cat-form Dasi in his hand, but wasn’t looking at her. Nor was she moving around. Her cat eyes also seemed fixed on the fire in the sky.

Xerxes formed a plan. Stepping forward, he put his foot onto the parapet and jumped out into the air. His cloak flared around him as he pulled out his sword, dropping down two stories to land on the paved street below.

The sight of the massive, fiery rock had so transfixed the soldiers that none of them looked at him. The young mage at the far end of the procession was similarly distracted.

But Simeon noticed.

Xerxes put his sword into the Tail guard and started walking forward.

“Who are you?” Simeon said. Cat-form Dasi yowled and tried to get her claws into the mage’s forearm, but he tightened his grip, causing her fur and skin to stretch so tight she could barely move.

“Give me the cat,” Xerxes said, eyes flitting to Simeon’s feet. He wasn’t in a good fighting stance. Nor did he have his hand on his sword. Would it be wise to lunge in with an attack before the man drew his weapon?

Only now did some of the soldiers notice him. Five or six of them put their shields up and rested their spears on top of them, pointing in his direction.

Simeon looked at the ‘cat’ he held. He tightened his grip further, until Dasi squeaked pitifully. Simeon looked back at Xerxes. “Don’t take another step forward or I’ll rip the cat’s head off. Tell me who the hell you are. A rebel?”

Xerxes jerked a thumb over his shoulder and tried to make his voice deeper than it really was. “That meteor is going to crash into your city in a matter of seconds and you’ll have a stage five or six juvenile Abhorrent to deal with. Give me the cat.”

“My city? So… you’re one of the foreign mages.”

Fuck. I’m not cut out for this espionage stuff.

The city street was growing brighter, and the shadows crisper. There wasn’t time for this. “Dasi,” said Xerxes. “Let’s get out of here.”

The ‘cat’ in Simeon’s hand flowed into a different shape, growing larger as Dasi reverted to her human shape.

“Shit,” Simeon said as he lost his grip. He put his hand on the hilt of his sword, but Dasi kicked him in the pit of his stomach. He flew back into one of the wagons.

Dasi spat a bronze key out of her mouth into her hand and started running toward Xerxes.

“Let’s go,” she said.

Sheathing his sword on his back, he dashed into the nearest alleyway, and she followed.

Behind them, soldiers shouted. Simeon yelled, “Stay in place!”

The light grew brighter and brighter as Xerxes and Dasi ran through the streets toward the appointed rendezvous point.

Before they reached it, the meteor hit.

Xerxes didn’t know much about how heavenly bodies worked, or what was supposed to happen when they went from the emptiness outside of a planet to the lands that made it up. The small meteors that the Abhorrent spawn arrived in seemed to go much faster than the big ones. They would crash into the ground and release immense force, leveling things around them and create gaping craters. The big ones somehow moved much slower. And when they landed, they didn’t release the same type of force, nor create massive craters. But that didn’t mean they lacked destructive power.

A bone-shuddering rumbling sound filled the air behind Dasi and Xerxes as the meteor smashed into the cityscape of Puabi. Sparks, flaming rubble, and chunks of stone exploded in all directions. The ground shook beneath the feet of the two mages.

Xerxes looked back, but couldn’t see the location of impact. The keep rose up into the night just like before, so if that had been the target, then the meteor missed.

A roar echoed into the night as Xerxes and Dasi skidded into the intersection of two alleys, where Kashtiliash and Katayoun should arrive within moments.

“Shit,” Xerxes muttered. “Dasi, look.”

Up in the sky were at least three more flaming meteors tumbling down toward them.

“Damn.” Dasi looked at the meteors, then looked at the key she held. “What’s so special about this thing anyway?”

“I’m not supposed to say.” He extended his hand, palm up.

Dasi gave him the Key and then looked back up into the sky. “We need to get out of here.”

Katayoun appeared from the opposite direction they’d come. “You got the key?”

Xerxes held it up. “It’s right here.”

Kashtiliash zoomed up the alley and skidded to a stop. “Now what. Black Jackal?”

“Yeah.” Xerxes tried not to think about how important the key was as he pulled the chain out from around his neck, affixed the key to it, then put it back under his garment. He looked up into the sky. “Can’t tell where those things are going to land.”

“Definitely in the city,” Dasi said.

“Yes. Follow me.” He started running in the direction of the river. It helped that it was after curfew and the streets were almost completely empty. It took less than a minute to reach the river. The incoming meteors were so bright that the surroundings seemed like day. They stopped for a moment to look up and gauge the potential points of impact.

“That one’s not going to hit within the city walls,” Dasi said, pointing to the nearest one.

“The other two look like they’ll fall east of us,” Katayoun added.

“This way,” Xerxes said, leading them north up the riverwalk. They soon reached a bridge, which was locked and secured for the night. There were sheikist soldiers guarding it, but they were so transfixed by the sight of the meteors that they had no presence of mind to stop the four High Seers from simply taking running leaps onto the roof of the bridge structure.

While running across, Xerxes looked back toward where the first meteor had landed. The city was on fire, and smoke rose into the sky. He saw no sign of whatever Abhorrent had come with the meteor, but he heard an inhuman shriek from that direction.

Loyalist soldiers guarded the other side of the bridge, but they were just as shaken as the soldiers on the other side.

They didn’t even react until Xerxes and the other three mages were dashing away down the street.

“Halt!” one of them shouted, but it was far too late.

Xerxes ran harder as the light from the meteor grew bigger and brighter.

The meteors hit as they ran out onto the street that the prison loomed over. As Katayoun had predicted, they landed in the east. The sound of the impact echoed over the city.

To Xerxes, it felt like an hour had passed since the mage Simeon grabbed cat-form Dasi by the neck. In reality, barely two minutes had passed.

The city was waking up. Shouting could be heard, as well as screams. Windows were opening, and people were sticking their heads out. Individuals were appearing on the street as well, defying curfew.

“That’s the place,” Xerxes said, nodding his head in the direction of the prison building.

“How do we get inside?” Dasi asked.

Xerxes put his hand to his component pouch. “I don’t know for sure. I’m going to try the quick and dirty method. Kash, can you be ready to help?”

“Sure.” The bearded mage loosened his own component pouch.

Striding toward the main entrance of the prison, Xerxes filled his palm with stibnite talc and traced the Asgagu Sebum rune. Once finished with the rune, he reached back and touched the tip of his sword. The magical effect spread as he drew the weapon.

Stepping up to the door, he pulled his sword back then swung the blade at the side of the door, where he knew the hinge was on the inside. The white, burning blade bit into the thick wood. He pulled his sword back and slashed the door again. And again.

It took fifteen seconds.

The smoking door fell inward to reveal the guard room, and the soldiers with shields raised and mouths hanging open.

“Leave,” Xerxes said.

The trembling soldiers eased out of the room and ran off into the night.

They entered the prison. Thankfully, Xerxes knew the way. There were no more personnel until they reached Gandash’s cell. The same sergeant Xerxes recognized was there. He had a mini crossbow in his hands.

“Get back!” the sergeant growled.

The Minor Augmentation had long since faded from Xerxes’ sword. Keeping the tip down in the Innocent guard, he said, “I don’t want to hurt you. But I will. Open the door.”

“I can’t,” the sergeant said.

Xerxes eyed the crossbow and felt a tingle in his neck where he’d once been pierced by such a weapon. All the sergeant had to do was pull the trigger, and that dart could do a lot of damage.

The building trembled.

“W-what’s that?” the sergeant blurted, and he looked across the hall to a barred window.

Xerxes jumped forward, lifted his blade, and reached to grab the crossbow. The tip of his sword entered the sergeant’s throat and stabbed clean through it. Xerxes' other hand latched onto the sergeant’s wrist just before the crossbow twanged.

The dart shot harmlessly off to the side. Xerxes pushed the body off the sword, then squatted and yanked the key ring from the belt.

He opened the door.

Ningsummunu stood there, his hands clenched into fists and his knees bent, as if he was ready for fighting.

“Xerk?” he said.

“Ning,” Xerxes said. He grinned. “Is everybody ready to go?”