We’d had no more visitors from the alley, nor a resident from the inner staircase. Cody favoured us with some of his hairiest moments while fighting the poachers and, inadvertently, also the animals he wanted to protect.

“They only viewed me as another source of food, ”Cody explained about one close call. “When a pride of lions had me surrounded, I thought it was all over.”

“What happened?” asked Cris, breathlessly.

“I’d been given a tip that the poachers were going after the zebra at a watering hole on the fringes of the reserve. Their horn sells for thousands an ounce. I always picked a time to move in when most of the predator species had already taken on their water. Once they’ve moved on, it allows the rest of the animals to drink in relative safety. I drove in, covered my truck, and set up my hide a mile from the small lake, ready to get some evidence. The poachers never showed, and I was just packing my gear away when I heard a growl behind me. I guess they must’ve gotten thirsty that day, because I found myself staring at a dozen hungry faces.”

“Didn’t you know they were nearby?” I asked. “Don’t they have trackers or something?”

“Not any more. That program was shelved four years ago, and we had to constantly raise funds to keep the single drone we owned operational. I’d sent it up, and watched them moving back into the park from the watering hole. They would normally ride out the high temperatures shaded somewhere.”

“How did you get away?” asked Sun, as rapt as we were on the tale.

“I didn’t. If I’d ran, they’d have been on me in seconds. The pride leader walked over, sniffed me, and then led the others away. I had to buy a new set of underwear that day, I can tell you.”

“I’m not surprised,” I exclaimed.

“Considering what’s coming, I think I’ll be stocking up on a whole new drawer full of them,” he declared. “Dinosaurs are on a whole other level of pant-shittery.”

“What made you go into the rangers instead of a scientific field like Liza?” asked Cris.

He laughed. “Liza got all the smarts. She was digging into things and asking questions about nature before she could walk.”

“That’s not possible,” declared Sun. “A child of that age doesn’t have the awareness that would allow questions of such depth.”

Cody held up his hands. “Sorry, it was an exaggeration. Let’s just say, when I was playing with stick guns, Liza was staring at the slides on her child’s microscope. I could do the staring part, I just couldn’t do the analysing and understanding part.”

“You still went into a field that helps things that can’t help themselves,” I said. “You’re a good man in my book.”

“Thanks. Let’s just hope I don’t let you all down when we go up against real danger. My combat experience is almost non-existent.”

“You won’t let us down. I know you’ve got friends who play games, so you understand your role in the group is as vital as any of ours. Each part makes a whole, and you’re now a big part. When we have a bit of proper downtime, we’ll go through your skills and stats. This has all happened so fast, I kind of let things get away from me.”

“I think under the circumstances, being a bit frazzled is permitted,” he replied.

“Frazzled or not,” I said, checking that the base of the door had no sliver of light, “we need to come up with a plan. I can only see one way of doing this, and you’re not going to like it.”

“And what’s that?” Cris demanded, defensively.

“They have the entrance guarded, and I assume the same can be said for the rear of the building. As good as our suits are, I doubt we could make it past them unseen.”

“I’m still waiting for the plan,” said Cris, folding her arms.

Sun had me clocked before I could explain. “You want to fly in, don’t you?”

Cody scowled at the absurd idea. “Fly? We don’t have a chopper, and even if we did it would be heard from miles away.”

“He doesn’t need one of your screaming metal birds,” Sun explained.

I stood up and slipped my top into my pack. Showing them my back, I saw Cris smile appreciatively. “Nice eagle tattoo.”

“I’ve also got this one,” I said, summoning the fated patterns to my hand and arm. “The eagle was a loot drop. It means I can shapeshift into one at will.”

“You’re shitting me,” blurted Cris.

“I shit you not. I can get in safely without being seen.”

“And what happens when the bullets start flying?” she asked. “Can you eagle-dodge lead?”

“No, but I’m a much smaller target,” I argued.

Cris rolled her eyes. “We’re a team, and we go in as a team.”

“But that’s just it,” I snapped. “I can’t get you all in safely! I don’t want you to get hurt.”

She moved over to me and took my hand. “Mark, these worlds are guaranteed to hurt us. This isn’t a scenario where you can act the chivalrous knight. We’re all in this for the fight, so let us fight.”

I was about to continue the argument, but she had me bang to rights. At the first sign of risk, I tried to charge out in front to take it all on my shoulders. I’d only taken Liza with me to the nest because she had nowhere to hide. In Kherrash, I’d often tried to keep Sun out of the worst of it, not that she’d ever listened. Here I was again, the Lone Ranger, trying to side-line my trio of Tontos.

Cris let go and smiled. “Besides, you’re not the only one who can fly.”

I staggered back as she opened her glowing hands and rose from the floor. “Holy shit!”

“Don’t get too excited,” she warned. “It’s only my levitate spell, and it saps my mana something fierce.”

My shock wore off as she stopped channelling the ability and landed back onto the concrete. “That’s great, but can you do more than float?”

“I can’t make anyone fly, if that’s what you’re asking.” She saw I was about to say something, and quickly continued. “But what I can do, is get people from one roof to the next.”

I put two and two together. “You want to Matrix it?” I asked.

“Yeah. Watch.”

She moved to one end of the basement, took a few steps to build up steam, then jumped. The momentum, coupled with the spell, saw her feet touch down only once she’d reached the opposite side of the building.

“Well, shit,” I marvelled. “It looks like we have our way in. But that still doesn’t help with the security system they’re bound to have, and the sheer number of guns that are waiting for us.”

“There’s another thing that we haven’t considered,” added Cody.

“I’m all ears, mate,” I replied.

“Once we attack, they’ll call it in, and if Liza’s in the other site, we’ll lose her. Plus, we still don’t know what floor or apartment they’re using,” he said.

“I can do a quick sweep around the building as long as I’m quiet about it,” I offered. “But the only way we can stop them calling it in is by hitting both sites at the same time.”

Cody mulled it over, then sighed. “It would be suicide. We’ve just got to pray we picked the right place.”

I didn’t hold out much hope, knowing the beings who were watching. “Worst case scenario is they move her and we have to search elsewhere.”

“While being attacked on all sides by dinosaurs, gangsters, and mercenaries,” Cody muttered.

“Yeah, but it is what it is. We’ll get her back, no matter where it takes us.”

“Thanks,” he said, squeezing my shoulder in a gesture of gratitude.

“No worries. But back to the plan for now, we still have our gun problem.”

“We could always cut the electricity to the apartments?” suggested Cris. “That way, we’re all at the same disadvantage.”

There was only one major flaw with that idea, and we would only know if we’d fucked ourselves once it was too late. “What if they have night-vision? I can see in the dark, but you’ll be bumbling around, bouncing off the walls while they pick you off at will.”

Cody was doing his best to accept the new reality he lived in, but my words had him troubled. “Leaving aside what equipment they might have, did you say you can see in the dark? You mean in an eating too many carrots type of way?”

“No,” said Sun. “Mark can literally see in the dark. He won the gift when we rooted out and killed a gaggle of rapists and murderers.”

“Mr Chivalrous strikes again,” said Cris, warmly.

“Didn’t you hear the first part? I killed them.”

“Rapists don’t count,” said Cody.

“They’re less than roaches,” Cris agreed. “You can only crush them under your shoe. Don’t you dare minimise how good that was.”

“Ok, fine, but that still leaves us the question of night vision. My vote is we leave the lights on, that way we’re all on a level playing field. The fact that their team is dozens and we’ve only got four players is beside the point. We’ve got a few tricks up our sleeves that might help.”

“What’s the play then?” asked Cris. “We’re at your disposal, just tell us what you need.”

I quickly scanned my memory of the last leg of our drive. The high-rises had all been built around the same time, which gave an even level between roofs. “We make our way upstairs and you guys do a little hopping while I try and take a peek without getting shot by a random gangbanger with an Uzi. I want you to stay out of sight on the roof next to theirs until I’ve come back.”

“We can do that,” Cris replied, heading for the concrete steps that led up to the ground floor.

She carefully opened the door to peek out, but the small foyer was deserted. Only two of the lights weren’t smashed to pieces, casting a pair of dim halos on the filthy floor. The same graffiti marred the walls all the way to the lifts, as if the Disciples were dogs, marking their territory with paint instead of piss. As we filed out into the gloom, I wondered how on earth the landlords functioned in running the buildings. A plumber would have to run the gauntlet of murderers every time a toilet blocked or a radiator stopped working. The lack of maintenance already on display pointed to the fact that the homes were probably abandoned entirely to the gangs except in dire emergences.

Cris motioned toward the steel doors of the elevators, but I didn’t want to be stuck anywhere we couldn’t escape from in short order. Monkey scrabbling up the access ladders or greasy cables would leave us sitting ducks if we were discovered. Perhaps I was being overly cautious, but with the task we faced I figured it was better to play it safe. We slipped into the completely dark stairwell that serviced the floors, and the stench was overwhelming. I was grateful that the makeshift toilet was tucked away beneath the first flight of steps. Pulling out a torch to help light the way, I felt a familiar surge of anger rising at the godawful conditions these poor people had to live under. Given enough time, I might’ve considered wiping out the Disciples and the Blood Nation to the last man, but the creatures on the way would do a fine job in my stead.

With each floor passed, the stink of stale urine and faeces faded until we reached the rooftop access that had already been smashed open. I slipped away my flaming brand and stepped out. The night held none of the sounds of a city. No emergency sirens wailed as they answered calls. No background rasp of countless tyres rolling along the quiet roads. No laughter, or screams, or anything remotely human echoed in the night. If I didn’t know better, the whole place could’ve been a post-apocalyptic hellscape where humanity had all fallen to a virulent plague, leaving only the wind to howl mournfully through the alleys of the dead city.

Cut it out! You’re freaking yourself out for no reason!

I heeded my inner voice and turned to the others. “Can you do a few practice runs before you chance the jump? Maybe step out over one of the fire escapes, just in case the levitation only works at ground level, that kind of thing.”

“Don’t worry about us,” said Cris. “We’ll see you on the roof when you’re done.”

“Ok. Be safe.” I walked out of view to spare them the sight of my metamorphosis. When I had fully changed, I flapped my powerful wings and soared out into the night.