Lir swung a hammer at Lisette's back, dropping her to the ground. Elly shouted and jabbed at him, cutting his arm and sleeve and forcing him toward his own creatures. Ruyo remembered the plan just well enough to reach out to the water elemental, bidding it, "Come!"

The elementals went at it. Earth stomped forward with surprising speed and viciousness to swing its single arm into the tornado. The pair flailed at each other, though it seemed the windy creature was tearing flecks off the boulder. The fire one hissed and drew closer, but couldn't get directly at the watery one. At the goddess' command the water creature fled to her side.

Elly roared and slammed one elbow into Lir's gut, then slashed at him again. He recovered just well enough to grab her arm and yank her toward the swinging fists of the earth elemental. Pir swarmed in and blazed brighter, igniting the man's clothes. Ruyo, meanwhile, aimed to destroy the wild fire elemental with a single blow. She missed completely as the creature flicked its way around a corner.

It was heading down the hall Ruyo had just come from. The city guard shouted in fright as the blaze singed him, and he flattened himself against the wall to avoid it. The other people coming to join the fight had to dodge too.

While Ruyo was looking at that, the air creature came after her, whirling and howling frightfully around her legs. She was caught up in its shredding wind, but the water elemental she'd called was like a wall that it banged into with every spin. Droplets spun around her now.

Ruyo borrowed some of that strength to have the water disrupt the living wind, shattering it in all directions. The water elemental itself survived the blast though diminished. That left just earth and the fleeing fire one... and Lir himself. The man was making a break for it, trying to use the fire creature for cover as he ran down the hall. He used a desperate splash of a water spell from his hands to try putting his clothes out, only partly successful. The spectacle of the burning spirit and the man on fire actually cleared a path for him.

"Stop!" said Elly, and pounced. Lisette recovered well enough to rush him too, and they crashed onto him on the floor.

The earth elemental sucker-punched Ruyo, knocking her around and making her left side throb with pain. She wasn't sure how to fight back against this one, but remembered her battle with Virid's creations. She flung as much water as she could and tried to freeze it around the rocks. The move seemed to slow it down. Behind her she heard people pummeling Lir, making him beg for mercy and water. Ruyo didn't take her eyes off the earth creature this time. "Somebody hit this thing with a weapon!"

The sailor with the crowbar ran up and whacked it eagerly, diagonally up and slamming back down. What passed for its head cracked and fell off, and the rest tumbled in frosty chunks to the floor. He twirled the bar and pretended to sheathe it in his belt, humming a victory tune.

The researchers crowded around, clamoring about not killing him. Elly and Lisette had doused him with water from their own magic but looked tempted to run him through with their weapons. Ruyo said, "Enough. Can somebody tie this man up? We're not in the mood to fight anybody else and then be nice about it."

One of the cult scholars said, "I've got rope in the other room down the hall, if I can get past the crowd."

"Go do that. Dad, watch him."

Lir said, "You idiots. We have the greatest research subjects we've ever had, here, and you're going to let this witch walk in and wreck our work?"

Ruyo countered, "As I said, I'm only trying to stop the real criminals." Nobody else seemed to resist.

The water elemental from the captive set didn't show special intelligence, but it still gravitated toward her, trying to connect to her magic supply. She allowed it and found the load lighter than expected. She belatedly conjured a pair of the Quills to go with it. "Is everyone all right?"

Lisette was still catching her breath but said, "Yeah. Bruised. Cheap shot."

Elly winced too. "We're okay. So is Pir." The fire creature floated at the girls' side, eyeing Ruyo's magical guards suspiciously.

Ruyo told the cultists, "Pir, here, is an intelligent elemental who knows some of the Lost World's language. We can compare notes if you help us kick the asses of the people below. How's that for a research opportunity?"

One man said, "Spoken or written?"

"Both!" said Elly.

The cultist's eyes went wide. "Okay. Below, I'm told there's a trap on the stairs, and our papers are down there. Don't wreck them."

Another one chimed in, "It's where some of the combustion research is. Steam, pipes, and I think an earth elemental. But you can't open the door."

"Thank you." Ruyo checked the other direction down the tilted hall. There, her father was ushering a cultist back with some rope to bind Lir. Palis said, "It's a workshop."

She looked into that far room. This area had been outfitted with some planks to give it a tolerably flat floor, and supported tables of mechanical parts and tools. A set of valves and nozzles and a kettle, mostly, along with an oddly shaped chain and several kinds of rope and belt. Another doorway led to a small barracks. More importantly right now, a large and heavy door lined one wall.

Sealed, it seemed to think at her when she touched it. She answered silently, Unseal.

The door rumbled open. Behind it, an improvised stone and wood staircase descended into dark, humid gloom.

Palis, Elly and Lisette stood at her side. Elly said, "How do you want to do this? There's trouble below."

Ruyo planned for a fight... and then laughed. "Hang back. Ready water magic." She took a breath, then yelled. "You down there! You're trapped. Surrender."

The city guard stepped up, looking obligated to chime in. "In the name of the Starshore Guards, you're under arrest. For --" He looked to Ruyo.

"Murder, arson, kidnapping. Oh yeah, and attempted killing of an Averell guard with a poisoned trap. Any of you who want to come up one at a time and give up, do it now."

There was faint noise below, over the clanking of machines. Someone called out, "We're scholars!"

"Sure you are. I know your boss' name: Veneri Mendrettos. You've been a bad boy, Veneri. What would your mother think? Oh, that's not a problem for you, is it? Still you have relatives who haven't exactly run to your defense. Here, let me just set off that booby trap you're hoping I'll walk into." She sent one of her Quills scuttling down the stairs. On the fourth step, jets of flame shot out from the wall at several heights, obliterating it. Somebody cursed below.

Something thumped and clanged. Feet stamped on the lower stairs as two people ran up them, each holding up a hand or two. A man and a woman, the first crying out, "Mercy!"

Ruyo stepped back and let them bound upstairs, avoiding the fourth step. The fleeing pair got pushed into a corner under guard.

Ruyo now shouted, "Hey, Veneri, I bet I can beat you now with just one spell."

A voice she'd only heard a few times before now yelled back. "You're unworthy! How dare you interrupt the greatest magical work of our age with your damned theatrics? You shouldn't be a god; I should!"

Ruyo didn't answer. Instead she began a simple Create Water spell. Ordinary, harmless water poured from the space between her hands, a gallon or so per second or a few times that if she pushed herself. She nodded toward the sisters, who started the same spell at their own lesser rate. A triple waterfall began to flood the space below.

"What are you doing? There are priceless machines here!"

"They might rust? You have bigger problems."

Veneri growled. "You can't keep that up all night."

"Watch me."

"I have your damned spirit guide down here. If you don't stop --"

"Oh no! She might drown!"

"I'll... I'll smash the cage!"

"Please do."

Elly grinned fiercely. "I was all geared up to fight the giant earth elemental or whatever else he's got."

"The battle's been rained out. I've got some of your minions up here and several armed men who'd probably like a crack at you. Your only hope is to get arrested and then try to plot your way out. You're smart, so you've got a chance at that, right? Also I don't want to ruin your papers, so I'd rather not flood the whole place."

There was a scuffle below in the darkness. Somebody crashed into metal. Then the basement lit up with a blast of fire. For a second she worried they would threaten to throw Nusina into a furnace. Three figures were visible, brawling. Then there was a heavy rumble that made the ongoing waterfall splash and shake along the stairs. A woman cursed.

Lisette taunted them. "Was that your earth critter? Gosh, that might be a problem for you."

More fighting and another flame jet, reflecting off metal and water. Then something bounced halfway up the stairs and lay precariously at the edge of one step. A cage, with Nusina in it! The water spirit looked pale even for a ghostly orb with pearly eyes.

Ruyo dived down the stairs. One foot touched the trapped stair and jets of flame shot out just behind her. She crashed and barely caught herself with a splash, clutching the cage. She lay there prone.

A blast of fire from below shot just over her head. Below, a statue had come to life and was wreaking havoc, and three people brawled and tried to reach the stairs and hurl each other back. Or something like that; Ruyo didn't care right now. She tried to turn and scuttle back upstairs.

Elly was coming down, with Lisette just behind. They avoided the danger spot and Elly reached down. Ruyo awkwardly flung the cage toward her. Then a chunk of jagged stone flew up at her. This one struck her in the legs, and her vision flashed red as a bone snapped. She screamed.

Taris was on the stairs now too. In the group's rush to grab Nusina and not crash into each other, he set off the trap again. The wall jets glowed around him and the sisters.

"No!" Ruyo said, and raised one hand to blast the whole area with water.

Taris shoved Lisette upstairs and ducked. Elly jumped down instead, right over Ruyo. She landed hard on a stair just below Ruyo and collapsed to her knees, steadying herself.

Ruyo tried to stand up but her right leg throbbed. Elly scurried upward, barely dodging another rock. Taris came down to support Ruyo, saying, "Everyone up, now!"

One of the people below shouted, "Two coming up! We surrender!" It wasn't Veneri talking.

Taris and one of the sailors shepherded Ruyo and the sisters back up from the staircase without frying themselves again.

A cultist, his face pale and shocked, held Nusina in her cage. He said, "Should I open this?"

"Right now!" Ruyo said.

Behind her were more footsteps. Ruyo leaned against a wall and her father's shoulder. "Somebody grab 'em."

The city guard and the sailors accepted surrender from two more cultists showing their hands. The guard said, "Is that everybody but your master?"

"Yes," said one. "Sorry; tried to throw the cage farther."

The cage snapped open at the pale man's command. Ruyo felt the drain of the ancient guardian connecting to her mana supply. Nusina was tapping Ruyo's reserves pretty hard. Then the spirit noticed Pir floating nearby and drew back in fright, managing to speak in a mental whisper. "Hostile?"

"No." She forced back tears from both pain and from seeing Nusina again. "Will somebody deal with Veneri, please?"

The drunken sailor said, "I have no idea what's going on."

The one with the crowbar told him, "She's flooding out his secret lab. Ex-boyfriend, I think."

Oh right, the flooding. Ruyo tried to fling a jet of water down the stairs but her power flickered. "Ease up, droplet."

"Sorry."

Taris said, "Ruyo, stop. You're done for the night."

"Done? The cult leader is still down there!"

Taris transferred Ruyo to the grasp of one of the prisoners. Then he walked to the stairs and let loose with a blistering string of curses that made Ruyo's ears burn and one of the sailors clap. There was something in there about rearranging the leader's favorite organs. A flying shard of rock answered his argument, but Taris was ready and dodged it. Then he said, "Ready to come up now, or do we just lock the door again and make sure you starve?"

There was a pause. Then the rumbling of the earth elemental down there ceased, and a furious and hateful nobleman started marching upstairs with his hands on his head.