There were dozens of them, milling around the upward slope that overlooked the reservoir. Odd, malformed chimeras with twisted limbs and human faces bumped into each other, as if whatever commanding presence that directed them until that point had suddenly severed the connection, leaving them stranded and agitated.

It probably had.

I cocked my head and listened. There was the minotaur’s pounding footsteps growing closer, nearly loud enough to drown out everything beyond them. After a moment, Perception prevailed. Human shouts and war cries, drawing closer. Keening squeals followed by explosions marked casters in the mix. From the sound of it, it was a decent sized group making their way down the main road, and barring some significant obstacle they’d have eyes on me in under a minute. More than likely, the group that contained Aaron, Tyler, and Nick.

Which meant I needed to work quickly.

Matt had the misfortune of being perceived as a teenager. This worked to my purposes most of the time and allowed me to slip beneath the radar, an unfortunate byproduct was that doing anything exceptional would raise eyebrows. I’d already shined a spotlight on Matt once in the wake of the first event, and while saving this region had afforded me certain advantages and a staggering amount of goodwill from the locals, it also meant I’d effectively lost my anonymous status and become a conundrum.

And when you’re an enigma, people start watching. Questioning your every move, critiquing every loss, win, and stroke luck that comes your way. It didn’t matter that most of them were amateurs. With enough would-be detectives, conspiracy theorists, and meddlers in the cheap seats, eventually, someone’s going to get it right.

I could deal with the Minotaur. The landslide of battery, mockery, and frustration I’d subjected him to practically guaranteed he’d be both desperate and spitting mad—possibly the best state of mind for an opponent to be in.

But the decisive blow would be too ostentatious to hide. I needed to frame it in a way that made me look like I was on my last leg, disguise the coup de grâce as a Hail Mary.

“Go,”

Relief from constriction I’d barely even noticed washed over me as Audrey released the makeshift harness from beneath my hoodie and flung herself through the crowd of chimeras, lashing out freely with her attack vines as her mobility vines worked overtime to keep the fragile plant summon out of their reach. Snarls and clawed hands reached for her, but she was too nimble and crafty as she baited them in, letting them almost touch her before she danced away to another part of the crowd.

Simultaneously, I made a break for the reservoir, curving around the crowd and pumping asphalt until I reached the railing. Fifty feet to the water, nothing but concrete on the way down. Once there, I withdrew the bag that held the minotaur’s head, along with my most recent purchase. The object was smaller than I thought, a black brick that felt solid and cold to the touch, the only hint to its significance a small line of three capacitors on the top left side.

Just holding it made me nervous. I wiped a damp hand on my shirt and pressed my thumb to the base. A spiderweb of blue circuitry that looked half-magic, half-tech, lit up on the surface.

Only then did I allow myself to look for the minotaur. He was still coming, his limp all but gone.

Exactly what I was worried about. Shrugged off that light pole like it was nothing. Outhealing the damage.

Audrey arrived with a panicked plop and scrambled to hang onto my leg. “Angry. Very very angry.”

The chimeras loomed. Some of them started toward us, pausing only when they saw the headless minotaur stomping his way towards the summit.

Either way, it looked like I’d been cornered. Best I could do in so little time. If anyone perceptive stopped before entering the fray and evaluated the situation, they might surmise that something was off. I made a show of looking over the edge as if I was considering jumping, using the moment my back was turned to slip the device into the bag, then turned and faced the minotaur.

I held the bag up, giving it a casual spin. He stopped mid-stride, maintaining a charge posture, the surrounding air tense and charged with violence.

“Guuuh Baaa.”

“What, so you can tear my arms off after I hand it over?” I gave the bag another practice swing. “No deal.”

He took a threatening step forward.

I held out a hand. Before I could speak, I noticed a flash of movement. The combined rescue force had arrived. Mostly members of the Adventurer’s Guild, but I recognized more than a few faces from the Order of Parcae. As I’d hoped, they were playing this smart, using the standoff and the fact that every chimera present was facing away from them to get into position. Their rogues and stealthy types were up front, creeping into striking distance, and several mages were already waiting on rooftops behind the tanks.

I bought them time. “It didn’t have to be this way. Your master—whoever he is—could have just pranced over the region line, sauntered into the Adventurer’s Guild and said hello. We could have talked, discussed terms. Maybe even consolidated power. But instead he pulled…” I made a dismissive gesture towards the gathering. “Whatever the hell this shit is.”

For the first time, the minotaur didn’t repeat the same two words he’d been chanting like a mantra. Instead, a low, repetitive huff came from his neck. Almost like he was choking, or…

Laughing.

My smile was all teeth. “Oh. You come into my house, fuck with my people. And you think it’s funny.”

The minotaur continued to chortle.

I moved on, undeterred. “Whoever your master is, it’s obvious he cares about you. From what I’ve seen, most of these freaks have the survival instinct of a lemming, but you? The second I hacked your head off and stuffed it into a pocket dimension your goals changed. Shifted to self-preservation in a way that is almost human.”

His laughter died as I put my arm into it and the bag spun faster. “Guessing he let you keep that because you’re not exactly cheap to engineer, and he wanted to protect his investment. Still, it’s something we have in common. Wanting to live and whatnot. This is how we both get what we want. There’s a device in this bag that’s about to open up a portal to a realm of flauros. A random realm. The portal will stay open for exactly five seconds. Being at the center of this portal, this bag and naturally, your head, will be the first objects sucked in. Maybe I’m underestimating your abilities and your awareness works across realms.”

The creature shivered. Whether it was out of fear or anger didn’t matter. I was getting to him.

My smile turned to a smirk. “But I’m willing to bet it doesn’t. And if that’s the case… I’d really, really try to catch this before it lands.”

Before he could react, I flung the bag off to the side and over the edge of the reservoir. And like a dog after a frisbee, the minotaur charged after it, powerful hooved legs propelling him up and over the railing that housed the overlook. He sailed through the air, almost perfectly on target and grabbed the bag with both arms before he lost forward momentum and plunged downward.

I hit the deck and covered my head.

Even fully shielded from the blast, the teeth-rattling shockwave of the detonation rocked me to my core.