“Keep moving,” Ana-Zhi said. “There are going to be more of them on our asses.”
She was right. There were more of them. Six more of them. Three in front of us at the mouth of the alley—and three coming up from behind.
We were trapped.
3
“FML!” Ana-Zhi said, yanking me back into the shadow of a temple doorway.
“Did they see us?” I whispered.
“Probably. But even if they didn’t, they’ll be scanning the area.”
We ducked back into the dark temple hallway. Large piles of rubble and collapsed walls made it barely passable, but we squeezed through to a large circular space that extended up three stories.
There was an excellent chance that we were just trapping ourselves in the confines of this temple, but we didn’t have a choice. Those Mayir legionnaires had the marketplace sealed up.
“The stone walls will slow the scanning process,” Ana-Zhi said. “Thank Dynark for small miracles.”
“What if we go up?” I asked. The buildings here were so tightly packed, it might be possible to travel from roof to roof.
Ana-Zhi nodded. “Better than going down.” She slung the rifle over her shoulder.
We headed towards a wide stone staircase that had collapsed in several places. It wasn’t much different than scrambling up a rocky hill, and eventually we made it to the top floor. Thankfully there was no sign of the legionnaires.
I spotted a doorway leading to what looked to be a window or a balcony. We made our way over.
“Stay low,” Ana-Zhi warned.
I nodded and crawled to the opening, which overlooked the market square below. Peeking through a hole in the low balcony wall, I saw that the Mayir had stirred up the locals. There was yelling and chaos and the air was filled with both Mayir blaster bolts and bullets from the Obaswoon’s primitive projectile weapons.
That was good news for us, but we needed to get out of this area before things got even hotter.
“Let’s try to even the odds,” Ana-Zhi said. In one fluid movement she unslung her rifle and drew a bead on one of the crimson-armored commandos who was sneaking around a burning market cart.
“You sure you want to—”
But before I could warn Ana-Zhi that she’d be giving up our position, she blasted away. Her target’s head disappeared in a fiery bloom.
“Nice shot,” I said.
But she was already moving—racing towards the far end of the balcony. I was right behind her.
We climbed over the balcony wall and dropped down to a ledge which provided access to the flat roof of the next building over.
I had no idea if we were going in the right direction. The Well of Forever could be anywhere. And I didn’t have time to check my Aura. All I was focused on now was getting away from the Mayir.
Dodging holes and collapsed sections, we ran across the roof away from the sound of blaster fire and the columns of smoke which were now rising from the market square.
Using the repulsors on our boots we were able to leap across a five-meter gap between buildings to the roof of the next structure.
“There!” Ana-Zhi pointed to the far edge of the roof, where a lower building might provide a way back down to the street.
But before we reached it, a loud whine cut through the air. I spun to see a pair of Mayir riflemen with jetpacks flying at us.
Not good.
I yelled at Ana-Zhi to keep going, then took a couple wild shots at the commandos. Since they were moving and I was moving, I knew that I had little chance of actually hitting them. But I wanted to draw them to me.
They fired at me, but missed by a mile. I sprinted off to my left, running as fast as I could. Fortunately my repulsors were still engaged, so I loped with big steps that were almost jumps. I made it to the edge of the building in a few seconds, and even though I could have easily jumped to the next building, I dropped between the two buildings, praying that there might be a ledge or a balcony or even a window still I could land on.
I got lucky. One story down, an ornamental ledge protruded from the far building. It was not more than a half meter wide, but it was enough. I landed in a crouch, my suit absorbing the impact. Then I sprang up, raised my RB over my head, and steadied myself as much as I could.
Heart pounding, I waited until a shape darkened the sky above my head, then blasted away.
The commando’s body jumped from the impact of my blaster and he careened away. A square hit, and maybe even a kill shot. Unfortunately, the other Mayir zipped away.
But he’d be back—maybe with reinforcements.
I scanned the area, searching for a way out. I could try to continue down into the narrow alley between the two buildings, but that would mean climbing down two stories. Exposed.
I spotted a dark opening along the ledge. It was a window into one of the buildings. Even though this might be a confined space, it felt safer than the alley.
The window opened into a large dark room packed with primitive wooden crates. They were stacked from floor to ceiling and covered most of this floor—with only a few narrow passages between them.
What was this place? It didn’t seem like a temple—more like a storehouse. I didn’t have time to open up any crates, but I did notice that the wood didn’t look particularly old. If I were to guess, I’d venture that these came from the Obaswoon villagers.
I moved through the dark and gloomy warehouse, squeezing my way through the towers of crates. The only light came from a few stray shafts of dim sunlight shining in from a broken ceiling or wall section. And it was deathly quiet. My footsteps were the only sounds audible in the cavernous room.
I glanced back to make sure no one
