The cart exploded.

  One second it was there, and the next there was a giant ball of flame with chunks of wood flying in every direction. There was no time to think, Triss just reacted. She fell to the ground as a wave of heat roiled above her. A concussive wave of force struck her and her ears began to ring, a high-pitched whine that eliminated all other sound. A mountain of dust followed, covering her in sand and dirt. She wasn’t sure how long she lay there. Her thoughts were slow, as though they were swimming through maple syrup. She could at least recognize she was thinking slow, but now she also wanted maple syrup. Wait, this wasn’t the time to be thinking about maple syrup, was it? The fog in her mind began to slowly clear, and suddenly she remembered. An explosion. Reginald!

  She shot up, sand falling off her in cascading waves. The devastation surrounding her was mind boggling. Thick spars of wood had been driven into the building walls around them, half of them charred or still burning. A thick dust hung in the air like a dense fog, colouring everything a strange shade of yellow. “Reggie!” She screamed. She could barely hear her own words over the ever-present ringing in her ears.

  “Triss!” The words were dull and muted, but she recognized Reginald’s voice. He was suddenly by her side, kneeling on the ground. “Are you hurt? Did any of it hit you?” He asked, a panicked edge to his voice. He ran his hands over her head, back, arms, looking for any wounds.

  “I think I’m fine. I might have hurt my ears, they won’t stop ringing.” She assured her friend. “But that’s it.”

  Before Reginald could say anything else, a scream pierced the air. Triss turned towards the sound and saw one of the guards sitting on the ground, frantically swatting at flames that were crawling up his leg. It was her firestarter spell, she realized. "We need to get moving. Where's Naiela?" Reginald asked.

  Triss scrambled to her feet, the motion making bright spots swim before her eyes. She scanned the destroyed street, seeing only broken bits of wood and a couple more downed guards. A bit of motion nearby caught her eye, and she realized it was Naiela. The other wizard was half buried in the dust, a few larger pieces of wood covering her. "There!" She shouted. She tried to stand, but realized her hands were still bound behind her. She quickly slipped her arms under her legs to get her hands in front of her. Reginald grabbed her hands and sliced through the ropes with one sharp clawed finger. He’d already cut his own off, Triss realized. Reginald jumped up and rushed to Naiela's side, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. She screamed in pain, and Reginald cursed, dropping her arm and grabbing the other one.

  Triss ran over, getting behind Naiela and helping to push her up. "We have to go!" Reginald yelled in Naiela's face. "Now!"

  The council wizard looked up, face right with confusion and pain. "What happened?" She croaked.

  "Triss happened. Come on, we have to run!" He pulled Naiela to her feet, and she stumbled, nearly collapsing. He quickly put an arm under her and began leading her away. Triss stood and stumbled after them.

  Something grabbed her leg and she tripped and fell, landing on her bound arms on the dust. Panic coursed through her and she turned onto her back, scrambling away. A guard's angry face, covered in blood and streaked with dirt glowered at her, still reaching to grab her. He tried to push himself up but then he screamed. Triss realized there was a large chunk of wood stabbed through him, the bloody, dripping end poking nearly a foot out of his back. "Sorry. I'm sorry." She said reflexively. She knew there was no hope for the man. He was going to die from that wound.

  "Bitch." He sputtered, blood foaming at his lips. He drew a long, shuddering breath and looked like he would speak again, but then a spasm of pain coursed through him and his next words were lost.

  A hand landed on her shoulder, and she jumped. "Let's go." Reginald said. She reached up and touched his hand, savouring for a second the comforting and familiar feel. Then she stood, and the three of them made their way down the street.

  "Where are we going to go?" She asked.

  "We need to get these collars off and get out of the city." Reginald said. "I have an idea for the first. We'll deal with the second after that."

  He led them down the street, taking turns occasionally. A few people were out and they stared at the odd procession. "We need to get off these streets.” Naiela said, breathing heavily. "Before someone tells the guards and they track us down.”

  “I’m working on it.” Reginald growled. “The place we need to go is about a ten minute walk this way.”

  “It doesn’t matter if it’s two houses down. If we are seen going there we’ll be reported. We need to get off the street.” Naiela insisted.

  “Reginald. She might be right.” Triss added.

  “I flaming know she’s right!” Reginald snapped. “That doesn’t mean I have a solution.” He took a calming breath before continuing. “The houses here are all connected. There’s no alleys or side streets we can take to hide. At least, not in this part of town.”

  Triss thought about it for a second. “That might work to our advantage.”

  “How?” Reginald asked.

  “We head closer to the main gates. To the houses that were unoccupied. We break into one, then find a way to get between the houses. Roofs, windows, gardens, whatever. We go in one house, transfer between a few others until our trail is cold, and then head to where ever we need to when it gets dark.”

  “That’s actually not a half bad plan.” Naiela said.

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  “Except for one problem. We’re not in that section of the city, and to get there we’d need to turn around. There will be guards around after that explosion.” Reginald said.

  “What district are we in?” Naiela asked.

  “Somewhere in the southwest. Near the slums.”

  Naiela thought for a second. “I know a section near the slums, about two blocks that are unoccupied. Follow me.” She veered suddenly to the left, but Reginald and Triss stopped in the street and just stared at her. “What?” She asked.

  “I don’t trust you.” Reginald said.

  “What? All three of us are fugitives at this point. Why would I go turn us in?” Naiela replied, obvious shock on her face.

  “Unless it was all a ruse.” Reginald replied. “Get ‘arrested’ with us so you have our trust if we escape? I find it hard to believe you would turn on the council like that.”

  “The council is being manipulated.” Naiela replied, her face hardening like steel. “Someone on the council is allowing a dark wizard of incredible power to roam around doing whatever he likes. I must stop him.”

  Triss watched Naiela closely as she spoke. When Reginald was just about to protest again, she cut in. “Which way?” She asked Naiela, taking a step towards her.

  “You’re going with her?” Reginald asked, dumbfounded.

  “No, We’re going with her. I believe her, and besides if we keep standing in the street arguing we’re definitely going to get caught.” Triss said. Reginald tried to reply, but Triss started walking away with Naiela, leaving him standing in the street. He swore loudly a few times and then started jogging after them.

  They followed Naiela through several wide streets, the surrounding house slowly becoming more dilapidated. Children didn’t play outside these houses, Triss noticed. Instead men, young and old, sat in small groups on the stoops of the houses. Most were drinking, and several seemed drunk already despite the early hour. Triss tried to keep her head down as much as possible, to not draw unnecessary attention. Naiela, of course, did no such thing. She strode through the neighborhood as though she were its queen, head held high and feet striking loudly on the pavement. “Subtle.” Reginald grumbled behind Triss.

  “She’s a council wizard. I doubt she’s ever been taught the meaning of the word.” Triss replied quietly.

  “Oh, she’s been taught it. It’s how her servants are supposed to serve her.” Reginald said. Triss snorted a laugh at that.

  “Hey pretty. What’s the joke?” One young man broke off from a group of men on a stoop and started walking towards her. He wore a dirty shirt that might have once been green, but was stained in so many places it looked almost tie died. There was a large hole in the knee of his dark pants, and Triss realized he wasn’t wearing any shoes.

  “Back off.” Reginald snarled at the man, baring his sharp teeth. They were still bloody from earlier, and made for a frightening sight. The young man sneered back at Reginald.

  “Think you’re scary, do ya?” He replied. The rest of the men on the stoop stood, gathering behind the dirty young man.

  “I’m not going to warn you again.” Reginald replied, still baring his teeth.

  “You should listen.” Naiela added. “He bit a guards nose off ten minutes ago. I suspect you would have even more trouble attracting a woman without a nose.”

  The young man laughed. “Guards? Bah. Cowards and weaklings. The guards don’t even come to my part of town. They know better than to mess with Gortil.” The group advanced slowly on Reginald, dark thoughts of violence plain in their eyes.

  Triss had enough. “I’m going to make this plain. You have exactly two seconds to fuck off and go back to your step before I deal with you.”

  The groups of men broke into laughter. “And what’r you gonna do about it?” The young man, obviously named Grotil said. He took a step towards Triss. “How about you ditch this lizard creature and you and the other pretty join us eh? I’ll show you a good time.” He winked, and the men all laughed again.

  “One.” Triss replied.

  “Two.” Grotil replied with a sneer.

  Triss shrugged, then started a spell. The glowing orange runes appeared above her outstretched palm, twisting and turning as the spell form took shape. The men took a step back. “Get her!” Grotil called. “Now!” The men looked at each other for a second, then together the group charged. The spell came together in Triss’s hand and activated. She held her hand towards the men, aiming the spell at their feet. White foam shot forwards, spraying the ground and covering it with a dense layer of bubbling soap. The men suddenly lost their footing, the soap mixing with puddles left over from the rain the night before. They slipped and slid, crashing to the ground and falling over one another.

  “Run!” Triss called as the jet of foam from the spell began to slow. She didn’t wait to see if they would follow, taking off running in the direction they had been walking. She aimed the spell behind her as she ran, coating the path with more of the soap. Several of the men were able to make it to their feet, walking carefully after them until they’d cleared the foamy white section of the road. As soon as their feet reached hard packed road they started running after them.

  “This way!” Naiela called, turning down a side street. Triss spared a glance back as they rounded the corners. Four men had made it out of the soap and were running after them, their bodies covered in foam and their faces plastered with rage. Grotil was in the lead, she noticed.

  Naiela led them through several twisting turns, the houses here gapped enough to make alleys and other narrow streets. “Here!” Reginald said, stopping and turning towards one of the houses. “I think this one is empty.” He pointed at a house with dark windows, devoid of any decoration. He ran up the stairs, lowering his shoulder as he reached the top and slamming into the door. The wooden door burst inward, spraying bits of doorframe into the house. Triss and Naiela followed him into the dark, foreboding entrance of the abandoned house. Shouts rang down the street, telling her the gang of men were still on their heels. As soon as Triss and Naiela were through the door, Reginald slammed it shut. “Anything you can do with this?” He asked Triss, holding the door closed with his shoulder.

  “No, I don’t know any spells that will hold it closed!” She said, her breaths coming in ragged gasps.

  “There’s furniture in here!” Naiela called, looking into the next room.

  “Drag some here!” He yelled at her. “Go help her!” He said to Triss. She darted off towards Naiela.

  “This one!” Naiela said, pointing at a large chair. It reminded Triss of a lazy boy from back on earth, with thick padding all over it. She grabbed the top and started dragging it towards the door, Naiela pushing on the other side with her good arm. It took them a good thirty seconds to get it through the hallway and to the door. A loud slam echoed through the house just as they reached Reginald, and she saw his body pushed back slightly from the impact of the gang members on the other side. It took another fifteen seconds or so to get the chair in place as the door continued to rattle and shake under heavy blows. Reginald stepped aside as the chair was finally moved into place. Another slam rocked the door, and chair slid back two inches.

  “That won’t hold them long.” Reginald said, pushing the chair to close the door again.

  “Upstairs.” Triss said. “We’ll find another way out. Go!” She practically pushed Naiela up before taking two steps up herself. “Come on Reginald!”

  “One second.” He held the chair against the door with his should until there was another push against it, then hurriedly ran up the stair.

  Triss formed her spell again, then began to slowly walk backwards up the stairs. She coated the chair, the entrance, and the steps with soap. Then, as the chair slowly inched forward under the repeated assaults from outside, she ran up the stairs into the darkness of the house.