Theo was a Touched.


    I didn’t know what kind of deal he’d made or how he’d done it, but what mattered was that he was very dangerous.


    “Theo…” My warning was cut off as my goggles were yanked off. I closed my eyes to try to stop them from being seen.


    “You saw that! Everyone saw that! He’s no Bokor! He’s a Touched!” The thick man’s screams were going to alert the entire sector. “KILL THEM!”


    “Byler! Time to go!” Fyga’s voice was barely louder than the sound of metal on metal behind me.


    I opened my eyes and heard gasps from the crowd that had gathered. I didn’t have time to think about that because the guards were too close.


    The guard on my right swung first, so that’s the direction I moved. I guided his sword away from me as I moved around him. We were in the middle of the guards and there was no way we could hold them all off.


    The guard captain grunted and I watched him hit the ground. Fyga stood over him, red dripping off the yellow blade in her hands.


    “WHO’S NEXT!” The short woman flourished her sword.


    Seeing their captain die seemed to enrage the guards and all four of them rushed us. I heard more things being shouted from the crowd, but I didn’t have the luxury of being able to focus on them.


    I threw fire in the face of the guard on my left as I tried to get closer to the gate. I needed to find a way to force them to only come at me one at a time, but all I could do was back up towards the wall behind me.


    Our swords could pierce their armor, as Fyga had just demonstrated, but only if we stabbed them. Slashes and swipes weren’t going to do anything, which limited our ability to deal with them. I wanted to kill as few Humans as possible, especially since the guards were just following orders.


    My murder-happy companion thrust out her free hand and a gust of frosty air blasted the guards in the face. I watched as the frost thickened into ice, blocking their view. Which was helpful because the rocks that Theo had been creating flew wide as he shot them at us. One shattered against the wall behind us, while the other flew over the wall.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    “Damn you, you crazy strumpet!” Theo yanked off his helmet. His glowing purple eyes were full of hate as he focused on Fyga. “Try that now!”


    There was a gasp as the two guards that had been hiding with Theo took off their helmets to reveal purple eyes as well. The gasps had come from the two guards who had been guarding the gate.


    The two Human guards dropped their weapons as they backed up. Once they were far enough away, they turned and ran through the tents. I wondered if they were going for reinforcements or just to get away.


    “You’re such a big man.” Fyga mocked him. “You had to go corrupt yourself to cower before me a second time?”


    “I’ll show you cowering!” Rocks began forming in his hands again.


    I swallowed before charging the one on his left. We might get thrown out of the city, but I couldn’t leave these Touched alive. I had no idea why or how they’d ascended, but I had a feeling they’d had help.


    The guard tried an overhead chop, which I easily side stepped. He tried to reverse the swing of his sword, but I slapped it down with the blade of mine, tearing it out of his hand.


    The guard’s jaw dropped as he stared at his empty hands. Before he could come to grips about not being able to hold onto his weapon, I punched him in the face.


    He staggered back as purple began leaking out of his nose. I shook my head as he did what you weren’t supposed to do with a bloody nose. He covered it with his hands and leaned his head back. With his throat exposed, I hit him as hard as I could under the jaw. He fell backwards, landing on his back between two rows of carrots. I’d thought about killing the now unconscious man, but we needed information and I had a feeling he’d talk when Val got back.


    I turned my attention back to Fyga. She’d taken out the guard on her side and had Theo on his back with her yellow-bladed sword pressed against his throat.


    “Good job.” I gave her a thumbs up.


    She eyed me. “Good job? I got three of them. All you got was one.”


    “Which is why you did a good job.” I smirked. “Did you expect me to do all the fighting the day after I woke up from almost dying to save the city?”


    “You saved nothing!” Theo raised his left hand. Before a rock the size of a marble had formed, Fyga stabbed her sword through the back of his hand, pinning it to the ground.


    “OWWW!!!” The thick Touched tried to roll over to grab his pinned hand with his right, but Fyga kicked his right shoulder, then sat on his chest. She pulled her sword out of his hand, then laid it across his throat.


    “You’re about to tell us everything we want to know.” Fyga glared at him. “Starting with who told you we were Touched.”


    “I’LL TELL YOU NOTHING! JUST WAIT UNTIL LORD DOSWAN UNLEASHES HIS HORDE AND DESTROYS THE ISLAND! YOU’LL BE NOTHING!” The entitled brat spit in her face.


    “Um, Fyga?” I picked up the goggles that had been yanked off as the rest of the guards showed up. I’d hoped to get them on before anyone else showed up, but now over twenty guards, some with crossbows, lined up in a half circle around us. “I think we’re in trouble.”