Tara'lynn watched in disbelief as her demonic ally threw herself out of the speeding wagon and activated some kind of movement talent, blurring away down the broad boulevard. And people called her a loose cannon. Who just ran off on their own in the middle of a fight, leaving behind their team?

  "Why did she do that?" she demanded, stepping up to take Jade's place on the driver's bench beside the half-elf. His familiar had caught up to them, the strange bird flapping overheard and keeping pace with them as they pursued the fleeing demons.

  "Oh, she does that." The broad-shouldered human, Luis, said, sending an arc of energy smashing into the rear of the rearmost wagon. It swerved violently from the impact, allowing them to pull up alongside it.

  "That's not how a team should operate!"

  "We've had the team talk." Naomi said, still playing her otherwordly instrument. Tara'lynn had never heard such energetic music before. The tune filled her with energy, amping her up, more than just by the magic infused into the notes. This, she could get used to. "I think it's time for another."

  "Later!" Luis shouted, turning to face the wagon beside them. Two bruzak's stood in the bed of the cart along with one imp, which perched atop a rather precarious stack of barrels. "Heads up!"

  The colloquialism was new to the tek'kalla, but the meaning was clear from context. Leaving the enemies ahead of them to Ashar and Fenrin, she and Luis turned to face the closest threat. She was aware of the townspeople crowding the street, frantically getting out of their path. They'd alerted the attention of the guard as well, but so far none of the city's defenders had managed to catch up to them. That'd change when they reached the gate, but that wasn't her concern now. Right now, she had to prevent as much collateral damage as possible. Fortunately, the academy had trained her for urban combat and knew how to fight defensively.

  Tara'lynn flipped her visor down, covering her eyes with the translucent crystalline display of her combat suit. Status indicators populated the corners of her vision, but her attention was focused on something else. The real-time mana analysis her suit was compiling on her foes.

  Each of the demons in front of her, separated only by a short gap between their speeding vehicles as they careened down the street, was summoning power. She could feel the gathering magic as they cast their spells, crackling energy beginning to grow in the palms of their hands. Her visor updated, identifying two of the spells as fire based and one as lightning based. The mage's wand moved in a blur, weaving a complex pattern in the air as she channeled her own power. Not complete spells, there wasn't time. Instead, Tara'lynn simply introduced confounding elements into the still-gathering magic of her foes' spells. Water essence for the fire spells, and earth essence for the lightning.

  She was just in time. All three spells flickered out, discharging harmlessly as she disrupted the flow of magic underpinning them. One of the demons snarled a curse at her, reaching out with its claws, only to be knocked free of the wagon by another blast of energy from Luis.

  "Not bad!" He gave her a thumbs up. "You're picking this up quick!"

  "I've been training for this."

  The large human did a double take, stopping mid sword swing.

  "You've been training to fight demons from the back of a speeding wagon?!"

  "What? No!" Tara'lynn rolled her eyes, beginning to cast one of her fire-based spells. Nothing too destructive, a targeted burst. "Wayfarer training!"

  The floor beneath her lurched right as she began the incantation, interrupting her spell and sending her toppling into Naomi. They collapsed in a heap on top of each other, the cart swerving wildly.

  "Sorry!" Fenrin called over his shoulder. "This isn't the friendliest bunch!"

  The tek'kalla groaned, extricating herself from the smaller human with a muttered apology. This was impossible. She couldn't construct delicate spellwork from such an unstable platform. That only left her soul imprinted Labyrinth spells, and the relevant ones were all broad area attacks that were too dangerous for urban fighting.

  That left…

  "Ugh. Fine."

  Tara'lynn stood, holstered her wand, and drew her pulsecaster. The magitech weapon hummed to life in her hand, automatically syncing targeting data with her visor. She pumped mana into the device, casually pointed it at the closest demon, and squeezed the trigger. A blast of blue-white energy left from the pistol-shaped weapon, striking the imp straight in the chest. It screeched, writhing as the concentrated mana bored a hole straight through its chest, dropping it lifelessly to the ground where it was promptly crushed under a heavy wheel.

  The mage grimaced in distaste.

  "How uncultured."

  Jade had spent most of her life training to precisely control every motion of her body. Before, that had meant performing acrobatic feats in front of hushed crowds. Now, those same skills were put to use to twist away from a half dozen bolts of flaming energy as she rushed to intercept her quarry. She warped forward from the wall of the building she was dashing across, leaping free just before the masonry behind her erupted in a blast of heat. Jade landed with a roll, tucking her wings in close and pushing off the ground like an uncoiling spring. Her momentum was just enough to carry her to the back of the second cart, the one just behind where Malice rode at the front of the short column.

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  A quick glance behind her confirmed that her friends were handling themselves well against the other demons, but that was all she could spare. She was hanging from the rear railing of the rocking wagon, still pulled by a pair of frantic strix. The giant lizards were spooked by the commotion, jerking and pulling against the reins while their bruzak driver struggled to keep them under control. One of the demons in the wagon bed noticed their unwanted passenger. She, it had a vaguely feminine form to Jade's eye, snarled, swiping down at her. Jade twisted away from the attack, managing to catch the demon by the arm. With a heave she pulled the creature out of the cart, using her as leverage to flip up and over the railing and onto one of the piles of boxes. The screeching demon fell to the ground behind them, immediately trampled by the following vehicles.

  There were two other demons in this wagon, but Jade couldn't waste time with them. She could see the outer wall of the city quickly approaching. They were in the final stretch now, and she didn't want to wait and see what happened when they got outside. She had to get to Malice, now.

  Jade was on the move before the other demons could mount an attack. Running along the top of the supplies, she threw herself forward towards the lead wagon. Malice, seated on the driver's bench, had only just noticed the commotion behind her. She turned just in time to see Jade hurtling across the gap, hand outstretched, Phantom flashing through the intervening space between them like a bolt of silver lightning. It was a perfect throw, dead center on the demon's chest. Jade channeled the item's magic, drawing herself towards the dagger-

  CRACK

  Malice swiped her whip with blinding speed, lashing the blade from the air. Deflected, Phantom flew wide, clattering to the cobblestones below.

  Shit!

  She could only teleport if the blade hit a target. With a miss, Jade was left to land heavily on the rear of Malice's wagon, teetering precariously on the rear shelf. Phantom reformed in her hand with a thought, and she slammed it down into one of the crates to steady herself. Panting, heart racing, she glared across at Malice and pulled herself to her feet.

  "You must've really missed me." The succubus smirked, swishing her whip back and forth. This wagon was unoccupied save for her and a single driver, who remained focused on guiding the cart towards the large gate that had just come into view.

  "Tell me what your people are planning to do with Earth." Jade said, ignoring her taunt. She locked eyes with the demon, imbuing each of her words with all the alluring charm her succubus form could channel. The powerful spell slammed into Malice's mental defenses as if they were a concrete wall, finding no purchase nor gaps.

  "Nice try." The succubus laughed. But you still have a ways to-"

  Jade leapt into motion. Malice had dropped her guard slightly on resisting her spell. That was never going to work, not when she could only cast it at C rank. But it did draw her attention. She pulled an item from her belt, a long length of braided rope, and threw it at the succubus. It animated in midair, wrapping around the surprised demon's limbs like a serpent, trying to bind them together as she struggled to break free. It was the same enchanted rope Malice had used on her during their first encounter and, while it wasn't nearly as effective against an actively resisting target, it proved to be an excellent distraction.

  Sliding over the stacks of supplies, Jade aimed a kick at the partially ensnared demon. She wasn't trying to kill Malice, the succubus had too many questions to answer, but if she could knock her to the street, they might be able to subdue her. Guards, Jade assumed they were part of the Silver Shield, were pouring into the street behind them, and several of them were already arrayed in front of the quickly approaching gate, impeding their progress. Jade didn't need to defeat her, just slow her down enough for the city's defenders to subdue her.

  And convince them I'm not one of them… She reminded herself, ducking as an errant crossbow bolt whizzed overhead.

  Unfortunately, Malice was strong enough to stand firm against Jade's kick. She tore herself free of the rope entangling her, but not before Jade landed a double slash with her blades against her chest. The strikes tore deep grooves into her dark armor, eliciting a pained growl. Again, she kept her footing, if only just. Before Jade could continue her offensive, she struck back with a vengeance. They exchanged a quick and brutal series of strikes, Malice tearing with fearsome claws, Jade with enchanted blades. The wayfarer came away worse for wear, enchanted armor sparking and scored in numerous places, dark blood seeping from multiple minor wounds.

  I can't take her.

  Naomi was right. Jade had bet on a surprise attack, but that hadn't worked.

  "Lady." The demon driving the wagon growled over his shoulder. "They're blocking the gate."

  "I don't care." Malice said coolly, not taking her eyes off where Jade crouched amidst the collected crates of effusion.

  "They're in the way, and the gate's closed!"

  "Keep. Going."

  There was something in her eyes, and Jade caught a flicker of eager anticipation from the succubus. Something was about to happen. She was out of time.

  "Noctis!"

  Jade changed tactics, blasting Malice with the full force of her blindness spell. At such close range, even her impressive reflexes weren't enough to evade the magic. Just as in their last meeting the spell took hold, occluding her vision with an obscuring cloud of darkness. It would only last a moment; the demon was already reaching up to rip the enchantment free of herself with a look of annoyance. It wasn't enough to give Jade a major edge, but it did create an opening. She lunged forward, dropping Phantom and seizing a cluster of parchment the succubus had stuffed into a strap at her hip. The same documents she'd grabbed from the underground hideout before their escape.

  The blindness spell broke, and it only took the demon a split second to realize what had happened. She growled again, this time with genuine anger, and made to grab Jade with her clawed hands.

  But she was already gone, having thrown herself down onto the street below. Jade hit the ground with a roll and a spike of sharp pain, tumbling into a stack of fruit barrels that stood beside a market stall. People scattered, shouting in alarm as a winged demon fell into their midst. Jade paid them little heed, forcing herself to her feet and ignoring her aching limbs. She stuffed the documents into her dimensional pouch, hoping that whatever she'd taken would prove useful. It was the best she could do.

  "Wayfarer business." She grunted at the shocked, cowering group, holding up the glowing back of her hand. "Get out of here if you can, stay down if you can't."

  And then she was gone, dashing into the street to intercept the wagon that held her party. She took the opportunity to resummon Phantom to her hand and shift into her human form, hoping to avoid any possibility of friendly fire by local authorities.

  "Luis! Give me a lift!"

  A tether of ice essence lanced out from Luis's palm, snagging Jade in the chest. She jumped, letting him heave her aboard as Fenrin drove them past. There was no sign of the demon-driven wagon that had been beside them earlier.

  "Everyone okay?" she asked, swinging back into the front seat beside the half-elf.

  "Jade, you're covered in blood!" Naomi exclaimed. She stopped channeling her melody, switching to a healing tune.

  "I'm fine." She barely noticed the pain. There were three carts ahead of them, all bearing down on the large city gates. They loomed overhead, guarded by hastily arrayed ranks of Silver Shield guards. "Be careful, I think something's about to-"

  Without warning, the large portcullis exploded in a violent eruption of flame and smoke.