Milla and Garder changed into the more formal versions of their uniforms for the event, wearing them under fancy robes, their swords still strapped to their sides as a show of their knighthood. They met with the others back at Rivia’s office as planned before heading to the party.

  Shin hadn’t changed, since her clothes were already decorated. Jeryn and Lechi had adorned nearly solid black and white outfits, and Lechi had her hair tied back and braided. It was required, but troubling to dress up so much—chances were, they could find themselves on the run shortly.

  Simon, having finally obtained some Aurrian clothes, had changed into a long silvery coat that he wore over a dark gray suit. But Verim, as expected, had changed the most of all.

  Though he looked slightly uncomfortable trying to hide it, his canine tooth was no longer showing, his hair was smoothed and cleaned to its natural blond state, and he stood fully upright in the Aurrian version of a tuxedo. His sword, once strapped to his back, was now at his side. He looked so much more like a gentleman than before that Garder couldn’t recognize him at all at first. Even his awkward smile had diminished.

  “It… just doesn’t suit me,” Verim said, looking at his reflection in the office window. “I want to run. Or just, move at all.”

  “But Delqua shouldn’t identify you. Just keep standing straight—that’s the trick,” Shin explained as she tied on her neck scarf.

  “Big party out there…” Garder said, observing the administration tower from the window. “Do you really think he’ll try and pull something? In front of an entire crowd?”

  “Depends how much they want us,” Jeryn said. “In any case, I’ve got a pair of the claws. It would’ve been a bad idea to leave them home.”

  “I’ve got the others,” Milla added. “If they’re after them, then they might only be expecting us to have a single pair.”

  “Yes, well, we don’t want the Guard getting even one of them in their hands. Be vigilant.”

  “None of the ladies are wearing heels under their robes, I hope,” Garder mentioned. “It’d make running a tad difficult.”

  “Heeled boots, but I always have them on,” Shin replied.

  “Right…” Garder straightened his cuffs once more. “Time to go.”

  They were among the middle of the arrivals, and were let in without any trepidation. The grand dining hall was huge—three separate long wood tables, all under a roof as far up as one would be in an opera house. Seven chandeliers lit the hall, under them bustling waiters and staff. A band played at one end softly while hundreds of people gathered on the floor.

  The seven stayed together and chose their seats near a large, gothic-styled window in case it proved to be the only means of escape. Lechi dangled her feet from her chair, with Tanesh at her side, to whom she fed pre-dinner crackers. Jeryn and Shin observed their surroundings. There wasn’t a single member of the Guard about. Not yet, at least.

  “Fancy place,” Simon said. “Guys, I’ve been wondering—who are the Guard anyway? I thought you all were part of it, but I guess not.”

  “No—the Guard is much smaller,” Jeryn replied. “They have more centralized armies in the bigger Cities, and a few units everywhere else. What makes them authoritative is the fact that they can use force on almost anyone. Free agents like us often get assigned missions by the Guard to keep the peace and can at times grant us temporary power that allows us to use force, as well. But they simply have the strength to maintain Aurra.”

  “And they’re corrupt?”

  “What political power isn’t?” Garder said. “I’ve known a few ‘good’ or otherwise justified Guard members, but not many. Rivia is one of them. Still, they typically don’t do questionable things. Well, not in public.”

  The waiters began serving drinks. Everyone avoided alcohol, Jeryn and Milla the only ones to ever really partake in any otherwise. Then came the food: lamb, steak, or a salad with pasta. To Lechi’s dismay, the pasta had grilled chicken in it, so Tanesh’s dinner was more filling than usual.

  After some time, Delqua finally entered the dinning hall through the front door. Two Guardsmen, acting as bodyguards, positioned themselves at either side of the entrance after escorting the councillor in. He strode past the group without acknowledging their presence, and then stepped up to the stage to offer some greetings to those who had attended.

  It was banal as expected; he stated that this was a casual party, and that in Aurra, there didn’t need to be a particular reason to throw one. All the while, Jeryn kept his eyes on the two heavily armored soldiers upfront. He couldn’t see much of them—they were covered from head to toe in the light, silvery plates that the higher Guardsmen often wore.

  “He didn’t notice me,” Verim said after Delqua finished his speech.

  “So far, so good,” Garder added. “Maybe we should just try to act like we’re having fun here for now.”

  “Friends, thank you again for coming out tonight!” Delqua continued. “Enjoy the food! Best in the City! Enjoy!”

  “Ugh…” Lechi suddenly moaned and rubbed her forehead.

  “Lechi? What is it? The food?” Garder asked.

  Lechi groaned again and dropped her head down.

  “It’s the food!” Garder whispered sharply to the others. “They must’ve poisoned it!”

  Lechi recovered as the group shared some odd looks with Garder.

  “I’m fine… Just a headache…”

  “Honestly, Garder…” Milla sighed.

  “What? You think I worry too much, don’t you?”

  “Are you really okay, Lechi?” Jeryn asked.

  “Yeah. S-say…” She turned to Jeryn. “You’ve got the claws, right?”

  “Well, yes. You know I do…”

  “C-can I see them? They’re pretty.”

  “Uh… Lechi, you’re being weird,” Garder noted.

  “Let me see the claws. I just want to see them for one second.”

  Jeryn thought for a moment, and then felt his heart leap. He looked at the Guardsmen. One was staring directly at them with unblinking eyes.

  “Mind adept!” he suddenly exclaimed. “He snared Lechi!”

  “Jeryn, what—” Garder started.

  Jeryn didn’t hesitate. He lowered his goggles over his eyes and jumped onto the table, two fingers extended.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “It’s too late!” Lechi snarled and grabbed at his ankles, nearly knocking him down. “Give me the claws! Give them to me!”

  Jeryn steadied himself, opened his palm, and fired off a quick spell. A bright flash hit the Guardsmen across the hall. Both fell back and covered their eyes, freeing Lechi immediately.

  The commotion in the hall quickly grew. The other curious guests turned to find out what kind of spectacle was evolving around them.

  “Lechi!” Milla called out.

  “I’m… I’m okay.” She rubbed her eyes. “I didn’t have any control.”

  “Get them! Get those traitors!” Delqua burst out in anger.

  The group expected the two Guards to come after them, but instead, a dozen of the hall’s windows shattered and elite knights and alchemagists of the Guard began pouring in, sending the attendees into a panic.

  “Wonderful,” Garder muttered. “We’d better get out of here.”

  Jeryn took out the pair of claws he had on him and began to rip open a dimensional tear—but was interrupted when he was hit by a beam of fire and knocked off the table. He kept his grip firm on the claws, but was badly stunned for the moment.

  “Damn it!” Shin shouted. “Form a protective barrier until we get a proper tear going!”

  They brought out their swords. Surrounded by at least a dozen very dangerous opponents with nowhere else to go but to Earth, they would have to steady themselves long enough to open a way there and break free.

  “Hold on,” Verim said. “I’ve got something.”

  He raised three fingers, summoned a spell, and hit the ground with his fist. A ring of ruptured tile encircled the group, breaking parts of the table apart in the process. An earthen wall formed out of the foundation and shattered marble below and rose up to form a protective shield.

  “Now, brambles…” He took out five seeds from his pouch and flung them into the forming rock wall.

  They sprung into life immediately after, turning into thick, thorny vines that melded with the rock barrier to strengthen it. The earth and plant dome completed itself moments later, complete with a few tiny windows for outside observation and lighting.

  “Good job, Verim,” Shin said.

  “Yeah, really nice,” Garder added.

  “It’s not as strong as iron, but it’ll do for the moment,” he explained as he let his tooth come out again, a bit to his relief.

  Outside, the shouts of the crowd began to diminish as the sturdy dome started taking hits from alchemagi and explosive arrows. After just a few seconds of the barrage, the barrier showed signs of stress.

  “This thing isn’t going to last long,” Lechi said. “Milla, hurry and use your claws. And Jeryn—wake up!”

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  “Ugh…” he groaned. “Got hit by something nasty… My whole body’s burning.”

  “If we have to pull you out ourselves, we will,” Milla replied and reached towards the side bag with the claws in it.

  “Fine with me…”

  Suddenly, a large, sharp iron pike punctured through the wall with great force, aimed directly at Jeryn. He barely had the time to lift his arms and hold it back from his chest. Shin reacted, and with one swing of her katana, she pinned the pike against the stone barrier. She generated some electricity and sent it through, shocking its wielder. The instances of the counterattack had gone by the suppression field’s capabilities, but she didn’t have enough willpower to knowingly kill whoever was on the other side.

  “Look out!” Simon shouted, seeing some kind of incoming attack from the window.

  Part of the wall was torn apart by razor-thin particles, which dissipated into the air immediately after.

  “They’ve got a vector!” Milla said. “If we stay in here, we’re dead!”

  Several streaming lines came forward, which Milla quickly deflected. She was the only proper defense against the alignment, and they were being overwhelmed to such a degree that she couldn’t even spare the group the few seconds they needed to open up a tear.

  Knowing they had to escape the dome, Milla cut open the top of it with her own vector abilities and leapt out, forming a sturdy shield of ice for protection as she did so. Viewing the reflections in the ice shield, she quickly found which direction to hold it. A split second after she swung it around, three iron arrows hit the ice and shattered it. Milla landed softly on the table where she fought off additional vector rays.

  Shin quickly joined her and activated a static field around the area. It wouldn’t deflect attacks completely; merely hinder their guidance, making every beam less likely to hit them while it was up.

  “What do we do?” Shin asked. “They’re tough.”

  “Just cover me until I can make a tear. That’s all.”

  “Got it. Maybe I can help.”

  Shin brought up her sword, summoned another spell on top of the static field, and shot out lightning from the tip of her weapon. Each bolt hit the lights of the hall, shattering or overpowering them. The room was dark within seconds, the only illumination now coming from outside and the purple glow of the static in the air.

  Before Milla took the claws out, she looked at the rest of the group, still inside the crumbling dome. Two knights were trying to get inside, and Garder and Verim were struggling to hold them off as Jeryn recovered. Simon kept low to the ground, while Lechi stood over barking Tanesh.

  Jeryn got back up with a burst of energy. But before he could try and fight off the knights, a sniper waiting patiently on a windowsill took aim at him with a crossbow and fired. The bolt was special—it exploded inches from Jeryn and sprayed a blue dust all over him. Alchemagi sealant; his only asset was instantly nullified as long as the dust covered his hands.

  They had known all along that he was the most powerful and the biggest threat. Even now, despite the group’s surprising resilience against a Guard onslaught, they were doing everything they could to pry the claws off of him and disable his ability to fight back in the process.

  In the chaos, a knight managed to tackle Jeryn to the floor and tear away his side bag—the same with a pair of the demon’s claws inside.

  “Ugh!” Jeryn moaned. “No!”

  He delivered a strong punch, knocking the knight back. He then stood and ripped off his outer formal wear, tossing it away. But there was still dust on his hands—too much to perform alchemagi properly.

  “Get the claws back!” he called out. “They’ve got them!”

  “Hurry up, you fools!” Delqua’s voice shouted from the darkness. “If you’ve got the claws, then finish them off!”

  Lechi cried out suddenly. Milla turned to see that a knight had snuck up behind her and had her by the arm. Milla couldn’t be sure if he was just trying to pull the child away for her safety, or separating the group. Either way, Lechi reacted by summoning a small cloud of needles above her head. She shot them out above, unable to target the knight directly. Once they were out of her control, however, they were dangerous projectiles. A couple bounced off the walls and stuck themselves in the knight’s left arm.

  “You little brat!” he spat angrily.

  In a cruel show of force, he hit her in the chest. She let out a gasp and hit the ground, eyes closed. Tanesh barked wildly, then sprung up and sunk his teeth into the knight’s other arm. While he tried to shake him off, Verim’s anger spiked. Tired of holding the two knights off, he suddenly spun around and plunged his sword directly into one of their sides.

  All of the Guardsmen in the room had to stop and look on in total surprise as the knight fell to the ground, and then disappeared in a cloud of orange. They couldn’t begin to comprehend how the strange boy just did that, as they were supposed to be invincible.

  Verim knelt down to Lechi to try and revive her. Tanesh was then thrown off his attacker’s arm—but Verim managed to catch him and lay him down, where he licked Lechi’s face. Verim flipped his sword and hit the second knight in the head with the hilt, knocking him out.

  Garder used the confusion to form a forward blast of cold air, sending the knight before him and several others back some. He had lost track of the one who had the pair of claws by this point, and Jeryn was still trying to shake the remaining dust off of his hands. Simon could only look around, unsure of just what he could do to help.

  “Kill them!” Delqua called out again. “Hurry and kill them!”

  “We’re getting out of here!” Milla shouted as Shin focused her energy to make the static field more powerful. “Up here, everyone!”

  She ripped open a large tear on the table. It was an early morning on Earth, and the healthy grass field below was within safe dropping distance.

  “But they’ve got the claws!” Garder yelled back as he formed an ice wall to stop an alchemagist’s charging pointed vine.

  “We’re in over our heads here! We have to go!”

  “Go, Garder,” Jeryn assured, wiping the rest of the dust off and raising three fingers. “We’ve no choice. I’ll keep them off as you escape.”

  “Oh, no—you’re not playing hero. You’re not staying here and sacrificing yourself.”

  “Shut up and go!”

  Garder growled, but relented and leapt on to the table and then through the tear. Upon seeing Garder disappear down through solid wood, Delqua shouted out angrily once more.

  “T-they’ve got another pair! All men—aim at Milla! Take her down!”

  Simon dove in next, followed by Lechi-carrying Verim. After summoning a longer, complicated spell, Jeryn brought up his arm and fired out an umbrella of plasma, concealing and protecting the remaining group during the escape and setting whatever it touched ablaze. In one graceful movement, he jumped through the tear.

  Shin looked at Milla, gave a light nod, and dived in herself with Tanesh at her side. Milla looked around at the destruction for another second before falling through the field under her. The tear closed moments later, and Delqua’s angry ravings vanished immediately.

  Garder coughed and stood himself up. “Well… That was brilliant.”

  “What choice did we have?” Milla replied. “You saw how many Guardsmen they had after us! They’re determined. They would’ve all come after us as long as we remained in N. Had Shin and Verim not been with us, we probably wouldn’t have made it out.”

  “Damn it. They have two claws,” Jeryn growled. “I let you all down.”

  “Forget it—you saw everything they were throwing at us.”

  Milla noticed something flash in the corner of her eye. She turned to see a tear being opened just a few feet away from where theirs had been.

  “Oh, I don’t believe this!” Garder called out.

  They backed off and prepared for another fight. Once the tear was open, Delqua appeared, seemingly hovering in a darkened area of sky.

  “There they are!” He pointed. “Go through and kill them!”

  “Don’t think so…” Jeryn muttered and raised three fingers once more. “Corona—Fusion—Corona—Flame—Hydro—Fusion—Carbon—Flash—Scorch—Flash!”

  He shot out a pillar of flame, igniting the field below the tear into a bright fire. Some of the embers crossed dimensions, partly illuminating the hall “above.” A Guard tried jumping down, but Delqua held him back.

  “Not yet, idiot! We lack providence on Earth! You’ll get burned!”

  Jeryn maintained the flame with all of his energy. Milla quickly provided her own aid and formed a vector mandala under the tear. Delqua grew frustrated and closed the rift.

  “Hurry,” Shin said. “They’ll be back, no doubt.”

  They bounded down the hillside, unsure of when or where they would be safe from further assault. But another tear formed just seconds later, in front of them this time.

  Delqua and two alchemagists stood behind the opening, on the street in front of the hall. The councillor seemed possessed and had lost any judgment—people were behind him, looking on in curiosity. They had to be wondering what they were seeing. Was that Earth? How’d he do that?

  “Stop!” Delqua snarled and summoned his own level three spell as the group tried to stop their downhill momentum.

  He fired off a sharp spire of stone directly at Garder. But upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, it crumbled to dust.

  He looked on in confusion. “What the…”

  “Won’t work!” Garder shot back. “Chill—Dew—Hail—Chill!”

  He let loose a simple spell in the form of a blinding wave of ice particles. Upon entering Aurra, the cold attack actually strengthened enough to knock the three behind the opening back a few feet.

  The group forked around the tear as it closed and continued down the hill to a valley. Across from it was a highway, busy with early morning traffic. They stopped for a moment to assess just what was going on.

  “They’re not going to stop,” Shin warned.

  “I know! I didn’t expect they’d even figure out how they worked that quickly! But Lechi…” Milla looked at her, still in Verim’s arms.

  Tanesh caught up, then scampered over near Verim and whined.

  “She’ll be fine,” Verim said. “She’s just a bit out of it.”

  “I can’t believe those bastards hit her like that!” Garder said angrily.

  “Come on,” Simon shouted. “If we get near the highway, it’d make it dangerous for them to follow us, right?”

  “Yes,” Jeryn agreed. “Hurry. We’re still in a dangerous spot here. We need to cover ourselves on all sides. They may appear again any moment.”

  They caught their breath before continuing, Shin grabbing Tanesh and swinging him into her arms as she joined them. With extra caution, they proceeded across the valley and up the grassy incline leading to the busy highway. They each stopped as near to the road as possible and paused to rest after everything they had just been through.

  “Crazy…” Garder panted. “I can’t believe they have a pair of claws.”

  “We can’t return to N, either,” Shin added. “We might want to stay out of the Cities with the highest Guard presence from now on, as well.”

  “But we’ve still got our own pair, the demirriage, and Rivia’s journal…” Milla interjected. “We’ve really no choice now but to continue with Rivia’s mission. Even if the entire Guard is after us.”

  “So out to Japan, then?”

  “Or in that direction until we at least get to east Onasia.”

  Garder slumped down to the ground and wiped the sweat off his face. Jeryn, having utilized some of his strongest techniques, was equally worn out. To make matters worse, they were all still in their dirtied formal wear, which already would have otherwise looked strange on Earth.

  The traffic broke for a moment, leaving the group in a temporary peace. Until another tear opened up directly in front of them, much to their astonishment. Delqua glared angrily and relentlessly ordered the three knights at his side to attack. Without even knowing exactly what they were on the opposite side of, the first knight stepped out, sword ready.

  Garder got to his feet again and prepared to defend himself. But a tanker trunk barreled down the road before he could draw his blade. The knight turned to look at it just a moment before it slammed into him. He exploded into orange smoke almost immediately, his clothing fluttered into the wind, and his sword landed with a clank on the asphalt.

  Milla let out a small gasp. The truck driver hit the brakes, coming to a squealing stop several hundred feet away. Delqua and the remaining two knights looked on in befuddlement before they disappeared behind more oncoming traffic. When it cleared once again, the tear had sealed.

  “Think they’re done for now?” Garder asked.

  “Let’s not wait around to find out…” Shin sighed. “Come on, then. We’d better get to Dublin and get a change of clothes.”

  Lechi still winded, the group began the trek down the road, trying to avoid drawing attention. They noticed the truck driver examining the fender as they walked past, where several robes were stuck in the grills. A second commuter had pulled over and was dialing a number on his cell phone.

  “It looks like I hit someone,” the truck driver said, dumbfounded. “I mean, he just came out of literally nowhere. But there’s no blood or anything… No body that I can see… It doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Either way, I’m calling the police,” the commuter replied. “Maybe the poor bloke was flung somewhere. You hit’im at full speed, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, but… I don’t understand this at all…” He scratched his head. “Hey—you lot there. Did you see that guy that jumped out in front of me?”

  As they continued past the accident scene, Garder turned to respond, “Nope. Didn’t see anything. Sorry, buddy.”

  “That was quite intense…” Shin said. “I’m still trying to get my mind around it. Transdimensional battles. Never had one before.”

  “I just realized. That Guard who leapt through and um, got hit—he went to Hold’s kingdom, right?”

  “Yeah, he did.”

  “So… what’s going to happen to him?” Milla wondered.

  “He’ll wander about for a while. Eventually someone from the kingdom will find him, or he’ll stumble in, and Escellé will lock him up. She does it with all Guardsmen who find their way there.”

  “Oh… But for how long? He might’ve not been a bad person.”

  “That’s for her to decide,” Shin replied and tightened her hold on Tanesh, who was beginning to panic from being near the heavy traffic.

  Milla said nothing else.

  “Simon, you got some credit cards on you, right?” Garder asked.

  “Um… Yeah, I have my wallet.”

  “Good. We can pay you back, you know. Right now, though… We need another change of clothes and a place to rest.”

  “H-hey, if all I can do is support you through your financial troubles, that’s good enough for me.”

  Garder laughed as much as his worn conscious would allow. “We’ll get you using some alchemagi soon, all right?”

  They continued tiredly down the highway, each pondering just what their next move could be. Now the whole Guard was after them. They were traitors, and might not even be able to enter any City aside from C safely.

  The Fragmented Dimension, whatever it was, had to be their next destination.