We revved up our bikes and tore out of camp, heading straight for the nearest skirmish. The Grave Digger was still down, with Eric and his team working on tracing the source, so Jess rode with me on the Phantom, while Shawn teamed up with Siva on his bike.

  The rest of the reserve team followed close behind, vehicles of all kinds tearing through the streets, splitting off in different directions to offer backup wherever it was needed.

  Twenty minutes later, we pulled up to a cluster of residential blocks. A firefight raged throughout the thirteen-story buildings, magical bursts lighting up the sky, filling the air with thunderous crackles. There was no time to waste.

  Siva was the first to make his move. He activated his [Airwalk] ability and shot up the side of a building like a shadow on the wind. In seconds, he reached the fourth floor, leapt over the parapet, and dropped into the hallway, twin swords flashing in his hands.

  Shawn wasn’t far behind. His cloak flickered into place, and he launched himself into the air, higher than the rest of us, his scythe materializing in his hand. He landed silently inside the building, and we quickly lost sight of him. A moment later, a Temple fighter soared over the parapet, crashing to the ground with a sickening thud, like a ragdoll thrown from a great height.

  Jess and I stayed on the ground, heading for another building. We took the stairs as we both don’t have any flight abilities, quickly clearing the lower floors as we ascended. The hallways were chaotic, filled with Temple fighters and mobs alike. Giant spider-like creatures, with too many twitching legs, scuttled across the ceilings, spitting acid as soon as they spotted us.

  I signaled Jess to stay back, then drew an arrow, taking careful aim at the nearest spider. The arrow hit it in the head, and the creature dropped with a sickening thud, its legs twitching in its death throes. But that was only the beginning.

  Jess and I moved together, methodically slicing through the mobs and Temple fighters. The bursts of magic and the clashing of steel were like a soundtrack to our work, each moment intensifying. I was momentarily brought back to long LAN gaming sessions of Counterstrike, but this time, there was no respawn button.

  We quickened our pace as we climbed higher, clearing each floor. At one of the floors, we found one of our groups pinned down in a house by Temple fighters wielding automatic crossbows. I took one look around the corner at them, and we went into action.

  I rounded the corner first, barely flinching as I loosed three arrows in quick succession. Each one found its mark, head-shotting the crossbow-wielding fighters before they could even react. My bow’s [Blowback] ability activated on each strike, blasting their dead bodies away before they even hit the floor.

  We barely made it to the house before a kinetic blast hit us, sending us staggering backward. Jess raised her shield spell just in time, deflecting most of the force, but we were still pushed back. The blast rang out from inside the house, and only when the fighters saw us, did they stop, realizing their mistake.

  We regrouped inside the house, where Jess immediately went to work, providing healing while I stood guard at the door. I pivoted constantly, covering both directions of the corridor, scanning for any movement. A few more spider creatures came scuttling across the ceiling. I fired rapidly, taking them down before they could close the distance. They were easy targets, lacking any instinct for self-preservation. The problem was that there were so many of them.

  "Uh… guys. Some help here! I can’t shoot fast enough!" I shouted into the house, as I picked off two more creatures with quick, clean shots.

  One of the Rebel members embedded in the group stepped forward. He raised his hands, and a series of [Fireball] spells shot down both directions of the hallway. The flames engulfed the spiders as they dropped from the ceiling, crackling and burning to the ground.

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  "We need to get out of here," the Rebel said, panting from exertion.

  I stared at him for a moment, frustration bubbling up. "You think?" I snapped, turning back toward Jess. I motioned for the Rebel to stay on guard while I checked inside.

  Jess was still tending to the group. There were four of them, though two looked absolutely shell-shocked. Three of them were from New Jurong, the other a Rebel, all of them frozen in fear. Jess’s soothing spells were working, but it was clear they couldn’t move on their own yet.

  “Jess, are we good?” I raised my voice, urgency creeping into it.

  She replied through chat instead.

  Jess: Physically they’re fine, but look at them. They’re frozen with fear. I’m soothing them now, but it’s going to take time to get them moving.

  Fuck.

  I took a quick mental inventory of where we were. We’d reached the seventh floor, and Shawn and Siva were engaged in their own battles in a separate block. There was no time for this. The situation was getting worse by the second.

  “How did you get here? Where’s your vehicle?” I asked the Rebel spellcaster, still standing guard at the door. He turned briefly, pointing out the kitchen window.

  I ran over and saw a minivan parked almost directly below us in the carpark.

  Faint skittering echoed from above, followed by the unmistakable thwumph-thwumph-thwumph of automatic crossbow fire. More mobs and Temple fighters. Either way, we couldn’t stay here.

  A new notification appeared in my HUD and I was preparing to wave away the notification but froze when I noticed my gold total had dropped drastically. Opening my inventory tab, I saw a new message from Eva just as a scroll appeared in my hand, like she had placed it there herself.

  Eva: Give it to Jess. You cannot cast this. She can.

  I didn’t have time to question her controlling my inventory like this again. I handed the scroll directly to Jess.

  It was a [Feather Fall - Mass] scroll.

  She took the scroll without a word, studied it for a second, and nodded.

  I pulled the Rebel spellcaster back into the house, outlining the plan quickly. He looked at me like I’d grown a second head, opening his mouth to argue, but Jess’s [Windblade] streaked past us, slicing through two Temple fighters that had appeared in the doorway. Their glowing hands were raised in a final, futile gesture before the wind sliced through them, cleaving them in half. Their bodies dropped to the floor with a sickening thud.

  That pushed us into motion.

  We smashed the kitchen windows and grabbed some chairs, setting them up to make the jump easier for the others. We had to cajole the rest of the group, reassuring them they’d be okay. When that didn’t work, I had to threaten to leave them behind if they didn’t follow through with the plan. That got them moving.

  The spellcaster and I each carried one of the catatonic people and moved to the window.

  “Cast it!” I shouted to Jess. Almost instantly, we began to feel lighter. It was a familiar sensation as this was the second time I’d been affected by this spell. We climbed onto the chairs, then jumped out of the window, followed quickly by Jess and the rest of the group.

  Like last time, we didn’t fall immediately. Instead, we floated gently down the side of the building. It was an odd sensation, and I doubted I’d ever get used to it.

  I looked up just in time to see one of the creatures falling toward us from higher up. Its multiple legs swung wildly in the air, and it was coming at us fast. I dropped the girl I was holding, who continued her slow descent beside me, and quickly fired multiple arrows at the creature. At the same time, Jess cast another [Windblade], and it sliced through the creature, cutting it in half above us. Its guts and bodily fluids rained down, drenching us in gore as we continued our slow descent.

  When we finally hit the ground, we quickly placed the catatonic people in the minivan. I turned to the Rebel who had jumped into the driver’s seat.

  “Get the hell out of here,” I ordered.

  He glanced at me, still gripping the ignition. “You’re not coming?”

  Shawn and Siva were still in the other buildings. I wiped the gore off my face and turned to look at Jess. She gave me a firm nod.

  I turned back to the Rebel in the driver’s seat. “No. We’re going back in.”