Bad luck.

Elowen was familiar with the concept, but she didn’t believe in it. This wasn’t bad luck—it was the Path’s real challenge.

“Drop that pipe, lady!” The man at the front jerked the barrel of his rifle at her. “Hands up!”

Elowen considered the spear she still held in her hands, the end busted to hell and the rest riddled with cracks, and then considered the men before her. She vaguely recalled a robbery at this bank, but the police had stormed the place and gotten into a shootout with the thieves well before they secured any cash. From the looks of the heavy bags next to the other men, it hadn’t happened that way this time.

How had things changed? She’d been in those damn meetings all day. Was it the statue?

When the robbery had gone down in the past she’d missed it as well. The same issue: meetings. She had, in fact, been forced to speak to Carl at length about “her future.” He’d been unpleasant, and she hadn’t kneed him in the balls.

Another difference, if a pleasant one.

The bank robbers gave her much more pause. Giant, unstable golems coming out of the fountain she could handle without batting an eye, but thieves armed with guns? That felt entirely too real to her.

A muzzle flash and a sharp stab at her legs startled her from her thoughts.

“I said drop it and hands up! That means now!”

Elowen looked at her legs, wincing at the shrapnel that had slices neat rows into her calves. The ground a foot away was broken apart.

“Did you just shoot at me?”

The guy lifted his gun, aiming at her head. “I’ll do worse if you don’t—”

Elowen hurled the heavy haft at the man. It flew sideways at astounding speed, its foot-thick ten foot length crashing into the thief and sending him careening backward. The other five were caught up as well, their guns barking bullets into the ground and sky as the heavy stone spear smashed into their chests. All six fell to the ground with the grunt of lost breath and broken bones.

“What the hell is going on—” Another four figures came out of the glass doors, duffles in one hand and rifles in the other.

For a single heartbeat, the five of them all stared at one another.

Elowen ran.

Gunfire followed her, but the shots were wild. She flared her Agility, and though it wasn’t much compared to a melee combatant, she was still at Grandmaster Tier. The world blurred as she darted ahead, bullets pinging off stone as she ducked behind the collapsed ruin of the fountain.

“Stop!” The voice was younger than Elowen expected, but it rang with clear command. “The boss said no bodies!”

“The boss is on the ground!” This one was older and he had a nasty burr in his throat. He squeezed off a few more shots when Elowen tried to peek over the fountain rim. “She did that!”

Elowen heart hammered in her head, stress and adrenaline raging through her until her hands shook. She was lucky to have avoided the gunfire—mages weren’t designed to outrun bullets, let alone tank them. She was tough due to her Lost Race and Vitality, but Elowen hadn’t the foggiest idea what would happen if she was shot and had no intention of finding out.

Still, this was clearly the way forward. Briefly she considered her Core Manifestation. Tome of the Witness would allow her to dodge a hail of bullets. Unfortunately, she’d already activated the Manifestation twice that day. Once to pilot their ship through the worst of the instability and then again when the Whalemaw came for them. She could still feel the toll they’d taken on her Aspects.

What if a new challenge truly required Tome of the Witness? If she used it now, Elowen was certain she wouldn’t have the fortitude to Manifest again. There were still two doors to enter, according to Felix. No, she would figure this out.

“Stop shooting. Now.” The young man’s voice was harder now. Demanding.

“Keep your dogs on a leash, Jerry.”

“Dogs?” Another younger voice laughed. “Close but no.”

“Listen to them, Reg.” This Jerry sounded older, and his tone was just shy of panicking outright. “Let’s shift the…log or whatever that is and get everyone outta here. Boys, help me!”

Elowen flared her Perception. It wasn’t as good as when she’d hunted down Mana, but she got a fair sense of things only thirty feet away. The two younger men followed this Jerry over to the downed men and immediately started checking their thief friends over.

“I don’t think we should move this. This is bad.”

“Yeah. I read somewhere that moving things only makes it worse.”

“We can’t leave ‘em behind,” Jerry said, his edge of panic spreading.

Elowen could tell the people she’d attacked were breathing but it was shallow and wet. None of them were conscious, and that was bad news. For them. She swallowed. They’re not real. This is all fake System bullshit.

“Leave them then! Jerry go get the van.” Reg jerked his chin toward the bags beside the downed thieves. “Collect their bags, dogs. I’ll take care of our witness.”

“No,” Jerry said, iron in his voice. “We get everyone out.”

Stolen story; please report.

“Fine.” Reg lifted his rifle and pulled on the trigger. Bullets ricocheted across the stone stairs, forcing the young men to leap aside and cover themselves.

The downed thieves stopped breathing.

Fuck.

Reg was dangerous.

“What the shit, asshole?!”

“You almost shot us!”

“But I didn’t.” Reg pointed the gun toward them again. “You wanna test me? Or are you gonna heel?”

Both of them braced, their stances shifting, but Jerry threw up his hands. “Stop! We don’t have time. Listen to Reg.”

Reg grinned. “A wise uncle you got there. And hey! Our cut just got bigger.”

"We said no killing. That was the deal, Uncle Jerry.”

Elowen narrowed her eyes. Something about their voices was odd. They…echoed.

“Boys I’m sorry but you gotta listen. Get the bags, I’ll—“

“Order Departs!” Elowen hissed, just as Reg fired on the boys. The gun barked, jumping up and firing into the sky.

“What the hell was that, Reg?” Jerry’s voice sounded low…and dangerous. “Did you just fire on my nephews?”

“They did something to my gun! Those little shits. They planned this!"

"Planned this? We're just here to help our uncle."

"Reg! Boys! This is crazy! We don't turn on our team!”

Reg growled. "They turned on us first, Jerry.”

“Hah!” One of the boys ripped off his mask. He was unfamiliar to Elowen. “They were gonna turn on you anyways."

Jerry glanced between them all. "What are you talking about?”

“We know how this goes, Jerry. You weren’t gonna make it back."

"That's—no, I trust my crew."

"You trust Reg? Mr. Shoots His Friends? All this stinks, Uncle Jerry."

Quick as a viper, Reg lifted his rifle again, but before Elowen could act, golden vines burst from the gun itself fouling the trigger.

What?

"What the fuck is this?” Reg tried to drop the gun but the vines had already threaded around his wrist, and long thorns sank into his skin. "Ah, shit!"

They dug deep and tightened, wrapping his forearm tight around his elbow, and then across his chest, binding the weapon entirely.

“I got him,” one of the boys said, a black and purple light emanating from his legs.

Jerry was already moving. Reg grunted as the older man bodychecked them both to the ground. The grunts turned to screams when the thorns were driven deep, but Jerry didn’t care. He started whaling on the guy.

“Holy–Get him Uncle Jerry!”

Elowen peaked over the edge of the fountain. She was impressed. Jerry was easily fifty pounds lighter than Reg and maybe ten years older, but that thorn vine was evening the odds. Reg’s face ran red and Jerry’s knuckles had split, but the guy wasn’t stopping.

None of them saw the knife.

Jerry cried out.

Reg kicked him off, the older man falling to the side as the vine-bound thief regained his feet.

A large, bloody knife in his free hand.

“Uncle—!”

“Shut the hell up!” Reg spat, and his eyes burned. Literally. The knife began to flicker, and unstable Mana sparked around his head like a halo. “I was gonna get rich! The plan was working!”

“Plan?”

Sirens sounded in the distance.

The boys swallowed simultaneously. “You planned to kill your crew?”

“More money.” Reg grinned and the edges of it danced with a glitching Mana. “Just one more thread to cut.”

Reg ran forward, the world twisting around his bulk, just like the Heart of the City. The two boys lit up, Mana pouring off of them in waves, but Elowen had heard enough.

“Chaos Beckons!”

Reg was yanked off his feet, hurled sideways through the air and, with a twist of her Skill, slammed down into the granite steps of the bank. He rolled, fetching up on the flat stones of the courtyard…his glowing knife lodged in his chest.

You Have Killed Reginald Stevens!

XP Earned!

"Did you do that?"

"Not me."

"It was me," Elowen said, stepping out. "Kevin. Shadow."

Kevin lifted his hands to his face, as if he could cover his face now. "What? How do you know—uh, I mean, who?”

“Who are you?" Shadow demanded.

She smiled. "I look a bit different, but you might know me better with antlers.”

“Elowen?"

Kevin’s mouth had dropped. "Holy moly. Why—how are you on this Path?"

"Seems like it's our Path.”

The twins shared a confused look. Before they could ask anything else though, they were interrupted by a groan.

“Boys..?”

“Uncle Jerry!" They rushed to his side, Shadow pulling off his own mask now. The man had rolled on his back, exposing a nasty wound almost identical to the one on Reg’s corpse. Jerry was bleeding, and Elowen wasn’t sure it would stop.

He pressed the keys to his van into Shadow’s hand. "Take the money. Go. They hit me deep. I'm not going to make it.”

“We can get you to a hospital—!”

“Boys, take the money, this is serious. You can help your dad, you can... You can have a good life. Don't do what I did."

"Uncle Jerry, we're not—"

"We won't—"

“I know. You’re good…kids. You didn’t have to help me. You… tell your dad I’m sorry.”

Three doorframes materialized at the top of the steps. Elowen immediately knew which one was meant for her—it sang in her skin. The other two were clearly for the twins.

The door beckoned her. It would shut soon.

"We have to go, boys.”

“We can't leave him here. He's not—"

"This didn't happen," Elowen interjected, her voice barely above a whisper. "The past is done."

Kevin looked up at her, tears in his eyes. Shadow couldn’t. “He’s our uncle.”

Elowen swallowed and looked away. "Say your goodbyes quick."

She supposed that if she were braver, a real warrior, she could have savwd the man. Even as a mage, perhaps she could have acted faster. She could have scanned the area with Manasight and... and something.

The sirens grew louder. The police would be there soon.

She looked back at the boys. Listened.

She wasn’t brave. She wasn’t a warrior. But if nothing else, she could watch over the boys as they said goodbye to their uncle for what seemed like the second time.