I’d never moved this fast in my life.

  The wind howled, ripping at my clothes as I plummeted down the slanted glass. My hands gripped the table legs as tightly as I dared, my stomach flipping with the sheer speed of it. The brutal acceleration was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. The world blurred around me – shattered glass, billowing smoke, and the distant glow of flames reflecting off the building's jagged edges. I was racing down the length of a collapsing building, taller than anything I’d ever seen, entirely at the mercy of gravity.

  Meanwhile, my ghostly Mage Hand gripped the front of my makeshift vehicle, barely keeping up by sheer force of will.

  A crack splintered below me.

  Glass spiderwebbed, fractures chasing my descent. Any second now, the surface would give way completely, hurling me down into the now very clearly on-fire building below. I had seconds.

  I grinned. This was mad.

  The Mage Hand pulled. Not to stop me –

  To guide me.

  I sent a mental command. The hand jerked to the left, yanking the board with it. The shift was instant, violent – I barely managed to keep myself steady as I swerved just in time to avoid the collapsing window ahead.

  Another explosion rocked the building, sending a shower of debris cascading past me. I ducked instinctively, shards of glass slicing through the air in search of their pound of flesh. The armored man’s laughter echoed in the distance, mingling with the roar of the flames.

  I laughed in answer, caught up in the sheer speed. Adrenaline surged through my veins.

  For how high up I was, the ground was approaching fast. At the bottom… people? A crowd, most behind a waist-high fence. Braver than I, to be so close to this clusterfuck.

  No time to think about that.

  A chunk of the building broke away, tumbling into the abyss below. I swerved sharply, the board tilting precariously as I narrowly avoided the gaping hole. I pulled back on the table leg, trying to balance once more –

  The leg came loose with a snap.

  I swore and clung desperately to my one remaining point of contact. The board bucked wildly beneath me, the loss of stability turning every shift into a fight to stay upright. I adjusted my grip, muscles straining, but it was like trying to steer a sinking raft. My time frame had just gotten a lot shorter.

  Half a dozen floors left. Time to start killing momentum.

  I began tilting my board to the left, searching for a shallower angle, maybe even trying to turn upward if needed.

  Unbelievable, this might actu –

  A blast of fire tore through the building ahead, punching a molten hole straight through the glass. The explosion rippled outward, shattering what remained of the surface I was barreling toward.

  No time to maneuver –

  I threw myself off the board, watching as it was incinerated in an instant.

  Fuck me, wasn’t he busy with the glowing lady? Why was he still hassling me?

  The thought barely registered before impact. The book slammed into my jaw. Stars exploded across my vision as the world spun.

  I hadn’t killed my momentum. I was falling, rolling, slamming into glass over and over again. Desperation clawed at me as I scrambled for something – anything – to slow my fall. A Mage Hand could maybe buy me a second?

  Another impact crushed the air from my lungs. Pain lanced through my ribs. I couldn’t cast. I couldn’t breathe.

  My fingers closed around something – jagged steel, jutting from the wreckage. I latched on instinctively, muscles screaming as I tried to hold. Too fast. Too much force. The metal ripped from my grasp, and pain tore through my shoulder as something gave. My arm went limp, dead weight trailing behind me.

  I was still sliding, but slower. Some semblance of control.

  My working hand scraped against smooth glass, searching desperately for a hold. Then – a gap. An open window. I seized the frame, teeth gritted against the fresh wrench of pain in my shoulder. This time, I held firm.

  Eight stories left.

  If I let go, would I survive?

  I could see faces in the crowd now. Hands flew to mouths, eyes wide with fear as they watched me cling to life. Many held strange steel-and-glass constructs to their faces. Some kind of viewing device? A signal to others? I had no idea. Others – on my side of the fence – wore uniforms. Some blue, some red. They moved with urgency, trying to hold the crowd back, one of the women in blue barking into a small black box. A controlled evacuation? Why were they here?

  If they had a choice, surely they wouldn’t be. Were they unaware of the danger these two posed?

  The building groaned, a deep, guttural sound that reverberated through my bones. I caught a glimpse of the glowing woman – her light flickering, her movements sluggish – as she twisted midair, barely avoiding another blast. The armored man was relentless, his flames carving through the air like a predator closing in on its prey.

  I glanced downward. If I timed it right, if I used what little slide remained to break my fall, I might survive. But there was no chance I’d be walking away.

  I was going to die.

  “If you’re going to help, now’s the time,” I hissed at the book.

  It sat silently against my chest. Dead weight. Nothing more than a book.

  Suddenly, movement from the crowd. A figure ducked under the waist-high fence, striding forward with purpose. Their entire body was wrapped in a mess of padded fabric and salvaged metal plates stitched together unevenly, like function had barely won out over desperation.

  A tight black cloth mask covered their face, leaving only their eyes visible – sharp, focused. Locked onto mine.

  Despite their bulky clothes, something about their movements felt off. Too steady. Too controlled. Their sleeves hung a little too stiffly, like something heavier was strapped beneath them.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  One of the men in blue stepped toward them, reaching out, only to recoil violently, as if shocked. He staggered back, arms pinwheeling, and toppled over.

  Shouts rang out. A few uniformed figures flinched, hands hovering near their belts, but no one followed as the masked figure strode past. The crowd pressed forward, a wave of murmurs and raised voices swelling behind the barricade. Some looked excited. Others, worried. Flashes of light from their glass contraptions indicated some form of activation.

  The uniformed figures hesitated, their gazes flicking between the fallen man and the approaching figure. One barked into a small black box while another took a hesitant step forward, then stopped.

  No one was stopping them.

  And their eyes never left mine.

  They were coming straight for me.

  Why?

  They drew closer. I could hear them now, just barely over the roar of the flames. But my Amulet of Tongues made that enough. Their voice – hers, I was fairly sure – translated in my ears as though she stood right beside me.

  “Let go! I’ve got you!”

  I hesitated.

  She was… small. Maybe a little taller than me, but not by much. The bulk of her clothing exaggerated her frame, but the way it shifted as she moved made it clear; beneath it, she was thin.

  That being said.

  I looked at my other options.

  Oh, fuck it.

  I let go. Weightless for half a second – then the rush of air, the snap of my limbs jarring against the building. I screamed, the pain of my ruined shoulder impacting the cold glass sending my entire body numb.

  The world blurred.

  I came to a moment later, disoriented, woozy. I was sliding – fast, uncontrolled. Panic surged as I realized I had no control. I might have survived the fall feet first, but if I hit headfirst? No chance.

  I was completely at the mercy of gravity.

  And my would-be savior.

  I accelerated, the world spinning as I was all but in free fall now. In flashing glimpses, I saw the edge. The crowd. The patchwork-masked woman – arms outstretched.

  Wait.

  She wasn’t a wizard?

  She was trying to catch me?

  I flailed, grasping for anything to stop my fall. I wasn’t about to be torn to pieces because some child didn’t understand physics.

  Too late.

  The now-familiar weightlessness. Spinning, disoriented. No way to tell if I was about to land headfirst and at least make this quick.

  I closed my eyes.

  A few seconds of rushing wind and –

  I hit something, my back slamming into outstretched arms. And then… nothing.

  Not oblivion. Just – no more falling. My momentum, gone the instant she touched me.

  I snapped my eyes open, met with the barely-contained amusement in hers.

  "I got you, pretty boy! No need to panic."

  My head jerked around wildly. She was holding me in a princess carry, her arms gently supporting my back and… humming?

  "That’s not – how? That should have – momentum doesn’t just vanish – "

  She nodded along like I’d just agreed with her.

  "Yeah!" With one arm, she lifted the sleeve of her jacket, revealing some metallic contraption underneath. It looked almost insect-like, an exoskeleton extending from her elbows down. "Kinetic redistributors! Pretty sick, right?"

  That didn’t – whatever.

  Breathe. I was alive.

  "Right. Thanks. That was… effective."

  "No worries, dude! Try to help where I can, y’know? And Daybreak seems to have her hands full."

  The words barely registered. My brain had already latched onto something else.

  The armored bastard who put me through this entire ordeal.

  If not for him, I’d be out of here by now. With two functioning arms.

  I glanced back toward the fight. No sign of the woman – Daybreak? But he was still there.

  Fuck that guy.

  The thought barely had time to settle before magic surged to my fingertips, unbidden. The words of Firebolt slipped from my lips, a mote of flame forming in my hand –

  I hesitated.

  The murmuring of the crowd shifted, rippling outward like a wave. Gasps, shouts – half a second of delay before I realized why. The lenses of their strange devices had turned toward me, dozens of them locking on like hungry eyes.

  Right. Of course. I’d be making myself a target. And with how today was going, he’d probably shrug it off and throw something worse back at me.

  I shook off my irritation.

  I turned to the girl – judging by her height and voice, probably around my age – and was stopped short by the sheer energy radiating off her.

  "What?"

  "Dude! You’re a super?!"

  She practically dove into her pocket, movements fast and eager, like she’d been waiting her whole life for this.

  "You’ve got your face out – wear this."

  She shoved a plain, skintight black mask into my hands. Identical to hers.

  "…What?"

  "Your face! Your identity! Your most important secret!"

  Only now did I realize she hadn’t, in fact, taken a step back. She was way too close. I moved. She moved with me, keeping perfect pace, each word punctuated by another step forward.

  Somewhere above, a crash sent a fresh wave of glass raining down. A yellow glow – Daybreak, presumably – flashed through the smoke, weaving through another blast of fire.

  "Okay!" I raised my hands, placatingly. Taking the mask from her, I tried to pull it over my head –

  Pain flared through my shoulder the moment I lifted my arm. I hissed, the fabric catching awkwardly in my grip. My fingers fumbled with it, trying to stretch it enough to pull down one-handed.

  The girl tilted her head, watching.

  "You good there, buddy?"

  "Fantastic," I gritted out, still wrestling with the damn thing.

  She watched for a second, then clasped her hands behind her back, rocking on her heels.

  "Sick. You got this.”

  From the street, a deep metallic groan cut through the chaos, followed by the sound of something heavy collapsing. The fight was getting closer.

  "Anyway, dude, you were about to light him up! What happened?"

  “Can we perhaps have this conversation somewhere other than beneath a building in the midst of collapse?”

  Her grin was audible. “Yeah that’s a good call. No idea why you decided to be here in the first place. There are easier ways to get your thrills, man.”

  I rubbed at my forehead, gods I was tired. “I didn’t choose anything, an overcharged spell…”

  My brain sluggishly caught up with what my eyes were telling me. The sky was bright. The sun, blazing. Firelight wasn’t the only thing lighting up the city.

  “…It was night.” I hadn’t meant to say it out loud.

  The girl turned, following my gaze. Then she grabbed my sleeve and started walking, tugging me along without waiting for permission.

  "Uh… Yeah? At some point. It’s been a while though, dude – are you okay?"

  The street was mostly rubble. It was also, to my eyes, entirely alien. The street was wide, no cobblestone, no tile. Just a uniform black surface, edged by raised partitions. Strange steel constructs lined either side, most of them crumpled and shattered.

  It occurred to me, as I was dragged along, that I had no idea where I was.

  I stopped. The girl glanced back at me as she continued for a few steps, still trying to lead me down a street away from both the crowd and the battle raging behind me.

  "Where am I?"

  "Oh dude."

  She stepped forward, her head tilting slightly. Her voice softened – not quite gentle, not quite pitying. Somewhere in between.

  "You’re in Lockport."

  I searched my brain, not frantically – exhaustion made that impossible – but as thoroughly as I could. Nothing came to mind, either on Elonia or beyond. I cursed internally. Maybe I should have paid slightly more attention in history.

  "Okay." I sighed. No point in a meltdown now. "My name is Silas. I’m a student at Tulsworth Academy. Do you know where that is?"

  She stood stock-still, seemingly frozen in shock. That made sense. Tulsworth was prestigious, even if its talent pool had been dwindling for years. Despite my ability to twist and shape magic with no formal training, they’d been hesitant to let me in. I suspected that had less to do with my skills and more to do with an orphan’s lack of tuition money.

  Then she spoke.

  "There is no way that after I just shoved a mask on your head and reminded you of secret identities you just told me your name."

  She sighed, shaking her head, before raising her hand.

  "Kenzie. Ricochet while I’m in costume."

  I took it, grip cautious, and she nodded, more to herself than to me, like she’d just come to some internal decision. Then, after a pause, she reached up and lifted her mask just enough to reveal her face, shooting me a grin.

  "In for a penny, in for a pound, right?”

  She looked about as I expected. Sharp brown eyes set beneath thick, expressive brows, deep brown skin with a warm undertone, framed by a mass of dark curls that had been hastily shoved under her mask. A quick flash of white teeth as she grinned again, then, just as fast, the mask was back in place.

  I opened my mouth to respond, but a sharp crack split the air above us. Something – no, two somethings – shot overhead.

  "Oops! Cavalry’s here. We should probably not be here when they start asking questions." Kenzie shot me a look. "Unless you wanna have a nice, long chat with the law about why you were hanging out in a no-go zone after an evacuation."

  I glanced back at the two figures – not just people, supers. One in what looked like ornate golden knight’s armor, sword and shield in hand, squaring off against Enforcer. The other, a man in tight-fitting silver clothing, knelt beside Daybreak, checking her pulse.

  I exhaled, dragging a hand down my face, readjusting the mask.

  Fine.

  One thing at a time.

  I followed Kenzie down the alley.