The street groaned as the dragon climbed from the asphalt. Buildings shiver and tremble as the earth almost seems to part to allow passage of the dragon. A spray of gravel chunks litter the street as Helen, and I hunker down together.

"Not yet." She hisses under her breath, her body beginning to tremble as she attempts to reign in the wolf. "We can take this; we need to conserve your energy. We don't know how many there are or what to expect. If we can't handle this without a dragon, there is no way this will work. We don't need to defeat him; we just need to scare him off."

Her words bring me to a pause, I hadn't expected so much maturity out of such a young fighter. After considering it for a moment longer, I decide she has a point. While I was feeling quite strong, calling a dragon could put a considerable drain in my reserves, and with Tyler occupied in trying to protect her, he could potentially be of very little use to me. 

I spy Gabriel, hood pulled over his head, his hand casting to disperse the fog.

"Alright. I'm going to do my best to get him out of here. Instruct our people to fan out. We aren't looking for total victory today; I'd just like them to be on the run. Gather the injured and take them to the pub, get those who don't wish to fight off the streets."

The police force crowd around an overturned machine, cracked and broken, it writhes like an animal on the ground, and they use it to buffer the gunfire from the active street sweepers. "Senator Campbell!" I call to the crouching governor, who appears frustrated that I spotted him. "Start gathering civilians. Get them out of here."

"Be careful," It's a gentle plea, Helen had seen me in action, but this was actual combat. Motioning to Tyler, she works her way back into the crowd, and her direction begins to take hold. The droves of people start to separate and fan out; beginning the process of gaining ground. Rebellion heroes join with small groups of civilians to aid in the push; it's only me who remains to do my part.

Sending a gust of wind under my feet, I push myself off the ground and stand on the fog's remnants so that I can be at eye level with Gabriel. He seems surprised to see me by the way his shoulders hesitate, though I can't see his face. 

"There you are." His voice is even, throwing me off with its lack of malice as I would expect from someone here to kill me. "This is impressive. You've done a lot in a short amount of time."

Preparing an ice ball in my hand, I cast the tentacles of water extracted from the remaining fog toward him and freeze them on impact. The dragon belts out a roar as hot magma boils in its throat, fangs exposed when the ice spears strike its scales. The inferno dragon answers with a resounding roar as he twists from the sky and meets the inky black creature head-on.

 Gabriel leaps from its back, copying my trick effortlessly as he lands on the fog. I send another attack his way, narrowly missing, and yet he moves so quickly from my attack.

He inhales, and I feel the agony in my chest, he must be drawing from Fergus. It brings me to my knees. I fall from the sky and narrowly pull a platform under my feet in time. I spot Tyler and see he's dropped as well. Blood seeps from his nose; he's not nearly as strong as I am, and his resistance to the draw of energy Fergus uses to stay alive is minimal. 

Helen rushes to his side; I curse under my breath as I quickly roll out of the way of a shunt of ice, piercing from the ground up as if to impale me.

"Curious," Gabriel comments, with a casual step in my direction. "Did that cause you pain?"

I grit my teeth, sending a flurry of ice shards toward him as the dragons tangle across the sky. "You're killing the planet; of course, it causes me pain! You're a Solomonari; it's supposed to cause you pain as well. If you hadn't turned your back on your trade!"

 He deflects easily, sending the shards into the ground before quickly redirecting. I clasp my hands, turning the shards into a disc that I project back at him.

This time, he must lift his hands to catch it, flinching as the blood spatters from his palms from the impact. Dropping the disc, he watches his hands in amazement, I jut my fist up and grasp his feet with the ice, then jerk down with all my force into the pavement. The asphalt cracks and shutters as the ice penetrates its barrier. Yet, Gabriel does not panic.

"I haven't turned my back on my trade." He tells me. "I'm doing what's right for my people."

I can't hide the shock that crosses my face, and I gesture to the brawling groups, peppered by gunfire. In a fit of rage, I sling my hand, and it lifts a street sweeper. I throw it farther away than I can stand to watch.

"Your people are dying at your very feet from your selfishness!" I shout at him, unable to control myself with the audacity of the statement. Finally, I force the calm to return. I can't lose it, not here, not now. "If you learned anything from the teachings, it should be not to harm if possible."

Through the odd light of the streetlamp overhead, playing with the cloud cover that darkens the sky, I see his lips pull down in the slightest frown.

"You know as well as I do that the school is not a place where one learns empathy." Tilting his head to watch the destruction, the dragons collide, and the impact that sounded like cannon fire. "I see humans who want us dead, who outnumber us, who will wipe us out. I'm merely taking the task to stop this from happening."

Gabriel is not insane; at least he doesn't sound it. It's odd, talking to someone so calm, someone who is so practiced when I'm accustomed to villains who are nothing but evil. Lowering my energy, I near him, he had not tried to escape.

I can only figure it's because he had no concern about my ability to hold him here. I did not have the power of the unicorn, challenging him could result in cutting our time frame down drastically. "If you love your people, you will see that we can not survive without humans. We must work together; we will not survive if we attempt this."

He pulls his lips into a thin line, tilting his head up so that I can see his beard. "You're the second person to say that to me. I must say that it is curious that so many follow your cause. I can't kill them off; the population could not support itself without these numbers. We would be extinct."

Shaking my head, I fight against myself. Don't engage; don't try to hurt him. "This isn't right, and you know it. You must give me back Fergus. You need to let Fergus go."

 I finally succeeded in shocking him.

"The unicorn." His voice is even.

"Fergus is the only tie the gods have to this world. Without him, the world can not continue. You are dooming all of us. Gabriel, you must let Fergus go."

"Who are you?" He demands, in a quick motion, he quickly steps out of my ice and strides towards me. I put my hands up to protect myself, but he doesn't attack.

"Nicolas Alexandru Matesscu. I come from four hundred years ago, before the fall of the empire."

His feet slow, his breathing quick. "Why don't you just go back? Just let us do our work and leave for your own time?"

"They brought me here to stop you. I died in my own time. Ghosts return if you repeat the same mistakes of the past. Gabriel, you must stop this. Fight for our people if you must, if this is your path then take it but Let. Fergus. Go."


I can hardly blink before he's on me, blasting ice, wind, and water. I deflect the best I can, using my limbs in a more calculated manner to redirect his brutal attacks. If there was one thing hand-to-hand had taught me, it's that most magic users are weak if attacked in a physical sense.

I work my way closer to him, hoping that those around us can get out of the way as the ice and water fly. Shards of ice nick my clothes, clipping my skin and causing tiny cuts from near misses. I must bide my time; I must wait for my chance. As he bears down on me, near frantic in his desire to eliminate my presence from his own, I finally succeed in landing a kick square in his ribs that sends him flying across the street and crashing into a building.

 His body hits the wall with a force that sends bricks and dust flying in all directions.

Racing after him, I intend to finish the job, yet when I arrive, he's already standing. His eyes were wide, bewildered at my audacity. With the hood fallen, I'm shocked once more at his appearance. He looks so much like me if I were older and had a beard.

With a lurch, the machines grind to a halt and slowly default to a limp posture. The screens flicker and the buildings dim; I know that Landon has succeeded in shutting down Artifice. On the massive screen, central to the square, the camera shows us. Me and Gabriel, standing perhaps 10 feet from each other.

"What if you are me?" He finally says. "Or perhaps, I am you? What if you didn't die?"

"Time travel doesn't work that way. You should know, you invented it." I remind him shortly. In a quick scan, I look him over, looking for weak points. His body is angled, guarding the spot where I kicked him.

Shaking his head, he seems less sure of himself. "Then why do you look like me?" He demands when those dark eyes finally fall on the screen that I, myself, gazed at.

"You're too smart to ask that question." I retort. "You've got too much of your mother in you."

Lifting his hand, he shakes his head as he starts to form the energy ball. As the sky darkens, and the lightning gathers, I recognize the move from the one I used to kill Corina.

 "Don't make such accusations. I don't have a mother."


There was no denying it. Once more, my eyes fall on the screen. With his hood down, the red hair thick and short, the shape of his face and his jaw, there was no denying his lineage. Even so, the temptation was there to denounce him. Yet, where would that put me? 

I couldn't, I couldn't possibly send him away, despite his views.

"Your mother was brave. If Caspian had not encouraged Red to employ Anuetta, if Anuetta hadn't tempted Mother, if Mother hadn't forced Verando to kill Anuetta... we would not be standing here as we are today. Gabriel, I don't know how you ended up in that school, but you should know your blood when you see it."

The stillness is worrisome; I adjust my heel so that I can pivot more quickly. I can feel the build, sense the impending explosion of power.

"You blame Caspian when Caspian is the only one fighting for our people. We must liberate them; I've been trying to repeat your work, I've been trying to save us. I can see now that some can not be saved." 

The lightning strikes his hand; I recoil from the ball as it builds in his palm. One thing Gabriel had not counted on was his technology defaulting.

Gabriel, smart as he was, ran on Artifice programming. His wrist cuff, which controlled his dragon, now malfunctioned. I see the spiraling inky dragon coming towards us full tilt. The heads bellow, fire erupting from its bloodied jaws as I construct a shield to protect us both. In the same move, I put a barrier around my hand and captured the lightning bolt that danced across the street.

In one smooth sweep, I redirect the lightning towards the dragon. My stomach flips as it makes contact, striking the dragon on the chest. The beast falls to the ground in a heap, unraveling the street as it bounces and scrapes across the land. I hear the victorious bellow of my companions. Without Artifice, there would be no escaping us.

 "Attack!!" A man yells as our small rebellion turns into a massive wave of righteousness rushing through the crowded streets.

I spy dozens upon dozens of backs, disappearing in retreat. A small smile curls at the corner of my lip only to drop as the blade pierces my chest. Lifting my hand, I touch my chest as I feel the warm blood seep around my hand. Thankfully, my jacket is thick, but it hadn't prevented the damage completely.

With a quick jerk, I yank the blade out and spy that it is a karambit, one that I recognize. My blood runs cold, and I throw myself at him. Calling down my lightning, I blast the man who stands before me in such defiance. The bolt narrowly misses, exploding the corner of a building as I pivot off a light post and land both my heels straight into his chest.

Following him to the ground, I grind the man into the pavement. "Where did you get this?!" I shout viciously through my teeth.

"That should have damaged your lung." He points out.

"Where did you get this?!" I shout again, crushing my heel into his neck. Gabriel reaches for my leg, and I use my fist to blast his hand with ice and seal him to the ground, using the same measure for the other side. "Tell me!"

"If you expect me to not act like a fool, then you must do the same. Where do you think I got it?"

Enraged, I reach to grab him by the throat. Yanking him out of the ground, I kick him against, he soars down the street, and the dragon takes off after him. Starved for magic, trapped in this world by the Artifice collars, it wanted its pound of flesh. 

I have half of a mind to let it eat him, yet I know that this is unrealistic. I need him, as much as I hate to admit it.

Beckoning to Tyler, we use the remaining fog to form a thin sheet of water. I shout into the air a final command as I summon the dragon's realm and slam the sheet over the dragon as if I were shoving the beast into the air itself. In an instant, it vanishes, and I lose my hold on the water. Dropping to my knees, I pant at the expenditure of magic only to note that Tyler is in a similar shape.

Taking my hand, I touch my chest to see the red blood oozing from the hole in my jacket. I need a medic; I need to get off the street. Gabriel slowly stands, his body beaten and battered, and yet he looks just as ready for battle as he did when he arrived.

"Well played." He admits, though, I can hardly make out the words. "A life for a life. You saved mine; I repay that debt."

"You couldn't kill me if you wanted to." I retort, struggling back to my feet.

The smile makes my skin crawl. "You and your husband are a lot alike. I look forward to seeing you again, Nicolas. The day is yours." With a burst of wind, he soars into the air, and I feel as though I've hardly made a dent in the magical power that man possesses.

As I stand here, fighting between the will to continue to breathe and wanting to go after him, I eye the karambit firmly in my hand. The smooth leather and the craftsmanship, I know exactly where it came from.

"Something's not right.," I tell Tyler who regards me as if I've gone mad. "Something happened, why else would he have this-"

A bolt of light flies overhead, the whistle is loud, and I cover my ears to avoid the sound. It heads straight for the harbor, past all of us, and in the distance, I hear the eruption of a boat exploding. Two more bolts follow, rapid-fire, and they produce the same sound as a plume of fire and smoke cascades from the water.

 Peaking over the building's top, I watch as the blackened smoke accompanies the annihilation of such a large vessel.

They had just blown up the boats we had sent to retrieve our companions in Spain.