Aidyn ducked as a jagged piece of metal flew over his head, smashing through the store window to his right. People yelled in approval as the glass shattered, falling to the ground with a tinkling sound that was barely audible over the screaming and crackling of fires. Pieces of wood and glass were scattered across the street, some burning in bright oranges and golds that offset the dark blue sky. Only one of the moons was out tonight, but between its silver glow and the bonfires surrounding them, there was more than enough light to see by.

A maniacal laugh sounded overhead, and a short gust of wind blew Aidyn's wavy hair back. He glanced up in time to see a caela fly past, heading towards a boutique only a few feet ahead of him, her arms full of bombs.

Aidyn didn't have time to swear. He glanced beside him, grabbed his friend's arm, and ran.

The explosion was deafening. A wave of heat blasted Aidyn backward, and he hit the ground hard, air rushing out of his lungs as his head struck the concrete with a painful crack. He heard Damon cry out beside him, and sparks flew as something deflected off his scaled forearm.

He rolled onto his side and forced himself to his knees. As his vision cleared, Aidyn saw several people sprawled in the street, their clothes and skin burning. He looked away, his orange eyes falling on Damon, who was lying on his side a few feet away. He wasn't moving.

Six tides, Aidyn thought as he scrambled to his feet, falling back to his knees beside his best friend. "Damon, get up!"

There was no answer.

"Damon!" Aidyn turned him onto his back and shook his shoulder. Blood ran down the side of Damon's tan face, and his wild brown hair was singed. Several of the russet feathers that covered his arms were burnt and smoking.

Aidyn's stomach plummeted. What if...

Another explosion blew on his left. He yelped, throwing himself over Damon and shielding his face as pieces of glass pinged against his scales. "DAMON, WAKE UP!"

He felt his friend stir under him, and Aidyn scrambled to his feet as Damon slowly sat up, rubbing his head and mumbling, "What the hell?"

He let out a breath of relief, but it was quickly drowned out in the chaos. "Scare me like that again and I'm eating all your icecream."

"My bad," Damon said, getting slowly to his feet and wincing. The fires in the nearby buildings flickered across his face, turning his wide eyes gold as he caught sight of something over Aidyn's shoulder. "DOWN!"

They hit the deck as something whistled over Aidyn's head, rustling his hair as it went. The rioter's screams of triumph now turned to fear as high-pitched whistles filled the air. The human cavalry had arrived.

"We need to get out of here," Aidyn breathed as they scrambled behind a chunk of broken concrete. "Can we get to the governor's house?"

Damon peeked around the corner of their makeshift wall, whipping his head back as a stray laser zoomed past them. "I think so, but it'll be close."

Aidyn narrowed his eyes. "How close?"

"You're the one who said we needed to get out of here!"

"Yeah, but I don't want to die in the process!"

Another explosion shook the earth, and something heavy slammed into their concrete shelter, cracking it down the middle. Aidyn barely had time to yank Damon out of the way before the stone came crumbling down, chunks big enough to crush them smashing against the asphalt.

"Side street, now!" Damon yelled, pointing to a break in the line of stores. He scrambled up and bolted towards it, red and brown feathers trailing to the ground behind him. Aidyn jumped up and followed.

Running through the crowd of protesters had been difficult before — now it was nearly impossible. Humans were mowing protesters down with laser guns, firing into the crowd with no regard for who they killed. Caeli took the skies, only to get shot down in seconds. Angui slithered past, their snake bodies slamming others out of the way as they escaped.

Finally, Aidyn broke out and dashed into the side street, throwing himself against a brick wall as a laser sliced past. Damon emerged a few seconds later, and they took off down the dark street, focused only on the pounding of their feet and the growing blackness as they left the fires behind.

"That was absolutely insane," Damon puffed, slowing to a jog as the sounds of the riots faded behind them. "What was Ryne thinking, sending us in there?"

"She trusts us," Aidyn said, turning on his heat vision to check for humans. Though he was more human than most hibri, Aidyn did have some of his mother's angui traits. "I'm sure she knew we'd be fine. Probably."

"Except we almost got blown up and impaled on several occasions," Damon muttered. "But yeah, fine."

Aidyn glanced over, blinking off his heat vision so he could see his friend's face. "Speaking of, you are okay, right?"

Damon waved him off. "Yeah, I'm fine. Doin' great. Surviving and all that."

"Damon, there's blood running down the entire right side of your face."

He nudged Aidyn in the ribs. "I'm fine. I promise. Now, to discuss the important matters..." Damon pointed to a T-shaped intersection up ahead. "See that massive house down there? That's where we're headed."

Aidyn squinted. He could see the house just fine — a massive building, fit with balconies and white stucco columns up front — but the grounds were what he was worried about. The moonlight wasn't strong enough to break the shadows that covered the lawn behind the gate, and Aidyn was sure there were several deadly traps set to prevent any "non-human fiends" from taking a stab at the governor.

"Think he's still in there?" he asked as they came to the entry gate, a tangled web of iron and human writing he couldn't read.

"They probably moved him when the riots started." Damon placed his hands on his hips and examined the gate, looking back and forth between it and Aidyn. "Are those scales of yours conductive?"

"Uh, why?"

"Because I'm worried the fence might be electric."

Aidyn grinned. "So what, you want me to just throw myself on there?"

"I'll heal you if anything happens, it'll be fine."

"Not if I'm dead."

Damon was a caela-human hybrid, or hibri, if you wanted to be politically correct. All patrias had magic specific to their species, but hibri only had about a fifty-fifty shot at getting it — and luckily, Damon had won the more exciting side of those odds.

Aidyn looked up at the top of the gate, which stood about ten feet above the ground. "Still, there has to be another way that doesn't put me in mortal danger. We just gotta find it."

Shouting and laughter sounded from behind them. It sounded like the police had finished with the rioters, and based on the volume and proximity of their voices, the humans were heading straight towards them.

"Six tides," Damon swore. "We gotta hurry. Either we figure out a way to test this fence, or we bail."

"We can't bail."

"Aidyn — "

"We're not leaving, Damon. I'll figure this out."

Damon glared at him, his brown eyes colored black in the darkness. "You have thirty seconds. If I have to knock you out and drag you away myself, I will."

"Noted." Aidyn glanced around, desperately searching for anything they could use. Throwing a stick or a rock at it wouldn't work — they needed a conductor.

The idea hit him like a monorail. "Got it."

"Oh great," Damon said as Aidyn unclipped the metal whip from his belt. "Is this going to get us killed?"

"Just me, if this goes wrong." Aidyn gripped the handle tightly, running his thumb over the wood to assure himself it would be enough to stop the electricity from reaching him. But the voices were getting louder — they were out of time.

Aidyn sent a quick prayer to the moons and snapped the wire towards the gate.

And nothing happened.

There was no time for relief. With Aidyn's nod, Damon quickly scrambled up, Aidyn close behind. Just as they reached the other side, the humans came into view.

It looked like a group of about twenty, but it was hard to tell in the dark. They talked quietly, some angry, some subdued. All of them carried guns, slung over their shoulders or stored away in their holsters. The swirling insignia on each of the weapons glowed bright blue, illuminating several of the humans' faces. As he listened, Aidyn managed to catch pieces of their conversation as they passed.

"Did you see that shot I made? I hit a patria from twenty feet away!"

".... see what happened to Hane? Some snake woman bit him. Disgusting."

"Should we check the governor's house?"

"...gross non-humans..."

"Nah, we'll come back later. I need a drink first."

"These things have been going on for months...I'm so tired..."

"...can't they just learn their lesson? They'll never win..."

Aidyn's hands tightened around the bars until his knuckles turned white. He felt Damon nudge his leg from below, and when he glanced down, Damon gave him a comforting smile.

Eventually, the humans passed out of earshot. Damon made to jump down, but Aidyn caught his shirt, holding him back. "Wait. There's probably traps down there; let me go first."

Damon nodded, and Aidyn leapt the last few feet, landing on the grassy lawn with a muffled thump. For a moment, nothing happened. Aidyn was just about to call up that it was safe when a loud shink sounded. Faster than lightning, Aidyn was back on the fence, the metal bear trap missing his foot by millimeters and slamming shut with a clang.

"By Altfem and Altarbe!" Damon shouted, and he clapped a hand to his mouth. Then, much quieter, "Good thing you went first. That would've taken my leg off."

"Yeah," Aidyn agreed, taking deep breaths to control his racing heart. "That would've sucked."

"So what do we do?"

Aidyn scanned the ground, straining his eyes to see past the black and blue shadows. Tall trees stood in rows on both sides of the house, shielding the rest of the street from view. Hedges and flower beds circled the front porch, and a gravel path cut straight through the grass to the door. Still, Aidyn could see no way around the traps.

He switched on his heat vision, searching for generators or anything that could be powering the traps. Still nothing.

"We'll do this the hard way," Aidyn decided, looking up at Damon. "Stay behind me, and step exactly where I step. If we set off traps, I should be able to protect you from the worst of it."

Damon nodded.

Aidyn surveyed the yard again, his eyes settling on the gravel path. If he were setting traps, he'd want them primarily on the sides or the back of the house. There had to be a safe exit for both the family and anyone arming the traps from the inside, and no thief worth their salt would walk straight through the front door.

So of course, that was exactly what they were going to do.

"Follow me," Aidyn whispered. He climbed sideways until he was above the gravel path, then — with another prayer to the moons — he jumped down.

The gravel crunched under his thick boots, and he waited, every muscle tense and every sense on high alert. But the night remained silent, and slowly, Aidyn began to relax.

"Whoohoo," Damon whispered, and Aidyn grinned up at him. Damon made a shooing motion with one of his hands, smiling. "Now move, so I can come down."

He did.

It was slow going. They inched their way to the porch, aware of the seconds ticking by and the possibility that a trap could spring up any minute. Aidyn was counting down the seconds until he was too slow to deflect an arrow shooting towards Damon, or until the house got a lucky shot at Aidyn himself. But the only danger they encountered was a bear trap similar to the one on the lawn, and finally, they stepped safely onto the porch.

"The door's locked," Damon said, rattling the iron doorknob. He peered through the rippled glass set into the door, his face distorting as he frowned. "We could break through this window, I guess."

"Or we could find a less obvious way," Aidyn suggested, walking the length of the porch.

"You're right, you're right..." Damon surveyed the entryway, hands on hips. "We could break the whole door down."

"Damon, don't you dare — "

The door swung inward with a bang, wooden splinters falling and the doorknob hanging half out of its socket. The entry hall beyond was pitch black and still.

"What — why — DAMON!"

Damon shrugged. "What? You wanted a way in," he gestured to the dark hall, "now you have one. It's not like the governor wouldn't notice a bunch of important documents missing and know something was up."

Aidyn sighed. "Fine. Let's just get in and get out."

"That's the plan," Damon agreed cheerfully, and they stepped inside.

After fumbling around for a light switch and squinting in the harsh brightness for a while, they got a good look at the house they were raiding. The entry hall was wide and white, golden designs covering the wallpaper and little mahogany tables lining both walls, their surfaces covered in pottery. A large staircase sat against the left wall, and a beautifully furnished sitting room opened on the right, all in bright whites. Two jade green doors sat at the end of the hall, blocking their view into further rooms.

Aidyn whistled. "This is pretty nice."

Damon nodded. "It definitely is. Think I can carry that vase home without it breaking?"

"I'm betting not." Aidyn eyed the staircase. "We should split up. I'll check upstairs and see if I can find the governor's study. Be careful, and yell if you need anything."

"Sounds good." Damon glanced at the green double doors. "I'll check over there. Good luck."

Aidyn nodded. "You too." And with that, he climbed the stairs.

As soon as Damon passed out of sight, Aidyn couldn't help the seed of worry that rooted itself into his gut. They'd been doing missions together for three years and had been friends for much longer, and he knew Damon could take care of himself. But between his diamond-hard scales and lightning reflexes, Aidyn had a certain level of protection that Damon simply didn't. And despite several experiences to prove his friend's capability, Aidyn couldn't stop the dread that pooled at the base of his stomach as he left him alone.

The top of the stairs ended in another hallway, this one shorter and narrower. The flick of a switch revealed paintings lining the walls, and a soft carpet that muffled the heavy footsteps of his boots. Doors peppered the walls, all closed tight. But these didn't interest Aidyn — it was the one at the end of the hallway that he set his eyes on.

The wooden panels were carved with intricate designs, and the locked doorknob was painted gold. Since Damon had kicked open the front door, there was no point in trying to find a crafty solution — it only took him two tries to punch through and unlock it from the inside.

As Aidyn stepped into the room, it was obvious he'd found what he was looking for.

The room was wide and circular, with mahogany desks forming a semi-circle in the middle. Papers were stacked left and right, and maps and charts covered the walls. The crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling bathed everything in a slightly golden light.

Aidyn set about digging through the stacks of papers, opening drawers and examining the maps. Ryne had told them to find anything relating to "the sources," legendary objects that were supposedly the wellspring for all the magic on Selino. Why the rebel leader thought anything would be here, in a human governor's house, Aidyn had no idea, but it wasn't his job to argue.

He was about to give up when he unrolled one last scroll, skimmed over it — and froze.

This was his lullaby.

Well, it wasn't his, exactly. The writing was a common lullaby sung among the angui, and despite having a human father, it had been a big part of Aidyn's childhood.

"What in all the moons...?" He turned it over, but he didn't know what he was searching for. What was a human doing with this?

Pushing it to the back of his mind, Aidyn shoved the scroll into his pocket and kept looking.

He'd just opened another map — this one covered in red Xs and words he once again couldn't read — when a crash sounded from downstairs. Aidyn froze, his heart pounding.

The house remained silent, but worries gnawed at his insides. Aidyn rolled up the map, grabbed a couple more papers he'd set aside, and crept out into the hallway.

It was only when he reached the top of the stairs that he heard the voices.

"Search the house," one said. "He probably wasn't alone."

"Told you we should've checked earlier," another grumbled. "Now we've got a dead hybrid to clean up."

The realization hit Aidyn so hard, he stumbled.

They got Damon. They...

No no no no. 

For a second, Aidyn couldn't breathe. How could he have forgotten about the humans? They said they'd come back — he'd been right there, he'd heard it. And because of his mistake, Damon, his best friend, the person who had been there for him his entire life, was...

Dead.

Damon was dead. 

Footsteps brought Aidyn back to the present, and rage rose in him so violently, he had to clench his mouth shut to keep from screaming. Whatever his moral gray area was about killing human civilians, he had no such qualms about these. He'd watched as these humans murdered hundreds of protesters. These humans had just killed his best friend.

Despite his anger and hatred, his hands were practiced and steady as he unclipped his whip.

He could kill them all.

And he would. 

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Thanks for reading! We hope you enjoyed the second chapter! After this week's form, it was revealed that Aidyn is written by the super-talented Silver (SilverBeams) — great job with your guesses!

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