Madeleine's burst magic receded. Rubble rained onto the back of Seiren's shoulders and head. She jumped to her feet, magic ready at her fingertips. To her surprise, nobody pointed weapons at them for using Karman magic. Nobody did anything in their direction at all. Perhaps nobody noticed?

Black smoke flooded the entire hall, devouring broken tables and groaning bodies. They lay around them, reminding Seiren starkly of Kristen's foiled execution only a few days ago. The three Hannans who shared their table lay twitching on the ground, shrapnel buried in their flesh and blood staining their bright attires. The stomach-curdling metallic scent of blood mixed with the smell of fresh meat and vegetables. Soldiers stationed on the far side, their armour having protected them from the initial blast, tore through the hall, swords swinging. Yells and cries filled the air, punctuated with the clink of metal striking metal. Figures in dark clothing fought against the armoured guards, dashing forward with spears and swords and parrying attacks with wild desperation. Guttural screams emanated when the soldiers strike down attacker after attacker.

The sudden scent of cinnamon made Seiren break out in cold sweat. She gasped and clutched Madeleine, but Madeleine already sensed it. Multiple clouds of black, glittery dust swirled in the air. Clawed feet hit the deep red carpets. As the dust settled, the summoned daemons screamed, making Seiren's ears ring.

Four creatures, reptilian and sleek, opened gaping mouths, a hissing noise emanating from the black holes that were their throats. The nearest one was twice the height of a human, with saggy, moss-green skin with patches of white, a stumpy tail, and slate grey eyes. A guttural rattling filled the air like the sound of a failing runed train. The other three were of a similar shape and quite distinct from the previous daemons Seiren had contact with. Standing amongst the huge beasts were their summoners, faces wrapped in black cloth, daggers in their hands.

"Protect the king!" hollered the armoured guard at the front, brandishing his weapon. "Show no fear!"

The summoned daemons dashed forward, mouths wide open and snapping at the Hannan royal guards. The mouths might be toothless, but their jaws splintered the metal and crushed the limbs and bodies of the soldiers, who screamed, dropping to the ground and gushing blood. Madeleine led Seiren closer; the emergency exit was beyond the battle. If they were lucky, they could rush past when both parties were occupied and escape via the waterways.

The tides turned against the soldiers, the daemons swinging their stumpy tails at the armoured men and sending them flying. The less-experienced initial surge of attackers picked themselves up and attacked again, slashing and stabbing whenever an opening appeared in the royal guards' defence.

Seiren's eyes darted up to the throne, which lay on its side. Behind it, the hanging silk cloth had drawn up, revealing an escape route. Fautos must have fled via there to safety. Standing guard was one of the Daemonium, watching the scene unfold before her, arms crossed over the front of her dark blue robe. She wasn't joining in. Seiren tugged at Madeleine and jerked her head.

"What's she waiting for?" she whispered. The Daemonium member appeared unfazed, pale eyes fixated on the four daemons advancing, hissing, upon the royal guards. The guards continued to retreat, weapons pointed at the large daemons, who were on the outside, protecting their summoners.

"Now!" yelled one of the royal guards.

There was a clink from above and a net dropped down, catching the attackers. The edge of the net grazed the daemons but missed them. The daemons hissed, whipping around.

The Daemonium member standing beside the fallen throne knelt down. There was a crackling noise. Electricity shot down the steps, surrounding the net in a circle before rising up like a cage. The attackers shouted in alarm, the shadows cast by the energy dancing eclectically on their faces. The generated electricity reached the top before an almighty crack resonated through the hall, sending a shudder through Seiren's bones. The attackers screamed, their backs arching and muscles seizing. Seiren had seen this before — on herself.

This was a blue rune. A very advanced one.

"Rune magic?" whispered Madeleine in disbelief.

"I've seen this," said Seiren, her mouth dry. "This is one from Kristen's book. It's her creation."

"Then—!"

She must be here. There could be no other explanation.

"But that's impossible. She can't infuse any runes without celestial magic."

"Maybe it's from last year, who cares—"

"Last year's primed runes would have drained dry over so many months—"

Their hushed talk was interrupted by a screech. A fifth demon appeared, one that Seiren hadn't seen before. It had a greyish brown reptilian head, spiky and rugged like it was etched out of stone, with a matching bumpy shell. Chunky legs ending in webbed toes stomped on the floor. It barely reached the shoulders of the four other daemons

With one bite, its pointed top and bottom lips sank into the fleshy neck of a nearby fleshy daemon like a knife into warm butter. The green daemon screamed, its sound distorted. It thrashed but was unable to free itself from the mighty grip. The shelled daemon lifted one clawed forefoot and pushed its victim away, its mouth still clamped onto the neck until it ripped away. Dark blood poured from the green daemon's wound and the daemon fell like a wet rag onto the ground before dissolving away in summoner's dust.

"Gulmore!" roared a voice Seiren recognised. Kaim Rouzarrien was amongst those caught in the net. He rose, somehow managing to calm his jumping muscles from the rune, and threw a knife at the Daemonium member called Gulmore. She jerked her head. Her shelled daemon threw its rear in front of her. The knife struck the shell and bounced off, landing amongst the rubble. Stamping forward, her daemon made quick work of the remaining three, its impenetrable shell turning the gaping bites from its attackers useless. Gulmore's daemon continued to chew through vital areas of the attackers' daemons. Purplish blood flooded the floor, soaking the Hannan attackers who were still incapacitated from the rune.

The remaining three daemons dissolved away in the dust. The hall fell quiet, punctuated by exhausted gasps of Kaim's defeated men. The groans of the injured guests had almost disappeared.

"You are very brave or very stupid to try something like this." Gulmore's voice dripped contempt. "No matter how well-equipped you are or how many summoners you draft in, you will never be able to even come within spitting distance of his Holiness, let alone touch him."

"May your blood blacken to hell," Kaim spat.

"Baerekiel," Gulmore stated.

The shelled daemon turned its spiky grey head to Kaim's group in the net, its slit-pupilled round eyes shining. It opened its mouth, the blade-like pointed tips of its top and bottom lips gleaming with blood and saliva, and chomped down on a mouthful of men. Screams echoed off the walls. Seiren shut her eyes, turning away. The terror reverberated through her skull and shuddered down her spine. The screams rose and fell, and then pure silence remained.

"Take the rest. I'm sure Kaim will be happy to tell Soleus all about how he managed to smuggle a bomb into the palace. Tidy up this place."

A shadow moved out of the corner of Seiren's eyes. She swivelled her head, realising with a start there was a boy about her age dangling upside-down on the wall. His lips pressed tight together, wide pale eyes apologetic. He wore the same dark blue robe as Gulmore. Beside him, a curious shape moved. Seiren could make out the disturbance where the colourful scarlet and gold wall decoration met the shape, but the shape was like an extension of the wall. A pair of eyes jutted out, yellow and swivelling in independent directions.

Before she could warn Madeleine, something soft shot from the mouth of the creature. She gasped. A sting, almost like a bug bite, tingled at the side of her neck. The world spun. The creature's outline became clearer. A tongue curled and darted out, striking Madeleine from behind. Madeleine's eyes widened, her mouth opening in a surprised 'O', before she, too, collapsed beside Seiren. Poison?

Her arms and legs were dead, like sacks of coal. Hannans hurried past, assessing each of the injured guests. Seiren's eyes swivelled, her face pressed against the rubble-covered ground, maintaining eye contact with the boy stuck on the wall. She couldn't move. From afar, the sound of scuffles and panicked yelps reached her ears.

A foot touched the side of Seiren's head before lifting and pushing against her belly, turning her so she lay face-up. The Daemonium member called Gulmore gazed down at her with pale green eyes beneath raised, long brown eyebrows.

"Not Hannans," she said softly. "Interesting. I thought we warned Karma about sending spies. Looks like they really want war."

Seiren's heart stopped.

"Your Excellency, if I may — they're two of the insurgents' hands. They brought the bomb in."

"Oh?" Gulmore's gaze made the reporting soldier shudder. She seemed to have the same effect as Kommora on underlings. "Is that so?"

"That's what the royal receiver said, Your Excellency."

"That one there is a mage," said the boy from above, climbing off his daemon, not meeting anyone's eyes. He fixated his gaze on the broken plates nearby. "Karman magic."

"Interesting." Gulmore's intrigue sent shivers down Seiren's spine. Her desperate eyes strained to see Madeleine, but she couldn't move her head.

"Normally I'd kill everyone who aligns with the little traitor, but..." Gulmore's voice trailed off, tilting her head to the side and rubbing her chin in thought. Her eyes darted to Madeleine. "Twins, huh? Interesting, given what's happened recently. Perhaps there might be more to this story. I'm sure you have fascinating things to tell us, little ones." She grinned, showing pearly white teeth.

Instead of chains, Hannans used coarse rope tied so tight Seiren couldn't feel her fingers or toes. She stumbled clumsily like a child who had just learnt to walk. Whatever the boy on the wall struck them with, the paralysis remained strong. The guards had to hoist her up like a rag doll, their smooth metal plates cold against her clammy skin. Her head lolled, swinging to and fro and making it impossible to see where she was going or where Madeleine was. Her heart hammered. Seiren would never forgive herself if any harm came to Madeleine because of Seiren's decision to charge into Hanna.

They should never have taken on Kaim's offer.

The guards dragged Seiren down a series of dark tunnels. She could only see the light reflecting off puddles of water and feel the gradual damp seeping into her bones. The sound of water flowing echoed in the chilly tunnel. Metal bars sealed off individual cells to her left and tiny trails of sunlight peeped through the defects in the wall on the right. Her feet continued to drag over the rough, uneven ground. The guard in front unchained one of the metal bar doors and threw it open before barking something in his rough voice.

The guards threw Seiren into the cell. She waited for the second thump indicating Madeleine was also thrown like a sack of grains, but it never came. She'd half-hoped they'd end up in the same cell — it would make planning for their escape easier.

In fact, Madeleine's thump never came at all.

When the paralysing poison wore off enough for Seiren to turn her head and push her dead weight body into a half-sitting position, she realised she was in the cell, carved out of rock, alone.

No, not quite alone. In the corner, a pair of terrified, light brown eyes stared back at her.

Remember to vote!