Seiren took out a paper and chalk from her pocket. Soldiers filled her spot; she stepped back, running over runes in her head. Rain began to fall. The distant fog crept in as rain added to the curtain of mystery that was the Hannan border.

The men fired their weapons over the edge, but from the sound of their panicked voices it had little effect. Hannan demons tended to have thick skin with few physical weaknesses, but they were not infallible.

She couldn't explode it off the side without damaging the wall and making them vulnerable. Fire seemed to do the trick but its power was limited to one creature at a time or it would be out of her control.

They're careful about control because an out of control mage is collateral damage. They'd rather you be underpowered. Maura Woodbead's words came out of nowhere.

Seiren only hesitated for a split second and drew another orange rune, making wide, confident strokes in the creation. She left two of the six locking circles empty and inserted one sigil to make the paper waterproof, one to prolong its effect, and two to increase its power. There was only one way to find out if it would work.

"Step back!" she said, slamming the rune on the battlement. The paper adhered to the wall, rain running off its slick surface. The demon reached the top of the wall within thirty seconds, wide mouth gaping, a thick blue tongue extended. Screams came from left and right as other demons breached again. The scent of cinnamon thickened, bringing bile to the back of her throat and the same nauseous adrenaline rush from the past. The creature moved fast; the end of its body had gotten over the edge by the time she snapped her fingers.

The orange rune exploded into blue flames, engulfing the creature. It screeched, its flesh blistering all around. Its tail thrashed out, taking out the soldiers to Seiren's right. The fire continued to eat up its flesh, unaffected by the rain. Seiren hopped back, red and orange runes at the ready. The creature's limbs were too short to lash out to do any major damage, but it didn't die. Its scales melted away, revealing exposed pink flesh with blisters that swelled and ruptured.

"Step back, Mage!" hollered someone from behind her. Seiren made to move, but her path to descend the wall was blocked by another creature that had gotten atop the battlements, sending men scattering left and right with its impressive tail. The nose-curling smell of burned flesh mixed with the cinnamon of their summoning powder was overwhelming, suffocating. She hesitated and twisted round, almost losing her balance from the increasingly slippery ground. She eyed the thrashing injured demon to her left. Her eyes watered. Bullets whizzed by, carefully aiming far from her vicinity, and pierced the soft flesh. It screamed, eyes rolling.

"Seiren!" came a familiar voice from behind. She followed the source of the voice to her left and below. Tylene waved at her from one of paths that jutted out of the wall one storey below. "This way!"

Seiren sprinted towards her, away from the blocked stone steps. Her boots squelched. Reinforced metal barriers prevented anyone from accidentally falling. She vaulted over and clutched the barrier as she pitched forward and her feet hit the ledge, her stomach leaping to her throat again. The air chilled. It was only one floor down, but beyond that was the fall back to the inner ground level again. Tylene was a skinny thing like Seiren. She couldn't possibly catch her.

Dent appeared, panting. He had his weapons drawn. He followed Tylene's line of sight and passed over the gun to his partner at once.

"I'll catch you, Mage!" he called, holding his arms out. Seiren leapt. Her head spun. For a moment, she was weightless amidst the screams and gunfire.

The next moment, she crashed into Dent, a soaking mess. Dent almost toppled over the barrier. She might have slapped him in the face by accident as she flailed, trying to right herself. Her feet found the ground but her knees buckled. She yanked on his collar; he yelped and choked.

"It's okay!" said Tylene, clutching her elbow and helping her to her feet. Seiren's heart thumped against her chest. Her head was still light and rotating too much for comfort. Tylene's hair was plastered to her face and her uniform drenched. "We got you! My god, what happened up there?"

"The demons... breached the wall." Seiren turned her head. Soldiers flew off the edge, probably hit by the thick tails of these short-legged demons. "They're scaling it. The anti-climbing runes aren't having any effect."

"That's impossible," said Tylene, horrified. "This has never happened since those runes were infused to the walls and it's been over fifty years!"

"Well, there's always a first." Seiren swallowed; the heavy scents made her throat felt dry despite the weather. "They're vulnerable to fire. You can burn those scales off and then shoot them, but gunfire alone don't do squat."

"The runes still burn?"

"If you add a waterproof sigil in, yeah."

"But all the mages are at the south end dealing with the sky demons!" Dent said.

Seiren's heart skipped a beat. So that was the plan. Focus the attack on the south with sky creatures and nobody would notice or be able to protect the wall breaches.

"Well, we need some mages here now. Send a messenger or something." She tugged out more chalk and paper. Damn. She'd used quite a portion just on the battlements alone. "I don't know how long I can hold them for."

Tylene took off at a sprint. Dent raised his runed gun, watchful of above.

Three have breached to the right, Madeleine said. Seiren's eyes darted a little further to the right. Soldiers struggled against the huge monsters, but when the jaws clamped through their bodies like a knife sliding through butter and one sweep of a thick tail sent ten or fifteen men flying off the battlements, she knew they didn't stand a chance.

One of the creatures scurried forward and snatched a soldier out of the air before he fell, and swallowed him whole. Its tail curled around one of the battlement posts; the rest of its stubby limbs secured themselves by digging deadly claws into the stone walls.

Dent pointed his gun over Seiren's shoulder.

"Don't. It won't pierce their scales."

"This pierces metal armour. I doubt it won't pierce their scales."

Seiren eyed the weapon from the side. Several runes glistened along its sleek flank: runes that magnified firing power and reduced energy wastage, presumably for the kickback and deafening bang that would otherwise accompany such a weighty weapon.

The demon dashed forward. Dent followed it with his gun, but it moved fast, weaving in and out of the outpouchings set in the wall, its eyes set on him and Seiren.

Seiren threw down several modified orange runes before her, knowing inevitably the demon will leap for its kill. Dent fired. It scrabbled aside at the exact moment with agility unexpected from being on the vertical wall and having such short legs; the bullet whizzed past it and embedded in the stone wall behind. Seiren snapped her fingers. The flames erupted, engulfing it in white-hot flames; she didn't have the time to add extra shapes to make it blue-hot. It screamed, thrashing its tail and destroying the wooden barriers of their balcony. Seiren and Dent continued to retreat, Seiren throwing runes and Dent trying to catch the monster. Two bullets embedded into its shoulder and hind leg, but its remaining three legs propelled itself forward on the vertical wall, destroying the balcony along the way.

She snapped her fingers again. More flames erupted along its path towards the tasty meal that was Seiren and Dent. It leapt through them, its flesh bubbling away. Dent fired his last shot and he fumbled to reload.

Seiren took out a fistful of the last bunch of her rune paper. There was a crack overhead and suddenly she was drenched in icy water that chilled her to the bone. Her hand loosened as she flung her arms up in a vain attempt to protect herself from the downpour.

The roof of the balcony must have given way to the increasing downpour. She could barely see over the ground level of Acrise now with most of it swallowed by the rain. She swore, eyes darting downwards, her heart pumping and water running into her eyes. Her rune paper fluttered away in the wind.

"Move!"

Seiren and Dent parted on instinct. Maura Woodbead clapped her hands. The rune at her feet lit orange, but it had an outlet like a red rune. Seiren's mouth fell open. Orange runes were always symmetrical. The energy pooled at the distant part of the circle and a rush of white flames exploded past Seiren at the demon, catching it square in the face. The heat caused steam to leap off Seiren's face. She squinted.

"Shoot it, now!" Maura ordered. Dent raised his gun and fired. The bullet entered squarely in the creature's forehead. Its head rolled and its grip loosened; it plummeted down onto the ground. "Not bad, Nithercott! Guess there is a brain in that skull after all."

Seiren couldn't help but feel it was high praise from sullen Maura Woodbead. Maura shoved a bunch of paper at her.

"What did I tell you before?"

"King's teaching is a load of tosh," muttered Seiren, digging out her chalk.

"Exactly. Outlets aren't just for red runes. Anything with energy that can be directed can use an outlet. You want to be known for your skills? You keep those things at bay here."

With that, Maura took off in the other direction, disappearing into the corridor. Somehow she didn't slip in the drenching rain. Several moments later she popped out from the bottom of one of the staircases, dashing to the far end of the wall where demons spilled onto the Karman side, tearing into soldiers.

Seiren sketched rune after rune, overlapping the shapes to increase firepower. She left two sigils empty and added an outlet, just as Maura had told her. Two more demons swarmed over the edge, spotting her and Dent. Their crimson eyes focused on them and they moved in for the kill.

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