“Khasran,” Elliott said, sitting nonchalantly on his chair, his eyes on the Shadows. “I suggest you and your people clear the forest outside and take the children to Carsonne. Head to the palace. Ask to speak to King Cedric or King Aldric. Tell them Elliott Carpenter sent you and that he would be displeased if you’re not welcomed and sheltered.”

  Lyla saw eyebrows raise among Khasran and the guards surrounding him. With most people, it would have been easy to dismiss such a bold statement, but Elliott delivered it in the same understated way that he threatened to kill people. Like he meant it.

  And yet none of them moved.

  “Did I stutter?” Elliott asked. “Isabel. Hold.”

  Isabel’s lips thinned. She wasn’t happy with the command, but she followed it nonetheless, letting the axe-head rest against the floor. Lyla wondered how their dynamic worked. At times, Isabel seemed to be an equal. At others, a subordinate.

  Of the six Shadows behind Charlie squad, two saw it as an opportunity to attack. Two rangers. They were fast. Arrows screamed through the air towards Isabel, throwing knives spinning behind them.

  Isabel gave them a taste of what they were dealing with. She didn’t bother deflecting the blows, or counter-attacking. Instead, she moved faster than even Lyla could track, a blur of motion as she evaded every attack, the arrows and knives pinging against the wall at Isabel’s back. Lyla only managed to focus on her when Isabel stopped moving, sitting cross-legged on the floor, the axe laid across her thighs.

  “My master asked me to hold,” Isabel said, a small smile on her lips. Then anger flashed across her green eyes as the smile disappeared. “But if you dare to attack me again, you’ll find my patience wearing thin.”

  A look passed between Vixias and Elanna. Lyla recognised it. Her face looked similar when she’d first encountered Elsie. There was a certain humility that arose when faced with an opponent levels above. Several of the Shadows shuffled nervously. Vixias glanced at Elliott with narrowed eyes. They had no choice in the matter, though. They were Shadows. They couldn’t retreat.

  Khasran had recognised it too and started barking orders to his guards. Most began skirting around the perimeter of the room, heading for the tunnels on the other side, but a few headed towards the rooms where the children had been taken. Aurae and Caphri joined them, though Khasran stayed behind.

  “Sir?” Isabel called out.

  “All yours,” Elliott replied.

  If rage could be personified, it might’ve looked like Isabel.

  Gone were the smiles and the delicate beauty of her face, replaced with pure, unrestrained fury. Lyla had seen glimpses of Isabel fighting before. She was all balletic poise and athletic grace – a dancer in a field of violence. Now, Lyla was seeing another side to her.

  Isabel didn’t even bother to allow the six other Shadows to get set. She snaked between them faster than anyone had the right to move, a flash of black flickering like the shadows of the torch flames. Within a second, six bodies fell to the ground, their heads rolling across the room. They hadn’t even had the chance to look surprised.

  Lyla noticed Khasran’s lips press together into a thin line, his eyes darting to Elliott.

  The Charlie squad jumped back, standing in a semi-circle surrounding Isabel. They didn’t even bother trying to stop the guards skirting the outside. They couldn’t afford to. Just like when the Delta squad had realised how dangerous Elsie was, Charlie squad was trying to adapt. Trying to understand what couldn’t be understood.

  “She’s your servant?” Khasran asked Elliott.

  “More like a sister. With quirks.”

  There was a clang of metal ahead, as one of the Charlie squad was sent careening into the wall, sliding down as small bits of rock shook loose from the ceiling. Lyla glanced above, wondering if by the end of it, they would all be caved in.

  The Shadows looked like they believed their best chance lay in working together. She doubted they’d ever had to do so before. They worked in a group but they were normally the killers – normally in the position Isabel was. These were some of the best fighters the Empire had. They were never the underdogs.

  Lyla wondered if they would fare better than her own squad had against Elsie.

  “Who are you?” Vixias called out. “Why do you involve yourself in Bizayn business.”

  It wasn’t lost on Lyla that the two warriors on the end of the semi-circle were doing their best to circle behind Isabel.

  “Should we help her?” Khasran asked.

  “I’d rather you didn’t. I need you alive. I’ll have a job for you.”

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  “And what makes you think I work for you?”

  “Oh, don’t worry. You’ll enjoy it.”

  Khasran remained tight-lipped.

  The two warriors who thought they were being clever were dissuaded of any such notion. Isabel hurled her axe at the one to her right, and pounced towards the other. The first scrambled to put his sword up, managing to block the black blade of the axe though it forced him back almost to the wall, before the axe flew back towards Isabel’s outstretched hand as she reached the other warrior.

  The axe handle smacked into Isabel’s hand and in one smooth motion, she swung it overhead. The other warrior was ready for it, his blade already raised, but Isabel smiled, letting go of the axe. It hung there in mid-air as she crouched down and threw an uppercut right at the man’s stomach. He lifted into the air, the breath knocked out of him but before he had a chance to recover, Isabel grabbed the neck of his tunic with her other hand and pulled him towards her. She punched him in the face and he went hurtling backwards, slamming into the wall, shards of rock flying everywhere as he stumbled forwards.

  The other four Shadows went on the attack, trying to strike Isabel, but she was already on the move. As they swung through empty air, Isabel’s axe swung down, seemingly fighting of its own accord, swiping at Vixias. He ducked under the blow. Elanna wasn’t so lucky, barely managing to bring her arms up and block the blade.

  “How does she move so fast?” Lyla asked breathlessly. She couldn’t help but be awed by the display. “How is she able to channel mana? Elsie did the same. You do too.”

  “So could you, if you put your mind to it,” Elliott replied.

  “It’s unheard of,” Khasran almost whispered. “The only ones I’ve heard of to be able to do that were the Heroes. And they had the blessing of the gods on their side.”

  “I really need to meet these Heroes one day.”

  “That would be difficult. They’re dead.”

  Elliott barked a laugh. “Not very powerful Heroes then.”

  “They were a lot more powerful than you.”

  “How do you know?”

  The warrior that Isabel had in her hands had no chance. She grabbed him by the neck, pushed him up against the wall and sent a flurry of punches into his midriff – dozens of punches per second crushing his ribcage. It wasn’t long before he spat blood as his back pummelled the wall behind him.

  She finished him off with a punch through his face and the back of his skull, shards of bloody bone pressed into the brick wall.

  Isabel removed her arm, her sleeves stained with blood up to the elbows.

  The man crumpled to the floor.

  “How can I move as fast as her?” Lyla asked Elliott.

  “Training. Push yourself to your limits. Strengthen your inner channels.”

  “And using mana?”

  “That comes later. The trick to growth is one of two things. Having something you’re willing to die for or having something you’re willing to live for. If you have both, even better. Having those things allows you to push yourself beyond your limits. Eventually, it forces your mana channels to grow and when they can’t grow, it forces you to open up your mana pores to draw more.”

  The hall had emptied of the others, the guards having made it past as Charlie squad focused on Isabel. She had returned to her axe, holding it halfway up the shaft as she stood facing the remaining five. Vixias and Elanna stood together, a warrior on Elanna’s right. The other assassin was to Vixias’s left, with the last warrior on the end.

  “What are you even talking about?” Khasran said. “Physical Starforged don’t have mana channels.”

  Elliott raised an eyebrow. “They don’t? Where do you think they draw power from for their abilities?”

  “Those are internal channels. There’s no way to draw more mana into them. Not without the gods.”

  “What do you think is happening as they get stronger. How do they get to Orichalcum or Adamantite or Starforged? You think the capacity is fixed at birth?”

  “Exactly.”

  Lyla could see Elliott thinking about Khasran’s words, but giving a small shake of his head and a roll of his eyes. Maybe he’d heard the argument before but he knew better. Or maybe it’s something he himself had experienced. As far as she was concerned, given he and both Elsie and Isabel were as strong as they were, his words had merit.

  Isabel gave up all pretence of this being a fair fight. She moved. Faster than even before. Isabel threw her axe at the warrior to Elanna’s right. The warrior on the other end thought he was being smart, already preparing for Isabel’s attack, thinking she was going to do the same thing – occupy one warrior while she attacked the other.

  Instead, she followed after her axe. The warrior had his blade up to block the blow, also holding his position so he wasn’t forced back. He was adapting already getting ready for another strike, trying to anticipate the swing of the axe even as he tried to follow Isabel’s movement.

  Suddenly, she disappeared, reappearing behind the warrior. Lyla almost missed it but she saw the slight flick of Isabel’s wrist and daggers appear in both hands that she used to slice and dice the warrior’s back, taking the time to slice his wrists as well so he dropped the sword. Then the daggers disappeared and she braced the man’s head. He saw his own death as the axe-blade planted itself right in the middle of his face. Isabel let go of his head, as the axe cleaved through and the man’s head peeled apart.

  Isabel grabbed the axe, and was on the move again. Lyla tried to keep up with her, grateful she wasn’t in the fight herself. Of the four Shadows, only Vixias and Elanna were able to barely avoid blows, but even they were struggling. She could see the concentration in their faces. It was taking everything they had just to avoid being hit, never mind trying to attack. The other two were faring worse.

  “You think I can become as strong?” Lyla asked, turning to Elliott.

  He nodded. “Something worth dying for. Something worth living for. If you have that, you cannot fail.”

  “You sell her a dream,” Khasran said. “However you and your ‘sister’ over there have managed to become so strong, it’s not possible for everyone.”

  Lyla ignored his words.

  “What do you have to live for, Elliott?”

  He turned to her. It was the first time she’d seen him look mildly surprised.

  “You said something to die for and something to live for. If I had to guess, Elsie…and maybe Isabel is worth dying for? But what is it you live for?”

  He smiled.

  “Vengeance.”

  A curious look passed over Elliott’s face.

  “Make sure you end this and get them to the palace,” he said.

  Then he disappeared.

  Lyla blinked like her eyes were playing tricks on her. But he really wasn’t there. She looked across the hall.

  Neither was Isabel.

  “What happened?” she asked Khasran.

  “I have no idea. They just vanished.”

  Both of them had gone.

  Most of Charlie squad had been left in lifeless heaps on the floor.

  Except Vixias and Elanna.

  They had their eyes on Lyla and Khasran and they looked pissed.