Chapter Six

They were several blocks away when a huge explosion rocked the cobblestones beneath them. Lucina stumbled and almost fell to her knees, but Gerome gripped her arm and kept her standing.

"Thanks," she panted.

Gerome nodded and pointed to the sky with his axe. "Look," he said.

They turned to see sinister plume of fire rising in the south, the direction from which they'd come. A noxious cloud of smoke surrounded it like a sheath, darkening the ghostly fog that blanketed the port.

"What in Naga's name is that?" Ren'yi asked.

Lucina recognized it. "It's Bolganone, one of Laurent's most powerful spells."

"I told you they'd be all right," Gerome said.

Lucina nodded grimly. She just hoped that Severa and Ren'yi's boys had been out of the line of fire when Laurent had cast the spell.

"Let's keep moving," she said. "Ren'yi, you know the town better than we do. Why don't you lead?"

The masked boy gave her an icy stare before brushing past her and moving into the darkness of the alleyway. With a displeased frown, Lucina followed him, with Gerome on her heels.

Lucina's plan was working - they encountered only a few Risen as they made their way through the town's alleyways. The zombies were stumbling towards the main road and slowly progressing south. Lucina guessed that Laurent's Bolganone spell, in all its light and sound, had attracted straggling Risen not part of the main herd. She vaguely wondered if Laurent had cast the spell on purpose to attract more Risen - it was just like him, taking out two birds with one stone like that.

If it was his plan, it was a good one. Eventually, they stepped out of the shadows of the alleyways and into the streets. They were clear of Risen, or Risen that wanted to attack them, at least - the ones they passed seemed brainwashed, staring straight south, towards Laurent and Severa's location. It was odd, walking past the purple-skinned men and not having them spare you a glance.

Ten minutes later, Ren'yi said, "Cirus's shop is around the corner."

Lucina and Gerome nodded, gripping their weapons tightly between gloved hands. They pressed up against a dilapidated bakery and waited with baited breath as Ren'yi took a quick glance around the corner. The masked boy quickly retreated, cursing under his breath.

"What?" Lucina hissed, alarmed at the boy's reaction.

"This is a suicide mission," Ren'yi said crossly. "That's what."

Lucina scooted up beside him and peeked around the corner. She, too, pulled back quickly, her heart hammering at what she'd seen.

She hadn't had to look hard to figure out which building was Cirus's shop - it was quite obviously the little brick building across the street, the one surrounded by the biggest group of Risen that Lucina had seen yet. The sheer number of purple-skinned humanoids shuffling around the shop's perimeter was appalling to the eye: there were dozens, much more than she or her two companions could take out.

"Dearest Naga," Gerome said as he finally took a look.

Ren'yi was glaring at Lucina. "We tried to tell you," he said balefully, "but you wouldn't listen, would you? No, of course not - overstuffed nobles never do."

"Enough," Gerome said. "Lucina, what do you think we should do?"

"There's no question of what we should do," Ren'yi spat in frustration. "We retreat. There's no way that we can get through a herd that size. We'll be cut down before we even get close."

Lucina ignored him, flattening herself against the wall and taking another look around the corner. So far, the theory about Risen and boundaries was proving true - the small fence that surrounded the shop was keeping the pack of Risen inside the building's perimeter, as they weren't smart enough to notice that they could leave. Thanks to that fact, only a few other Risen were scattered about in the street, making their way to shop relatively clear in that respect.

"We need a distraction," she whispered.

"Right," Ren'yi hissed. "One of us will just stand on one of the roofs and wave our arms while you run inside."

Lucina raised an eyebrow at him. "That's a good idea, Ren'yi," she asked.

He glanced at her incredulously. "Excuse me?"

"We've no fire to attract them, or a way to funnel them out from behind the fence. Noise is the only way we're going to get their attention without getting killed or overwhelmed." She glanced over at Gerome for his approval, and the boy shrugged.

"You can't be serious," Ren'yi said.

"It's a good plan," Lucina insisted. She pointed across the street, towards a building that sat directly behind the tool shop. "There. One of us will go there and start yelling."

"All the way over there?" Ren'yi said with angry incredulity.

"That building is opposite of ours," Lucina explained. "Yelling will pull the Risen away from the entrance to the shop and behind the building, allowing the other two of us to enter the shop unopposed. We can get what we need and get out in minutes." At Ren'yi's frosty expression, she said, "Look, it's not the most glamorous plan, but at the moment, it's the only one we have. Are you with us or not?"

"Fine," the masked boy relented. "So who does the yelling?"

"You're the fastest, Ren'yi," Lucina said. "You could probably climb that building faster than me or Gerome could."

Rage returned to Ren'yi's eyes, the same rage that had kindled in their depths when Lucina had challenged him back at the port.

"Of course," he said, his voice acidic. "Of course the princess refuses to get her feet dirty, of course she designates the most dangerous task to someone she finds...expendable. I might as well have volunteered for this task - at least it would save you the effort of pretending whether or not you care for my life."

His words stunned Lucina - they were as venomous as they were unexpected. She stared at him, flabbergasted at his furious reaction to her suggestion. After a second, Gerome spoke up.

"I'll go," he offered. "If you're so uptight about such a task, that is."

Ren'yi said nothing, just continued to glower at Lucina. She struggled to shut her mouth and recover from her shock.

"A-all right, Gerome," she said. "You go. Be careful."

Gerome squeezed her arm and nodded at her before crossing the street in a swift crouch. On the other side, he put down a wandering Risen with a well-aimed axe swing and then ducked into a nearby alleyway, disappearing from view.

Several long minutes passed - the longest in her life, Lucina reckoned. She crouched tensely beside Ren'yi, the both of them waiting apprehensively for Gerome to reach the designated building alive and create the distraction. The moan-filled silence was eerie, nerve-racking. Sweat dampened the collar of Lucina's tunic from where it flowed down her forehead, along the bridge of her nose. Her muscles were taut, burning with tension.

At long last, a spiky-haired figure mounted the roof of the building behind Cirus's shop. Lucina let out a heavy sigh of relief - Gerome was all right.

The wyvern rider began to shout a second later, wildly jumping and pin-wheeling his arms in ostentatious gesticulations. The Risen quickly took notice - their snarls and groans rose in pitch as they shambled in Gerome's general direction. A few archers and spell-castors sent elemental attacks and arrows towards Gerome, but by that time, he'd ducked from view.

"Okay," Lucina whispered to Ren'yi. "Let's hurry."