Mariko stood on her bare feet behind Jiro, her short hair pinned away from her face. Her skin looked darker than before, more tanned, as hints of the bursting explosions in the sky showered her features with light. She wore a zarok vest that showed the skin of both her inked arms. A blue-handled knife glinted in her palm. She poised, a true Rakitt Maharlika—a sky warrior.

How had she known that Jiro was in Kata? Had she never left at all, or had she followed them from Kimracka? Jiro thought he only imagined her, but he didn't. She was real, and she was here. He slowly turned around to face her. A few steps separated them, and he added one more, backing away with caution.

"Don't run," Mariko warned, knife slightly raised in her hand.

Jiro watched her movement. "How did you find me?" he was able to ask. The beating of his heart hastened, unsure if it had started to race when Alet rushed through the crowd running away from him, or only now for Mariko.

"I didn't find you. I waited for you. I'm not a hunter, Jiro. Certainly not a tracker, either. My best chance of catching you or any of the others was here. The water port of Kata is the only way to the north. I have eyes at the docks, rewarded men to give me notice if they saw any Aradacko. I'm surprised you decided to come up here and even left your nyx at the stables. Not a very wise thing to do." Mariko's voice was so calm that he thought she wouldn't harm him, but the blade gave him doubt.

"If you're doing this for the prize—" Jiro started, but Mariko huffed, cutting his words.

"I'm not doing this for any prize. I just can't let you get that soldier to the palace."

"Why?" Jiro dared to ask.

Mariko paused, blinking at him as if she contemplated telling him her motives. "I can't tell you, but I wished you had stayed in Aradack. You didn't have to be in the middle of all this. You were so stubborn, and you didn't want to go back home, so I tried to kill you, to eliminate you, because I knew that if anyone had a chance of finding the soldier, it would be you. I couldn't let you find her. But then I realized that if you found her, then it would be better if I killed her instead. She won't make it to the palace if she's not breathing."

Jiro swallowed at the thought of Mariko killing Alet. Looking at the woman's stoney face as she spoke of the vile deed was sickening.

Mariko humphed. "I am proud of you. You left me unconscious. Did you think I was dead?" Then she grinned. This was not the same woman he'd spoken with on the arat fields in Aradack.

Jiro flinched and the image of Tata Ero with a slit throat flashed in his mind. No! She was alive when he left her—he never thought she was dead. He wouldn't have been able to kill her then.

There was an immediate change in Mariko's reaction, her smile quickly fading into a grimace. "I told you to go back home, Jiro, but you wouldn't listen. So you found the soldier? Where is she?" She came closer.

Jiro matched her movement with a step back.

"Do not run," she warned again.

He was going to run. He had no other option. Jiro kicked his leg and with the power of his back, he gave himself a Lift. Feeling his feet take off from the ground, he shot into the night sky.

"Jiro!" Mariko followed him, and they zipped between the white houses that formed the alleyways.

Jiro flew over the roofs of houses in Kata.

Lights made of flames and hues burst in the night sky, shading the city with a certain blinding sheen.

He needed to escape Mariko, but flying would not be enough. Mariko was the fastest among the Aradacko, and he couldn't outfly her. She would catch him soon enough.

Jiro rushed against the wind without thinking, without knowing where he was heading. The explosion of lights rang nearby, and he followed it, heading toward the brightness.

He flew into the lights, where an explosion erupted beside him, causing him to wobble in the air. His ears rang, and he was temporarily blinded as he steadied himself, forcing more Lift from his legs to keep him from dropping to the ground.

Jiro blinked out the sparks in his eyes and dared to glance back. Mariko struggled in the air, too, as a light burst at her right side, almost throwing her off the course of her pursuit. But she quickly recovered and raced toward him again, knife still in hand.

Jiro headed toward the white tower at the center of the city. He patted at his hip for his knife before he stopped, turning in the air to hover. He faced Mariko.

With bared teeth, Mariko halted too. She looked at the knife in Jiro's hand, and she raised her blade to match him. "You do not want to fight me, Jiro."

"What choice do I have?" Jiro held the knife firm, pointing to her with shaking hands. He didn't know what he was doing. He wasn't trained to fight, but if this was the only way he could survive Mariko, then so be it.

"Just tell me where the soldier is, and you can go back home to Aradack. I won't kill you." Mariko steadied in the air. The wall of the white tower loomed beside them.

"You've already tried to kill me once. Why should I believe you?"

Mariko dared to float closer, moving only slightly but stopped again when Jiro tensed. He placed both hands over the hilt of his knife. Ragged breaths came in and out through his lips, chest heaving, and sweat rolling over his forehead.

The lights in the sky had stopped bursting, and the night around them became quiet except for the murmur of people far below.

Mariko eyed him. She had a calculating look as if she was planning her attack. So Jiro waited for the sudden movement, the quick charge. He trembled as he anticipated her. But then Mariko slowly raised her hands in defeat.

"Alright," Mariko said with her hands up beside her ears, one palm open while the other still held onto her knife. "I don't want to fight you, Jiro. You can trust me."

With the blade still pointed at Mariko, Jiro regarded her. He hesitated, but he didn't want to fight her either. Yet he would not give up Alet. He would not do it again.

If only there were a way for me to escape her without harming either of us. If only—

A dark figure dropped on top of Mariko. The person had come from the white tower beside her. Mariko struggled to keep herself in the air as the figure grabbed her, clinging to her body like a shadow. She swayed with the weight and grunted.

This was it. This was Jiro's chance to fly away. He could escape now, but as he looked closer at the dark figure, the person's salakot fell off, revealing a girl with a blue eye.

Alet wrapped an arm around Mariko's shoulder. Her other arm reached for the woman's wrist, fighting for the blade. They wrestled in the air, grappling at each other, but Alet seemed stronger.

Mariko choked, and Jiro realized that Alet wasn't only hanging onto her. Alet was squeezing the breath out of the older woman, and she succeeded. Mariko's eyes fluttered, and the two began falling from the sky.

Jiro dashed to catch them. A fall could kill them both. He kicked, directing his Lift as he followed the pull of the ground. He reached out, but he was too far, too late. He wouldn't make it, and they would both hit the ground too fast.

"No!" Jiro shouted.

His scream seemed to reach Mariko, and her eyes flicked open. She kicked in the air, but they had come too close to the ground that her Lift only slowed them down a few feet before impact.

And Jiro heard it—bodies hitting the ground. Someone screamed nearby.

Jiro landed beside Mariko first. The Aradacko woman was on her back, her short hair had escaped its pins, and blood gushed on her forehead. But to Jiro's surprise, she stirred and grunted in pain. In a panic, he rushed to Alet, who was on her side, unconscious.

"Alet," he called to her. People had already gathered around them. "Alet." He cupped her nose and mouth and felt her breath. She was still alive.

He tucked his knife into its sheath, picked her up, looping his arms under her, and then ran. The crowd shouted for help as he dashed through them, but no one tried to stop him.

In moments, he found his way to the city gates. There were no guards as he passed through and came beyond the walls of Kata. He hurried to the hoist, but no one manned it. Everyone else was back inside the city, enjoying the celebrations.

With Alet still in his arms, he walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down, thinking and calculating the jump. His arms were starting to tire. There was no time to think, he hesitated, but he jumped off and kicked a Lift on his legs. Their descent accelerated because of the weight, and he struggled to keep them from dropping too fast.

"Jiro?" Alet murmured in his arms.

"Hang on," he said.

Her blue eye shot open as if she realized what was happening, and she looped her arms around his neck and looked down. They were still one house level up when Alet wriggled out of his grasp and jumped to the ground, rolling to lessen the impact. Jiro landed hard, legs shaking.

"That woman?" she asked, straightening and turning to him.

Jiro was surprised but also relieved that Alet had no injuries. "No time to explain," we have to get the nyx.

Jiro jogged toward the stable. The man guarding it looked at them as they entered. "Can I help you?"

"We need our nyx back," Jiro said, coming to the animal and untying it from a post. "Come on," he said as he led it to the exit.

"You're not going to get your money back." The man guarding the stable warned them, but Jiro ignored him.

Right now, they needed to get out into the sea. They needed to escape before Mariko woke up. He and Alet rushed to the water port where, fortunately, a ship was readying to sail.

.