Aquila motioned down the corridor.

    “But the others–” Natsuki whispered, glancing at the hallway leading back the way they came.

    “We can’t lead him to them,” Aquila whispered back.

    “I’ve been waiting here for hours,” the voice declared, coming closer. “You’ve led me on quite the chase. For a while, I thought I had miscalculated where you would be arriving next. Now come out so that we can have a proper conversation.”

    As she slipped around the next corner bordering the room, Natsuki felt more than saw the shape of him glide through the hole where the far corner used to be. Aquila slid up against her. Natsuki glanced at the hallway back again, barely visible from the corner.

    “He can’t be sure we’re here,” Aquila hissed. “He’s guessing, trying to draw us out. Keep hiding.”

    Natsuki nodded, and then her eyes widened. The hem of Aquila’s long flowing coat was spread out across the floor, around the corner. “Your coat!” she mouthed.

    Aquila glanced down in alarm, and yanked the coat back to her. Then she winced.

    “Do come out,” the man said, his voice measured and quiet. “I went to no small amount of trouble to get ahead of you and meet you here. I would rather not be disappointed. Ah! What’s this?”

    Natsuki blinked, and then peered around the corner. Yukari was standing in the corridor back to the others, her eyes wide in fear. Approaching her was a tall Japanese man in a grey 19th century greatcoat, looking like some sort of looming Napoleon, hovering a foot off the floor. Three muskets with bayonets flashed into existence in front of him, levelled at Yukari’s chest.

    “A yandere!” the man declared with delight. “And so far from home! Hello, yandere!”

    Yukari swallowed, and then grinned. “Greetings, hero!” she declared. “I need you for a quest! I need to you fetch five...leather armours!”

    Natsuki facepalmed.

    “Very nice try,” the man said, “but this isn’t a video game world. And I can read your character description, Yukari the yandere. And from your little bluff there, I think you know what that is. Tell me, yandere, do you feel the urge to fight rising? I have a war to win, and I need good fighters. Doesn’t all the suffering you see around you make you angry? Doesn’t it make you want to kill the ones behind it? I can give you that opportunity to kill the creator gods.”

    Natsuki felt Aquila’s hand on her shoulder. “As soon as the fighting starts, get Yukari to the others,” she whispered, starting to button up her coat. “Make sure they’re ready to hop worlds as soon as I get there. And get at least ten feet away from me right now.”

    Natsuki nodded and crept back.

    Yukari swallowed and straightened up to her full height. “Never,” she stated. “I don’t care what I was written to be, I will never hurt anybody. I’d rather die.”

    The muskets trained at Yukari’s chest drew closer. “I can accommodate that,” the man said. “Last chance to join me, yandere.”

    Yukari closed her eyes and took a ragged breath.

    “Well, I tried,” the man said.

    A longsword flashed through the air, shattering the muskets to pieces. As Natsuki watched, Aquila took a step forward and rose into the air, two rings of longswords flashing into existence around her and accelerating into a blur, criss-crossing and rotating around her, carving and blasting chunks out of the wall around her. “She’s with me,” Aquila declared, a cruelty in her voice.

    A wave of fear and nausea swept through Natsuki. So this is what a god of destruction looks like.

    The man gave her a hard look. “Ah, we meet at last, Aquila. What an interesting name – that’s from a constellation, isn’t it? I’ve been trying to find you for over a dozen story worlds now. Nice to finally catch up.”

    Aquila cocked her head. “Greetings Balthazar. That’s quite the character description you have. So many holes in your abilities. I don’t think you’re cut out for this. You should go home. I understand that knitting is nice and relaxing.”

    “Can’t do that,” Balthazar said. “I have a war to fight. Evil creator gods that need to be put down. You’d be quite the ally if you joined me.”

    “I’ve already waged a war against a world of gods of creation,” Aquila declared. “I’m not inclined to do it again. We’re just passing through. We have no interest in your war. Let us go in peace, and we will not interfere with you in any way.”

    “There’s more than one world of creator gods?” Balthazar said. “Now that is interesting. I had wondered where you must have come from, and where you got that little trick of moving directly between story worlds. I’ll have to learn that at my earliest convenience. But if you’ve waged a war against a world of creator gods, you know why I can’t just let you leave.”

    Two lines of muskets flashed into existence in front of him.

    Aquila smirked. “Muskets and bayonets. How over-complicated. Your creator really should have learned that less is more...before they died.”

    They both attacked at once. It was all Natsuki could do not to put her hands over her ears and scream as the longswords, musket balls and bayonets clashed together. Balthazar looked at Aquila and smiled, the first volley of Aquila’s swords embedded in the wall and floor behind him and leaving him untouched. Aquila smiled back, also untouched, her second ring of swords flashing back into existence around her.

    The swords behind him exploded into fragments.

    As Balthazar screamed in pain, Natsuki broke into a run, grabbing Yukari by the hand and pulling her down the corridor.

    “Why the hell are you here?” Natsuki demanded.

    “Our door was a dead end,” Yukari panted, breaking into a run. “I wanted to explore some more, so Cap let me go ahead and tell you guys what we had found. I think the others aren’t too far behind. Is that...?”

    Natsuki nodded. “He was here the entire time, waiting for us!”

    Explosions sounded behind them.

    Natsuki started to pant and slow down. “Go ahead, tell them that as soon as Aquila gets there, they need to be ready to hop worlds. I’ll be right behind you.”

    Yukari stared at her, and then down the hallway. More explosions sounded, getting closer. “No,” she said. “I’m not leaving you here.” She cupped her hands together and hollered down the hallway, “You hear that, Cap? As soon as we’re together, we all have to be ready to jump!”

    Natsuki stared at her.

    “He’s got super hearing,” Yukari said. “He can meet us halfway. Now, come on, we have to get to them as fast as you can.”

    “You’re crazy sometimes, you know that?” Natsuki said, panting as they walked.

    “Now you’re sounding like Sayori,” Yukari said. “And you’re out of shape. Too many fancy balls and fine cuisine!”

    Natsuki nodded. “In my defence, when we started travelling, we were assured that we would not be having to run for our lives.”

    She heard jogging footsteps approaching. Cap, Kasumi, Yuri, and Sayori rounded the corner.

    “We’ve got the picture,” Cap said. “Are you two okay?”

    “Scared and tired, but otherwise we’re fine,” Yukari said.

    Rapid explosions sounded down the hallway, getting closer.

    “I really hope that’s Aquila with a plan,” Kasumi said.

    “She wouldn’t have us ready to jump if she didn’t have one,” Natsuki stated. “He said that he had been tracking us for a dozen worlds. A dozen.”

    Natsuki stared down the corridor and took a deep breath.

    “Wait, if he’s been following us this long,” Sayori said, and went pale. “All those people, those protagonists we met...he murdered them!”

    “And we led him to them,” Yuri added. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

    Aquila rounded the corner, still airborne and flying backwards. Her rings of swords were gone. Instead, she was summoning swords and shooting them into the walls, exploding them, and then freezing the debris in midair.

    “We’re all here,” Cap called out.

    Aquila glanced at them, stopped hovering, and hit the ground running towards them. Natsuki could swear there was a slight blue glow in her eye as she muttered, “No....no....no...that will do!”

    She’s screening worlds, Natsuki realized.

    “You had all better be ready!” Aquila shouted.

    “Everybody hold hands!” Cap said. Natsuki grabbed Sayori and Yukari’s hands.

    “We’re all ready!” Kasumi declared, holding out her free hand.

    The floating debris parted, and Balthazar emerged, two lines of muskets and bayonets flashing into existence in front of him. Natsuki heard a sharp intake of breath, and then realized it was from her. Balthazar stared at their group and cocked his head.

    “Very interesting,” he said. “Very interesting indeed.”

    At that moment Aquila caught up and took Kasumi’s hand. And then they were somewhere else.

    Natsuki let go of Yukari and Sayori’s hands and looked around. They were on a vast field of grass and wildflowers. Was it some kind of pastoral fantasy story world?

    “We need a mountain over our heads,” Aquila told Kasumi. “At least three thousand feet high. A small chamber inside it for us, with a light source.”

    Kasumi nodded, opened her sketchbook, and started drawing.

    “What’s our situation?” Cap asked.

    “We can travel direct, he has to go to the hub world first,” Aquila replied. “If I’m lucky, I’ve bought us five minutes.”

    “That’s not enough time to make this look like it belongs here,” Kasumi stated.

    “It doesn’t have to,” Aquila said. “It just has to slow him down.”

    Kasumi stared at her for a moment, then nodded and said, “Okay. I’ll make this quick.”

    “What’s she going to do?” Yuri asked Cap.

    Cap shrugged. “Damned if I know.”

    “Everybody crowd together,” Kasumi said. “I’m done. Aquila, take a look at this.”

    Natsuki looked at Yukari, who gave her a reassuring smile, and then stepped forward to get shoulder-to-shoulder with the others. The daylight disappeared, and she found herself in a small rock chamber no bigger than her dormitory room back in her story world. A couple of lanterns sat on the floor.

    A sketchbook that can make anything drawn in it real as soon as somebody else looks at it, she mused. I can’t believe I got used to that.

    “Um, this is really small,” Cap said. “We’re going to need this thing called ‘air’.”

    “That won’t be a problem,” Aquila said, pressing her hands together and then parting them. A blue, humming, glowing orb appeared between them.

    “What’s she doing?” Yukari asked.

    “She’s creating a world,” Kasumi said. “In a hurry.”

    “Okay, that’s crazy cool,” Yukari declared.

    “Everybody please be quiet,” Aquila said. “I need to concentrate.”

    Blue energy rippled down through the chamber. The rock and ground beneath their feet began to shake.

    “He found us already?” Cap said. “That was fast.”

    The rock ceiling cracked above them, pebbles and dust raining down. Natsuki heard crashes above them.

    “Ignore that,” Kasumi said. “Everybody needs to hold hands and get ready to hop worlds.”

    Natsuki glanced at Sayori and Yukari, and took their hands again. A crash sounded above them, daylight streaming through the crack in the ceiling.

    “We’re ready to go,” Kasumi told Aquila, holding out her free hand.

    The glowing sphere disappeared, and Aquila grabbed Kasumi’s hand. And then, they were somewhere else.

    Natsuki looked around. They were in darkness, but they were outside. The sky glittered with a ribbon of stars. Aquila gestured upwards, and a streak of blue energy rippled up into the sky. Then she fell to her hands and knees, panting. Kasumi knelt down beside her.

    Natsuki blinked as her eyes adjusted to the night. They were in a vast field of grass, as far as the eye could see. But there was only grass – there were no wildflowers, or hills, or any features of any kind.

    “Are you okay?” Kasumi asked.

    “I wiped out any remaining information stream between there and here,” Aquila panted. “There are no paths to this world. He can’t follow us.”

    “So we’re safe if we stay here?”

    Aquila shook her head.

    “But we’re safe for the moment?”

    Aquila nodded.

    “We’re going to need shelter,” Kasumi said. “Do you have enough left for me to draw us a house?”

    Aquila nodded.

    “I’ll get on that,” Kasumi said, standing and opening her sketchbook.

    Beside Natsuki, Yukari stretched. “Safe or not, this is a literal brand new world. I can’t wait to start exploring.”

    “There’s no point,” Kasumi stated, starting to draw. “This is all there is. There isn’t even a sun.”

    “And she’s done this before?” Sayori asked.

    Kasumi nodded, not looking up from her sketchpad. “Twice. But this is the first time she’s ever had to work this fast.”

    Yuri looked at Cap. “Do we really need a house? I mean, if the sketchbook is using Aquila’s power, and Aquila’s this tired out, and there’s nothing here to threaten us anyway...”

    Cap nodded. “No sun. That means there’s nothing to keep this world warm. The atmosphere will keep some of the residual heat in, but at best that will last a few days. It’s going to get very cold here.”

    Natsuki knelt down beside Aquila. “Are you okay?”

    Aquila nodded. “I just have to catch my breath. I’ll be fine.”

    “I’ll help you up,” Natsuki said, offering a hand.

    Aquila took it, and the two stood. “Thank you.” She took a deep breath and grinned. “There, see? I’m fine.”

    “I hope everybody is happy with a large cabin and one bathroom,” Kasumi announced, putting her mechanical pencil away. “Can somebody take a look at this?”

    “I’ll do it,” Yukari said, looking at the drawing. A house appeared on the plain, the windows large and brightly lit. Yukari grinned. “That’s just amazing.”

    “I gave it a never-ending source of electrical power, electric heat, and a week’s worth of supplies,” Kasumi stated. “Aquila and I get the master bedroom, and everybody else can just pick their own – there’s one for each of you.”

    “I suppose we’ll have to add a deck and barbeque later,” Cap mused.

    “I think we should add a sun first,” Sayori stated.

    Beside Natsuki and without a word or even a sound, Aquila collapsed to the ground and lay still.

NEXT: “Starlight”