A cool, red streak illuminated the horizon at dawn, turning the sky violet. The guards of Neva Cathedral had recently switched their shifts, and the night patrol had returned from their duty. The Order of Saint Awynyth in Neva, temporarily led by Friar Dew, had meticulously stationed their monks around the cathedral so that none could enter freely, nor leave it. 

The southern courtyard, and its gardens, was least patrolled — it was barricaded by a crenellated stonewall with dome-shaped watchtowers. The only way one could find passage into this section was to go around the enormous cathedral. 

The balcony closest to the Divine Chamber, overlooking the southern courtyard, was guarded by a single monk, who stood at attention, scanning the stonewall for any movement through his night vision eye-implants. Apart from some movement in the watchtowers, everything seemed quiet. Straightening the folds of his scarlet-coloured uniform, he breathed in the fresh cool air and relaxed his stance. 

The thin fabric of the curtain veiling the balcony’s exit flapped outward; the guard caught the scent of lavender, vanilla, and iron — a scent he had gotten used to in the last few days — Doctor Marana Skjavok. He had been enamoured by her charm and vivacity.  

He stole a glance as she stepped out and walked towards the balustrade. She stretched, ran her fingers through her wavy hair, and leaned against the frame of the top rail, gently balancing her shapely mechanical body, which contrasted gracefully against the light of the rising sun. 

The guard cleared his throat and stood upright, mentally commanding his eye implants to switch to regular vision. He was not sure if she noticed him at first, but she looked around now, straightening up and moving closer to him. 

‘Didn’t see ya there, fella,’ she crooned, running her hands through her hair again. The imperceptible light from the sky bounced off her skin and metal in shades of grey.   

The guard silently breathed in her scent again and nodded, ‘Good morning, Marana. You’re up early.’ 

‘Can’t sleep,’ she leaned against the curve of the balustrade close to him, keeping her eyes on his shabby Poban face. ‘What with your Goddess bein’ unwell n’ all.’

‘Indeed,’ he shifted uneasily and Marana noticed. 

She gave a short flirtatious laugh, ‘I’ve noticed you lookin’ at me the last few days.’ Obviously a test, she knew she was playing on dangerous grounds. Would the guard be tempted? Monk or no he was human after all. 

‘Can’t say I haven’t,’ he replied, a slight quiver in his voice. Marana furtively sighed in relief. 

‘Hmmm…’ She stepped towards him, her steel boots clicking on the stone tiles of the balcony. Placing her human hand on his shoulder she whispered. ‘And I can’t lie that I’ve been absolutely lonely in this borin’ cathedral.’ 

Marana knew she had entranced him completely when he buried his face into the bowl of her shoulder to take a deep whiff. He was so enamoured by her touch that he didn’t notice her mechanical arm slide upwards. The tiniest spark twinkled in the dying darkness as Marana tased the nape of his neck with her steel fingers. 

His body slumped, but she caught him before he fell. Subeya appeared hurriedly through the narrow door to provide support. Together they rested the stunned guard upright against a pillar — in case anyone looked up from the wall.

‘Girl… you got some charm,’ Subeya croaked.

‘Shut it!’ Marana’s mood instantly turned serious. ‘Ya gotta do what ya gotta do. Let’s?’ 

The two of them crouched and headed back in. This guard was the only one between them and the Divine Chamber’s door, which was down the corridor, where two more guards had been stationed. The balcony guard surely would have heard the commotion that was to come; it was best to deal with him first. 

Marana peeked left towards their dormitory, from where they had sneaked in earlier — Mr Murderclawz was still in the enormous stone chamber, and she knew he was awake. Turning on the laser built into her mechanical index finger, she produced a glowing blue dot on the far wall. Immediately, the cat pounced on it — his silhouette jiggled hilariously as the dot of light zigzagged across the wall. She made him follow the dot back to her. 

‘Good kitty,’ she crooned, affectionately hugging him. An hour ago she had strapped a device of her own making around his body. Eager to test it out, she set him down and gestured to Subeya to hide with her behind an enormous pillar. ‘A’ight, now ya be careful, fluffy.’

‘I’m always careful,’ Subeya whispered. ‘It’s just with my bulk and all…’

‘Not you! I was talkin’ to Mr Murderclawz!’ Marana sighed. She switched on the laser again, but this time pointed it to the other side of the corridor, on to the shoulder of the nearest guard stationed outside the Divine Chamber. ‘Off ya go,’ she said pointing, which Mr Muderclawz first reacted to by crouching really low and then dashing forward. 

The guards saw the cat approach — one of them gave a short laugh. They had seen the cat at play for many days now and thought nothing out of the ordinary. 

A flurry of claws, fur, and cloth, and a bit of yowl from the guard, followed by a tenuous spark  was a good enough indication that Marana’s plan had worked. The cat, confused by its own actions, darted off, as one guard lay on the floor nursing the wounds on his hands, hips, and legs. 

‘What just happened?’ the other mumbled angrily. Tapping the side of her neck, she said into a communication device, ‘We need medical attention by the Divine Chamber. Comms please respond?’ 

Nothing. 

‘Yeah comms down,’ said her comrade through gritted teeth, testing his own device. ‘Damn cat got me good.’ 

Marana’s contraption that was tied around Mr Murderclawz had sent an electromagnetic pulse, shutting off their devices. Now they would be forced to move away from the door. 

‘I’ll go down to the infirmary,’ said the uninjured monk, setting off in a jog. ‘Be back in a bit.’ 

Marana remained crouched as she made her way to the fallen guard, tasing him before he could react. When Subeya caught up, Marana whispered, ‘Good luck! Remember. It’s a red lever!’, referring to the lever that Subeya had to find on Zov’ha’s life-support capsule that would switch the whole thing into a portable hover mode.

‘What if I’m colour blind?’ Subeya whispered back.

‘What?!’ Marana’s voice was sharp. ‘You’re tellin’ me now?’ 

‘No! I mean… what if I don’t know I’m colour blind, you know. I mean I can’t see through your eyes. How would I know what colour is or is not?’

‘Just…’ Marana pressed the button and let the door to the Diving Chamber slide open, pointing in sternly. ‘...go!’ 

Once Subeya crawled in as noiselessly as she could, Marana headed towards the infirmary, following the other monk to track her movement. She had other plans to disrupt communication further.

Zov’ha lay peacefully within the capsule, and Subeya, feeling a little saddened, allowed a few minutes to pass as she observed her friend. Zov’ha’s right eyelid seemed to appear darker in colour, as if it were bruised. Strange, Subeya thought. I didn’t notice that before. 

Subeya found the lever with the red light easily enough. It was too small for her hand so she had to use three fingers. She gave it a good tug, which caused it to snap right out of the device. 

‘Damn!’ she croaked, staring at the broken lever in her hand. ‘Looks like I’ll have to carry the capsule. Unless…’ positioning herself between the wall and the capsule, she eyed the bottom of the switchboard, leaned backwards and gave it a thorough kicking. Astonishingly the capsule pod switched into hover mode. ‘I knew that would work!’ 

The rest was easy. Keeping low, she shoved the hovering pod out through the eastern balcony door, and then pulled it over the corner onto the roof. Standing on top of the capsule, as if it were a large surfboard, she gently tipped the front. As Marana had promised, the capsule glided down the roofs, buttresses, and dormers like butter on hot toast. Awkwardly balancing on top of it, Subeya guided it downward patiently and landed it delicately on the soft grass of the north-eastern courtyard. 

This was by far the grandest courtyard in Neva. Lake Na’mel to the east was placid. A grand statue of Lady Awynyth cast long purple shadows on the well-trimmed blocks of grass. 

Their way out was northeast, through the woods. 

Subeya, noticing some movement at a distance, hurriedly shoved the capsule between the garden hedge and the cathedral wall.  ‘Marana…’ she whispered, pressing the button on the communication device in her ear. ‘I’m in the courtyard.’ 

‘Aigh’t,’ Marana’s voice crackled. ‘Stay put. I’ve got kitty boy disrupting comms across the cathedral. Commotion everywhere!’

Subeya stood up straight as an old humpbacked monk walked by. She waved at him with a stupid smile saying, ‘Good day to you… fine morning for a walk!’ The monk nodded ignorantly and hobbled away. 

‘You’re s’pposed to stay hidden,’ came Marana’s voice. 

‘Yeah, sorry I forgot,’ Subeya whispered, crawling behind the hedge next to the capsule. ‘Any word from Sin?’ 

‘He’s got Gloomy… waitin’ by the woods.’ Sinovan had set off an hour before dawn, with the excuse that he wanted to take a walk in the town. They had parked their truck, The Gloomhog, at a garage by the lake, where repairs were in order. None would question if he simply brought the truck back up to the Cathedral. ‘We have a few more minutes until sunrise proper. Let’s be quick.’

Across the concourse, the massive body of The Gloomhog was discernible in the thick woods. The gargantuan truck was surprisingly silent. Sinovan had turned off the engines and let it glide on inertia. 

Suddenly, there was a loud cracking sound from the south, accompanied by Efiros’ thundering growl. Guards from around the cathedral hovered across the courtyard on their step pods in a hurry. A wailing siren ululated, scaring away birds from the trees, disturbing the quiescent morning. 

Subeya heard a creak from above. Looking up she noticed Marana climbing over the balcony of the Divine Chamber. She had Mr Murderclawz in her human hand, and she balanced herself with her mechanical one, as she hovered on the roof using her special boots. Gliding, she wended her way down, lightly landing on the dew-covered grass of the courtyard. 

Overly excited about their escapade, she embraced Subeya cheerfully, ‘We did it, yaw!’ 

‘Yes, yes,’ Subeya whispered, giving Marana a few uncontentious pats on the head. ‘Let’s get to The Gloomhog. I think our distraction worked… we can make it across without being seen.’ 

Marana hopped on to the middle of Zov’ha’s capsule as if it were the seat of a bike. Touching the glass gently she said, ‘Hold on tight, girl, we gonna getcha all fixed up.’ 

With Marana on top of it, Subeya noiselessly moved it towards the woods, keeping to the shadows. While the monks were split between deciding to fix their loss of communication with their command centre or cater to the resounding noise from beyond the southern wall, the capsule was on the move. 

Subeya managed to traverse the whole length of the courtyard cautiously and find a shaded spot behind a hedge bordering the woods. At a distance, they could now see the southern wall that was under attack — where all the ruckus was coming from. ‘That bear sure looks like he’ll tear down the wall,’ she huffed. 

Marana’s barely discernible smile was wicked. ‘Sin told Efy that the Zov’s across the wall!’ 

‘What if they open fire?’ Subeya crossed her arms, concerned. 

‘Nah… they won’t harm a fur on his hide! Efy’s their goddess’ steed!’ 

There was a swathe of open grassland between them and the edge of the woods. The sun had peeked over the horizon and was shining light upon the grass that shimmered like gold. Marana straightened up, ‘We’ve gotta make a run for it. Subeya… you ready?’ 

Subeya nodded. Mustering all her strength, she pushed the capsule that Marana and Mr Murderclawz were sitting on and set off in a sprint. They were clearly visible to anyone watching, as they made it across the meadow. But with all the chaos in the southern courtyard, they hoped no one would notice. Marana cheered and whooped, enjoying the thrill of escapade.  

Oaks and gum trees bordered the edge of the woods, standing tall as if guarding it like sentinels. Their light brown barks shone like steel armour in the light of the morning. The trio had almost cleared the expanse when they heard the familiar whirring of step pods around them. Monks appeared from every corner, giving chase. 

Noticing movement under the shade of the trees ahead, Marana squinted to decipher the silhouettes — more guards! ‘It’s a setup!’ Marana called back. 

Subeya poked her head out, instinctively grabbing the handles of the capsule to slow it down with the intention of bringing it to a halt. 

‘What’re ya doin?’ Marana yelped, holding on tight as she felt the inertia of deceleration pushing her forward. Hugging her cat, who was trying to pounce off in an attempt to attack the guards gaining on them, she shut her eyes and held on tight as they came to an abrupt stop.

‘We can’t crash through them!’ Subeya said between deep breaths. 

The monks formed a tight circle around the escapees, pointing guns and melee weapons. Friar Dew stepped ahead, a supercilious grin across his face, ‘This mayhem is a bit too bold… even for you, Doctor Marana Skjavok.’