"Get down!"

Heeka threw himself sideways, slamming into Nora and sending them both rolling behind a half-crumbled stone wall just as a magik grenade sailed overhead. The explosion rocked the ground, showering them with dirt and fragments of ancient masonry. Beside them, Lukas—a massive white wolf who should have appeared fearsome—had somehow squeezed his considerable bulk into a depression in the earth that seemed impossibly small for his size. Only his tail remained visible, quivering pathetically.

"Some fearsome beast you are," Heeka muttered, wiping blood from a cut above his right eye while his left—carefully hidden beneath a sweep of dyed-red hair—pulsed with suppressed blue light. "You're supposed to be a wolf, not a djit'ma rabbit."

The wolf whimpered in response, curling his tail closer to his trembling body.

Nora Oldson checked her magik pistol, spinning the chamber where glowing mana cores were loaded. "Seven left," she reported grimly. Her small frame belied her ferocity, and despite the dirt smudging her tanned skin, her green eyes blazed with determination. "I told you this job stank worse than Gus after bean night."

"It was supposed to be a simple delivery!" Heeka protested, glancing around the corner of their makeshift shelter. At least twelve bandits had surrounded the ruins where they'd been ambushed—ruins that were decidedly not on their planned route to Greenfield. "The contract said nothing about the Night Lotus Caravan having rivals in this region."

Another volley of magik grenades arced toward their position. Heeka yanked his worn magik sword from its scabbard, the device sputtering and sparking before reluctantly generating a blue-tinged blade of energy. With a practiced motion that belied his earlier complaints about the weapon, he slashed through the air. The blade intercepted the nearest grenade, cutting it in half and causing it to detonate harmlessly several yards away.

"Two more coming!" Nora shouted, rolling to her knees and firing her pistol twice. Blue bolts of elemental energy streaked toward the incoming grenades, detonating them midair. "Five shots left," she updated, ducking back down.

Lukas, seeming to realize he was missing the action, cautiously poked his head out of his hiding spot. A stray rock from the explosion bounced off his nose. With a high-pitched yelp entirely unbefitting a wolf of his size, he dove back into his hole, this time somehow managing to tuck his tail in as well.

"Father's beard, Lukas!" Heeka exclaimed, unable to suppress a laugh despite their dire situation. "You're embarrassing the entire species!"

Nora snorted. "At least he's consistent." She peeked over the wall, quickly assessing their situation. "We need to move. They're flanking us on the left."

Heeka nodded, reaching for the pouch at his belt where he kept his personal supply of mana ore. "Cover me. I've got an idea."

"Your ideas are why we're pinned down in the first place," Nora grumbled, but she readied her pistol all the same.

Heeka pulled out two thumb-sized pieces of mana ore, their faint blue glow intensifying as he held them in his palm. His fingers moved quickly, tracing patterns in the air above them—simplified magik circles that shimmered briefly before dissolving into the stones. Anyone watching closely might have wondered how a supposed orphan without formal academy training managed such precision, but Nora was too busy providing cover fire to notice.

"Whenever you're ready, oh great magik master," she called, firing another shot that forced a bandit to duck behind a fallen column. "Four left!"

"Almost..." Heeka muttered, concentrating as the mana ore in his hands began to pulse with increasing frequency. "There! Catch!" He tossed one of the glowing stones to Nora, who snatched it from the air without looking. "On my count—three, two—"

A grenade landed just feet from their position.

"Djit'ma!" Heeka swore, diving forward with unexpected grace. He slashed the device with his sword, but the timing was off—the grenade detonated, the blast catching him and sending him sprawling across the rubble-strewn ground. His sword skittered away, its blade flickering and then extinguishing.

"Heeka!" Nora shouted, then cursed as two bandits used the distraction to advance toward their position. She fired twice in rapid succession, her shots finding their marks with uncanny precision. Both attackers went down, but her pistol's chamber now showed just two mana cores remaining. "We're in trouble here!"

Lukas, witnessing his master's fall, finally emerged from his hiding place. The cowardly wolf stood frozen for a moment, looking between the advancing bandits and his downed friend. Something shifted in his demeanor—a flash of what might have been courage, immediately followed by what was definitely panic. The wolf charged forward, then veered sharply left, then right, then dashed in a complete circle, howling all the while. His erratic movements confused the bandits, who wasted precious seconds tracking the seemingly deranged animal.

Heeka groaned, pushing himself to his knees. Blood trickled from his nose, and his dyed hair had shifted, revealing a glimpse of the blue glow beneath before he hastily adjusted it. "The mana ore," he rasped. "Nora, do you still have it?"

She nodded, holding up the pulsing stone. "Whatever plan you had better work fast!"

"Remember that time in the Whispering Caves?" Heeka grinned despite the pain. "Same principle, just... bigger."

Nora's eyes widened. "By O Mother's heart, you're going to get us killed." But she was already moving, climbing to the top of their crumbling wall, her nimble form silhouetted against the sky as she carefully aimed the modified mana ore.

The bandits, finally realizing the greater threat, redirected their attention from the circling wolf to the woman on the wall. Weapons raised, they prepared to fire.

"Now, Nora!" Heeka shouted, hurling his own mana ore high into the air above the center of the ruins.

Nora's throw was perfect—her stone arced through the air on a collision course with Heeka's. The moment the two made contact, a blinding flash of blue light erupted, followed by a concussive wave that sent everyone—bandits, seekers, and one very confused wolf—tumbling across the ground.

When the light faded and the dust began to settle, an eerie silence had fallen over the ruins. Heeka was the first to recover, coughing as he pushed himself up on one elbow. Around them, the bandits lay unconscious, their weapons scattered.

"It worked," he whispered, sounding almost surprised. Then, louder, "Nora! Are you alright?"

A groan came from behind a pile of rubble. Nora emerged, covered in dust but otherwise unharmed. "Next time," she said, brushing debris from her fitted leather bodice and the short, tight riding breeches that left little to the imagination and revealed portions of her tanned curves, "let's try a plan that doesn't involve blowing ourselves up too." She adjusted her asymmetrical stockings—one reaching her thigh, the other just above her knee—and stomped her feet to settle her scuffed boots back into place.

"Where's the fun in that?" Heeka replied with a lopsided grin, then looked around. "Lukas? Where'd you go, you useless fur ball?"

A pitiful whine answered him. They turned to see the white wolf's tail protruding from beneath the remains of a fallen archway, wiggling feebly. The rest of his massive body was nowhere to be seen.

"How does he keep doing that?" Nora wondered, shaking her head as they approached.

Working together, they cleared enough rubble to reveal the wolf's predicament. Somehow, Lukas had managed to wedge himself into a narrow crevice beneath the archway, his large frame contorted in ways that defied anatomical logic. His eyes, when they finally uncovered his head, were wide with indignation, as if the entire situation were their fault rather than the result of his own cowardice.

"Come on, you dramatic beast," Heeka said, tugging at the wolf's scruff. With considerable effort and much whining from Lukas, they extracted him from his hiding place. The moment he was free, the wolf shook himself vigorously, sending dirt flying in all directions, then promptly sat down and began grooming his white fur as if nothing unusual had happened.

Heeka and Nora exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter.

"Some fierce guardian you've got there," Nora teased, retrieving her pistol from where it had fallen. "I've seen alley cats in Brackenholt with more courage."

"Hey, he confused them with his... strategic maneuvering," Heeka defended, retrieving his battered sword from the rubble. He examined the weapon with a frown, tapping its power core. The blade sputtered to life briefly before dying again. "Djit'ma, not again. The red-panda's going to charge me a fortune to fix this."

"Better the sword than your skull," Nora pointed out, gesturing to the unconscious bandits. "We should tie them up before they wake. And figure out why the Night Lotus would set us up like this."

Heeka nodded, his momentary levity fading as he surveyed the aftermath of their desperate battle. "This was supposed to be a simple delivery job. Gold rank, straightforward route." He ran a hand through his hair, careful to ensure his right eye remained covered. "Someone wanted us here specifically."

"Questions for later," Nora said practically. "First, let's make sure these guys can't cause more trouble when they wake up."

As they set about securing the bandits with rope from their packs, Lukas—having apparently decided his fur was once again presentable—trotted over to Heeka and bumped his massive head against his master's hip in what might have been an apology.

Heeka scratched behind the wolf's ears. "You're lucky you're handsome," he muttered. "Because you're certainly not brave."

Lukas responded by flopping onto his back, paws in the air, tongue lolling in apparent agreement.