There was a flash of myriad colors that descended into the city; a rain of various shades of light that stupefied all Luminbergers and visitors alike. Rook saw a bluish light rising from people's bodies before they collapsed.

  He felt something being drawn out of him. Rook looked at his hands and saw the same brilliance exiting his body in thin, glowing threads. His form was taken over by tingling, numbing sensations; the feeling of waning strength. Rook was on his knees when Metis called out from his mind:

  "Our strength... power... It's being drained."

  "Wh-wh-wha d...d...d... you mean... drain...d..."

  Rook's hands tried to break his fall, but they slipped before he lay flat on the road.

  ????

  He woke up to find himself inside a room devoid of walls; mists of spinning white and gray hovered on the floor. Metis' prismatic aura stood out of the mist, but there was another color that joined her this time. An entity emitting a faint fire that switched between orange and red.

  "Hey, Montu. Looks like we're here again. Nice to see you... once more?"

  "A pleasure to meet you, again, 'Rook'." The proud warrior's voice echoed in his mind. "I would be careful about making a habit of falling to the ground every time. We depend on you to stay in this plane."

  "What do you mean?"

  He stood straight; the bird head, hooked beak, and flames that rose and fell as glowing plumage gave him the look of someone perpetually aflame. Was Montu a human before? Maybe he was always this bird-headed creature found in storybooks. Montu answered:

  "I remember walking your world, amongst your kin. I used to have a body before. But here we are, Metis, myself, and the others occupying the same body."

  "If you are all put inside me, does this mean there's a way for you to come out?"

  "Neither Montu nor I can answer that, Rook." Metis put herself in the conversation. "All we know is we got to help you in every way we can if we hope to see the end of this."

  "I guess none of us has a choice here."

  Light descended and slowly filled the place; everything started to have a tinge of green until tones of blue emerged and mixed, forming a layer of alternating colors all over the place. There were soft ripples that appeared from one corner of the place and faded into the next.

  "It's time for you to go, Rook." Montu heard a voice, but he could not make up what it was saying.

  "We are very lucky to have someone like her for company."

  "Euphemia, you mean, Metis?"

  "Of course. Who else?"

  "I'm counting on you guys." Rook noticed some of the light converged and transformed into a great white gap opposite him and the two entities. "Whatever it is, I'll need your help - tell that to the others not showing up too."

  "They can hear you, Rook. I'm sure they'll be thinking about finally helping you overcome this ordeal."

  "Yeh, Montu. Thanks."

  ????

  Rook woke up to a view of a brown, wooden ceiling; a chandelier with twenty dots hung and swung lazily. He gritted his teeth before grunting and trying to turn around to know where he was. It took him some time to realize that he was brought inside the restaurant where they were dining before.

  He looked at his hands - the blue glow that appeared the moment before he lost consciousness was still present. Something changed in how it looked: there was a thin white field that kept the blue light from dissipating into the environs. He moved his legs around: there was nothing in this light that kept him from getting up and moving from where he lay.

  "Glad to see you have come to your senses. I was worried that my technique didn't work."

  Euphemia knelt before the boy; there was also light coming out of her, just like Rook's, only that it was a soft yet intense field of white that spanned throughout her form.

  "What... happened?"

  "None of us has an idea." It was Kirk who replied. He was not looking at Rook but was keeping watch from one of the nearby windows. “I would have been sleeping soundly as you did, but our lovely prayer lady broke me out of my dream earlier than I wanted.”

  "Hold on to what I've given you earlier."

  Euphemia showed the same crystal token she had handed him during the celebration: the light-up winged being thing. Rook watched her approach another boy. He was uttering gibberish, holding on to what little was left of his consciousness. She pulled out a similar token — hers — and put it in the boy's hands. The lad's eyes opened in seconds, staring at a woman in blue wrapped in a soft white field.

  The canoness made a hush gesture, shaking her head to stop the boy from speaking. She said:

  "Save your energy. Do not speak. Do you have your parents here?"

  The boy nodded, pointing to a man and woman who dropped to the floor. Both were silent, their threads long drawn out by the cursed light that took over Luminberg.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Go," Euphemia spoke in a whisper. "Do not leave their side until we get help."

  "Being a walking lamp of certain death—and life... has its advantages, no doubt. I hope you don't mind me saying this."

  Kirk pretended not to see Euphemia's bewildered stare. He turned back with a short glance and an awkward smile.

  "That's one way of putting it, mons-" Rook's slurred speech was interrupted with Kirk snapping a sharp stare at him. "...right, Fiend-Conjurer."

  Rook saw Euphemia grit her teeth at what she saw outside of the establishment. Luminbergers and visitors alike: all dropped to the ground, yet there were too many of them. She couldn't help them all, even if she summoned all her will to the task.

  Her fists clenched, though she could not raise them higher from her waist, and she decided keeping them hidden under her sleeves was more prudent. It was the first time he saw her usual calm broken into what he felt was an air of frustration.

  "This light. It was meant to drain magical energy from people."

  "You mean the weird colors all around are causing people to drop?" Rook looked outside through one of the restaurant windows.

  "Yes, Rook. There is something that is gathering these energies somewhere."

  "That 'strength you were talking about is this magical energy, right, Metis?"

  "Now you got it, Rook."

  "Let me guess." Kirk's hand went to the hilt of the sword prop he wore. "We'll have to find the source of this strange light and stop it if we want to get out of this alive."

  "I'm afraid we're the only people inside this city that can do it."

  Euphemia brought out two spheres from her armlet. Both floated in the air and gave light to the chandelier above. The interior was warmer than before.

  "We can get more people to help if you can give this field of light to others?" Rook's gaze went to the canoness.

  "That may prove too difficult for me to keep." Euphemia looked at the unconscious restaurant-goers all around. "It will be disastrous for all of us if I fail to prevent the city from stealing our strength. We will have to act quickly to save the people."

  "Let's get a move on, then." Kirk was about to head to the exit, but turned around and asked, "Do we actually have a way to find what's causing this in the first place?"

  "These energies leave a trail that leads to where they are being collected."

  Euphemia went outside and looked up; searchlights from various aircraft flashed and were stopped by the Wizards' Wall's dome, leaving small circles of white that crawled and flashed on the ground. A web of magical energy was formed at the center; faint but solid lines were seen leading to Luminberg's eight towers.

  "They're being coursed to the Wizards' Wall towers..."

  "You've found something, Sister?"

  "It's the Wall. Is it drawing its power from the city's magical energies?" Euphemia looked at Kirk; there was an unsettled look on her face. "If the Wall is kept up like this, everyone in this city can die."

  "Not good. You're saying those things at the edges of this city are behind this?"

  "It is most likely." The canoness observed the glow of one of the towers' crystalline mechanisms. "There's a way to see the traces, but-"

  "I can see the string-like things..." Rook sat on the floor and stared outside. "Not to worry, Fiend-Conjurer. You have two friends to make up for what you lack."

  "And I should feel grateful about this?" Kirk looked at both his companions before following the canoness' skyward gaze. "We'll have to find a way to shut those towers down, or break whatever thingamabobs are inside them."

  There was nobody else awake, save for the little boy whom Euphemia handed her crystal trinket. His parents lay still, murmuring in their breath. She knelt before the boy and said:

  “Now is the time to be brave for your parents.” The canoness pointed to the crystal trinket he was holding. “We will leave you here so that we can find help. Stay with your mother and father. Hold on to this and never let go. The Creator will show you that it's safe to come out once you see nothing but the night sky. He will keep you safe from harm.”

  "Will you... go out and find help?" the little boy asked.

  "Yes." Euphemia viewed the outside from one of the open windows. "You have to be with your parents. And for the others. They'll wake up through His mercy, and under this light. Be still, but don't be afraid."

  She stood up and nodded to Kirk, who picked up his iron staff, and Rook, who checked on the cylinders of his pistols. The three left the establishment, but not without closing all the windows and the door behind them.

  ????

  They left the open-air stage, moving their way through streets and spaces occupied by unconscious people; there were the occasional groans some of them uttered as the city was putting them in a state of near-death. Carpets of unconscious citizens and crashed automobiles were scattered on the main roads, making travel through them more difficult than normal. Luminberg, being a small city, also made its journey more predictable; each alley extended to a part of the main road or led to a wider space.

  The trio managed to reach the Southwest Tower; men in completely concealing black stood surrounded by bodies of civilians and those that seemed to be part of Luminberg's constabulary. It seemed that these men appeared after the people were rendered immobile by the Wizards' Wall's light. Euphemia, Kirk, and Rook continued spying on this gathering from behind a parked omnibus. They would have wanted to survey them closer, but then Euphemia's barrier of light would not let them come too near without being noticed.

  Flying black circles were seen approaching the group. It stopped at a large space near the tower before it started to spin and release a large pillar of light. Rook saw the light reveal a vehicle that was surrounded by familiar machines he had fought with in the past.

  The constructs at Altrecht were back, and they were accompanied by their human handlers.

  "What are those things?" Kirk tried to make sense of the appearance of the armed machines that arrived. "They're standing like regular people... using legs that are not human."

  "It's some kind of battle mechanism." Rook reached out for the revolver on his right side. "We ran into them long before you were around. They're very tough to take down."

  "I guess you know how to run away from these at least."

  Kirk noticed a sudden change in the stance of the new tower attendants. Everyone seemed to have taken cover; some of them were aiming guns at the place where he and his companions were standing. He gripped his staff before saying:

  "Looks like that running away part will apply just about now. They saw us."

  The trio disappeared into an alley, expecting that those who spotted them would give chase. Shrill and quick sounds were heard from above as they moved into the darker areas of Luminberg. Their movements were stopped when one of the flying disks settled not far ahead; the sound of a long, droning hum unsettled the three. A beam of light was fired to the ground, followed by the appearance of one of the metal warriors with a gun trained on them.

  Rook did not think twice and squeezed the trigger. Two shots echoed in the street; the contraption's head jerked after its optics were blown out of order. It attempted to track the targets by firing blindly; the barrage of bullets forced Euphemia to duck under the gun's path. Kirk jumped on the contraption and plunged his iron rod at the unarmored shoulder area; the surge of electricity caused him to let go of his weapon when the machine knelt still before collapsing.

  "Remind me not to do that again." Kirk wrapped cloth around his hands as he approached the broken machine-soldier and yanked the weapon out. He looked at the soot and oil-stained shaft and said:

  "You are right. These things are machines. Looks like what they're guarding back there is the key to this problem. There’s no way I won’t burn my hands the next time I try this."

  Kirk found a spot to peer at the guarded fortification ahead. These men behaved like soldiers, running and training guns in various directions. Rook looked from the same spot as the fiend-conjurer: these men were not here to kill, but to protect the towers like bees to a hive. He was wondering why that was the case, until Kirk spoke:

  “So, Prayer Lady, you can run one of those lights on those men as a distraction.”

  "I can certainly do that,” Euphemia stayed behind the two. “But wouldn't we be in trouble with the guards?"

  "You did use that shield-magic when we first went into the forest." Rook poked out the empty cartridges of his revolver and reloaded two new bullets into the cylinders.

  "That is possible, Rook, but who will get inside the tower and...?"

  "We'll worry about that when we get close enough." Kirk looked at his staff; he smiled upon seeing that the metal had not bent after being thrust onto the mechanical warrior. "Get both your guns out, Rook, because we'll need to make enough mayhem to make them less focused on us."

  "Those men in black are going to be angry men in black who will really want to kill us, you know." Rook pulled out the second revolver from his left and checked the cylinders.

  "I do not wholeheartedly agree with this outrage, but I entrust my life to both of you." Euphemia stood up and went to a spacious portion of the alley, where her field of light was less seen by anyone near them.

  "Either we get to that tower first, or they'll get to us no matter how far we run from them."

  Kirk gripped his staff with two hands in an attempt to feel his palm where it was supposed to hold his weapon. He was hearing the unnatural squeaks made by the approaching metal soldiers closing in on where they stood.