A crowd had formed, the dockworkers’ tasks forgotten. A trio of constables in yellow tunics sifted through the press, but they only stopped at the crowd’s edge to watch.

Anji lunged just as the Bear sliced her sword in a wide arc. The blade came down, scraping against Anji’s arm, cutting through the leather of her coat and into skin. A flash of searing heat lanced through her arm and she scrambled back, raising her sword in one hand as another blow shot toward her stomach. Kit leapt toward the Bear with a strangled cry, sword raised, but the woman twirled like a streamer caught in an upward draft and evaded Kit’s shambling cut.

Kit jumped back, her shoulders heaving, her weight to one side. Anji could hear the rasping, clogged throat whining in tune with the breeze above. The masts creaked in a fresh groan of wind.

“Why are you protecting her, Hawk?” said the Bear, ignoring the jeers of the gathered crowd. “One last good turn before the void takes you? You think it will save you? You think the One harbors turncoats and fools? That They forgive those who betray their friends?” Anji felt a flutter of hope watching the woman’s shoulders heave.

She’s winded too, Anji thought. If I can just get around her while she’s distracted with Kit.

Kit rolled a thin shoulder and spun her sword once.

The town guards had gained a bit more courage and were now making their way toward the pair, weapons still scabbarded at their waists. Anji didn’t know what they would do once they got to the fight, but she had a feeling it would be over before they could decide for themselves. She tensed her legs and watched as the Bear bore down once more on Kit, hacking and spinning, their swords clanging together. She tried her best to find an opening, but the two women moved like swirls of current in a raging river.

Kit advanced, feinted left, then shifted right and stabbed empty air as the Bear maneuvered around, her side exposed. Anji bounded forward, but the Bear pivoted and shot a booted foot straight into her stomach. All her breath whooshed from her lungs and Anji collapsed gasping to the ground. She scrambled on the planks as the Bear and the Hawk danced in a tangled embrace, got to her knees as the Hawk’s back came into view.

The tip of the Bear’s gleaming steel burst through Kit’s leathers, dripping dark blood onto the dock. The world stopped; the guards halted in place and watched Kit drop her sword clattering to the ground. The Bear leaned close enough for their masks to touch.

“You’ll die a Dredger, you heretic whore,” she said, “I can smell it on you! You think I wanted this? I gave you love! I gave you life! I—”