He emerged, spluttering like a drowned cat, and Ephyra didn’t let go of his arm even after he’d regained his hold.

“You’re shaking,” he said.

They were both soaked from the rain and the freezing river of water, but that wasn’t why she was trembling.

Ephyra released his arm and climbed down the other side of the wall and into the flooded courtyard. The water was nearly up to Ephyra’s waist here, forcing her to half wade and half swim to the palace steps.

“Khepri!” Ephyra hollered when they were near enough.

Khepri emerged from behind the collapsed pillar, Hector beside her.

“Ephyra? Sefu? What are you—?”

“Is she here?” Ephyra asked, climbing out of the water and onto the steps. “Beru—the god. Is she here?”

“She was,” Hector replied. “We didn’t see her, but she ripped apart half the palace and then must’ve moved on to another part of the city.”

“You have to help,” Khepri said frantically. “Please—It’s Hassan. He’s trapped underneath the pillar. We don’t know if he’s—” She cut herself off with a ragged breath.

“What do you need us to do?” Chike asked.

“I can almost reach him,” Khepri replied. “I need your help to shift this.”

The pillar she pointed to was wedged against the plinth at the bottom of the steps. With enough force, they could use the plinth as a sort of fulcrum to lift the pillar away and let Khepri crawl beneath.

The five of them lined up, pressing their backs against the pillar and bracing their feet against the steps for more leverage.

On Khepri’s count of three, they pushed as hard they could against the pillar. Slowly, it started to shift.

“Almost there!” Khepri called from below.

Ephyra’s muscles strained. Her legs trembled. If she let go now, the pillar would crash back down on not only Hassan, but Khepri, too. She sucked in a breath, gritting her teeth.

“We’re clear!” Khepri’s voice cried, just as Ephyra thought her strength would give out.

Ephyra relaxed, collapsing against the pillar as it teetered back to its original position. Khepri stooped over Hassan’s crumpled form, cradling his face in her hands.

Ephyra crawled toward them, choked by panic as she took in Hassan’s still face, and the sound of Khepri’s broken voice as she repeated his name over and over.

Ephyra remembered healing Hassan after the god had taken over Beru. She wished there was something, anything, she could do now.

“Khepri,” Hector said quietly, stilling her with a touch to the arm.

Khepri’s eyes found his, her desperation clear and so familiar to Ephyra. “No,” she said. “No, he’s not…”

Hector put an arm around her, tucking her close to his side. Ephyra’s chest seized. Silence hung thick in the air despite the storm that raged around them.