Which is how I see them widen with surprise when Yumia’s rope dart flashes by. She doesn’t go for Amenthas, but for his silent brother, the dart burying itself in Ishilan’s chestplate. Yumia is less than a heartbeat behind the cord, planting her feet on Ishilan’s chest before kicking off into a backflip that pushes the dart even deeper. As Yumia turns in the air, she pulls the dart with her. It squeals as it tears up the front of Ishilan’s armour. Up through the seal at his neck, before pulling free again. Ishilan staggers, dust spraying out of the rent in his armour in a thick arc. He looks to Amenthas as the light behind his eye-lenses flickers, then fails.

‘No!’ Amenthas roars, and his silent brother collapses forward, spilling dust onto the dais.

The sorcerer releases his hold on my throat and I fall to the ground, landing hard on my back. Air rushes back into my lungs, but it’s agony. It’s all I can do to drag myself towards my swords as Amenthas moves to protect his silent brother, warp light crackling around his curled hand and his staff. He thrusts out his hand, casting a bolt of warp light at Yumia, but staggers when a burst of gunfire hits him centre-mass. The high-calibre, prayer-etched rounds from Zoric’s Valedictor pistol do little to damage Amenthas’ chestplate, but they do throw out the sorcerer’s aim, causing him to miss Yumia.

Amenthas turns and slams his staff against the dais, hitting Zoric with a blast of warpfire that cooks off every round in the Valedictor’s magazine. The gun detonates, knocking Zoric backwards in a welter of blood and shards of bone.

‘Danil!’ Yumia shouts, but he doesn’t move. Doesn’t speak. I can’t even tell if he’s breathing. Yumia starts to run, then, not towards Zoric, but towards Amenthas. She unslings her darts, coils her muscles and uses every ounce of her strength to loose them at the sorcerer. Her first dart buries itself in Amenthas’ armoured shoulder. The sorcerer grunts, and twists back around to face her.

Only for her second dart to embed itself deeply in his right eye.

Amenthas roars in pain and my threat-sense flares, dizzying me as I finally lay my hands on my twin swords. A burst of instinctive force blows out from the sorcerer that throws Yumia backwards, snapping her killcords and leaving the darts behind. Yumia lands hard and goes still as Amenthas reaches up and pulls the dart from his eye. He drops it to the ground with a clatter and crouches down beside his silent brother as I drag myself back to my feet.