I calculated quickly. The thing was faster than me; if I kept going, it’d run me down. Maybe I could take it out and lose the men . . . but the light beams of more torches were appearing below . . .

No other choice. Silently, I drew out my dispel focus. I’d only have one shot at this.

The construct was still closing in. It had slowed down, and as it reached a distance of thirty feet from the bush it stopped. Shit. My dispel focus was a touch-range weapon. I held still.

The men were climbing the hillside, closing in on my position. The wolf construct was holding still. Three of them caught up, then five, then six. More were coming. “. . . in there?” I heard one say.

“Can’t see shit . . .”

“. . . a mage, right?”

They began to spread out, circling. They were wary, but that wouldn’t last long. My only cover was the leafy bush, and as soon as they circled far enough around they’d have a clear line of sight to me. I looked into the future, and—

—there. I pulled off my cloak, stuffing it into my pack. One of the men saw the movement and shouted something, the beam of his torch darting out towards me.

Pale brown light split the air, forming a vertical disc, lighting up the startled faces of the men. The light solidified, forming a gate, and Caldera stepped through, coming down onto the grass. She dismissed the gate behind her, called up an orb of light in her hand, and looked at the men surrounding her. “Hey there,” she said. “Seen a diviner around?”

I grinned and took a step forward. Caldera turned instantly, shining the light on me. “Caldera, I have never been so happy to see you in all my life.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Caldera jerked her thumb at the ring of men surrounding us. “Who are the goons?”

“That’s him!” one of the men shouted. “Get him!” He charged Caldera from behind, and as she began to turn he stabbed his shock stick into her side. Blue-white light crackled as the energy discharged into her body.

Caldera finished turning and stared at the man. He looked down at the stick, then up at Caldera. Caldera picked him up, lifted him over her head, and threw him. Not a martial arts throw, more the kind of thing a football player does with a throw-in. She got the same sort of distance too. The man went flying away into the darkness with a long trailing yell that was cut off a couple of seconds later by a thud.

The other men stared down at the flight path their companion had just described, then turned back to Caldera. “Anyone else?” Caldera asked.

There was a rustling, shuffling sound as all of them took a step back. The construct held its ground, staring at us, until one of the men called something and it retreated as well.