Caldera turned and walked to me. “You were supposed to be intel support,” she said. “How do you keep getting into this shit?”

I sighed. “Would you believe I was just following orders?”

More people were gathering downslope. Another one of the wolf constructs had emerged from the trees, and I could hear shouts and see arms pointing in our direction. Caldera still had her light spell active, clearly illuminating us in the darkness. “I hate to be a downer,” I said, “but I think they’re coming back for another round.”

“That’s okay,” Caldera said. “I brought some friends.” She took out her communicator and spoke into it. “Beacon’s lit. Gate when ready.”

“Got it,” a familiar voice said from the disc. “Sixty seconds.”

The men started advancing again up the hill. They moved slowly at first, but we were illuminated by Caldera’s light and they could see that they outnumbered us ten to one. There were three of the wolf constructs now, padding heavily through the grass, black eyes locked onto us. The men still didn’t have guns out, only the shock sticks, but there were an awful lot of them. They closed to sixty feet, then forty. Someone shouted, “Go!” and the wolf constructs arrowed in, the men following behind. I took a step back, bracing myself . . .

And then a gate opened beside us, this one flame-red, lighting up the night. Figures came stepping through: Landis, wreathed in flame; Variam, his face bright and eager; Luna, her wand in her right hand, whip coiled and ready. The men hesitated, shouting. The constructs didn’t. The first construct came face to face with Landis and was just starting its leap when a fireblast exploded it in midair, the wave of heat so intense that I felt it twenty feet away. Red-hot pieces of construct went rolling across the hillside, sending smoke rising up from the grass. “Verus!” Landis said cheerfully. Two more men had been behind the construct and were wavering; he gestured and a spell detonated with an explosive whump, sending them both sprawling. They scrambled to their feet and ran. “Saved a few more for us this time, excellent work. Any friendlies?”

Caldera was fighting to the left; to the right, Variam and Luna were taking on one of the constructs. Vari was holding it at bay with a wall of fire while Luna struck with her whip, the silver mist of her curse lashing eagerly into the construct’s body. I was in a tiny oasis of calm at the centre of the circle, everything happening at once. “Just Haken, he’s at the house—uh, there are two more mages at least, Vihaela and Cerulean. Cerulean is working for White Rose, he’s somewhere around invisible—to your left!”

Landis gestured and one of the White Rose men who’d been in the middle of drawing a gun suddenly screamed and dropped it. The gun hit the grass with a hiss, glowing with heat. “Cerulean, eh?” Landis said. “Never did trust the bugger. Be a good chap and spot for me, will you?”