She flourished with her blade and sheathed it, in the very same moment the fuse reached its terminus. The explosion was smaller, but it was sufficient to take out the front of the Fallen’s throat. He dropped to his knees, still moving inarticulately, eyes wide and stunned, and then collapsed to the ground.

I—I didn’t like the killing, or the casual ease with which she’d done it. These were Fallen, but they were low-level Fallen.

I didn’t want to say not to kill, but…

But there were civilians suffering. Other things to focus on.

I changed course, flying back to where I’d been. I continued down the street. I was putting the bulk of the lopsided engagement behind me, passing by Rain, by two twenty-ish capes with steel-gray hair, and that meant I could fly faster. I kept my eyes on the people and goings-on behind me.

I found what I was hoping for. The screaming, just briefly, changed. The aura extended through the hostages to Mama Mathers, and she affected the hostages in turn. I had a sense of my range, and through that, I had a good sense of her location.

“Rain!” I called out.

“What is it?”

“If she gets me, get people to take out the building.”

“You found her?” he asked.

I dug fingernails into the doorframe, then activated my forcefield. I tore door and part of the frame away from the front of the store. It was one of the smaller buildings on the street, and it was styled as a general store.

The screaming trailed off altogether. I gripped the damaged wall where the doorframe had been attached, and tore at that too. The Wretch struck at other things.

“She says to stop,” a voice said.

It wasn’t one of the people who’d been on the ground. He was older—one of the soldiers. In the eerie quiet, with people whimpering and making small noises, he still had to raise his voice to be heard, with distances.

He was possibly unpowered, and he was holding an axe. He was average height, but muscular, and had a slight belly, such that his body looked more like a solid slab than a chest that tapered down to a stomach or had any proper shape. His skin was sun-tanned, his hair blond with white shooting through it. A bandanna with a demon’s mouth on it covered his lower face.

“You’ve disappointed her, Rain,” the soldier said. Then he said, “You disappointed all of us.”

“For one of the first times in my life, I feel like I’m doing something right,” Rain said.

“No, Rain,” the man said. “She says you might be doing good, objectively, but not right. She says… she’ll surrender herself to your custody. She’ll withdraw her power from everyone here.”

“From everyone,” Rain said.

“As you wish.”