The city burned but that did nothing to quell Galisai's pride of her people's tenacity, presenting a fight to the Treydolain invaders that would have been long remembered even if they had lost. Bruckin had always been a place about taking a stand and making a point, even in the face of insurmountable odds. King Guijus had evidently forgotten this lesson; they would teach it to him again.

When they'd crossed the last of the peaks and the city had revealed itself below, Galisai, Hatch and Stefan had provided critical analysis of the battle, possessing as they did a more intricate knowledge of the city and its defences than any of the Avii or their other companions from within the valley. As their new allies had flown to the aid of Bruckin, Galisai had led Hatch and Stefan onto one of the discs alongside a small squad of Avii, comprised mostly of polyants and adepts - not as powerful as those accompanying Tarn to the enemy camp but skilled nonetheless.

They had landed in the industrial district, near one of the arenas. Flying past, Hatch had spotted a large gathering of civilians inside the arena, apparently cut off from the main routes to the safer strongholds further into the city and forced into taking refuge. From the air they could see the Treydolain forces had surrounded the arena and were trying to break their way inside.

"If they get in they'll slaughter every last one of them," Stefan said grimly.

"Surely they'll take prisoners?" Hatch said, noting that there appeared to be few of the city guard with those trapped within.

"With everything that's been going on? Don't bet on it."

Galisai had ordered the pilot to bring the disc around behind the bulk of the force laying siege to the arena. As they disembarked, weapons drawn, she couldn't help but wish that Hachim was there. He'd always had a hope that they would find something north of the mountains, even though he'd never been one for unwarranted optimism. Even he hadn't expected to find a floating city full of magic-wielding outcasts.

As Stefan unleashed a volley of arrows, Galisai and Hatch ran towards the Treydolain contingent, who were only now realising that they'd been flanked from behind and were hurriedly attempting to shift their attention away from breaking down barricaded doors and towards their own survival. They fell with relative ease, many of them seeming poorly trained or inexperienced, certainly no match for the elite guard of Bruckin. The Avii team worked almost as a single unit, unnaturally aware of each other's positions and continually wrong-footing the enemy, the polyants opening up opportunities for the adepts to take advantage of, often resulting in the Treydolain soldiers falling foul of their own weaponry.

"If only Hachim were here!" Hatch shouted across the fray.

They'd made it back to Bruckin. For a long time, Galisai had not thought that possible; she had feared that they'd seen their city for the last time, and even to see it aflame and under attack provided a strange comfort: it was their home, and they were sworn to protect it. With their arrival from across the mountains, that was more than a suicidal endeavour: victory was possible. She's never felt ready to lead her own squad, even while Hachim had insisted she should - but, with her thrown into the role by fate, he had been proven right. Hachim had always been right.

"At the rear!" Stefan pointed towards the far end of the square, where Treydolain reinforcements had appeared, streaming from the side streets. At the same time, word must have spread to the far side of the arena, as more enemy troops started flowing around towards their position. Suddenly, they were hugely outnumbered.

There was a clank and a creak and the doors nearest to them swung open. "Get inside!" hissed a voice. "Quickly!"

They raced through, into the gloomy corridors of the arena's outer circumference, the doors barricaded once more behind them. "Thank you," Galisai said.

"Don't be silly," their rescuer said. "We've been watching you from the windows above. We could hardly leave you trapped out there when you've been trying to valiantly to save us. Of course, now you're merely trapped in here with the rest of us. The name's Sorensen."

"Galisai Sturm. This is Hatch Eyer and Stefan Vortal. Our companions here are from Aviar, to the north."

"Well," said Sorensen, his voice clipped and overtly dramatised, "this has turned into a strange day altogether." There was a repeated thudding at the door and it shook on its hinges. He sighed. "Not for much longer, I suppose."

Walking through the corridors towards the centre, Galisai surveyed the situation. "How many are here?"

"Two hundred. Perhaps three."

"Guards?"

"A handful, if that."

Emerging into the arena floor, now shadowed in the late-day light, Galisai grimaced. She turned to one of the polyants, a girl named Bree. "Can you call the disc back? Fly it into here?"

"Yes," she said, "but we won't all fit."

"No, but we might be able to get some people out. The children, at least."

Bree nodded and half-closed her eyes, as if her mind was elsewhere. A few seconds later the disc flew into view overhead and lowered down through the octagonal open roof of the arena, settling onto the sandy floor.

"Load it up!" Stefan shouted. "Youngest first, get aboard."

As the children piled onto the disc, parents desperately trying to hide their fears, Galisai felt the prospect of victory slipping away, at least for those of them left in the arena. "Go," she shouted to Bree, "take them to the safe zones further into the city. Then come back for more."

The disc lifted off, the children's faces marvelling at the experience even through their terror, raised up through the opening and accelerated out of sight.

"They'll be back," Galisai said to the wailing crowd. "We'll protect you until then."

They took up positions between the sheltering civilians and the main entrance to the arena. Now that Bree was gone, there were only eight of them left, against the swelling army of Treydolain that was about to rush through the door like water breaking a dam. From the arena floor it wasn't possible to see through to the entrance, but they could hear the doors being bludgeoned repeatedly, the booms echoing out across the sand. They heard the doors splinter, and the thuds were replaced with the jingle and tapping of armoured soles. Treydolain soldiers appeared at the edge of the arena, emerging from multiple openings like ants form a disturbed nest.

"What do we do?" asked Hatch.

Galisai lifted her sword. "We keep fighting. What else?"

"Never thought I'd live forever," Stefan said, firing an arrow at the front of the advancing troops.

There was a flash of movement overhead and Galisai looked up to see a disc whip into view, before coming in low and fast. As it impacted heavily onto the ground, throwing up a plume of sand, she realised that it wasn't Bree returning but Tarn, accompanied by his daemon squad.

Stefan laughed. He hooked his bow over his shoulder and then clapped his hands together in front of his mouth, shouting at the Treydolain soldiers. "Now you're in trouble!"

Tarn made a rapid movement, echoed by the Avii with him, gesturing out towards the enemy army. Sand whipped up from the ground as if lifted by an invisible hand, and tunnelled towards the soldiers, the ground below them sinking as it did so. The rushing wave fell upon them and when the dust had cleared it revealed the peculiar sight of a hundred-or-so scattered soldiers buried up to their shoulders and unable to move. Those who had managed to evade the sand trap were soon dealt with, with some simply surrendering after witnessing the display of power.

"Nice timing," Galisai said, wiping blood from her sword.

"This is the arena," Tarn said, looking puzzled. "They should have done all the fighting here."

"How did it go outside the city?"

Shaking his head, Tarn looked down at the ground and nudged at the sand with his foot. The sounds of groaning trapped soldiers floated in the distance. "The King wasn't there. We think he's in the city somewhere."

"We'll find him," Hatch said.

"We'll escort these people somewhere safe," Galisai said. "What about you, Tarn?"

The boy seemed bothered by something, distressed even in spite of the easy victory in the arena. "I need to find Fenris," he said.