Chapter 13

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"This way!" Leilah called out and begun heading further down the alleyway.

"Wait a sec!" Arlo said. "Where are you taking us? You brought us here and now our abilities have conveniently been weakened. How do we know you aren't leading us into a trap?"

She turned around to face him. "You have every reason to suspect me. I don't know what I can do to persuade you, but we don't have much time." She continued walking further in. "I'm going this way. Whether you want to follow me is up to you."

And Seraphina followed her, dashing past Arlo.

"HEY!" Arlo grabbed her wrist and stopped her in her tracks. "Seriously Seraphina?! You don't find this fishy at all?"

"Well, yeah," she replied to him. "But I don't think this was part of her plan. She was expecting me to come alone. She's a high-tier and I'm a cripple. She doesn't need a dampener to get to me."

Then they rushed down the twisting alleyways, running along as fast as they can.

"Watch the ground and the walls," Leilah said.

"What??" Arlo questioned.

"Some of them can pass through surfaces," Seraphina explained. "That's how they were able to get to me, so stay cautious."

They turned around the corner, past a metal staircase fire exit, and into a crowd.

"THERE SHE IS!" one shouted.

"Not a step, further, Leilah! Our boss wants a word with you!"

Leilah came to halt ahead of them as Arlo charged ahead with eyes glowing blue.

"HEY! Don't try anything stupid, kid, unless you wanna loose your abil-?"

He punched him in the nose and broke it up into blood. The guy tumbled back into the guy behind him.

As the guy held his face and groaned, he expanded a yellow dome over them.

"Be careful," Leilah said. "Don't over-estimate yourself. Whatever you current level is, drop it by half."

"HALF?!"

Leilah's eyes now glowed a witch green.

More people surrounded – much more than the original group of four – and they faced out to all directions from inside the barrier.

"Half. Can you work with that?" she asked.

"Hmph. As if I had a choice?"

Hits landed hard on the barrier – whams and bams repeated and repeated = and Arlo flinched at every one.

"Hey I can't hold them off for much longer," he stated. "Get ready to defend. My barrier's coming down."

The barrier faded and the attackers closed in.

He pulled up a min shield, blocked a punch and hit him back in the stomach. The guy coughed up blood as he was flung back several metres.

Pain slashed on his shoulder as woman's long flowing hair brushed past him. She landed in a crouch before she sprung up and swung back. He caught her wrist and landed his fist on her cheek.

Blood splattered everywhere.

"GET Him!"

As more rushed to close in on him, he tossed the knife at them and stabbed on guy in the shoulder and took him out.

The other two jumped up for their attacked, but instead whacked in large yellow disk of a barrier.

Then someone emerged from the floor, needle in hand, behind him.

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