El Satanini turned, opening fire on the source of the light. The shells splintered the parapet, forcing the unknown gunman to duck. Draz belched a blast of heat at Jake, missing the commander but melting a section of the wall. A wave of molten rock flowed downward, sending Insectone flying away from danger.

  None of this mattered to Ruda. She focused on her comrade, hearing Yeshua's wheezing, seeing his slow fall, and hearing Ney's cry, stretched out in her perception, demanding immediate evacuation. With her power-given vision, she saw blood filling the airways, flooding the remaining lung, and stifling his desperate breaths.

  His heart was intact. Thank you, Planet, thank you!

  She reached for the liquid, unsure of her abilities but desperate to save Yeshua. The dark red blood stopped gushing from the mangled knee and retreated from the lung and throat, returning to the blood vessels, no longer pressing on the heart. Ruda carefully directed the process with her power, trying to prolong Yeshua's life as long as possible, maintaining her concentration even when Ney accidentally slammed her head into the armored car door or when explosions blossomed over Rabor, creating the glow of a rising sun pressing against the force shield.

  "What?" Draz burst from under the red-hot shroud, leaping to join the troops near the gate. “Shelling? From where? Who dared?

  The triangular shape of the cruiser burst forward through the fading storm to the south. Activating its shields at an unacceptably close range, the Shroud of Darkness abruptly dispersed the heavy clouds, revealing itself before the stunned bandits in all its glory. Arcs of energy leaped from the surface of the hovering ship, producing a light show above the fighters. Low-power mortars boomed dully, and grenades exploded over the battlefield, plunging it into a darkness of smoke, punctuated periodically by laser beams, the glow of lenses and visors, and flashes of bursts.

  The rushing shockwave rocked the transports, knocking the raiders off their feet.

  "Oathtakers..." Draz whispered. "Invasion! Retreat to the city! To the fortress, we need to open the armory!"

  "Wait, Draz," Ruda heard the words from his crumpled helmet. "There's only one cruiser here. Order the turrets and rocket launchers to be taken under manual control by distributing guards along the inner perimeter. Destroy the intruder's engines and weapons, ending the battle with a single heavy assault from all city gates to quickly encircle... Draz? Adorable coward.”

  Ruda watched the governor out of the corner of her eye. He ignored the advice, pushed through the ranks of soldiers, and raced down the corridor to safety. Left without leadership, Souzan and Feda retreated from the battle, calling their allies inside the city. The sound of the engine starting up was the ultimate relief for Ruda. The APC moved off, carrying the survivors to safety.

  Ignoring Rustam and Ney's questions, Ruda continued to keep Yeshua alive. Jake swooped down from the sky, picking up the remains of Commander Eloise, whose brain was still undergoing activity. Ruda reached for El Satanini, forcing blood back and forth through a narrow section of vein to irritate his arm until he turned toward the sariant.

  With a soft beep, the commander connected to the comms.

  "We're leaving no one behind, Sariant," El Satanini said through Ney's speakers.

  "Forgive me, sir," she whispered, blushing deeply.

  At first, she panicked, imagining how much her body had changed since the commander had instantly identified the culprit behind the unpleasant sensation, but then she remembered he'd read her personnel file. Unlike the police officers, the commander had never hinted to her about the need to quickly overcome her reluctance to use her ability.

  "I don't understand what you're talking about. Fine job, Ney, Ruda."

  Collapsing facedown on the dirty floor of the overcrowded armored vehicle, Ruda reached for the second transport, where El Satanini had carried Yeshua. The guy remained unconscious; cries of pain escaped him as Commander Chernogor tried everything possible to save him.

  "Hold on, Yeshua. I haven't made you smoke yet," Chernogor muttered over the comms. "The old farts have lived their lives; why should you youngsters go ahead of us?"

  The conduit connecting the two sariants grew thinner with each passing second. Ruda's skin dried, returning to its familiar form, and her control over her fluids weakened, threatening to vanish. Even the mental image of the surrounding water faded, escaping her touch. Ruda licked her lips, feeling a rough crust forming. Yeshua wasn't weak. But with his wounds, he risked not being able to endure...

  "Rustam." She rolled onto her back, settling herself on Bahran's leg. Ney was checking the tourniquet on Insectone’s leg, brushing aside the man's feeble protests about the futility of unnecessary care. "Take the flask of water from Ney's belt and pour it all over my face."

  Stolen story; please report.

  "Are you thirsty?" A charred face appeared before her. A red oval stretched across Rustam's nose, onto his lips, and around his left eye. In the heat of battle, she hadn't even noticed how the generated heat had scalded him.

  "Something like that. Just don't be scared."

  "I doubt I'm capable of being scared anymore."

  Ney grinned as he tended to the next wounded man. This mischievous ability to find joy even in the darkest day gave Ruda strength. She wasn't alone. She had family and friends, and may the Planet damn her if she allowed Yeshua's family to lose their wonderful son.

  A stream of warm water poured over her face, washing away the vomit and irritating her open wounds. Ruda took a sip of her own free will, for the first time in several years, and Rustam staggered back, falling on top of the cursing Farrin. He told her to shut up and pointed a finger at the sariant, beckoning the knight.

  Ruda's chest bulged outward, displacing her chest plate. A loud creaking sound attracted the attention of those around her. Her face itched, her neck stretched, creating new vertebrae with a pop, her cheekbones pulled down, giving her jaw a square appearance. The teeth changed shape, once again enclosing her tongue within a sharp cage. Her elongated ears melted, rounding, and her nose sank into her skull.

  "Are you decaying?!" Rustam cried.

  "As if," Ruda said confidently. "I'm changing. Getting better."

  "Oh. Your... scales are pretty," the boy said.

  "The best," Ney confirmed.

  "Don't get used to this mug," Ruda said.

  The image of the world through the moisture returned to her mind, and Ruda folded her arms across her chest, preventing Yeshua from choking on his blood and vomit. She continued to keep her friend alive as the convoy raced toward the cruiser, which had opened its hangars to the fugitives. Upon landing, the pyramid presented an ideal target, but only a few missiles cleared the parapets, fired by the diligent guards. The explosions failed to even dampen the voltage in the generators supporting the shields, and soon the Shroud of Darkness rose above the ground again, crushing boulders with gravity, and confidently moved south.

  Inside the mobile fortress, the magister tore the roofs off the APCs, easing it for the medics to evacuate the wounded. Rustam attempted to greet Cenfus and passed out from the strain. Ruda caught the falling teen, rising to her strengthened legs, surprised to find that the depowered armor did not restrict her movements at all.

  "Tell Sylvie..." Rustam muttered.

  "Tell her yourself." She gently patted his head, handing the boy over to the medics.

  A nurse and a male nurse began stripping him of his broken armor, showing little tenderness. They ran a scanner over Rustam's body, checking for internal injuries. Ney tried to explain the presence of allied raiders, but Ruda grabbed him and laid her beloved on the stretcher, convincing him to accept care for once.

  Butylin was already interrogating Bahran while he was being treated. He won't make a mistake.

  Yeshua was placed in a life support capsule and immediately carried to the operating room. Chernogor agreed to take a sedative after catching Cenfus's eye.

  "Three meters, eighteen centimeters," said the chief physician as Ruda removed the armor. Even in a room where the ceiling was too high for him to perform his duties from above, Cenfus preferred to cling to the walls and wrecked transport, avoiding the floor.

  "Hm?"

  "Your height." He tapped her on the top of her head with the tape measure. "Smaller than documented for full transformation."

  "I..." She examined herself. Tiny scales, streaks of azure, crossed her dark skin, intertwining and disappearing into her furred legs. Her hooves separated, the flexible tendrils protruding from them causing her to feel a wave of nausea. Toes. "Not ready. Sorry, Doctor."

  "For what? I'm not pushing you. The important thing is you took the first step." Cenfus put an arm around her shoulders. "Congratulations. I've noticed the oddness in Yeshua's organism. I need to get to the operating room, and you walk to the infirmary for an examination.”

  "How is Commander Eloise?" Szarel asked.

  Jake lifted the woman's head, and Ruda stopped, shocked by such a rude attitude toward the deceased. Thin wires ran from the crusader's chest to the dangling cables that served as the commander's neck. The doctors rolled a strange table closer, with a depression in the center, a display, and a glass flask to the left. They carefully detached the head, placing it in the depression, where a rubber material immediately inflated, pressing tightly against pale lips. A pump, acting as an artificial lung, moved within the flask, and the display lit up, transmitting data.

  Suddenly, Eloise's eyes opened.

  "I'm functioning, Magister," came the static from pale lips. "Again. I was late again."

  "No!" Ruda stomped toward them, looming over the small lump of flesh. "You saved us, ma'am. Yeshua is alive, and the rest..." Eloise's remains lay in a heap on the floor, being sorted by technicians. They were stained with soot, and there wasn't a single trace of humanity anywhere. "Will be fixed."

  "The knight speaks the truth, Commander. Recover. Ruda, it concerns you as well," Szarel said.

  Ruda bowed, gasping with agony, and trudged off to follow orders before she could collapse too.

  Cyberization wasn't uncommon in the Land of the Oath. Their technology was centuries behind that of the Iterna, but organ or limb replacement was no longer a problem for most hospitals in the country, nor was servicing artificial limbs. However, the police had told her of several cases of illegal assembly on the black market, where Normies wishing to become Abnormals paid for complete organ replacements.

  They all lost their minds, floating as brains in vats filled with nutrient solution, screaming from the loss of sensation. Eloise's condition wasn't as bad as those idiots', but what they did to her couldn't be called cyberization. More like robotization. Perhaps the government was conducting research on volunteers who had suffered from Chosen Prince's power?

  In any case, she wouldn't be told about it, and no matter how far science had taken Eloise, the commander remained Ruda's kin. Her finger, smoothly flowing from black to blue and tipped with a sharp claw, paused at the last digit of her identification code on the elevator panel.

  Welcome back on board, Knight Ruda Fleshtearer. After the period of recuperation, you’re expected in the armory to choose your color. You can view your contract changes and salary in your personal file. By default, crests will continue to be deposited into the account you originally specified. The Planet bestows prosperity, and the strength of our hands protects it! Displayed on the screen.

  What?! Her eyes widened.