The methodical sound of one person walking through a city that was trying to fight back.
The irregular intervals of combat. The sudden silences that weren't the end of fighting but were something else. The way the sounds moved — not in the chaotic spread of a battle with multiple combatants, but in the single directional movement of something that didn't need to hurry.
Cassius stared at the communication stone in his hand.
He pressed his mana into it again. One more attempt. Lyra. Satou. Anyone at the settlement.
Nothing.
The field was perfect.
He put the stone in his coat pocket, drew his rapier, and went out the door at a dead run.
===========
THE MARKET DISTRICT — TEN MINUTES EARLIER
The market had been operating normally when the alarms started.
