Emerson adjusted the small woven basket on her back. She held a sharp stick, poking through the damp underbrush of the high forest overlooking their town.
Jaden trailed three steps behind her. He was sucking loudly on a cherry lollipop, carrying a smaller basket entirely filled with crackers and cheese.
"Emmy, why are we out here?" Jaden whined, swatting at a mosquito. "The candy shop in town has a sale today."
"Because Mom's old scar hurts when it rains," Emerson said, her eyes scanning the roots of a massive pine. "I need Moon-grass to synthesize a painkiller."
Before Jaden could complain again, the sky tore open.
A deafening sonic boom rattled Emerson's teeth. The ground vibrated.
Both children snapped their heads up. Tearing through the low clouds was a massive, armored Aether-skiff. Thick black smoke billowed from its engines. The side hull had been blown wide open by heavy artillery, blue electricity sparking wildly from the exposed wires.
Jaden dropped his lollipop in the dirt. "Whoa. Big metal bird."
Emerson grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him violently behind a massive boulder. "Shut up. Suppress your mana signature. Now."
The skiff clipped the tops of the pine trees, snapping trunks like twigs. It slammed into the earth two hundred yards away, carving a deep trench of destroyed earth before grinding to a halt.
The shockwave blasted dirt and splinters into the air. Emerson threw up a localized wind barrier, deflecting the shrapnel away from their faces.
Through the settling dust, the skiff's mangled door was kicked open.
A young man crawled out. His expensive silk robes were shredded and soaked in blood. He clutched a reinforced metal briefcase to his chest.
A second man, built like a brick wall but missing his left arm below the elbow, dragged himself out after him.
The bodyguard spat a mouthful of blood onto the grass. "Master Cade, run. The Rogue Warlocks are right behind us."
Cade looked around wildly, his chest heaving. "The communication array is slag. We have nowhere to run, Forrest."
Behind the boulder, Emerson watched with cold detachment. She had no intention of getting involved in a gang war.
Then, the sunlight caught the emblem embroidered on Cade's ruined chest piece.
Two crossed swords, hovering beneath three stars.
Emerson's perfect memory retrieved the data instantly. It was the exact same crest carved into the Storage Ring Kamala kept hidden in her drawer.
The Conrad Dynasty.
Mom's family, Emerson realized. Her eyes narrowed.
High above, five sharp shrieks pierced the air. Five figures riding dark shadow-brooms descended rapidly, surrounding the crash site. They wore bone-white skull masks.
The leader, radiating Master-tier magic, laughed. It sounded like grinding glass. "Run, little Conrad. Run like the dog you are."
Cade gritted his teeth. He pulled a snapped wand from his belt, his hand shaking, preparing to die fighting.
Jaden tugged on Emerson's sleeve. "Emmy, those mask guys are ugly. Can we go home now?"
Emerson let out a slow breath. She unbuckled her foraging basket and set it on the ground.
"No," Emerson said. "That man might be my uncle."
She stepped out from behind the boulder, her blue eyes turning icy. "And they interrupted my foraging."
