Chapter 9

T he alarm jolts my senses like a lightning bolt, and my head snaps back in startlement.

Nariel and I stare at each other, breathing heavily.

"I have to go," I whisper.

Nariel's eyes narrow. He instantly cloaks shadows around him like a shirt, which is a great trick I don't have time to examine right now. " We ."

I take a deep breath. Focus, where's my focus. His chest is even covered now! "Hold this, will you?" I hold Kusanagi's hilt out for him.

A bemused expression crosses Nariel's face as he takes it—he's still not used to anyone just casually handing power over, I guess; even if he intellectually realizes I trust him, it's presumably different when I don't even think twice about this—and I reach into my pack for some emergency magic beads. Just enough for a portal; not enough to recover otherwise.

Which means it will be just my new hammer that I don't know how to use against probably a magic Navy SEAL unit .

That is, my hammer, and a fallen angel.

I take my wand up—no reason they need to know I'm not up for doing spells—and grin wildly at Nariel.

"Shall we?" I challenge.

Nariel's smile blooms slowly, but the answering bloom in my core is not slow.

Focus, Sierra.

"I thought you'd never ask," Nariel purrs.

I heft my weapons, and I teleport back to Low Earth.

I don't have time to get my bearings. As soon as I arrive at my anchor, I feel two spells coming at me from opposite directions.

They were waiting for me.

I don't have any power left to shield, so I do the only thing I can.

I swing my hammer around in an arc, trusting the magic to guide me.

I physically slam both spells with my hammer, and they dissolve against my weapon like it's erasing their existence.

Which is, to put a fine point on it, pretty awesome.

Then Nariel appears next to me, and his shadows wrap around me. All at once I realize I couldn't see before, but can now .

And what I see makes me start swearing.

"Not optimal," Nariel murmurs.

No, it is fucking not.

We are standing somewhere along the motherfucking Great Wall of China.

The good news is it's before dawn, so it's not open to tourists yet.

The bad news is it's before dawn, so there's no light for me to see anything by without Nariel sharing his vision.

And I can't cast a spell to fix that right now, which is very annoying .

"Do you see Ayaka anywhere?" I ask, juggling my wand and hammer into one hand to swing my pack around and pull out a headlamp.

Old habits die hard. I did spend years without magic and still don't fully trust my access, which is, on one hand, sad, but on the other, in this moment very useful.

I can sense the mages with magic, but this will ensure I don't trip and die on the steps, since I can't just float myself to safety right now.

"Ayaka is pinned down three towers away. She has a shield spell around the tower, but it's going to fail— damn it ."

I feel it fail, the same instant Nariel gathers me in his arms and yanks me into the sky with a powerful thrust of his wings .

The watchtowers on the Great Wall look like mini castles at junctures along the steps, stone walls with window holes on four sides and a roof.

"Flip me," I tell Nariel, because facing him I'm looking in the wrong direction.

He doesn't hesitate, tossing me into a twist where I am free-falling for just a moment before he catches me again.

I don't hesitate either, immediately swinging my hammer at the nearest mage.

A bolt of lightning shoots out from my hammer. I see the shape of her shield for an instant as the lightning fritzes over it before it falls completely with just one hit.

Nailed. It.

But even as I'm drawing back to swing again at another mage on the top of the tower, the first one hefts a mace that glows bright white in my vision.

Motherfucker , she's got an angel weapon.

"DODGE!" I scream at Nariel.

Unnecessarily—the man's not stupid, and his reflexes are top-notch.

But he's hampered by having to carry me.

This has bought time for Ayaka to get another shield up—gods, I love that woman, she's not even a combat specialist but she Does. Not. Miss.—but it absolutely will not hold against an angelic weapon .

Sweet that the Lance was saving it for me. Less good that my presence to ostensibly help is now getting Ayaka in deeper shit.

To Nariel I say, "Drop me in front of her, you take the roof mage?"

"My pleasure," Nariel says in a dangerous voice that makes me grin ferally.

Ayaka is awesome, but no question, he is my favorite.

Nariel changes his grip on me so we're nearly parallel with the wall and dives sharply, a blow from that mace sailing just past us.

Then he beats his wings to lift us sharply up as another spell flies at him from the top of the tower.

If he weren't carrying me, he could be teleporting himself around, too.

Enough of this.

I swing my hammer at the mage on the tower, which crashes into his shield.

But he comes up swinging an angel weapon too.

Jesus fuck.

Nariel is already below his range, though, a shadow-attack of his own overwhelming the mace-mage long enough for him to set me down in front of her.

He vanishes from behind me.

His distraction was all I needed, though, as I run down the last few steps to swing my hammer directly into her .

She gets her mace up in time to keep me from smashing into her face, but the angle of her arm is wrong. It's an angelic weapon, so I don't break it, but I send it careening out of her hands, off the edge of the tower.

The Lance's eyes widen in horror.

At facing me with all my magic PLUS a weapon without one of her own, or at the prospect of the consequences of losing an angel weapon?

Either way, before I can hit her again she dives off the edge of the wall after the weapon, my hammer's lightning chasing after her.

And damn it, I can't steal her weapon now.

"AYAKA, HOLE!" I yell.

The whole shield comes down.

I realize my mistake too late—she doesn't know how to make just a single hole.

Running in, I swing my hammer toward the doorway on the opposite side, nullifying a third Lance's attack.

I shoot one more burst at him, knocking him down the steps—damn, not off the wall, he'll be back fast—before diving toward the side of the tower out of his line of sight.

I round on Ayaka. "I need your wand."

Her fist clenches around it—reflexively, I think. "Why?"

I heft the hammer. "Made this, mine's out. I promise I'll give it back. NARIEL, SWORD PLEASE!"

In a whirl of shadows Nariel flickers in, drops the sword, and vanishes again .

Warmth rushes through me.

He didn't hesitate to give away power, either.

I grab the sword and hold it out to Ayaka. "Present for you. Temporary trade, then you get the wand back too."

Ayaka doesn't waste more time. We trade.

Immediately, I cast a more serious shield than Ayaka can do yet. Thirteen interlocking layers; it'll hold against even an angelic weapon for at least a couple hits.

Probably.

"Why can you use my wand?" Ayaka demands.

Is this really important now? "Because I made it." Looking critically at the sword, I can see it's probably got enough power for another swipe or two, but that's it.

"Can the grand magus use it too, then?"

Ah, fair point.

Not that the grand magus has shown his stupid face here since Miyajima.

"No, because I broke the wand that I used to make mine with. Watch this, I'm going to power up the angel weapon."

"Is now really the best time?"

"At least two Lances here have angelic weapons of their own, so yeah, this can't wait. I can either use the ambient magic here to power up my wand or your weapon, not both, and the latter is more urgent."

Shadows descend around the tower, which I take to mean Nariel has chased off the remaining immediate threats and is cloaking us. Look at that, a man who can stay out of my way and still be useful without needing directions. Icon.

I work as fast as I can, but splashes of light appear like fireworks around me, which means we're under assault again.

Nariel's shadows work best with movement. He has them swirling around us, but against an onslaught of angelic weapons, it's not going to be enough.

He appears back inside. "Out of time. You need to move."

Damn it.

I catch and hold Ayaka's gaze with mine as I hand her back the wand. "Only swing with an upwards motion. It will take the tops off the mountains otherwise, and I don't have enough juice to put them back on."

"Excuse me, what ."

I prompt, "Thank you, Sierra, you bring me the most terrifying toys."

"Can I just use less power?" Ayaka asks.

"Dunno, haven't tried. Swing upward until you can safely confirm. I'm going to draw them off. When I'm far enough away, here's the glyph to trigger. It will activate the sword with whatever magic it's absorbed so far. Remember, swipe up ."

Ayaka pales. "You're leaving me alone."

"No. Nariel, I can't shield without a wand. You have to be the one to stay here. Give me as much time as you can."

His eyes go black. "Sierra, go ."

I move .

Darting out the other side of the watchtower, I sprint.

And oh god, if you have never been to the Great Wall of China, take it from me: if you want to walk very much of it, try to get in shape first, and also don't be afraid of heights.

It is not a flat wall. There are hundreds of steep steps in a row.

That is especially noteworthy when you are racing up them under fire.

One mage is following me up the steps, and two more float in the air on either side of me.

At least this focus leaves Nariel with fewer to deal with while pinned, though it confirms that they've assessed me as the primary threat to take out. Gratifying, but currently troubling.

I swing my hammer around in a circle, knocking the spells from the side away. This makes me slip, and I slide down a couple steps on my butt before I manage to stop myself, thrusting my hammer straight down toward the mage on my ass to shoot him with lightning. He blocks with a spelled shield, but the force of the impact still sends him tumbling down the steps.

Interesting that he didn't block using the weapon. Whatever the threat is there, I can use that.

I turn myself over to start clambering up the steps again, my palms sweaty. Running up with only one hand to catch me because the other is holding a giant hammer is not how I would prefer this engagement to be going, but here we are .

Why didn't I go the other way? Because then when Ayaka swings the sword, she'd be angling down and could take off mountain caps. Also, sprinting down steep steps with no wand to catch myself if I slip would actually be worse.

But I learn from my first error, and as the mages in the air close in again, instead of spinning with my hammer, I pause long enough to swing one way and then the other before heading up more steps. Then pausing, doing it again.

After three times I realize this is making me too slow. I look back to judge how much more distance Ayaka needs—

Just in time to see the tail on my ass has joined the assault on Nariel.

And the shadow shield comes down.

Figure it out now , Sierra!

I swing the hammer behind me and knock myself in the back with it. I have a personal shield, obviously, so I'm hoping this will propel me upward faster—

But that's not what happens.

Instead, a shield of constantly zapping magical lightning fritzes over my entire body, dancing golden lights. I feel it almost like static electricity.

Okay, not what I expected, but I can work with that.

I stop swinging my hammer and just sprint up the steps as fast as I can.

The mages fire at me, but their attacks are nullified on my shield. I feel them as more intense buzzing, but that's all .

The next round is hotter, which means I don't have too many rounds left before this shield collapses.

One mage lands above me on the steps, blocking my path, and the other behind, hemming me in.

It'll have to be enough. "AYAKA!" I scream.

And then I drop flat on the steps, so fast I bang my head against the stone.

But not a second too soon as I feel a sharp wind pass over my head.

I hear a crack from behind me, then an explosion sounding above.

I lift my swelling face to see the top of the watchtower above us sliding off like a knife sliced diagonally right through it.

I twist to my feet and start running—

Down .

The mage farther down the steps ahead of me is holding a cracked bow— ha, she got you, sucker! —and I swing my hammer at him just to make him jump off the side of the wall out of my way.

The mage up the steps behind me swears and runs the other way, closer to the sliced tower, which is probably smart since that top is going to slide off away from it, buying them time to figure out which direction to go.

Me, I'm making a beeline for Ayaka's wand .

I'm tripping over my own feet and only not falling on my face due to sheer momentum, but I'm finally close enough to see Ayaka—

Then a few things happen at the same time.

A shadow falls over me.

Ayaka's expression grows wide-eyed with horror.

Nariel lets out a wordless, gut-wrenching cry.

And I spin to see the top of the watchtower, who-knows-how-much weight in stone, about to flatten me.

Falling back through the air, I do the only thing I can, and swing my hammer.

This is a part of the Great Wall of China, one of the acknowledged wonders of Low Earth.

I wish the hammer understood intentions, but I proved only moments ago that I don't know how it works yet. But I made myself a hammer because it's so easy, so natural for me to destroy things.

But I don't want to pulverize any part of the Great Wall of China.

But I also don't want to die.

Which may happen anyway when I land, but—

But first I will have tried , with everything I am.

It's not lightning that shoots out of my hammer this time, almost like magnetic force. It erupts out of me, a line from my body through the hammer to the stone top of the watchtower like a goddamn tractor beam anchored to my heart .

I gasp at the weight, but—it's magical weight.

Just before my head cracks into the stone wall beneath me someone yanks my free, careening arm, and then with a beat of wings Nariel has pulled me into the sky.

My weapon arm is trembling, that force still connecting me, and I raise the hammer, straining, lifting it higher into the sky.

And then, screaming with the effort, I force it backward.

Back to the damn top of the watchtower it came from.

"It's not stuck, and I can't hold it there," I gasp. "Ayaka's wand—"

Snarling, Nariel dives again. My stomach turns, my inner ear trying to hold the watchtower steady while Nariel is turning me whatever way he needs to in order to dodge incoming fire.

As Ayaka runs out of the damn watchtower , what the fuck , hurls the wand at us, and then swings the Grass-Cutting Sword again.

The mages disperse.

Nariel catches the wand and shoves it into my hand.

I let my weapon hand drop and fire off a spell in the same moment.

The world around us freezes, like all of us are holding our breath.

Except me, I'm panting heavily, definitely not processing how many times I almost just died in a row.

But I didn't die .

And I didn't break a wonder of the world.

And now I have a wand, a monstrous weapon, a fallen angel of shadows, and a friend backing me up with an angelic weapon.

"I think it's time," I tell Nariel, "to turn the tables on these motherfuckers. Drop me."

Nariel's arms tighten for a moment, reflexively holding onto me.

But then he takes me at my word.

And I fall down into the fray.

I swing the hammer while casting a spell to keep me afloat, spiraling through the air down to the wall.

Nariel teleports to the higher watchtower where a mage took shelter, and there's a gust of wind below me as Ayaka lets loose a blast of wind from her sword again.

The mages return blows, but the signal has evidently passed to retreat—as soon as they can, each of them is diving off the side of the wall closest to where tourists normally start their ascent.

And I am delighted to herd them that way.

It seems like only seconds pass before they have opened a portal back to High Earth and gotten the fuck out.

We won.

Nariel catches me up again and hugs me tightly to his chest.

"The Devil is a Part-Timer," he murmurs in my ear.

It takes me a second to catch up .

I successfully forged my own magic weapon, so he's telling me an anime he's watched.

"Isn't that the anime where Satan works at McDonald's?" I ask incredulously.

And then when he only ‘mhmms' in dry response I lose it, laughing hysterically into the crook of his neck all the way back to the ground, clutching him to me.