Everyone stared.

The two soldiers spun about to face it.

"This is… impossible," Dk'brr said, stinger tail drooping in shock. "You should be dead!"

"Drztk?!" Nina said.

Wasting no time, Lark bent her torso down and charged the stupefied soldiers from behind, knocking them forward and clearing our path.

Dzrtk's vrr't'k body leapt, spreading zyr wings just long enough to bank through the room, swoop down onto the prone soldiers, and shred their abdomens and crush their flowers in its claws.

"Move!" ze told us.

I started up in a rapid-legged run, all too happy to oblige zym. Bashing through the tower's open door, I spilled into the cold night, falling onto the road as I tumbled onto my side.

It was the kind of maneuver that should have hurt—possibly even a lot—but I barely felt any pain.

Another win for D'zd physiology, I suppose.

"C'mon!"

Nina and Lark ran out of the doorway moments later, followed by Drztk and Dk'brr. Tchk'tk tossed one of zyr knives at the hound, who howled in pain as the blade passed through one of zyr wings.

Turning around, Nina launched a force scythe right at the entryway, while conjuring a great flash that screamed up and around the tower, stunning our pursers. Her spellcasting was a whole-body motion; she lunged forward with her legs and torso, tossing her arms as if throwing a great weight.

"Gah!" Tchk'tk screamed. The retainer pushed off the door, slammed it shut, and darted back into the tower. Nina's spell cut through the door a moment later, slicing it cleanly down the middle.

Overhead, there came a great flash, and this time, it wasn't Nina's.

I looked up.

"Fudge…" I muttered.

The wind had picked up, and it was easy to see why.

"Thunderstorm!" I yelled.

The clouds were massive. They were wolves made of light and night, snarled and sparking as they stormed over the town. Lightning bolts cut through the night's strange grays, throwing off waves of radiation in every direction for the split seconds they bridged earth and sky.

Life frolicked in the thunderclouds through creatures great and small. More were arriving with every passing second, trumpeting luminous bellows through the dark. The light waves rippling off the storm bounced across the animals' exteriors as the Charge within them sparked like live wires.

Just then, something like a bell rang from the top of the tower, but made of light. It was almost as loud as the lighting, or Nina's spell, and it dazzled my senses like a signal flare.

Dk'brr extended zyr legs, looking around in shock.

"No! No!" Ze turned to me. "They've rung the alarm! We have to run!"

"Lead the way!" I said.

"Don't mind if I do," Dzrtk said. The vrr't'k galloped forward with a flick of zyr wings.

"Wh-what do I do?" Dk'brr said.

I felt sorry for Dk'brr. Ze was totally out of zyr league.

Nina, Lark, and I ran as quickly as we could, following Dzrtk as best as we could. A glance over my shoulder showed Dk'brr following close behind us. Our group of five was halfway to T'kznd's west gate when our mischief finally caught up to us.

We skidded to a stop.

"I'm not gonna lie, Doc," Lark said, "I'm really starting to regret volunteering for this rescue mission of yours."

I could hardly blame her.

Soldiers. Soldiers everywhere. They filed out of the alleyways and side-streets, and skittered out from windows and buildings. The Charge gleaming in their bodies should have given their positions away, but it seemed that their armor was designed to hide their bodies' emanations.

In the night's gray static, I noticed a couple robed figures skitter up onto the many islands of rooftops and awnings.

"Freeze them!" Dzrtk cursed. "They've brought their Puppeteers!"

Uh-oh.

One of the Puppeteers swung out an arm, jostling the billowing sleeve. "Surrender, Vyx Messengers. The Brrk'zk may still show you leniency."

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Dzrtk buzzed zyr wings in agitation. "Their words are darkened, Dr. Howle. They're going to make us into puppets!"

"It's an honor," the Puppeteer replied. "Peace requires sacrifice! That's something you barbarians will never understand!"

I let my gaze pass over the gathered warriors as I stepped forward.

As usual, diplomacy had fallen to me.

"Please," I implored them, "I know your two peoples have their differences, but—"

"—Dr. Howle…" Nina whispered.

I spread my arms in a plaintive gesture. "Can't we all just get along?"

One of the Puppeteers bent down and scraped a finger claw along the rim of a rooftop. "Go north yourself!" ze yelled. "We're not the ones aiding and abetting a terrorist!"

"I know right from wrong!" the third Puppeteer said, pointing at Dzrtk. "By the authority of Brrk'zk Tchk'tk of T'kznd, I order you to step away from that soulbroken vrr't'k."

"This is your final warning!" the first Puppeteer said.

The Puppeteers waved their arms. The two groups of soldiers stepped forward, weapons bared. They moved as one, with an unreal, mechanical perfection.

"No…" Dk'brr said. Ze swung zyr sword horizontally, as if to rally them. "Stop this! As Brrk'zk Tchk'tk's progeny, I command you to—"

"—Save your light, Brrkling," Dzrtk said. Ze glanced back at Dk'brr, and then, growling, turned back to face the soldiers. "These puppets have no minds, and their masters on the rooftops have already sold their own souls."

Tilting zyr blade down, Dk'brr ran the tip of zyr sword across the pavement. The dust ze flicked up got whisked away by the howling winds.

Even wrapped up in clothes, I shivered.

"I'll stop this!" Dk'brr said. "I'll free them! I'll free them all, I swear!"

"You'll do nothing of the sort," Tchk'tk said.

We turned around to see Tchk'tk standing behind us, flanked by two soldiers. The retainer held zyr cut arm against zyr torso. Tchk'tk's bodily fluids stained zyr robe as the cold slowly froze them in place.

Dk'brr hissed. "Tchk'tk!"

Tchk'tk curled zyr stinger tail to the side. "I'm sorry, Dk'brr," ze said, "it's nothing personal. In its wisdom, the T'dzd'ch Dominion has judged Brrk'zk Szr't't to be a threat to national security. The yeomen have it right: ze's too soft, as are you."

Dk'brr yelled. "This… this is treason!"

"No, treason would be freeing a Vvz'zsh captive without permission." Tchk'tk bobbed zyr abdomen. "If anything, I have to thank you." Ze gestured at the three of us. The light of the retainer's words dripped with disdain. "In joining these so-called Messengers in whatever insane scheme they've hatched, you've finally given me just cause to remove you from the playing field. Better still, with you gone, there's a good chance T'kznd's old exoskeleton of a Brrk'zk will die of a broken soul. That's two b'vbs in one hand!"

"Congratulations, Tchk'tk," Dk'brr said, heaving zyr sword, "it seems you're as bad of a villain as you are an assistant. You might have wounded me, but I'm not going down without a fight."

"For once, we agree," Dzrtk said, bobbing in agreement.

I shook my head. "Maybe I should just call this a wash," I muttered.

Dk'brr pounced. Ze moved like a flash, channeling that same supernatural speed I'd seen back in the fight on the plateau.

Ze pulled back zyr blades and struck, lopping off—

—But then, Dk'brr froze, zyr blades trembling mere inches from Tchk'tk's neck. The spasms rippled down Dk'brr's arms, rapidly spreading across zyr body.

Streams of light spilled out from Tchk'tk's arm as the retainer sang a wordless dirge.

Dk'brr screamed. "W-What… d-did… you—" The light of zyr words flailed around zyr flower like a drowning animal, only to be cut short as Tchk'tk's Chant-light melded into Dk'brr's being.

Suddenly, Dk'brr froze in place.

"Dk'brr?" I said.

Nina staggered back in shock. "Dr. Howle…" She turned to me, flower wide. "He's gone."

"What…?" I whispered.

Tchk'tk pressed both pairs of zyr hands together. "Yes. I've been preparing zym for a while now, in expectation of zym succeeding Szr't't. It's always good to have a puppet waiting to be used."

"Fuck," Nina cursed. "The potatoes!"

"Wait, what?"

Wouldn't you know it? Just when I happen to make a friend in this ammonia world, zyr consciousness gets murdered.

"At dinner, I saw pataphysics in the potatoes. I thought it was just the 'acquired taste' Dk'brr had been talking about, but—"

"—No!" I screamed. "No!"

"Hm," Tchk'tk said, to Nina, "I'd compliment you for your astute deductions, but I'm sick of this cold, so… let's get this over with, shall we?" Tilting zyr flower, the retainer glanced at Dk'brr and then looked up at the Puppeteers atop the buildings. "Prepare yourselves." Tchk'tk's words flowed like honey.

Dk'brr turned around, silent as stone. Ze scraped zyr swords in wide circles along the pavement.

Then, like a flying lantern, a sky-whale passed overhead. It serenaded the storm, bellowing a wild drinking song at the wayward thunder.

Behind us, Dzrtk howled.

"Fight it, Dk'brr!" I yelled. "Think of your father!"

"There's no point," the Vvz'zsh vrr't'k replied. "There's nothing left of zym."

I looked Tchk'tk in the flower. "How could you do this?!"

"In the North, you learn to do what needs to be done," the traitor replied. Ze looked over to Dk'brr and the Puppeteers once again. "Kill them all."

Dk'brr leapt and swung. Both in front of us and behind, the puppet soldiers charged, but Dk'brr kept going, dashing past us and striking the puppets coming up the rear. Meanwhile, Dzrtk's vrr't'k body let out a squeal and then clawed at Dk'brr and everyone nearby like a wild animal.

Lark screamed. "What the f—"

—Then it hit me. I yelled out my epiphany: "Dzrtk's in Dk'brr!"

"Climb!" Dzrtk yelled. "Onto the rooftops!" Dzrtk-Dk'brr flung an arm toward a nearby building before leaping over the heads of the attacking soldier-puppets. Mid-leap, the warrior's body went limp and fell onto the puppets, knocking them back and pinning them to the ground.

We ran up to the building. I grabbed a hexagonal window sill, pulled myself up, and then clambered up the rest of the house's curve.

The sky-whale—the tchn't't—overhead bellowed for a second time.The light of its cries were brighter than before. They were loud enough to drown out the frigid winds.

Lark climbed up after me, while Nina lashed out at the puppets rushing toward us. She launched a miniature tidal wave of force at our attackers, knocking them back.

"Fucking hell!" Lark cursed. "Look!"

A tchn't't was barreling toward the building, its massive head aimed down at an angle. The massive creatures pulled a warm, wet wind in its wake, only to slow itself to a crawl by spreading its wings, creating a gust that scattered Tchk'tk and the soldiers back like leaves. The moisture in the sky-whale's wake instantly crystallized into rime as it hit the cold air. Frost condensed on the soldiers' bodies, immobilizing them.

The tchn't't sank down, hovering just above the street, with its back nearly flush against the rooftop we were on.

And then it spoke—yelled. "Get on! Jump!"

Holy forkballs!

"Dzrtk is in the whale!" I screamed. "Ze's in the whale!"

I stared for a split second, basking in the pure awesomeness of the moment. Then I jumped, as did Nina and Lark.

Tchn't't-Dzrtk pushed off the ground with a strike of zyr tail, carrying us up and up into the thunderstruck sky on the beats of zyr wings.

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