Boots hammered stone in a loose, breaking rhythm.
No formation held. Shields banged into backs. Someone tripped and went down hard. No one stopped for him. Hands and feet shoved him aside without looking. Bodies collided as the street narrowed and widened again between leaning buildings.
Breath tore out of lungs in sharp bursts. Throats burned. Armor straps cut into the shoulders with every step.
"Move!" someone shouted with a raw voice.
"Move, move!"
"Hurry, or we're done for!"
A glance over a shoulder.
The sky above the rooftops held a dark shape that closed the distance without effort. Unlike them, it did not have to weave through obstacles. Rooflines fell away beneath it. Smoke parted around it and the red flames its obsidian armor emitted.
A javelin flew.
It arced high, wobbled, then fell short and clattered uselessly across tiles.
Someone laughed, thin and hysterical. "Haha! When does this dream end?! Someone slap me awake!"
