They had chosen to use the outside aer during the attack for a reason. That rge door was the only way out of the bunker, and they needed more spaaneuvering. What was even worse, the rangers khe location of the bunker. But sidering their previous enters, Aira was ready to bet that they wouldn't have enough time or patieo check the whole facility. Especially is someone like Korin would be put in charge of the assault.

  In any case, Aira was fident she'd be able to scare and push away the assaints. Even if they decided to spread over the whole building. The only question was how much damage the attackers were ready to take before retreating.

  While Li climbed up the stairs to the top floors of the building, Aira watched the rangers' advances on the ss. Now, it was like having a dual vision. She could see their movements through the tech of the security system. But simultaneously, she sehe energy patterns of these humans with her are powers.

  That... that finally was a great opportunity to hone her skill and practi fog it.

  Starting to explore each separate signature of each of the attackers, Aira searched for the same people moving on her ss. It was an intense effort, but she could finally feel that there wasn't one giant energy blob in her magical vision, and it ossible to distinguish them.

  Aira was sure that Korin should be among the attackers. He was injured during his previous visit, but it was superficial. She tried remembering everything she sensed about him on that fateful day when Li decided to guide Aira away from Mountain View. How Korin's energy signature felt when he approached them in that dark alley. How it shifted when he realized what was happening. Aira grasped for all these fleetiails and started searg for simirities among the attackers.

  And there he was, leading one of the groups closest to the building. Not that it was ued.

  But for Aira, the effort was almost too much. When Li burst into the room out of breath, she found her friend in a simir state of exhaustion.

  "By the Elders' breath! Shut the bunker door!" Li excimed, her voice rising with urgency. But as she g Aira, her tone softened with . "Wait… what's going on with you? You look rattled like a loose gear. Did you run? You don't eveired when you run. What gives?"

  "I just had a breakthrough," replied Aira. "Korin is here. I sense him."

  "You mean you saw him on the cameras?" asked Li.

  "No, I reize him with my senses," said Aira. "I just... it was a bit too mue. I didn't expect to get so immersed in it. I o take a break."

  "Well, they're gearing up to bite the bramble," Li said, her voice sharp with exasperation. "But, for the roots' sake, when I told you to take a break, I I didn't mean to do that during the attack! And I didn't mean for you to exhaust yourself so pletely before taking that break!"

  ***

  One could only envy the persistence of the human attackers. Their enemy has already shown at least some of her abilities. Still, the vi with which they approached the a building anded respeaybe it ure foolishness and hubris. They khat only two people were defending the facility and thought they'd be able to win the flict by sheer numbers.

  And arrive in rge hey did. Aira's worst fears were being a reality. Was she even ready for that? At least the fact that she still couldn't distinguish the signatures of separate humans and t them separately told her she wasn't. Luckily, at st, by bining the data from the cameras and her senses, she could say there were scores of them. Maybe that approaerging magid tech was their best ce.

  The attackers came prepared, armed with ons and tools desigo break through the facility's defenses. Still, even if Aira and Li were heavily outnumbered, they had the advantage of home turf and their carefully id traps and security systems.

  As the rangers approached the facility, Aira triggered the first set of traps. Explosive charges detonated in the distance, creating a series of loud bangs and fshes meant to fuse and disorient the attackers. In part, they worked as pnned. Smoke filled the air, obsg their vision and f the rao slow their advance.

  "Well, that stirred the ," Li muttered, eyes glued to the monitors as smoke clouded the ss. "But these lot? They'll regroup faster than a fox-tail in a thicket. Don't let up."

  And as if following Li's prompt, the attackers started to move faster toward the building. Realizing that no one was hurt during this first enter and that they didn't have to hide anymore.

  Aira growled in agreement with Li. "Time for the phase."

  She sent a burst of energy through the system, activating the sed set of traps. This time, barriers shot down from hidden partments in the ceilings, blog key access points and funneling the rangers into narrow corridors. These choke points would make it easier for Aira and Li to defend their position.

  It was a game of cat and mouse. The rangers, realizing they were being herded, began to adapt, looking for alternative routes, breaking through the walls, and cheg the vents and service galleries. It was even impressive how resilient they were.

  Li expihat her fellow humans also had their use for the explosives. But that they were sidered aravagaill, they used them now without aation. The humans dismantled and cleared the barriers with them. Still, the reinforced metal structures held firm. And for most locations, Aira's and Li's pns were intact.

  Frustration and tension grew among the attackers as they struggled to make progress. With every step, they were slowing down more and more. Still, Aira khey needed more than just physical defeo deter the rangers. She decided to try something different, something that might appeal to their reason.

  Bing the facility with probing pulses of energy, she sehat each group of attackers had at least one portable radio with them. So, she implemented one of the tech-reted parts of the pn.

  Her voice sounded from the multitude of speakers. "Rangers! Hear me! We don't want to fight with you. This facility is our base, and it is fortified well. Just let us be!"

  Her voice carried a tone of calm and resolve, hoping to reay part of the rangers' minds that might sider a peaceful resolution.

  The annou caused a brief pause among the rangers. Aira and Li could see on their ss humans gng at each other, uain, their movements beiant. The message was clear, and for a moment, it seemed like Aira's words might be getting through.

  However, it was Korin, once again, who decided to get in Aira's way and boost the resolve of his subordinates.

  He stepped forward, turo face the rangers in his viity, brought his portable radio to his mouth with a scowl, and said: "Don't listen to her! She's trying to trick us. It's not the first time! She has already tricked us. And what's even more important, we have our orders!"

  His voice was harsh and unwavering, rallying the others back to their inal mission. The rangers resumed their advaheir resolve seemingly bolstered by their leader's words.

  Aira watched on the monitors, her frustration mounting. "They're not going to stop," she said to Li, who nodded grimly beside her.

  "We'll have to keep pushing them back," Li replied, her eyes fixed on the ss. "They won't give up easily."

  "Yes, we o scare them properly. But where's the line?" Asked Aira. "Last time, two Korin's team members were heavily wounded. It only ehem, as you see. When would they be ready to cut their losses and stop pushing?"

  The rangers tiress towards the corridor that led to the bunker, not knowing that the door was closed and the residents of the a building weren't even there. Their exploration was cautious and slow; they disassembled the barriers and, where needed, tio clear their path with the precise use of explosives.

  The facility shook with each detonation, the reverberations eg through the corridors. Aira and Li could feel the pressure mounting, seeing that the rangers were relentless in their mission. The tension in the air alpable, and Aira's mind raced, searg for other low-damage strategies to fend off the attackers.

  "These folks are tougher than pine bark," Li said, frustration seeping into her voice. "I know their type—they're chasing shadows, thinking there's treasure here. Well, they know there's a treasure here. And you could shout reason at them all day, and they'd still dig in. I don't see other way, we've got to spook them good and proper."

  Li's expression was one of distress. Her panicked dition only worsened because of the fear that Aira would start using her abilities at full power.

  "Those are my people out there," Li said, moving around the room like a wind-snapped branch. "I get why they're doing this, but storm or shi doesn't make it easier. And you—" She turo Aira, her voice catg. "I'm scared you'll do something we 't walk back from. I don't knoe keep this pce safe ahem alive."

  Aira nodded, her resolve hardening. She scooped energy generously from their mucreased reserves, feeling the familiar surge of power flow through her. She knew she had to act decisively and started with an old trick. Using her Energy Manipution skill, she targeted the gunpowder in all the firearms she could see in the video feeds. By now, she could focus this aspect of her powers quite precisely after weeks of training. Still, it wasn't a sure thing.

  The pn was straightforward but risky. Using the same teique as before, Aira checked over the video surveilnce system to see who among the rangers had firearms. Then Aira used her energy, igniting the gunpowder iackers' guns. Not all of the attacks were totally successful. This time, they were warned, and dispersitention over dozens of people led to subpar targeting.

  The bustion was slower, and sers noticed strange sounds and smells, getting rid of their firearms before being injured. In some cases, rangers' clothes were ignited, and some more people received minor burns. Still, even if the effect was less devastating than during the previous ued Korin's visit, it slowed the attackers down a bit more. Now, only ands of the squad leaders and Korin's barks over the radio were making them tiheir progress.

  Still, even this slress soohem to the bunker's entrance.

  "Korin, the bunker is sealed," Aira and Li heard one of the rangers from the advance squad transmitting over the radio. "You said the door en before. Do they have electricity here to power up this maery? e in, over!"

  "Yes, it en," answered Korin. "We o sweep the whole facility, floor by floor. Collect the firearms and send ruo the camp. We'll check ter to see if any of them be repaired. tih bdes, as pnned."

  Frustratioched across Aira's face as she watched the rangers switch to bded ons they had in reserve. She looked at Li, knowing that her human panion wouldn't like what she had to say. "They're prepared for this, we have to make the tough decision," she muttered. "We o hit them where it hurts. The only option we have left is to disrupt their and structure. Then we might be able to force a retreat. They were already spooked before. Hopefully, loosing their leaders would be the final straw."

  Li was visibly disturbed by that moment. "Roots and rivers, I betrayed them," Li muttered, her voice thick with despair. "Every st one of them… I've gone and chopped my own roots off. What's left now?"

  She stood up from her stool and started walking around their aer, darting a g the ss from time to time. Aira patiently waited. Human attackers slowly moved forward.

  "By the bark, you know they didn't just bring Mountain View folks," Li said, her voice heavy. "I barely know a third of them. This isn't just a scrap with my old town anymore—it's bigger than that. And me? I'm greehan spring leaves if I think I'll ever have a pce with humans again after this."

  She made a few more steps, mussing her hair with both hair to an even more tousled state. Then Li abruptly turo Aira and shook her fists at the sky. Or more like at the ceiling.

  "By the twisted branches!" Li shouted, her voice shaking with raw emotion. "Fine, just do it! I'm already rootless, cursed by my people… What's left to lose? 't get worse than this!"

  Aira nodded and focused her energy on Korin. With precise trol, she sent a powerful burst of energy towards his location. The ranger's radio crackled and then exploded. Pulses of energy shook his body, spreading all over it and sending discharges to the people standio him. Korin shook for a brief moment and then dropped down on the floor like a chopped tree.

  Somebody screamed.

  Chatter burst over the radios, Aira and Li hearing it through their security system.

  "What's happening…?"

  "Who was that…?"

  "Are they attag…?"

  Korin's team, however, was disoriented only for a moment. He prepared them even for that. And that wasn't really surprising. Korin witnessed Aira's a thriow. It was well past time for him to learn the lesson. His sed-in-and, a stern-faced woman with a steely gaze, quickly took charge. "Keep moving!" she barked to her subordinates, her voice cutting through the chaos. "We push forward!"

  And thehe radio: "Keep silent, idiots! Nothing ued happened. We proceed with the mission."

  But Aira and Li could see hesitation mounting among the rangers. Especially the ones who came from other towns. They heard only rumors of what happened during Garrick's revolt. However, rumors tend to get more and mraphic with each passing day and each kilometer of distance.

  Aira's mind raced. Blowing up the guns had only bought them a little time. Removing one of the leaders of the assault from a also wasn't enough. She o do something even more spectacur to halt their advance while preferably staying scious.

  There were still plenty of gadgets and devices used by the rangers, she could see some of them on the ss ahem even from this distance. A new pn began to form in her mind.

  She scooped even more energy from their power source. The trol system started blinking angrily, showing that the reserves were draining too fast. It was night, and sor panels weren't of any help as well. Soon, they wouldn't be enough to allow them to return to the bunker without using Aira's powers. If their energy reserves hit zero, not only would their defenses crumble, but they would be trapped without means of unication or escape.

  Moreover, Aira would have no backup to rely on. And what she definitely couldn't alloassing out because of overtaxing herself. Failure was not an option. She needed a banced approach. But who cared about bance when there were no other options? And it really seemed that she had no choice.

  "Hang on, Li," said Aira, her voice tinged with urgency. "I'm going to try something bigger."