The soldiers moved to form tight ranks around the Orb. They trudged heavily through the deep snow. I pitied them their experience in the cold. I was immune to it. I could tune down my suit’s sensory sensitivity to the biting cold and become impassive to the elements. The soldiers that marched around us sniffled in the freezing air, their cheeks and noses glowing red.

  The snow flurried around us. I could see the line of spearmen fading away into the white, unable to discern the soldiers beyond 50 yards or so. The snow fell in dense, whirling sheets.

  Chowwick said, “It’s naught but a little one, but we can’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”

  I said, “Do you think it went uncontested because it’s small?”

  Chowwick said, “Maybe, but Flows are Flows, and there are none better than free Flows. I’d wager on there being heavy action elsewhere. And the snow makes it fucking hard to see them coming down. That’s how Wild Orbs come to be. No matter how hard we hunt, there’ll be an Orb or two settle down each season that nobody contends. They might hang around for weeks, months, or years before someone finds ’em.”

  Tara moved closer to us. She was scanning our surroundings, but I could see she was as frustrated with the limited visibility as we were. She said, “I’m not complaining. It’s been nice to win fights, but getting Flows without having to fight at all is even better.”

  I said, “Tara, maybe you should siphon this one. You’ll be the fastest getting back to Boston and returning.”

  Tara said, “You want me to go back with these Flows? We’re only talking about five… I could stay on, and we could see what else can be found, make the trip more worthwhile.”

  Chowwick laughed. “Would you listen to you! There was a time not so long back we’d have taken 5 Flows right back with a convoy to protect ’em! Things have fucking changed around here.”

  Suddenly, Alya stepped between us. “Look!”

  She pointed her Scepter to the distant sky. I followed her gesture but was only met with walls of dense white flakes.

  She said, “Another Orb! To the east.”

  I squinted and zoomed my vision. I couldn’t discern anything. Alya had a vision skill—it made perfect sense that she could see something the rest of us couldn’t. It had been she who had spotted this Orb as it neared the earth.

  I said, “I don’t… the snow, it’s thick… wait…”

  There it was. Just a glimpse of its swirling, colored shape as the wind threw the snow into chaotic swirls.

  I said, “By the Oracle, it’s nearly on the ground as well!”

  Chowwick said, “Well, let’s get her! She’s gonna touch down soon; we need to get on it!”

  I looked around, thinking fast. I said, “Alya, stay with Tara while she siphons. The soldiers can hold this hill. We’ll go hold the Orb, and you can move up with the men when you finish here.”

  Alya nodded, smiling.

  I said, “What?”

  Alya said, “It didn’t take you that long to figure out how to command, did it, Butcher? Or do we prefer Blood Prince?”

  She couldn’t see me blush beneath my helm. I turned from her and started trotting down the hill, the snow reaching my knees in places. Magneblade and Chowwick formed behind me. When we were clear of the soldiers, we seized the power of the Footfields and moved toward the falling Orb.

  We didn’t race at full speed. Visibility was too poor, the surface uneven. I caught glimpses of the Orb as the curtains of snow drifted by. It was indeed very close to the ground. My excitement was unbounded as I considered the boon of finding two uncontested Orbs in a single day. I had lost track of the Flows we had gathered for Boston, but I knew we had already exceeded every expectation set for us by Baltizar and the powers of the city. Everything we found now was excess, building wealth and options for the city, bettering the lives of every citizen.

  “It’s damned close!” Chowwick roared through the wind and snow.

  Magneblade’s voice roared, “We’ll get to the landing site before it touches down.”

  We streaked over rises. There was eagerness in all three of us to claim this second prize, but still, we moved with care. The snow was lying thick on the ground and only growing deeper. It would spoil the day if one of us entangled with a boulder hidden by the drifts.

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  My head was tilted to the sky as I sped over the last rise. I could see the Orb clearly now, a few hundred feet above us, dropping nearly straight towards us. My attention was on the Orb. It was Chowwick’s bark that brought me back to reality.

  “Fucking whoresons!”

  I looked down the slope and arrested the Footfield. There were Griidlords before us.

  They clustered together, facing us. Three of them. They had the landing site of the Orb staked out. I tried to look through the snow to see if they had an army behind them, but it was hopeless. Ten thousand men could be marching a few hundred yards away, and the blinding weather would have hidden them from me.

  Chowwick and Magneblade came to a stop beside me. I felt my blood pulsing as I considered our choices. They were three, and we were three. If we returned to the main force, they would claim the Orb, or at least much of it. But we’d thrived in the last days and weeks by not stretching ourselves.

  I said, “Maybe we should wait. We could go back for Tara and Alya and easily outnumber them. They’ll get some of the Flows drained off the Orb, but not much. It’ll be safer—”

  Chowwick interrupted me, “Can’t do it, lad. Look.”

  I followed his pointing finger to the Orb. It was clearer and brighter now. I could see what excited him. The surface of the Orb was floating with little black shapes.

  “Key fragments…” I breathed.

  Magneblade said, “They might get the fragments before we get back. We need to contest it.”

  I pursed my lips and looked back to the Griidlords below us. They were formed up and ready for us. They were watching. I wondered if they expected us to concede the Orb to them. I zoomed in and noted their markings. Their suits were red, blue, and white. I recognized the markings. Buffalo. It made sense then that there were only three. At first, I’d assumed they, like us, had left a team member behind to siphon some other Orb or to deliver Flows to their home city. But not Buffalo. Buffalo was fighting one suit shy. Perdinger was still out there with the Buffalo Arrow suit.

  I cast Assess.

  Subject: Raelric Jythorne

  Status: Chosen Sword

  Level: 30

  Almost immediately, I saw a notification flash before me. Assess had increased in level! At long last.

  I cast Assess again, waiting to see what new information I would be granted.

  Subject: Raelric Jythorne

  Status: Chosen Sword

  Level: 30

  Skills: ***, Assess, ***

  I frowned. Jythorne was level 30 and so would have three skills. Only one was named. I cursed quietly to myself. It seemed Assess would need more levels to reveal more skills.

  I turned my attention to the other two as they awaited our next moves.

  Subject: Anvar Snowfang

  Status: Chosen Axe

  Level: 32

  Skills: ***, ***, Stasis Beam

  I thought, Enki? Hey, where the hell are you when I need you? What the hell is Stasis Beam?

  There was no response.

  I cast Assess again.

  Subject: Rythek Bonefrost

  Status: Chosen Shield

  Level: 34

  Skills: ***, ***, Kinetic Pulse

  I breathed slowly, considering what we were about to do. I had avoided risks since my last grave error, and the prize had been a string of successes uninterrupted by waiting for wounded Griidlords to heal in the Tower.

  I said, “They’re all leveled in the low 30s. I guess we’ve got a shot…”

  Chowwick said, “Of course we fucking do. We gonna let those key fragments slip away?”

  I said, “Do either of you know what the skills Stasis Beam or Kinetic Pulse do?”

  Chowwick laughed. “Assess went up, did it? Kinetic Pulse is one of mine too, lad! An extra powerful pulse of my Shield, sends fuckers flying. Has a bit of a cooldown on it—great for making room when you need to get a bastard or two away from ya.”

  Magneblade said, “I don’t know of Stasis Beam. Be on guard. The Buffalo Griidlords often have skills that work well in the cold.”

  I said, “Having second thoughts, Magneblade?”

  The man growled, squeezing the haft of his axe. “Fuck no. There’s a difference between being wary and being a pussy. I want a fucking piece of them.”

  I stared down the slope at the waiting Griidlords. I clenched my jaw and nodded.

  “All right then. There’s three of us and three of them. Time to find out who wants it more.”