Finn gripped the pommel of his sword, but he couldn't bring himself to attack or even threaten the children. They didn't know what they were and they had been taught to hate. There was no chance of finding Emily now, and if he stayed, they would kill him.
He took one last look at the children and then scrambled back towards the door.
"Stranger." The little girl blasted him again, and Finn was knocked sideways, banging his head against the metal rivets. He pulled himself on, legs like jelly from the attack as he hauled himself out of the door. He rolled back into the courtyard, lying on the gravel, panting with pain. If they came out now, they would finish him.
But the door slammed shut, and he was left alone, staring up at the stars.
Finn lay there for a moment, his breath returning to normal as the pain eased. It was like the little girl had electrocuted him. What the hell kind of power did she have? He had heard Mila say that every use of magic in the Borderlands meant a little more shadow in the Mapwalker who used it. But what did that mean for these little Halbrasse? His niece, Emily, was only a newborn so it would be years before her talents could be exploited.
He had time – but he needed the help of the Mapwalkers. He needed Sienna. The others were already set in their prejudice against the Borderlanders, but she had seen a different side of his people. She was hope for a shared future.
Finn rolled over and pushed himself up onto his knees, then staggered to his feet. His whole body felt weak with the aftermath of the attack, but he had to get back to Sienna before she mapwalked back to Earth-side. He might never have this chance again.
Sienna heard Xander's words through the roar of the flames. She looked at Mila, saw in her eyes that it could be true, that he could have left a gap in the border ready to be exploited when the time was right. She remembered the fetish map she'd seen in the first visit to the dungeons of the castle, where Bath lay broken, a burnt-out shell, its inhabitants slaughtered by feral invaders.
"We have to get back." She looked at her father. "And we're not leaving anyone behind."
Sienna's mind raced as she considered the star map Xander held. It was supposedly the only reliable way to get home, to orientate across the border, but she had created a map from nothing before. She had to do it again.
She turned to Perry. "Can you hold them a little longer?"
He grimaced, his face ruddy from the flames and she saw the flicker of shadow in his eyes. There was a chance he had used too much magic in a short time, that he would tip over to his father's side, but she had to believe he would hold the line.
"For Galileo," he said, steel in his voice.
Sienna took the scalpel from her bag and cut into her arm. As blood welled, she closed her eyes and began to sketch the lines of Bath on the stone wall in front of her. She tuned out the throb of pain, the roar of the beast and the flames at her back. She fixed her imagination on the city she had only just begun to know, the map shop on the little street with the coffee shop opposite, Mila's canal boat and Zippy waiting alongside, the Abbey and the Baths. She painted them on the wall with her blood, and as she drew it, she felt a tug towards home, the pull of the map.
Her father looked up, and Sienna saw pride mixed with fear in his eyes. Fear, not for himself, but for her future now he saw what she could do. But there was no time to think about what might happen. They had to go.
Beyond the fire, the guards redoubled their efforts, thrusting long pikes through the flames towards Perry. Sir Douglas shouted something, and one of them ran through, bellowing his rage.
Perry blasted a stream of flame at him, and the guard tottered forward, his body alight. He slammed into the wooden table, flames consuming his body, but the height of the main wall ebbed a little with the distraction.
Xander urged his great beast forward, and it reached through the flames, screaming as it lit afire, but this time, it kept coming.
Perry fell back as it advanced. "We need to get out of here."
Sienna placed her hands on the wall, letting her mind sink into the lines, opening the portal back to the shop, back to where the rustle of her grandfather's maps called her.
Mila dragged John towards the wall, ready to cross over behind her. Perry edged back, trying to keep the beast far enough away but still ready to join them.
"Sienna!" Finn's voice suddenly came across the flames.
She turned to see him dart into the room, slashing at the guards as he moved towards the wall of flame. The beast lunged for him, but he rolled underneath it, angling his sword across its belly, cutting it deeply as he sprang away on the other side.
For a moment, Sienna faltered, the intensity of the map fading as she was drawn back towards Finn. If they left him, he would certainly be killed. But he couldn't cross into Earth-side, could he?
"Go now," Mila urged. "We have to."
Sienna took one last look back at Finn, as he fought with two guards on the other side of the wall of flame. She opened the map again, felt the expansion of the world beneath her.
She reached out her hands, touching Perry with one and her father with the other, felt Mila's hand on her arm and closed her eyes.
"No!"
Sienna opened her eyes to see Finn dart through the flames just as they died out – as Perry grasped her hand – as the guards surged forward with a roar – as the beast stormed at them, jaws gaping wide.
Finn reached out his arm and wrapped it around Sienna's waist. She buried her head against his chest as she took them through the map.
The air cooled, and the sound of chaos abated. It smelled of parchment and the faint tang of ink. Sienna opened her eyes to find them all back in the map shop, her father on the floor, Mila at his side, Perry dazed from the fight as he sat down, his face pale from the exertion of using so much magic.
Sienna stood wrapped in Finn's arms, feeling the beating of his heart against her body. She rested there, safe in his arms, a moment of calm after the escape.
Sienna looked up at him. "You're here."
Finn smiled, his dark eyes betraying his wonder. "You can bring Borderlanders across."
"It's only because the border is open right now." Mila stood up and brushed the ash from her clothes. She looked over at Finn. "You'd be gone otherwise, lost in whatever darkness holds our two worlds apart."
Sienna pulled away from him. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
Finn shook his head. "You couldn't have stopped me trying to come after you."
Mila opened the door. The night was calm, just the sounds of friendly banter from the pub down the road and the soft patter of rain against the windows. For a moment, it seemed as if everything was normal.
Then they heard the howl of a wolf … and screaming.
"They've broken through," Mila said. "I need to get down to The Circus. The Ministry team will be there, or at least on their way. We need to shut the Gate, so the Borderlanders are sucked back through."
Finn gripped the pommel of his sword. "I'm coming too. You need someone to watch your back, and it's my father out there. I know how he works."
Mila nodded and then looked down at John, broken and bleeding on the floor, then over at Perry, collapsed against one of the map cabinets. "You need to get to the Ministry, Sienna. Get to the Blood Gallery and renew the lines of the border. Your blood is powerful, and you can send them back. Bridget will show you how."
Sienna bent down to her father and stroked the matted hair back from his forehead. His chest rose and fell in a jerky movement, but he still lived. He needed medical help, but there would be no chance if the city fell. She clenched her fists. She would not lose her father again.
"I'll renew the lines, and then I'll come and help you close that Gate."
She looked up at Finn and met his eyes. His gaze softened, and then he nodded. Sienna took hold of her father and Perry and traveled into the map of Bath, her mind fixed on the Ministry below the Abbey.
Finn watched Sienna fade, marveling at the magic of Mapwalking.
"Let's go, lover boy," Mila snapped as she darted out of the map shop into the rain. Finn headed after her, and as he emerged into the night, he couldn't help but stare at the buildings around him. His home in Old Aleppo was broken and crumbling, a shade of its former glory, but this city was intact, its buildings commanding the eye with beautiful stone facades. Flowers bloomed in window boxes, and as they passed a shop on the end, Finn gaped to see paintings of the ocean and sculptures of birds. This was a place where people made art, a city of life, not death, and he desperately wanted more of it. Could the Borderlands ever be like this?
A woman screamed and ran past the end of the road. A huge grey wolf loped behind, barreling into her and taking her down, its teeth sinking into the flesh of her neck, cutting off her scream as the beast shook her.
Finn ran forward, swinging his sword in a low arc, using the flat of the blade to smash into the wolf's face, sending it twisting away. It let the woman go, and she lay unmoving on the ground. The creature turned and snarled, slinking back towards them. Finn stood in front of the woman's body, sword raised, ready to fight, Mila beside him.
Then deep growls came from the shadows in every direction. The wolf pack surrounded them.
"I've got this," Mila said. She held out her hands to the rain, and where the water touched her skin, she rippled with power as she channeled the element. She began to spin one hand, whirling the drops into a tornado of water and then spun it out like a whip at the nearest wolf.
It smashed the beast backwards, lifting it against the stone wall behind. It fell limp to the ground. Mila whirled the tornado on, using it to send the wolves flying away. With two more badly injured, the others slunk off, running off to find easier prey.
"Nicely done," Finn said, hefting his sword.
"We're not done yet. We have to get to the center of that." Mila pointed down the road towards a dense mist forming around The Circus.
A few Borderlanders staggered out of it, disorientated by the buildings around them, mouths gaping open as if they couldn't believe what they saw around them. "Looks like the full force hasn't come through yet."
Then the beating of drums came from within the mist, a rhythmic pounding that echoed through the streets.
"War drums," Finn said. "My father is coming."