The three Spur Corps members moved down the hill with blinding speed. Even on a balanced hoverbike, Lark was nervous trying to keep up with them.

Don’t break the handlebars! She forced her clenched fingers to loosen up.

Eyes tearing from the wind, Lark kept a sharp eye on Snowy in the backpack between her arms as her little group zigzagged through the trees. Passing branches slapped against her arms and legs.

It could’ve been her hearing playing tricks on her, but she began to suspect she was picking something up behind her. Something rising above the whistle of the gusts that were racing past her ears.

Please don’t see anything. Please don’t let there be anything behind me but trees.

Lark reluctantly turned her head.

Great. Just my luck.

Three someones were gaining on them via hoverbike. Lark’s heartbeat thudded in her ears.

Conan also caught sight of their pursuers. With a subtle flick of his wrist, Lark’s companions began to break off, one by one. She also changed directions so that it wasn’t obvious they were trying to lead them away from her.

At first, it seemed to work. It looked like the pursuers had followed the Spur Corps members, not Lark. But pretty soon, the whizz of a red laser beam flew past her head, burning a smoking hole into a tree trunk ahead of them.

Startled, Lark jerked back and to the right. Her heart sank as she began to lose her balance.

“Ahh!” The wind swallowed Lark’s scream as she tried to stay on the bike.

Another laser beam found its mark on Lark’s right shoulder blade.

“Really?” Lark shouted, completely falling off now, but managing to keep her backpack and Snowy on the seat.

She felt embarrassed and angry at being shot by a laser and falling off a racing bike. Her heart beat wildly as she hit the ground with a thud, rolling until she crashed into a small river. It wasn’t very deep, but it was cold. And irritating.

“Ouch!” Lark groaned. She scrambled out of the water, glaring at her pursuer. She couldn’t tell if they were male or female. They had a bulky jacket on, and a tinted helmet concealed their face. They still had their gun pointed at her as they roared closer.

Thankfully, they ignored Lark’s hovering bike, keeping their attention on her and not Snowy. It was just one; at least part of their plan to split up worked.

When her pursuer fired another laser beam at her, Lark jumped diagonally into a forward roll, thankful there was a decent amount of space between the trees here. Seemingly frustrated, the shooter circled Lark, pulling the trigger over and over, keeping her jumping around the forest floor.

“Would you stop shooting at me?” Lark finally roared. She suddenly remembered the lasers weren’t going to hurt her. Deciding to simply let the lasers hit her, she stopped avoiding the beams. Lark’s attacker came to a hovering standstill a few yards in front of her.

“You’re the one!” A female voice sounded gleeful.

As her pursuer turned the hoverbike back uphill, Lark realized she knew she had the bio-bots and was probably going to tell whoever was in charge. Knowing she couldn’t let her assailant leave, Lark sprang forward, tackling her off the bike and to the ground.

The women rolled away from each other, each taking a defensive stance. Lark automatically lowered her chin to give her neck extra protection. Forgetting her new physical abilities, Lark relied on her years of training. With frightening speed, Lark slammed her boot into her opponent’s head, shattering the helmet and snapping her neck unnaturally. The limp body crashed into a tree several yards away before falling to the ground, motionless.

Aside from a slight sting in her foot—which only lasted a moment—Lark was unharmed but surprised at the damage she had wrought. Running over to the body, Lark checked for a pulse on the wrist, since the neck was shredded from the broken pieces of helmet. Nothing.

Lark’s breath hitched. Yes, this person had been trying to kill her. Lark had acted in self-defense. But...she was dead! Lark had been in lots of little fights and scraps. In the moment of action, she could be cold, ruthless, and decisive. But after the dust settled...there it was. The shaking. The burning of holding tears at bay.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Flashes of memories assaulted her. Pain in her head. Cold, hard tile floor that was stained red with blood. Large hands heavy on her throat. Squeezing the life out of her.

Before she could hyperventilate for too long, Snowy’s sharp cry pierced through the haze. She was still on Lark’s hoverbike up the hill, trying to claw her way out of Lark’s backpack.

Lark drew a deep, shuddering breath, then came back to calm Snowy down before she brought the whole horde of attackers on them. Snowy clambered onto Lark’s shoulders, refusing to budge. At least she had quieted down.

After climbing back on the hoverbike, Lark mulled over their options.

She was sorely tempted to charge right back up the hill. She didn’t know if there were more than fifty opponents her new friends were up against, but she knew even that was too many for any hope of victory. She didn’t want anyone to sacrifice themselves for her. She felt guilty enough about Conan’s burns.

Unfortunately, Harold had a point about her being a danger. Right now, she could just as easily hurt the very people she would try to protect. The weird incident with the fire leaping up from her palm at the beginning of the attack was proof of that.

Lark wasn’t sure how yet, but she had made the flames jump. Once she knew how to utilize her new abilities, she would be a force to be reckoned with. But until then—

She paused, realizing something. It seems I’ve accepted this as my new home, even if it’s mostly out of necessity.

Lark squeezed Harold’s bracelet tighter. First, she needed to rejoin the other team. She could take her next steps from there.

“All right, girly.” Lark nuzzled Snowy’s head. “We’ve got to keep moving.”

Steele frowned at the scene in front of him. Despite strict orders that he wanted everyone alive, he was currently looking at two dead bodies from the Wysteria Corps. Or were they Wysteria? Their identifying bracelets had an added flower on the engraving. A new military unit they weren’t aware of yet?

Steele shook his head, a lock of light brown hair falling over his eye. Hmm. He would need to get a cut when he got back. Staying clean-shaven out here was simple, but there wasn’t much he could do about his hair.

Turning toward the waiting soldiers behind him, he pretended not to notice their flinching. They should be scared. He was furious not only about having two dead bodies to deal with, but two of their quarries had also slipped through their fingers.

“Cover them in preservation wrap and leave them with the prisoners.”

“Yes sir!” Everyone scattered to escape his intense gaze.

His lucky streak had obviously run out, since none of their hostages were The Weapon, as Casimer liked to call them. No one showed advanced healing when he did a small experimental cut on their forearm. He had been told The Weapon had superior strength and healing abilities. Since strength is easily disguised, this was the only way he could think of to quickly rule out candidates.

Steele made his way toward the hostages trapped inside a clear force field. After a short study, he came to a decision and turned to his current lieutenant.

“Keep them awake throughout the night. No food, only a little water. We start interrogations tomorrow.”

Shamira gunned her hoverbike, following the blinking red dot on her map. Princess Larkspur should be just through those trees—aha!

“Your highness!” Shamira waved, although Lark had already spotted her.

“Shamira.” Lark gave her a tight smile as she pulled up alongside her, Snowy looking remarkably relaxed wrapped around Lark’s neck, paws dangling over her shoulders.

“We came to find you as soon as we saw the commander’s beacon.” Shamira gave Lark a once-over, making sure she was okay.

“I left them behind, Shamira.” Lark sounded so guilty.

Shamira shook her head. “You did the right thing. A hoverplane is waiting for you about five minute’s ride away.”

“Did anyone else make it back?” Lark followed Shamira out of the woods.

Shamira paused before answering. “Only Raphael.” Only two out of their ten-man-team made it to safety.

Lark bit her lip. “Can you tell if anyone is still alive? I assume you can track them with their bracelets.”

Shamira hesitated again. “We can’t be certain about everyone, but most of them still have a heartbeat.”

“How many might be...might not...?” Lark’s voice sounded dull and empty.

Shamira glanced back at Larkspur’s stony face. “Possibly two or three. I’m sorry. We can’t track the commander general’s vitals without his bracelet, but Commander Conan is still alive.”

Lark remained silent until they got back to the waiting caravan.

After Shamira introduced her to General Samuel and the two Spur Corps units that came with the hoverplane to pick her up, Lark dropped a bomb. “I’m not leaving yet.”

“Your highness.” General Samuel frowned. “We have orders—”

“And I’m changing them. We’re rescuing my people. Only Commander General Cynbel is without his bracelet. Surely we can get a location from one of the other seven.”

“Princess Larkspur.” Raphael came to stand beside Shamira. “Of course a rescue will be mounted for two of our highest military commanders. But our first priority is your safety.”

“Oh, no.” Lark’s eyes flashed with determination. “I just spent the last few hours running away, leaving behind men who put their lives on the line for me. You want me to accept the mantle of being your future ruler? Fine. But how can I call myself a leader if I leave my own people behind when I had a chance of saving them? With two extra units, that brings our numbers to over seventy. Certainly enough to mount that rescue.”

General Samuel, Raphael, and Shamira all opened their mouths to protest, but Larkglared at them. They all retreated a tiny bit as Lark’s back straightened with conviction. Shamira’s eyes widened as she caught sight of Lark’s hands. Was that blue lightning stirring around her fingers?

“None of you are strong enough to stop me. If your priority is to keep me safe, then help me bring our team home.”

Everyone looked at each other. Shamira wondered if anyone else was feeling as inspired as she was. Lark was going to make a great queen.

“We are going to need reconnaissance,” General Samuel finally said. “We know where they are, but we don’t know what we’re up against.

“There were at least fifty charging us,” Raphael volunteered. “I didn’t see much before we had to split, but they didn’t seem like a uniform army. More like a band of well-armed mercenaries.”

“General Samuel.” Lark turned to him. “As you and Shamira are the highest-ranking officers here, work together to figure out what we need and how to get it.”

“What will you be doing?” Shamira asked.

Lark studied her hands that were still covered with blue lightning. “I’m going to experiment as much as I can. I semi-controlled the flames last time. Let’s see what else I can do.”