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--donation bonus (day #30, post 4/5)--
Perhaps it was tactically unwise, going into battle herself like this, but to her mind, it was worth the risk. In the worst case scenario, Abolish would kill her here and then leave the country for fear of the Vanguard, at which point, Atreya would primarily be left in the hands of David, William, Gina, and Lynnette. And she trusted those hands.

So here she was, gambling for the optimal outcome. Though, from what Mehlsanz and Voreese had said, it was pretty safe to bet on Harper Norez.

An immense flash lit up the battlefield, making Helen squint and shield her eyes. Then just as suddenly, the light vanished, taking more with it than expected. It took Helen’s eyes a moment to adjust and another moment to understand what she was seeing.

An apparent hole in space stood where Harper was--a black dome in the middle of the forest. Presumably, Harper was still there somewhere, having stopped the movement of light within, or bent it perhaps. It would surely buy the man a few seconds of confusion, but not likely more than that, because as Helen understood it, reapers could still see souls regardless of light, and, Helen suspected, so could servants--provided their soul-synchronization was strong enough.

Conall posed the greatest threat to Harper, so it was rather obvious that Harper would attack him in the darkness--which was perhaps why Harper didn’t. Instead, when the veil of darkness lifted, it was Tessa he was in the midst of attacking.

As for herself, the Queen worked alongside Hector to keep Conall occupied.

An enormous iron slab gathered high above Conall’s aluminum shelter. It crashed down with full force, not breaking the no doubt soul-strengthened aluminum but still sending impressive cracks through it.

Helen took that as her cue to begin whaling on it. Each punch broadened the cracks and made the aluminum tremble. And she broke through, but a second barrier was already waiting for her. And it had spikes.

This one was truly just a wall, though, not a dome. Hector raised an iron platform on the other side and flung Conall up and over.