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Miles zipped away from most of the assault, endured the rest, and counterattacked with a storm of his own. The resultant explosion made the ground tremble even from this distance, and a thin tornado swirled into existence around Miles, ripping up more of the city.

Dunstan could not keep watching, however. He had to keep an eye on the rest of the battlefield. If the clash with Miles was somehow a diversionary tactic, then Dunstan would not allow it to work. But his caution proved needless, as he didn’t see any other disturbances.

Then the analogue bell inside the Keep went off.

Dunstan held his position, knowing it was not his job to deal with whatever the problem was. He did, however, ask Reza for an update. ‘What’s happening?’

‘Shut up, I’m looking into it.’

And again, he found himself waiting.

Cpt. General Miles got back to Dunstan before Reza did, arriving inside another rumbling gale. The man’s shredded clothes barely clung to his body now, and his airman’s overcoat was still smoldering with blackened stains. “Yep,” he said in the dual voice of pan-rozum. “That was definitely a trap.”

Dunstan’s brow receded. “A-are you alright, sir?”

“Oh, sure, don’t worry about us. We could really go for an ice cream sandwich, though. Think we’ll go get one from the kitchen. You want anything?”

“Er, n-no thank you.”

“You sure? Not even a drink? A bag of chips? One of those giant pretzels, maybe? Do we have those things?”

“Sir, the emergency alarm is going off.”

“Ah. So it is. Guess we’ll look into that, afterward.” He allowed a beat to pass. “So did you want a snack or...?”

“No, sir, I’m fine.”

Miles stared at him. “...We’ll get you something, anyway.” And he was gone again, leaving his residual gust of wind behind as usual.

Dunstan wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or worried. When he looked back at the enemy’s location, he saw a street riddled with blood and body parts.

‘Well,’ came Rezamaar’s voice, ‘I found out what all the commotion is about.’

‘Tell me.’

‘Someone managed to break into the freezer and destroy one of the captive Rainlords’ heads.’

Dunstan’s eyes widened. ‘Which one?’

‘I’m listening for that answer now. Sounds like... oh shit. It was Zeff. They fucking freed Zeff Elroy.’