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After that, the fighting slowed, as perhaps the attackers had begun to think twice about continuing to charge in at Vito, who still did not budge from the doorway.

David could still hear gunfire in the distance, along with more screaming, but it was the rumbling that was truly unsettling. Explosions? Invasive meteorite impacts? He wasn’t sure which to be more worried about.

Another large quake arrived, pulling unsettled dust out of the ceiling and making the Prince wonder if it was about to cave in on their heads. Thankfully, it held strong, but he saw Vito holding onto the doorframe and struggling to stay on his feet.

Then the door and the wall around it exploded, and Vito went flying backward through a cloud of debris. In the wall’s place, a great horizontal mass appeared, some kind of long and flat boulder, though it did not stay long. It seemed to disintegrate among the dirt and rubble, but David did not understand how or why. Nor did he much care. He was far more concerned about Vito, who’d left a giant hole in the wall on the other side of the room.

“Come on out, you rich little piggies!” came a booming voice. “Don’t make your poor lapdogs give their lives for you! We’re here for a good time, not a long time! If you can amuse us with your pathetic begging, then we’ll spare your lives and be on our way!”

David’s heart was in his throat as he listened. This was all too familiar. Perhaps he was jumping to conclusions with far too little information, but it seemed suddenly quite obvious who these attackers were.

More maniacs from Abolish. He’d gotten to know their ilk better than he’d ever wanted to.

It had taken only a handful of them to occupy Atreya and manipulate the entire country, and he was getting the distinct impression that there were far more of them here, now.

David’s eyes were locked on the giant hole that Vito had flown through. He didn’t know what to do other than hope for his young bodyguard to reappear.

And reappear he did.

A metallic hand gripped the edge of the hole with an audible crack, and Vito pulled himself through the opening, looking shinier and more silver than ever. His left arm was twisted in the wrong direction, and his neck seemed to be bent a little far to the right, but they soon corrected themselves.