The angry rattle of automatic gunfire filled the air. Eno watched as the six men attacked, opening fire on the Empire soldiers. They managed to get a couple before New Rosanthe returned fire. One man was killed almost instantly, and the other five made it to cover but were now pinned down.
“Oh, shit! Look!” Drayce shouted and pointed. Eno’s gaze followed where he indicated to see the rear line of Empire soldiers now scrambling. There were getting hit from behind as well.
“Apparently they’re trying to take out soldiers from two sides. Not a bad idea. Just not enough people.” Eno shook his head, running through dozens of scenarios in his mind, but none of them would work. They were simply outgunned right now. “We need to get those five out of there.”
“Will this help?” Drayce held up a black canister with a ring pull pin.
Eno’s heart stumbled a bit at the sight of it. “Flash bang?”
He shook his head. “Smoke grenade. I might have talked Shey into giving me a few goodies before we boarded the ship.”
“And you’ve been keeping it a secret all this time?”
Drayce pulled the smoke grenade back, pressing it to his chest like a puppy. “I said a few goodies. Not enough to share with the entire class. I’ve been saving them for a special occasion.”
“Idiot,” Eno muttered as he returned his attention to the fighting. The Empire guards were split, firing into Green Gate and Uni Gardens. The five fighters were returning fire as much as they could, but their position was bad. He wagged his fingers at Drayce. “Gimme. I’ll throw. You shoot.”
Drayce groaned and slapped the grenade into Eno’s open palm. “Fine, but I get to throw the next one.”
Hunching down, Eno ran closer to where a couple of Erya fighters were crouched behind a car. One was bleeding heavily from a bullet wound to the shoulder, while the other looked to be in good shape still. “Time to retreat and regroup, boys,” Eno said with a smirk.
“What?” the younger unwounded man cried. “We can still—”
“Can it, Levi! We’re outgunned and outmanned.” Eno jerked. He knew that voice. The wounded fighter lifted their head and smiled at him. “Hey, Eno.”
“Melita!” He hadn’t seen her since his brief meeting with her and Tomas in Sirelis. He had a thousand questions, but they would have to wait. “Drayce and I can provide cover.” He narrowed his eyes on Levi. “Can you get her to safety?”
“Uh, yeah. I got her.”
“Good. We’ll be right on your heels.”
Eno pulled the pin on the smoke grenade and rose up enough to lob the device as hard as he could. He held his breath, watching it arc through the sky and land with a satisfying metallic clatter right in the middle of the Empire soldiers. The shooting stopped as the soldiers scrambled, looking for the grenade, shouting as if they expected an explosion. But their running was soon lost in a thick gray cloud.
Behind him, Drayce shouted a gleeful “Whoooohoooo!” as he unloaded both guns on anything that moved within that cloud. Soldiers dropped one after another. As much as he hated to admit it, Drayce was a damn good marksman. He was still undisciplined and unfocused most of the time, but he could take a fly out between its wings when he was properly motivated.
Grabbing the rifle off the kid, Eno shouted, “Get her out of here now!” He stood and joined Drayce in the chaos, taking out as many soldiers as he possibly could while the five Erya fighters ran for cover.
“Smoke is thinning,” Drayce called out as New Rosanthe got organized enough to return fire.
Eno glanced around to see the last man scurrying down a side street, safely away from the fighting. “Follow them. They might know how to reach Tomas.”
“Got it!” Drayce darted off, moving in the direction Levi had headed with Melita. Eno provided him with an extra few seconds of cover before he did the same.
They ran together, weaving through streets, heading toward the narrower and more congested East Ward neighborhood. They were four blocks from the fighting when Melita called a break.
“Thanks for the cover,” she said through a cough.
“Melita!” Drayce shouted and started to throw himself at her but stopped when he saw the blood staining her shoulder. “You’re hurt!”
She brushed it off with a crooked smile. “I’ve had worse. Your timing was great.”
Drayce shrugged. “We’re happy to help.” Of course, he had to finish with a glare at Eno. “Even if I didn’t get to throw my smoke grenade.”
Eno crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “You had the guns.”
Drayce jerked his head toward the automatic rifle still hanging from Eno’s shoulder. “You seemed to find one pretty easily.”
“Borrowed.”
Drayce rolled his eyes and looked over at Levi. “You gotta watch him. He likes to steal toys from the other kids.”