“I – I can’t!” she cried, her words full of apology.

Klea swore and lunged at Tamani with her knife, but she had to leap back as he brought his spear around in a long, sweeping arc. He felt as though he were watching the encounter from outside his body, observing as some greater force took control of his limbs and threw him towards his enemy, blade first. He thirsted for justice; he would make her pay for what she had taken. Fuelled by rage, he was as mighty as any Bender.

Beneath Tamani’s onslaught, Klea gave ground; her knife was no match for his spear. He gave her an opening to his core, one she couldn’t refuse; it cost him a shallow cut along his wounded shoulder, but it also put her neck between Tamani and the haft of his spear. Gripping it with both hands, he pulled Klea bodily against him, pressing the grip of his spear against her throat. Reflexively, she dropped her knife, bringing her hands up to ease the pressure bearing down on her windpipe.

“You,” he gasped, his hands shaking but his mind filled with black clarity – with the hunger to kill. “You have taken everything from me, and you are going to die for it.” Klea made only a strangled sound and his mind barely registered the hint of fear that – for the first time – flashed in Klea’s eyes.

“No!” Yuki’s scream rent the air, and the universe ground to a halt as a second scream followed—

“Tamani!”

He tried to breathe, but his body was numb, paralysed. His mind refused to believe.

“Don’t do it!”

Closer now. He had to move. Had to see.

“Tamani, wait!” Laurel yelled, not entirely sure why. After all Klea had done, surely she deserved to die . . . didn’t she?

Answers, she told herself. We need answers.

Laurel felt more than saw David step up behind her and with wide eyes, watched the guards raise their guns and point them at her.

“No!” Tamani’s shout reverberated in her ears, but as the guns sounded David lunged in front of her. Laurel retreated, almost tripping over Chelsea, who was sheltered behind a thick oak. Laurel joined her as the guards continued to spray David with bullets, ripping the quiet air with the sound of gunfire. David didn’t even flinch – just looked down as the bullets dropped into the dirt.

Laurel chanced a peek and saw Klea slip away from Tamani and pick something up off the ground. She stood with her signature semiautomatic levelled at David’s chest and Tamani took the opportunity to run to Laurel, sliding onto the ground beside her and clutching her to his chest, his fingers shaking against her back.

“I suppose bringing your girlfriend in to save my life is going to have to make up for the fact that you’ve been making the rest of my day damnably inconvenient,” Klea said dryly before unloading a clip at David, point blank.

Laurel and Chelsea both clapped their hands over their ears as Tamani tried to shield them, but David was beginning to look amused. He put his free hand on one hip and stared pointedly at the pile of jacketless bullets accumulating at his feet.

Klea got the idea and stopped shooting, smoothly snapping the gun into a holster at her side.

“David Lawson,” Klea said slowly. “I saw your car back in Orick and figured Laurel had used it, but I admit, I’m surprised to actually see you here. There haven’t been humans in Avalon—”

“For a thousand years. You know, everyone keeps telling me that.”

“Yes, well, that’s probably another one of their lies,” Klea said. “Almost everything the faeries here tell you is a lie.”

“This sword is no lie,” David proffered, stepping forwards again. “You saw the bullets dropping.”

“And I see you coming my way, and can predict your intentions. But hear me out, human. I’m the only reason Barnes didn’t kill you and Laurel last autumn, and you owe me.”

“Owe you? Do you remember what you did to Shar, when he said those words this morning?”

Laurel felt Tamani’s body tense beside her.

“A tragic waste,” Klea said, not missing a beat. “He was probably the most skilled warrior I’ve ever met. But he was on the wrong side of history, David. This whole island is on the wrong side. Look around you! It’s a tiny paradise, filled with effortlessly beautiful people who want for nothing, busily squandering their vast potential on petty social differences.”

“Sounds like high school,” David retorted. Yuki laughed, the bark seeming to surprise her as she flung her hand over her mouth – but Klea pressed on.

“Think what this place could offer to the world, David. And wonder why they don’t. They hide themselves away – because they think they’re better, purer, superior. And after this conflict is over and you give back the sword, what will you be? A hero? Maybe you want to believe that. But in your heart, you must know the truth. You’ll go back to being a lowly human, unworthy of their notice. After all you’ve done for them – all the trolls you’ve killed?”

David tried to keep his face impassive but even Laurel could see the pain in his eyes.

“Do you have any idea how many years of nightmares you’ve earned today?” Klea said, clearly aware she was salting a wound. “And for what? A race that will cast you aside the moment they’re done with you.”

When David didn’t respond, Klea continued. “If you really want to be a hero, what you should do is help me fix this place. Avalon is broken. It needs a new vision, new leadership.”