Raln looked up just in time to see her black wings flutter as she fell to the ground.

The crippled ship rumbled and screeched; something exploded inside it, and the ship crashed into a building on its descent, sending rubble flying.

But just behind it, out of the gloom, a second ship advanced. More Mechanists swarmed into the streets, and the King's own guards assisted them in capturing the townsfolk to be shackled as the rain beat down upon them. Blood ran with rainwater through the street, and the fighting townspeople were giving up.

They were far outnumbered, outclassed, and outgunned. Raln could not use his power without risking the lives of the people he would be trying to save.

He was forced to run, or be captured himself. The townsfolk were in no danger of being killed unless they put up a fight; he could come back for them, when he had reinforcements and somewhere safe to take them.

He ran for Solara, used the mace to fight off a few Mechanists that had surrounded her, and he took her arm. "Hurry, we're getting out. Can you run?" He couldn't let her fall into the Mechanists' hands. They were known for their experiments on living specimens -- and she had a power they could never be allowed to discover.