Sigvard Boulevard came to life as billboards and skyscrapers brightened all around, like a thousand lanterns aglow in the night sky. A chorus of crickets chirped somewhere distant. The old assassin stood, waiting, the night breeze a stream of clear water caressing his skin and quieting his thoughts.

The nights he’d spent here flew by, back when he was young and happy and with his friends, with glass jars of fireflies chasing each other along the stalls.

But now he was alone. He’d been alone before, but never this lonely. He glanced back at the last towering skyscraper down the road, where the Premier was taking refuge on the roof. Only thirty more minutes to hold out before reinforcements arrived.

Cold murky water sloshed at his bare feet and he jumped. Ahead, the sounds of hoarse shouting and crashing echoed. The last embankment had been breached, it seemed.

Now neither of them would make it.

He took a breath, then drew his dagger anyway.