The three of them ran, breath clouding the air and streaming behind them. They sprinted through narrow alleyways, over a square reed bridge on a pond situated right in the middle of the road, past walls covered in graffiti and dead vines and moss.

"Why don't we just fight 'em?" Liya said presently. "They're not gonna stop. I bet the three a' us can take 'em."

The three spirits were indeed still following them, still lit in various colors of magic that seemed to darken the alleyway around them by comparison. Vlad frowned.

"Says you," he told Liya. "I don't have any magic."

"You what??" Liya responded, startled, but Vlad suddenly grabbed her and Yoshi and physically shoved them both sideways, into a narrow space between two buildings.

"This way."

They went, but just as suddenly, Vlad had them both by the arm and hauled them to a stop. "Wait."

They were standing in a tiny dead-end alley; above their heads the space was sheltered by a thin, transparent corrugated roof. Each wall was a different color, but it was all dark and damp and moss-covered. Vlad linked his arms with Yoshi and Liya's.

"All together, now," he told them. Liya cast an alarmed look back over her shoulder.

"What??"