Maite looked up and around the structure of the fort standing in front of her. It was mostly built from stone, with the massive door made of wood. There wasn’t anything to really conduct electricity, to let her use her powers to attack the structure. She started circling the fort, looking for any weakness, any place where she might be able to enter. She didn’t need much, just some metal support or…

That! On the side of the building, seemingly jammed between two stones, a metal rod protuded. She didn’t know if it was meant to add support to the structure or what, and she didn’t care. She grabbed the rod, sending pulses of electricity into it. It started heating, glowing red hot. Maite then let go and let it cool. She did this several times, over and over, letting it heat and then cool. The constant cycling, the constant expansion and then contraction of the metal put strain on the surrounding stone. At first, little happened, but then Maite began to hear the popping of the stone cracking. Flakes started falling to the ground. Soon the masonry also began to fall away. And, with one loud crack that sounded almost like a gunshot, one of the big stones cracked in half. 

Maite pulled the now loose rod from the structure and used it to pry the loose stones from the wall. In the end, only a few of the massive stones were loose enough to extract, but once she was done Maite had created a hole just large enough for her to squeeze through. The jagged stone caught her dress, ripping the skirt to shreds, and cut up her arms and legs. She barely noticed. When she stood up on the other side, she looked like a visage from a horror movie, blood flowing down her bare arms and legs, her hair a wild mess, and electricity sparking in her eyes.

“I am notably impressed,” rumbled Garuna.

“Isilik, I said,” she responded in a hiss.

Inside the walls, she found herself in front of a central building where she assumed the soldiers bunkered and ate. The walls themselves had a walkway and stations for soldiers, for the moment empty. She had expected a large contingent of soldiers waiting for her, expected to see a multitude of rifles aimed at her heart, but there was no one there.

She mentally shrugged and turned her attention to the central building. If there were any soldiers in the fort, they must be there. But, so was the zatia. She could feel it now, pulling like a magnet. 

Another set of wooden doors, much less impressive than those that formed the gate to the fort, separated her from the zatia. As she pulled them open, she saw a contingent of soldiers, surrounding what she thought must be their commander in two rows, one kneeling and another standing behind and over the first. All had their muskets aimed at the door. She heard a shout as the air filled with the acrid smell of burnt gun powder and the bangs of gun shots.

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