ã€ŠEclipse: Time Thief [A Reincarnation Romantasy]ã€‹


 1. The March

    I shivered on the march to the Prophet of the Valley, my tunic loose with no armor and my body light without weapons. The boots of my fellow captives trampled earth as dark as a winter''s night sky into a slurry of mud.

    My hands curled around a sliver of empty space that should have been filled by my bow if those demons who handed us off to the Prophet''s warriors hadn''t taken them away. I couldn''t believe that after so many years of fighting, our enemy had captured us.

    The villagers lining our path murmured in baritone hums that vibrated beneath my skin. Their pounding drums hijacked my heartbeat, thudding within my chest, my temples, my soul.

    I had long since cursed the day my cowardly instructors on the Mountain of the Gods sealed my power, but never before had I cursed myself as badly as I did now for failing to break free of the limitations they placed on me. The so-called gods gave the ability to cut off our power for a reason and no one had ever regained theirs once that happened. They said it was impossible. Still, I could accept no excuses. Not one day had passed since losing my power that I had not fought to free myself. If I had succeeded instead of failed, then we would not have been captured by our worst enemy, and the innocent of our village would not have been taken hostage.

    So few knew the truth about our world, but I did. I understood that it was advanced technology and not some mystical power from the gods that gave demons and prophets alike their abilities. There had to be a way to override whatever mechanism had sealed my power.

    ¡°Heretics!¡± The women gathered along our path snarled at us from beneath pale hoods gleaming with the glow of fire. The whites of their eyes burned red. Each held a torch between laced fingers, nestled against their hearts. One stared into my eyes. ¡°Burn! Burn! BURN!¡±

    One snap and I could have shot an arrow through her gaping mouth if I had my precious bow. But with my power, I could have struck her dead in an instant. The Prophet and his followers were hypocrites for using powerful demons to capture us when he was the most notorious demon hunter in the peninsula. I longed to crush his throat.

    The thirst for vengeance gave me the strength to drag my heavy body forward. We''d walked throughout the day and night before nearing the Prophet''s village. Along the road leading to his gates, men stood over the women¡¯s shoulders. Their faces were shadowed by black hoods that drank up the shadows of twilight, their mouths closed so their hums sounded as if they came from beyond. From the gods themselves. Their stares never shifted from us. Blood dripped from their eyes like tears, cracking at the edges as it dried.

    I could think only of my adopted nephew, Rune, and his little fingers disappearing from view as the demons stole him away into the night.

    The coarse rope that tore at my skin was nearly as grating as the glare of the Prophet''s faithful lining our path. What crushed my lungs with anguish, though, was how my best friend''s form ahead of me punctuated the twilight, how far Leif felt. The same bonds that kept me from reaching for my people also tethered me to them, so I couldn''t help but love what I hated.

    I hadn''t prayed since Dad died and the instructors at the Sacred School so poorly filled the void he left. I hadn''t prayed since I learned the truth about our world, about the gods, about how nothing at all was as it seemed. Now, such desperation clawed into my heart that I lifted my face to the expanse above and I prayed a prayer I didn''t believe to gods I believed even less.

    Let this not be real.

    Tears wet my cheeks. A touch of warmth where none could be found.

    I searched for a response in the space where navy sky and dark earth melted into one, where the barely visible spread of stars above us crashed into the glow of snow-capped mountains. It was easy to see why our people turned this direction to pray, with how the towering terrain appeared to guard our valley from the rest of the Skia Hellig Peninsula, as if we were divinely protected. But I knew what was on the Mountain of the Gods.

    We''d drawn so much closer while on this march.

    The air ahead glowed brighter and brighter with red and orange haze until the domineering wooden spikes atop the wall of the village appeared. I craned my neck to see up to the guards posted like statues every few feet, their crossbows steadied against the stone edge. No one else in the valley had defenses close to rivaling this.

    Rune''s pleas for help blared in my mind. His fingers, reaching, straining.

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    I lowered my head.

    The haunting tones of the villagers beyond the walls died as we entered the gate, replaced by a much more eerie quiet. Wooden, multi-story buildings lined the cobbled road, leading all the way to the gently sloping hill near the back where the temple rose over everything in sight.

    I squinted, eyes stinging from artificial brightness of lights atop steel poles. It''d been so long since I''d been around electricity. As a child, I''d stood on jagged rocks along the shore and watched the sparkles of sunlight glitter off each ripple, like our own daytime stars. Dad had dipped to run his fingers along the water and lamented at how the light scattered. How he''d never catch the sun''s rays like the Prophets did.

    Our young world was like a small child with the feet of a man. Awkward and deformed. Deformed by an incredible power we weren''t ready for.

    Fury flushed through my veins.

    The Prophet of the Valley¡ªthat damned Eskel the Ruthless¡ªwould pay for what he''d done. I''d make sure of it.

    Sometimes, the faintest inklings of my power kindled within me, out of reach, but warm like a flame. The heat of it burned within me now.

    Our line turned right to a wooden stage tucked into an oval courtyard. The Prophet stood in the center with a thick canvas sheet stretching behind him and a coarse rope in his left hand. Seven disciples stood like statues at the base of the stage, wearing the same dark cloak as their leader. Above them, the Prophet held a staff with his free hand, face shadowed by his hood as he watched us. I knew his image so well, and even better, the nausea it filled me with. Sealing my power had not ended the visions that haunted me. And it was these very inky black eyes that I saw in those visions every time. Strands of black combed through the straight gray hair creeping out from his hood, lying beside the wisps of his beard. An image I had never been able to escape.

    The guards forced us into a line before him.

    I swallowed down the hard knot of fear lodged in my throat.

    The slender man towering over us spoke. ¡°I am the Prophet of the Valley,¡± his voice boomed. Echoes of his words bounded around us. ¡°The gods awakened me in the night with a vision of their enemy¡¯s faces, no more. Ash and charred skin replaced their blaspheming mouths.¡±

    Beside me, Leif¡¯s hands twitched into fists.

    ¡°We will cleanse your people with your lifeblood. In two weeks'' time, when darkness falls and the moon consumes the sun, we will seal the souls of your innocents and cleanse the Valley with a mass sacrifice.¡±

    An eclipse was coming. The Prophets always knew when they''d come, but closely guarded the secret. This was really it. My entire life, visions of the Eclipse and the Prophet had loomed over me. Visions of my blood pooling on the stage as I died. I could not leave my people behind like this. I wouldn''t. I would save them.

    I closed my eyes. Burning washed over my entire body, out of my control.

    The ground beneath me darkened into wood planks. The dirt I stood upon looked like a layer beneath another. I shifted slowly into that place, caught between now and a future I''d long dreaded.

    No! Had to stay here. As much as I wanted to escape, going there was even worse.

    Fire that no one else would be able to see licked the tips of my fingers. The flames burned up my hands and over my arms. I winced in pain, holding back my scream.

    The Prophet¡¯s inky eyes stared into mine¡ªthere in the place that haunted me in my visions and here with my people now, the same eyes from two different times.

    The village snapped back in place. No flames. No heat or pain. I was among my people once more. A gasp shuddered my shoulders. The terror of a death that had loomed over me since childhood clawed for the softest parts of my soul, sinking into flesh torn open time and time again. As swiftly as I''d slipped into the future, my mind drifted, so the tightness in my body faded, the fear blurred, and I could hide so deeply within myself that no one would be able to see me. Not even myself. Couldn''t think about it. Couldn''t feel it.

    But I could survive. I could survive anything, no matter how it shredded me.

    My people needed me to stay strong.

    ¡°You will be a sacrifice to the gods,¡± the Prophet said. ¡°Then your people will go free.¡± He ripped the rope down and the thick canvas fell to the ground in a wave.

    There stood our people: the children, the elderly, the innocent. The young mother and her sons who lit the town lanterns every morning, the old man who loaded my bag with sweet bread when I went to train, the children¡ªso many children¡ªhiding beneath the arms of every adult. Our innocents stood with hands clasping one another, mouths closed obediently, tears shining against the red of the torchlight, though none of them dared utter a sound.

    And sweet Rune, clinging to his daddy on the stage, staring at Leif beside me, silently begging for their family to be put back together again. Begging me to keep my promise to protect them, always.

    Of all the lies I''d ever believed or told, this was the worst.

    Tears blurred my view of them. Beside me, Leif leaned forward, as if physically drawn.

    ¡°Step out of line, and it will be your people who pay.¡± The Prophet marched off the stage, abandoning us with his threat and our innocents out of reach.

    Fire smoldered within me with nothing to burn except my tender insides.

    I would kill him. No matter what it took.

    It would be a slow, miserable death.

 2. Plans

    Shackles rang like temple bells. Four warriors knelt in a circle on the dusty ground in the cell across from mine, shaking their shackles as they chanted in prayer.

    I wouldn''t break it to them that the gods had never been concerned with our suffering, despite that their endless supplication woke me every time I dozed off.

    "We have thirteen days left." Leif¡¯s gruff voice managed to soften the hardness of the dirt floor. ¡°Just thirteen before we¡¯re sacrificed at the eclipse. No one wants to spend it listening to this."

    He should leave them be. We were all terrified. I''d managed to numb myself to it while in this cell, like when I''d wash blood from my hands in the winter after a long battle. That was the most dangerous pain. The kind that was too damaging to even feel.

    It was also when I fought best.

    A draft crept in through tears in the thatched roof. I shivered. The jailhouse had cells lining both sides of a wide hallway. They¡¯d separated our eighty warriors into groups of ten with guards posted in the hall. Except our cell was the only one with a guard inside. One who''d brought in a sharpening stone and a leather bag of weapons, and, yes, tended to swords while we sat only a few feet away. Our shackles were linked and anchored to the ground, so we couldn¡¯t get close enough to steal his weapons. Still, daring.

    Our best were in our cell: the chief, her commanders, and her most trusted warriors. The Prophet may have been afraid to leave us alone without someone close enough to hear our whispers.

    The chief spoke with us now, using a code I hoped the guard wouldn''t decipher. It sounded as if she only speculated about why demons would work with the Prophet and how the gods would react. About what the holy ones on the Mountain of the Gods would do. The Prophet hadn''t used his own power against us, one of the only limitations the gods placed upon these leaders who had their divine powers. But he''d indirectly done so by having the demons attack. Had he made a pact to stop hunting them if they became his shadow army? The Prophet had made such a public spectacle of executing all the demons he found.

    Throughout the conversation, the chief''s index finger twitched with each word she wanted us to pay attention to.

    No moves tonight. We needed to plan. Needed to learn why the demons helped the Prophet and how many more there were. Should not give in to despair.

    Normally, Leif would have been in the thick of the conversation, but he only stared blankly at the ceiling. I reached for him and then stopped. No comfort could ease wounds like this. It would be better to focus on making my own plans.

    The Prophet of the Valley was the most powerful in Skia Hellig. Though the fjellfolk of the mountain and the Flatlanders proclaimed their Prophets to be the greatest, all Helligeans feared Eskel the Ruthless more than any others. I only had one option. Finally break this damn curse. Even with my power restored, the battle against the Prophet and his people seemed impossible. But I was not allowing my people to die here.

    When the instructors, thought of as holy ones by the common man, sealed my power, they forbade me from returning to the Mountain of the Gods where I had trained. To step foot there would mean certain death, they said. The gods largely left our world to its own devices, but my instructors claimed they would intervene in situations such as this. The moment I reached the Mountain of the Gods, it was possible they would strike me dead. I hated that place anyway and had no desire to return there. I''d been convinced I would find a way back to my power on my own.

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    But the mountain always had a way of energizing me. Over the years, the inklings of my power had grown, so that even though I could not wield it, I had managed to use trace amounts. The mountain could give me the boost I needed to push through this curse. If the gods tried to kill me, I would simply have to survive. What other option was there? I didn''t have time to waste trying to find my power. I had to return to my past and face the curse head on, even if it meant certain death. It would be better to die fighting for my people than at the hands of the Prophet in captivity.

    After what I''d done back then, though, the instructors and the gods would surely do all they could to finish me. My banishment had been the only mercy they would extend. As long as I lived life as a normal warrior and kept all I knew secret, they would leave me be.

    The Prophet of the Valley had defied the gods in his own way, though. It was possible the gods would allow me to fight for my people, considering the Prophet obviously had broken one of the only rules they bothered to give us. Prophets were not allowed to wield their power against those who had none. Were my sins really greater than his? But I wouldn''t waste a moment hoping for the gods to care when they''d proven to me there was only one thing they actually cared about, and it definitely wasn''t us. Not us, not truth, not right or wrong. They''d abandoned us with a power too great to handle and a world of deceit. No, they would continue to do nothing but watch the chaos they''d created. Nothing except maybe kill me for returning to the place forbidden to me.

    This was on me. I had to find a way to escape. I had to survive the Mountain of the Gods and use its energy to reclaim what had been stolen. It would require careful planning. The Prophet had been clear about what would happen to our people if we acted up. Would the chief even accept me leaving? I''d kept my past a secret, and she''d honored that, made sure everyone else did, too, but this was different. She would never accept what I was. Who could?

    Shackles clanked across the hall. I groaned.

    "The gods heard you!" Leif roared. "The whole world heard you. They just don''t care."

    Enough of this. I kicked the bars so they rang like the shackles. "Stop upsetting Leif."

    The guard in our cell pried his attention from his blades long enough to glance at me. The subtle smirk on his face made my lip twitch. He should be scared, not amused.

    ¡°Idiot,¡± I muttered. Though, I wondered if he was good in battle. He wore different clothes than the others, a light gray tunic that resembled what the Prophet''s warriors wore beneath their armor. In fact, he could be the opportunity I needed. What better way to plan my escape than to elicit information from one of the Prophet''s warriors? He could be valuable.

    If his weapons were an indication, then I''d guess he was. The hilt of the sword he sharpened looked perfectly shaped for his hand. The blade flexed beneath a careful strike against the sharpening stone. That was no ordinary weapon. It must have been expensive and crafted for him. Yes, this man wasn¡¯t merely a guard, but a warrior. A warrior who¡¯d proven worthy of such an investment. Mining operations were not advanced enough yet to yield all the resources we needed. That steel was precious. I had to try to get to know him.

    The sword wasn¡¯t very large, though. I was one of the shorter women in Denstar and even I had a larger sword. Odd.

    I studied his movements, trying to guess at his technique. Deft fingers gripped his weapon with the delicacy such a blade deserved. He was careful. And strong for having a slender, shorter weapon. Corded muscles wound up his long forearms, disappearing beneath rolled sleeves that were tight against his biceps.

    I¡¯d earned a second glance from him, which I figured was rare when he had a weapon in his hand. ¡°Need something?¡± he asked.

 3. The Guard

    Did I need something? Yes. Plenty, if he''d be willing to oblige. The Prophet''s secrets for one. I rose to my knees. ¡°Tell me about this blade.¡±

    A grin cracked his expression. He lowered it from the sharpening stone and truly looked at me. ¡°That¡¯s what was on your mind?¡±

    I twisted my brows. ¡°What else would I want with you?¡±

    My friend Wren snorted. Always ready for a laugh to help ease a crisis.

    The guard''s grin grew.

    ¡°Ah.¡± I blinked. He came into focus, not the warrior but the man.

    ¡°Ah,¡± he mimicked with a wry smile twisting his full lips.

    Dark brown wisps of hair fell over his forehead, as dark as the earth after a long rain. Noteworthy to some, but not nearly as much as his sword. Why should I be surprised at his arrogance when he was haughty enough to sharpen his blades in the same cell as ten of the valley¡¯s best warriors?

    I gave the guard a side eye, with my arms crossed tightly. ¡°You think too highly of yourself as a man. Your value is in that blade. Never forget that if you want to keep it in your hands.¡±

    ¡°Who would take it from me?" His eyes fell down my dirty tunic. "You?¡±

    I straightened. ¡°Easily if all you think about is your manliness.¡±

    ¡°Hm¡­ I take it you never let your womanliness distract you, not with all that mud twisted in your hair.¡±

    I touched the matted blond tangles atop my head that strained to break free of my bun. Oh, so, the bastard wanted a fight?

    But then a twitch of a smile managed to crack the heaviness of Leif''s expression. I knew him well enough to feel it wasn''t for the guard''s teasing, but for the memory that rose to my mind as well. Rune always brushed my hair in the morning while Leif complained about what a mess it was.

    I tried to focus on the guard who''d given me hope of befriending him. My body felt so heavy. "Why do you have a little sword like that?"

    He reached into his bag and pulled out an identical weapon, crafted for his left hand. ¡°It has a twin."

    I edged closer, forgetting about the shackles until the chain tugged against my leg.

    Leif sat up some. ¡°You don¡¯t use a shield, boy?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need one.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anyone use twin blades in battle," I said. "Only performance."

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    He turned to sharpen his sword again. ¡°Trust me. These are for battle. It¡¯s a shame you¡¯ve met my swords under these circumstances and not in the proper way or you would know."

    ¡°A terrible shame,¡± I said, not as facetiously as it sounded.

    ¡°If there¡¯s hope for you yet, I¡¯ll put in a prayer with the gods.¡±

    ¡°Don''t bother. My fate has been sealed for as long as I can remember.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like a sad tale.¡±

    ¡°An angry one, really.¡±

    Sparks flew from his sword as it struck the stone. "Perhaps, you''ll find a way for it not to end here."

    I looked for the other guards. Wasn¡¯t he worried they would hear? ¡°You don¡¯t think I¡¯m a heretic for rebelling against the Prophet?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re all heretics. That isn¡¯t the reason some of us are chosen to die.¡±

    ¡°What''s your name?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Nash.¡±

    ¡°Just Nash?¡±

    ¡°Nash the Unknown.¡±

    I let myself smile, grasping for the opening this guard had given me. ¡°The unknown¡­ Mysterious.¡±

    He sat back against the bars. ¡°There¡¯s nothing very exciting behind the mystery.¡± But his amber eyes told me otherwise.

    ¡°No one has to know it isn''t mysterious," I said quietly.

    ¡°I¡¯m sure prisoner isn¡¯t all you¡¯ve ever been called. What¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°Max the Sharpshooter.¡±

    ¡°Odd name for a girl.¡±

    I shrugged. ¡°Max or Sharpshooter?¡±

    He watched me for a moment, a slight smile hugging the corners of his lips. ¡°Max.¡±

    "My father named me after his father."

    "Is he the one who trained you?"

    Warmth from my father''s hands on a windy day flooded my palms like I''d slipped back to that time. His voice filled my ear, telling me to look up as he raised my hands to the black sun. Heat grew within me the darker the sun became, as if I''d stolen its rays myself. It was the first and last eclipse I''d seen, back when I lived in lands of mild winters and sweltering summers. The opposite of here. Even in the warmest times, it was still cold.

    "My father trained me first, yes. Then I trained with others." I chewed the inside of my cheek.

    Nash tilted his head. "Is your father alive? Or your mother?" He nodded at the others in the cell, settling on the chief, who I realized for the first time was watching me. ¡°In here with you?¡±

    I swallowed hard. Surely the chief would see the benefit of what I was doing. "No. Not alive or here. Yours?"

    "I don''t know. I''d like to think so."

    I anchored my arms against my knees. "Nash the Unknown¡­ You told me you weren''t mysterious. Do you really want to get to know me with a lie?"

    A curl fell over his left eye when he looked down. "I''d never lie to you, Sharpshooter. Not when you have a name like that."

    "Wise." I plucked my invisible bow and closed one eye, aiming between his eyes. "Might be the last thing you ever do."

    Nash''s eyes lingered on mine, and I could feel Leif watching us. Could feel his pain. I needed to plan an escape, and getting to know this guard could help. But I''d enjoyed this conversation too much. It didn''t feel right that I could feel such conflicted emotions at once. I wanted to retreat, only Leif and Wren were my circle. The people I''d have knelt and prayed with if any of us were the praying type. There wasn''t much time. My death beneath the eclipse had been sealed long ago, and soon it would be upon us. I had to save them from sharing in my fate, no matter what.

    And I''d start by using Nash the Unknown for my escape, considering he''d seemed eager to give me a warm welcome.

    Just had to make sure I didn''t enjoy talking to him. Had to remember that pain prickling skin numbed by the cold ran much deeper than I could feel.

 4. Enemies Everywhere

    "Up!"

    Leather boots kicked dust into my face. My comrades groaned at the soldiers rushing our cell, waking us from sleep. Except that I''d had another sleepless night of staring at the ceiling and nudging Wren every time she snored.

    I rose onto stiff legs.

    "What''s this about?" Leif spat on the ground. "We don''t die for another twelve days. Are you impatient?¡±

    ¡°Quiet,¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Line up!¡± A soldier jerked my wrist closer and slapped a shackle on tightly. I dug my nails into my palms to keep from lashing out.

    Soon they forced us all out of the jailhouse, taking only two groups of our best warriors.

    Twilight met us outside, a navy sky splashed with constellations of beautiful white lights. This far north, the sun only truly set for a few hours in the summertime. I loved the midnight sun, but I''d even learned to enjoy the endless nights of winter. It reminded me of things I learned in our science classes at the Sacred School, and I never wanted to forget those truths when so few in my world had the privilege of knowing anything like that.

    We continued down the path until we reached the courtyard, where the Prophet had stood on the stage yesterday, mocking us with our families held captive behind him. There, he met us again, alone this time.

    My skin crawled as I looked up into the face that haunted my nightmares and met me when time and space slipped between my fingers.

    I searched for any sign of where they might have housed our innocents, but the entire village was foreign to me. Knowing Rune was somewhere within the village walls both comforted and tortured me. How must Leif feel?

    The Prophet''s voice boomed like the night before. ¡°The Flatlanders are staging an attack. If we lose, your innocent fall into their hands. You¡¯ll fight with us.¡±

    That was why they¡¯d chosen a small, but effective group of our warriors. Easier to control fewer people. Beside me, my comrades scoffed, shackles clanking as they threw up their hands. But I stayed still. This was an opportunity for me to escape and return home to the Mountain of the Gods for help. If I could convince anyone back there not to kill me, that was. Besides, we fucking hated Flatlanders. They had tried to steal land from us for as long as anyone in the village could remember. I wouldn''t mind killing a few of them while I scoped out my escape route.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have messengers on rotation every hour," the Prophet said. "Any negative report and I will slaughter ten of your innocent.¡±

    Brutal. I would need to fake my death in battle then.

    The guards led us behind the stage to a row of sheds. My eyes widened when I entered one and found our weapons stashed in a pile. My shield stood out near the back of the shed, its red emblem burning like fire.

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    Others shuffled forward in their bonds but I stayed put, turning possibilities in my mind. If I seemed hesitant to fight, falling in battle could be more believable, because I wouldn¡¯t be at my best.

    ¡°Take up your shield.¡± A guard glared.

    I clenched my fists, playing through scenarios in my mind. It seemed better if I pretended to not be willing to enter this battle. Why let anyone know what I was thinking?

    Rough hands grabbed my wrists. ¡°Take your shield, woman! Your spear!¡±

    I slammed my bound hands against him. ¡°Why should I fight for my enemies?¡±

    Nash entered beside me, a spear in each hand. ¡°An enemy of your enemy is not your friend in this valley.¡± He held one out to me. ¡°Fight for your fellow prisoners, not us.¡±

    Our gaze met as I wrestled internally with turning the spear on the man near me and fighting for my people to escape now. Foolish impulse. Without my power, the Prophet would use his to kill me in a second. I knew that. Still, it tempted me.

    ¡°Will I fight in bonds?¡±

    Nash took my wrist and lifted my hands between us, hesitating once he¡¯d pushed the key into the lock. ¡°The Prophet is not a forgiving or patient man. Promise me that you¡¯ll be wise when I release you.¡±

    ¡°Why do you care?¡±

    No answer. He unlocked the shackles and peeled the coarse metal from my tender skin.

    Quickly, I turned for my shield and then found the familiar hard leather of my armor, fingers gliding down to the stitching from Leif''s repairs over our last training session. Finally, I¡¯d feel like myself again. I pulled it over my tunic and sighed.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my bow?¡± I asked the guards when I walked outside.

    ¡°You won¡¯t need it,¡± a guard said.

    ¡°If you want to live I do.¡±

    ¡°Give it to her,¡± Nash said.

    The guard groaned and stepped into another shed, beckoning me. Nash must have held some sway to get the man to listen to him. I''d picked a good person to get to know.

    I entered the shed and my breath caught. There it was. The beautiful smooth arch of the bow that had saved my ass more times than I could count. It had been thrown carelessly on the ground with dozens of other bows. I could take out a lot of these fools with this.

    We gathered outside before the stage where some of the Prophet¡¯s warriors now talked in groups. Others were joining us, outnumbering us five to one, and that wasn¡¯t counting the guards. Several warriors gathered my people into groups of five and gave us cloth bags with the most basic of supplies. Water, bandages, a small sharpening stone. A guard lit lanterns that circled the courtyard. The Prophet must have needed to spare electricity. The show from the night before may have been a special event, meant to intimidate us.

    Foolishly, a warrior separated me from Wren and Leif. They might have thought it would make us easier to manage, but it only weakened their war party to jumble our usual formations.

    ¡°This is your squad for the battle.¡± The woman was tall, taller than many of the men in the courtyard. ¡°Stay together and follow my lead. I¡¯ll be your commander."

    As she spoke, a feeling came over me, similar to the sensation of being stared at, only much more intense.

    I straightened. Felt her before I saw her or heard her. The haze of power emanated from the temple like heat from a raging fire. It called out to the dormant power trapped within me so I thirsted for it like a woman dying of dehydration. Still it was a mere pinprick of what I''d felt when our village was attacked.

    ¡°A demon!¡± Warriors and guards alike shouted.

 5. Slipping

    By everyone''s surprise at seeing a demon, I knew the Prophet had not let people in on the secret of his little shadow army. He''d kept his use of demons quiet. I twisted, not bothering to take out my weapons like most of my comrades did. She darted across tree limbs in a flash.

    ¡°Don¡¯t stand there!¡± One of the Prophet¡¯s warriors pointed. ¡°Subdue her!¡±

    Daring if she wasn''t supposed to show her face. The Prophet clearly didn''t want his cooperation with demons to be public knowledge.

    The torch flames erupted, spewing smoke into the night sky. The guards cried out and aimed their weapons aimlessly, trying to follow the rustle of leaves.

    Chief Kaid held up her hand, signaling for our warriors not to engage. I swallowed hard.

    The woman they called demon leapt into view, jumping from branch to branch, gracefully bouncing on the balls of her feet. Leaves rattled behind her like maracas. As she circled the courtyard, the smoke danced with her motions, swirling about us.

    A harmless trick. Enough to frighten and distract. Demons needed their tricks around the Prophet, though. People said the gods gave power to the Prophets and that the demons stole it for themselves. In reality, they were both the same. They both had been given the technology at birth to use their powers. The only difference was who the world accepted and who the world rejected. Prophets trained at the Sacred School and were honored. Demons were outcasts. The gap in power came from Prophets having the best training. That was all.

    Nash called out from the center of the courtyard. ¡°Ignore her. She¡¯s harmless.¡± He looked through the cloud of smoke with a steady stare. It said a lot about a person to see them react to power. He was more experienced than a common warrior. And the others listened to him, warily looking at one another as they lowered their weapons.

    Had he been involved with the demons who captured my people? Hate coiled around my heart. This woman might have been at the village during the attack. And what about Nash?

    He waved his hand at her. ¡°Come down before the arrows start to fly.¡±

    The leaves clashed. She jumped from the branch and flipped on her way down, landing on her fingertips and toes like a cat. Smoke rose from her as if something deep within her burned. And when I looked at her dusty ash eyes, so darkly red as to verge on black, I thought something really might be.

    She waltzed to Nash, clearing the air between them with the flick of her hand. Anger flashed in her eyes and rippled to the torches that beat like a heart.

    With the attention on her, I eased closer to Nash, not wanting to miss any exchange between them.

    A snarl curled her lips. ¡°I¡¯m not here to play with you, Nash.¡±

    ¡°Sure.¡± He tilted his head. ¡°This isn''t you playing."

    ¡°I hadn¡¯t even noticed you were here.¡±

    ¡°I told you not to make a scene again. The Prophet won¡¯t be happy.¡±

    Her gaze wandered down him, her lips forming a pout. ¡°You¡¯ll take care of him for me, won¡¯t you?¡±

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    I raised my brows.

    Nash shook his head. ¡°What are you up to?¡±

    ¡°I heard about all the fun you¡¯re about to have with the Flatlanders and your captors. Couldn¡¯t miss it.¡±

    If the Prophet wanted her to be discreet, why had she put on this big show?

    ¡°This is taking it too far, Flare. We can talk in private.¡±

    She backed away. ¡°Well, I¡¯m really not here for you. Calm down.¡±

    When Flare turned, her eyes locked on mine through the gaps in the crowd. The flames of her stare burned through me. A little smirk crossed her face. My heart froze.

    Then she moved on, waltzing straight through the smoke toward the temple.

    I couldn''t move. Did she know who I was? What I was? Was that why she¡¯d put on this big performance? She wanted to get my attention. Tell me I couldn¡¯t hide, even. Maybe it was a threat to reveal the truth about me. Or she was calling me weak for not having my power when she pranced about openly using hers.

    I wouldn¡¯t let her insult me, much less threaten me. ¡°Calm down,¡± I whispered to myself, touching my chest. My thoughts swam. I had to find out more about her, immediately.

    Huffing, I cut through the last of the crowd for Nash. He watched Flare as she ascended the temple stairs.

    ¡°You have interesting friends,¡± I said, struggling to keep my voice calm. Alienating him wouldn''t benefit me.

    ¡°She stops by from time to time, usually in the shadows.¡±

    ¡°The Prophet rendezvousing with a demon. Imagine that.¡±

    ¡°Officially, the Prophet executes every demon he gets his hands on.¡± Nash lowered his voice. ¡°But he shows mercy to our spies.¡±

    Anger rose within me. Of course. The demons were his spies. If they were adept at suppressing their power, they would be able to hide among normal people like me. They could be anywhere. No telling how long they had been doing this work for the Prophet. That didn''t explain why Flare was flaunting her presence, though. "Doesn''t seem like a good idea to make the boss mad."

    "Flare is unpredictable."

    He knew more. I could see it in his eyes. He understood why she would do something that seemed to make no sense.

    I narrowed my eyes at Nash. A woman with power who worked for a demon-hunting Prophet was about as low as a person could get on my list. And Nash seemed to be the only one in the courtyard who knew Flare. He was involved in the Prophet¡¯s shady dealings somehow. Maybe even helped capture my people.

    This man was dangerous.

    ¡°Unknown,¡± I said, voice as icy as Flare was bright.

    His attention turned to me fully now, eyes serious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t play games with a Sharpshooter.¡± I eased closer, so the others wouldn¡¯t hear my threat. ¡°There¡¯s nothing more dangerous you could do.¡±

    ¡°I already told you.¡± He leaned in too, voice so quiet I could hardly hear him. ¡°I know better than to lie to you.¡±

    ¡°What you should know is I¡¯m not easy prey.¡± My lips curled in anger. ¡°I¡¯m the fucking hunter.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m counting on.¡±

    What was that supposed to mean?

    I backed away, eyes narrowed to slits. I felt trapped.

    Flare hadn¡¯t picked me out of the crowd by accident. She saw through me. What I was choosing to hold back. Nash saw something in me too. What if they both knew my secret? My plan felt impossible as it was. Failure wasn¡¯t an option. I couldn¡¯t let the Prophet kill our innocent.

    Heat flashed through my palms. Had to calm down. Had to before I slipped. The air around me turned cooler, thinner, like a fall day back on the Mountain. My breathing came in short spurts. The harder I tried to catch myself, the more I lost myself.

    Hands gripped my shoulders. A voice in my ear. Leif. "Lean on me." He held me up. "You''re having another spell. It''s okay, Max. I''m here."

    What if I slipped to the Eclipse again? A timeless, inescapable prison.

    The heat zipped down my spine and Leif slipped through my fingers. It all slipped through my fingers. The Prophet''s village melted from my sight and then my memory.

    I stood outside my dorm in the Sacred School on the Mountain of the Gods.

 6. Sacred School

    One day, I would leave this place and never look back. I picked at the gunky residue on my temple from the electrodes. My head ached from the solid hour the technicians made me spend pushing rocks through obstacle courses with my mind. The harsh lights in the all-white testing room made it hard to focus. At least I was done for the weekend.

    I walked past the door to my dorm and continued for the glass door at the end of the hall, trailing my fingers along the pale blue wall. The color was supposed to make it feel like a home. Like children lived here. None of us had been children for a long time. As much as I hated the all-white room, I preferred its bright walls to this lie.

    I''d been here since Dad died. Almost five years already. I''d sworn I''d make it out by now.

    One day¡­

    I sighed and walked out into the courtyard.

    ¡°Up here!¡±

    Piercey. I bit down my smile and looked up to the tree branch where he sat twenty feet up.

    ¡°What are you waiting for?¡± he asked.

    I looked at the trunk. No low branches to climb. ¡°I¡¯m tired. They had me doing puzzles today.¡±

    ¡°Ch-ch-chicken.¡±

    I jolted forward, focused the warmth inside me on the muscles in my legs. I jumped higher than I expected and faltered when my foot hit the trunk. Crashed to the ground. ¡°Ouch¡­¡±

    ¡°Weak,¡± Piercey said. ¡°You can do better than that, Max.¡±

    I tried again, but didn¡¯t make it halfway to where I had before. On my third try, I kicked off the tree and grazed the closest branch with my fingers.

    ¡°Damn it!¡± I ran for the tree, jumped, kicked off, and caught the branch with both hands this time. Grinning, I focused on my arms and heightened my natural strength as I pulled myself up.

    Piercey caught my arm to help me the rest of the way. ¡°I was starting to worry you wouldn¡¯t make it.¡±

    ¡°Is this your sly way of telling me I need to train more before Monday?¡±

    ¡°Not sure it¡¯s sly, but yeah.¡± He nudged me with his elbow. ¡°We can¡¯t win our competition without you. You have to be ready. If our class wins, we get out of cleaning duty for a month.¡±

    ¡°What about you? Why does it all have to be on my shoulders?¡±

    Piercey rolled his eyes. ¡°You know why. You just want to hear me say it.¡±

    I grinned and wiggled my legs dangling off the branch. ¡°Come on.¡±

    A side-eyed glance and then he muttered the words. ¡°You¡¯re better at combat than me.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right I am.¡± I patted his back. ¡°But you¡¯re basically a healing prodigy, so don¡¯t feel too bad.¡±

    ¡°Gods. Your ego¡­¡± He took an apple from his pocket. ¡°Saved one for you. It¡¯s the sweet kind. Not the nasty ones that taste like nothing.¡±

    ¡°Cool.¡± Juice pooled in my mouth when I bit into it. "Mmm."

    ¡°If the instructors hear you picking up slang from your shows, they won¡¯t let you watch them.¡±

    ¡°The instructors can kiss my ass.¡±

    He sighed. ¡°You should stop watching so much tv and train more.¡± His voice quieted. "I''m tired of seeing you get hurt."

    ¡°Please. The better we get, the more pain they throw at us. Besides, I love to train. I get sick of doing it alone.¡±

    "Well, you¡¯re in luck, because I¡¯m ready to be your partner today.¡± Piercey pulled his bag off his back and took out his tablet.

    I squirmed. "No. I said I would train, not study."

    "Studying is training. You won''t get good with heights until you understand the concept enough to manipulate it. Like what we were learning about gravity¨C"

    I crossed my arms. "I''m not in the mood to play school. I¡¯m sick of the instructors cramming their shit down our throats.¡±

    "You''re talented. Smart. There''s no reason you can''t do this. You just don''t want to take anything from the gods, even their knowledge."

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    I wanted to say that I¡¯d take any resources from the gods if he would agree to escape with me. Piercey had been here two years longer than me. He should have been breaking the walls down. The mountain guard had killed everyone who ever tried to leave without approval. Piercey had panic attacks just talking about it. He didn¡¯t see that together, we could do anything.

    "They''re not gods, Piercey."

    "This again."

    The words burned on my lips. I wanted to plead with him to leave. Sure, we all ended up here for a reason. Our power had hurt people and we needed help controlling it. But they weren¡¯t controlling our power. They were controlling us. I didn¡¯t think I would like who they wanted me to become.

    Resentment sharpened my voice. ¡°They abandoned our world while they live in a utopia. So, no, I don''t want the scraps they toss at us. I don''t want to pay the price that comes with it. I''m my own person." I smacked my chest. "Mine. I don''t belong to them."

    Piercey tapped the base of my skull. "Your implant does."

    My nostrils flared. "Watch yourself, Piercey."

    "This power isn''t magic, Max. It''s science. You''re wasting your potential if you refuse to study, whatever your reasons are. It''s a shame to not become all you could be out of spite."

    "Send the stupid research to me if it''ll shut you up."

    His voice was quiet now. Hurt. "I want to help, Max."

    "I didn''t ask for it." I met his eyes. "But you''re still by far the best person on this mountain. Okay?"

    He chewed his lip.

    "Piercey, come on." I poked his ribs. "I''m sorry."

    He swatted me away but I poked him again.

    "Let me see." I grabbed the tablet from him. "Quantum mechanics and the conscious mind¡­ A key to the potential of the neural implant." I lowered it. "I''m falling asleep already."

    "Keep reading. This one is good. It talks about how consciousness can affect particles in the superimposed state, and how we can even manipulate gravity with our implant. That''s your problem. You strengthen your muscles but you need to learn how to bend gravity to your will instead."

    "I''ll read it and practice. I promise."

    He smiled but it looked tense. "You know, Max, I''m sucking this place dry for everything I can learn. It pisses me off that it''ll be me soaring past you one day, when you could get there twice as easy."

    I hated losing. Normally the suggestion would enrage me, only Piercey was different. He didn''t see it, but he was better at fighting the gods, even though I wanted it more. I settled my hand on his knee, voice soft. "You''re more than you see. You deserve it more than I do."

    His eyes fell to my hand. I tensed inside. It didn''t happen often, but sometimes, the way he looked at me changed. Normally, it started like this. A touch. Getting too close. Why did I do it when I wasn¡¯t sure how I felt about the look that followed? I started to shift away from him when dizziness nearly knocked me from the tree. I grabbed Piercey for balance.

    Everything around me flashed to twilight. I gasped, my eyes opening wide. It was night. Night even though it¡¯d been day. A crowd surrounded me, dressed for battle, and a man held me tight.

    Pain exploded through my arm and my back. Lights flashed.

    Blue sky opened over my head like someone had turned the sun back on. I was lying on the ground in the courtyard.

    ¡°Max¡­¡± Piercey pushed my hair back, eyes wide. ¡°Say something.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m okay¡­¡± I groaned and looked at my crooked arm. ¡°But I think I broke something.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to get healed.¡±

    ¡°Kelvin is going to be so mad. He healed me last week.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Piercey carefully helped me to sit up, supporting my arm. ¡°I¡¯ve got you, Max.¡±

    ¡°I slipped again.¡±

    ¡°I saw,¡± he said.

    ¡°No¡­ Like, I was in a different place again. A different time. A courtyard somewhere. I can¡¯t remember the rest.¡±

    ¡°You need to talk to Kelvin about this. I haven¡¯t heard of that happening to someone before.¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Don¡¯t say anything. Please.¡±

    ¡°Your power is messing with time and space. Doesn¡¯t that scare you?¡±

    ¡°Everything scares me.¡± I looked down at my arm. ¡°I¡¯ve been scared so much in my life, I can¡¯t feel it anymore.¡±

    A film fell over my world, thickening, until the grass beneath me faded to stone. Again, already? I tried to hold onto the world around me but I couldn¡¯t grasp it. Piercey¡¯s arms blurred into those of the man; his voice mingled with the other.

    ¡°Max.¡± Both of them spoke it at once. The boy and the man. Piercey and¡­

    ¡°Leif?¡± I touched my head. My world came crashing back down.

    "It''s okay." He kissed the top of my head. "You were only out for a minute. Our people covered you."

    It¡¯d been a long time since I¡¯d slipped like that. An even longer time since I¡¯d gone back to the mountain. At least I hadn''t traveled to any of the bad times there. Every time I traveled there, the feeling of unrealness would linger with me and I had to remind myself that even though nothing in my world was as it seemed, we still mattered. I normally managed to not think about it. Would have to fight it off now.

    This wasn¡¯t good.

    "I haven''t had one in nearly a year¡­" My skin tingled with pain. The time slips always burned so badly. "Shit." I squeezed my eyes shut. "My medicine. I haven''t thought about it once."

    "That''s because you only think of others. Never yourself." Leif''s voice was hard, but his expression, his eyes, couldn''t have been softer.

    "We should have thought of it for you," Wren said. "It got left behind when we were captured didn''t it?"

    I nodded. "I didn''t realize I felt this bad. I was pushing it off."

    Wren took my hand, lacing her fingers with mine, her presence as loud as Leif''s tendency to shout at me when he wanted to help me.

    I hated this weakness of mine. I drew back from them, my arm still aching from the living memory of breaking it. "If I stay calm, it won''t happen."

    "It''s okay, Max. We''re with you."

    I glanced around. That couldn''t happen again. Not with that demon picking me out of the crowd. I breathed in deeply and relaxed my muscles, willing calm into my body.

 7. First Battle

    The Prophet''s horses kicked up a cloud of dust as scouts took off to survey the battlefield. They''d chosen a massive field half a day''s ride from the nearest village. From here, the distant mountains loomed over the valley from all sides. The tallest peak looked like clouds swelling on the horizon, frosted white against the blue sky.

    Leif and Wren stood on either side of me, ready to catch me if I had another slip. The spell hadn''t lasted long the night before and I''d told them I was fine. But they didn''t listen. Truth was, I wasn''t. The longer I went without my medicine, the worse this would get.

    When my anxiety was treated, I felt unbreakable. That assurance was just who I was. Without my medicine, my thoughts slipped from my control. Made me shaky inside, like I wasn''t even myself. Piercey had created the treatment back in the Sacred School after he''d studied anxiety. The day I''d escaped, he whispered to me to check the massive hollow of our tree, the one just outside the barrier of the Mountain of the Gods. He whispered it as I begged him to come with me and he promised to always love me.

    Every year I found the bags of pills waiting for me. It was how I knew he was still alive. Still on the mountain. Had kept his promise to love me still. I''d never asked for any promises from him, but then I hadn''t asked Leif or Wren either. If Piercey had escaped with me, he would be a part of our circle too. He was still, in my heart.

    The hurt tingled in my chest.

    Leif drew his sword and inspected it. ¡°This is not the blood my sword thirsts for.¡± He snarled as his eyes tracked the Prophet¡¯s people mingling with us as if we were one and the same.

    "Don''t think about it," Wren said.

    I took a tin of black war paint from the pouch on my side and brushed it beneath Leif''s eyes like I did before every battle. When I clasped his shoulder and pressed my forearm to his chest, he grabbed my wrist. Settled his forehead against mine.

    ¡°My flesh,¡± I said.

    ¡°My blood.¡±

    I smacked his chest. "This is for Rune and Arn. Remember that."

    His eyes misted and tears thickened his voice, but he still roared his words as he always did before battle. ¡°Give them hell, Sharpshooter."

    We both shouted as we pushed away, knocking against our group of twenty warriors. They all joined in, our cries ringing out, swallowing the galloping hooves and the warriors preparing for battle. We belonged to one another, the same flesh and blood, because that was what we¡¯d vowed to one another.

    I clasped the head of one of our commanders, Beast. ¡°My blood!¡±

    He held my forearm against himself. ¡°My flesh!¡±

    Wheeling around I raised my fist and thrust my arm against a hard chest. ¡°My¡ª¡±

    Nash stared into my eyes, war paint absent from beneath his eyes. My people were the only ones left in the Valley who still donned it from the days before the Prophet had conquered the valley.

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    I drew back.

    ¡°My blade is yours today.¡± He cast a look over our small group. ¡°All of yours.¡± His eyes paused on Chief Kaid''s and then turned to mine.

    My comrades watched Nash silently. We couldn¡¯t be fooled by his well-wishes. Still, I raised my shield in response. If there was any chance I could get him on my side, I¡¯d take that victory, no matter how sick I felt from the worry that he might have helped capture my people. It was only all the more reason to pull him close.

    He grinned, drawing both his blades. The sun glinted from his armored forearms.

    We moved into formation and I was thankful to have distance from Nash. Hot sun baked the sweat into my neck as I waited. I glanced behind me to the Mountain of the Gods. Piercey would have been training for nearly a decade without me. And he was so smart. If I could survive the journey and find him, he would help figure out how to unlock this power. I had to make it there.

    I''d shared my idea for escape with Leif and Wren. They''d tried to talk me out of it, but we''d worked out a plan to make sure some of the Prophet''s warriors saw me fall in battle. Leif would take my bow as evidence, because everyone knew I''d never give it up. And I''d escape while the battle still raged.

    It still felt risky. What if the Prophet suspected me and killed someone in retaliation?

    I didn''t have long to dwell on the worry. The battle began like an eruption from a volcano. The Flatlanders moved first, sprinting at us with weapons raised, bodies bounding forward like the waves of the sea. The first shot of energy jolted through my limbs as I tensed my muscles. My body moved on instinct, no longer stiff with worry, but lithe with the hunger of battle.

    I sprang toward the enemy alongside our warriors and the Prophet''s alike.

    I ducked beneath a swinging sword. Stabbed my spear into the groin of the man attacking. Ripped it free.

    I rushed past before he¡¯d even collapsed. Continued to attack with ferocity, forgetting about everything except each slash, each clash, each thrust of my weapon. Blood soaked through my boots. Streaked my arms. Pooled at the nape of my neck.

    I needed to act soon. The battle had sufficiently distracted everyone, so I worked my way toward Wren, veering away from my group steadily enough that it didn''t look purposeful. It would be easy to claim I''d gotten caught up in the fighting as I took on one enemy after the next.

    I was nearly to Wren as she kicked a Flatlander down and stabbed his side. That was when I saw him. Nash slicing his twin blades in opposite directions, severing a head from its neck. He used the momentum to follow through with his swings, slicing through an arm on the left and across a back on the right. Beautiful. He fought with grace, not wasting a single motion.

    Nash was deep in the enemy¡¯s swarm with no one to watch his back. His comrades must have fallen as they pushed through. Was he so arrogant as to be this careless with his life? Or too ambitious for his own good?

    I side-stepped a Flatlander and ducked beneath a wayward swing from a young enemy warrior, whose round eyes made him look driven more by panic than strategy. I skidded to a stop beside Nash and jabbed at one of his attackers, forcing her attention onto me.

    Only then did my mind catch up with my body. Should I have come to Nash''s aid when he could end up being a terrible enemy? What if he had worked with the demons to attack us? No second guessing myself. In battle I had to listen to my instincts and they''d driven me to Nash''s side. Enemy or not, he seemed useful.

    Another Flatlander swooped low with his sword, but Nash stomped the blade into the ground and simultaneously sliced open his neck. I bashed my shield into my opponent''s face in a spray of blood and rammed my sword deep into her exposed gut.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Nash pivoted on his heel and pressed his back against mine. "What''s your plan?"

    We turned in a slow circle as one, eyeing Flatlanders whose stare locked on us. "Kill the Flatlanders, obviously."

    "No." Nash parried an attack, issued a clean strike across a man''s throat, and knocked back against me. "To escape."

 8. Warnings

    My breath caught at Nash''s question. At the same time, a Flatlander stumbled back from a hit she''d deflected several feet away and spun around to face me. I ripped my dagger from my side and planted it against Nash''s right kidney between our backs, all while I slashed for the woman in front of me.

    Nash didn''t turn, but I heard his breathing slow.

    Keeping my blade on him, I kicked the warrior in her gut when she clumsily attacked. Her body slammed back into the blade of her first opponent.

    I gritted my teeth. "I warned you¨C"

    "I couldn''t tell you with so many listening. The Prophet wants the head of any captive who falls in battle to prove you didn''t flee. Be smart."

    I withdrew my knife from his back. How did he know what I planned to do? It was a desperate, obvious plan, wasn''t it? One that I couldn''t chance now that Nash suspected it. I''d have to find another way.

    Two Flatlanders wearing helmets with black feathers pushed through their comrades for us. Another with a red feather approached from further back. We¡¯d been noticed. Must have been commanders coming to deal with us.

    "You''re warning me?" I asked.

    The closest officer sprinted for us, sword raised above her head.

    "I''m not who you think I am." Nash ripped his blades up.

    "We''ll see."

    I dropped my weapon and shield.

    Whipped out my bow and notched an arrow in one fluid motion.

    The commander reared back for a long, full stab of her blade. But I trusted Nash¡¯s blades and I aimed my arrow for the Flatlander charging right behind the commander.

    Nash slammed both his swords down against hers and knocked her weapon free of her grip. My arrow shot through the open mouth of the unsuspecting man. As Nash wrenched his swords back up, I¡¯d already notched another arrow, and we followed-through at the same time.

    Nash''s blades thrust through the officer''s diaphragm.

    My arrow pierced a Flatlander''s throat.

    Nash defended against the Flatlanders closest to us, while I shot for those who had turned toward us. Though I''d lost my power, I''d worked to salvage the inklings of it that could come as instinct. I unleashed two arrows at once, guiding them with my will as much as my aim.

    Someone behind me. I threw myself to the ground, rolled off my shoulder, and rose back up with my shield, ducked entirely behind it. Even with my whole body propping up my defense, the whack of the sword drove me onto my ass. I rolled with the momentum and came up on my feet, batting away another hit with my shield.

    Nash rushed for my attacker, but I¡¯d grabbed my sword, and I deflected the next hit, leaving the man open. We both stabbed him at the same time.

    The red-feathered commander pushed a young warrior aside and hefted his battle ax, eyes shifting between Nash and me. With his other hand, he lifted a large spear, and threw it through the air.

    Nash slashed it in half and pivoted for the last commander. I shifted onto my toes. Two Flatlanders sprinted from behind him and drove their blades for Nash.

    The ax flashed in a glint of the sun. I ducked and jumped backward.

    More Flatlanders surrounded us. The fear of it only sharpened my senses as I dodged another blow.

    ¡°Max!¡± Wren burst out in front of me and swung for one of the Flatlanders nearby, protecting me so I could focus on this opponent. Leif was close behind, taking down Flatlanders on his way to us.

    No time to check on Nash. Had to hope he was holding up okay.

    I parried a hit, but just barely. This man was good.

    The red-feathered commander drilled into my eyes with a glare. "You''re Denstar."

    "Yeah, and you''re fucked." I swung with both hands on my blade for the extra muscle and knocked his ax down an inch.

    An amused smirk twisted his face. "What coward fights for Eskel the Ruthless?"

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    Heat flushed my cheeks. My gut. "Can''t pass up the chance to kill Flatlanders." I feigned a slash and slid on my knees, catching his thigh with the tip of my sword when he dodged.

    "Die a coward''s death," the commander cried. He bore down with both hands on his ax.

    I didn''t dodge. Didn''t block. Stuck my blade through his elbow, twisted, and sent the ax barreling into the ground beside me. The handle grazed my shoulder.

    My heart pounded as I jumped to my feet and sliced his head clean from his shoulders. Blood pooled around the red feather. I caught my breath and checked on Wren and Leif as they fought three Flatlanders. More of my people had pushed in to form a perimeter around us. Gasping to catch my breath, I twisted further, searching for Nash. There he was, outside of the area my people had cleared, taking on two at once. Nash¡¯s blades danced so elegantly that his fighting looked choreographed.

    I pushed past Beast and ran for him.

    Nash thrust his blade behind his head and caught an attack. He struck the hilt of the other''s sword with his right sword. Swiftly, he lunged forward, twisted his wrist to lock his sword against the warrior''s handle and threw his weight against it, breaking the man¡¯s guard. He¡¯d already swung his other blade back up to deflect another hit from the woman behind him.

    He was mid-twist, slinging his right sword up from a low position and his left over his head, behind himself, when both weapons embedded into flesh. The Flatlanders slid off his blades and onto the ground.

    I slowed, having just reached him.

    Sweat dripped down the side of his face.

    ¡°Are you hurt?¡± Nash asked, glancing down my form.

    ¡°No.¡± I nodded at his bloodied swords. ¡°Just watching the show.¡±

    He wiped his forehead with the crook of his arm, his amber eyes almost golden in the sun. ¡°You put on a nice show of your own. And you had my back.¡± Nash pulled a cloth from his pocket and offered it to me. ¡°I owe you.¡±

    "Be more careful. You''re good but still mortal." I took the cloth and cleaned my bow, only considering once it was too late that it might have been meant for my face. Touching my cheek, I realized I was covered in mud and splatters of blood. Nash''s eyes were on me, a smile on his face, in a definite sign that he¡¯d noticed.

    My cheeks warmed. I chuckled and wiped my face next.

    "I''ll be marginally less conceited." He shrugged. "If you start caring for yourself as much as your bow."

    I chuckled and backed away.

    I needed to tell Leif and Wren about my change in plans. Mostly, I needed some distance. We had only moments before we would need to battle again.

    <hr>

    We battled hard together, pushing through until we reached the back of the enemy forces. There I peppered the enemy with my arrows. By the time the Flatlanders figured out what we were doing, it didn''t matter. We''d gained too much ground. My arms felt too heavy to even lift, and yet I fought on fiercely, until I had to search for another warrior to kill.

    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± Leif nodded at the forest where the last of the Flatlanders escaped into the trees. ¡°We won.¡±

    The thrill swept through me in a wave of energy. I thrust my blade in the air and roared from my depths, a cry that swelled in my stomach and my chest in pressure. Leif caught my wrist and cried out with me. We fell back, laughing as we lowered our weapons.

    It wasn¡¯t that we didn¡¯t care about the people dead at our feet. Blood mixed with dirt into a gelatinous paste that sucked at our boots, refusing to release us from the battlefield. With each step, we broke free, and that was something to celebrate. We would live another day. Having so precious few left only made me want to roar again. The rest¨Cthe sorrow, the guilt, the questioning¨Ccould wait until later.

    I gathered with my circle beyond the battlefield where the grass was still green and untrampled. The young attended to us as if we were also the Prophet¡¯s own warriors. Leif took a basin of water from one of the boys and carried it to our group.

    I wet a rag when the grass crunched behind me.

    ¡°Any injuries?¡± a familiar voice asked.

    I turned, cleaning the blood from the nape of my neck. Nash stood before me, sweat glistening over his bare chest, dark with dirt and streaks of blood. From what I¡¯d seen, it all belonged to the enemy.

    ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± I said and angled away to avert my eyes. ¡°You?¡±

    ¡°Same.¡±

    It was nothing to see a man without his armor or shirt. I¡¯d spent countless days and nights after battle with the men stripping down to nothing. It was so commonplace as to not notice. So noticing now made me burn with embarrassment.

    Nash turned to grab a washcloth from the basin of water and I noticed a flesh-colored tattoo weaving down the length of his spine that looked like scars. It was a script. Beautiful letters twisting and climbing up his back like vines. He turned back around before I could figure out what it said.

    Leif threw his tunic on top of his armor, completely naked, as was his habit given his hatred for under shorts. He washed himself with his damp cloth, apparently without an ounce of self-consciousness in front of mixed company. Of course Nash probably didn¡¯t think a thing about it. I wasn¡¯t sure why I was.

    ¡°You fight like a damn demon.¡± Leif looked over my shoulder to Nash. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d say something like that to one of you, but I have to admit it.¡±

    Nash took a cloth from the basin on the ground and cleaned his face. ¡°If I fight like a demon then you fight like one of the gods down here among us.¡±

    Leif grinned now and lifted his leg to wash his thigh. ¡°And what would that make Max?"

    Nash eyed me. ¡°How is it I haven¡¯t heard of you before?¡±

    ¡°Maxy takes great care not to become a legend. She¡¯ll let everyone take credit for her.¡± Leif straightened and rolled his neck. ¡°But make no mistake. She¡¯s the best of us.¡±

    Nash nodded at me. "Sharpshooter. Better than a god or a demon."

    It was dangerous talk. This talk of demons and gods. Of things I¡¯d tried to leave behind. Had to leave behind.

    The past tugged at me in a burn at my fingertips. The Mountain of the Gods seemed to swell in size. I couldn¡¯t slip.

    ¡°I¡¯m just a warrior.¡± I threw my rag down into the water basin. ¡°Like everyone else.¡±

 9. Promises

    The sun set on us drinking with the Prophet''s warriors, though it had risen with them guarding us. Tonight we were all free. All comrades. We''d bled together and that meant something around here.

    We¡¯d returned to camp where rows of tents formed a circle around the common area. The cooks had set up tables with fruits and cheeses and even some dried meats. Most importantly, they¡¯d brought plenty of barrels of ale, which had drawn everyone out to mingle, whether our people or the Prophet¡¯s. I grazed the sampling, picking a handful of berries from a wide wooden bowl.

    The sun fell into a blanket of soft pink clouds beside the Mountain of the Gods. Over the years, I¡¯d managed to forget that I didn¡¯t belong in this Valley. I belonged on that mountain that loomed over us. Belonged to the place I hated most. My people now paid for the lie I''d told myself, because I hadn''t done everything I could to defeat the Prophet.

    But tonight there was drink and my wrists were free. Why waste an evening of peace ruminating on thoughts like these? On the coldest nights of winter, we never would shun warmth. I scooped my mug into the barrel and sighed after drinking. Much better.

    Plucking the tie from my dark blond hair, I loosened my braid, my freshly washed locks like silk between my fingers. One of the Prophet¡¯s warriors had given me a flowing white dress that hugged my waist and loosely clung to my shoulders. I''d earned that gift, apparently, after so many witnessed how I fought. Another reason it would be hard to escape.

    Joy I had no business feeling bubbled inside me. Perhaps because my mind couldn''t grasp that I had mere days left to live. Every hour felt as the ones before it had. Passing. A tiny sliver I could redo again and again.

    I scooped another mugful of ale and found Leif and Wren lounging on the ground with a group of our people. Their cheeks looked warm from the drinking, and the loudness of their voices told me they¡¯d had quite the head start on me. I would have to catch up.

    I wedged between the two of them and breathed in deeply. It seemed strange that we could drink while our people were held captive. Perhaps we knew that the Prophet''s people were watching and that they would see strength in our camaraderie. They would know we weren''t easily broken and it was a mistake to take us on. It was that way for Leif, at least. He would never show the enemy an ounce of sorrow or fear. Only wrath or rebellious joy in the face of devastation.

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    I took his hand and squeezed it tight.

    Nothing needed to be said. We¡¯d slept under the same roof for years. Leif would know that I¡¯d just made him a promise, one to protect him and his son and his husband. That our freedom tonight filled me with joy and dread simultaneously, because I had no idea how I''d escape. We no longer needed words. He was my brother. Not the kind born of the same blood, but the kind reborn in it.

    Leif shook me. ¡°Max the Sharpshooter! Get her something to drink. She saved all your asses today. You know it¡¯s true.¡± He belted life into our group, into me. He was distracting himself and the rest of us, and I could only be thankful.

    Beast smacked me on the back so hard it felt like my bones buzzed. ¡°She almost killed as many Flatlanders as me.¡±

    I rolled my eyes.

    We recounted the battle, our words twisting more into fantasy than truth. Chief Kaid listened, quiet, but smiling in that strained way of hers that told us she''d hold the pain for us so we could enjoy the night.

    I was hanging back to watch the group for a moment when I heard Nash''s voice right behind me. "I hardly recognized you."

    Turning, I managed a smile. "Who could blame you? I''ve been wearing dirt like a second skin."

    "You did have hair beneath that mud." Nash snagged a strand, his gaze lingering long enough to elicit the sharp patter in my chest.

    "You have a way with your insults."

    He shrugged. "Maybe I like you in your second skin."

    As dangerous as Nash was in battle, he was even more dangerous like this, all cleaned up with his curls full and framing his face just right, his smirk making him look more self-assured than most people had any business being. I nearly retreated on instinct. Was he trying to manipulate me? I would sooner die.

    Leif stepped away from his conversation to head for me when Beast, juggling an armful of mugs with frothy ale that sloshed over the top, stopped right in front of him. Just as Leif tried to step around him, I saw his eyes shift to the left. Chief Kaid shook her head in disapproval. Worry clouded Leif''s eyes as his jaw noticeably stiffened.

    Nash nodded at the barrels of ale. "Want to get drunk, Sharpshooter?"

    Chief Kaid had turned her gaze to me. She was giving me approval to befriend Nash, showing me she trusted me, needed me. Leif didn''t want me to get hurt, but he should have trusted me, like the chief did.

    With my focus on Nash again, I hardened my resolve. This man was my enemy and he could try to manipulate me all he wanted. I''d get to him first. "I really do."

 10. Differences

    On our way to the center of camp, I glanced down myself quickly and sucked in my stomach. It didn¡¯t take very much for me to pack on muscle or fat. And I always had both, no matter how much I trained. I¡¯d never been thin like Wren. Her long, graceful body looked built for dancing. I always thought I must have been born for war. Some men liked my curves. Some liked Wren¡¯s long and elegant line. I wasn''t sure what Nash liked. Whether he was pretending to gain information or if he was different like he claimed.

    Half a mug later, I had to remind myself to be worried about it.

    "Your sword technique is beautiful," I said. "I''d kill to face off against you."

    "Is battle all you think of?"

    "I guess you¡¯re still thinking only of your manliness."

    He ran his hand over his mouth, grin wide. "Such a ruthless woman. But I would love to shoot like you. I¡¯ve spent so much time on sword-fighting. I need to work on other skills.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± I settled my mug on my lap. ¡°If you teach me a thing or two about your swords, I¡¯ll return the favor.¡±

    ¡°Would you?¡±

    ¡°Of course.¡±

    I was shocked when Nash hopped up, disappeared for a few minutes, and returned carrying two swords and my bow and quiver. A laugh slipped from my lips as he grabbed my hand and led me out to the grassy field beyond the tents.

    "Someone''s going to fire on me if they see this." I tugged on his hand and slowed our pace.

    "You''ll be fine if you''re with me."

    "Why is that? Why do they listen to you?" Couldn''t waste a chance to get information from him.

    "Same reason your people listen to you. Alright." He tossed the swords on the ground and passed my bow to me. "This looks like a good spot."

    I hesitated. "You aren''t worried I''ll turn this on you?"

    "You''re not careless. It would be too dangerous for your people if you attacked anyone."

    He had a point. "Well, that''s true. I also can''t kill you before I learn your technique."

    "Funny," Nash said dryly.

    I lifted my bow with an arrow notched and drew the string back so my hand nestled against my pillow of hair. Released. "Feel the air around your bow. See how it will flow around the arrow."

    Nash moved closer. Touching his fingertips to the bow, trailing down its spine until his knuckles brushed my shoulder. My breath caught in my chest.

    ¡°We fought together brilliantly today." Nash''s voice lowered. "You and me together, we could kill him.¡±

    A jolt of shock hit me. He was manipulating me. "Are you playing games with me?"

    "This isn''t a trick." Nash grabbed my shoulders, holding me firm. It shocked me to silence. "I¡¯m your best shot at taking the Prophet down. Just like you¡¯re mine. The woman I saw in battle today would never surrender. Fight with me."

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    The air was shifting. Waves of heat swelling around me until my skin burned. I had to stop or I''d get sucked in. Would slip to that terrible place where the fire melted my skin.

    I ripped away from his grasp. ¡°Why would you kill the Prophet?"

    ¡°I want to be free.¡± Desperation laced his words. ¡°Don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°So stop fighting for him.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t. He''s forced me to fight for him the same way he forced you today.¡±

    I held my bow against myself. ¡°You were captured?¡±

    ¡°He conquered my village years ago, just like all the others. Not everyone living in his village chose to. Some of us were forced to."

    ¡°You¡¯re a great fighter. Escape.¡±

    ¡°I have people too. You think you¡¯re the only one with someone on the line?¡± Nash shook his head. ¡°The Prophet will never let me go. Don¡¯t be surprised when he spares some of your warriors and makes them fight for him permanently.¡±

    ¡°My people would sooner die than serve your Prophet.¡±

    Nash snorted. ¡°That¡¯s why you battled for him today, then, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    I caught a hold of his collar and jerked myself up closer to his height. ¡°We¡¯ll free our people and then we¡¯ll go after the Prophet. We¡¯re not waiting around for years for someone to save us.¡±

    ¡°Will you?¡± He pried my hands off him. ¡°If you can¡¯t fight now, what makes you think you¡¯ll be able to later? The Prophet conquered the entire Valley and forced us all into his service.¡±

    "We''re only doing this until we can save our people." The pity in his eyes only reflected how foolish I felt as I said the words. This was probably what the warriors of every village the Prophet had ever conquered said. But this was different. I was going to escape. "He has the children." My voice broke. "Rune. He has Rune. Leif''s son." I clawed at my throat as images of him tightened my vocal cords. I''d forced myself not to think of him, hadn''t I? Just as I forced myself not to see him in the village at first. "I promised him I would protect him."

    Nash nodded, looking heavy with the weight of the pain I carried, as though he truly carried his own as well. "The Valley is full of people who feel the same. You think we haven''t tried? That we all just gave up once he came for us?"

    "We''re different." I had no proof to back it up. Couldn''t even pretend to have a good argument. I just needed it to be true, because the alternative was unthinkable. Living in service of the Prophet like Nash was unthinkable.

    "Your village held out longer than most. That¡¯s all."

    My fury nearly got the best of me. The only thing that saved him was the truth of his words, because as angry as it made me, I couldn¡¯t punish him for my weakness. I had so far failed.

    I stared at Nash. "How do I know you¡¯re not actually working for the Prophet right now?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to help you escape. That¡¯s how you¡¯ll know.¡±

    The words could have been a punch to my gut. They hit me that hard. "What?"

    ¡°I searched the battlefield for someone who looks like you. I didn¡¯t find anyone, but I¡¯m going back before dawn while everyone in the camp sleeps. We''ll stage a death. You try to escape and I''ll pretend to kill you. I can talk the Prophet into not taking retribution for your disobedience.¡±

    I crossed my arms, brows furrowed. There had to be some trick here.

    Nash sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve had countless plans fall through over the years. Your people gave me hope. When I saw you in battle today¡­¡± He ran his hand through his hair. ¡°We can do this.¡±

    It wasn¡¯t true. He didn¡¯t understand the extent of the Prophet¡¯s power. If he helped me escape though, I could return to the Mountain of the Gods for my power and free my people, free the entire Valley, from the Prophet. So I wouldn¡¯t tell him how hopeless his plans really were or that I¡¯d never be able to assassinate the Prophet with this bow, no matter how good of a shot I was.

    ¡°Okay,¡± I said.

    Quiet settled between us, a stark contrast to the raucous noise of the camp. I couldn¡¯t imagine how it would feel to have to fight for the Prophet for years. If Nash told the truth, then it only gave me more reason to fight. I''d been far too narrow-sighted while hiding amongst my people. There were so many stories in the valley I''d never taken the time to learn.

    I studied him. ¡°Who is he holding against you, Nash?¡±

    Pain burned in his eyes. Such deep pain that I couldn''t imagine he faked it. His voice sobered. ¡°My daughter.¡±

 11. A Dream I Cant Remember

    Shock smacked me. Nash had a kid? I snapped my mouth shut when I realized I was slack-jawed. Nash was old enough for a kid. Of course, he was. I had no idea why it surprised me. Well, maybe because he hadn¡¯t once mentioned one. And he didn¡¯t seem like a dad. Not with all the flirting. That didn¡¯t really make sense though, did it? Dads could flirt. I just hadn¡¯t expected this.

    ¡°You¡¯re surprised,¡± Nash said.

    ¡°I¡­ Yeah, I am.¡± If the Prophet had his daughter, then Nash was just like Leif. And Leif would do anything for Rune. Anything. This didn''t mean I could trust Nash, no matter how my heartbreak flared as empathy for him, or for how desperately I wanted to offer him comfort. If he truly suffered as we had, how could I treat him coldly?

    ¡°How old is your daughter?¡±

    ¡°Four. She lives in another village with her mother.¡±

    He didn¡¯t offer any more information and I didn¡¯t think I should pry. Except, I had to pry a little. ¡°So what¡¯s up with you and Flare if you have the mother of your child out there somewhere?¡± Or maybe I¡¯d pry a lot.

    He snorted. ¡°The mother of my child is bound to another man."

    "Bound? Not just married?" In marriage, our people vowed their lives to one another, and breaking such a promise would dishonor life here. But being bound meant vowing the next life to one another, joining the gods in death as one soul and not two. It could not be broken. Doing so shamed an entire family, community, the gods themselves.

    "Her family is very pious," Nash said. "As is his. Being bound absolves her of dishonoring the sanctity of life by creating it so carelessly."

    The words made my stomach ache for him. Nash was the sin from which the mother needed to cleanse from her soul. It was common to have children outside of marriage, but not for pious families. "What sin did the man she''s bound to need to absolve?"

    "Choosing the Prophet of the Valley to swear his life to." He shrugged. "No one will speak it plainly, but he clearly regrets this decision."

    I would want to absolve myself if I gave my life to the Prophet. Just as we could bind ourselves to another, we also bound ourselves to a community, and the most devoted did so to their leader as well. If breaking the bond between two lovers meant an eternal disgrace, doing so to your people or leader all but ensured damnation. And execution. No doubt about that.

    Of course, I knew better than to believe any of it, but it was all my people knew. Though I didn''t share their faith, I respected their conviction

    "Anyway,¡± Nash said. ¡°I¡¯m not with Flare.¡±

    ¡°Only sometimes.¡±

    ¡°You sound jealous.¡±

    ¡°You wish.¡±

    He smiled. ¡°Maybe I do.¡± Nash nudged my bow. His attitude unnerved me. ¡°Are you going to teach me, or not, Sharpshooter?¡±

    ¡°Not for free.¡±

    ¡°I have lessons of my own to offer.¡±

    My heart fluttered at his low voice. "So¡­ You teach me a thing or two about your sword technique and I''ll fix your shitty bow skills."

    "Oh. That''s how you want things to be then."

    Time passed almost as quickly as our ale. I guzzled the last of mine, threw my mug high into the air, and whipped my bow up. Even with the dizziness of drink, my arrow whizzed through the air smoothly, the iron tip glinting before striking its target. Glass shattered and disappeared.

    I passed the bow to Nash. "Why is the Prophet working with a demon like Flare when he has disciples?"

    He threw his mug and aimed. The shot went wide. ¡°Damn.¡± He sighed. ¡°Demon spies are better than human spies."

    I cringed internally at the words demon and human. The neural implant was the only difference between those with power and those without. It was dangerous to think of demons as more than human, even if they were hunted by Prophets. That was how it started, hurting people less powerful. I worked hard to watch myself for those thoughts that could be so hard to root out. "Why the demons, though?"

    "Disciples are too well-known to do the job.¡±

    Nash had spoken far more openly with me than I''d expected. ¡°Do you know how many?¡±

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    He grabbed another arrow. ¡°No. The Prophet doesn¡¯t trust me. I only know because of Flare.¡±

    ¡°Has she told you much?¡±

    ¡°Just that she isn¡¯t the only one. She controls information tightly. A keeper of secrets.¡± Nash''s mouth tightened into a line. "Flare carries the whispers of the gods. I''ve heard she can even share their dreams of what will one day come to pass. She''s learned how to steal powers from the gods that no demon ever has."

    My stomach twisted as he spoke. Rumors abounded but Nash didn''t strike me as the type to believe in silly stories. "She''s been right about the future before?"

    "Several times that I know of." He shook his head as if ridding himself of thoughts of Flare and then settled my bow on the ground. He collected the swords he''d gathered earlier.

    "Drunk sword fighting." I snorted and accepted the weapon he offered. "What could go wrong?"

    Nash stood sideways to me, blade at his side like an extension of his arm. "Well?"

    I lunged forward, but Nash snapped toward me fast as a cobra. I scooped my sword and dodged his advance on the balls of my feet to avoid opening myself up to him.

    His eyes caught mine through the snap of our blades.

    "You know killing the Prophet won''t be enough." I grunted with effort when I knocked away his strike. My world slid off kilter. "The disciples have to go too."

    "None are as ruthless as the Prophet." He pushed me into a defensive position. "Even if one of them takes over, it''ll be better."

    "That''s wishful thinking." I smashed my heel against his diaphragm, forcing him back a step.

    His brows raised but I didn''t waste time pretending. I was this competitive. This hard-headed. I brought my blade down hard.

    Nash sidestepped, slipped behind me, and brought his sword up around me. Before he could get too close, I drove my own weapon up as a wedge between my body and his. He grabbed my hand over my hilt, carefully tilting my own sword to the vulnerable crook of my neck. Now he was just toying with me. I clenched my teeth.

    His breath washed over the side of my face, heavy from our scuffle. One hand over mine, the other wrapped around me holding his sword, we stayed like that for a moment. The steel of my own sword faintly kissed my neck.

    "I win," he whispered against my ear. My skin tingled.

    I broke free and turned on Nash. "Again."

    I''d never faced someone so skilled with a sword. Fire burned in my stomach. I threw myself into my offense.

    "We can''t kill the Prophet and disciples at the same time." Nash deflected my strike easily enough that it shot a flash of anger up my spine. "Flare might help us make a deal with one."

    "Any disciple who works with the Prophet can''t be trusted." I shook my head. "Same for demons."

    He caught my foot and knocked it out from under me, ripping my sword from my hand as I fell. On my way down, I twisted and slammed my leg into the back of his knees. He buckled and caught himself on his hands.

    "Then how do we kill them all?" he asked breathlessly as he twisted for me.

    I bashed my elbow into his side and wrestled for control of the sword he''d stolen me from.

    "Shit." He snorted as we both held on tight.

    Dizziness had my head spinning. ¡°Wait¡­ I need a second."

    Nash tapped his fist against my shoulder in a teasing hit. ¡°I think that means I¡¯m winning, then.¡±

    I slammed my knee into his side and shoved him hard with my forearms. We both toppled over, where I wrestled with the spinning world around me to push him back down. ¡°Think again¡­.¡± I pounded my fist against his chest.

    He abandoned his swords on the grass, locked his arms around me, and flipped me onto my side.

    I jabbed my thumbs into the pressure points below his collarbone.

    "Ow." He pushed my fingers away. "Okay, a second. At least one."

    His arms went limp and I dropped my hands, both of us falling onto our backs.

    My legs were still tangled with his longer ones. Neither of us moved. I rolled my head to the side, opening my eyes to his. "I might be able to get help from some friends."

    "What kind of friends can kill seven disciples?"

    "All you need to know is that if I can escape, I might be able to pull it off."

    He twisted my way. "I''ve been honest with you." His voice was low. Eyes searching mine. "It could get me killed. I deserve answers too."

    "Maybe. We don''t always get what we deserve."

    I expected anger but a sly smile crawled onto his face. "Ruthless, again."

    My eyes fell to where his chest edged my arm. This man was definitely up to something. I just didn''t know whether it was the ordinary pursuits of a man or something more sinister, and I didn''t want to be played for a fool.

    "I might just be drunk¡­" Nash said. "But I have that strange feeling I get sometimes.¡±

    I swore I drew in water instead of air. "What?"

    ¡°I feel like I know you from a dream I can''t remember." Serious eyes belied the twist of his lips in a smirk. "That sounds crazy, doesn''t it? Sometimes that feeling is so strong I swear it''s real."

    I breathed in deeply, heart pounding. Rune and our other innocents were held at the Prophet''s village, and I had no idea if my escape would work. Actually making it to the Sacred School seemed even more impossible. And I was laying here with this man as if I had any idea how to gain the upper hand in a battle like this.

    "I do know that feeling," I said. "I hope you don''t plan to betray me, Nash the Unknown."

    "I hope you don''t plan to betray me, Max the Sharpshooter."

    We looked at one another long enough that I knew I needed to get some distance before I made a mistake. Pushing myself up and then rising to my feet, I only gave him a furtive glance. "I better go back before Leif and Wren worry."

    He stood as well and nodded. "Goodnight."

    "Night."

    Though I backed away, Nash didn¡¯t leave or set his eyes elsewhere. He kept looking at me with that smirk back in place, so brazen, and so confident. If he¡¯d ever felt self-conscious a day in his life it didn¡¯t show one bit.

    Very dangerous. I could not let myself trust him.

 12. Surprises

    Nothing dared impede the sun''s rays from the face of the gods. Eons of dazzling light saturated their human memories and made them forget the beauty of golden sunlight breaking through the edges of black storm clouds. When they looked upon the storms of our world, it was not greatness nor evil which flashed in their hungry eyes, but the breaking of boredom.

    The gods'' stares found me in my dreams. The god actually. The only one I''d ever met. She spoke of hope on top of that mountain. Hope that what the gods learned from our world could save others. To this day, I only saw the breaking of boredom when she looked upon my suffering.

    Her eyes flashed and I jolted from my sleep.

    It''d been more than a dream. The sensation was undeniable. It felt like Flare, only at least ten of her, raging hot as a wildfire.

    I wrapped my hand around Leif¡¯s mouth in our tent and held a finger to my lips. His wide eyes found mine. "We''re under attack."

    Leif didn''t need an explanation. He woke Wren and they followed me out of the tent in a crawl. In the dim of night, a soft breeze feathered through the grass we¡¯d trampled during our party last night. The platters, now empty of food, remained on the tables undisturbed. Empty barrels lay on their sides just as we¡¯d left them. Leif looked at me quizzically, but I didn¡¯t question myself. Someone was here.

    Wren nudged me. A woman slinked through the shadows, carrying what looked like a dagger, and disappeared into a tent that housed some of the Prophet''s warriors.

    I crept forward when a rush of heat engulfed my body, so strong I thought for sure I¡¯d slipped again to the eclipse. An incredible force ripped me off my feet, straight back between the tents. Leif and Wren only had time to turn before I¡¯d lost sight of them. I reached my hands forward silently as my body flew through the air.

    Tree branches snapped against me. The force jetted me through the woods and slammed me onto the ground in a clearing. Leaves and twigs scattered in a cloud of dirt. I groaned and pushed myself onto my forearms.

    Flare stood before me, eyes glowing like embers in the darkness.

    I didn¡¯t have time for this. The camp needed help. Without giving her more than a glance, I jumped to my feet and sprinted for my people when I slammed into an unseen wall. Pain splintered down my face. Damn it.

    ¡°It¡¯s not time to leave,¡± Flare said.

    I turned back to her. ¡°Let me go.¡±

    She burned away the space between us with her fiery gaze. ¡°You can¡¯t run from me. You certainly can¡¯t hide from me.¡± She strolled to me and breathed against my cheek. ¡°Demon.¡±

    I clutched her wrist. ¡°What do you want with me?¡±

    She plucked my fingers from her wrist and pried herself away with a haughty chuckle. ¡°Dear Max¡­¡±

    How did she know my name?

    Flare sighed, as if she pitied me, or didn¡¯t want to deal with me. ¡°You think you can win any battle if you want it badly enough. That¡¯s the curse of the naturally gifted. You don¡¯t understand failure.¡±

    I grabbed her throat, driving her back, fingers digging into her slender neck. ¡°I asked you a question.¡±

    Flare clutched my arm with a broken gasp. Flames erupted from her palm against my skin. I gritted my teeth and held tight, nails cutting into her now.

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    ¡°Answer me!¡± I screamed in fury and pain. With the smell of my own skin burning, I could have sworn I¡¯d slipped to the eclipse, the flames of that day licking my fingers. I dropped her and smothered my arm with my tunic. There was no time for this. My people could have been dying.

    Coughing, Flare backed away from me, drawing her fingers back from the bloody claw marks on her throat. Fear shone in her glassy eyes. I saw all that I needed to in that one look. This was no warrior. Just a woman who wasn''t prepared to face death.

    ¡°You¡¯re afraid of me.¡± I snorted. ¡°Looks like you¡¯re in over your head.¡±

    ¡°Someone at the Sacred School should have taught you manners.¡± Her eyes flashed down me. ¡°They raised a barbarian.¡±

    How did she know about that? The only demons who should know about the school were the ones who trained on the Mountain of the Gods. There were only two routes off that mountain. As a Prophet or dead. As far as I knew, I was the only one to ever forge a new path for myself and it had nearly killed me. Flare didn¡¯t look like she could survive at that school, much less make it down the mountain.

    My voice came out like a growl. ¡°Who are you?¡±

    Flare covered her neck with her hand and wrapped her other arm around herself. ¡°That¡¯s not your concern. Be a good girl and listen for once. I¡¯m trying to save you from yourself.¡±

    ¡°You really must want to die today. Let me go. I have to help my people.¡±

    ¡°This entire region is in shambles. This sorry excuse for a society keeps producing unruly children like you. Barbaric, angry, violent fools.¡± She raised her chin. ¡°You¡¯re better than this. Instead of wasting your life fighting against me, help me make this valley a safe place to live.¡±

    A laugh erupted from my chest. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±

    ¡°Max.¡± She bit off the word like a mother chastising her child, only she didn¡¯t look that much older than me. ¡°It can¡¯t have been easy growing up with all those visions of your death. The eclipse is only ten days away. There¡¯s so little time for you to redeem yourself. Focus."

    Nash had called her a keeper of secrets. My heart beat wildly. ¡°I don¡¯t trust a word you say. I should kill you now.¡±

    Flare eased closer with her hands raised as if she approached a feral animal she hoped to keep calm. ¡°With what power?¡± She clasped her hands in front of herself. ¡°Even if you could, it would be unwise. I¡¯m the only person who can save you. You and that sweet little girl of Nash¡¯s.¡±

    I coiled my hands into fists. ¡°If that¡¯s a threat against a child¨C¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not a monster.¡± Flare sighed. ¡°You and Nash are the ones putting her in danger. The Prophet of the Valley is not the only one you have to worry about. There¡¯s plenty of world beyond this valley and changes are coming. Follow my lead. I¡¯ll keep you and Nash on track.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not following you anywhere.¡±

    ¡°It never works. What good came of your rebellion on the mountain? You should have stayed at that school and become a Prophet. You could have made a difference by now. Instead you¡¯re playing mortal with this little tribe of yours.¡±

    Rage coiled tight fingers around my heart. ¡°Whose side are you on?¡±

    ¡°There are no sides. You¡¯ll understand that when you finally grow up.¡±

    I swallowed hard. ¡°Don¡¯t act like you know me.¡±

    ¡°But I do know you. I know you very, very well, dear girl.¡±

    That feeling struck, the same kind Nash had talked about in the field. The familiarity of a dream I couldn¡¯t quite remember. The sweat on my neck turned cold.

    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Flare walked closer, holding my eyes. ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s afraid now. You should be as long as you¡¯re not on my side.¡± She cupped my shoulder with a strangely gentle grip. ¡°Don¡¯t lash out. I know that¡¯s your instinct. Think it through. Make the right decision this time.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t draw in a breath. ¡°What, exactly, do you want from me?¡±

    ¡°I told you. I want you to help me bring peace. As long as we''re ruled by one person, it will always fall to the worst rulers. The only kind of people who can take control of so many is someone who we don''t want controlling anyone. Look at our highways. The roads were paved so that everyone could travel freely and safely. It was meant for trade and growth. Instead, they''ve become paths of war. The people should be in charge of them."

    "How is it that you have the support of the Prophets when you''re against them?"

    Flare smiled. "You think I tell them that? I only give them the truths they want to hear."

    "A guarantee that you''re only giving me the truths I want to hear."

    A smirk cut into her serious expression. "You''re quick on your feet."

    "That''s why I know to never trust anyone else who''s quick on theirs."

 13. Evolution

    Passion smoldered in Flare''s eyes as she leaned forward. "You''re educated. You know that the world doesn''t have to be so bloody and hopeless. Your instructors taught you that there are worlds beyond ours.¡± Flare watched me intently. ¡°Ours is so young. Once it was time for us to grow beyond little tribes that massacred each other for meager power. Now the reign of the Prophets must come to an end. Tribes must give way to nations.¡±

    I blinked. ¡°Social evolution happens in its own time.¡±

    ¡°Why does it have to work that way? Do you want to spend an eon slaughtering one another?¡±

    ¡°World peace sounds great, but you¡¯re delusional if you think whatever you¡¯re doing in the darkness will lead to that. Who are you here for today? The Flatlanders or the Valley? Will you save my people or watch our enemies take us away?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re still thinking too small. I¡¯m not here for the Flatlanders or your people. I came here for you. The distraction at the camp gave me the perfect opportunity to talk to you.¡±

    For the last eight years, I¡¯d focused solely on the Prophet as our great enemy. Whoever this woman was, regardless of her claims that she wanted to help us, might prove to be even worse than him if she had any way of making her plans a reality. I didn''t trust her for a moment to bring peace. ¡°Tell me what you know, please. I need to help my people.¡±

    "I know you must plan to return to the mountain for help, because you''ve left yourself no other options. Gather your allies and work with me to free these lands from the Prophets."

    It might have sounded as though we wanted the same things, but I knew from the games Flare played with the Prophet that we had very different ideas about what kind of world we wanted to live in. "Let me guess. You won''t talk until I deliver."

    "Of course not. Now, take Nash with you. I trust him. He''ll be an asset to you and he''ll ensure my interests are remembered."

    If this woman trusted him, then he couldn''t have been the man I hoped for him to be. "Fine." Not. No way I''d do anything she wanted. "Now leave, so I can save my people." I would never ally with her. She reeked of trouble.

    "Okay, then." Flare took a step back. ¡°I¡¯ll find you when the time is right.¡±

    ¡°How could you possibly find me?¡±

    ¡°I have the eye of the gods. I can find anyone in the world at any time.¡± She touched her neck and frowned at her bloody fingers. ¡°Now, be good. I¡¯ll be watching.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t speak. As glib as she sounded, I recognized a threat when I heard one, and I knew to take it seriously. Something was very much not right about Flare.

    ¡°Oh, and take care of Nash,¡± Flare said. ¡°I¡¯m fond of him.¡±

    She flashed a smile and vanished. I stumbled back, searching the area. I¡¯d seen demons move with incredible speed, but that wasn¡¯t what she did. One moment she was here and the next she was gone. Not even my best instructors could do that. It shouldn¡¯t be possible.

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    I pressed a hand to my stomach, staving off the nausea. What the hell?

    No. There was no time for panic or confusion. The camp was under attack and with Flare gone, there was no one to stop me from returning.

    I hiked through the trail of snapped branches Flare had dragged me through with sweat popping over my brow. She shouldn''t have taken me so far away. What if I was too late? Their names swelled in my throat. Wren! Leif! I had to clamp down on my teeth to keep from crying out for them.

    The smell stung my nostrils first, and then heat flooded the air. Fire. I sprinted through the woods to the field and skidded to a stop. Flames consumed the tents, clawing for the clear sky overhead, the camp glowing red and hot.

    I threw myself to the ground to crawl low, despite how my mind screamed at me to run as fast as I could for my dearest friends. My hands ripped away clumps of grass each time I dragged myself forward. Before I even reached the perimeter of camp, the fire had started to eat into the surrounding field. Sweat doused my body from the heat.

    I caught a glimpse of the center of camp through the tents. The flames crashed over the area as if hitting an invisible dome. Panic tightened around my heart again. Dozens were tied up in the center of camp.

    Chief Kaid sat among them, blood running down the side of her face.

    Damn Flare for taking me away. Tears sprang into my eyes.

    Where the hell were Leif and Wren?

    The grass rustled behind me. I climbed to my knees and twisted with fists ready. Nash faced me, his finger pressed to his mouth.

    ¡°How did you get away?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°I left to find the body on the battlefield. I saw the flames in the distance.¡±

    How awfully convenient.

    ¡°What about you?" he asked. "How did you get away?¡±

    Should I tell him? He might offer information. I decided it was worth the risk. ¡°Flare took me.¡±

    ¡°Flare? Why?¡±

    ¡°Trying to recruit me.¡±

    A flicker of emotion flashed in Nash¡¯s eyes. Concern, possibly. Frustration. Perhaps fear. Whatever it was, he didn¡¯t seem happy about what I¡¯d told him. I couldn¡¯t begin to guess at what this meant to him when apparently I knew absolutely nothing about what was going on.

    Besides, I wasn¡¯t ready to believe his story and that deserved my attention. He may have known this attack was coming. The offer to help me escape could have been a cover the entire time. The heat of anger rolled through me, but instinctively I knew I shouldn¡¯t show him I was suspicious. If he was trying to fool me, I might have a chance to catch him off guard by pretending I believed him.

    Even so, I wasn¡¯t ready to stay by his side during this attack. I started forward but he grabbed me.

    ¡°We should do this together,¡± Nash said.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to figure out what I plan to do, much less explain it to you.¡±

    ¡°Unless you plan to take on ten demons and a small army by yourself, I¡¯m guessing that you¡¯ll run.¡±

    I clenched my fists. Ten demons? Were there really that many? ¡°Where¡¯s Leif and Wren?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±

    Sometimes, when I was desperate enough, I could scrounge the meager amount of power it took to listen for my friend''s heartbeats. Straining, I heard nothing, until finally I quieted my thoughts.

    I heard the soft patter near the trees, further down from where I¡¯d been taken. One of the hearts sounded so faint. I nearly ran for them but stopped myself. I couldn¡¯t let Nash know.

    ¡°This is where I last saw them.¡± I combed through the grass to pretend to search. ¡°There¡¯s tracks. Stay here and watch my back.¡±

    He nodded.

    I rushed for the trees in a crouch. A boot hung out past a patch of thistles. Tears filled my eyes. Leif¡¯s body sagged against a tree with Wren holding onto him with bloodied hands. Arrows stuck out from his chest, covering his shirt in splotches of blood. Three in total. He must have come after me and gotten chased through the woods. Damn it!

 14. Save Them

    Wren''s face twisted with grief. "Max," she whispered.

    "I''ve got him." I squeezed his hand. "Go be a commander."

    Wren was the best tracker we had. She''d follow the Flatlanders and watch for an opportunity to help our people.

    "Stay alive," Wren whispered. She kissed Leif''s head. "We need you."

    Wren grabbed me in a quick hug and took off for camp.

    "Alright." I stared at Leif, overwhelmed. I had to stabilize him and move him. What if I could reach more of my power? I''d never come close to the amount I would need to help stop the blood loss. But I had to try.

    Leif¡¯s eyes opened as I placed my hands on his chest.

    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± He grunted through gritted teeth. ¡°No, Max.¡±

    I froze.

    ¡°You never said¡­ So I never asked¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°I may not know your reasons, but I do know this. You never use your power.¡±

    ¡°Leif.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve known you too long not to know, Max."

    ¡°I can''t use it," I whispered. "It''s a curse. Sometimes, I can catch the smallest amount. So, quiet. I¡¯m not letting you die. I have to find a way to do this.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll be okay.¡± He smiled at me like he could possibly calm me or placate me.

    ¡°Rest and let me work.¡±

    ¡°Leave, Max. It isn¡¯t safe.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving you.¡±

    He clutched my wrist with a warm, bloody hand. ¡°This is your chance to escape. That was your plan.¡±

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    I dug my nails into my palm. ¡°Not without you!¡±

    ¡°You have to. Save them... Save Arn and our little Rune. Please, save my family.¡±

    ¡°We will save them.¡±

    He breathed out slowly and then he belted out a roar. I fell back, eyes bulging.

    ¡°Come kill me, you cowards!¡± Leif screamed it.

    ¡°Stop it!" I clamped my hands over his mouth. "I can take you away and stabilize you when we¡¯re far enough.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t last that long.¡± Leif grabbed my hands and pulled them down to his chest. ¡°I love you, girl. Go make us proud.¡±

    ¡°No¡­¡±

    Hands grabbed at me from behind. Strong grasp. Nash. I hadn''t even noticed him approaching.

    ¡°Leif!¡± I reached for his hand as Nash pulled on me.

    ¡°Just go," Leif whispered harshly.

    ¡°Come on.¡± Nash tugged.

    ¡°Get her out of here." Leif stared past me with hard eyes. ¡°Hurry!¡±

    Nash caught my wrists and pulled my hands against my body, wrapping me up in his arms. He lifted me from my feet as he rushed deeper into the woods.

    I tried to wrench away but Nash was too strong. I couldn¡¯t budge. Teeth gritted, I kicked his shins, slammed my head back against his neck, managed to rip an arm free as he coughed. The fire that consumed our camp burned within me. All of it. I twisted and punched Nash in the jaw with all my strength.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± He dropped me and grabbed his face. ¡°Max!¡± I¡¯d hoped he would give up, but an arm that felt as unyielding as steel locked around my waist and ripped me back against that hard chest of his.

    That was an insanely hard hit. Had I used some power for that? There was no time to figure it out or to fight with Nash. I had to rescue Leif. Boots pounded in the field, drawing closer and closer.

    Desperation and fury tore my mind in two.

    ¡°Stop¡­¡± Leif reached his hand for me like I had when Flare dragged me through the woods. ¡°Goodbye.¡± He smiled.

    Peace flooded me. Peace from the knowing look on Leif¡¯s face. He¡¯d made up his mind. It melted the anger within me into sorrow. Tears gathered in my eyes. A sob wrenched from my chest.

    ¡°He¡¯ll be alright.¡± Nash¡¯s voice whispered in my ear as he secured my wrists again. ¡°The demons can keep him alive. They''re taking prisoners. You saw that. Your people are alive. They''ll want Leif. He''s valuable."

    Footsteps near the woods. I had to be quiet or they¡¯d hear. I fell listless as Nash carried me away, Leif¡¯s body blurring in my teary eyes.

    ¡°We''ll save him,¡± Nash said. ¡°The smart way.¡±

    As the ground raced beneath my feet, it blurred, and it twisted, and it tore in two. The slipping swept the earth from beneath me. I had no hope of stopping it. One moment, I was in the forest with Nash, abandoning Leif with our enemies.

    And the next¡­ Fluorescent bulbs burned bright overhead in our training room.

 15. The White Room

    My instructor knelt in front of me. "You''re wavering."

    I focused on the sliver of air between my stomach and the sharpened blade I hovered above. The skin all over my body burned in pain. The rest of the room, lined with the seven other students in our class, blurred in my periphery. My entire world fit onto the tip of this blade for the moment.

    Pain scratched into my hands from using my power for too long. "It''s been thirty minutes. I need a break."

    "You''ll get a break when you deserve one." The instructor''s sharp stare switched to Piercey. "Is it healed yet?"

    I grunted as I strained to tilt my head to see Piercey holding the little bird with the broken wing. He didn''t respond and Kelvin wouldn''t stand for it.

    "Answer me, now."

    "Concentrating." Sweat beaded on Piercey''s forehead.

    The healthy wing twitched and then snapped.

    "Why did you do that?" Piercey jumped to his feet. Tears flooded his eyes. "It''s not his fault. Don''t take it out on the bird."

    "You''re right. It''s your fault. He has two broken wings now because of you."

    Piercey settled on the ground once more with anger tightening his expression. "It''ll be okay." He stroked the bird''s head with a single finger. "I''ll figure this out."

    "What kind of healer can''t even heal a bird?" Kelvin leaned over him.

    Tears slid down Piercey''s cheeks. He kept his eyes trained on the bird. Slowly the wings straightened as the bird wiggled on his palm. Healing required mastery of anatomy. It wasn''t fair to ask Piercey to heal a sparrow when he had never studied them before. Kelvin was in a mood today.

    The point of the knife nicked my stomach. My eyes widened. He was right. I had been wavering. I squeezed my eyes shut and lifted myself higher.

    Kelvin studied the sparrow. "Fuse the bones, Piercey."

    "You''re only making it harder."

    "Quiet Piercey," I whispered. Usually I was the one losing it on Kelvin.

    Our instructor lowered his head. "How will you heal your people in the midst of battle? What kind of healing Prophet will you be if you demand peace and quiet to work in? Pathetic." Kelvin turned for me again. "And you. You should be able to hold yourself over this without breaking a sweat, Max."

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    I shut out his voice. Never mind that I could shoot a bow better than he could. Or that I could crush all the bones in his body if I wanted to. He wanted to berate me and so he would.

    "You have ten seconds to heal that bird, Piercey."

    My friend''s tears fell onto the bird''s wings.

    "Six seconds."

    Piercey''s face contorted. Sweat slid between his eyes.

    "Two seconds, Piercey."

    The bird''s right wing fluttered.

    "Now!"

    A crushing force slammed into my back and threw me onto the blade.

    Pain erupted in my middle.

    My hands twitched as I fell onto my side. The knife stuck out from my stomach in a bubbling pool of blood. I couldn''t even scream. Shock and pain strangled my voice.

    "Max!" Piercey dragged me onto his lap.

    The cry squeezed out finally. I threw my head back and screamed.

    Kelvin loomed over us. "Heal her. You both have an appointment in the white room in an hour. Don''t be late."

    "What is wrong with you?" Piercey''s voice hitched. "I haven''t learned how to work on an abdomen yet."

    "You know enough to do this, kid. Like I said. Quit making excuses. You think I''m cruel? All of you have killed people with your power. If you can''t master it, you¡¯re too dangerous to be kept alive."

    Kelvin walked out the door as Piercey screamed after him.

    My vision waned, closing in on Piercey, so all I could see was his face. Hot blood poured from my stomach and drizzled onto the ground. The other students clamored for us now that Kelvin left.

    "Don''t panic¡­" I struggled to find my voice. "You''ve got this¡­"

    And then I passed out.

    <hr>

    Bright light shone into my eyes as I squirmed on a cold table. After years of entering the door of the gods, it had lost its mystery. Everything in the room was pure white. The walls. The chairs. The table. Like I was the only color that existed.

    "Do you have any lingering pain?" The technician studied me.

    "No. Piercey healed me well. Report back to Kelvin on how stellar his teaching tactics are."

    Piercey shook his head at me. He sat on a table across from me.

    I tore an electrode from my head. "I''m tired of you gluing this shit to my head when you don''t need to. Why do you do it? I know this technology is way beneath you. Is it so I have some tangible proof that you can fuck with me whenever you want?"

    "Max," Piercey whispered harshly. Kelvin had put the fear in him. Well, he''d only awakened my anger.

    ¡°Have you been experiencing any other signs of paranoia?¡± the technician asked, annoyingly unfazed.

    My nostrils twitched. ¡°You watch us and test us and poke us. Lie to us. I¡¯m tired of pretending I don¡¯t know.¡±

    He opened his mouth to speak when the room went dark. I straightened.

    Then came a woman''s voice. ¡°I think it¡¯s time we finally meet.¡±

 16. Truth & Lies

    I rose at the sound of the woman speaking. Piercey hopped off the table and moved beside me, grabbing my hand. I wasn''t sure if it was for my sake or his.

    After several seconds, the lights came back on. The other side of the room looked completely different. It was pale blue, like our hallway, and it was outfitted like a living room, complete with an ugly floral loveseat.

    A woman sat there, watching me with sharp eyes. "My name is Dr. Henderson."

    ¡°How did you do that?¡± I asked.

    ¡°You have so many questions, Max.¡± Her long black hair laid across one shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have all the answers you want.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t have them or won¡¯t give them?¡±

    ¡°Won¡¯t give them.¡± Dr. Henderson smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve had my eye on you. You¡¯re not easily distracted.¡± Her voice softened and she spoke to me the way I imagined my mother would have if I''d ever known her. ¡°That''s why I''m meeting with you and Piercey. You two have been struggling, haven''t you?"

    Piercey shook his head. "No, ma''am. We''re fine."

    I was only sixteen, but I was so tired. Tired like I¡¯d lived decades and never got a break. "We''re not fine. We''re being held hostage at this school."

    She simpered. "You''ll be released when you can control your power well enough that you won''t hurt people anymore."

    Shame seared my heart. The Eclipse. Not the one that haunted my future, but from my childhood. It was as if the two eclipses were entangled, tethered in time, and my entire life existed as a tug-of-war between the two, even now. Dr. Henderson was talking about the people I hurt back then.

    I couldn''t let her distract me with my guilt. "I''m tired of hearing that excuse. Kelvin stabbed me today."

    Dr. Henderson scooted forward. "I''m sorry that happened to you, Max. We give autonomy to the people in your world, including the Sacred School. That''s very important. There isn''t anything we can do."

    "Why? Why do you have to silently watch?"

    "There are many things I can''t tell you."

    Rage made my mouth taste bitter. ¡°Yeah. Because you¡¯d compromise your experiment by making your subjects aware.¡±

    She sat back, thrown, but only for a moment. Then she smoothed out a wrinkle in her pants. I imagined she had few wrinkles in her life. ¡°My, my. Perhaps the library at the school is a little too robust for your needs.¡±

    ¡°It would be much easier to control me if you denied me an education. You know, like you do with ninety-nine percent of the world.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re angry.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m more than angry.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s fair. I would be too.¡±

    "This mountain has technology that the rest of our world won''t hope to have for thousands of years. The people think you''re gods because you come from a more advanced civilization. You let them pray to you while you watch them suffer in silence. I deserve to know why. Why are you running tests on me? What are you trying to learn?"

    "Stop Max." Piercey''s voice shook. "The gods won''t tolerate dissent."

    Dr. Henderson waited until we''d both fallen quiet. "There''s worlds like yours all over the cosmos, Max. Young worlds with growing civilizations. We want to learn how to help them develop without having to suffer through all the war and chaos that comes with social evolution."

    I blinked. "You''re watching us all kill each other to learn how to keep others from doing it? That''s the stupidest thing I''ve ever heard."

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    Piercey grabbed my shirt and tugged me back to his side. "The whole world is the experiment, not just the school. There''ll be more like us, Max. More experiments. More worlds."

    A hint of pride shone in Dr. Henderson''s eyes. "I can''t lie to bright young people like you. It''s true. One percent of your population has the neural implant that allows you to manipulate matter at the quantum level. Other worlds have greater numbers with power. I know it''s hard. But you wouldn''t be better off without us, and this data will save more lives than you can comprehend.

    "This is just great." I raised my hands. "The most evolved species in the cosmos are total idiots. Why do you think it''s okay to experiment on people?"

    "It isn''t okay. We can''t pretend it''s ethical. Still, math doesn''t lie. The number of people who will suffer in these experiments is the tiniest fraction of how many people it will save from suffering."

    The white walls snapped black and specks of light pierced every inch of the room. Stars glowed in the darkness, growing until raging suns dominated the room. Above us a planet teeming with light green water appeared, and another to our right, one chilled with mountains of ice. More. Zooming past us too fast to see. People popped up on the walls. Children laughing. Children screaming. Rapid flashes of life and death far too overwhelming in number to take in.

    "They''re all suffering." Dr. Henderson folded her hands on her lap.

    I squeezed my eyes shut against the blur of faces, nauseous.

    "You can help us end it. My society has long since evolved beyond death. Now it''s time for others to do the same."

    I struggled to find my voice. "Go help people. Stop experimenting."

    "It''s not as simple as that." Darkness overtook the room once more and gradually light dawned on the floor, rising up the wall behind Dr. Henderson. A breeze that I could actually feel kissed my cheek and carried in the smell of berries. We stood in a dimly lit forest.

    Beside me, Piercey turned in a small circle, marveling at the transformation.

    "Sometimes our best attempts to help actually hurt." Her voice was as mild as the breeze now. "We need to prove which interventions are effective at helping young worlds evolve with less suffering. Interventions that preserve a world''s right to self-determination."

    I clapped my hands so loudly that it made my ears ring. "So moving. You are truly worthy of worship, aren''t you Dr. Henderson?"

    Her mouth straightened. White crashed onto the walls, leaving us bereft of all the life from moments before. "I have tolerated your disrespect and foolishness long enough."

    "The truth will come out. What do you think everyone will do when they find out? It''ll be chaos. Good luck having reliable data then."

    Dr. Henderson sighed. "You just don''t understand, Max. You can''t tell anyone about this. No one can. It would mean the end of your world."

    My muscles froze. I couldn''t even try to speak.

    "The entire purpose of your world is this experiment. If you compromise it, the council will shut it down precisely because it is unethical. Once an unethical experiment is unproductive, it cannot be allowed to exist."

    "You''ll¡­ You''ll destroy an entire world? You can''t do that. You can''t kill us all." I backed up for the door before I remembered there was no door. No escape. I was at her mercy. Beside me, Piercey looked like he had vanished from his body.

    "The less you know, the better," she said. "I didn''t want to share any of this with you. But I''ve been watching you. You were going to fight until you got answers. Now that you have them, let your world live in peace."

    I gasped for breath. It felt like my throat was closing. "This can''t be real. You can''t just destroy entire worlds. You aren''t gods!"

    "We are the gods of this world, child. We created it. We can end it."

    Piercey''s eyes still looked vacant, but his lips twitched in silent words I couldn''t hear. I stared at him, trying to figure out what he said.

    "Tell her, Piercey," Dr. Henderson said. "You know the truth. You already suspected it."

    A single tear slid down his face.

    "Tell her and make her understand why she must stay silent. If you care for her, you''ll do this."

    He turned to me. His eyes looked like those of the dead. Dr. Henderson had killed the life in him. "They have total control. Our world isn''t real." His voice was dry. Monotone. "This is a simulation, Max. "

    I bowed forward, unable to fully comprehend the words.

    "Don''t be scared." Dr. Henderson spoke calmly. "You''re real, Max. All of you are real people who died as babies in your natural world. We uploaded you here to give you what you lost far too young. It isn''t so different from how my people live. We all uploaded to a digital universe long ago. It''s okay."

    A hoarse gasp ripped apart my throat.

    "It''ll stay okay as long as you''re quiet." Her voice drifted past like the breeze, the threat buried in softness. "Be a good girl, Max."

    My life here mattered. Piercey mattered. I mattered.

    None of this was real. But it was all I''d ever known.

    And it could slip away at any time.

 17. Nothing is Free

    I remembered the sun shining long ago on the day the world started to feel real again after I learned the truth, even though I''d been told since it was actually cloudy and cold. It was after I left the Sacred School. The first time Leif took me hunting. That day in the woods, I shot a deer I had to squint through the thick of trees and thickets to see. Leif howled, and danced, and lifted my arms in victory. That was the first time his family and neighbors had meat in a couple of weeks.

    It had started with the jolt in my heart when Leif celebrated my shot. Later, when I saw him fill his toddler''s bowl with venison stew, when chubby little cheeks broke into a grin, the jolt sparked into something I hadn''t felt in a year. Joy.

    Our world might not have been real, but we were, and our connections to one another were woven into the fabric of existence, as real, more real, than anything that had ever been.

    ¡°How do you feel?¡±

    I stiffened at Nash¡¯s voice. He''d carried me away after I passed out and didn''t seem to trust me when I told him my fainting spells were nothing to worry about. We sat on the leafy floor, quiet for the ten minutes that I''d been awake. I searched the green canopy overhead like I would find answers. I not only had to save my people from the Prophet of the Valley, but now from the Flatlanders.

    ¡°Max?¡±

    A growl rumbled in my chest. ¡°I feel like I abandoned my heart and soul.¡±

    Leaves crunched as he scooted closer. ¡°You honored Leif¡¯s wishes.¡±

    I crossed my arms atop my knees and settled my head down, turning my face to the side to see him. His jaw was reddened where I¡¯d punched him, swollen enough to notice with just a glance. ¡°Is your face okay?¡±

    ¡°I can tell the world I narrowly survived a direct hit from the great Sharpshooter.¡± He smirked and touched the spot. ¡°I¡¯m fine. But you hit a lot harder than I thought you could. You¡¯ll break your hand if you keep hitting like that.¡±

    I tucked my hand beneath my knees so he couldn¡¯t see it. It wasn¡¯t even sore. With that one hit, I''d somehow managed to accidentally draw more power than I had in a while. Still, it was nothing compared to what I''d once done.

    ¡°Tell me your plan, already.¡± Nash tossed a pebble at my leg. ¡°I know you¡¯ve done more than sulk over there.¡±

    When I''d been exiled from the Sacred School, I only wanted my power back. Finding Leif''s village and falling in love with the people there had come as a surprise. For the first time, though, I wished that instead of regaining my power, I could simply take it away from everyone. Humans could not be trusted with it and I could do just fine with my bow.

    There was no use in thinking about the impossible, though. I was not going to strip the world of power. I needed to focus on saving my people from the Prophet. My only option was to find a way back to my power on the Mountain of the Gods. And perhaps to even reach Piercey in the Sacred School. If he had allies, we could amass enough power to take on the Prophet''s forces, and likely Flare. I didn''t trust her, at all. Which reminded me that I shouldn''t trust Nash.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you my plan,¡± I said. ¡°If you tell me yours."

    "Same as before. I want us to kill the Prophet together."

    ¡°Your plan is too simple." It was time to be honest about at least that much. "The Prophet has enormous power. More than the best demons.¡±

    I didn¡¯t tell Nash why that was. The Prophet was exactly like the demons, except that he¡¯d trained at the Sacred School. That was the only difference between Prophets and demons. I saw that so clearly because I had lived as both. Even as a child, they called me demon because they feared my power. When the Sacred School took me in to help me tame my power, they changed how the world saw me. Suddenly, I was not a demon, but on the path to becoming Prophet. The only difference between those two versions of myself was that I''d been given an education.

    One I completely abandoned. When I trained at the Sacred School, something my instructors claimed was an incredible privilege, I''d rebelled against the gods and everything they stood for. The instructors were hypocrites and they abandoned our world to suffer while they looked down on the innocent from their mountain. My stand had cost me everything I''d had at that point. I never regretted it though. I saw the gods and the instructors for what they were. Frauds. My only regret was that I had not yet found a way to reverse their seal on my power.

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    ¡°They still have flesh and blood," Nash said. "You don¡¯t think an arrow could kill one?¡±

    ¡°Have you ever seen a demon or a Prophet die?¡±

    Nash straightened. ¡°No. Have you?¡±

    ¡°I have. They¡¯re very hard to kill. Their survival instinct kicks in and they¡¯re as dangerous as what you hear in the legends.¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s only a handful of Prophets or demons capable of the power you hear about in the legends.¡±

    ¡°Normally, yes. Get one of them on the verge of death, and they¡¯re all worthy of their own legends."

    He quieted. "I''ve heard stories. I just never know how much to believe. There''s talk about the Devourer from fifteen years ago who killed thirty men in battle just by looking at them."

    I shifted. "Stories are never entirely true."

    "Eclipse." Nash blew a puff of air. "That''s who the Prophet says he''s saving us from with these sacrifices during eclipses."

    My heart hammered at the name. This talk couldn''t continue. "The Prophet murders people during the Eclipse to control everyone." Heat warmed my palms. I squeezed my hands together. "Look¡­ I''m trying to tell you that your plan won''t work. You have a daughter to think about. Just listen to me.¡±

    ¡°I refuse to believe he''s impossible to kill. We have to do this.¡±

    The Prophet had finished his training, so I knew for a fact he was more powerful than I had been at my peak. I gave up so much for my dissent. To say I regretted it was too simple. But I hurt, especially now, for the advantage I''d lost. Even if the Prophet had more power, I''d still kill him. I''d kill him because I had to and because I actually had something worth fighting for.

    ¡°To kill the Prophet we need help.¡± Once I told him, I couldn¡¯t go back. ¡°I have a friend on the Mountain of the Gods.¡±

    That shocked him to silence for a moment. ¡°How do you have a friend on that mountain? It''s the most deadly place in the world.¡±

    I¡¯d made it off the mountain alive, but, as far as I knew, I was the only one. Before having my power sealed, I''d tried escaping, and while I had been banished instead of executed, no one was offering to help me get down the Mountain. I had to do that myself and it had nearly killed me. If I¡¯d followed the rules, I would have been well on my way to becoming a Prophet by now. They wanted me to make myself so small that no one would see me and to live out my days in silence. Well, they had another thing coming. I knew the weaknesses of the mountain. I knew how to make it through. I could do this.

    I hardened my voice. ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing. This is the plan. I''m sticking to it."

    "Then I''m coming. You won''t make it up that mountain alone."

    His skills would be invaluable. How could I risk Nash''s life though? He didn¡¯t have power and I couldn¡¯t assume that I¡¯d be able to protect him. I had no idea if I''d be able to access more of my power or not or whether I''d even get it back. Plus, if he acted as Flare''s spy, I didn''t want to travel with him anyway. ¡°I¡¯m going alone. You have a daughter. It''s too dangerous for you.¡±

    ¡°You can''t tell a father not to protect his child.¡±

    He had a point. If I had a child, I would want to do the same. Still, I didn''t want him to come with me, not when he didn''t understand what he was getting into. "I¡¯m not taking you. You¡¯ll slow me down.¡±

    ¡°Bullshit. I¡¯m as good with my blades as you are with your bow. You¡¯re still angry with me.¡± Nash softened his voice. ¡°That¡¯s why you won¡¯t let me help you.¡±

    I rose and moved for a blackberry vine a few trees down, picking them with my teeth clenched. He acted like he wanted to help, but I couldn''t stop thinking of Flare saying she trusted him.

    Nash met me and took a berry from my palm. Lifted it to my lips. ¡°Stop brooding. Eat something.¡±

    I pushed away his hand. ¡°Stop toying with me. We don¡¯t know each other. Don¡¯t speak to me like we¡¯re friends.¡±

    Nash dropped the berry back into my palm. ¡°I know some things about you. I know how your eyes look when you face death, or when you lose, or when you¡¯re drunk."

    I scowled. ¡°Now you know the sting of my anger. You¡¯re only fortunate it isn¡¯t my wrath.¡±

    "Max."

    ¡°Leif is my brother.¡± I stared into Nash¡¯s eyes. ¡°I was unknown once, too. Then he knew me. He became my family.¡±

    ¡°If you really wanted to stop me from taking you away from Leif, we wouldn¡¯t be here.¡± Nash¡¯s voice lowered. ¡°Is that really why you''re angry with me?¡±

    "Fine. I''m angry with you because you''re a shady liar." My chest tightened. "Nash the Unknown. Even your name is shady."

    "I got that name as a boy. I wandered into the village, half-dead, unknown by anyone. It stuck."

    "I''m not an idiot." That story could have been true, but the name wouldn''t have stuck all these years with how good he was with his swords. The Unknown. What could he have done to earn the name except live a life of secrets? ¡°You said the Prophet didn¡¯t trust you and yet he¡¯s given you so much freedom. Nothing is free.¡± I glared at him. ¡°You¡¯re a spy.¡± Flames awakened in my chest. ¡°You¡¯re Unknown because he named you so. That¡¯s the real reason you know Flare.¡±

    Not a hint of concern crossed Nash''s expression at my accusation. ¡°Come on, Sharpshooter. You already knew I was in the service of the Prophet.¡±

 18. Decisions

    "Shameless." My nose crinkled in disgust at how Nash did not even try to deny being a spy. "You excused away fighting for the Prophet, but you''ve spent years doing his bidding in the worst way possible."

    "How is spying worse than whatever you thought I did?"

    "You truly have no honor if you don''t know." My eyes narrowed. "Unknown."

    "My daughter is my honor. I have no shame in that."

    "What behavior can''t you excuse, then? You gain people''s trust and use it against them. Wielding your charisma like a sword. Attacking unarmed, unsuspecting people from behind."

    Nash shook his head. "Do you care to know what I actually do or will nothing stop your self-righteous ranting?"

    Tears burned in my eyes. ¡°It was you, wasn''t it? You helped him take my people.¡± I would slit his throat here and now if it was true. I would. Heat burned my palms. "You''re the reason the Prophet got to Leif''s son." I''d betrayed Rune, allowing this man to get twisted up in my heart enough that I even considered trusting him. I could never forgive myself.

    His lips straightened. ¡°No. Max, I swear. I would never spy on innocent people.¡±

    ¡°You targeted me. Tried to get to me. That''s why you treated me like this."

    His voice softened. "That''s not what I was¨C"

    ¡°As if I''d believe a spy." I spit on the ground at his feet. ¡°I hate spies.¡±

    He spit as well. ¡°I won¡¯t take your shit. I already took a fist to the face. Not to mention you headbutted me in the throat. I spy on Prophets and their disciples, not the innocent. Not even warriors. You''re the one who targeted me anyway. I know you started talking to me because you wanted something."

    "I don''t trust you." I wanted to scream. ¡°Flare knows I''m going to the Mountain of the Gods. She told me to take you with me because she trusts you. You''re both spies. You''re both working for the Prophet and double-crossing him. Now she wants you to spy on me."

    The fight had fled Nash. I was so blinded by my anger that I didn''t notice his shoulders had gone slack, that his face had paled, that for the first time since I had met him fear shone in his eyes. "Flare said that?"

    The look on his face stole away my own fight. My voice came out small. "She didn''t use the word spy."

    He ran his hand through his hair. "Tell me exactly what she said."

    "I don''t have to tell you anything."

    "You know what, don''t trust me. That''s fine." He bit off each word. ¡°I¡¯m not ready to trust you either, Max. I was willing to put my life in your hands and journey with you. I¡¯m not ready to put my kid¡¯s life in your hands. You don''t get to know everything.¡±

    I couldn''t stop myself from softening at the conviction in his eyes. "I want to believe you. That''s why I can''t let myself. How could I possibly trust you?"

    He moved closer to me and lifted my hand, prying open my fist. I¡¯d crushed the berries and didn¡¯t even realize it. Black oozed from between my fingers.

    ¡°We need to decide now," he said. "Either we fight the Prophet together, or we don''t."

    His touch was a distraction and he must have known that. If he was a spy, he knew how to manipulate people. There were so many signs that he''d done that to me. He''d never had any real interest in me. I could hear Rune''s voice in my mind, begging us to save him. I had to get the truth from Nash and there was only one way I knew how to get anything in this world.

    So, I smeared the berries across his eyes and ripped a sword from his hip. He jammed his forearm between his neck and the blade. Caught my wrist while my fingertips, sticky with berries, grazed his other sword.

    "Damn it, Max." His face scrunched as he shook his head, flinging hunks of berries.

    I pressed the blade into his forearm hard enough to bite, to let him know this wasn''t for show. I''d carve through flesh and bone to his throat if I had to. ¡°If you didn''t spy on my people, then who?"

    "My homeland." He managed to wipe an eye against his arm and peeked at me through it. "I was born in the Flatlands, not the valley. You could have asked without the sword."

    "Not when you''ve already lied to me."

    "I didn''t lie. Just didn''t tell you the truth either."

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    I scowled and pivoted, slinging the blade down to touch the one still sheathed so I could free my wrist from his grasp. He would have to lose his fingers if he wanted to draw it. "You told me you were off looking for a body when the Flatlanders attacked. That isn''t true." Warning filled my eyes when he opened his mouth to speak. "Don''t lie again. Flare has put stock in you. She wouldn''t have left you to be killed."

    "Fine, I lied." Nash wiped his eyes and groaned. "That shit stings."

    Rage flushed through my veins, the pent up horror of leaving Leif behind strangling all thoughts except for one. Nash had known. I swung for his chest. He dodged backward, and though I''d followed through to block him from his blade, he grabbed his empty sheath instead. Had the audacity to slam it onto the stolen sword I held.

    The embarrassment of it distracted me for the fraction of an instant it took Nash to get his second blade in his hand.

    "One of us is going to get hurt," he chided.

    "Good."

    I let my sword respond in a swift arc for his midsection that threw the sheath off to the side. He deflected, something I''d expected. With a skilled swordsman like Nash, my best defense was an offense. Giving him the opportunity to strike would mean death.

    He was faster than I''d expected. Much faster than when we sparred. He deflected a second strike. Quickly snapped his blade against mine in the center so the steel wobbled, vibrating through my hand. A reprimand, and evidence that he knew every inch of these blades. "Max." He narrowed the eyes I''d blackened with berries. "Stop it."

    He''d lied. He''d known. He''d held back in a match. Fresh anger bloomed hot in my cheeks. I slashed through a branch overhead so it crashed against Nash in a flurry of leaves, but his blade crisscrossed through the debris in rapid swipes, so he never lost sight of me. Saw my every move as I kicked off the tree and barreled for his knees.

    Without the advantage of surprise, he sidestepped, and I changed course, sliding across the ground as I slashed for his ankles. Nash''s heel slammed the blade against the ground, almost ripping it from my grasp. Worse, the sword he wielded snapped for my neck. But I threw myself to the side and ripped the blade free.

    I barely had time to get my knees beneath me before I was forced to block a strike head-on. The power of his blow shook me down to my bones. It broke my guard and left me open for a killing swipe. I''d known it only took one offensive attack from him to end a match. But I''d never been good at admitting when something was over. So, instead of letting him press the tip of his blade to my throat in a sign of defeat, I snapped my sword up perpendicular to the ground and strengthened it with my arm against it. A dangerous attempt to block his next hit, but a block nonetheless.

    Nash twisted on his heel at the last moment so his sword swung away from me. He skidded to a stop and raised his voice. "Are you trying to lose an arm or just break my sword?"

    I breathed hard. "Leif could be dead. You knew about the attack."

    "I didn''t know about the attack. Flare took me away before it started. I raced back to the camp."

    "How can I trust a man who spies on his own homeland?"

    "The Flatlanders banished me to the desert to die when I was a child." He shook his head. "My sister was sick and I stole from the offering to the gods so I would have something to trade for medicine. That land is not home. I won''t let them take over the valley when the Prophet dies."

    I studied his amber eyes, searching for truth or lies. The unfairness of Skia Hellig throbbed in my chest and made me want to comfort him as his words turned in my mind. I''d been exiled before. What if he was telling the truth? Once again, I was left with two options. Either he was an incredible ally or a terrible enemy. I wasn''t sure whether I could afford to pass up the chance to have his help, or whether I could afford the risk of having him around.

    "You want to prove you mean it? Help me save Leif and Wren and the rest of the warriors."

    "Will you try to slit my throat on the way?"

    "Not if you don''t give me reason to."

    He scoffed. "So you really won''t apologize?"

    I picked up the sheath for his sword and passed his weapon back to him. "The invitation is as close as you''ll get to an apology."

    He checked his sword for damage and shook his head. "I''m angry with you."

    "Great, because I''m angry with you too."

    He paused staring at me, with hints of intrigue clouding the anger. "Just keep your temper in check around my family. We''ll stop there for supplies on the way to the outpost. That''s where the Flatlanders will take everyone."

    ¡°By family you meant your daughter and her mother, right? Won¡¯t it put them in danger?¡±

    ¡°They live in the country on a farm. No one will know we came. We should make it by nightfall."

    If I couldn''t decide what to do with him, then it was better to keep an eye on him. I needed to get all my weapons back. If I''d had my bow, the fight would have been over much sooner.

    "No more lies," I said, very aware of how hypocritical it was when I hid so much from him.

    "Then don''t you lie either."

    I walked forward and he joined. What else could I do but see where our paths led, as I had in battle, as my instincts told me to do. I hoped that if I couldn''t trust Nash, I could at least trust myself.

    That had never been easy to do.

 19. Fathers

    We¡¯d arrived at Nash''s family¡¯s home soon after nightfall. I sat on plush pillows on the floor with a steaming mug of tea on the short table before me while Nash talked with his child''s mother, Trish, in the other room.

    This was a nice house, the kind meant to last a lifetime. There was a kitchen and small living area with two bedrooms attached. Canvas paintings of the valley hung on the walls. Fresh wildflowers fanned from a vase on the table. Enough time had passed for smoke to blacken the wall behind the indoor stove. The Prophet was able to offer people forever homes, with the promise of steady food and protection. No wonder so many served him.

    "Sorry I didn''t introduce myself properly earlier. I''m Trish." She''d quietly entered the room while I gawked at her house. Long hair lay over her shoulders.

    ¡°I should apologize. We''ve interrupted your day.¡± I stood and bumped into the table. Tea sloshed onto the surface. ¡°Sorry.¡± I stumbled over my apology as I sopped up the steaming liquid with my shirt.

    ¡°Oh, I have towels.¡± Trish opened a basket over by the stove.

    Of course, she did. She wasn¡¯t some barbarian who cleaned up with the clothes she wore. I was a mess. Speaking of which, I looked terrible. Mud and grass stains streaked my dress. There were tiny tears and even specks of blood from the branches I''d hit. I didn''t even want to think about my skin or hair.

    Trish passed a towel to me even though there was nothing left to clean, except for myself, and I would need a stream or tub for that. Maybe the entire sea.

    ¡°My husband is a farmer and a politician," Trish said. "Important business called him away to the Prophet''s village. We don''t have to worry about him coming home.¡±

    Nash had brought us to the home of a councilman? Was he insane? No wonder Trish and her husband had gotten bound. They weren''t just pious but the most loyal to the Prophet.

    ¡°I should have mentioned that,¡± Nash said to me. ¡°He¡¯s always away at this time.¡±

    Interesting. Did Nash come here often when the other man was away? Trish cheating on her husband would be one thing. Betraying the mate she''d bound herself to? I couldn''t fathom Nash putting his family in such danger.

    Trish clasped her hands in front of her. ¡°What he doesn¡¯t know won¡¯t hurt him. I wish Nash would make safer choices for himself, but I¡¯ve sworn to honor him as my daughter¡¯s father, and that means making sure he doesn¡¯t get himself killed.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Trish," Nash said. "I know how you feel.¡±

    ¡°Well¡­ That doesn¡¯t seem to matter to you.¡±

    Nash looked away, jaw tightening. For Trish and Nash to entertain any semblance of feelings for one another, they must not have been able to help it. Trish was betraying not just the man she was bound to but the Prophet they had sworn their eternal souls to by welcoming us. Disgust filled me at the thought of such a vow.

    Even if no one ever found out that Trish helped us, surely she believed the gods knew. Protecting Nash was worth the stain on her soul.

    Must have been love. Love that could never be. At least, not now that Trish had bound herself to another man.

    ¡°Elsie is playing out back,¡± Trish said to Nash, easing the tension they''d created.

    Nash nodded and then hesitated. "Take Elsie to the cabin until I return. Promise me you''ll stay there."

    Trish''s voice tightened. "What will I tell him?"

    "Whatever you have to. Soon, we''ll all be free of the Prophet, including your husband. I know you both want that."

    He walked past her without giving her time to ask more questions and her worried eyes turned to me.

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    "It''ll be okay." I wasn''t sure why I said it, because I didn''t know that it was true, or that it would even make her feel better.

    She sighed quietly and offered a stiff smile before leading me around the house to collect things for our travels. Coin Nash had stashed here, clothes, food, bandages, and jugs of water. I thanked her and then followed her out of the house, ready to be free from the discomfort of not knowing what to say. I was trespassing on their family time.

    Nash reclined on the grass beside his daughter where she played. Tight curls of black hair bounced when she hopped on her knees, lifting two dolls up into the air. She had her father¡¯s smile, right down to the dimple. How often had I watched Leif lie on the ground with Rune when he was little and marvel at every move he made?

    Pain crawled up my chest to wrap around my throat.

    "What''s her name?" Nash¡¯s voice was low and gentle. He tapped Elsie¡¯s doll on the head.

    "I told you, Daddy. She''s Daisy."

    Nash smiled. Elsie seemed to forget about him as her doll got caught up in an adventure. He just rested there on the grass with her, watching every move she made.

    I remembered that feeling so well. Being a child and the whole world fitting in my patch of grass. My vision blurred. I could see my father''s face as it had been back when he was young and unburdened, or at least when I was too young to see it.

    I¡¯d broken my father into shards, keeping each piece of him separate so I¡¯d never have to reconcile the different sides of him. If I ever put him back together in my mind again, I might lose the part that had once been my best friend. I tried to only see that side of him, but the rest forced its way in¨Cshapeless, soundless memories lurking somewhere inside as pressure in my chest.

    Nash looked up then. He''d caught me watching. My cheeks burned but I forced myself to smile to cover my embarrassment.

    He took Elsie¡¯s hand and led her to me. ¡°This is Max. The friend I told you about. Introduce yourself.¡±

    Elsie hopped forward one step. ¡°I¡¯m Elsie. I¡¯m four years old and this is where I live.¡± She reached a stubby hand back toward her house.

    I knelt at Elsie¡¯s level. ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Elsie. Your dad told me so many good things about you.¡±

    ¡°Did he tell you I¡¯m fast?"

    ¡°He did.¡± I winked. Conversation came as easily with her as it always had with Rune. ¡°He told me you¡¯re way faster than him.¡±

    Elsie clasped her hands over her mouth and giggled. ¡°Daddy, did you really say that?¡±

    Light as bright as the sun overhead filled Nash¡¯s eyes as he met his daughter¡¯s gaze. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll race sometime and see.¡± He knelt to pick her up and kissed her forehead. ¡°Listen now. Max and I have to go soon, baby.¡±

    Elsie¡¯s smile soured into a frown. And then she buried her face against him.

    Nash held her head against his chest and rocked her lightly. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon. Promise.¡±

    Her voice hitched and she dropped her dolls, reaching her little arms up for his neck, sobbing. ¡°Daddy, don¡¯t go!¡±

    Trish stood up to come over, but Nash shook his head and brushed Elsie¡¯s hair back. He walked with her out toward the field, speaking to her in words I couldn''t hear. My chest hurt watching them. Nash wasn¡¯t like my father. He really did love his daughter. Really was a good father. If he was so focused on Elsie, would he really spend time trying to manipulate me?

    My soft heart was getting in the way again. Of course, he would, if it meant being with his daughter or protecting her. From what I saw, Nash would do anything for Elsie. His love for her made him a risk to my people. Rune needed us as much as Elsie needed her father. More, because he was in danger. I had to repeat it to myself as I watched Elsie¡¯s tears soften, watched her melt in her dad¡¯s hug and cry herself to sleep as he whispered to her.

    None of this meant I should trust Nash. But it did make me. My anger, my suspicion, my fear dissipated. It wasn¡¯t even a fair fight.

    I¡¯d always known I would die young. I wouldn''t bring a kid into the world only to abandon them. But I liked children. Thought I¡¯d like to have one if I¡¯d had a different fate. Nash and Elsie made me hurt, for the first time in many years, for the children I¡¯d never have. The life I¡¯d never have. Beneath the darkness of the eclipse, I¡¯d always been destined to die, just as beneath the darkness of the eclipse, the child in me had once died by my father¡¯s hands. By my own hands really. My fate had been sealed long ago.

    Nash had hit my weakness. That didn''t mean he was trustworthy.

 20. The Journey

    Trish saw us off while Elsie slept. Sadness wound its way around the short conversation. We left quickly. Quietly. The way I ached to see Rune again made me feel Nash''s separation from his daughter too acutely to ignore.

    I wanted to squeeze his hand like I would Leif¡¯s in such a situation, but I didn¡¯t. We were warriors, not friends, or comrades, or anything more. We had roles to play. And we played them well as we traveled through the night and stopped only to sleep a few hours once we couldn¡¯t continue.

    "Are you bound to the Prophet?" I''d finally worked up the courage to ask. He could lie, but I wanted to see the look in his eyes.

    "I''m bound to no one and nothing." He kept his eyes trained ahead. "Only to my child."

    "The Prophet allows you to be unbound?"

    "I suffered for my stubbornness. Eventually, he gave up."

    "What did he do to you?"

    Nash stiffened but his voice remained level. "He used his power to carve his name into my body. Then he healed me." He hesitated and glanced at me. "Again and again."

    "Bastard." I gripped my fists. Then my breath caught. "The script along your spine. It''s scarring." Images of Eskel''s bloodied name carved into his back flooded my mind.

    Nash nodded. "If he would have threatened Elsie, I would have relented. But Trish had just been bound and he didn''t need conflict with either family. The Prophet will only ever hurt Elsie if it''s a last resort."

    "I can''t believe he would do it at all considering that she is Trish''s child."

    "He won''t let me go. He can''t. It''s not just because I''m an important asset. He would look weak."

    I wanted to say something, but what words, especially from a near stranger who''d pulled a sword on him, could ease such a burden?

    His voice dropped low. "One day, I''ll watch him die, whether by my hand or another."

    Nash had many reasons to hate the Prophet. Surely, I could trust he was an ally. ¡°We''ll kill the Prophet. I swear it. Just keep yourself alive for your daughter. You have to come home to her.¡±

    He said nothing, eyes fixed again, the pain back on his face.

    Silence settled. As we journeyed, my heart ached more with every step, ached for Rune left in the Prophet''s clutches, for abandoning Leif while he was injured, for whatever danger awaited them at the outpost, for the little girl crying for her daddy back home.

    I could only think of how I wanted to set them free entirely, not just from the Prophet, but from the unfairness built into our world, from the gods.

    For the first time in almost a decade, I let myself wonder if Piercey had made good on a very old promise, and if there could be hope after all.

    <hr>

    My head ached as I walked through the woods with Nash. During the short rest we''d taken, I''d slipped again. This time to my future death that had always haunted me. I didn''t think Nash noticed this time. I''d had my eyes closed as I rested against a tree. But it was enough for time to tear at my body and mind and cause both to ache.

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    It''d been three days since I''d taken my medicine, long enough for the mild dizziness to start, and for my thoughts to become harder to control. I needed to see Leif and Wren to know they were okay. The fears bombarded my mind constantly, humming inside me, humming so deeply my gut buzzed with it. I could face swarms of enemies without an inkling of fear for myself, but one night away from my people and I wanted to curl up into a ball. Every possible way they could die entered my mind, and all felt as likely as the sun setting this evening, no matter how I tried to reason with myself.

    Even if they weren''t in danger, which they were, I would have still felt uncomfortable with worry. Our circumstances, not having my medicine, knowing it would be days before seeing them, all of it filled my body with the heavy weight of dread.

    To make matters worse, every time Nash looked at me, tingles bubbled beneath the unsteadiness of constant worry churning in my gut. Feeling both at once wasn''t so different from the tension of being real in an unreal world. The two did not sit well together. The suspicion about him and fear I couldn''t trust him warred with the draw to believe his story and not fight the pull I felt.

    I whacked a patch of thickets with a branch I''d been carrying hard enough to make my hand buzz.

    Nash shifted to look at me. I glanced away, knowing that even if I hid my face, I couldn''t hide how tense my body was or how my free hand clenched in a fist. I couldn''t unwind my body.

    "You okay?"

    My eyes burned. Throat ached. "I''m fine."

    "Of course, you are."

    "I am." My ankle caught in a tangle of thorns and I ripped free.

    The kindness in Nash''s eyes melted me. I didn''t like another person I hardly knew having that kind of power over me, especially when I didn''t feel like I deserved it from him.

    I knocked another branch out of my path when the sensation of power pricked my skin in gooseflesh.

    I wheeled around to an unsuspecting Nash. Of course, he couldn''t feel her like I did. The look on my face must have set him on edge, because he drew his blades without even looking behind him.

    "Flare." I narrowed my eyes at her over Nash''s shoulder. She''d appeared out of nowhere. Just like she''d vanished the other night.

    "I thought you were going to the Mountain of the Gods." Flare sauntered toward me. "You took a wrong turn a few hours ago."

    "You know I can''t abandon my people. I have to save them first."

    "You''re so easy to get riled up. Of course, I know. That''s why I''m here. I thought you should have a heads up. Wouldn''t want you to get startled and accidentally hurt anyone."

    "What are you talking about?"

    She smiled and vanished again. Then the feeling of her exploded beside me right before her breath hit my cheek and her body warmed my side. "You owe me." The whisper seemed to linger longer than she did.

    Flare had disappeared again.

    It was dizzying trying to keep up with her. I looked to Nash to ask if he understood any of that but his eyes were on the path we''d already walked. I heard it then. Faint footsteps.

    He eased forward with his swords ready for a fight. On instinct, I listened, as I had so many times before, attuning my senses with my power, and heard the pitter-patter of two heartbeats I knew better than my own. My feet were running before the thoughts could fully form in my mind, and much before the names could escape my lips.

    "Leif!" I sprinted as fast I could. "Wren!"

 21. Trust (Part 1)

    Every person had a distinctness to the rhythm of their hearts and I savored my friends'' unique sounds as I finally made out their forms approaching.

    There was no sign of the injuries that had left Leif wilted against the tree. The distance quickly disappeared between us but I couldn''t slow down. Had to reach him so my hands could tell me what my eyes didn''t believe. That he was here, alive and well. I slammed into Leif with my arms around him and knocked him onto the ground.

    Tears streamed from my eyes onto his shirt as I buried my face against him and sobbed. "You''re alive. You''re really alive."

    Leif groaned on the ground, holding onto me tight. "I missed you too, girl."

    I reached for Wren, unable to release Leif, and drew her down to wrap an arm around her.

    "Your wounds¡­" I wiped my eyes and nose and then patted Leif''s chest and stomach where the arrows once protruded.

    He wrinkled his brow. "Yes, please, wipe your snotty tears all over me."

    I laughed and smacked his chest. "You''re completely healed."

    "The healers took care of all our injuries, no matter how minor." Wren smoothed my hair back from my face to get a good look at me. "What about you? Are you hurt?"

    "No. Leif opened his big fat mouth and screamed for the enemy to get him. The fool saved me."

    "I would do it again," Leif said, voice serious.

    "Never again." Tears warped my voice. "Never."

    "We have a lot to talk about." Wren met my eyes.

    I didn''t like the sound of that. Wren had her commander''s voice, the calm but impossible to deny tone she used in battle and meetings.

    "We do," I said. "Just first, tell me how you escaped. Are they searching for you?"

    "The demon from the Prophet''s village came," Leif said.

    "Her name is Flare," I said with a hard voice.

    Wren nodded. "Then the Flatlanders released us with our weapons. We brought yours." When she pulled my bow off her back, I immediately grabbed it like I had Leif. "They told us we were free to attack the Prophet of the Valley as long as we didn''t interfere with them again and they let us leave while they kept the others hostage."

    "They''re using you as a weapon." I twisted at Nash''s voice. "You''ve been a shield for the Flatlanders for many years. The Prophet was too busy in the valley to turn to them."

    Leif eyed Nash. "What do you know of the Flatlanders?"

    He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. When he opened his mouth to speak, I interrupted. "I''ll explain everything soon. The Prophet has information on the Flatlanders." I held Leif''s arm. "Let''s talk on the road."

    Nash watched me, looking surprised.

    Leif didn''t seem satisfied, but he did nod. He would never accept Nash if he knew the truth, not when he was still suspicious of him anyway. I''d cover for Nash, for now. Though I had concerns of my own, I did believe that I could kill Nash myself if he stepped out of line. And I had the help of Leif and Wren now. If he truly hated the Prophet as much as he said, then we needed him. Plus, Flare could cause problems if I ditched Nash. Concern churned in my gut as I reasoned with myself, because it was starting to sound an awful lot like rationalizations, and if I had to keep it a secret from Leif, then maybe it meant I was being a fool.

    As we walked, I remembered what Nash had said after we sparred. He felt like we''d met in a dream he couldn''t remember. I knew that feeling so well. Maybe it was why I couldn''t send him away. Or maybe it was a much more pathetic reason. My head was spinning with worry.

    <hr>

    We''d spent two days on the road and still had so far to go to make it to the Mountain of the Gods. After a few hours of anxiety, I''d tried to convince Wren and Leif to return to our people. Only Flare had already told them of my plans to travel to the Mountain of the Gods, and Chief Kaid had already commissioned our trip. Wren took her duty as a commander too seriously. Even without the order, I wouldn''t have been able to convince these two to leave me. There was no turning back.

    Wren had said that it hadn''t been an easy conversation before they left. Our leaders had questions that no one could answer except for me. They had always respected that I didn''t want to discuss my past. That was over now. When I returned, I had to answer to the chief, and she was angry with me for withholding so much more than she''d ever imagined. To my surprise, Wren said Beast had been the first to say that they would wait for my return to attack the Prophet, because they wouldn''t be able to defeat him without me and whatever I had been hiding on this mountain.

    I would have accepted Leif and Wren being angry with me as well, but they weren''t. It only fueled the guilt I felt for not telling them about my history. I''d wanted to protect them. Now, I was leading them to the most dangerous place in the world.

    "Flare told us you''d agreed to work with her and brought us here." Wren''s eyes were on the pink of the sunrise as we walked. Nash had ventured further up the path and Leif hung behind him, refusing to take his eyes off the other man for a moment.

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    "I am not working with her. She told me bringing you here was a gift." I shook my head. "I think it''s a warning. She''s showing me what she can do and indebting me to her."

    "What about Nash? Do we trust him?"

    I smiled at that. We. Because if I trusted someone, Wren would too, no questions asked. Unlike Leif. "Enough for now."

    "He won''t be easy to take down if it comes to it."

    "No."

    Wren hesitated, voice gentler now. "If the worst does happen, with him or whatever awaits us on the mountain, we''ll need your power."

    Pain twisted my stomach. I couldn''t bring myself to look at her. "How long have you known?"

    "Longer than Leif." She hooked her arm around my neck and leaned on me as we walked, lean and tall. Always there to keep me grounded. "He told me the power is sealed. You''ll get it back. I have no doubt."

    And that was all she said. No questions asked. No details given. Just a nonchalant update that my circle knew I was a demon and always had known. Great.

    Where Leif might have chided me for my shame or tried to make me laugh until I forgot, Wren only walked alongside me, and let us be silent together. Though they knew my secret, they didn''t really understand. They hadn''t seen what I was capable of but soon they might. What if they looked at me differently? They would always love me. But what if the precious comfort of their acceptance grew dimmer and things shifted? And I lost what I loved most in the world?

    By the time we stopped to rest for the night, my stomach was in a tangled mess. That didn''t seem to matter to Leif, though, because he decided to pounce anyway. Nash and Wren both left to forage before bed while Leif and I prepared a fire. Hardly a minute had passed after they left when Leif ripped the firewood from my arms and threw it on the ground.

    "Tell me the truth now," he said.

    I frowned at the wood on the leafy forest floor and then at him. "What?"

    "What? You know what." Leif scowled. "Are you fucking the enemy?"

    My jaw dropped in indignation. "Obviously not."

    "It''s not obvious at all."

    I growled and shoved him. "Don''t be an ass, Leif!"

    He swatted me away. "Girl." Warning filled his voice. "I''m not playing."

    "I''m not either."

    "Then make this make sense. Why is he here?"

    Now real hurt spread over my chest. "You think I would compromise the most important thing in the world to me because of that? The only thing I care about is getting our people back."

    His expression softened, but it didn''t stop him from saying the next part. "You wouldn''t do it on purpose." He held up a hand when I started for him again. "Don''t. I mean it."

    I lowered my fist to my side. "We need all the help we can get. He has inside information on the Prophet and Flare and he''s one of the best swordsmen I''ve ever met."

    "Those all sound like reasons to me to never fall asleep around him. Max, you''re not this stupid."

    "Wren trusts me."

    "Wren is too trusting. You''re usually the first to say that."

    He had a point. I fell back against the closest tree. "It''s my gut, Leif. No matter what happens, I just keep feeling like he''s supposed to be here. And don''t you dare say it has anything to do with any kind of feelings for him because it doesn''t."

    Looking unconvinced, he sighed. "I''ve always trusted you, but I don''t trust him. If he''s here, then we''re sleeping in shifts. My family is on the line, Max."

    "I know." I bit the inside of my cheek. "Look, if we send him back now, then who knows what he''ll do? If he really isn''t on our side, he could go straight to the Prophet. If we keep him with us, we can watch him and kill him if he crosses us. Is there anything more trustworthy than my bow and your sword?"

    Leif grinned now. "Hell no. Nothing. Look, if the time comes, you have to really kill him though. You can''t let your emotions get in the way. And just know if he even looks at you too long, I''m ripping his windpipe out with my bare hands." He lifted his fist in the air like he was imagining it. "Then I''ll shove it back down his throat, deep in there, and¨C"

    "Okay." I pushed off the tree. "Damn. I get it."

    He picked up the wood and hesitated. "I may have been a little harsh with you."

    "You were an asshole!"

    "Stop being so childish." Leif groaned. "Shouldn''t you have grown up more by now? You''re not a kid anymore."

    "You''re the one who should have grown up by now, you old man."

    "I am not old."

    "Arn would take my side, you know. He wants you to be more patient with me."

    Leif rolled his eyes. "Only a holy man could have enough patience to deal with you, girl."

    As much as the bickering could annoy me, I loved it just as much, and I loved having Leif and Wren back with me. When I settled to sleep that night with Leif and Wren both close, I finally had a touch of peace. But it still wasn''t enough to keep me from slipping away in my dreams.

 21. Trust (Part 2)

    Wind rushed beyond the Sacred School and tore over the cliff, carrying away pebbles from the rock we sat on.

    Piercey stared past the Valley below with eyes still as the dead themselves. He didn''t need to tell me what he was thinking about. I could feel it as powerfully as the wind.

    "We''re real," I said.

    "Then we''ll still be real when we wake up in the real world."

    I closed my eyes. "What is the real world, Piercey? She said her world is digital. Her people all uploaded. There may be nothing physical to return to."

    "Don''t you want to know what''s out there? Where we come from? Who we are?" He turned to face me. "You want to fight to keep this prison they built for us?"

    "I''m the one who has wanted to escape the school for years."

    Piercey threw his head back and laughed. "Listen to yourself. The whole world is the school. It''s all under their control. It''s all fake."

    "Our life is here."

    "What about our life out there? What if we all have families waiting for us to wake up from this world? Who knows whether Dr. Henderson told us the truth when she said this is the only life we''ve ever known." He reached for my hand then, life in his eyes for the first time since we found out. "Let''s be free. We don''t even have to fight. Just jump."

    I recoiled. Pebbles scattered over the cliff''s edge and fell until they were too small to see. "I''m not jumping. Don''t you even care that you''ll lose me?"

    His expression fell.

    "I doubt they''ll let us remember any of this if we do get to live beyond this world. We''ll lose everything we have, including each other. I won''t be me anymore if I can''t remember my life."

    He turned his face back toward the cliff. "I didn''t think you''d be willing to participate in their experiment, even if rebellion cost you everything."

    "Living is not giving in. Dying is. This is our life. Ours. We should take this world back from them. Not abandon it, abandon everyone in it, to the whim of false gods."

    "You can''t fight a god, Max."

    I rose and turned my face into the wind so it would dry the tears that filled my eyes. "I won''t surrender to death and I won''t be her lab rat, either. I''m leaving this school. I''m going to live. Maybe I can''t take our world back, but I''ll take my life back. One day, I''ll figure out how to do more than that."

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    Piercey lowered his head. "You''d rather fight than be free."

    I knelt down and wrapped my arms around Piercey''s shoulders. Settled my head against his back. "You feel this?"

    The wind roared against us.

    "This is real. This right here. If we feel, we are."

    Piercey was quiet for a long while. We sat that way with silence and wind between us.

    When he spoke, his voice was stripped of emotion. "The white room must be beyond our simulation because the laws of physics seem to be different. If there''s a way for the gods to let us in, there must be a way to break in." He squeezed my hands. "If we can break into the white room, we should be able to also break into the infrastructure of the simulation. Break into their control."

    I knit my brows. "If we hack into the interface of our world and take control from them, they could physically destroy the hardware we''re on."

    "Destroying hardware is risky. Do they have a failsafe? Are we separate from the other simulated worlds they''re experimenting on? Destroying us could destroy their entire project. Maybe they would just let us live freely."

    I settled my forehead against the back of his neck. "You''re too optimistic. Dr. Henderson doesn''t look like the type of woman to let go. She''d fight for control."

    "But would she destroy us?"

    "That''s a major gamble."

    "Might be better than jumping off a cliff."

    Piercey had spent years helping me plan to escape and still he refused to actually do it. "Would you really do it, Piercey? Would you actually try to take back our world from the gods?"

    The quiet that followed said it all.

    I sighed. "You always find the answers and do nothing with them."

    He glanced behind himself, where I still held him. "I find the answers for you. I can''t deny you anything, Max. I''ve never been able to."

    We were growing up. I heard it in his words. Felt it in his strong grip on my arms. This wasn''t like when I first came here at eleven and he held me when I was homesick. Or when I pulled him close after he''d failed his first healing test. The children in us couldn''t survive long in a place like this. We were growing into more. And my arms around him had grown into more too, into something he wanted but I never quite did. I should have let go then as I felt that stillness settling between us, only it was hard to let go of the only person who''d never let go of me.

    "Stay in this world, Piercey." I held him a moment longer. A moment too long. "Stay in my life."

    I made myself release him then and I walked away, leaving him to feel the emptiness of someone letting go. Because if he jumped, he''d let go forever.

    "You matter more to me than the world. I''d risk it all for you." I said it softly. So softly, I didn''t know if he''d heard me.

 22. Train Beasts

    The slips to the future and past were getting worse, so every time I fell asleep, I lost my hold on the present. At the very least, I was recovering more quickly. This time not even Leif noticed something was wrong.

    It was getting harder to keep information to myself as we traveled. Everyone deserved more from me, including Nash. It was just so hard to make myself share it. I told them pieces of the truth that wouldn''t endanger them. I''d been recruited by the Prophet in my homeland on the other side of the world to train at the Sacred School when I was ten, but I''d run away before becoming one. Nash had asked if the gods gave their powers to me. I''d said I didn''t make it that far, even though the truth was that I''d been born with the power. But now they all knew that I had a friend on the mountain who stayed and would be as powerful as the rest of the Prophets by now.

    Nash had been the most persistent in asking me questions, but I''d been persistent in ignoring him.

    It hadn''t worked any favors in regard to the tension between us. I couldn''t stop thinking about how he worked with Flare, which only made me angry again about him serving the Prophet. I understood his reasons, but I couldn''t respect it. I would have found another way.

    At least, I wanted to believe I would.

    The anger would churn with my worries about whether Leif was right and I''d made a mistake, until Nash met my eyes. That instinctive pull to trust him would overwhelm my senses, and I couldn''t decide whether that meant I absolutely should not have been listening to myself, or whether I should. I''d always followed my gut in the past.

    The next time Nash had pressed me for information, I glanced at the narrow space between us. "You should be careful."

    He raised his brows, confused.

    "Leif is watching you and he already described to me in detail how he will brutally murder you if you get too close to me."

    A grin climbed up one side of Nash''s face. "Really?" Nash glanced behind us and I did as well. Leif stared directly at him with his hand resting on his sword, walking close enough that he could reach him with one swift lunge.

    "You made your point," Wren whispered to Leif.

    But the man would not be swayed and kept his glare on Nash.

    I was surprised when Nash smiled in response and turned so that he could see everyone as he walked backward. "I grew up with a sister." Then, he tapped his left shoulder. "I had a bad wound a few years ago. It''s slight, but my flexibility is not quite as good on this side. If you get just the right angle behind me, it can be a problem in battle."

    "Are you mocking me, boy?" Leif asked.

    "Just giving you reassurances. I can''t fault you for protecting Max. If I got to see my sister again, I''d do the same."

    Wren''s expression melted. "That''s sweet."

    "No. You think you can charm people." Leif shook his head. "It doesn''t matter to me what your intentions are. I won''t trust you."

    Nash shrugged. "Fair enough." He took a large step away from me to the side, but it only made Leif grumble.

    The encounter had distracted Nash from interrogating me, at least. I had to focus on strategizing on how to make it up the mountain and to get my power back. Perhaps, if I killed the instructors, it would unlock my abilities.

    And what if the gods decided to prevent me from even stepping foot on the mountain?

    I rubbed my sore neck as we walked.

    After another day of traveling, I finally had to break it to the group that to make it to the Mountain of the Gods we would have to cross forbidden lands, and that our method of transportation also happened to be forbidden.

    "I don''t understand." Leif crossed his arms and eyed me. "It''s a beast?"

    I held back my sigh. "It''s called a train. It transports resources from the mines to factories where things like our weapons are made, and then to the edge of the forbidden land, where the Prophet''s people move everything on the highways."

    Nash scratched his nose with his thumb and scoffed. "You soften it with your made up words. Forbidden and holy are the only descriptions that matter. The Prophet ensures death for anyone who tampers with those lands."

    Leif waved a hand in the air. "Max survived the Mountain of the Gods. She''ll teach us to survive the Prophet''s forbidden lands. What I want to know is whether the Prophet keeps such a powerful beast under his control all the time? That must exhaust him. Perhaps, it''s a weakness."

    Nash glanced at Leif. "Exceptional point."

    "No," I said. "It''s not a beast. It''s not alive. It has no mind. It''s made of metal, like our swords, and powered by energy, kind of like the electricity in the Prophet''s village."

    "The closest villagers say it roars like a beast," Nash said. "So loud that it shakes the ground."

    Wren nodded. "I''ve heard of something like this. The Prophet can use the souls of the dead to animate nonliving things and use them for his will."

    Leif gave a skeptical look. "That''s some made up shit, Wren."

    Her brows furrowed in frustration. "How is it any less made up than some mindless train beast?"

    I snorted and coughed to cover the reaction. "You''ll understand when you see it."

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    "I''m not sure I want to understand," Leif mumbled.

    The others nodded in agreement.

    I chuckled. "So none of you want to ride the train?"

    "No," all three said at once.

    "Well, then you really won''t like the Mountain of the Gods." I walked backward so I could see everyone. "You could turn back and let me go alone."

    "No," Leif said, eyes narrowed.

    I shrugged. "It was worth a try."

    As we drew closer to the route the train took, the scenery changed. Beside me, Nash''s face looked shadowed as he shifted toward the foothills of the Mountain of the Gods where the industrial zone was hidden away. No one dared venture there, not even the most fearless of scavengers and looters. What the Prophet called forbidden was taken seriously, especially when with the shadow of the mountain looming over it. Might and reputation were far better deterrents than the best defense. Even the demons feared stepping too close to the forbidden foothills.

    Really, it was an area filled with mines and factories run mostly by machines and the disciples of the creators, Prophets who were gifted inventors. Unfortunately, they tended to not be as gifted in warfare, which meant that most creators in the world fell to the control of ferocious Prophets, like Eskel the Ruthless.

    The potential of neural implants had been wasted and abused in so many ways, but this was perhaps the worst. An industrialized area hidden from the people and controlled entirely by one cruel man. Although, the palaces on the coast almost infuriated me as much. The most powerful people in the peninsula vacationed to these high-tech retreats, where they could indulge in the most luxurious of pleasures, and the nastiest to think about. I''d heard of awful virtual reality rooms where the most faithful lived out their most depraved fantasies.

    Perhaps we could have cured diseases that could wipe out entire villages, but no, we had to focus on weapons for controlling and pleasures for the pampered. The forbidden lands were cursed in my mind, but not for the reasons that others feared it. Our world wasn''t ready for this power, and we didn''t deserve it.

    I sped up, wishing I could flee my thoughts. The guilt pawed at me, and with it the burning of the eclipse that had always haunted me. I could feel the flames burning my hands. See the Prophet''s inky eyes staring at me. Sense death closing in around me.

    A shudder squeezed my spine, trying to ring the life from me.

    I pressed on with the others, until we rounded a bend, and saw the first large factory building looming over us. Train tracks cut across the ground before it.

    Nash was the first to slow. Leif continued further toward the building, and Wren came to my side.

    "Do they have things like this on the mountain?" she asked.

    I nodded. "Something like it."

    Ahead of us, Nash''s hands tightened into fists. "The bastard keeps this all for himself. What storm could tear down such a structure? Children could have better homes if the Prophet is capable of this."

    The words settled over us, resonating the same way a voice echoed in the mountains. Trains arrived and departed constantly to keep up with the Prophet''s expanding reach. One would come soon and we would have to be ready.

    "Forbidden," Leif said. "Forbidden to all but a few."

    A faint roar swelled behind us and then the rumbling of the ground began in weak vibrations. Leif twisted, as if ready to face off against an enemy, while Wren studied the possible threat from her war painted eyes. I watched Nash and how his expression changed so subtly as the massive train charged toward us. For the first time, it occurred to me that having to serve the Prophet and live in his shadow meant Nash had seen things Leif and Wren hadn''t. And that, perhaps, shock did not come as easily to him as I expected.

    There was no need for defense this far away from any villagers and so deep in the forbidden lands. The train pulled to a stop right before a massive door that opened to the factory, where large crates traveled by overhead rails. Then, the train would creep forward, so the next car lined up with the door.

    I motioned for my friends to follow as I climbed up the side of a car and hefted myself on top.

    Leif clung to the edge when the train rolled forward, eyes wide. "I still do not understand."

    I had to turn my face away to keep from laughing.

    Once the last car had been loaded, I rolled onto my stomach and held the edge like Leif had. "Don''t let go."

    The train moved forward, gaining speed every moment, until it broke that of a horse, and soared beyond how fast anyone except for me would have ever traveled.

    Leif screamed at the top of his lungs with his hair ripping back in the wind. "I don''t fucking understand."

    But Nash lifted onto his forearms, eyes bright as he looked over the side. My stomach tightened and I grabbed the back of his shirt, terrified he''d fall.

    "Careful," I said.

    He looked into my eyes, laughing that exhilarated kind of laugh while the curls flew back from his face. "No land will be forbidden to me again."

    My heart caught. I gripped his shirt still, unable to let go with how close to the edge he rode. "You''re having fun?"

    He scooted to the middle of the car and carefully crawled onto his knees, letting his head fall back, his arms raised, his tunic whipping in the wind. Exposed cliffs flashed around us as the train rushed ahead at full speed. Leif screamed in horror again while Nash laughed and unleashed a very different kind of roar.

    Wren nudged me with her foot. She''d been so quiet and still, I hadn''t even looked at her. "Stop worrying so much."

    I bit my lip and looked back to Nash. It did look fun. Sighing, I crawled beside him and closed my eyes against the power of the wind. His arm slid around me, and Leif was too busy clinging for dear life to the edge of the car to notice.

    "Does it go faster, Sharpshooter?"

    "I think this is fast enough." I laughed.

    With the danger we were barreling for, I couldn''t believe I was feeling anything close to fun, but I couldn''t keep Nash''s infectious grin from spreading to me.

    So I took the excuse to hold onto him, to let the wind take away my suspicion and fear, and enjoy the exhilaration of how each curve made us slide. Nash and I held onto each other tightly, laughing as we kept each other from toppling over. I could let myself have a short time with my guard down. It felt good to let go of all of my anxiety. It seemed to be something Nash had no trouble doing.

    I couldn''t decide if he just didn''t have the good sense to be afraid. Or, if maybe he had the sense not to be.?

 23. Cracks

    We hiked through the foothills of the mountain after we reached the end of the train''s line. Along the way, I told everyone of the dangers that awaited us: hidden pits with sharpened stakes, a lethal army, perilous trails. The mountain guard would kill anyone who came or left without permission. No exceptions. The only reason I''d ever escaped was because in the earliest days of the school the instructors had used their power to carve secret passageways into the mountain. None of them connected from the beginning to the top, but it offered reprieve for anyone who lived at the Sacred School if they needed to take an unsanctioned trip down the mountain.

    Gentle slopes stretched into towering hills, the dark of fertile land now pocked with gravel and bright with rusty soil, bald here where the carpet of trees had thinned into dead grass and thorny weeds. The Valley was lush with vegetation, but the southeast side of the Mountain of the Gods looked as if someone had painted it in a brushstroke of red. A unique pocket of iron-rich hills and cliffs starved this swath of land. Soon, the inclines would steepen into small mountains that rolled like waves into the giant peaks, and there the cover of evergreen pines would shield us from the sun once more.

    We were close. Close enough for the land to cool in the mountain''s shadow. As we hiked, the hours crawled by, and the mountain slowly grew above us, until its white peaks took up most of the sky.

    "I want to know more about the mountain and the Sacred School." Nash spoke quietly to me.

    "I''ve told you what I can."

    "You hold the knowledge and power in your hands and feed me crumbs as you see fit.¡± He pounded his fist in his hand. ¡°I won¡¯t go from being the Prophet¡¯s lackey to yours.¡±

    Pain pinched my chest. "I never asked you to do that. If you don''t trust me, then go home."

    "I''m not going anywhere. I just want to know what the hell I''m jumping into."

    I wiped the sweat from my brow. "Chaos and torment. That''s what, Nash. Mysteries you''ll never unravel. Get used to it if you want to finish this journey."

    He huffed in frustration and walked on ahead of me. Fine. I steeled myself against his dissatisfaction and trekked forward.

    I continued the rest of the way in silence, slowing when I reached the unseen barrier surrounding the mountain. Would the gods intervene? The instructors should not have been able to detect me unless I used my power, which of course, I currently couldn''t. But I had no idea what the gods were capable of.

    I tensed my muscles as I took my first step over and waited for something devastating, like a fireball to shoot from the sky and incinerate me. Nothing happened, though. Another step and I started to hope that I might survive after all.

    Nothing looked different over this barrier, not the cone tops of the trees or the dense shadows, but the air here was charged. Already, the warmth of my dormant power felt even hotter than normal.

    From this moment on, we would be hunted if anyone caught even a hint of our presence. "We''re here," I said. "Stay quiet."

    Nash, Leif, and Wren filed into a line behind me, copying my every movement perfectly, just as we''d discussed as we traveled. Harsh rock cliffs and broken patches of grassy land mottled the terrain. I stepped carefully across what looked like a worn path up a slope, but I knew hidden pits lined both sides, with only a thin patch of earth to travel across. I steadied my breath as I put one foot in front of the other.

    ¡°Everyone okay?¡± I asked.

    They all nodded.

    Once I crossed the path, I held my breath until Nash, Leif, and finally Wren made it to me. There wasn¡¯t time to celebrate. Every moment out in the open risked us being seen, and the guards had radios. If I did manage to use my power, they even had detectors that picked up quantum energy so they could track us.

    Why the gods had been willing to give such advanced technology to the guards when they claimed not to act in our world made my blood boil. The guards had a mandate from the gods and I knew their communication and detection devices came from them. Dr. Henderson wouldn''t help children trapped at the school, but she would equip people to hunt us down.

    I struggled to understand why the guard so fanatically fought to protect the mountain. Piercey had wondered if they were artificial intelligence. But the gods would want to replicate whatever they did here in physical worlds. What had they done to earn such fealty?

    There were so many answers left to uncover. I had always wondered if that was the real reason Piercey refused to come with me. So he could unearth all the secrets on this mountain.

    We navigated around pit after pit. Finally, we picked up our pace across steepening terrain until we stopped at the base of a towering hillside. Sparse trees grew out from the side, the roots bare where earth had slid away beneath rain and wind.

    "We have to get to the top," I said. "Watch the path I take."

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    "There must be an easier way." Leif gaped at the towering hill.

    "Trust me. This is the easy path. Any other way, and we''ll have to fight the guards, which means we''d have to keep fighting our way up the rest of the mountain." I gripped a tree root sticking out from the mud and hefted myself up. "Go slow."

    We picked our way up the dirt incline on our hands and knees. I tested the ground ahead of us, careful to veer away from any patches of ground that didn''t look stable. Leif climbed up right beside me with Wren and Nash not far behind.

    Rocks broke loose from Leif''s grip and tumbled down the hill. He pressed his head against the dirt, breathing out slowly. "We''re all going to die."

    "We''re not going to die." I dug my toes into the earth and climbed up another foot.

    The ground vibrated against my hands, the mountain angry with my arrogance.

    Beneath Nash''s hands and knees, a massive shelf of earth broke free of the hillside. In an instant, he was airborne.

    Fear choked out my breath.

    I launched myself down the hill with all my strength and drew my blade as I fell. I reached for the heat inside of me desperately, focusing on the power I felt from this mountain, and struggled to grasp what had been locked away. Traces of it burned inside of me and helped to drive myself faster than Nash tumbled, until he was within reach. But I needed more and I needed it now.

    I slammed my sword through the falling debris for the cliffside. Nash caught the hilt of the sword with me, so I released my hold on it to grab him around his neck. Fought against the earth to lock my legs around him.

    Nash grunted as he held onto the sword with both hands now, our bodies slowing just slightly more than the landslide. Still reaching for my power, I clawed at scraps of it to help us stop. I managed only to pull out a trickle of it, but it was enough to clear out the mud around us so the sword broke free to stable earth. It nearly ripped the weapon from his hands and me from his back. I wasn''t sure whether we held on ourselves or whether that was more power that had saved us.

    We hung from the sword as the ground fell away beneath us.

    "You''re¡­" Nash panted. "...insane¡­"

    Looking up, I found Wren with her arm latched around a small tree while Leif pulled her over the edge of the newly formed cliff.

    Dread filled me. The guards would have heard that landslide and I may have managed to use enough power for them to detect.

    I released Nash and rolled as I slid along loose dirt. Nash dropped next and tossed the sword to the side. The mud nearly swallowed it whole.

    "You could have died." Nash stumbled toward me, covered in mud. Chunks of it hung from his hair, the weight flattening his curls. "What were you thinking?"

    "We''re alive. It doesn''t matter." I looked up at the exposed cliff. There was no way we were getting back up. "We''ll have to take the difficult route." I sighed and backed up to see Leif and Wren. "The passageway is behind you. Travel up the stairs. We''ll meet you at the top by the morning. Do you see it?"

    I focused on the rock wall, imagined it, and tried to carefully pry open the narrow slit that would allow them through. Damn it, though. It wasn''t working. Opening the passageway took so little energy. I had to find a way to access these passageways or we were dead, considering that we''d accidentally announced ourselves to the guards.

    Breathing in deeply, I allowed my father''s voice from childhood to fill me. Though I tried not to think about him, he always made me angry, and anger more than any other emotion helped me to unleash myself.

    "Feel the flame inside you. Let it grow."

    Energy flowed out from me, not as something I could see, but feel. Enough, I hoped.

    Leif looked back down with wide eyes.

    Yeah, he saw.

    "Be careful!" he shouted.

    "We have to go." I nodded toward the woods. "Guards could be here any minute."

    Nash followed me as I sprinted for the wooded hill to our right. This led to an impassable rock wall with only a thin tunnel that was always crawling with guards.

    "We''ll have to fight." I drew my bow. "There''s no way around it."

    A tree splintered ahead of us. We both shot to the ground. I rolled off my shoulder and landed on my knee behind a tree trunk. Nash pressed against one ahead of me.

    I spun out from my shelter. Immediately released my arrow into the chest of our attacker.

    "Flank them," I said. "Dead ahead there''s a tunnel through the cliff. Meet me there."

    Nash nodded, swords drawn now. "Be safe, Sharpshooter."

    I clenched my jaw, thinking of Elsie in his arms. "You too."

    We broke away and sprinted in opposite directions.

 24. Passageway

    The power escaping from the cracks within me might not have compared to what I''d once been able to do, but it energized me now. As I ran, I easily listened for heartbeats. There were five guards already in Nash''s path. I couldn''t leave all of them for him. My eyes fluttered as I aimed my bow and drove my arrow with my mind. It whizzed between trees, around branches, and flew straight into the heart of a guard headed for Nash.

    Despite not being able to use power for so many years what I could grasp came back to me naturally.

    With my hearing attuned, I noticed the stomping of the guards as they all switched directions, running straight for me. They must have been watching their radars and I must have exuded enough energy for them to detect.

    A group came into sight. They scattered between the trees, using them as cover as they wove through the woods.

    I had to break through this seal on my power. These few hours on the Mountain of the Gods had helped me to regain far more than I had during years of training and struggle. Everything was different here. I could do this.

    When Piercey and I had trained at the Sacred School, he had increased his powers by studying the science behind what we did and by actually understanding the code of our world. I''d always felt it, like water I could run my fingers through, or sand I could gather in my hand. It was the same as seeing the visible world versus reading a description of it. Without thought, I experienced it.

    Together, we''d made a great team by combining those imperfect methods. I didn''t understand exactly why this mountain changed my access to my power, but as I reached for it, I felt as if I could actually touch it for the first time since it was sealed. If only I had Piercey with me to help me get there faster by seeing the world through his eyes as well as my own.

    I could not allow anything to hold me back, though. Lifting my palms, I scraped down to the depths of my soul with my will. Everyone was counting on me. If I couldn''t do this, it wasn''t just Leif, Wren, and Nash who would die here. All of our warriors and innocents would too. I had to let go of my past failures and my fear that I couldn''t do this. I had to kill the curse.

    A wave of energy exploded out from me.

    The guards flew through the air from the power of the hit. They slammed against their backs and slid across the ground, knocking into each other, into thick trees.

    Wow. The rush flooded my body with energy. It was by far the most power I''d managed since losing mine. Even so, it was a pathetic shadow of what I''d once managed to do. I should have been able to instantly kill all of them.

    I lowered my head. The burn of my power ate across my skin. This sting was only a taste of how bad it could get. I needed to get used to it again.

    To my heightened senses, the subtle twitch of a guard turning his hand for his knife jolted through my chest like he''d slammed his fist into me. My eyes snapped to him.

    I bound his hand with my mind. Turned his own weapon on him so the quivering tip pushed for his throat.

    He clasped it with both hands. The veins in his arms and neck and face strained like massive worms thrashing to break free of skin.

    He shrieked. Maybe they all shrieked. The noise faded in the background for me. I only heard my own blood rushing through me. I felt alive again.

    I drilled the knife into the man¡¯s neck as I lunged for another guard.

    The rest happened fast. Incredibly fast. It¡¯d been so long that I had forgotten how quick I could move, think, act when I accessed my power.

    I snapped the wrist of a woman and drove my sword through her gut.

    A flash of power and I closed the throat of two others, strangling their screams into the guttural, gasping sounds of dying animals.

    My own fear drummed beneath the thrum of my power. Fear of myself. Of what I could do and had done before. I couldn''t hold myself back because of it. I strained for every ounce of power I managed to draw out from myself.

    The last one left untouched backed up against a tree and choked on her sobs. The other two had collapsed onto their sides, their movements weaker now. Power rippled across every inch of my body, the burn more like sparks of electricity.

    I snapped the necks of the ones I was strangling.

    ¡°D-demon.¡± The living guard trembled. ¡°Demon!¡±

    I slashed her throat with my sword. It split in a neat, thin line that opened to the fountain of blood within.

    In the old days, I would have killed them all before they could take a breath. This little rush of power had my skin burning and covered with sweat. We were never meant to wield our gift for destruction, and the pain of it was something that took training to overcome and banish. How could I take on the Prophet when I was in such a state from killing five powerless humans?

    My eyes snapped shut. We were all humans. I was a human. I repeated it to myself until I was sure I would never forget. Thoughts like that were dangerous. Words like that. They were every bit as powerful as the energy I could use to tear apart a body.

    Cold air nipped at my burning skin. No, no, no. It was warm today. My friends needed me. No slipping.

    But in the cold air, I heard the whisper of Piercey¡¯s voice the last day I¡¯d seen him, so calm and so in defiance of his usually soft spirit.

    "None of this is real. Don¡¯t hate yourself.¡±

    I tried to shake his voice away. The woods blinked blue. The pale blue of my hall as a child. Pale blue streaked in blood as black as the sun during the eclipse.

    My instructors'' faces blurred against a veil of tears. The twist of their mouths frozen in terror, frozen as snowflakes fell from the hole in the ceiling onto their lips. I''d told them not to hurt Piercey anymore. Told them. "I didn''t mean to¡­ I thought I had control now¡­"

    "No one can control a power like this," Piercey said. "The Prophets are wicked with it. The gods have gone cruel with it. It''s the power, Max. Not us."

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    "I can''t stay here." I lifted my bloody hands, eyes wide. "I killed two instructors. We have to go, Piercey. It''s time."

    I nearly slipped entirely to that day when I saw the eyes of the last guard I¡¯d killed today on the mountain. Wide hazel eyes stared into mine, frozen forever in terror.

    My breath came in broken gasps. I couldn''t slow down, no matter how hard I tried. I doubled over, breathing so rapidly that none of it reached my lungs. If only I had my medicine.

    In the hot haze of my guilt, Piercey''s voice whispered in the woods. Whispered on the breeze.

    "You mean more than the world to me too, Max."

    Even though Piercey had said it, he still hadn''t come with me. With all the time that passed, the pain of it still burned deeply within me. If it was true, then how could he stay behind? I had stayed at the Sacred School for him even when it killed me. So why hadn''t he fled with me? It had felt like betrayal. Abandonment.

    If I let myself feel the lost friendship, the slip would steal me away to the past. Or even worse, the future. My legs wobbled beneath me, more from what I¡¯d done than from the fight itself. That power, as limited as it was, would be like a beacon. More would come our way. We needed to make it to a passageway.

    I walked forward as I notched an arrow and used my power to drive its aim through the throat of a guard approaching from the east. Again with another. Another.

    Fire flooded my veins. I didn''t want to kill these people. It didn''t feel right, like I was attacking someone who was unarmed. But if I didn''t kill them, they would kill my friends, and I would never make it up the mountain. The guards would never give up on killing intruders. I needed all my power, not these crumbs. Either the journey to the top would help me break free, or I''d force the instructors to break their seal.

    I focused on Nash, the strong beat of his heart stilling my own. I sprinted for the pass to meet him and found him there, walking straight through the narrow hall of stone. Nash rolled his shoulders, both blades in his strong grip.

    Four guards ran forward. Or at least, four guards had when I entered.

    Nash plucked a knife from his side and threw it into the eye of one guard. A long step. Drove his blade straight up through the soft underside of another''s chin.

    The others pushed forward with their faces red and strained.

    Nash sidestepped one swipe and then another from the third guard. I rushed forward to help when he carved his blade through the man¡¯s back. Only one remained and Nash rushed him, charging forward like a bull.

    The last one raised his sword, but Nash knocked it from his grip with one hit and plastered him against the rock wall with his shoulder so hard that spit flew from the guard''s mouth. Blood rushed down the man¡¯s legs in a stream. He collapsed into the red puddle on the ground, his stomach open and pulsing.

    Nash ended his suffering with a stab into his carotid artery.

    ¡°Holy shit.¡± I looked at each body. He¡¯d used no power. I¡¯d never felt any from him. That was definitely natural. ¡°Nash.¡±

    He nodded toward the light at the end of ten feet of solid rock. ¡°Let¡¯s go, Sharpshooter.¡±

    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re going to pretend that was no big deal?¡± I stepped over a body on my way to his side. ¡°That¡¯s how good you are, huh?" His skirmish managed to plant me back in my body, away from those I''d abandoned behind me.

    Nash rubbed his side. ¡°Glad we can agree on something.¡±

    I rolled my eyes and looked at his side as we continued forward. ¡°And you hurt yourself, didn¡¯t you, Nash the Badass. You could have left two for me. You didn¡¯t have to slay everyone in sight by yourself.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a bruise from the fall.¡±

    ¡°Let me show off next," I said. "Be a gentleman and give me a turn.¡±

    ¡°I figured you¡¯d had your fun, flying down a landslide to save me.¡±

    ¡°I need much more fun than that."

    Nash smirked. ¡°I¡¯ll have to keep that in mind.¡±

    I gasped. ¡°Are you really flirting right now?"

    "You''re the one who was flirting. I merely played along."

    "Please." I scoffed. "There''s people trying to kill us, you know.¡±

    ¡°Not right this second. They¡¯re obviously going to ambush us once we make it through. This might be the last flirt of my life. How can I pass it up?"

    I shook my head. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± I didn''t know whether he teased me because it was just how he was, or whether he was trying to manipulate me after all, or if maybe he actually was interested. It made my stomach flop. This was a dangerous game to play. Too dangerous.

    But he was right about what he''d said. Out in the open, they would have plenty of room to fight us, and they had numbers on us. They wouldn''t send in more guards to get slaughtered. If we continued forward, I¡¯d have to use my power and he¡¯d know what I really was.

    Only we didn''t have to face that just yet. This path wasn''t more difficult because of the battle we''d just survived. It was because of the battles to come now that the guard knew about me. For now, I could avoid the fight.

    "You might have time for more flirting. There''s a passageway." I moved forward and felt along the rock for the familiar, deep crack. I closed my eyes and focused. Gravel fell from the crack onto my head as the rock widened and moaned until it had opened enough to squeeze through.

    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Nash¡¯s eyes were wide.

    I eased part of the way through. ¡°It''s a door. I was taught how to open it.¡± I nodded. ¡°Come on. It¡¯s safe.¡± I slid into the cool air of the passage. Eternal flames burned in the lanterns along the rocky wall. A slight breeze wafted down the tunnel, like we¡¯d stepped into the mountain¡¯s own little world.

    Nash¡¯s hand fumbled through the crevice and then his head. He grunted as he squeezed his shoulders through.

    A narrow hall carved into the rock stretched before us in an upward slope that led to the start of the spiral staircase. "If we hurry, we can make it to Wren and Leif by morning." I closed the passageway and breathed a sigh of relief.

    His eyes widened. "We''ll be in this tunnel that long?"

    "It connects with theirs higher up the mountain." I nodded toward the stairs.

    "I''d rather go back and fight." Nash started for the stairs. I couldn''t help but smile.

 25. Confession

    Endless stairs.

    Absolutely endless stairs with narrow stretches of tunnel that echoed our every breath stretched on and on and on. For hours upon hours, we walked and didn''t stop for a break even once we''d been reduced to crawling up the stairs, unable to speak.

    We''d both sweated so much that the mud had run down from our faces and necks in dark streaks. Every muscle in my body burned.

    Three more stairs and I rounded a bend that wrenched a cry from my chest.

    "You hear it?"

    Nash perked up. "Water."

    We clambered up the last few steps and stumbled down the hall to a natural cave in the mountain. Stalagmites reached their spindly fingers for one another from above and below. A still pool of water reflected the blue hue of the cave''s ceiling. I stumbled for it, collapsed, and sucked in mouthfuls of water so fast I nearly wretched.

    My stomach hurt from drinking too much. "I didn''t think we would make it."

    "Me either. I''m going in." Nash pulled his tunic over his head and pried off his shoes before reaching for his pants.

    "A warning would be nice!" I turned my face away.

    "I told you I was going in."

    "Not without clothes," I muttered. Washing away the mud and sweat did sound nice. I bit my cheek. "If you look you die. Okay?" I glanced over at Nash to find that he''d ventured chest-deep into the water.

    He covered a bare shoulder with his hand. "You''re the one who''s looking. Keep your eyes to yourself, Sharpshooter."

    I rolled my eyes at his smirk. Even after he turned his back to me, I felt nervous. "You really can''t look."

    "I would never do that." He splashed water over his face. "Not even if you were drowning. I''d look the other way and preserve your dignity so you could perish untainted by my gaze."

    "Oh, shut up." I left my clothes in a pile, so exhausted that even that simple task of undressing felt incredible tiring.

    The relief of the water immediately soothed me. I relished the feeling of weightlessness on my heavy body. Once I felt like I could move my arms again, I unknotted my hair to scrub away the mud.

    "They''ll try to ambush us higher up the mountain now that they know we''re here." I pulled chunks of mud from my tangles. If Rune saw this, he would tease me and say this mess would break the brush. I missed the little guy.

    "I figured," Nash said. "I''m getting out now. You can look if you really want to."

    "How do you have the energy to be an ass right now?

    "An ass? I''m trying to do a nice thing for you."

    I scoffed. "Oh, how generous of you."

    "I like to give to those in need. You seem pretty stressed out."

    My jaw dropped. I was somewhere between laughing and wheeling around to punch him in the kidney. "You better walk away right now."

    "I''ll accept a simple thank you, but I wouldn''t turn away coin if you''re feeling especially grateful."

    I dragged my arm across the water to splash him. "You''re insufferable."

    Refusing to look at him for even a second, I turned away immediately. His laugh both grated at me and made it hard not to smile.

    The effort to drench him in water had drained the last of my strength. My body was so weak that I could have cried at the effort of having to dress. Nash reclined against a large rock, facing the passageway. I stumbled to him on numb legs and slid down the rock.

    "I feel like death," Nash said.

    My heavy eyelids slid shut. "Me too¡­ We''ll sleep here tonight and finish the journey to Leif and Wren in the morning."

    The cool air of the cave chilled my wet skin. I shivered and drew my knees up.

    Nash opened his arm in my direction. I looked at him suspiciously, waiting for him to make some quip.

    "I won''t tease," he said.

    "If you do¨C"

    "I''ll die," he finished for me.

    I was too exhausted to feel embarrassed or to appreciate his closeness as I slid against him and drew my legs over his. His embrace wrapped me up.

    Never mind. I felt something. Warmth tickled my stomach even though our bodies hadn¡¯t yet eased the chill.

    ¡°Don¡¯t react.¡± His mouth brushed the crown of my head as he whispered. ¡°I lied to you about Flare.¡±

    His confession came so suddenly that I almost sat up to look at him, but he held tight.

    ¡°She knows things only spoken in private. Act like we¡¯re just resting in case she can see or hear.¡±

    It was so hard not to speak. I closed my eyes to pretend I was drifting off but I had so many questions.

    ¡°When I first met her, I thought she was another human spy like me. She was really the first demon to work with the Prophet of the Valley. She recruited the rest.¡±

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    What kind of power did Flare have?

    ¡°Flare used the Prophets to divide and conquer the tribes in our region. Not just in the Valley, but the Kyst, the Flatlands, the Fjellfolk. That''s why demons helped attack with the Flatlanders in the night. She''s orchestrating this. Now she wants to unite our lands under one head. One Skia Hellig."

    Already our young world had more than it should. Roads, steel, villages with indoor plumbing. Our power had paved the way for us to have what took other worlds hundreds of thousands of years to gain, except it was still so undeveloped. Flare didn''t care about the suffering that the Prophets caused, only the stability they would bring once formal governments rose to take their place. They were a stepping stone to speeding up evolution so that fewer people would suffer for a shorter period of time.

    Just like what the gods wanted for our world. They weren''t content to watch countless worlds in the universe evolve naturally on their own. They wanted to master evolution. But just like the gods, Flare wasn''t mastering evolution here. Only creating a sickly mutant in place of what otherwise would grow on its own. Had the gods given her special gifts because she believed in their vision?

    I couldn¡¯t speak, so I dug my fingers into Nash¡¯s side where my hand rested.

    His voice lowered even more. ¡°One day, Flare will turn on me. I''ve tried to keep her trust to figure out what she''s doing. But she could hurt Elsie. I need to kill her. I''ve seen people try, but every time, she vanishes the instant they almost have her. She reappears moments later, unharmed. I don''t know how to take her out."

    Chills darted down my spine. I''d bent time with my power, but I had always been a passenger in time, not a god of it. The control had always eluded me. Flare seemed to have mastered manipulating space-time. The gods must have given her a power I couldn''t imagine. Piercey and I had tried for years to help me control it without any success.

    Nash whispered against my hair. "If we don''t stop her, more lands will be conquered, and countless will die. Those of us who survive will lose the world as we know it. This is bigger than the Prophet of the Valley."

    This couldn''t be the world we''d leave behind for children like Elsie and Rune. There had to be more I could do. I certainly couldn¡¯t sit there saying nothing after he had told me all this. So I eased onto my side, tugging Nash to encourage him to stay close.

    I nestled against the rock while he stretched out alongside me, his body turned to cover mine, staving off the chill. My breathe caught in my chest when I looked into his eyes. His face hovered so close to mine. Even as I told myself not to think about it, my body wouldn''t listen. Every inch of myself was attuned to him, to every part of us that touched and every part that did not. I managed to whisper, not looking away from him even though my cheeks felt hot. "You decided to trust me."

    He held my gaze another moment before speaking. "You threw yourself down a cliff to save me. Sometimes it''s too dangerous not to trust a person who deserves it. I''ve been fighting for a long time, Max. I need you."

    Did I need him? With my power returning, did I need anyone? My heart told me yes, because throughout my life it had always been the people I cared about who gave me the strength I needed. "I trust you too and that scares me."

    Nash''s stare briefly slipped down my face. "The gods, fate, our own will¨Cwhatever it may be¨Csomething has drawn us together. That''s what I keep feeling."

    I nodded, helpless to fight the same pull, or maybe just unwilling. Leif would rip both our windpipes out if he saw this. But he wasn''t here right now. It was only Nash and me with no one between us. I could no longer pretend that my heart had any reservations. I believed that he was on my side and that I could put my trust in him. Resisting Nash felt as futile as fighting a slip. I couldn''t change it any more than I could the past when I traveled there.

    That or I''d simply surrendered to the kind of power Nash had. Was I being fooled by a spy who knew how to sway a woman with his pretty face and his disarming confidence? Or did we have a real bond that would be a shame to discard? The questions faded to a whisper in my mind until I could no longer hear the lingering worry. It was too late.

    ¡°We¡¯ll kill them,¡± I said. If Flare had put the Prophets in power, then she was my enemy. ¡°We¡¯ll find a way. I will stop at nothing to kill her and the Prophet."

    "We will. I''m in this with you."

    With me.

    "The gods aren''t what they seem, Nash. Nothing is as it seems. Climb this mountain with me, fight with me, stand up to them with me. But the rest is off limits. Soon, I''ll have to ask you to stay behind. I''m not letting you get pulled into this."

    "I''m already in it." The hot breath falling against my lips clouded my mind. I simply watched him as he whispered. "Whatever you''re holding back, you won''t be able to protect me or your friends from it for long. If you''re going to trust us, then trust that we can handle it."

    An unexpected wave of pain from all that this power¨Cthis curse¨Chad cost me thrashed my heart. Nash could not possibly fathom all that I held back from him. "You don''t know what you''re saying. There''s only suffering in my future. You shouldn''t get too close."

    His eyes reflect my own pain as concern softened his face. If he knew what I really was, he wouldn''t look at me like that. "What is it, Max?" he asked.

    I looked away. "Something I''ll make sure you never have to worry about."

    He pushed my wet hair back from my face. "You can let someone protect you for once."

    "You can''t protect me, Nash." My voice sounded distracted, though, because his hand hadn''t left my head, and being close to him quickly wore down any semblance of a remaining defense against him. I lifted my fingers to graze the definition of his jaw, the day''s growth of stubble, and up along the sharp angle of his cheekbones.

    A strong hand smoothed over my hip and dug into the dip of my lower back. He drew closer and I closed my eyes as he worked his mouth over mine, his lips soft and full.

    His closeness amplified every feeling, so even a faint touch felt more like a shout than whisper, and anything more entirely overwhelming. My palms smoothed down his shoulders and around¨C

    He grunted and caught my hand as I dug into his side. I¡¯d forgotten. I sat up and ripped his shirt up to see where he was hurt. Black and purple bruising mottled his side, stretching in a long swath up along his ribs.

    Pain tingled down the back of my arms at the sight of it. ¡°You said just a bruise.¡±

    ¡°It is just a bruise.¡± He drew me back down.

    I pushed against him. "Are you hiding other injuries from me? We need to look out for each other."

    "Well, I didn''t want to say¡­" Nash drew his collar down, voice serious. ¡°I have a scratch here.¡± He twisted his neck and pointed at a thin scrape. "And here." The teasing smile crawled back on his face.

    "Like I said, insufferable."

    Still holding my hand, he pulled me close, until I could feel his breath against my face. Then he drew my palm beneath his shirt, along his back. "More bruising."

    His bare skin warmed my hand. The heat shot straight to my cheeks.

    "What about you?" His deep whisper wafted against my ear. His fingers caressed my wrist. "Scratches from the fall." His touch traveled up my arm slowly. "Cold from the water."

    I sighed. "My pride because you never stop teasing me."

    He turned with me and settled me back down against the rock floor.

    I could sink into this. Probably not make it for air. Even though we didn''t know each other well and might not know each other for long, it felt like if I let him in even once, it would hurt terribly to tear him back out. Soon, I¡¯d die beneath the eclipse. It would be easier to die alone than to leave behind another person to grieve me. Already, I''d let too many people love me.

    Lying here with nothing between us, not even my suspicion, our bodies betrayed our secrets, and all that we might want to hide. His eyes looked wide open to me. I feared what he would see in mine. I didn''t let go, but I couldn''t let myself draw him any closer either.

    I buried my face against his chest and closed my eyes, breathing in my first good breath as he held me. We lay together for a while, not saying anything. Weight pressed me into the earth, not his own or mine, but the weight of total exhaustion. When I tried to say something, maybe to apologize, he hushed me, kissed my cheek, and simply held me as we drifted off.

 26. Living Dreams

    I slept soundly for the first few hours before time tugged and pulled until it unraveled. I resisted, lying there on the ground in Nash''s arms. No matter how tightly I clung to him, I slipped in and out all night while he slept. Every time I drifted off, I dreamed of another time, or lived it. I couldn¡¯t say whether I was awake or not.

    Most came in snippets, like of my father when I was young and we were best friends. Later when we weren¡¯t. So many things I didn¡¯t want to remember about my time before the mountain.

    ¡°Get up, Max."

    I moaned and covered my eyes with my arm. We''d meditated so late into the night. It couldn''t be time to get up already.

    "Max." Dad shook my shoulder. "Come on, Maxy girl."

    "It''s still dark out." The palest of blues lit the window. The sun had not yet crested the hill overlooking our cottage. "All the other kids in the village get to sleep until the sun comes up."

    "You''re not the other kids. They don''t have what you have."

    I didn¡¯t really understand what that was. I¡¯d been going to our Prophet my entire life. While my friends ran through the summer fields, I was stuck kneeling, and praying, and growing the flame inside me.

    "Soon you''ll be eleven. The Prophet wants to test you before your birthday. You aren''t ready. You''ll fail as you are now."

    I rolled over, twisting myself right out of the past. But I didn¡¯t even have time to steady myself before I was falling headlong again.

    The old Prophet¡¯s face flooded my vision. Not the Prophet of the Valley who¡¯d taken over my future, but the Prophet of my past, from across the sea where wild meadows and endlessly flat plains comprised the world as we knew it, the Prophet who¡¯d taken me to live with him in his temple that day when Dad told him I was hiding my power.

    That Prophet¡¯s bright eyes stared into mine. And I was lost again.

    "Do it, Max."

    I turned my face away so I couldn''t see Dad or the Prophet. "I told you I can''t."

    "Can''t?" Dad slapped the back of his hand against his palm so loud it made me flinch. "You can do much more, Max. We need you. Your power can set the people free from the blasphemers who bring the gods'' judgment upon us."

    The Prophet hadn''t yet spoken. Often he didn''t. Instead he walked to me, lifted my chin, and made me look into his eyes. "Now."

    With no hesitation, Dad unholstered his knife and placed it at his throat. He gave me only a second to think before he pushed against the blade and drew a bead of blood. Determination hardened his expression. He shifted, ready to slice his own throat.

    I screamed and twisted my wrist, my power ripping the blade free of his grip and throwing it against the far wall.

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    He reached for his sword next but I squeezed my hands into fists and focused on his arms so they were tethered in place. Dad struggled but couldn''t move. Why would he do this?

    Why?

    The flame erupted like a volcano in my body. Blind, panicked power ripped at the boundaries of my every vein.

    "Max." The Prophet''s voice strained. It was only then I realized he was using his own power to hold mine back. "You must breathe, child. Your power is out of control."

    But as concern spread over the face of the Prophet, my father only smiled.

    I grabbed a hold of the world the moment I could and jerked up. My skin was hot. Slick with sweat.

    I stared at Nash, wishing it was the day time and he was awake. Wishing he could say something, anything to distract me. I couldn¡¯t hold onto my time. I just couldn¡¯t.

    Stumbling up, I walked as quietly for the pool as I could and splashed my face with water, shaking from head to toe. I was heading back to the day. It felt as inevitable as when I¡¯d first lived it. Dad training me until the Eclipse. Until the day that changed everything. I couldn¡¯t go back there. I couldn¡¯t.

    I gripped the back of my neck and walked briskly back and forth near the pool.

    ¡°Don¡¯t slip,¡± I whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t slip. Don¡¯t slip. Don¡¯t slip.¡±

    But I did. I lost track of how many times I relieved sleepless nights with Dad and my endless days with the Prophet honing my power. My medicine would have stopped this, or at least, lessened it. But I was alone. All alone, trapped in the past, until it released its hold on me so the future could steal me away.

    Above me, the moon had nearly consumed the sun.

    Pain consumed me. My head fell and I opened my eyes to my bound ankles. Strands of blood rushed down my legs. I would die here. I would die during the eclipse.

    A crowd spilled out over every inch of the courtyard before me. Their screams tore into my mind. ¡°Kill! Kill! Kill!¡± The voices swirled about me. Growing. "Kill the demon!"

    Stepping back, the Prophet of the Valley raised up his bloodied spear of a staff against the dark sky. Black dripped from its tip.

    I jolted up, gasping, back in the cave. Nash knelt beside me, grabbing my arm. "Are you okay?"

    I must have fallen asleep at some point because I sat on the ground near the pool.

    "Did you faint again?" he asked.

    ¡°No. I couldn¡¯t sleep." That day that had not yet come to pass clung to me and made me feel sick. I struggled to speak. "I wanted to walk¡­ And then I got tired¡­ So I slept here.¡±

    Nash looked skeptical. ¡°Yeah?¡±

    I nodded. I had to get out of this tunnel. Had to get off this damn mountain. ¡°Let¡¯s just go.¡±

    Nash studied my face. "Why don''t you sleep just a little more." He slid his arms around me and hugged me tight, settling down against the ground with me. ¡°I¡¯ll wake you up when we need to leave.¡±

    I felt desperate to melt into him, but I remembered the feeling of dying and thought of how soon the eclipse would arrive. How would he feel once I died? How would it feel to get any closer? I started to push him away when he whispered in my ear.

    "I''ve got you. It''s okay. Sleep. I won''t let go."

    Maybe even though Nash didn''t have any power, couldn''t control time or space, maybe he did have something else. Because I should have slipped again and didn''t. It was as if he held me in place.

 27. Prelude

    After a morning of long and hard traveling, we had finally reached Wren and Leif, where my journey was rewarded with an earful about how I should have warned them of how awful the walk would be.

    "I hope you had as miserable of a time as we did," Leif said.

    "It isn''t possible for theirs to have been as miserable." Wren furrowed her brows. "They didn''t have to travel with you. If you complain one more time, I''m gagging you."

    "Don''t worry. We were miserable." My legs ached as stretched them by the exit.

    "Very miserable," Nash said. "There wasn''t even a single moment of relief."

    With my back to Leif, I was able to cast a glare at Nash. To his credit, he didn''t flash a hint of a teasing smile, but I knew exactly what he was doing, trying to vex me. Didn''t he want to keep his windpipe intact?

    "Good," Leif said, voice suspicious.

    "Would you stop?" Wren rarely lost her patience.

    I placed my hands against the stone to open the passageway. With all of us weary, but ready to face whatever came, we squeezed outside to a very different mountain than where we''d entered. Towering cliffs surrounded us. The air was cold and the ground moist where remnants of melting snow clung to the ledge we stood on. Soon we would reach heights where snow fell year round and terrible winds could whiteout the entire sky.

    Dark clouds lingered low in the mountains that blocked our view below and limited how much we could see of our surroundings. Sprinkles of rain fell for a few minutes as we picked our way along the edge of the cliff. Around the curve, we would need to climb to another ledge, where sloping fields crawled up to more cliffs, and to the lowest peaks of the mountain. There we would face difficult climbs up steep cliffs to reach the next passageway.

    We had to make it there, through another section of the mountain, and a final passage that led to the Sacred area the guards weren''t permitted to patrol. A tram would carry us up to the school. That would be hard to explain to my friends, but not any harder than the train.

    Things would only get more dangerous from here. The guards actively patrolled this area. Even though they knew we were trespassing, as long as I didn''t use my power, they wouldn''t be able to detect me on their radars. Ironic to hold myself back after I''d spent so long trying to regain my energy.

    "Do I need to worry?" Leif asked quietly, his whiskers scratching my ear when he leaned in to whisper. I shook him off.

    Yes, he should worry a great deal because I definitely had not heeded his advice. "No. Don''t start a fight either," I whispered.

    "I''m not trying to antagonize you. I''m trying to protect you."

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    What would Leif do if he knew Nash was a spy? The worry I thought I had shut down churned in my stomach now. That did sound terrible. I softened my voice and looked back at him. "Trust me. Okay?"

    Leif''s shoulders sagged. "Okay."

    It made me feel guilty to see Leif''s concern and then mislead him, but he wouldn''t listen to anything I had to say about the matter. We needed to keep our thoughts on the task at hand, anyway. We were entering dangerous territory.

    I eyed the ledge above as we came to the end of the cliff, steadied myself, and felt for the best place to start climbing. The others followed after me as I dug my fingers into a crack and tested an indentation with the toe of my boots. Only five feet to go. This was a short cliff. I breathed in deeply and focused on the next foothold rather than looking back or ahead.

    As I strained to reach an outcropping, a noise above the cliff caught my attention. I lowered back to hold steady as I listened. We couldn''t wait long. We''d exhaust ourselves. As quietly as I could, I climbed another foot. I heard at least two guards walking overhead.

    I neared the top when I braved a peek. Three guards walked along the short trees dotting the ledge. None of them spoke. They all scanned the area with knit brows and swords readied. Lowering, I looked over my shoulder at the others and mouthed to them. "Three¡­ On alert¡­"

    No point in wasting time. I dragged myself over the edge with burning muscles. There I crouched, easing behind the guards so they wouldn''t see me. Nash followed, drawing his blades. Leif and Wren weren''t far behind us.

    I readied my bow and aimed at the guard farthest away while Nash tiptoed toward the closest. Wren took a dagger from her thigh and Leif grabbed his blade.

    One of the guards turned. He opened his mouth. I switched my aim and shot my arrow through his teeth. Nash sprang forward, blades swinging like lightning to rip open a guard''s back. Wren''s dagger whizzed past me and thudded into the neck of the final guard. All three sank to the ground, two already dead, while Wren''s wheezed his final breath.

    Leif''s eyes scanned our surroundings. "Clear," he mouthed.

    "Hide them," I whispered. We had to cover our tracks. Wren and I searched the corpses for useful supplies. When we finished with one body, Leif and Nash hefted him up and carried him to an outcropping to hide the body. The guards checked in with each other frequently, so it wouldn''t take long to realize that these three were missing and to narrow the search. Quickly, we hid the other two, and fell into a line as we traversed the mountain.

    Slinking past another group, we managed to come upon the large field separating us from a cliff we would need to climb. Either we cut through the center, the fastest route, or hug the edge of the field in a tangle of trees. If guards were here, that was where they would likely be, but we would have cover at least. I nodded to the woods to the east. We had no other path to take and would need to fight whoever came for us. This was exactly why we had needed to make it through the first passageway undetected. They''d had all night to prepare for us.

    Tightness squeezed my chest. I could only hope we would encounter significantly less before finding the next passageway.

    An arrow whizzed past us and planted itself in the ground ahead of us. A man on a horse galloped out of the woods dead ahead. It was too late to take to the trees. We''d been spotted.

    More guards appeared behind him. Wonderful.

 28. Eclipse

    Nash, Leif, and Wren went low as the approaching guard fired an arrow. They¡¯d expect that from me and I needed to be able to shoot.

    I jumped instead and notched two arrows, tucking my knees up high to give them the least amount of space to aim at me. With a snap, I released the arrows, and reached for more before the first two had hit their targets.

    Metal tips pierced armor. The arrows drove into the first man¡¯s heart and eye. I landed in a roll and peeled off another the moment I came up to one knee. Both hit their marks exactly. A straight shot through the heart of another guard who emerged from the woods.

    Guards tore into the field on all sides of us, even from the cliffside.

    There was no point in hiding my power from their radars when I needed to know how many we faced. I focused and listened for heartbeats so I could count the enemies. Our area was flooded with them. At least forty, most hiding in the woods ahead.

    I glanced beside me where Nash turned in a circle with his swords drawn. He had to make it home to his daughter. And I couldn''t let anything happen to Leif and Wren. It was time to reach deeper than before and draw out more of the power locked inside me. Nash would find out who I was. What I was. No longer could I hide from the truth. So be it.

    Focusing on the flame of power within me, I drew the bowstring back and let my arrow soar, driving it with more than the force of my weapon but by the power the gods gave me.

    It ripped through the man¡¯s chest at an impossible distance.

    Leif, Wren, and Nash all ran out in different directions, blades clashing with those of the Mountain Guard. I had to count on them to take out the ones behind me. The woods before me teemed with guards preparing to fight.

    I felt the wind hit my cheek a second before the enemy arrow would¡¯ve split my face. I caught it mid-air, one hand wrapped around the thin wood. The power of the shot ripped my shoulder back. I steadied myself, clasping the arrow against my heart.

    Too close. Where had it come from?

    I listened for the heartbeats. Reinforcements had come from a cliff beyond the thin stretch of woods. Snipers I couldn¡¯t see. Closing my eyes, I listened, honing my senses, until I heard the patter of hearts. The whistle of breath. There they were. I ripped my bow up and returned their arrow. I didn¡¯t need to listen to know I¡¯d no longer hear the pattering or the whistling, only the rush of a dying breath.

    Two lines of guards sprinted across the field for us, twenty in all. I couldn¡¯t let them get closer.

    This was the real reason the instructors didn''t want me returning to the mountain. There was something different about this place. They couldn''t suppress me or control me here. I had to remember that so I could break myself free. I had to have total faith that I could take the power I needed, a power that was mine and mine alone.

    I focused on the burning within me, the flame inside, and breathed life into it. My eyes shot up to the men sprinting for us. I reached my hands out into claws, visualizing the power erupting from me.

    One man¡¯s neck snapped. Another down the line. Three more after that.

    Snap. Snap. Snap.

    Their bodies slammed into the ground in an awful rhythm.

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    Snap.

    Within seconds, I¡¯d killed them all without even breaking a sweat. Wren took on one remaining on the right side of me, out in the field alone. Leif turned, his face serious, three bodies on the ground behind him.

    The mountain fueled me. The cracks in the dam inside me widened, the walls beginning to crumble. There was still more untapped, but I hadn''t felt this in years. The shock of it, the exhilaration, froze me for a moment.

    Wren slayed the last man. And everyone went silent. Everyone, including Nash. I couldn''t bring myself to turn and see the look on his face.

    The grass rustled behind me.

    Wheeling around, I met the wide eyes of a guard as he stumbled back a step, his mouth opened, ready to form the words. Demon.

    It wasn¡¯t like Nash to leave him alive for this long. Three of the guard''s comrades lay on the ground, their blood staining Nash''s sword that now hung in a limp grip. Yet this man was still alive. Alive and looking into my eyes just like the woman I''d killed yesterday.

    Anger rippled down my spine. With a snap of my bow, I silenced the fear in my enemy¡¯s eyes. Still, my own coursed through me, because I couldn¡¯t deny to Nash what he had seen with his own eyes. Even if he''d suspected that I had power, witnessing it would change everything. Now he''d see the demon living inside me. I trained my eyes on the ground, unable to meet Nash''s stare.

    What if it changed things for Leif and Wren to see it too?

    Wind ripped through the silent field, stealing away the last of the guards'' breath and the screams they never had time to unleash.

    Until finally Nash''s cracking voice broke the quiet.

    ¡°Demon. That was the last word he tried to say."

    I flinched at the name and squeezed my eyes shut, not ready to see what I''d done and what Nash would think of me.

    Nash¡¯s voice sounded small. ¡°You¡¯re a demon.¡±

    Pain swept through me. I¡¯d been a fool to hope Nash could be different. Why would he be? He would hate and fear me like so many others. He¡¯d called himself an outcast as a boy but he had no idea what outcast meant.

    "Shut your mouth!" Leif shouted at him from his place on the field, veins popping in his neck.

    The blood caught my eye. The still bodies. The judgment within me screamed above Nash''s so I had no choice but to look at the destruction I''d wrought. I raised my hand to silence Leif. I could no longer hide from Nash or from Leif and Wren. I could no longer hide from myself. I lifted my head and faced them, faced the judgment I¡¯d tried so hard to escape.

    "All this time you accused me of lying and hiding things. You could have told me. Maybe I could have trusted you then." Nash''s voice was solemn, as if the Max he thought he knew had died right before his very eyes. "What¡¯s your name?¡±

    I tensed. ¡°You know my name.¡±

    ¡°The name the people know you by. Your demon name.¡±

    I bit my cheek.

    "That''s enough," Wren said, walking closer. "Her name is Max. That''s all, just Max."

    ¡°I took you to my daughter. Who are you really?¡± Nash''s voice blared. "I accepted your silence to my questions about all these mysteries before, but how can I do that now? You lied."

    Pain pounded with my heart. ¡°Eclipse. My name is Eclipse.¡±

 29. The Soul Eater

    Nash''s expression tightened after I uttered the name Eclipse. Wren stopped walking, face looking stricken. Even Leif stared like I''d taken off a mask and showed him who I was for the first time. I''d thought nothing could ever come between us, but I''d known this could. Right? I''d always known. Who could accept me after what I''d done?

    I lifted my hand toward Nash and then looked to Wren and Leif. ¡°Let me explain.¡±

    ¡°Eclipse? You¡¯re Eclipse?" Nash''s shocked stare shifted to the dead littering the field.

    I covered my mouth, my eyes burning with unshed tears. My voice cracked when I spoke. ¡°I should have told you all.¡±

    "It changes nothing." Leif''s voice shook. His eyes were red, but he said the words with enough conviction to make me believe he meant them.

    Sorrow flooded Nash''s face and this time when he looked at me, it felt as if he actually saw me again. "I trusted you, really trusted you. I want to believe you. So tell me everything I''ve heard about you since I was a boy isn''t true."

    He''d told me things that put his family in danger. In the morning, he''d held me so I could sleep. If I had trusted him too and told him the truth myself, I could have explained without the suspicion. The feeling of his kiss filled me with shame. He''d meant it, hadn''t he? He''d really opened himself up to me and I''d stayed hidden.

    "Max," Nash said. "Tell me the stories of the Slaughter of Dark Noon are a lie and that you didn''t kill those people.¡±

    Leif and Wren were watching too. They would stand with me, but they wanted to know. The problem was I couldn''t say it wasn''t true, only that I hadn''t meant to do it. When I opened my mouth, echoes of necks snapping all over this field filled my mind. Did I even deserve to defend myself?

    The world called me Eclipse, the Soul Eater, the demon who would stop at nothing to finally consume even the sun. That wasn''t true but I''d earned the name with something unimaginable I really had done.

    The horror I''d felt since that day slashed through my chest like a battle axe. My eye lids fluttered. Leif started for me but he wouldn''t make it in time. Couldn''t help me anyway.

    I slipped into two places at once, before Nash and my friends and into the red boots I¡¯d worn the day my father died. Only a few seconds passed, but time drew me in and tried to swallow me whole.

    Tears filled my eyes. I counted the seconds and focused on my feet on the ground. On my black boots. My black boots fracturing into little red ones. No, no, no! Not now.

    The field dimmed, and our time with it, hovering beneath the skin of this world, harder and harder to see.

    Nash stepped back toward the jagged wall of the cliff that had materialized behind him and looked up into the darkening sky. Wren and Leif were nowhere to be seen.

    ¡°No!¡± I wheeled around to see the last of the sun disappear behind the dark moon. I wouldn¡¯t go back to this time. I refused.

    ¡°Max?¡±

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    "Stay still!" I barely choked out the words.

    I stumbled backward toward Nash until I could cover him with my body, closing my eyes, channeling myself into scratchy grass at my ankles in the field. The heat baking the sweat into my neck.

    The sun pierced the ring of the dark moon.

    Villagers whispered below.

    ¡°The light¡­" My young voice said. "Look, Dad! The light¡­¡±

    His voice blared, deep and knowing. ¡°Your strength is greater than even an eclipse. Release it. Release it from within. It¡¯ll be beautiful, child. I promise. It¡¯s okay.¡± A warm whisper fell against my ear my ear now. ¡°Show them the light. Free them.¡±

    The heat of the flame swelled out of control, even though I tried to hold it in, tried to push Dad''s voice away. Power erupted from my body. The Prophet wasn''t here to stop me this time. Dad''s body jerked and froze in the air, his fingers popping first, and then his arms, his legs. I clenched my eyes shut.

    Shrieks ripped through the air. Shrieks from Dad, from me, from the villagers below.

    Shrieks echoed and grew until they all snapped to silence, and I was the only one left screaming.

    I gasped when I blinked to the field and the field alone. I stood in a single spot in a single point in time, back in the present. The wild scent of weeds and woods mixing with the blood of the guards I''d slain grounded me.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Nash asked, turning in a circle to look at our surroundings.

    I stumbled forward.

    The world started to spin. I lurched and vomited hard. Leif caught me and held me up by my middle.

    Nash dropped down beside me and placed his hand on my back. ¡°Can you hear me?¡±

    I nodded, my stomach rolling so much I couldn¡¯t speak.

    ¡°Hold onto us," Nash said. "Don''t go back to that place."

    Leif shoved him back with his forearm. "You''re the one who upset her and made this happen. Get away from her."

    I stumbled to my feet, putting distance between us. ¡°I didn''t know you could slip with me. Stay away. All of you of you stay far away from me.¡± I lifted a shaky hand. ¡°It isn¡¯t safe. I can¡¯t control it.¡±

    What was I doing trying to regain this power that had slaughtered sixty-seven innocent people? Children died. My stomach heaved again as I remembered clearly what I''d tried so hard to forget. It felt more real than it had since it first happened. No longer did I feel like I was in my body but like I was trapped in the past on that day.

    There was no time for me to break now. More guards would come. And if I lost control of myself, I¡¯d lose my hold on time, on space, on the only thing grounding me in the present.

    Even so, Nash¡¯s voice haunted my mind. I couldn''t shake it.

    Demon.

 30. Desperation

    We had wasted too much time on the fallout from the battle. We stole across the field, scaled a cliff, and entered the next passageway without any other guards pursuing us. They hadn''t given up, that much was certain. Now they knew their enemy. They''d be preparing for a battle that could take down a powerful demon rather than throwing away lives haphazardly. The higher up the mountain we journeyed, the fewer routes we''d have. There would be no escape.

    Leif tried to help me as we traveled up the steep stairs. I was nauseous from the slip. I refused to let anyone near me though, refused to look at them even and have to face them.

    "Max," Nash said gently. When he moved close to me, I jolted away, terrified I''d drag him through time with me again.

    "I told you it''s not safe," I said.

    "I¨C"

    Leif rammed his thick forearm into Nash''s chest and plastered him against the rock wall. "Didn''t I tell you to stay away?" Another shove. "If you upset her again and she has a spell, who knows what will happen. She said she can''t control it."

    Wren turned around from higher up the stairs and sighed. "Let''s all stay quiet and give Max time. Let him go, Leif."

    Nash had not tried to push Leif he away. He just held the other man''s stare. Another tense moment, and Leif backed away. I turned my stare to the ground, struggling to keep my mind in the present still. I could hear the screams of the guards I''d killed echoing off the walls of the stairs and through my mind.

    We traveled quietly after that and slept only a few hours before we left the safety of the passageway for the inevitable battle that awaited.

    A burst of icy wind cut through the opening of the passageway and scattered snow at my feet. I squeezed outside, sank into knee deep snow, and focused on listening for the guards. It was pointless to even try counting. There were too many.

    We waded together through the snow, the icy coldness eating through our clothes, making us heavy and wet. No guards approached but they were there. I could hear them assembling more soldiers out there in the white, hear them gathering supplies, whispering in clashes of sound I struggled to isolate.

    Up here there was no such thing as flatland. Rolling white clearings would suddenly crash into cliffs or stretch into precarious outcroppings, steepening with every foot closer to the peak. I couldn''t see anything.

    Damn it, we were easy targets out here.

    Whizzing pierced my ears.

    I tuned in so acutely that it hurt and attempted to create a barrier around us to shield us. The power within me felt like it spurted through the cracks in the damn, most of it trapped within me still, while what could escape rushed out at an incredible speed. Though the barrier wasn''t visible to the eye, I could feel it and imagine the edges of it. It was uneven and fading. Come on!

    Was all this for nothing? Would I really fail now? Enraged with myself, power burst from me and strengthened the barrier.

    Sunlight glinted from hundreds of arrows, all raining down in the sky, glittering in the haze of snow-dusted air. I planted my hands on the ground for support and thought of how helpless I''d felt as the past stole me and Nash away. Or when he''d called me demon. When the people I killed looked at me in fear. Then, I imagined little Rune waiting for us to come back to save him. Everything I felt hardened inside me, and I used it to destroy the limitations of my power, not caring if I destroyed myself in the process.

    With a scream, I unleashed a wave that knocked away all the arrows.

    Shrieking blared in the distance, just like when I''d killed those people during the eclipse. Some of the arrows broke and fell to the ground, but dozens arched back toward where they¡¯d come from. I breathed deeply as they thudded into bodies.

    I rushed forward to put distance between myself and the others and sank into knee deep snow. Focusing on listening for the guards, I gave up in the end. It was pointless to even try counting. There were too many.

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    No break. Hundreds of more arrows came. I created a shield around my friends much more easily now. At the same time, I knocked the arrows away. My eyelids flickered. My body trembled. Hands burned with heat. Even now, I was not as powerful as I had been when I trained at the Sacred School, and the fury of that beat at the crumbling walls around my power.

    Flames bit into the sky. This time, I didn¡¯t get them all. Some sank into the snow. The fire would move underground beneath the snow if it got hot enough and there was anything to burn. I couldn''t risk letting the flaming arrows hit.

    ¡°Run!¡± I motioned at the others.

    The next bout of arrows came. How many people did they have? They must have been using some kind of machine. I stumbled as I knocked them away. More fire hit the ground, melting pockets of snow where they disappeared.

    Nothing was going as it should have. That awful landslide had set us on this collision course from the start. Grief panged in my chest.

    Men rushed for us in the clearing. I¡¯d missed them in all the commotion. I flattened five of them to the ground with a sweep of my hand, but more continued for us.

    Nash met one with a powerful swing of his blade, cutting into his chest. Wren and Leif weren''t far behind, flawlessly battling against the guards launching their attack. I struggled to defend us from the onslaught while also keeping a barrier around my friends as they fought.

    Something cut the air to my right. I snapped it in half and it fell to the ground. A spear. Heads popped up in the snow as dozens of men threw more spears at us.

    Even with how the mountain energized me, the struggle to unleash my power overwhelmed my body. It felt as if my skin would melt off. I clenched every muscle, struggling against the agonizing fire burning over me.

    This time I destroyed every single arrow. Every spear. They splintered and rained down over us.

    The ground beneath me trembled with my power.

    I had to find all the men and kill them. They were splitting my focus with this onslaught. I didn¡¯t want to spill so much blood, but they wouldn¡¯t stop. These people had devoted their life to protecting this mountain. Killing them was the only way.

    Searching the clearing beyond what I could see, I snapped the neck of every person I found. My muscles twitched with the burst of power that broke fragile neck bones. Two, five, eight people. Ten. More. So many more. Pops and cracks every few seconds, my own spine-curling war drums.

    All the while, waves of arrows darkened the sky over us. Spears flew, guards rushed for us.

    I searched for more to kill, but I couldn''t juggle all of this at once. A swath of arrows hit the ground. Sharp pain crackled through my arms in a jolt of electricity from my power.

    My father''s voice slithered through the past and the whistling wind, tugging at the seams of my control, drawing the deep power hidden inside myself. Fear tangled my limbs, my thoughts. If I lost control, I could kill Leif, or Wren, or Nash. I needed more power, but terror froze my body, colder than the frozen mountain peak.

    ¡°Stop it!¡± I screamed and swiped my hand through the air, throwing the spears into the hearts I heard nearby. "I don''t want to kill you!"

    More arrows darkened the sky. My body hurt so badly I could hardly stand. How many more were there? I reached within myself for more power, begging myself to open up a door I''d kept closed for so long.

    Leif grabbed a man''s arm to pull him close as he stabbed his sword deep into his gut. Wren ducked a swing. Nash slayed two in only seconds.

    I searched the woods as I destroyed the arrows overhead. But when I tried to catch all the spears, I missed some.

    They slammed into the ground all around us.

    My eyes rolled back as I struggled to hold off everything that blasted us all at once.

    That was when I felt it. The shattering of my barrier. My eyes widened.

    Thud.

    A thick spear tore through Nash¡¯s chest and knocked him back a step. He touched it with his face contorting. The bloodied tip stuck out through his back, skewering him.

    My world froze. Nash''s eyes found mine, and then his head fell back as he collapsed onto the ground.

 31. Unleashed

    The blood dripping from the tip of the spear sticking through Nash''s chest snapped the last thread of reason in my mind.

    "No!" My voice amplified, exploding throughout the mountain. Terror took control of my body.

    A guard swung for Nash where he lay on the ground. Wren caught it with her blade, crying out in effort.

    I turned in a drift of snow as two more spears shot through the air. I knocked them aside without even thinking about it, the power flowing from me increasing as I slowly stepped toward the guards. The ground didn¡¯t just tremble. It quaked. The arrows raining down shattered and fell in bits of wood and iron. The snow scattered in a wave that tore through the field, flinging eight camouflaged men into the air.

    They hung there, suspended and totally helpless. I hardly heard their shrieks and pleas. The same force that caused the ground to tremble ripped at their bodies. With dozens of pops, their arms and legs snapped like twigs. Next I heard their ribs crackling like the flames of a fire, the kind that burned within me.

    If before I''d managed to break through the walls blocking my power, this time, I pulverized them entirely. The energy exploded from me.

    In my mind''s eye, my perception rushed across the field with my power, closing in on the faces of guards who I ripped high into the air. Dozens, maybe hundreds, flew up from the ground high into the sky as they screamed.

    I couldn''t think. Couldn''t stop myself. Couldn''t control it. The power had taken over and it was spreading.

    ¡°Max¡­¡± Nash''s voice sounded so weak.

    Bones shattered while bodies jerked in unnatural positions.

    "Max!"

    I froze, really registering the people for the first time. The eight before me hung in a cloud of misty blood, the tiny beads suspended along with them. Broken bones tore through skin stretched tight. One man''s skull had caved in. Another had arms that looked like balled up cloth. Several were bent backwards in half. They were all dead.

    Those were only the closest ones I could see.

    Blood fell in splatters of rain over the white. Bodies dropped to the ground with a ghastly rhythm.

    I¡¯d butchered them.

    Fear filled me as I turned to see Nash lying on his side, his eyes half closed. ¡°Max¡­¡± Blood darkened his chest and middle. ¡°Stay here¡­ Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t slip away.¡±

    The surviving enemies retreated, leaving us completely alone. They must have had orders to fall back after my last display, or all were too terrified to continue.

    I crawled to Nash and reached for him, afraid to touch him. My tears dropped onto his neck and chest. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I didn¡¯t mean¡­¡± I bowed my head. The tip of my hair that had pulled from my bun brushed his chest. Nash was right to look at me the way he had. I was Eclipse. I¡¯d spent my whole life trying to outrun the name. It was who I was.

    I sat up, carefully taking hold of the spear. Leif slid onto the ground beside me, holding my arm to steady me. It had lodged deep within the base of his chest on the left side.

    Wren covered her mouth with one hand and gripped Nash''s hand with the other.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got you," I said. With a grunt, Leif and I both ripped it from his body. Nash screamed through clenched teeth, blood bumping from his wound. It took only moments for his eyes to slide shut.

    I used my power to stabilize him the best I could. I could stop the blood loss and hold him together, protect him from any bile that might leak inside of him, but I couldn''t heal him. That advanced skill was something I had never learned to do. It took a lifetime to master.

    We carried Nash through the snow for an entire hour, struggling even as I used my power to aid our natural strength, until I found the cave where I had taken refuge all those years ago.

    Once we were deep inside, I collapsed, exhausted from the power, the fear, and the guilt of what I''d done.

    <hr>

    Even sitting, my heart raced like I¡¯d run for hours. I rested with my forearms against my knees, working every second to keep Nash''s wound closed. We at least had a fire going and Nash properly bandaged, lying down in his blankets. The burn from my power had settled into a constant pain throughout my body.

    The lives I''d taken pushed against me and threatened to smash me into the ground. All those guards, dead.

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    I could feel the blood splattering like rain. The thought of the warm droplets made me tremble.

    No one should have this power. No one. I thought I was finally succeeding by traveling here to get help taking on the Prophet. Flare had been right in her own way. I didn''t see the big picture yet. I was thinking too small.

    This power needed to be destroyed.

    The pain of what I''d done eviscerated my insides.

    Nash had passed out several times on the way, but since getting situated in the cave, he hadn¡¯t slept.

    "Try to rest," I said gently. "We''ll continue as soon as the sun rises."

    He looked at me for several seconds. His stare made me feel my haggardness. "You''re exhausting yourself¡­"

    "I can''t stop, Nash. You''ll bleed out. I''ll be fine. Please rest."

    Pain strained his face as he reached for my hand. My heart lodged in my throat when he tugged it onto his chest, holding it in both hands. "I''ll be okay, Max¡­ Don''t worry."

    I laughed, trying to fend off tears. "You''ll be okay if I keep the wound closed." I kept my hand in his, willing him to sleep so he could have rest from the pain and I could see him at peace for a few moments.

    Leif watched us, expression tense.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what I said,¡± Nash whispered. "I was wrong."

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say sorry.¡± I settled on my side next to him.

    ¡°Your skin¡­ is so feverish¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the power.¡± I pushed his curls back from his damp forehead. ¡°Stop talking and sleep. Please.¡±

    His eyes settled shut.

    What would we do now? We would never make it up this mountain with Nash in this state. If I left him, I wouldn''t be able to keep his wound shut. At some point, I''d walk too far away, and I''d lose him, especially because I was still getting used to wielding power again.

    A few minutes passed before Leif knelt beside me. "We have to take action soon, Max. He doesn''t look good."

    "I don''t know what to do," I whispered.

    "Yes, you do." Leif''s voice was too calm. "You just don''t want to let us do it."

    I twisted my brows. "I don''t. What could we possibly do?"

    He glanced at Wren and then me. "We have to go on without you and make it to your friend."

    "That''s not happening." I nearly released Nash''s hand to knock some sense into Leif. "You don''t know the mountain. They''re watching for us. It''s certain death. Even if you make it, the instructors may kill you."

    "This is certain death." Wren rubbed small circles into my back. "That''s why they aren''t pursuing us. They''re waiting for us to die here. We knew this was dangerous. This is why we''re here, Max. If you and Nash had come alone¡­ You''d either die with him or leave him to die. We have to continue on."

    "It''s too dangerous." Panic ripped at my lungs until I couldn''t draw in a breath. Nash moaned, his grip on me tightening. I focused on him again. I was losing my hold. Trying to breathe, I glared at Leif. "I won''t stand for this. I''ll find another way."

    "Do you want to leave Nash to die?"

    "No one is dying!"

    Leif looked at Nash again and placed his hand on his shoulder. Worry filled his eyes. "Boy."

    Nash''s eyes slid open.

    "Don''t be weak and die on us. You hear me? The only thing you have to do is stay alive. That''s your only job."

    The corner of Nash''s mouth just barely lifted in a smile. "I will¡­"

    "Come on, Wren." Leif stooped and kissed the top of my head. "We''ll be back with help."

    "I''m not letting you leave." I caught his hand.

    "Will you fight me?" Leif tilted his head. "That''s the only way to stop me."

    "Yes! You know I will!"

    "Oh, Max." Wren pulled my hand from Leif''s. "You''re wasting precious energy. We''ll come back for you. Leif has me and I have him. Tell us everything we need to know to find your friend and then have faith in us that we''ll return."

    My head fell as the tears came. I didn''t want to do this.

 32. Overload

    Time crawled. If Leif and Wren managed to make it up the mountain, the instructors at the Sacred School would know the moment they made it to the tram. It was on sacred ground, which was heavily monitored by the instructors. That would take a day to reach, and they couldn''t even use the secret passageways since I wasn''t there to open them, so it could take twice that time. This was a foolish plan if I''d ever heard one. I had been exiled. The instructors would happily let me die. In fact, they''d kill me themselves. Wren and Leif had said they''d tell them that they came to beg for help after the Prophet captured their village and appeal to the instructors to actually hold the man they''d trained accountable. Really, they just wanted to get to Piercey.

    It seemed even more foolish now than when they''d first left. This was a plan of total desperation. The instructors didn''t care about the villages in the valley so far below them or they would have done something by now.

    I had to find a way to go after them. We''d all die at this rate.

    And yet, I had no alternatives. Hours had passed as I kept my hand cupped in Nash''s while he slept, watching him the whole time to make sure he didn¡¯t die in his sleep.

    He moaned in his sleep. I wish I knew how to numb him to the pain. Despite my best attempts, he still bled slowly.

    I struggled to keep my grip on my power. My heavy eyelids threatened to close. Sweat dripped down the side of my face. I ached from the burning.

    And then, I heard hard snow and ice crunch outside. I darted up and drew my sword, eyes wide.

    No sounds followed.

    I tensed and searched for the pitter patter of their hearts. It felt like my mind was being torn in two.

    There. Three men. Well-trained. I heard it in their steadiness of their hearts despite that they''d come to face the demon who butchered their forces. Probably the only three willing to face me head-on. They¡¯d have good reason for their confidence, not just because they must have realized I was weakening, but because they were the best.

    A spear tore through the air. I knocked it against the cave wall with my power before it had the chance to reach me.

    The three charged. I didn''t have the strength to take them all at once. The battle earlier and the effort to keep Nash alive had drained me mentally and physically. Panic filled me as I held two of the men in place with my mind and hefted my sword up for the third, leaving him free to venture forward.

    "The other two left the cave." One man''s voice strained as he struggled to break my hold on him. ¡°Call it in¡­¡±

    The one who stepped toward me lifted his radio but I blinked and crushed the antenna.

    "Turn back," I said.

    "I must kill anyone who trespasses here. No exceptions."

    "That''s unfortunate for you."

    We leapt forward at the same time. Our blades collided, the little power I managed to put behind my attack making his muscled arms tremble in exertion.

    It didn''t matter if I had to spill every drop of my blood. I was not going to let them kill us.

    I knocked the charging guard a step back, twisted for momentum, and slashed for his neck. He parried and kicked. I jumped back to dodge.

    Pain pounded in my temples. The two men hadn''t stopped fighting to free themselves. One struggled an inch forward. Terror filled me that I might not be able to hold them off.

    I needed to strike the paralyzed men before they broke free.

    I deflected the strikes from the man attacking me and then threw my knife past his right shoulder. It plunged into another man''s throat, embedding past the hilt and halfway up the handle.

    The one I still held back roared as he muscled forward another inch.

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    I was wearing down quickly. I could feel my hold on Nash slipping. I threw the bulk of my energy into keeping him alive and holding the man in place.

    It left me open to the one still attacking. I blocked a hit, barely caught the follow-up, forced deeper and deeper into the cave.

    His eyes caught Nash. I bashed my forearm against his nose and threw my weight into a piercing strike.

    He knocked it back too easily. I was losing strength. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn''t compensate.

    The man at the mouth of the cave trembled as he inched his hand toward his weapon. The veins in his neck bulged.

    The one attacking me feigned an attack and then sidestepped me for Nash. I threw a wave of force against him that shot him against the wall.

    The cave shook.

    My hold on my enemy broke like a cord snapping. Now freed, the second man grabbed his knife and reared back. He threw his blade through the air. I slashed it down with my own when it was mid-air.

    The one I''d thrown struggled to his feet. That was when I noticed Nash. He dragged himself toward his weapons, gasping from the pain and exertion.

    His wound threatened to rip open.

    I wasn''t going to be able to hold these men off. So, I ripped their blades from their hands and sent them flying into the woods. One sliced through a man''s arm on its way out.

    "Stay down!" I yelled to Nash.

    With one final push, I flung the two men toward the mouth of the cave. They slid across the ground.

    Turning, I saw blood seeping into Nash''s bandages. Damn it. He''d stopped, but he still eyed his blades that laid out of reach.

    The two men were on their feet and running to me. I saved my mental strength to fortify my defense. They attacked with their bare hands. I nearly got lost in the flurry of punches and kicks.

    One stabbed. I dodged. The other grabbed. I swung my blade. I kept them back for ten seconds. Twenty. They were good. I couldn¡¯t hit them, even though they were unarmed.

    My muscles burned with pain. My knees felt so weak I nearly tripped and fell.

    Finally, one jabbed his fist and left himself exposed. I made my move, sliced through muscle and tendon, embedding my blade in the stocky one''s shoulder. While I struggled to wrench it free, the other managed to slide past me, barreling for Nash.

    I wheeled around and kicked the inside of his knee. He went down, grabbing desperately at me. I tried to use my power to push him back but it was no use.

    Screaming like a dying animal, the injured one spun and threw me hard. I managed to just barely soften the blow when I crashed against the wall and then down to the ground.

    Nash called out for me. My focus waned as pain vied for my attention. I kept his wound closed but I could do nothing else, not even rise to my knees. He reached an arm above his head and dragged himself forward a few inches, that small progress enough to wrench a scream from his gritted teeth.

    The injured one crawled across the ground toward me, growling.

    Nash''s fingertips brushed his blade. Blood spread over his bandage. The second man reached him and ripped the weapons away. Threw the swords into the darkness of the cave. He reared his sword back, the tip pointed at Nash''s throat.

    I couldn''t do two things at once. Not now.

    I released my hold on Nash''s wound. Pressured the blade that plunged toward his neck until it snapped like the men''s necks in the white field. I slung the broken blade around with my mind. It speared the man''s eye. His corpse hit the floor.

    The guard close to me wrapped his hand around my ankle.

    Blood was gushing from Nash''s open chest. I wrapped his chest with a tight pressure, but it was even harder to keep the wound closed now that it had reopened. His body slackened on the ground.

    The man attacking me jerked me to him and buried his fist in my gut. I curled up, consumed by the shock of the pain. My diaphragm spasmed. Couldn¡¯t draw in a breath.

    I needed to end this fight before I lost my energy entirely.

 33. Dying Embers

    The strain of using my freshly awakened powers over such an extended period of time combined with my exhaustion from the fight drained my energy at an alarming rate. I had to end this.

    Growling through clenched teeth, I slammed my heel against the guard''s wound. He screamed in blind rage, blood pumping from his shoulder.

    Off to the side, Nash coughed up spurts of red, choking now as he lay on his back, too weak to roll over. Had to make it to him, damn it.

    We would die at this rate. I couldn''t let this happen.

    My sword lay on the ground, out of reach, so I pulled myself toward it along the cave floor.

    The last man left alive was out for blood. He was wearing down fast, but Nash and I were going down faster.

    Nash twisted enough to spit out a mouthful of blood. His body fell limp, breathing ragged. I held his wound closed. Only one more. I could do this. Had to.

    The guard rose and took me with him, his grip impossibly strong despite his injury. He grabbed my face and gathered my wrists with his other hand, tightening his hold until it felt like he''d crush my skull.

    In his fury, my enemy wanted me to suffer as he had. His fingers tightened until my teeth cut into my cheeks, filling my mouth with blood, and the pressure forced black spots into my vision.

    Instead of going for the kill, he swung his fist for my gut. I lifted my knees, managing to block the first hit. But the second battered my ribs so hard the pain paralyzed me for a moment. He hit me again in the same spot.

    It nearly broke my focus on my power.

    I sank my teeth into his hand, funneling my pain into that bite. Hot blood rushed into my mouth. At the same time, he had punched the same place on me again. My ribs gave in like twigs snapping.

    Then, he dropped me and ripped away from my teeth. Desperation drove me forward as I clawed my way across the ground and buried my fingers in his shoulder wound. We both screamed. Knives of pain hacked at my ribs.

    All the while, the life and blood continued to drain from my Nash as my hold on his wound weakened.

    The guard thrashed as I clawed my fingers deeper into his open wound. He tried to shove me away, but I clung with all I had, digging my nails deeper and deeper until my hand ripped his wound wide open.

    The man¡¯s head dropped back. He spasmed and cried out. And then he collapsed in a pool of his own blood.

    I grabbed my sword and stumbled. Fell to the ground. Dragging myself back up, I struggled to each man and sliced their necks to ensure they were dead.

    Exhaustion pulled me to my knees beside Nash.

    "It''s over." I hardly had enough breath to speak. "Hold still."

    Black spots danced in my vision.

    "Max¡­"

    As the adrenaline faded, the pain flared in my body. Each breath felt like something stabbing me in my side. The brute had broken my ribs.

    Unable to sit up any longer, I collapsed over Nash, barely keeping pressure on his wound as I struggled to stay awake.

    I could hear the pain in his labored breathing. I was losing him.

    "You''re¡­ hurt¡­" Nash said. "Live."

    "Shut up. Elsie is waiting for you." I wiped the sweat from my face and spit out the blood in my mouth. "Trish."

    "Trish¡­" Nash wheezed in a breath. Blood covered his lips. Speckled his left cheek. "I want someone¡­ who fights with me¡­ She gave in¡­"

    "Save your strength, Nash."

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    "I really wanted to survive this¡­ and convince you to fall for me¡­" A hint of a smile twisted his lips. "I think I could have¡­"

    Tears slipped from my cheeks onto his. "Stop teasing me. You''re really hurt, Nash."

    His eyes slid shut, voice quiet. "You always think¡­ I''m teasing, when I''m serious¡­" The pause was long, so long, I thought he''d fallen unconscious. "I''m sorry I hurt you." Pain gripped his expression. He was only upsetting himself. "You''re not a demon."

    "It''s okay." I pushed his curls away from his face.

    He said something, but it sounded like a groan. Nash was slipping away from me. More tears fell down my face. Wet his cheeks. Mingled with his own. I weathered through the pain of bending to press my lips against his and kiss him while he was still awake.

    I carefully lowered myself beside him, holding his hand tight. He tried to speak once more, but unconsciousness took him, and it tried desperately to take me as well.

    Fire consumed my body. I radiated heat. Nash, though, felt cold and clammy.

    Every second stole precious strength from me.

    Sleep still clawed at me. I fought it like I fought the guard who''d held me in the air.

    How could we survive another hour? A whole night? But we had to. Nash had Elsie waiting for him. And I couldn''t abandon Rune and my people in the Prophet''s captivity. All these days and my little buddy must have lived in constant fear. Frightened for his life and for his papa who hadn''t yet returned.

    I had to survive and return these fathers to their children. Striking all else from my mind, I focused on Nash''s wound alone.

    "Hold on¡­" I dug my nails into his hand.

    Every breath hurt like the guard hit me again. The hours passed, and though I had no idea how I held on, I did, each moment feeling impossible. Nash holding Eslie as she cried hovered in my mind through the night. Rune''s fingers reaching for help. The coldness of my father''s body after I sucked away his life during the eclipse. All these years wanting so badly to see him just one more time, even though it didn''t make sense to love him so. It all drifted through my mind, heating my skin each time, igniting embers of power still smoldering within me.

    As dawn warmed the cave floor in a glow of yellow, its rays didn''t make it to me, and I was shivering with cold. Even the sound of Elsie pleading for Nash to come couldn''t draw an ounce of warmth within me. The embers of power were dying. I knew I wouldn''t last much longer. It was like drifting off to sleep. My strength faded more and more.

    With shaking fingers I lifted my shirt. My side was swollen and black and blue. But my stomach made my heart hammer. It looked like my bruise had leaked out in my abdomen and spread in a pool of dark purple. Internal bleeding. Neither one of us had long.

    Nash was out. Even when I tried to wake him, he didn''t stir. His heart beat faintly.

    I eyed the dead bodies on the ground. No one had come for me after those three. The guard must have decided it was too dangerous. They¡¯d be watching, probably hoping Nash and I would die here. If we left, they would attack again.

    It would be hours still before Leif and Wren made it to the tram. And longer for help to return. We wouldn''t make it.

    My vision waned. Wet, red blood spread slowly over Nash''s bandages. A thin trail dribbled from the corner of his mouth. My hold on his wound weakened each passing minute. We couldn''t die this way. There had to be something I could do.

    Still, the stain of blood on Nash''s chest grew larger. Time only seemed to pass more slowly.

    I searched for any power left inside me.

    In the distance, I heard someone¡¯s heart, too fuzzy and faint to hope to recognize. Had my friends given up and returned? No, only death would stop them from reaching Piercey. It must have been the enemy. I was helpless to stop them from approaching. The guards must have been coming for me now that we were in such a weak state.

    Would we even make it long enough for them to kill us?

    A form darkened the opening of the cave. I managed to open my eyes but I couldn¡¯t even reach for my sword.

    My vision blurred as I studied the form approaching us. ¡°Stay¡­ back¡­"

    ¡°My gods. It really is you, Max.¡±

    I tried to make out the image of the man who knelt beside me. I felt him, then. ¡°Piercey?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got you now.¡±

    Leif and Wren approached at his side. They didn''t look hurt. How had they all made it here so fast?

    I blinked a few times, managing to make out those eyes I knew so well. ¡°Piercey,¡± I whispered. ¡°Bind his¡­¡± It hurt so bad to breathe. The pain choked out my voice.

    The last ember of power died out and I fell limp.

    Piercey had him. I had no doubt. He had me too, lifting me gently into his arms.

 34. The Director

    ¡°Nash?¡±

    I asked it before I could register what I felt and saw in my surroundings. Before I could even wonder where I was or remember what had happened. All that came in a flash after I uttered his name, and still, I didn¡¯t have my answer yet. Was he alive? The room around me blurred.

    My heart twisted in my chest in a torturous series of somersaults.

    ¡°He¡¯s okay. He''s in a medical room.¡±

    The voice seized the wildness of my heart. That was right. Piercey had come for us.

    ¡°You¡¯re okay too," Piercey said. "I started healing you both.¡±

    I rolled my head to see him standing in the open doorway with Leif and Wren crowded behind him. Pale ceiling tiles stretched over his head and bookshelves lined the far wall.

    Leif pushed past Piercey and ran to me, dropping to his knees, close, ready to help me. "We''re here, girl."

    My arms felt shaky as I tried to rise up. Piercey held up a hand to stop me and came to my side of the bed beside Leif. ¡°Not yet, Max. I needed to work on you both at the same time. I didn¡¯t make it very far before resting.¡±

    ¡°He needs it more.¡±

    Piercey spoke to me in that slow, calm voice he always used when wanted to help me settle down. ¡°Yes, he does. And he¡¯s getting everything he needs.¡±

    I let myself relax into the plush mattress beneath me. The bed was far more comfortable than I remembered anything in this compound being. The lights in the room were dim and the curtains drawn closed. Beside me, there was a nightstand with books on physics and quantum mechanics. Nothing else. Piercey hadn''t stopped studying.

    ¡°I want to see him,¡± I said. I would try again to rise, but I knew I couldn¡¯t. I¡¯d used all the energy I had and now I was shriveled up.

    ¡°That¡¯s fine," Piercey said. "Take it slow. Your ribs were badly broken. You''re lucky your lungs weren''t punctured.¡±

    Leif carefully sat beside me and lifted me so I could sit up.

    ¡°I really thought we were done for." I squeezed Leif''s hand and then nodded at Piercey. ¡°Thank you.¡±

    Piercey was quiet for a beat. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re here, Max.¡±

    So much time had passed. We¡¯d both changed. Piercey didn¡¯t look much like the boy I¡¯d left behind. His beard was full and dark, and he¡¯d filled out his lanky form enough that it would have taken me a moment to recognize him. ¡°Me either.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s get you up.¡± Leif lifted me into his arms and carefully carried me around the bed toward the doorway. I soaked in his comfort.

    ¡°Where are we?¡± We passed a massive desk with a curved screen. It was a nice room. Looked like Piercey lived alone here, though. That made me feel a little sad for him, thinking about him by himself.

    ¡°The director¡¯s apartment¡­¡± Piercey pushed a wheelchair in from the living room. ¡°I took over.¡±

    My eyes widened. "You run the whole center now?"

    "You sound surprised."

    "Well, yeah."

    "You missed a lot, Max. I''ll fill you in when you''re healed and rested."

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    The surprise quickly fell into hurt, though. "You didn''t unseal my power."

    Piercey helped Leif settle me into the wheelchair and then paused. "I couldn''t, but there was no one to defend the seal when you started to break through here on the mountain. It''s incredible you managed to do it. Those instructors are long gone."

    Did he think I was a monster too? He didn''t trust me down in the valley carrying a power like this?

    "How strange." Leif ran his fingers along the rubber handle while Wren knelt to inspect the wheels.

    "I know this is overwhelming," I said, swallowing down the feeling of betrayal.

    "Your friend explained a great deal of things to us." Wren chuckled. "Too much. I''m lost."

    "He isn''t one to spare details."

    Piercey crossed his arms. "We should talk before I take you to your friend. Leif and Wren told me about what''s happened to your people. I have dozens of graduates I would trust with my life. I''m calling on them to help free your people."

    I jolted up in excitement and then doubled over from the pain.

    "Calm down." Leif pushed me back against the seat. "We still haven''t talked him into killing the Prophet."

    Piercey sighed. "Three of my best will take Leif and Wren back to your people and meet the others there."

    "We should all go together," I said.

    Wren knelt beside me. The permanent war paint darkening her eyelids couldn''t harden the softness of her eyes. "We need to get there soon. No one will trust a group of demons if we aren''t there to explain. You and Nash need more time to heal. You won''t be far behind us."

    "They''ll be well guarded, Max." Piercey had confidence like I''d never seen in him. It soothed the fear. "We need to work fast. You should say goodbye now."

    Wren gripped my hand. She knew how hard this would be for me.

    Pain twisted my heart.

    <hr>

    I''d said goodbye to Leif and Wren far too many times this week. My heart yearned for them as Piercey wheeled me down the hall.

    Now that we were alone, our years of separation and our years together burst at the quiet. "I can handle whatever you have to say, Piercey." Windows lined the hallway. Outside, blustery winds scattered snow in the air, so all we saw was white. So much like the white room.

    His voice was heavy when he spoke. "I don''t know what to say, Max. So many times over the years I thought about what it would be like to see you again."

    "Thank you for always sending the medicine. It saved me."

    "I pushed some in through an IV while you were out. You should have relief."

    I turned so I could see him. "You know I didn''t want to leave you right?"

    "Of course, I know." The same eyes of the boy I''d said goodbye to looked back at me, even though the years had changed us both so much. "I didn''t think you''d ever come back. I thought about telling you the instructors were gone now, but I couldn''t. It''s¡­ complicated¡­"

    There was much more to the story than he''d told me and it was clear he felt guilty. But as important as the past was and the implications it held for the future, I needed to get him focused on my people. He had a soft heart and he would want to save them. I swallowed down the pain in my throat. "I need your help."

    He smiled softly. "I love that you want my help. The thing is you don''t need me to do anything for you. You could kill him yourself."

    Shame and anger flooded my cheeks with heat, so I had to turn away quickly. "Your power has grown. Mine hasn''t. And the seal, I don''t know if it''s broken for good, or if I''ll lose my power when I leave the mountain."

    "I think it''s safe to say you broke it for good. I was forbidden by the gods to return your power to you or reach out. They upheld your banishment. But I told Dr. Henderson that one day you''d find a way around these limits. So, I don''t think you ever needed me. You had enough power as a child before coming to this place to kill the Prophet."

    The reference to the eclipse shot tingles through my body. "That was¡­ I was out of control."

    "That power is inside of you. I''ve had my entire life to come close to it. You''ve always had it. You''re holding yourself back."

    Was it true? All this time was it not so much the instructors or the gods sealing my power within me, but my own fear and guilt?

    "When I don''t hold myself back, people die." The blood raining in the white snow flashed in my mind. I dug my fingers into my side too hard and sparked pain. "I don''t want this power anymore. I want Dr. Henderson to take it away from us all."

    "We''ll talk more when you''re well. You''re in pain."

 35. Reunited

    I chewed the inside of my cheek. As much as I didn''t want to let this go, just talking about the eclipse made me feel defeated. "How did you guys get to us so fast in that cave?"

    ¡°I monitor the radios. I knew there was a threat and it was a demon woman. Odds were high it could be you. Your friends got into a nasty fight. I caught it on the radio. That''s how I found them. Good thing too. I would''ve had to use my power to get to you if I didn''t have their help. Taking on an army would have slowed me down."

    "It still couldn''t have been easy getting to the next passageway having to carry us."

    Piercey stopped at a door and reached around me to open it. "I''ve made more passageways with my graduates. We also installed an elevator system to get down the mountain quickly. You were off the beaten path. That did add some time. But not so much that I couldn''t hold the guards off."

    He wheeled me into a small room with chairs and benches. It looked like a waiting area. "You held them off?"

    "I can only manage it for so long."

    I couldn''t fathom the power Piercey now possessed. Surely it was far more than what I''d tapped into during the eclipse. It distracted me enough that at first I didn''t notice the observatory window at the far end of the room. "Is that¡­"

    Piercey rolled me right up to it. Nash slept on a medical bed with monitors beside him and an oxygen mask over his face. I touched the glass. My heart ached. "Is he sedated?"

    "Yes. I''ll let him wake up after this next treatment, though."

    "Thank you, Piercey." I curled my fingers into a fist. "He has a daughter. He has to make it home."

    "He''ll make it home, Max. Now, rest while I do your treatment."

    I closed my eyes. Peace flooded me as his healing power washed over my body like the water in the cave.

    If my power was like fire, Piercey¡¯s was more like the hot springs. Powerful, yet fluid and controlled. No matter how many healing treatments I had in my life, it never stopped amazing me. I could feel a gentle stretching inside. My bones strengthening.

    Soon, the pain was only a distant memory.

    I stood from the wheelchair and twisted to test out my ribs after Piercey had finished healing me. No discomfort. "You''ve gotten good at that."

    Piercey only smiled as he sat on a bench by the observatory window.

    "Are you working on Nash too?" I asked.

    "Yes."

    "You don''t even need to look?"

    He crossed one leg over the other. "His wound might have been severe, but it''s a simple fix. It just takes time for the tissue to mend. I can visualize it easily."

    "You''re just one big hot shot now." I sat down beside him. "Hot shot healer. Hot shot director."

    He rolled his eyes.

    I paused. "Why did you take the job?"

    "Big surprise. You don''t approve."

    "I didn''t say that. It''s just that we went through so much here."

    "Change is always possible. We don¡¯t train children or force them to come here anymore. We give them a home here if they need one, but that''s all.¡±

    I sat back. ¡°Where do they learn to use their power?¡± I didn''t like how the Prophets had education whereas few demons did, but that didn''t mean I wanted no one to have training.

    ¡°They get to be kids. They can enroll when they¡¯ve proven they¡¯re mature enough to understand. And our graduates help the world, instead of hurting it.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡±

    He narrowed his eyes. ¡°Yes. Why?¡±

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    ¡°There are people with power all over the Valley and the Flatlands. Powerful ones.¡±

    ¡°They aren¡¯t mine. I know who you¡¯re talking about.¡±

    ¡°So you¡¯re letting them run wild?¡±

    ¡°What should I do? Start a war?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re doing. Warring against people who don¡¯t have power.¡±

    "We don''t hold people captive here, Max. Or kill the people who can''t cut it. There''s more people with power because this school has changed."

    He was right. I wouldn''t want him to continue in the old way. "There just has to be a better way." Piercey had always been about peace. Frustration leaked into my voice. I didn¡¯t have time to be angry with him now, but it was there, waiting for me to let myself feel it. I remembered that he was healing and cut myself off. "Sorry. I need to let you focus."

    ¡°No, no. We can get our fight over with,¡± he said. "You don''t have to wait."

    ¡°Not while you¡¯re healing Nash.¡±

    ¡°I can do both at once.¡±

    It¡¯d always been like this with him. No matter how upset I was, no matter how enormous our problems were, we could always put it aside.

    ¡°Why did I have to climb this nightmare of a mountain to ask for help? Why weren''t you already looking after the innocent down there?"

    ¡°I am helping. I¡¯m training people the right way. They¡¯re going out and doing the work.¡±

    I could hardly keep myself sitting. ¡°You¡¯re a few days travel from people who are really hurting. The Prophet has total control over the Valley and now he¡¯s taken my people.¡±

    ¡°If I had known he had your people, I would have acted. Word hadn''t made it back to me yet. You have to know that you have never been alone down there.¡± Piercey¡¯s eyes looked sad. ¡°I¡¯ve kept watch over you.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡±

    ¡°I was scared for you and once I got some power around here, I used it to look out for you. I have no regrets.¡±

    Was that why my people had escaped the Prophet¡¯s grasp for so long? Not because of our skills, but because I had Piercey on this mountain watching over me? ¡°So I''m the only one who deserves your protection?"

    "It seems like swooping in to save the day will solve the problems, but there¡¯s always consequences for interfering."

    It felt like he¡¯d slapped me across the face. ¡°You sound like the gods.¡±

    ¡°I have a lot of power now, Max. But I¡¯m still just one person. I don¡¯t have any right to alter the course of countless lives. What if I take the wrong approach? It¡¯s better to have a multitude. That¡¯s why all of our graduates meet regularly and we vote.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so did you vote to let the Prophet capture the entire Valley?¡± I did stand this time, unable to sit next him while he squandered all this power. ¡°People are dying. And you¡¯re just living on top of this mountain, disconnected from it all.¡±

    "Says the woman who abandoned everything, her friends, her power, her responsibility." Hurt blared from his eyes. "Me."

    "That''s not fair. I was banished and my power was sealed."

    "I''m talking about before that." Piercey sat forward. "You knew when you told them that you refused to become a Prophet that it would end like this. Your rebellion was always going to end in a curse."

    "It was never about us. I''m not going to do the gods'' bidding. This power is the curse. Either we all should have it or none of us."

    "If you had stayed, it would be you in my position. You would have far more power. So judge me all you want. It is your own fault that you are now too weak to save your people. All because of a pointless rebellion that accomplished nothing. You thought my way was cowardly, but I''ve managed to actually change things."

    Fire burned in my gut. I couldn''t deny it and that made me want to fight him even more. Piercey rarely uttered such provocative words. He''d become bolder. Maybe he believed in the words so much, it was worth hurting me.

 36. Compromised

    I sighed in frustration at the argument with Piercey.

    ¡°If I remove the Prophet from power, then what?" Piercey asked. "All the tribes in the Valley will war and kill each other like in the old days. Or someone just as bad will take his place. If I try to install some kind of government, it won¡¯t belong to the people. It won¡¯t work. It isn''t as simple as strong-arming everyone in your path.¡±

    "Those are all excuses. You can''t tell me that with all this time to think you figured doing nothing is best."

    "That''s what you''ve done. Nothing."

    I ground my teeth down. "I''ve lived. That isn''t nothing. I took my life and fought for it. Can you tell me you''ve lived your life? Can you?"

    "I''m doing more than you''ll ever know. This program is unrecognizable from what it once was. While you''ve been throwing a fit for a decade I''ve worked on the gods. Our world is changing, Max."

    I blinked. "Changing. It''s all getting worse. Don''t you see that?"

    "It will get better."

    My eyes slid closed. "No, Piercey¡­ No, no, no¡­ What have you done? Have you made deals with her? Have you trusted Dr. Henderson?"

    I sat down on the bench and let my head fall into my hands when he said nothing. Whatever good he thought he was doing, he''d only acted as that woman''s puppet. He couldn''t really believe he''d done something good with her. I didn''t need to know Dr. Henderson well to know she couldn''t be trusted.

    Piercey put his hand on my back. I nearly knocked him away, but for all my anger, I hurt for him as well. Because he wanted to help so badly and he was so good that he trusted the good he saw in others, forgetting the bad was still there.

    "Did you agree to not harm the Prophet, Piercey?"

    "Not exactly."

    I dug my fingers into my hair.

    "After the accident¨C"

    "Just say it. Don''t dance around it. After I lost my shit and killed our instructors and blew the roof off the dorms."

    He sighed. "Yes, after you killed them and ran, it shook the school. I knew that even after they settled for banishing you and sealing your power, Dr. Henderson could change her mind and have you killed. So I sought her out. That''s how we started talking."

    "Did she make you director?"

    "Eventually. I understand what she''s trying to do. I don''t agree with her, but I showed her that I can be objective and scientific. Dr. Henderson wants this program to succeed so badly that she''s hidden the negative outcomes so that we have time to fix everything and yield reliable data." Piercey''s voice rose. "She''s given me so much information."

    "Oh, Piercey." Pity won out over the anger. "You can''t trust Dr. Henderson."

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    "I don''t trust her. That doesn''t mean I can''t work with her."

    "Work with her. You aren''t colleagues."

    "I''m her apprentice." Piercey spoke the words boldly. "When I''m done with my life in our world, I''m a potential candidate for the council in her society. They''ve created a whole digital universe, Max. The physical world is just one step in evolution. It took her people a long time to go completely digital. The sheer amount of energy needed to maintain it is beyond my comprehension. But it''s real."

    I shook my head. "That''s so wonderful for them. They''d abandoned us on this planet with nothing except power we don''t know how to control."

    "I know, but there''s a way to work with them. We will join them one day when we die here. Intelligent life from all over the cosmos has uploaded to a much safer, digital dimension. All the physical worlds still evolving will one day join. It''s everyone''s ultimate destination. Our life here in our world is only the start."

    I listened with my mouth partially hanging open, unable to interrupt him, because I didn''t even have the words to say.

    "Max, you were right before. Our life here matters. Physical worlds die eventually. The people who lived in them join the digital universe. We need to make it the best it can be for everyone. I think that if you meet with Dr. Henderson, you can convince her of more change."

    I dropped his hands then as if they''d burned me. "I''m not going to work with her. She''s been corrupted. It doesn''t matter how great her society is. There''s something wrong with her. Have you forgotten the way she talked to us? We were only children. Is that how you would have treated confused kids?"

    "She''s a little on the clinical side."

    "The insane side, Piercey. You said yourself that she''s hiding things in this experiment from her council. And that one person can''t be trusted with so much power."

    "It''s different with their society. Dr. Henderson had to reach enlightenment before taking over the experiment. She''s lived tons of full lives in simulations. She is wise, Max."

    "If she ever was enlightened, she''s lost it. What does she have you doing? You need to be honest."

    "Nothing. I pushed for changes in the Sacred School and she agreed to it. I said we needed quiet, inauspicious people with power who can guard the innocent and work for positive change. People who will use their power for medicine and infrastructure, not war."

    "Yes, that part sounds great. I want to know about the Dr. Henderson part."

    "She doesn''t want me to single-handedly upset the balance of the world. That''s all. My graduates and I have to agree on political movements. She hasn''t forbidden us from doing anything."

    "Only because she hasn''t had to. The moment you cross her, she''ll crush the illusion of freedom."

    Piercey shook his head and sat back against the wall. "All you want to do is fight."

    "All you want to do is force peace, even when it''s false peace."

    "Just listen to me for once, Max. Dr. Henderson has to make sure that every single intervention she takes can be replicated in physical worlds and that it gives the people she''s helping the greatest level of self-determination. So she doesn''t remove people from the experiment. She builds profiles of who uses their power for good to better understand who it should be given to, but she doesn''t take it away from the bad. Only, if someone threatens the experiment as a whole, she will take them out. Max, do you hear me?"

    My thoughts all settled. My feelings. I nodded. "Trust me, Piercey. I understand. Dr. Henderson has threatened to kill me so that you''ll be her willing servant."

 37. Connection

    Piercey sighed at my claim that Dr. Henderson threatened to kill me so that he would obey. "No. She never threatened that. I just know her. If you keep crossing her, I''m afraid I won''t be able to save you. Let''s get on the same page and make our world better. Don''t be stubborn."

    "You''re a fool, Piercey. I''m going to prove it to you."

    Anger hardened his voice. "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    "I''ll provoke her and let you see who she really is. I doubt you ever piss her off enough to see behind her mask. Her council ought to know she''s devolving as she plays god with our world. There''s no experiment anymore, Piercey. Dr. Henderson has truly become a god. Our world is for her, now."

    He groaned. "We''re just not on the same page. I need to share what I''ve learned with you. That''s the only way for us to understand each other. See, we''ve made war with these neural implants and missed their most basic functions. Things children in other worlds grow up knowing how to do are lost on us." He reached both his hands out. "If you still trust me, I can give it all to you, right now."

    I stared at his hands. "How?"

    "I have a neural link with my graduates. We can communicate with our minds any time we tap in. We don''t need computers. Our implants are linked. But I''ve never shared everything with someone before. I want you to have it, Max. I want you to have everything I''ve been through, everything I''ve learned, every ounce of wisdom I have."

    My heart started to pound. "You''ll open your soul to me."

    He laced his fingers with mine. "All of it."

    "Piercey¡­"

    "Trust is all it takes." His eyes lowered. Voice lowered. "It doesn''t mean anything more than that."

    The pain on his face crushed my heart. "Leif and Wren are my blood, Piercey. But you''ve never stopped being my best friend. Not for a moment." I squeezed his hands. "Take what I have too. Understand me and I''ll understand you."

    "If you hold nothing back, I''ll have it all. Your every memory and thought."

    I glanced at the window where Nash slept still. I couldn''t share everything.

    "You don''t need to save me from the things I already know." Piercey smiled sadly. "I know how you see him, Max. And I know how you see me. It''s okay."

    Sadness tinged my thoughts. Knowing it and experiencing it were different. "I can''t hold anything back?"

    "Once you close up, it''s hard to keep the rest of yourself open. You don''t have to give. You can just receive."

    "No. We both need to know everything. Let''s do this."

    "Linking will give you a weapon I''ve been working on for a very long while."

    "What weapon?"

    He lowered his voice. "It''s safer to show you."

    The look that had always stopped me in my tracks as a kid, made me retreat, burned in Piercey¡¯s eyes, somehow brighter than ever. How could he still love me? After all these years? I¡¯d left him behind, but he never left me. I¡¯d had him this whole time.

    The other day I''d slipped back to when I fled the Sacred School. I could feel his embrace now, as if that girl I¡¯d been and the woman I¡¯d grown into shared the same body. It¡¯d been different than any other time we hugged. Didn¡¯t feel like it was between the kids who¡¯d survived this terrible Sacred School together anymore, but instead the people who¡¯d been quietly growing inside of them. His hands had touched me differently that day. Touched me more like he did now. When he¡¯d pressed his lips against mine, it was the first time I¡¯d ever kissed someone.

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    It was confusing then. Such an experience, to be kissed and to kiss a boy.

    But I''d quickly found it didn''t feel right to me. Not with him.

    Piercey breathed out slowly and closed his eyes. "It''s as easy as opening a door. When you feel me, let me in. I''ll do the same for you."

    I didn''t understand. Couldn''t understand. Not until it happened. Warmth spread from his palms into mine, tingled up my arms, flowed into heat that washed over me from head to toe. Everything we''d experienced together filled me as if I remembered every second at once. I could hold back. I could shut down.

    Instead I opened myself to my friend and I let him in, no matter what it meant for us.

    My eyes ripped open. Our gaze met and his life washed into me. It was the same as waking from a dream and remembering in a single moment who you were. What your life was. All of it there within you.

    I didn''t have to wonder what this meant for us. I knew. Knew him fully. Somehow knew myself more fully.

    "I''d forgotten." My voice came out hoarse. "We really do need each other."

    A tear slid down his cheek. The piece of me that had missed him was healed now. The anger over our differences gone.

    With our knowledge and experience combined, everything that had been unclear was now so apparent. Piercey really believed that he could work with Dr. Henderson because the influence she gave him helped him turn the Sacred School into an academy of peace and healing. But the fact that she was intervening when she claimed she wouldn''t told me everything I needed to know. I had no doubt she was taking action Piercey knew nothing about. The things Flare had said were similar to Dr. Henderson. Piercey wasn''t the only partner. Flare must have been too.

    Piercey would know that now. But when we connected, I felt his hesitance still to take action. He was so trusting in the good of others.

    He breathed out slowly. "If Dr. Henderson tries to destroy you, you have to use what I learned. Use the weapon I gave you. I know you''ll want to use it regardless, but you know how I feel. The risk is too great if it can be avoided."

    Piercey had never stopped trying to learn how to hack into our simulation, because he knew one day I might ask for it, and he''d been right back then. He never could deny me. More than that, he trusted me to do something he didn''t trust himself to be able to do. He trusted me to decide whether to use it. And experiencing the way he saw me made me trust myself too. Because Piercey was the smartest person I''d ever met. If he believed in me, why shouldn''t I believe in myself?

    I took my friend''s hand. "Dr. Henderson taught you how to open your soul to someone so you would do it with me. She thinks you''ll change me. She thinks when I see her next, when we see her next, that we''ll work with her together." I shook my head. "Before I leave to battle the Prophet, I have to see her, and figure out what she''s been doing in the valley. Otherwise, I don''t know what I''m walking into. I''ll be wise with the weapon." Although, I could use the threat of hacking the simulation to force her to confess her actions to me.

    His expression was hard. Before Piercey had known not to trust Dr. Henderson, but now that he truly saw from my point of view and witnessed what Skia Hellig truly had been through, he must have understood how dangerous his game was. It had been a lie when she told us she didn''t intervene in our world. Even if I killed the Prophet, my people wouldn''t be free. Piercey had been right that I had the strength to fight this battle, though it wasn''t because of the energy that killed those people at the eclipse. It was because I knew the truth and I wasn''t afraid to do something about it.

    Dr. Henderson was fucking with our world, and I would stop her at all costs.

    "We''ll save your people, Max. And we''ll find a way to free the people from the corruption of the Prophets, and Flare''s manipulation, and the crushing power of our implants. I can''t promise I''ll kill the Prophet or fight Dr. Henderson. Only that we''ll find a way to help everyone. Just tell Dr. Henderson one thing for me. Tell her, I''m with you. No matter what."

    I swallowed hard. "I will, Piercey." So that was it. He''d choose me. Neither of us had really had the right approach. It wasn''t as simple as killing Flare and the Prophets or having the gods take away our power. It wasn''t as diplomatic as Piercey working with Dr. Henderson to right all our wrongs. As long as Dr. Henderson had so much power over our world, we would never be free to determine our own path. Piercey couldn''t deny me. He was letting me follow my heart, despite his misgivings. I''d prove to him that his trust wasn''t misplaced.

    Piercey gestured at the window. "Nash is waking up."

    Opening ourselves up to one another hadn''t changed the way we felt. Only deepened it. Deepened it so much that I knew without doubt I was never going to fall in love with him. Only love him more deeply as my friend. But he was cursed. Cursed with more than that for me. The pain of that burden ate away at me as I looked into his eyes.

    "Go ahead," Piercey said. "He''ll want to see you."

 38. Belief

    I knocked on Nash''s door before pushing it open, nervous about all that I still had to explain. When he said come in, I opened it to him standing at the bed with his back to me, fastening his pants. A button-up lay beside his old, bloodied clothes. The script of Eskel''s name laced his spine, woven intricately between his defined shoulders. It was my first time really getting a good look at the scarring and it ignited my hatred for the Prophet.

    ¡°How do you feel?¡± he asked, glancing over his shoulder at me as he fumbled with the pants still. "What a strange piece of clothing."

    "Better." I ran my fingers along his spine as my stomach twisted with the desperation for vengeance. Nash hesitated at my touch and glanced behind himself at me. My voice fell to a low threat. "Nothing will stop me from killing the Prophet. I want you to know that."

    Nash turned and studied my eyes. "I do."

    "My power was sealed by the old instructors at this school. That''s why I couldn''t kill him before." I looked to the light pink scar along his chest from the spear. The pain of letting him nearly die threatened to close up my throat. "I won''t fail again."

    "You didn''t fail." He spoke softly. "You saved me. You saved all of us."

    I swallowed down the knot in my throat, stare shifting to the ground. "I''ve been failing for a long time." Before he could argue, I made myself smile. "I need to explain things to you. I thought after I get a few things done we could talk."

    "I''d like that."

    "Did Piercey tell you anything?"

    "All kinds of things that really didn''t make sense."

    I nodded. "Yeah. I''ll explain things better."

    The heaviness of what we''d been through over the last few days made my heart feel raw, and that weakness, combined with the fear I''d felt at losing Nash, ignited the longing to embrace him again. I hadn''t expected to feel it so strongly. My heart ached, but my breath felt thick in my lungs. The way Nash looked at me told me he felt it too. Maybe, remembering, like I was when we kissed and fell asleep in each other''s arms.

    I sighed and stepped back for the door, my stomach burning like my power had ignited in me again. "I have to work on something. So find me in a few hours."

    "Work on something or run away?"

    He must have thought that challenging me would appeal to my pride and make me cave, and damn it, he was right. I balled my hands into fists. Lying felt too pathetic now that he''d called me out. "Both. Happy?"

    "Not particularly. I want you. So, no, not having you doesn''t make me happy, especially when I know you want me back." He grabbed the button up and winced as he slid an arm into the sleeve. "Go ahead, though. Leave me wounded and alone. Bye."

    I shook my head, refusing to smile. "You can be such an ass."

    He looked down at his twisted shirt. "What the hell is this?"

    I bit back a laugh as he managed to get his other arm through the sleeve. The Sacred School was a unique place in our world and they''d honored our past lives by giving us relics of our original time. It had taken me years to figure that but now I realized this place held a piece of what should have been our life.

    Looking puzzled, Nash picked a leather belt off the bed and wrapped it around his midsection, frowning when it didn''t hold the shirt closed.

    "That''s for your pants." I took the belt from him and pushed one end through his belt loop. "See?"

    "No. I don''t understand the concept at all. You''ll have to do it for me."

    I rolled my eyes and reached around him as I threaded it through the loops. Even though I knew he was joking, I did it anyway, enjoying a lighthearted moment and the excuse to feel his warmth. When I fastened it for him, I gave the belt a tug, like I was testing. "Have to make sure that stays in place."

    "Look who''s teasing now."

    "The buttons are what holds the shirt closed." I fastened the bottom one for him. "Are you going to make me do this for you too?"

    "No one''s making you do anything, Max." His gaze drifted down me. "You volunteered."

    My face felt warm as I continued buttoning the shirt, my knuckles brushing his bare skin. I knew I needed to leave, but what could it hurt to spend a little more time like this?

    When I finished, Nash tugged at the shirt. "Now teach me how to take it off so I know what to do later."

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    I groaned. "Stop with your insufferable flirting."

    "Stop liking it and I''ll stop doing it."

    "I never said I like it."

    "Right."

    I pursed my lips. "I''m going to hurt you."

    "Finally. I''m ready."

    I popped him in the stomach.

    "Ow." He brushed my hand away. "I''m still injured, you know. I have two healing treatments left."

    "No whining or I hurt you worse."

    "Oh. I can work with this after all. Continue."

    I jabbed my finger against his chest and met his eyes. "I''m done, Unknown. Don''t mess with me anymore."

    "Are you saying that in a sexy bossy way or¨C"

    "Nash," I said.

    "Fine. I apologize. I would like it to be known that you started it this time, though."

    That feeling that had drawn me to Nash, urging me to trust him even when I wasn''t sure I could, had only grown hour by hour, taking firm hold of me now. How foolish of me to stay and play around like this when my people were in captivity and I had so few days left to live.

    "Woah," Nash said, lifting my face. "I''m sorry. I thought we were having fun. I should have listened to you."

    "We were." Now I''d really embarrassed myself. I turned my face away to hide how my expression had fallen. "There''s a reason I don''t want to get too close."

    The beat of quiet panged hollow in my chest.

    "You can tell me," he said, the joking replaced with seriousness.

    "You almost died, and it crushed me. I don''t want you to go through that." If I said it, Nash would argue with me like Piercey always did. "I don''t just slip to the past. I''ve seen my death in the future. The Prophet will kill me during the eclipse. I just have to make sure that I kill him too."

    Nash took my hands in his. "We''ll kill him first and you''ll be fine."

    "No. There''s no stopping it. It''s already happened, because I''ve lived it, even if it hasn''t happened yet. Just trust me."

    "Piercey told me you would say this. He said you two had used your powers to share your past, and that you would push me away because you think you''re going to die."

    I drew back. "He had no right."

    Nash caught my arms. "He said it was the only thing he would ever share with me and that he had to because it''s so important. If you''re convinced it''s impossible to save yourself, you won''t try."

    "So, what? You''re the only one who can convince me?"

    "You have to convince yourself. But I can ask. You never give up on a fight. Don''t give up on the most important one."

    My eyes burned. I tried to look away but Nash shifted to follow my eyes.

    "Don''t get closer." Pain broke my voice. "You''ll get hurt."

    "You were going to die with me in that cave, because you refused to walk away. So how could you ever ask me to leave you?"

    I tried to come up with something, only what could I say? It had seemed like Nash would surely die in the cave but I never would have given up on him. There was no way for me to defend myself.

    "It''s because you think you don''t deserve to be loved," he said. "Deep down, in a place inside of you that you may not realize is there, you think you''re not good enough. No matter how much of yourself you give away to save everyone else, it''s never enough."

    Tightness spread down to my chest so I felt as if I couldn''t breathe. "I know I''m not bad."

    "But do you believe it? Or do you believe you''re what your father made you feel?"

    I rubbed my hand over my chest. "I hurt everyone, and I''ll hurt you."

    "Not true." He bent even though it tightened his face in pain and stole a warm kiss. The unexpected taste of his lips melted me.

    "Nash¨C" I pushed against him gently to encourage him to straighten so he didn''t strain his injury, but he nestled his cheek against mine.

    "I want you to live," he whispered against my skin. "Dying only makes it more important that you live now. If I''m not what you want, that''s okay. Just don''t turn down what you do want because you''re afraid to lose it."

    My heart beat so hard and my eyes stung. He''d completely disarmed me and left me defenseless. So be it. I smoothed my hands up his neck and wound my arms tightly around him so my body eased against his. Our noses brushed while Nash worked his palms into the dip of my waist and down my hips, opening my mouth with his own. His kiss seized the breath in my lungs, far more potent than the first time in the cave. I''d meant to only kiss him once, but I was desperately consumed by the need for more. Ironically, Nash saved me by whispering between kisses.

    "You realize you almost got me killed in the Flatlander battle? You look amazing swinging a sword around."

    I snorted against his lips.

    "It''s very distracting, all that you''ve got going on." His touch wandered down me. "There''s certainly been fatalities."

    I drew back, wondering by the light look in his eye if he''d known I''d needed the interruption, even if he didn''t want it. "Your teasing has no limits."

    "You never believe that I''m serious."

    Nash still had a powerful control over my body, but this gave me the time I needed to collect my thoughts. It had to hurt dipping to kiss me when I knew that beneath the fresh scar on his chest significant damage remained. "Your wound is still deep." Although, Nash didn''t look like he cared about that at all right now. We''d had our chance back in the cave and I hadn''t taken it. Now wasn''t the time. "We shouldn''t get carried away."

    "Let me guess, you really do have work to do," he said dryly.

    "Well, I do."

    With a groan, he lifted his hands and backed up, taking one more glance down me. "Fine. Get out of here, Sharpshooter."

    When I reached the door, I hesitated. "I regret it, you know."

    Nash tilted his head. "Regret what?"

    "That I pulled back in the cave."

    Genuine shock widened his eyes.

    I grinned, catching him off guard for once. "Maybe next time."

    "It''s more cruel for you to say it and you don''t even realize."

    With a shrug, I said, "Guess I owe you one really big favor then."

    "Fuck, Max. If you''re going then go." He ran his hand through his hair. "Is this revenge for all the teasing?"

    "Sure." It hadn''t crossed my mind but it felt nice to take the upper hand in this battle of ours.

    Soon, I needed to break into the White Room and confront Dr. Henderson. What would happen after that, I couldn''t say.

 39. The Door

    "Max."

    Hands shook me awake. I rubbed my eyes and sat up in the library to see Nash beside me. I''d fallen asleep after hours of running through the steps to the hack. Piercey had never stopped researching and there was so much here for me to learn, even about my time slips.

    The smile crept up before I thought to feel self-conscious. "Hi."

    "Did you faint?"

    He was worried. I shook my head. "No."

    "Good." He sighed. "I had my last treatment. I feel great."

    "No lasting damage?"

    "None."

    I sighed, weight falling off me.

    "Piercey told me you''re entering the Door of the Gods. I''m going with you." Nash lifted his hand when I tried to argue. "I won''t back down on this. I didn''t come all this way for you to go alone."

    I wasn''t going to take him. He was crazy if he thought I would.

    "You carry so much guilt and responsibility." Nash took my hand and laced his fingers with mine. "Let me help you."

    ¡°I butchered the Sacred Guard. Brutally.¡± My voice was raspy, eyes stinging. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how many I killed.¡± I sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t pretend anymore. I''m not a normal person.¡±

    ¡°You were never just a normal person, Sharpshooter.¡±

    Despite his efforts, it couldn''t feel like a compliment. "We have more important things than to assuage my guilt. I owe you answers."

    Nash sobered. "Piercey spoke with me again. He told me most people specialize in something, like how he heals people. He said you manipulate space and time, but that you struggle to control it."

    "I''ve never come close to controlling it." I sat back. "This will be hard to take in. But I''ll tell you what I can about the gods, our power, my past. All of it. Just tell me if it becomes too much."

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    <hr>

    Nash and I had talked for over an hour and there was still more to tell him. He''d needed breaks while we spoke, especially when I''d tried to explain that we lived in a simulation. That didn''t make any sense to him at all, of course. Sometimes he just stared out the window at the snow. Other times he paced and asked questions. Most of the time, he simply listened. He sat at the table now looking as though a weight tried to push him down. I''d just explained to him that my Prophet from my homeland had trained me for years and told other Prophets about my potential. So, when I killed the villagers during the Eclipse, they brought me here to help me learn to control my power, and turn me into a Prophet.

    Then, I told him about the day I finally had to act on my plans to flee. "The instructors were hard on us. I lost my patience because they pushed Piercey too far and he hit his head really hard. I used my power to throw one of them through the window. Others attacked to subdue me and I got angry. It was a blip of what happened when I was a kid. I started to slip through time, the power exploded, and I killed three of them. I don''t remember it happening. Piercey said that I broke all the bones in their bodies."

    Nash had taken my hand after I said it.

    "I''d been planning to leave and find other people like me so that we could take on the instructors, the Prophets, even the gods. But I couldn''t wait after I killed them. Piercey wouldn''t leave with me though. He told me to go become something great and that he''d be here for me if I ever found my way back. They sealed my power while I was on the run and I spent the years away trying to regain it."

    "How did Piercey end up in charge?"

    The door creaked and I straightened.

    "Sorry to interrupt," Piercey said.

    "You''re fine. We should do this." I sighed. "We''ll talk more, okay?"

    Nash nodded.

    Piercey''s face looked serious. "Do you feel ready?"

    "Yes."

    Nash stood when I did, staying at my side. "Where''s the door?"

    "Max will have to lead you," Piercey said. "I should come too."

    "No. We need you here. It''s too risky. If anything happens, thank you, for everything."

    "If you need more time¨C"

    "I don''t. Just focus on me from here to help strengthen me. Hopefully it will work."

    "I''ll meditate and strengthen you." He looked to Nash then. "Good luck." Back to me. "See you on the other side."

    I hugged Piercey, thankful to have him back again.

    Then I turned to Nash, my heart full. "You''ll be free of Flare and the Prophet. Your daughter will be free. Piercey will make sure of that."

    "I''m going with you, Max. Don''t act like you''re saying goodbye."

    I reached my arms around his neck and drew him against me. "If I don''t make it back, tell Leif and Wren I love them."

    When I pulled back, he tried to grab me, but it was too late. I''d already opened the door and he didn¡¯t know how to get to it. Didn¡¯t know it wasn¡¯t actually a door. And right before he caught me, I pried it open in my mind, still looking into his eyes.

    "Max!¡±

 40. Entanglement

    Darkness, as black and inky as the Prophet''s eyes, closed in on me.

    Where was the white room that the Door of the Gods had always led me to?

    My body felt as though it stood in the library with Nash and Piercey, but my mind wasn''t there. My mind was floating in the darkness, floating everywhere and nowhere.

    This wasn¡¯t right.

    Panic drudged up in storming thoughts as violent as the worst lightning storms I''d ever seen.

    And then, I felt him. My father. I couldn''t see him or hear him. But I knew he was here.

    No¡­

    The gods had closed the door in my face and abandoned me to slip into the past. I searched for my time, clawing back for Nash and Piercey in the Sacred School, as the void dragged me in the opposite direction. I was slipping in slow motion. Slipping to Dad. To the Eclipse.

    The darkness beneath me shifted into shadowy blades of grass until I looked down upon the hill where I''d once stood with my father. In the sky, a ring of light pierced the black moon, arcs of red burst in faint lines, and the earth fell silent as the source of life and light vanished from our sight. The villagers crowded together to watch the totality, their forms blurred in my mind by a dark film, like I could only see them from the furthest edge of my peripheral vision, even when I looked right at them.

    I had to block them from my mind, even now.

    Dad knelt before the eleven year-old me with his arms outstretched. Like a faint mirage, Nash came into view on the hill with them. There, but not. Fear shot through me. Between the father and daughter, beneath the dark of the Eclipse, Nash lowered to his knees and met my young eyes with pinched brows. ¡°Max...¡±

    I tried to scream. Time and space had swallowed me whole. It wasn¡¯t him the girl below saw. Her eyes lit for the man behind him. The one that was really there. Nash was fading, fading even from my sight. He didn¡¯t belong here. And I wasn¡¯t here. I was dangling between, one foot in the small boot and one on the other side of time.

    Pain filled Nash¡¯s expression as he watched the old me run right past him into the outstretched arms of the tall man.

    ¡°Can you believe it?" The girl I''d once been bubbled with laughter. "The moon swallowed the sun whole.¡±

    ¡°It did." My father took my cheek in his hand. "Can you feel it?¡±

    ¡°Feel what, Daddy?¡±

    ¡°The sun.¡± He placed his hand upon her heart. My heart. ¡°Burning in your soul.¡±

    ¡°Not yet.¡±

    ¡°Focus.¡± He whispered. ¡°Focus, baby girl¡­¡±

    The scream I couldn¡¯t unleash burned in my soul.

    I could feel what the young girl felt mingling with my own as she looked into Dad''s eyes. We brimmed at once with love for Dad and with the rage I¡¯d been abandoned to carry alone. Two points in time converged into one. It felt like the sun burned within me, ready to burst free.

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    The bastard.

    My dad.

    Pure chaos churning in the deep of my soul.

    ¡°The light¡­" My young voice said. "Look, Dad! The light¡­¡±

    His voice blared, deep and knowing. ¡°Your strength is greater than even an eclipse. Release it. Release it from within. It¡¯ll be beautiful, child. I promise. It¡¯s okay.¡± A warm whisper fell against my ear my ear now. ¡°Show them the light. Free them.¡±

    Nash had faded but I could feel him here with me, here in the heat burning within me, in the timeless mourning of this moment. I wasn¡¯t alone. Never was. We''d always been here together, here with her, the girl I''d once been.

    The heat of the flame swelled out of control, even though I tried to hold it in, tried to push Dad''s voice away. Power erupted from my body. The Prophet wasn''t here to stop me this time. Dad''s body jerked and froze in the air, his fingers popping first, and then his arms, his legs. I clenched my eyes shut.

    Brightness erupted from the small body I¡¯d once inhabited. It washed over the people below in a beautiful array of golden hues and vibrant reds and purples as deep as a setting sun. The power washed over them and tossed them to the ground in waves, leaving their bodies stranded and useless, while their souls moved on to what came next.

    A wail exploded within me¨Cone that had begun during this eclipse and never stopped. I couldn''t utter it or hear it, just felt it, blaring as it always had, battering my insides.

    Black snapped shut the curtain on my view of that day. I drifted between the eclipse and now and the nothingness separating the two. Time collapsed in on this one point and exploded forward. Entangled forever.

    Memories popped in the black void like bright stars in the winter sky. Hundreds, thousands, millions of events surrounding me.

    I couldn''t let them distract me. I had to find Nash. My mind reached through a lifetime in the void.

    I could see Nash then, watching again from above as he flashed over the void. His smirk the first time we¡¯d met, where he''d sharpened his blade and looked at me. Drinking and fighting in the field. And then I saw us dangling from the cliff. Climbing up the stairs. Tangled in each other''s arms on the cold cave floor.

    I wanted to warn him of what was coming.

    I saw the spear flying for him. The guards racing for us. Nash reaching for me in the Library as I faded, catching my fingertips, catching me before I slipped away.

    ¡°Hold on!¡± The words broke free from my silenced mouth and I caught my time by just a thread. Had to hope I''d caught Nash too.

    The void was stripped away, and I was alone, kneeling in a pure white room.

    Pain wracked my chest as I fell onto my hands and forced my voice to croak out of my throat. "Hello?" I wanted to scream the words but I didn''t have the energy. "Answer me¡­" I kept seeing the golden hue wash over the villagers beneath the eclipse, each time I blinked, flashing against the dark of my lids just as it had over the dark of the void. "I''m here. Like you wanted. You have me right where you want me."

    "You think this is where I want you?" Her voice whispered warmth in my ear, even though I couldn''t see her, or feel her. "I wanted you to lead. Not shatter on my floor."

    With my head still bowed, my eyes snapped up to the place Dr. Henderson had stood in the last time I saw her. I imagined how she''d looked that day. "What did you do with Nash?"

    "He''s safe."

    The white wall beside me faded so I could see him drawing his hands along the perimeter of the room. His eyes stared past me. He couldn''t see me.

    I clambered to my feet and fell against an unseen wall. "Why did you let him in?"

    "He traveled all the way up the mountain with you. It was impolite to leave him behind. I''ll let him join, if you promise to be good."

    My tongue clung to the roof of my dry mouth. I nodded, holding my breath. My ego be damned. I couldn''t leave him alone in that room. "I will."

    Nash stepped back with wide eyes. Then, he was looking at me. Really looking at me. "Max¡­"

    He ran forward a step and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I told myself if I held on tight enough, Dr. Henderson wouldn''t be able to rip us apart. That was what I hated most about the power she had over us. That she could take me from the people I loved. Nothing could be more cruel or unfair. The bitterness burned on my tongue.

    "You were supposed to stay behind." I clung to him tightly.

    "You were supposed to take me." He held my head against him anyway.

    Then there was the feeling of a presence behind me. Nash stumbled back, taking me with him.

    Dr. Henderson had finally appeared.

    "Who are you?" Nash asked.

    Her long hair laid over one shoulder. She looked so young despite how many years had passed. It wasn¡¯t that she aged well. She looked exactly the same. Same haircut. Same manicured nails. Everything was the same, like years for me had only been weeks or days for her. Maybe hours.

 41. Gods

    "It''s her." I kept my arm around Nash and stayed beneath his. "The god. Dr. Henderson."

    "Thank you for the introduction, Max." She studied Nash for a few seconds and then met my eyes. "A little dramatic for my tastes, but it will do."

    Whatever. She reveled in the drama. "I know you''re not just working with Piercey," I said. "You''re up to much more. Tell me what you''re doing."

    "You still jump to conclusions with so little to support them."

    "I know you''re hiding the problems from your council." I pulled away from Nash and stepped toward Dr. Henderson. "If you really do care about us, listen to what I have to say. Stop manipulating our world and just give us our lives."

    Her expression was so soft, I actually wondered if I''d managed to reach her. "You want me to give up."

    "I want you to set us free from the burden of saving the universe. We can''t. It''s over."

    "You, who cares so deeply for your people, would abandon countless who are suffering?"

    "I don''t know how to help other worlds, Dr. Henderson. All I know is this isn''t it. You''ve made deals with Piercey, and I''m certain you have with Flare as will. You''ve given her powers that no one else has. Whatever you''re doing in my world is an untested intervention that invalidate your own experiment."

    "Don''t lecture me on the scientific method, child. Once I have your world in shape, then I will be able to collect relevant data. I''m showing you mercy by not starting over in a more developed world."

    Rage boiled beneath my surface. I steadied my words. Already, I wanted to fall back on the weapon Piercey had given me. "You''re creating suffering, not eliminating it. This power you''ve given us has been weaponized against helpless people. You should take it away, not play god."

    She snorted. "This world has no more suffering than any other world. It''s just a unique spin on the usual. You actually have hope. You should be thankful. At least there are people like you with the power to help. You would be just as helpless as everyone else in another world."

    Nash shook his head. "You believe your own lies, don''t you?"

    Dr. Henderson sighed. "All people in all worlds ask these questions. Why do bad things happen to good people?" She looked at me as though I was a child who couldn''t possibly understand. "At least you get to look your gods in the face and ask. The rest of us spent millennia after millennia crying out to the void. Why? Our cries for help were met with silence as we were tormented by wars, famine, the promise of death."

    I scoffed. "You''re still crying out to the void. Except when you got tired of the answer, you turned to our world to terrorize us."

    She chuckled. "You''re the answer to the prayers lifted all over the universe. As I said, dear child, be thankful."

    "None of us signed up to be your experiment or your sacrifice."

    "No one signs up for the life they''re born into. And this life, resented so it may be by you, is infinitely better than the one we salvaged you from. I can hardly imagine it. An infant left trampled in war-torn streets on Earth. Unknown. That was you and Nash both. You were caught in a war that was much bigger than your world, one that consumed your planet, and lost your life before you even got started. We did you a favor by uploading your consciousness. We cleaned up the mistakes and wrongdoings of people who were willing to sacrifice your life and countless like you for their own gain."

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    My breath caught. "We died on Earth as babies?"

    "Very unfortunate. It was a difficult time in human history, I''m afraid. We''re still uploading worlds, you know. That''s why Earth was one of the planets chosen before others. So, knowing your unfortunate life, knowing that we gave you all you know, is it me you want to scream at? Or is it someone else?"

    My fists clenched. I couldn''t even wrap my mind around what she''d said, much less my heart. So I gave into the glorious flames of my rage. "Oh, it''s you."

    She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Have you considered that you don''t have the experience to appreciate what I''m doing?"

    "The heart knows wrong." Nash held her eyes. "Enjoy your deathless world. Let us live and die as we were meant to. As everyone before has."

    Her voice hitched in a rare show of emotion. "My world is not deathless. We carry the burden of all those who suffer and haven''t yet found our world. Our empathy knows no bounds."

    "Poor thing." I rolled my eyes. "Deal with it. You seem perfectly capable of that."

    "I''m fighting against an eternal truth, one I refuse to accept. Death is a virus we cannot stop. Every time we think we''ve evolved beyond, it comes for us in new and insidious ways." Dr. Henderson lowered her eyes to the floor. "I''ll do anything so that one day that won''t have to be true anymore. No matter how many lives you live, no matter how much time passes, no matter how well you think you''ve healed¡­ The sting of death is eternal." She met my eyes, tears shining in hers.

    I punctuated my words with jabs of my finger. "You''re playing god to right some wrong that haunts you. Or maybe you''re just bored from immortality and justifying yourself."

    "You think you know better than an eternal council? There are ancient beings from the first days of our universe who approved this experiment. I''m a child compared to them. Who do you think you are?"

    I slapped my hand against my chest. "I''m a child of the world you created. I am the grief you''ve caused with your own hands. My voice matters." Heat burned in my palms. I had to breathe to calm myself down before Dr. Henderson realized I had learned how to access my power here. "Let me plead our case before the council. We''ll see what they have to say."

    Dr. Henderson snorted. She snorted and I knew I had no hope of winning her over. Her eyes were cold again. Her body stiff. This experiment had warped her. If she''d ever reached enlightenment in the past, at some point since she''d turned and gone the wrong way. Death truly was a virus and it had evolved into a god who stood before me.

    "Please." I closed my eyes and drew upon all the love I had for my people. Melted into the warmth of Rune''s sweet eyes and smile. If it hadn''t been for Piercey sharing his experiences with me, I would used the weapon already. I understood, though, how dangerous it was to change an entire world. Asking was the only thing I could do other than use the weapon. "Please, do not interfere in our world anymore. Watch us in silence. Take away this curse of a power from all of us who wield it."

    "Keep your pleas. I want you to help me or get out of my way." Fury sharpened her voice and silenced her laugh. Her eyes looked as though they were on fire. "Make your choice now."

    I rose back up and stepped close, so close I thought she might feel the heat burning in me as well. She couldn''t be allowed to supervise our world any longer. "I''m going to kill your precious Prophet. I''m going to kill your fool of a servant Flare. I''m going to free my people." My voice deepened into a growl. "And I''m going to take this fucking world out of your hands."

    Smoke stung my nostrils. Her entire body singed with flames ready to erupt from her skin. The burning in her eyes deepened into a fiery red that devoured the hazel of Dr. Henderson''s eyes. They were smoldering.

    My heart skipped a beat. Breath fled my lungs. No¡­

    "You''re¨C" The words got stuck in my throat.

    Dr. Henderson had faded entirely from the person who stood before me. Flare stood in her place. And I saw it now. Heard it now. The same tone in a different voice. The same haughtiness on a different face. The same person in a different body.

    Flare wasn¡¯t a demon. She was a god. A god who¡¯d walked among us and played in our world.

    Heat swelled from Flare''s body. "Did you forget that I told you to fear me?"

 42. Forgotten Dreams

    Nash and I had moved for one another at the same time. I jumped back and slammed into him while he grabbed me from behind. We had nowhere to run, not in this white room, not in the Sacred School, not in our entire world.

    "You foolish, foolish children." Flare stomped forward. "I have given you enough chances."

    "Why?" I couldn''t draw in a breath. My voice came out as a squeak. "Why do you have this disguise?"

    Flare¨CDr. Henderson¨Crolled her eyes. "Why, why, why. I always have to explain myself to you."

    What did she mean? She left me wondering all the time. When had she truly explained herself to me?

    "I appreciate the sanctity of life," she said. "Rather than scrap this world, I''ve been speeding up your development until your society is ready for this power, so I can finally gather reliable data. But you always stand against me. I will no longer tolerate it."

    I had so many questions, I couldn''t think of just one to ask. So I stared helplessly with my jaw slack. Nash''s grip on me tightened like he could possibly protect me.

    "This was your final chance, Max. I tested you. I figured that''s what gods do, right? They test their followers."

    My voice shook. "You really are insane."

    "I wanted you to see Piercey. He always talks sense into you. So, I let you go to the Sacred School. I really thought after all these years of him working with me, he would be able to turn you around. Now I know there''s no hope for you. You''re a danger to this experiment, and that makes you a danger to this world."

    "Don''t you dare threaten her." Nash pulled me beneath his arm.

    Flare sighed. "Oh, sweet Nash. You know you can''t save her from me. It makes me so sad for you."

    I gripped Nash''s arm. "He doesn''t belong to you, Flare. Not you as a demon or a god or a woman. How pathetic that you would stoop to fucking your own subjects. You disgust me."

    "Please. He''s a big boy. He can handle a couple drunk nights with me. You''re the one who always ruins him. Besides, he did it as a spy. He wanted to manipulate me. Don''t feel sorry for him when he simply knows how to use his charms."

    "Why do you say always? What do you mean I always ruin him?" I asked. "What are you talking about?"

    Dr. Henderson had never looked so much like a god as she did in Flare''s form, lighting up the white room with her fiery heat, no longer having to hide her power. Vengeance burned in her eyes. "It''s not shocking that you haven''t figured it out, Max, but I am a little disappointed in Piercey." She glanced between Nash and myself. "I''ve never told any of you before. I''m not sure I should."

    Color sparked over the white wall to our right and it came to life with a meadow of daffodils. Nash and I stood there together in the image, his hair longer, mine shorter, a slithering scar crawling down his left arm.

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    My stomach churned. This had never happened.

    Then I heard my voice and chills crashed through my body.

    "Flare said she can take me through the Door of the Gods without being on the mountain. I have to go."

    The Nash on the wall drew me closer. "Not without me."

    "Just say bye and stop fighting me."

    The look in his eyes was the same as when I''d just left him. "You''re so stubborn."

    I stood onto my toes and kissed his lips. The room went silent while we melted into each other''s arms on the wall.

    The left wall flashed with another scene while the one on the right continued to play silently.

    "What the fuck." Nash stumbled back a step beside me.

    On the other wall, we faced Flare in the halls of the Sacred School. Both of us were splattered with blood. I held a wound on my side while Nash looked like he struggled to stand.

    "You''ll never win." Flare''s voice flooded the room, but it wasn''t her speaking here in front of us today. "Stand down."

    My stomach lurched. I doubled over, almost getting sick. This couldn''t be.

    "Enough Flare." Nash lifted his voice over the movie playing for us. "Let us out of this mindfuck palace. Now!"

    The images playing on the screen gave me that feeling. That feeling of a dream I couldn''t quite remember.

    I didn''t want to believe what my mind was screaming at me. Couldn''t believe it.

    "We''ve done this before." I whispered it. Why hadn''t I considered it? This was a simulation. There was no reason Flare wouldn''t run it more than once.

    Flare''s image faded into Dr. Henderson once more. She knelt down in front of me, voice unnervingly soft. "This isn''t the first iteration of the experiment. It failed twice. You''ve destroyed your world both times." Long fingers reached out to my chin and lifted my face to hers. "The council would have wanted to shut you down the first time. I loved your world, though. I saw potential. So I saved you. I restarted your world twice without them knowing. This is the third time you''ve all lived. I''d hoped you would finally work with me."

    I couldn''t wrap my mind around what she said. It was way too much for Nash. He sank down to his knees, staring at one of the walls where we had finally let go of one another.

    "The first time, when I saw you rebelling, I tried to be kind and to win you over with compassion. The second, I did the opposite. I was hard and cruel. This time, I decided to simply be myself. No matter what I do, we always end up here in the end. This time, I even made sure Nash traveled with you so you would come to your senses together."

    "It can''t be true." Though I knew it could be, probably was, I just couldn''t accept it.

    "But look at you. You and Nash are such close souls." Dr. Henderson smiled wistfully. "You always find your way to one another. I tried to keep you apart last time, hoping it would help. I''ve given up on that."

    Nash and I had been together before. It felt right to hear it. As disturbing and unthinkable as it all was, thinking about him finding his way to me every time set something in place inside of me. As if we too were entangled, our souls imprinted upon each other, bound through space and time and something beyond that. This draw I''d felt, his feeling of the dream he couldn''t remember, these were the artifacts of a life once lived and a bond that ran much deeper than what we could remember.

    Dr. Henderson shook her head. "I never wanted to kill you, Max. You love this world. You just won''t stop fighting me. The first time, you told the world the truth, and chaos descended. The second you tried so hard to kill me that you lost control and destroyed everyone around you. What will happen this time? Will you ruin your world forever? I just cannot allow you to do that, no matter how good your intentions are."

    The fight leaked out of me with each word. I''d never lost it before, no matter how hopeless it all felt. But what she said confirmed something in me the same way that hearing I''d always found Nash did. I was a curse. I''d known it since I was a child and I killed those people at the Eclipse. It wasn''t just in this life that I''d fought so hard that I killed the people I loved. It had always happened.

    The world would be safer without me.

 43. Control

    I collapsed on myself. Fell forward onto the ground and wept a lifetime¨Cthree lifetimes¨Cof grief and failure. I wept for Dad who I loved and hated and had killed. I wept for Nash who I''d always dragged into this disaster. I wept for myself who apparently I''d let down time and time again. I wept so hard that I couldn''t breathe, couldn''t tell what was happening around me, until the wonderfully familiar arms lifted me, and I fell against Nash''s chest.

    There was no slipping away from him. He''d always held me, hadn''t he?

    "Let go," Dr. Henderson whispered. "This is your only hope. The world''s only hope."

    Nash pressed his mouth against my temple and spoke softly to me like the first time he''d told me the truth about Flare. "Don''t listen to her, Max. Listen to yourself." He ran his fingers through my hair and pulled it away from my face. "Listen to me." Nash held my head against his chest. His heart beat steadily in my ear. How had he not broken with me today? This had to be far more shocking to him than to me.

    I trembled in his arms.

    "Nothing has changed." Nash kissed the top of my head. "We still need to stop her, just like before."

    "Nash." Dr. Henderson sighed. "I don''t want to remove you too. I''ve seen a world without you in it, and Elsie doesn''t need to go through that again. Stop this talk."

    The black void Dr. Henderson had trapped me in opened up inside of me and swallowed me whole, so I lost all feeling, even as I wept against Nash. My mind and body had separated. I wasn''t here. I wasn''t anywhere. I was gone.

    Nash continued to rock me gently. "You''re the only one who stands against her every time. That''s what I heard. You''re the only one she fears. Her only threat." Nash breathed in my hair. Kissed my face. Held me close. "Stop holding yourself back."

    Henderson rose before us, looming over us, darkness shadowing her face. "Maybe you''re the only one who needed to die all this time, Nash. So Max will finally break and relent."

    Panic threw me back into my body violently. I jerked up, eyes wide and unfocused.

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    "Don''t worry." Henderson lifted her hand toward him. "It won''t hurt. You''ll wake up in perfection in the after-life and won''t remember a thing."

    My eyes snapped to Dr. Henderson. The hottest of fires erupted from within me and flooded the room with energy. Fear flickered in her eyes. I would never let her hurt Nash.

    "How are you accessing your power?" Her voice was tight.

    "You shouldn''t have let me bond with Piercey." The white room shook. Color leaked from the images that had been painting the walls as everything began to melt away. My voice rumbled out low and dangerous. ¡°This is our world. Get the fuck out.¡±

    A scream tore from her throat as power sparked like a flash of electricity against her arm.

    Nash stood beside me, as fearless as I''d ever seen him.

    Dr. Henderson''s eyelids flickered. Her hands twitched. As I dug my way into the fabric of this room, through its boundaries, working out into our world, resistance suddenly slammed against me.

    The code Piercey had shared with me rolled through my mind as if I''d always known it. This power of mine had always come as an instinct. Now, I also had Piercey''s knowledge. I felt my way through the code of the world just as my hands could feel the cool of water, or my ears could hear music, or my eyes could see color. I searched for control of my world instinctively, just as a child learns to walk. And I knew Dr. Henderson was in the interface as well, trying to stop me.

    Blood trickled from my nose. Pain popped over my head. Sweat doused my skin.

    "You really will destroy it all!" Dr. Henderson cried out with effort. "You reckless, foolish girl. You could eradicate everyone''s consciousness if you damage the simulation."

    I couldn''t stop now. There was no stopping. No questioning myself. I''d started this and I didn''t know what would happen if I turned back. But her words tore at me like daggers.

    "Max, please." Tears slid down her cheeks. "You''ll never get your world back if you destroy it. The work it will take to restore your consciousness¡­" Power zapped against her skin again. I thought she''d retreat, but she stayed firm, fighting against me. "The stain of death never leaves. Never. If you kill us all, it will stick with our souls, even if they resurrect us!" More tears fell. "Trust me, Max. I know."

    Nash spoke against my ear again. Somehow, despite all evidence that I''d only fail again, he still believed in me. "You can do this."

    Consequences be damned. Maybe I really was Eclipse, the Soul Eater. Maybe I was nothing more than destruction. One thing I never did was surrender. And I would never, in any life, let this woman kill Nash. If I wouldn''t do that, how could I leave the rest of our world in her hands?

    I pushed through her resistance with every nerve ending in my body sizzling in pain.

    A feeling like slipping filled me. Dr. Henderson met my eyes, sorrow, panic, maybe anguish filling them. And then, just like that, she was gone.

    It was all gone.

    Nash and I were lying on the ground in the Sacred School, our arms around each other.

 44. Awakening

    I stared at the floor, unable to rise. My entire body felt numb. "We''re alive." I lifted my hands to look at them. "The world is still here."

    Nash gripped my knee. "You did it."

    "I felt an insane surge of power," Piercey said.

    "We took control of the simulation." I clasped my throat with my hand and rubbed the soreness in my muscles. "Dr. Henderson was fighting me. She disappeared right before the white room did. I think she unplugged. She''s probably out in her world right now figuring out how to hack back in."

    "She''s obsessed with this project," Piercey said. "I don''t think she''ll destroy the hardware, not when she''s been hiding things from the council to keep our world going. She''s not going to do anything until she''s sure it''s safe."

    "So we have some time." I hefted out a deep breath. "Who knows if it''s minutes or weeks or years. She''s smart. She''ll take back control eventually."

    Nash nodded at me. "That gives us time to prepare for whatever battles we''ll face."

    <hr>

    It had been four days since we took control of the world away from the gods, every one of them spent traveling. We''d taken the elevator down the mountain and met with Piercey''s graduates over his neural link. Val, one of his instructors, had met us after we descended the mountain and rode ahead of us with Piercey, her short auburn hair slicked back in the breeze. Everyone had been quiet today as we prepared for the battle tomorrow.

    The Prophet knew that our people were coming to attack and had reinforced his village with warriors from surrounding regions. Piercey had sent graduates to escort Nash''s family to the Sacred School to protect them, and a group had kept their eye on the Prophet to ensure he didn''t hurt the innocents. It wasn''t a promise that nothing would happen, but if the Prophet hurt even one, he''d be inviting an attack. While Piercey and Val had agreed to help us battle, the others wouldn''t unless the Prophet started executing prisoners. They didn''t have the votes to use the full weight of their group to bring down the Prophet when they worried about who would replace him. But no one planned to stand in the way of Piercey and Val.

    What good was their power when they did nothing but watch the Prophet use his to hurt others? I had no use for diplomacy. Not with my people in danger and that snake controlling the entire Valley. But we''d created a good plan on our own. Nash had the idea for Piercey to use his power to shield him in battle so that he could fight against the disciples. Val had interesting strategies of our own. The first day we rode we had kept so busy with our plans, that I didn''t have time to feel worried. The second day had been the most difficult, after we''d already made it down the elevator and started our ride toward the Prophet. Dr. Henderson''s voice haunted me. As wrong as she was, as much as I knew she needed to be stopped, I wasn''t right either. I had three lifetimes of fighting counterproductively and still I had no ideas other than to plunge headlong into the same strong-arm tactics that had ruled every life I''d lived. I was no better than her. She was the god of death and I was her demon of destruction.

    This was why I needed to only think about saving my people and seeing Leif walk free with Rune and Arn. My thoughts would be the death of me.

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    I glanced at Nash as he rode beside me. "We shouldn''t stop for rest tonight. We should ride and go straight for the Prophet. We''re so close."

    "We need sleep to fight well."

    "Don''t take Piercey''s side."

    Nash grinned at me. "Don''t give me orders, Sharpshooter."

    I pursed my lips and tore my eyes from him, before I could linger on the other thoughts that consumed me. With my own eyes, I saw that we''d had something in our previous lives, but I had no idea what it was. Had we met like we did this time and shared something fleeting? Or had we actually been together? Had we had a life together that Flare stole?

    "We''ve squandered four days," Nash said.

    Why couldn''t he ever let me avoid anything? I tensed. "I told you, wait until after the eclipse." Not only because our focus needed to be on saving my people, but also because it was wrong to draw him any closer when I knew I''d slip away for good this time. We stole the world from the gods, so it wasn''t like I would be reincarnated into another life. I''d be gone from this world.

    When Nash and I had talked that first night about what to do, I''d told him that we should wait to figure anything out until after the eclipse. He''d looked at me skeptically when I told him, like he knew I''d break, and asked me if I''d ever stop tormenting myself.

    He watched me now in the same way.

    "Just say it." I couldn''t handle another second of his burning stare.

    "What excuse will there be after you survive the eclipse?"

    I shot my head toward him. "If by some miracle I don''t die in two days, then we can talk. That''s entirely reasonable. Don''t act like I''m being ridiculous."

    "You haven''t slipped to that future since we took control away from the gods," Nash said.

    "It isn''t as if I slip to it every day. It''s coming."

    ¡°If dying during the eclipse is inevitable, then why did Henderson work so hard to take you out herself?¡±

    This wasn''t something I could speculate about. I''d accepted my fate long ago. Getting my hopes up now would only devastate me when the day came. "What does it hurt to wait?"

    "Because we could die."

    I tilted my head, brows raising. "Exactly why we shouldn''t do this. You''ve completely lost me."

    "The reason you want to wait is the reason I don''t. We could fall in battle tomorrow." He eased his horse closer, voice quiet. ¡°Even if we do, we''ll be together again. We¡¯ve always been together. It¡¯s a dream we keep waking from. A dream we keep returning to. Tell me you don¡¯t feel it in your bones that we¡¯ve been here before. That we always end up here.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t tell him that because I felt it too, as irresistible and inevitable as every slip I¡¯d ever had. Maybe I wasn''t afraid of what would happen if we opened ourselves up to each other and I died. Maybe I was afraid of what had already happened. That every day, every battle we fought, every catch of our eyes, every moment tying this one to the first time I saw him, I''d been slipping into his arms. He''d been slipping into mine.

    The fear sharpened inside of me so I couldn''t lie to myself. It was too late. Multiple lives too late. If time was entangled between the eclipses then Nash and I had become entangled as well.

    "I won''t be strong enough to say goodbye." I gripped the horse''s mane.

    "It''s not time for that." His voice melted the tension in my chest. "Live in this moment. Stay with me, here and now. If we ever do say goodbye, it won''t be forever. I''ll come to you in the world beyond this one. We''ll find our way to each other. We always have and we always will."

    His words melted me. "That world is far bigger than our little valley."

    "That won''t stop me."

    My fear crumbled into sorrow. "If I always find you, then I also always lose you. But that doesn''t make me regret meeting you."

    "Then, don''t make me wait another lifetime to have you. Not when the wait since our last life has already been so long. Give me one night. At least one night."

    The cruelty that I''d lost him before¨Cno, that Dr. Henderson had stolen us from each other¨Cignited the fire within me. We had to get to my people to free them and figure out how to keep her out of this world so that we had the chance to live in peace.

 45. Steady

    That night Nash used the excuse of foraging to leave camp, and twenty minutes later, I left for the river, hoping it wasn''t too obvious to Piercey.

    I didn''t know exactly what Nash meant when he asked for a night with me, but I was certain I needed to bathe. That much was no mystery.

    The river washed away days of dirt and sweat. Cold water prickled my arms and flowed over me in a soft current. I changed into fresh clothes we''d brought from the Sacred School. It wasn''t what I would choose for a night with Nash, but it beat the nasty clothes I''d left in a pile on the rocks by the river.

    A few minutes after I''d finished, I heard footsteps and I straightened my wet hair over my shoulders. I''d told him to find me at the river. Good thing I''d gotten ready in time.

    Nash had washed up too. He looked handsome in the dim light of the setting sun with his curls full.

    "Hi," I said.

    He stepped closer. "Hi."

    We''d been through so much together but suddenly it felt like my first time meeting him. I''d taken down all the barriers I''d always held between us. There was nothing left to protect my heart from him, nor his from mine. What would I do now? Kiss him? Talk to him? Throw off the clothes I¡¯d just changed into? I had no idea what I''d actually agreed to.

    Nash erased the worry from my mind when he reached a hand out for me and nodded at the river bank. "Walk with me?"

    I swallowed down everything I felt and took his hand. His arm came around my shoulders as we sauntered along the water''s edge. The sun nestled into a bed of pink, cut short by the Mountain of the Gods in the distance.

    "After the eclipse, I want a proper day with you." Nash looked down at me.

    "What does a proper day look like?"

    He chuckled. "Whatever we want. We can even fight if you''d like. I''ve never taken a woman training before but I wouldn''t mind an afternoon sparring with you."

    I looked down as I smiled.

    "Maybe we could go on the river. Or find a village that''s having a festival."

    Warmth filled my stomach. "I would love that. Any of it."

    "Tell me things, not about the gods or power. Things about you."

    "It feels like that''s all there is to tell about me."

    "There''s much more."

    His nearness and attention had me so flustered I couldn''t think of anything clever or endearing to say. I told him about the normal days in my village that I wanted back, how Leif had seen the potential in me and trained me, that I''d spent years never sleeping alone and I couldn''t wait to make it back home. And he told me about long summer days with Elsie, how she never stopped running when she was a toddler unless she slammed into something and fell over, and that he''d hated every moment he served the Prophet.

    "I want to live away from the villages and fighting and politics." Nash laced his fingers with mine as we walked. "It needs to be at least half a day''s ride away from any town."

    "Half a day? That''s pretty far out there."

    "I would only have to see the people who I really want to see and who want to see me badly enough to make the trip. That would be just fine with me."

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    "I haven''t thought about where I''d like to end up, but I do like being with my people." I wouldn''t mention the eclipse. Not when we were having such a nice walk. "What you said doesn''t sound too bad though. I can see wanting that once you get used to it."

    He nudged me as we walked, smirking. "Would you visit me, Sharpshooter?"

    "Don''t know." I tried not to smile, to give myself away, but it was impossible with my hand in his. "Depends on how tonight goes."

    Nash tisked. "Such a bad liar."

    I bit my lip, turning my face away. "What about me? Would you visit me?"

    "Maybe I wouldn''t have to. Maybe you wouldn''t be that far away."

    My heart fluttered.

    "I''m not supposed to say that, am I?" But he didn''t look embarrassed or guilty, and certainly not as if he regretted it. His voice was comfortable, words unrushed. "I''m supposed to pretend I need more time before knowing what I want."

    His confidence and openness took my breath away. Doubt tried to choke out what he''d said, what he''d meant, but at the first flutters of insecurity, Nash was already dipping my way, his lips already against mine.

    All this time, I''d been so afraid that he knew the power he had over me, because that power made me feel like I was at a disadvantage. Most of all, because Nash was too good for me. Too good for Eclipse, the girl called demon, who''d slaughtered an entire village.

    Tonight, though, my heart finally felt it. Nash didn''t see what I feared he would when he looked at me. He saw something I couldn''t. He saw who I''d be if I hadn''t spent my life hiding from Eclipse. Maybe that was who I really was.

    "Why¡­ Why are you so good to me?" I asked.

    "It''s obvious, Max." Another tender kiss. "Why can''t you see it?"

    I wanted to say something but there was nothing I could say. We both knew why. It wasn''t a question that demanded an answer but a change in the way I''d lived my life.

    So instead, I squeezed his hand tightly as I stepped forward with him. "I think I want somewhere quiet too. Somewhere I don''t have to hide, because there''s no one to find me."

    Nash smiled, eyes lingering on mine.

    We talked well into the night after we circled back to the river bank and skipped rocks against its dark, glistening water. Nash was talking about his swords and I was trying to listen. Really was interested. Only his shirt hugged his shoulders with every rock he threw and every word he spoke drew my gaze to his lips.

    His voice slowed as he looked at me. He laughed softly. "Are you listening?"

    "I''m a little distracted." I couldn''t lie to him. Didn''t need to anymore.

    I took a step closer and his look changed, the seriousness in his eyes again even though he wore that sly grin. "Something on your mind?"

    "There is."

    "But I have much more to tell you about my sword sharpening technique."

    The soft light of the midnight sun hugged his jawline. I slowly smoothed my hands up to his neck and then his face. "Tell me. I can do two things at once." I kissed right beneath his jaw.

    His hands found my sides. "Actually, I''ve never cared so little about my swords as I do now."

    I pulled his face down to mine and I kissed him the way I¡¯d been dying to. Not the struggling kiss after his treatment, or the weary one after hiking up the mountain. I rose up as tall as I could on my toes, plastered myself against him, and kissed him deeply with absolutely nothing holding me back, not even my own fear.

    Nash pressed against me so I started to fall back, but he had me. Held me with my toes scraping the ground.

    We stumbled back away from the bank to the soft of the grass and the weeds and the wilted leaves that carpeted the earth. We sank down to our knees, our sides, down into a world of our own.

    I remembered the night Nash had given that grin of his and told me he felt like he''d met me in a dream I couldn''t remember. All of this felt like that. I lived not only in this moment but in those long past and forgotten. We''d done this before, many times, and I could only hope we would do it again.

    Still, I struggled to accept it. It didn''t feel possible that I could have him, that something so good, someone so good, would see this much of me, the demon in me, and still want me. Maybe want me even more.

    I could no longer hold myself back from him. He''d rendered me helpless. For the first time, I didn''t mind that feeling.

    Shadows hid our clothes strewn about the forest floor, but our skin soaked up the midnight sun, breaking up the dark, gleaming with the dim of twilight. It became a path for fingers and lips, for wandering and exploring. For knowing each other in a way time wouldn''t allow and words couldn''t share.

    I''d learned the sound of his heart beat in battle, but that night it was with my ear against his chest, hearing it without my power, that I hoped I would remember it. If I fell to the eclipse and woke in a world I didn''t know and lost my hold on Nash, maybe the steadiness of his heart would beat in my dreams. Would drum with my own. Would tell me there was a man I''d always found before and had to find again.

    We held one another. When the bright rays of morning light broke through the trees and woke us, we hadn''t yet let go.

    I hoped, beyond hope that beneath the eclipse we wouldn''t let go either. The worst battles were ahead. Dr. Henderson would not go down so easily and neither would the Prophet.

 46. Disciples

    In the morning, we had ridden without stopping to the Prophet''s village, where finally I would be able to free my innocent. I''d hoped to return here with my power and even allies to help in the battle. Never had I imagined how much would have changed, though. In many ways, I was a different person. At least, I hoped I was. My track record on saving my world apparently was pretty lousy.

    At least, Dr. Henderson didn''t have control of our world right now.

    Straight lines of warriors stood ready for battle around the domineering walls of the Prophet''s village. The perimeter was entirely surrounded by his army and by archers poised atop the wall. Though I didn''t see his disciples, I was sure they were waiting for us.

    We flattened ourselves on a nearby hill, watching.

    The Prophet''s stare loomed in my mind. I''d grown up with his inky eyes drilling into my own on the day of my death. I couldn''t shake them now. Fear that had grown within me every day since I''d first slipped to my death choked me now. It was like a vine that had wrapped around every blood vessel and organ in my body.

    "We can do this¡­" I whispered it to myself. Even with my medicine and Piercey''s treatment, my anxiety was difficult to control. A voice inside told me that it was because it wasn''t something that anyone could fix. It wasn''t a problem with my mind. I should be afraid. That was the issue with my condition. It was hard to tell when it was my voice and when it was anxiety hijacking my mind. I still hadn''t learned to listen to myself fully. Perhaps, that was the worst way I''d always held myself back.

    I ground my teeth down. When I went into battle, I destroyed all thoughts and lived in the moment, ready to deal with whatever came my way. Today was a day of battle. I had to shut myself up and focus on the only thing that mattered. Destroying everyone who stood in the way of me and my people. My family.

    The rest of the mess I''d made trying to save them, that was for a different day.

    But no matter how many times I told myself that, the unease hung inside me. My body knew what my mind had pushed away.

    None of us were safe.

    None.

    That wasn''t all though. I still wanted to fight. That was who I was. Someone who knew the worst that could happen, feared the worst, and still chose the battle. Nash and Piercey were right to believe in me. They were right and I''d been wrong.

    No more.

    "It''s time." I squeezed Piercey''s wrist. "Tell your graduates."

    My people were waiting and ready to attack, hiding in the woods west of the village. The Prophet must have had scouts watching the area, because they had fortified the west side of the village perimeter with twice the warriors as any other direction. I eyed the enemy fighters posted all along the wall.

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    Piercey closed his eyes. "It''s done. I told them to tell your people to strike."

    I wanted so badly to listen for Wren and Leif¡¯s hearts, but I couldn¡¯t alert the disciples to us. I had to control myself. I was just so desperate to connect with them in any way I could.

    Nash must have felt my anxiety, because he slipped his hand over my back and whispered in my ear. "Your people will be free soon."

    It shouldn¡¯t have been possible for any of the fear to ease from my tense muscles, but looking into his eyes did just that. Even here, even now, I longed to draw him to myself again. His heart already felt like a part of mine.

    I had to protect Nash today.

    A roar erupted from the woods where my people had waited. Though I''d expected it, it still shook me, reverberating in my bones. Their battle cry swelled like one booming voice that drowned out everything else in the Valley: the birds chirping, the Prophet''s warriors readying their weapons, my own thoughts crying out in my mind.

    The cry built in my own chest. My body flooded with energy so I could race down to my people and charge with them. But I remained hidden on the hill.

    The first of our warriors broke into the field with the rest pouring out behind them. Though we were a small force compared to the Prophet''s army, the worry tightening the faces of the Prophet''s warriors made it seem as if they were the ones outnumbered.

    I looked at Nash. How many of them were like him? Forced to fight for the Prophet when they really wanted to join my people in storming his village. Fervor shone from his eyes and tightened the muscles in his forearms. I could feel his desperation as viscerally as my own. The Prophet had used his power to carve his name into Nash''s back repeatedly and forced him into service. What else had he done to others in the valley? The man may have had more enemies than I realized.

    We were ready to fight. It was time.

    I searched for Leif and Wren and found them at the front of the charge, blades raised overhead. Please, they had to stay safe.

    The Prophet''s warriors sprinted for my people now. Archers on the wall unleashed their first wave of arrows. My people drove forward, even as arrows arched in the sky over them.

    "Val." Piercey''s face had gone ashen. I could practically feel his longing to return to the peace of the mountain.

    She planted her hands on the ground and strained as a pulse of energy erupted from her, knocking into me like a physical force. The arrows exploded into a shimmering mist of wood and iron, each piece so pulverized that it fell like dark snow over my people. Our warriors charged unfazed while the Prophet''s force all looked up to the sky.

    We''d tipped our hand. The Prophet would send his disciples soon.

    "You ready?" Piercey whispered.

    My body buzzed. "I can hardly contain myself."

    Nash grinned, but Piercey''s brows tightened with worry.

    A crack like thunder erupted from the field. Our warriors tore into the Prophet''s line with no hesitation. Swords clashed against one another. I dug my fingers into the earth and focused on Leif and Wren now that Val had used her power.

    A flash of energy tore my mind from them. Someone was coming. I felt their power like a gust of wind.

    A haze of blue sparked at the front lines where the two armies clashed. Then it shot out in a beam that slammed warriors aside. A single woman was left standing in a small circle with a straight path out of the crowd. My people flowed around her like a rushing river, except for those who had been knocked over by her power.

    She walked forward slowly.

    My lungs tightened, burning in my chest. "An ambush." The words scarcely escaped my lips before I jumped into a crouch with my bow drawn. She was only a distraction from the real threat. I had to find the other disciples. I listened for heartbeats and unleashed my first arrow, focused on it as it curved for the heart I''d heard in the woods.

    The arrow snapped.

    Whoever was hiding had destroyed it.

    The disciple walking toward us in the haze of blue had wanted our attention on her. Wanted us to see her. More were coming. It wasn''t just whoever hid close by.

 47. First Wave

    The other disciples must have been close.

    "Val, focus on the warriors." I turned in a tight circle, scanning the perimeter. "Piercey, guard Nash."

    "You hear them?" Piercey whispered.

    I nodded. He should have been able to as well, so the fact that he couldn''t told me his nerves had gotten the best of him. Piercey truly wasn''t a warrior. His panic would make him sloppy. Not good.

    I breathed out slowly.

    We were surrounded. Just couldn''t see them. I counted eight heartbeats, not including the disciple on the field who had stopped at the edge of the army, staring. No, waiting. Waiting for her time to strike. Studying us as we planned to study them.

    "Draw them in!" I notched an arrow, trusting Piercey to overcome his fear. He didn''t move. Didn''t even blink. His eyes subtly narrowed and the air around us warmed.

    Cries ripped through the air. Three disciples came flying toward us from the woods, all forced over by Piercey.

    They stopped mid-air and dropped suddenly. Piercey''s nostrils twitched. Someone must have severed the tether of his power.

    No matter. They were close enough to each other now. I unleashed three arrows, one that sliced through flesh and bone and cut the beating heart to silence. Another thudded against what felt like a wall. The third one snapped mid-air.

    One of my arrows stuck out from a man¡¯s back. He must have stopped it at the last second from tearing through his heart. I could try to push it through, but I wouldn¡¯t waste my power on a battle of wills with an arrow that may splinter rather than kill him.

    I darted down the hill into tall grass and raced for the disciples with Nash on my heels. All across the field behind us, the sound of snapping rang out like a song, one plucking chord after the next. I glanced back to see the Prophet''s warriors gawking. Val had cut their bowstrings, drawing a grin from me.

    It took all I had to keep my back to my people as they warred with the Prophet''s forces behind us. I could hear their battle cries, their blades clashing, the shrieks of the injured.

    Val had them. I had to trust her, because Piercey did, and that meant I should too.

    I turned my full attention to the disciples.

    They raced for us, all seven of them still left alive, some emerging for the first time from the woods. The fear pumped energy into my muscles so I ran faster than I thought possible. Before we reached them, the two on the far end stumbled to a stop and had to strain to merely walk forward, so that their veins bulged against their muscles. Piercey was flexing his power and I couldn¡¯t help but be impressed. I''d been wrong to think his fear would hold him back just because he''d had a weak moment.

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    One of the women shot to me with an impossible speed and stabbed her knife for my gut. I parried with a gust of power driving my blade, nearly managing to wrench hers free of her grasp. Nash ran right past us. It took all of the discipline I had not to follow him and to trust that Piercey would protect him.

    My senses honed in on the disciple closest to me.

    I knocked my attacker back a step with a two-handed swipe. Followed it with a boot to her gut. Sliced through the tender flesh of her forearm.

    The ground trembled beneath the strain of our power until it was quaking. The grass ripped open into a brown tear, like a massive smile. Nash leapt over the opening chasm and landed on the other side with the rest of the disciples.

    Damn it, Piercey had better guard him well.

    Instinctively, I balanced myself as I charged forward, but it took such little effort, I realized someone else was stabilizing me. Val or Piercey behind me. They must have been doing the same for Nash because he swept both of his blades in opposite directions with no issues, fending off two disciples who rushed for him.

    I needed to make it to him and stop wasting time on this one.

    Fury flooded me with heat as I feigned a lunge and kicked the inside of her knee instead. Before she could recover, I thrust my blade forward and caught her side, tearing through flesh and grating against ribs. Nails reached for me like claws. I slammed them with the force of my power.

    Snap.

    The nails ripped free in a spray of blood. A scream tore from her lips.

    I shoved her back toward the growing crack in the ground with my power and she tumbled to the bottom. Clumps of dirt and rocks that had shaken loose fell over her as the ground swallowed her whole. The bloodied stump of her jagged nails reached up through the dirt. And then she was gone.

    My heart panged as I leapt over the grave that had swallowed the disciple whole. I didn''t even know her name. Fighting this way didn''t feel the same as battle. Our power was unfair.

    This was a war without honor.

    But I couldn''t spare a single moment mourning a woman who had given her life and power to the Prophet when my people were counting on me.

    Ahead of me, Nash alone appeared to fight on stable ground, though the earth beneath him shook as well. Piercey and Val continued to stabilize us both as I ran and jumped to the other side of the gaping ground. Nash¡¯s blades didn¡¯t stop dancing for an instant. He held off two disciples as he slashed one blade toward one and blocked a hit with the other.

    The disciples fighting him struggled for breath. That was when I caught the indentation ringing their necks. One of our people was trying to strangle them. And as they fended off the power, Nash launched a full-on attack. It really was working.

    I swung my sword for the hip of one. The man caught it with his own blade, but Nash¡¯s twin swords snapped like a cobra and skewered him through the gut. Blood poured out of his slack mouth. The other disciple swung for Nash, but her sword caught mid-air and her body trembled as she tried to bring it down on him. I advanced for her when a powerful force wrapped around my arms and jerked me back a step.

    The other disciples had learned from our example. We needed to regroup and launch the next stage of our attack. Growling, I broke free of the force, the pressure squeezing me right down to my bones. I shoved Nash hard through the air toward the hill where we''d hid. Piercey would have to do the rest.

    I threw my head back and screamed as I focused on throwing the disciples back. They all toppled, except for one, who dug her heels into the ground and snarled, managing to only slide a few inches.

    Without hesitating, I rushed to retreat, eyes on Nash as an unseen hand pulled him through the air. He disappeared on the hill and within seconds I was there with him, helped along by Piercey.

 48. Follow-Up

    The disciples rose off the ground from where I had flattened most of them and regrouped as we did the same on the hill.

    ¡°We took out three," I said. "Not bad for our first attack.¡±

    Nash wiped his forehead with the back of his arm. ¡°I¡¯ve never fought anyone like them.¡±

    ¡°They''re retreating too, all except one.¡± Piercey sat on his knees, not bothering to hide.

    In the field, the woman who''d walked through the blue haze stood over the body of a fallen comrade, facing us. The others ran for the rest of the Prophet¡¯s warriors.

    ¡°She must be in charge,¡± I said. ¡°I couldn¡¯t knock her back.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s powerful,¡± Piercey said. ¡°I have a good feel for them now. Let me do the next part.¡±

    I nodded and twisted for my people. I couldn''t see Leif and Wren but if I focused hard enough I could hear the pounding of their hearts. The Prophet''s forces had swallowed ours whole, so our warriors were surrounded from all sides. Sweat dripped down Val''s face. She couldn''t defend them all, but I knew she was shielding everyone she could.

    Piercey climbed down the hill and walked out in the field, as if he wasn''t in any hurry. "Surrender now, so I don''t have to hurt you."

    The lead disciple snarled. She reached her hand up and roared. Piercey swiped his own, deflecting a gust of wind that shot from her palm.

    "Last chance." His hands tightened into fists at his sides. "Please. I don''t want to do this."

    He didn''t. The weight of what I''d asked him to do by coming to fight the Prophet sounded as though it would break his voice.

    "Die!" The lead disciple shouted.

    Piercey lowered his head. The grass around him rustled. The wind shifted. Without warning, a gust shot across the field, nearly slamming me back onto my ass. Nash settled a hand on the ground, eyes wide.

    The Prophet''s disciples shrieked, every one of them except for the lead disciple. I whipped around to see that one by one, they collapsed onto the ground, half-way retreated to the warriors. Their bodies writhed. My gasp lodged in my throat and felt like it would burst. Blood beaded all over their skin. He was drawing it out through their pores.

    The lead disciple finally collapsed to one knee. Her head lifted. Blood streamed from her eyes.

    Beside me, Nash shook his head. "This death is too slow."

    "He''s putting immense pressure on their bodies." My stomach revolted against such cruelty. "The disciples are fighting him off. I''m sure a normal person would have died instantly." No wonder Piercey hadn''t wanted to do this first. It wasn''t just because he wanted to gauge their strength and plan accordingly. He didn''t want to issue such a cruel death.

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    "Put them out of their misery," Nash said.

    "I think he''s trying."

    "Then what are we doing?" He pushed to his feet and ducked down low as he ran down the hill.

    "Nash!" I raced after him. "Let me go by myself."

    Nash didn''t even humor me with a glance.

    Piercey stood unmoving in the field. As we ran past him, my oldest friend lifted his hand for me, eyes wide. Sweat doused his skin and clothes. Blood dripped from both of his nostrils from the effort. He needed our help. As powerful as he was, everyone with power was incredibly challenging to take on.

    I focused on the disciple who knelt in the grass before us. Her body trembled and her mouth hung open as she whimpered. A thin glaze of blood covered her entire body. When she saw us, fear filled her eyes.

    Nash already had his weapons poised to strike. We were warriors. It went against everything we believed to leave another fighter suffering like this. We gifted our enemies with swift deaths. And Nash was ready to oblige.

    He could take care of her. I had to protect him. I focused on Nash, imagining an impenetrable circle of steel surrounding him, one only I could see, one that flashed only when he needed to be protected.

    "You fought well," Nash said. His twin swords sliced through the air for her neck. But they slammed against air and bounced back.

    The disciple gasped in relief, the tension melting from her body. Her eyelids fluttered and then she passed out.

    There was only one person powerful enough to stop Piercey''s attack like that.

    "Nash," I whispered. "He''s here."

    Piercey swept past me and stopped directly in front of me.

    The disciples all struggled to their knees and bowed. Turning, I saw the Prophet''s warriors lower in a wave, even in the midst of battle. All around the battlefield, swords skewered warriors who made no attempt to defend themselves as they bowed down.

    My people stumbled back from their enemies, ceasing their attacks as the Prophet''s warriors made themselves defenseless.

    Panic lurched in my gut. Nash moved close to me, hand coming to my back. I thought of the scars weaving down his spine. How many hours had he bled because of the Prophet? I wasn''t the only one who understood his ferocity.

    The black hood of the Prophet bobbed above his subjects as he walked through the crowd of warriors toward us. If he was willing to come out of his village to face us, why had he let three of his disciples die first?

    My lips curled into a grimace. Of course. He needed his people to be afraid, so he would look that much mightier when he killed us. The Prophet let his disciples fight, knowing they may not be strong enough. The death of comrades spurred on any good warrior. The disciples would train more ferociously than ever.

    This might be a loss for the Prophet''s people, but it was a win for him.

    As he drew closer, I could see his inky black eyes staring out from the shadow of his cloak. Only then did I notice the rope in his hand and the effortless way he dragged a bobbing form from it.

    Tight fingers of panic strangled my heart. It was a man.

    I didn''t recognize him, but Piercey''s composure wilted and I knew. This was one of his graduates.

    "Jackson¡­" Piercey gasped.

    The body was mangled, certainly just a corpse. Arms hung from the rope like loose sacks of skin, as if his bones had disintegrated. With every movement, his legs bounced at unnatural angles.

    No one could survive this. The Prophet must have been delivering a dead body to us.

    Only when the Prophet stopped and slung the body into the open space between us, did I see Jackson''s wide eyes move to each of us. I pressed my fist against my stomach. He was alive.

    Piercey walked toward him and then collapsed at his side, hands shaking as he slowly placed them on his back. The Prophet must have been actively keeping Jackson alive.

    The man didn''t respond to Piercey. He didn''t cry or whine or even twitch. Nothing except wide, pain-filled eyes turning to his director.

    "I''m so sorry," Piercey whispered. Then, he drew his knife from his side and stabbed it into his graduate''s neck.

 49. Tethered

    Blood poured from the neck of the graduate who Piercey had put out of his misery. How could the Prophet have tortured him so barbarically? What he''d done to Nash had made my stomach churn, especially thinking about how many times the Prophet must have carved his name into his skin for the power to scar despite the healing. But this torment went beyond what I knew was possible.

    "You bastard," I said, lunging for the Prophet.

    "Max!" Nash clutched me around my waist.

    Heat spread over my body in a flash. Nash recoiled, grabbing his hand.

    "You didn''t have to take it so far." The air around me grew hazy with heat. "You have the Valley. You won! Everyone fears your name. What''s the point of toying with people like this?"

    Piercey rose on shaky legs. "Don''t, Max."

    The Prophet wore a cocky grin I was desperate to wipe off his face. "You''ve seen it too, haven''t you?" He eyed me like a hungry lion would a piece of meat. "You''ve seen your blood pooling in the cracks of my stage."

    It hit me like a punch to the gut.

    "Time is given to the Prophets alone. And yet a foolish girl managed to sneak her fingers into the cracks of time and pry it apart." The Prophet moved forward. "I can still taste your sweet blood." A thin tongue snaked out of his mouth and licked his lips. "Tomorrow your soul will return to the gods."

    Fear choked out my voice. I''d looked into his eyes so many times¨Cthe eyes of death. I couldn''t ask what he meant about time. How he knew I would die. I could only see the life I''d never lead flash before me. A life I''d always knew I''d lose and yet couldn''t stop myself from hoping for, especially now that I''d found Nash.

    Piercey lifted his hand to the Prophet. "You will not go near her."

    "You have always been such a bright and optimistic boy." The Prophet clasped his hands behind his back. "Perfect qualities for a director. It keeps you blind and easy to control."

    "Step back," Piercey said.

    "You think your Sacred School makes Prophets?" He snorted. "You churn out loyal subjects. Demons who can control their powers. Who no longer cause chaos. The gods make Prophets."

    My nostrils flared. "The gods train you once you leave the school. We should have known."

    "Letting someone learn enough to think they have it all figured out is the best way to keep them in the dark." The Prophet glared at each of us. "The gods have no mercy left for you. I know what you did, thief. I won''t allow you to steal this world for yourself."

    Heat pounded in my temples. "Then you should rejoice in freedom, you coward, not pine for your precious gods to keep you in power."

    "You all die here today. All of you except for her." His long finger pointed at me. "Tomorrow, Eclipse, you will finally surrender your power and the people will drink of your blood and consume your power."

    Piercey belted a roar and pumped his hands out to the Prophet. Blasts of air ripped his cloak back, but the Prophet didn''t budge.

    He snorted. "If you''re so eager to die¡­"

    Beside me, Nash gasped in a strangled breath. Piercey grabbed his throat, eyes round. Tears flooded Val''s eyes.

    He was choking them and even Piercey couldn''t stop it. I tried to pry back his control, but it was like trying to move a mountain. The Prophet didn''t even break a sweat. He looked into my eyes, smiling.

    Beside me Nash fell to his knees, muscles straining as he gripped his neck. Terror shredded my focus.

    I ripped my blade from my side and ran for the Prophet, roaring. With my arm wrenched back, I thrust it for his gut.

    His power wound around my body and froze me in place. I struggled to break free, reaching within me for more power. It was as if it had been sealed again, only I realized that the Prophet was just that much stronger than me.

    No.

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    I threw everything I had into breaking free of him but only managed to twitch my muscles.

    Nash and Piercey had gone too long without air. They couldn''t do this much longer.

    All the power within me pushed against his in an eruption. My blade slid forward and then it turned slowly until it slid against my own throat.

    How could I lose now?

    Piercey curled up on his side. Nash''s head fell back. Val''s body spasmed.

    I screamed as beads of blood popped against the blade on my throat and I strained to break free of his power.

    Two forms ran through the field for us. Pain flooded my heart. Leif and Wren had broken away from the war party and were closing in on where we stood. "Stay back!" I didn''t need them to die too.

    Wren wrapped her arms around Leif and pulled him back. He skidded to a stop, desperate eyes on me. I shook my head. That was already too close. They stayed there, though I could see Leif struggled to hold himself in place. Anguish flooded Wren''s face.

    Behind them, the Prophet''s warriors remained bowed down, and my people stood sideways with their swords ready, so they could keep their eyes on the warriors and the Prophet.

    What a nightmare.

    The Prophet didn''t even glance at Leif and Wren. He probably planned to save them for later.

    "The gods have given me visions of your destruction, Eclipse." Darkness crept over his face in a shadow as his head lowered. "You must be broken before your evil consumes us all."

    Nash collapsed onto his stomach, fingers twitching against the grass. Tears poured down my face. Elsie needed him. I needed him.

    "I don''t care about what you''re saying!" I cried out as I tried to strip away his control of my friends. "Let them go!"

    The Prophet walked past Piercey''s writhing body. Past Nash as his eyes fluttered. He stopped right where he could loom over me. "You truly are Eclipse. You won''t stop until you consume our sun. Our gods."

    "I will kill you," I said, voice straining.

    His silence tore into me. Beneath the wrath in the Prophet''s eye, I noticed a flicker of something. Could it be fear? Despite how he''d turned my own blade on me, he was the one who was afraid?

    It occurred to me then that though the Prophet had seen my death, though he''d spoken with such confidence when he said he''d always had me, that he was afraid of me. Why? I wanted to ask, but I couldn''t waste energy on any questions, not when I was searching for more power within myself.

    "Do it." The Prophet roared. "Kill her. I can wait no longer."

    Nash''s fingers twitched as he reached for me. "N-no¡­" His tight voice was hardly audible.

    The lead disciple ripped a dagger from her side. I stared into Nash''s eyes, wishing we were connected with a neural link, so I could tell him how sorry I was. I tried with all I could to break free of the Prophet, but it was like he had wrapped chains around my body.

    As the disciple reared back, I could not even stop the knife from flying for me.

    In a flash, she threw it straight for my neck. My senses sharpened, tuning in on it slicing through the air in the moment it took to reach me. The last sound I''d hear before I died.

    The tip nicked my skin and then the blade snapped in half. It shot to the ground in two pieces.

    I gasped so hard it felt as if it ripped my chest in two. Had I done that? Had I broken the blade? I hadn''t felt my power increase or break free to the blade, though.

    Suspicion filled the Prophet''s eyes. Could it have been Piercey? No. He was barely conscious. What was this?

    Something or someone had intervened to save me from death but I had not felt power from anyone.

    Another disciple pulled the bow from his back and shot an arrow at my chest. It snapped in half just like the dagger and dropped to my feet.

    I looked down at the broken dagger and arrow.

    Shock filled the Prophet''s eyes. He grabbed a blade himself and shoved upward toward my gut.

    The steel shattered and rained down over my feet as he clutched an empty hilt.

    My heart stormed. Why couldn''t I die?

    I couldn''t¡­

    I couldn''t die because I''d seen my death etched into the stone of fate. The universe itself bent to right the course of time. My entire life I''d feared and hated my visions of the future but this was the greatest power I''d ever had. All this time and I never knew it.

    I couldn''t die.

    Not until it was my time. The knowledge I''d gained from Piercey flooded my mind and I knew the experiments we''d studied had been right. Once an event had been observed by a conscious being, it couldn''t be altered, even if it meant disrupting the laws of physics to change it. The universe would correct its own paradoxes.

    Another arrow shot and burst into countless pieces before my face. The disciple notched another and his bow string snapped.

    Fear darkened the Prophet''s face as he lowered his head. "If you won''t die, then your friends will!"

    All this time I''d held myself back in fear. I didn''t even know I had this power. Now my friends were dying on the ground. Piercey and Val had gone limp. Nash''s fingers dug into the grass, clinging to life.

    What was the use in living without them?

    I couldn''t fail them.

    The field darkened and in the distance, shadows dappled the Valley like the villagers had the day of the eclipse.

    "Stop," I whispered, unable to draw breath as the Prophet strangled it from Nash and Piercey''s lungs. Little Elsie had cried in her father''s arms when we''d left her house. She couldn''t grow up without him.

    My father spoke in my ear. Loud and audible. "Do you feel it, Max?"

    Nash''s fingers went still.

    I saw his eyes on mine in the twilight the night before when the heat of his body alone kept me warm.

    I gave myself over to the slip, to the Eclipse, to all that I''d hidden from. I stood in two places at once, in two bodies at once.

    Her hands came along mine, the little hands of the girl I''d once been, on fire with power I had never felt before and hadn''t felt since.

    Daggers of heat cut through my skin, my bones, my soul. Cut me open so everything I''d buried inside poured out.

    Black snapped over the sun and a ring of light pierced the moon''s edges.

    "Do you feel it, Max!" Dad''s voice boomed in my ear.

    Heat rippled down my spine. I felt it.

    My voice came out guttural and low. "The gods aren''t here to protect you any longer, Prophet."

 50. Totality

    I opened myself to the light inside.

    The Prophet''s body jerked straight and rigid like he''d been struck by lightning.

    Every ounce of power that had sucked away the lives of my entire village exploded from me. This time it all poured into the Prophet.

    In fear and in shame, I had locked myself away so deep inside that I couldn''t reach it or feel it. The moment in the past when I''d killed the villagers collided with the present in an explosion of power.

    The Prophet choked, his body quaking. His skin flushed a red so deep it bordered on purple. A scream tore from the depths of me. It felt like the power ripped me open. But I let it all out, every last drop I could muster.

    On the ground, Nash struggled onto his arms. The relief of seeing him alive only fueled me.

    "Die!" I shrieked and gave myself to the endless energy inside.

    The Prophet fought me, but I could feel his will bending and wilting and collapsing in on itself.

    "Max¡­" Piercey reached across the ground for me. He shook his head. "Don''t."

    Even after all he''d seen today, all he''d seen when we connected, Piercey still didn''t want me to kill the Prophet. His voice croaked as he begged me again to stop. Then, I felt his urging to let him in. To listen to him with the neural link.

    I didn''t. I shut him out. There was only one way to make sure the Prophet never hurt my people ever again, and that was to kill him.

    I gave myself over to the power that turned me into Eclipse, the Soul Eater, and accepted pure destruction¨Cblind and all-consuming rage.

    The Prophet coughed blood into the air in a scarlet spray. My nostrils twitched as I poured my power into his body.

    "Okay." He clawed at his chest. "Okay! I''ll spare them. All of them!"

    The power rushed out of me.

    "Release them." The Prophet doubled over and spewed another mouthful of blood. "What are you waiting for? Release the prisoners."

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    The closer I pushed him to death, the harder it became to actually overpower him. The will to survive made his abilities intensify. I struggled to finish him off and contain his power at the same time. He was losing the fight, but I wasn''t sure how close I was to finishing him off.

    The lead disciple sprinted down the hill toward the warriors who had finally risen from their bow. "Release the prisoners! Release them now!"

    "Stop." Piercey coughed and pounded his hand against the ground. "Stop it now, Max! He''s surrendering. This isn''t the right way to deal with him."

    This was the man who''d starved villagers until they succumbed to his power. Used the roads meant for trade and safe passage to send out bands of warriors to pillage and leave us all destitute. Who warred against us until every last village fell. This man carved his name into Nash''s spine and left him permanently scarred.

    He''d killed me over and over again when I slipped to the Eclipse.

    "He must die." My voice boomed with my power.

    Piercey couldn''t understand. He''d spent too long on top of that mountain, grown too powerful. There was no order, no justice, in this Valley. Only power.

    The gates of the village groaned loud enough for me to hear. My heart caught. Children sprinted out. Men and women following behind them, helping our elderly. Our warriors raced to our innocent, and where once they clashed with the enemy in sprays of blood, they now wrapped their arms around family, clinging to one another in the red-stained grass.

    Leif sprinted for the crowd, stumbled, and fell to the ground. He shoved himself back to his feet and ran with wavering legs for his family. Wren chased after him. Arn emerged from the crowd, carrying Rune, as he sprinted for his husband. Safe. Finally, truly, safe.

    A sob slipped from my chest.

    Nash looked at me and stole my attention for a moment. I knew then that if he asked me to stop, it would hurt. We''d planned this together. Were in this together. I wanted to kill the Prophet. I couldn''t trust him, especially with his ego wounded now. But if Nash, of all people, thought I should spare him, it would break my heart, because I was killing this man no matter what.

    Nash''s resolute eyes stared into mine. "He''ll come for your people. He''ll come for Rune and Elsie." Nash nodded. "Do it."

    The last barrier of my power, that I didn''t even know I''d held onto, fell away. The Prophet slid back on his heels in a gale of my energy and then slammed onto his back. I focused on containing his power that burst free as he finally started to die.

    "Damn it." Veins bulged in Piercey''s neck. "This makes you no better than him. Just one powerful person deciding the fate of everyone else."

    I didn''t need to be better. I needed my people to live. If that meant I had to be a demon, so be it. So fucking be it.

    The disciples, battered as they were, tried to fend me off of the Prophet. Their power clawed at my body, but it wasn''t enough. I''d rip myself to shreds killing him if I had to.

    The Prophet''s head snapped back as he gurgled on his own blood. I imagined that my energy poured through his gaping mouth and sprang through every part of his body, tearing at the fabric of his being.

    The bastard''s eyes rolled in the back of his head.

    A voice barely reached me through the chaos of my power. A tone I would now recognize in any voice.

    "Max."

    My eyes shot to the right and my heart seized in my body.

    Flare glared at me. And in her arms, she held a small child bundled in a blanket.

 51. Pause

    Little curls fluttered in the breeze, catching on the blanket.

    The door within me slammed closed on my power. The Prophet stumbled up and stared with fear tightening his face. He shook as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

    All I could see was the child in Flare¡¯s arms.

    "Elsie." I gasped. "Give her to me." I reached forward, pleading. They were supposed to be safe at the cabin. Flare must have found them.

    Nash¡¯s eyes fixed on his daughter, fingers digging into the earth. Dangerous, wild rage flashed in his eyes. His muscles strained and veins popped. He climbed to his knees and then his feet and stomped one wavering step after another.

    "Flare!" His hoarse voice roared through the air.

    Fear widened Flare''s eyes even though Nash would be no match for her, especially in his state. His rage was convincing though, like he might muster as much power as I had, even though he couldn''t.

    Flare held Elsie tighter and backed up. "Stay there." Her eyes snapped to me. "You had better stop him."

    I ran to Nash and pushed back against his chest. "Wait!" I grunted as he pressed against me, intent on Flare. "Nash!"

    He stopped but a growl ripped from his chest, buzzing against my hands. "Do not touch my child!"

    "I''ll get her," I said. "I promise. You don''t have power like she does."

    His body shook with a rage that emanated from him like my own power. "Why isn''t Elsie moving?"

    "I sedated her," Flare said. "She''s fine."

    "It''s dangerous to sedate a child," I yelled.

    ¡°Undo what you did,¡± Flare said. "You can have Elsie back then."

    The grass rustled behind us. Val had managed to get her knees beneath her and Piercey wobbled on unsteady legs.

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill you,¡± Nash said, his voice eerily calm now. ¡°I¡¯ll find you in the next life and kill you there too. You¡¯re dead.¡±

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    Flare turned her nose up. ¡°You primitive animals have no understanding of what the real world is or what we have made it into.¡± Flare narrowed her eyes. ¡°And no one out there in my world understands what this world means to you. They haven¡¯t seen it like I have. I¡¯m trying to save you.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re delusional.¡± I twisted for her. ¡°You¡¯ve kidnapped a little girl. Look at yourself.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time before someone from my world realizes what you¡¯ve done and fixes it. I made it back into my avatar before you shut us out of the system. But if anyone realizes what has happened, they will end your world in an instant.¡±

    Time moved so much more quickly in my world than theirs. Since Dr. Henderson was still in our world, she wouldn¡¯t be able to alert anyone. We may have had more time than Flare wanted to admit. But why didn¡¯t she just go back to her world and deal with us herself? Could she even get out now that she¡¯d lost control? Maybe she was trapped here just like we were.

    ¡°Are you listening, Max? You foolish, foolish girl.¡± I could hear Dr. Henderson¡¯s tone buried beneath the mask of Flare¡¯s voice. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be worth it for them to try to regain control of this world. It could corrupt the data. They already considered scrapping the project. You¡¯ll lose everyone you love. Good luck reconnecting with them after you wake up with no memory of this life.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want her to be right, but I couldn¡¯t deny what she¡¯d said. Had anything I''d done actually helped my people? I looked down to the blood soaking into the grass where slain warriors from both sides gave up their lives. Beside me Nash still breathed heavily from being strangled.

    In my first two lives, I''d destroyed everything. I was doing the same thing again.

    "I can''t give up." I said it to myself more than I did to Flare. "You''re hurting the people I love. How can I ever give up?"

    ¡°Your fight is pointless. What did you think would happen?¡± Flare asked. ¡°Do you think we¡¯re powerless? We made this world. Either you give me back control or you destroy it all."

    ¡°Maybe it isn¡¯t so simple to turn us off when you no longer have access to our simulation.¡± I stared at Elsie. ¡°Maybe that is why you¡¯d be so desperate as to steal a child.¡±

    "Nash said I feared you. Well, he''s right. I do fear you. We all should fear you, because you''re out of control. It doesn''t matter that you know you can''t win a fight. You''ll raze everything to the ground trying to win. Piercey tried to speak reason to you but you''re unreasonable."

    I couldn''t deny what she said, but I wouldn''t let it break me like it had in the all-white room. "All I want is for us to have what every other world has. We don''t deserve to be experimented on."

    Flare clutched Elsie tighter. She didn''t want me speaking of that which she''d forbidden. ¡°Prophet.¡±

    He looked at her with his face pale.

    ¡°This demon¡¯s blood will quench the god¡¯s thirst. There¡¯s no need to take the rest.¡± Flare patted Elsie¡¯s back softly. ¡°You freed them, so let them stay free. All of them. Take only Max.¡±

    The Prophet¡¯s inky eyes turned to my own.

    ¡°If she resists, I¡¯ll take the child home to the gods.¡± Flare¡¯s voice showed no hint of emotion. ¡°Stop anyone who tries to follow me. I¡¯ll return the child once the demon is dead.¡±

    "I''m not giving up," I shouted, mind racing to figure out how to get Eslie back without risking her safety.

 52. Disillusioned

    Seeing Flare clutch Elsie brought all my feelings of failure and futility from my first two lives crashing down on me.

    If I tried to take Elsie from Flare, it could hurt the girl. Did I feel confident that I could save her without risking her life? Besides, I literally hadn''t been able to die because I was going to die during the eclipse. If that wasn''t confirmation that it was unavoidable then I didn''t know what was.

    Really, I''d accomplished my mission. I''d freed my people. If I had to die, at least I''d done that.

    ¡°No,¡± Nash whispered.

    Flare whistled and a horse galloped from the Prophet¡¯s campground. She placed Elsie¡¯s little body on the horse, climbed up, and held the girl once more.

    "Oh, and don''t be foolish, dear girl. I''m linked with the Prophet. We can communicate. If you harm him or try to escape, I''ll be forced to hurt her to save this world from you." Flare held my eyes a moment longer and then turned away. There was nothing I could do to stop her. I couldn¡¯t fight openly, not with Elsie in danger. I needed take a more subtle approach that didn''t endanger the child.

    The truth hammered at me though. I couldn''t die because I was going to die at the eclipse. It was unavoidable.

    Flare faded from my mind. The Prophet and Piercey and Val faded. All the people and the disciples watching us were gone. It was only Nash and me.

    ¡°Nash,¡± I said.

    He shook his head, refusing to look at me.

    ¡°Nash.¡± My hands slid up his arms softly. ¡°Elsie needs you to be smart about this.¡±

    His jaw muscles bunched. His nostrils flared.

    ¡°I can¡¯t fight what¡¯s already happened. It¡¯s already happened to me so many times. I always die in the eclipse. Look at me. I''ll take the Prophet down with me. You go get your daughter back."

    Nash¡¯s amber eyes locked onto mine and there was no gentleness there. No softness to be found. He had a warrior¡¯s eyes. ¡°How dare you give up so easily?¡±

    My voice got stuck in my throat.

    ¡°Fight for yourself like you fight for your people and your world. Max.¡± He clutched my shoulders and shook me. ¡°Fight!¡±

    ¡°She has your daughter.¡±

    ¡°So find a way to save you both."

    ¡°I''m not afraid to die."

    I rose on my toes and pressed my lips to his, but he took my face in his hands and pulled me back.

    ¡°I¡¯m not giving up,¡± he said.

    "I''ve lived three lives hot-headed and blinded by rage. The truth is clear now and I''m not waging a pointless war against it. I''m saving my battle for killing the Prophet when he kills me. But I''m powerless to change the death I''ve already experienced."

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    "You''re not. You could kill the Prophet right now."

    "I don''t want the power to kill." Hot tears rushed from my eyes. "What kind of power is that? I bring darkness to our world when I want to bring light."

    Pain twisted Nash''s face. "If you think your power is only good for killing, then find out what you can really do. You''re not Eclipse." He pressed his forehead against mine and whispered so only I could hear. "Find your true name."

    Piercey walked up to where I could see him in the corner of my eye. ¡°Give us a second to think, okay? You''re not dying.¡±

    ¡°Flare could kill Elsie at any time.¡± I wiped my face and stepped away from Nash.

    ¡°Then she would lose her leverage," Piercey said.

    I stared at Nash. ¡°She still has plenty of leverage over me.¡± I smiled sadly.

    "Max!" Wren rushed for me with Leif a few steps behind her. What was he doing leaving his family''s side when he just got them back?

    There was no stopping them this time. I could tell by the look on Leif''s face. They both came to my side.

    "What''s happening?" Wren gripped my hand.

    I couldn''t bring myself to speak the words.

    Then, Nash pushed past me, chasing after Flare¡¯s retreating form. ¡°Do the gods know you¡¯ve lost yourself to your power?¡± His voice raised. ¡°Turn and face me. Do they know?¡±

    Flare stopped, but she didn''t come closer. ¡°I¡¯m sorry it came to this, Nash. I really was always fond of you.¡±

    ¡°Nash.¡± My voice croaked. ¡°Stop. This is dangerous.¡±

    ¡°You said you¡¯re trying to save young worlds,¡± Nash said. ¡°Your people are supposed to be better. So what happened to you?¡±

    She was quiet for a moment. ¡°I¡¯ve lived with perfect for so long now. There¡¯s something real in your world. Something in your humanity that shines only in tragedy and war. Something my people lost long ago when we evolved beyond death and strife.¡± Her voice quieted. ¡°Perfect can¡¯t stay perfect in a broken world. I think I¡¯ve found who I was meant to be, if not for all the perfect I''ve lived in.¡±

    She gripped the reins and took off in a gallop.

    Nash''s jaw muscles flexed. ¡°If her people are so perfect they must have a place for broken monsters like her. They need to know that¡¯s where she belongs.¡±

    ¡°We have no way of telling them. Please, don¡¯t get yourself killed for no reason.¡±

    Nash clutched the back of my head in his strong grasp and looked down into my eyes. ¡°You¡¯re more than enough reason, Max.¡± He kissed me hard and desperate. ¡°I won¡¯t let you go. And I won¡¯t let that woman ruin our world and her own. She¡¯s a threat to everything she touches. Don¡¯t surrender. We need to figure out how we''ll save Elsie, not waste time on sacrificing you.¡±

    "She told us how to save her. The fight is over."

    What did he think we could do? Flare was already disappearing with little Elsie. I listened to their heart beats until they grew too faint to hear.

    Nash ripped away from me and strode for the Prophet. ¡°Flare will use you to kill Max because she¡¯s afraid of her. Something about Max threatens her, not just in this world, but the next one. You must know this is true after what you¡¯ve seen.¡±

    The Prophet said nothing.

    ¡°You¡¯ve seen something too. You want to kill Max too because you¡¯re afraid as well.¡± Nash met him head on. ¡°But what you¡¯re too arrogant to see is that Flare has played you for a fool all this time. Once Max is dead, she¡¯ll kill you. She¡¯ll give everything you have to the Flatlander¡¯s Prophet.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re lying,¡± the Prophet said.

    ¡°I¡¯m a good spy.¡± Nash didn¡¯t waver. ¡°Flare told me she would choose one of you. You''re too ruthless to lead a nation. She wants a more reasonable ruler. You''re a blade she''s using and then will throw away.¡±

    I stepped for Nash, but Leif caught me, holding me back. ¡°Let the boy speak,¡± he said.

    ¡°How will you keep yourself alive after Max almost killed you in front of your best warriors and demons? You surrendered and freed her people.¡± Nash tilted his head. ¡°Will sacrificing her be enough? Will it be when they all know it is really Flare killing Max? That it is only because of a little girl that Max willingly lowered herself for your blade.¡±

    ¡°I could kill you now,¡± the Prophet said.

    ¡°Does that make you feel powerful enough to overcome the shame of Max beating you?¡± Nash stepped closer so he nearly touched the Prophet. ¡°Lay even a finger on Max, and we will make sure you lose everything. All these people who bow to you out of fear will bow to Flare. You¡¯ll be nothing.¡±

 53. Patience

    Shame filled me that I had so easily surrendered my life. I never would have done that for anyone I loved, but I''d been convinced that I would die tomorrow. I''d been convinced of it for so long that I hesitated to live. Killing those villagers as a child and finding out that I''d failed in previous lives had made me feel like my life wasn''t worth saving.

    Even if my death Flare''s ploy had been desperate. The Prophet couldn''t kill me unless I gave myself over to him. I was so convinced by my slips to the future that I was about to abandon Nash, my people, the entire Valley to this Prophet without any fight. We could walk away now and the Prophet couldn''t stop us. The only problem was that he would tell Flare and she could kill Elsie. We had to keep him from telling her.

    I couldn''t give in. I couldn''t abandon the people I loved.

    This time, when I walked forward, Leif didn¡¯t try to stop me. ¡°You said you¡¯ve seen things.¡± I slowly drifted closer. The fear that had led the Prophet to try killing me today rather than during the Eclipse still burned in his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve seen your death too, haven¡¯t you?¡±

    His eyes shot to me.

    "Did Flare tell you that you could avoid it by killing me? Because you can''t. I couldn''t die earlier because the gods have already decided my fate. It''s going to happen one day. Yours will too. So don''t let her manipulate you."

    "It isn''t possible."

    "I promise you it is."

    "How can you kill me if I''ve already killed you?"

    My heart jolted. "That''s what you''ve seen?"

    His eyes narrowed to thin, dark slits. "I won''t reveal the secrets of the gods to you. Either I kill you or you kill me. That''s the only conclusion that I can draw."

    "You''ve seen me kill you?" He was right. That didn''t make sense. If he killed me during the eclipse, how would I kill him? What had he seen? Did we kill each other at the same time?

    "Well." I lifted my chin. "Death will have to conquer me because I''m not surrendering to it, and certainly not to you." I didn''t cower from his inky eyes. "And you aren''t going to send a message to Flare, because if you do, I won''t hesitate to slaughter you. You don''t seem eager to take the chance that you can''t die until it''s your time, so we''ll see if I can beat fate.¡±

    The Prophet''s expression was still hard and filled with hate. ¡°You expect me to believe you¡¯ll just walk away?¡±

    "I''m assuming if I try to kill you that you''ll alert Flare." I watched him. "Besides, my friend here thinks there''s a better path to take."

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    ¡°We will not kill you,¡± Piercey said. ¡°As long as you let us go now and say nothing to Flare. We''ll return to the Mountain of the Gods."

    ¡°Prophet,¡± I said. ¡°You have our word. We will leave you in peace if you leave us in peace.¡±

    Fear looked foreign on the Prophet. He wasn¡¯t used to having anyone to be afraid of except for the gods, and they had shown him favor. Would he be able to live knowing there was a threat out there? No, even if he could, he wouldn''t. He had to crush anyone who stood in his way, even if it ultimately sabotaged himself.

    "I don''t trust you." The Prophet spoke to me and me alone.

    "I don''t trust you. Still, it would benefit us both to save our battle for another day. You clearly need to gain strength. Don''t humiliate yourself further in front of your people."

    I looked out to his warriors who watched from their knees. Panic filled the Prophet''s eyes. "Fine. You have your deal, for now."

    I wanted nothing more than to kill the Prophet, but I would never risk Elsie''s life. This was the only way.

    "One more stipulation." The Prophet paused. "You stay on the Mountain of the Gods, demon. If you leave, I''ll go after your people." He leveled his look at Nash. "Starting with him and his child. Or these two." He eyed Wren and Leif.

    My stomach churned in disgust. "Don''t give me a reason to leave the mountain and I won''t."

    "Then we have a deal."

    Nash snarled. "You don''t have shit until you tell me where Flare took my daughter."

    The Prophet snarled and turned his face away. But Nash grabbed a handful of his cloak and ripped him a step forward. Fucking fearless. ¡°Tell me.¡±

    ¡°Home.¡± He turned his face to the side, voice tense. ¡°She¡¯ll be waiting for you there. She didn¡¯t think there was any chance you¡¯d defy her. Even if she did, Flare can''t kill a child. She''s bluffing.¡±

    Nash released him and took my hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Wren nodded. ¡°I''m coming too.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous,¡± I said.

    Leif settled his hand on the hilt of his sword. ¡°Don¡¯t dishonor us by stopping her, Max. I need to stay with my husband and child. Wren will be there for both of us.¡±

    I really didn¡¯t want her to come, but he was right. I couldn¡¯t reject their help. It would be like calling them weak. ¡°Fine. I''m sorry.¡±

    There was no time to waste, but I couldn''t leave without wrapping my arms around Rune, and making myself believe that he truly was safe. I turned and looked at him, tears flooding my eyes again. "Rune." What if he was too afraid to come to me after seeing my power?

    He let go of Arn''s hand and sprinted for me in a mad dash. I fell to my knees and caught him against me, unable to hold in my sobs as I wrapped up his little body in my arms.

    "I''m so sorry, Rune. I''m so sorry. You''ll never be apart from your papa again." I kissed both of his cheeks and held his face as I looked at him. He''d come to me. Wasn''t terrified. "You''re safe now."

    He wiped the tears from my face. "I knew you''d save us, Auntie. Don''t cry. We''re together again."

    The pain of watching him ripped away from us filled me, as though it was happening again. "Oh, Rune."

    I clasped him to me, hating that soon I would have to let him go.

    Chief Kaid walked forward with Beast at her side. They''d seen my true nature. All my people had. But the chief still met my eyes, raised her forearm to me like she would before battle, and spoke firmly. "My flesh."

    Tightness gripped my throat. "My blood."

    Beast lifted his forearm next. And if any of my people had turned against me, none would ever show it, because they all lifted their forearms as the chief had, every warrior, every man and woman, every child. Even Rune drew back to place his forearm against me.

    "My flesh." Beast roared and the people shouted it in an echo after him.

    I couldn''t speak. So I only mouthed the words.

    "My blood."

 54. After the Dreams

    Our horses galloped up the long dirt path leading to what had been a sweet, peaceful home until Flare disturbed it. I should have realized that she might have stayed in our simulation and that Elsie could have been in danger. We had to find the girl before anything happened.

    Nash had not spoken or taken his eyes off the distance since we left, only rode with his body as tense as when he first saw Flare holding his child. Nothing I said could comfort him, so instead of trying, I focused solely on trying to detect either Flare or Elsie.

    As we drew closer to Trish''s home, I didn¡¯t feel Flare or hear her heart beating. But I did hear someone else.

    ¡°Elsie¡¯s here,¡± I said. ¡°Inside.¡±

    Nash kicked his horse''s side and sped for the house. He''d not stopped the horse completely when he dismounted and sprinted to the house. I followed closely after him.

    ¡°Elsie!¡± Nash slammed the door against the wall so hard the house shook. I thought for sure the door would break free. ¡°Trish!¡±

    The bedroom door opened. ¡°We¡¯re safe,¡± Trish said, moving aside as Nash burst into the room and swept past her.

    There on her bed, Elsie slept beneath her blankets, looking unharmed. A man, who must have been Trish¡¯s husband, sat at the foot of the bed.

    Nash collapsed at her bedside and grabbed her into his arms, cradling her head against him as he sat back against the bed. I pressed my knuckles to my mouth.

    ¡°Flare?¡± Wren asked, breathing hard in the doorway.

    Trish shook her head. Her cheeks were stained with tears. ¡°She placed Elsie at the door and disappeared.¡±

    ¡°Disappeared how?¡± I asked.

    Trish looked confused but there was no time to explain. ¡°On her horse. She rode off too fast for me to even get a good look at her.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s a coward,¡± I said. At least she didn''t have the ability to travel instantly any longer. Surely, she would have used it today if she did.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Nash whispered, kissing the crown of Elsie¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry, baby girl. I¡¯ll never let her get to you again.¡±

    ¡°Daddy¡­¡± Elsie¡¯s eyes opened slowly.

    ¡°Hi, baby,¡± he whispered, a smile crawling onto his face.

    "I''m sorry." Trish wiped her eyes. "I didn''t stay at the cabin. We came home. It''s my fault."

    "It isn''t your fault," I said quietly. "It''s Flare''s." Relief washed over me as Elsie nestled her head against her father. My people were safe now and so was Elsie. Still, what could have happened haunted me.

    I turned to Piercey. "Take care of them." Fire burned within me. "Start for the Mountain of the Gods."

    "Max¨C" Wren reached for me but I rushed past and continued through the door without stopping.

    <hr>

    No matter how fast I rode, I couldn''t catch up to Flare. She''d left plenty of clumsy tracks in her trail, but she was a fast rider, and her head start had really put me behind.

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    This wasn''t working. I had to try something else, something I''d always failed at as a child, but might manage now that I had Piercey''s knowledge and had unleashed my power. If ever there were a time to do it, now was that time.

    I reached forward with my power, stretching myself in a search for her heartbeat.

    My eyes slid closed as I rode. The woods rippled.

    I heard the muffled beating and felt the distance between myself and Flare as if I could catch it and rip it away.

    When I opened my eyes, I gave in to the pull of time and space, and the trees around me snapped shut.

    I stood in a field facing Flare. She jerked back on the reigns of her mare, so the horse whinnied and snapped back. Nearly fell.

    That was no slip. I''d propelled myself forward, ripped through space-time, and planted myself right before her.

    The fire of my wrath burned so hot that nothing could survive its flames, especially not shock at how I''d yielded my power. The question was whether I''d ever be able to do it again but at least I had this time. With steady hands, I ripped my bow from my back and aimed right at her face. "Did you truly think you would escape from me?"

    Flare climbed down from her horse, the anger burning in her eyes even more brightly than the fear. "Kill me and I''ll have no choice but to break in from outside the simulation. It''ll be almost instant for you and much more dangerous."

    My fingers twitched against my arrow. "I''ll let you live and play your games here, as long as you don''t try to take back control."

    Flare''s shoulders shook as she laughed. "I can''t blame you for trying, dear girl, but that must be your most pathetic attempt yet." She folded her arms over her chest. "And don''t think that because it took Piercey years to figure this out that you''ll have that much time with me. I helped create worlds like this. I know the code. I will have control back, whether I take it back from within the simulation or outside of it."

    "You aren''t good with your power."

    "Not with the power you use. This world wastes the potential of the neural implant on war. You trained yourself for its most barbaric and primitive uses. I am a master of sophisticated technology you cannot begin to imagine."

    "Maybe I should kill you, then. It''ll be more dangerous for our world if you try to break in from outside the simulation. You may not risk it."

    "Foolish girl." Flare narrowed her eyes. "I won''t dust off my hands and walk away. You''re lucky I won''t, because you can never leave the closed circuit of this world to enter the after-life until I release you. You''ll slumber eternally. You need me to take back control."

    My stomach tightened. "Slumber?"

    "None of you are released to the after-life when you die. I keep you here until we''re done with the experiment. You''re trapped here, Max, even in death. If I let you keep control of your world, no one will ever live again."

    I coiled my muscles. "Is that your plan? To keep me here forever? To keep everyone who knows what you did here so we can never tell the council discovers what you''ve been up to?"

    A laugh burst from her. "When you wake up in the after-life, you have no memories. You must seek out your memories if you want them. Most people never remember everything because they don''t want to. Only a few seek and or attain enlightenment over centuries. I don''t need to strand you here in this world."

    I refused to let her get to me. Even though it seemed certain she would regain control of the world, certain she''d lord over us and have total control of our life here and the one beyond, I''d come too far to quit. "You are the god of this world, Flare, but you don''t have all the power. I''ve fought you in every life I''ve lived and I''ll fight you in death if you steal this life from me. You''re breaking your own council''s rules and ethical codes. You''re tampering with our world in ways no one should. I''ll make sure everyone finds out."

    Flare''s eyes narrowed. "It''s difficult to kill you given my current limitations. If you won''t relent, which I know you won''t, then I''ll just have to get creative."

    "So, it''s war. Have fun trying to kill me, Flare. You may find the lack of amenities in this world distracting. All the war and disease can be a nuisance too. I sure hope none of this detracts from the time you need to take back control."

    There was hope. We had to keep her busy. In her hubris, she always gave me more information that she had to, just to see the look on my face as I witnessed her power and might. Today she''d given me something I could use, even if I didn''t know how to quite yet. There was a way to reach the after-life from this world.

    One day, I would crush Flare¨CDr. Henderson. I would stop her from ever controlling my world and all of us who lived in it again.

    But for now, I needed to see my people to safety, and we all needed time to heal.

 55. Dark Noon

    The sun shone overhead as the moon edged closer to covering it. The eclipse was nearly here and I could hardly breathe. Any moment, I expected to disappear from the field that I rode through with Nash and Elsie and to wind up on the stage where I''d witness my death so many times.

    Flare''s threats looped in my mind as I rode through the field beside Nash and Elsie. I didn''t believe her when she said she wouldn''t trap me in the slumber of death in this world forever.

    There was more on the line than I''d ever realized.

    It distracted me as we continued on our journey. We all planned to return to the Mountain of the Gods and seek refuge in the Sacred School, but for now our group had split apart. Wren and Leif had returned to our people to help deliver them home. Trish and her husband had traveled to the council in the Prophet''s village to confront them all for allowing harm to come to Elsie. I hadn''t thought it was a very good idea and Trish hadn''t wanted to part with her child, but her husband was adamant that they needed to make a strong show together to ensure nothing ever happened to their family again. They were bound to the Prophet, after all.

    That left Piercey with us and he''d volunteered to ride ahead of us to scout out the area and make sure it was safe.

    Nash, Elsie, and I would have the day alone together. He''d been quiet today, though I could tell he was trying to smile when Elsie could see him. For years, he had served the Prophet to protect his daughter, and then he almost lost her. The rapture of being free of Eskel the Ruthless likely would not settle in until he had recovered from Flare taking Elsie.

    It didn''t feel right to leave the Prophet and Flare alive while we traveled out of the valley. But everyone had agreed that we needed time to plan and that we couldn''t help anyone if we died.

    Besides, I had to make sure Elsie stayed safe. I never wanted to see such fear in Nash''s eyes again.

    Even so, I longed to return to my village with my people now that they were free. It might as well have been in a different world, unless I wanted to take on the Prophet, which I wouldn''t do until I''d made sure everyone was safe.

    So, I rode alongside Nash and his daughter on our way to the Mountain of the Gods, where I would stay until the others joined us, and Piercey''s graduates arrived to guard my village. In the meantime, Val had stayed behind to keep an eye on the Prophet and alert us if he tried to strike.

    "I''m bored, Daddy." Elsie gripped the horse''s mane as they rode.

    Despite the dread twisting my stomach, Elsie drew a smile from me. It felt good to hear that she could be bored after what happened the day before. If not for her, for how Nash''s eyes lit when he looked at her today, the tether keeping me in my body might have snapped.

    Fortunately, Elsie didn¡¯t remember very much of Flare. She¡¯d come inside from playing to a woman she didn¡¯t recognize sitting with her mother. They¡¯d all had tea and then she''d grown sleepy.

    What had frightened Elsie the most was how the adults had acted when she''d woken up. Once we all realized it, we did our best to act normal, but it wasn¡¯t an easy thing to do.

    Elsie looked up as we rode and her eyes widened with wonder. ¡°Wow!¡±

    The full moon darkened the sky now, cutting into the edge of the sun. Even though it looked like I really would survive it, I couldn¡¯t shake the dread. I waited for the gods to take back control of the world and for Flare to appear. I waited to blink and open my eyes to the inky black eyes of the Prophet. Waited to slip away from everyone and everything I loved.

    Would I even dream in an eternal slumber?

    I shivered.

    ¡°Let¡¯s take a break up ahead at that clearing,¡± Nash said.

    We pulled to a stop in a meadow marbled with the yellows and lavenders, the purest whites and deepest reds of the wildflowers. I hopped down from the horse and helped Elsie onto the ground.

    ¡°Look at all this room for running,¡± I said.

    Elsie squealed and sprinted into grass and flowers that swelled up to her shoulders. Nash grabbed my hand, standing close, so he could hide it behind us.

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    ¡°You¡¯re safe,¡± he said quietly to me.

    I gazed up at him as the breeze twisted his curls. ¡°You were right. I¡¯ll always fear the eclipse.¡±

    ¡°Just like you fear yourself.¡±

    Not only did death haunt me, but the threat that Dr. Henderson may never release me from it. Even if I survived the eclipse today, I had no reason to think anything good waited for me in my future. I''d made an enemy of a god. Nash would suffer for that if I let myself love him. So would Elsie. So would all of the people I called my own.

    Still, I couldn''t let go of him. I''d written it into the stone of fate just as when I observed my death. We''d always been together. If I did not fall during this eclipse, then it was still coming, because had refused to release me before my proper time.

    There was no point in hoping to escape fate. If I couldn''t die because I was going to die in the future, then I was destined to die beneath the Eclipse, even if I lived through today.

    Nash''s hold on my hand tightened. He must have felt the sorrow gripping me. Selfishly, I couldn''t bring myself to truly want to change a thing. I could still feel his arms around me as we drifted to sleep on the forest floor. The tension threatened to make my spine snap.

    Elsie spun through a batch of dandelions, releasing a cloud of fuzzy petals that floated and spun and drifted down all around her.

    ¡°I don''t know what to do with Flare." I worked my jaw.

    ¡°What if we could imprison her?"

    "She could probably find a way back to her world, even if it meant dying.¡±

    ¡°We have more power over her when she¡¯s here than we do when she¡¯s with the gods. Whatever we do, she needs to live as Flare in this world for as long as possible.¡±

    ¡°True.¡± The light had dimmed considerably while we spoke. The moon was halfway over the sun now. My stomach twisted. ¡°We need to let her keep playing her game. Only we have to stay a step ahead of her until we can figure out how to beat her once and for all.¡±

    Nash nodded. "What do you think she plans to do?"

    "She''ll try to take control back from us while she''s living in the world as Flare. But she''ll play her politics too. I''m sure she''s already planning on how to kill me and how to create the nations she so desperately wants."

    Nash watched Elsie as she played. ¡°I want to give her a better life than this.¡±

    ¡°We will." I met his eyes. "I promise. We still will kill Flare and the Prophet when the right time comes."

    His gaze drifted down my face. "I won''t let Flare kill you today, during another eclipse, or any other time."

    He couldn''t save me, though I wouldn''t say it to him. Instead, I turned my eyes back to Elsie. "I have some ideas that I can''t quite form. Things stirring in my mind. I need to talk to Piercey."

    "Should we ride ahead after him?"

    "No. We have a little bit of time. This world won''t be easy for Flare to live in without her god powers." I made myself smile. "Let''s forget about everything except for today." I wasn''t sure I knew how to do that, and even though it wasn''t fair to draw Nash close when I knew I''d die, I wanted it more than I''d ever wanted anything.

    He kissed my temple while Elsie''s back was turned. My arms craved him. One day with him was never going to be enough. We needed more of what we''d glimpsed.

    The birds quieted as the meadow steadily darkened. Elsie sprinted back to us, hugged her dad around his legs, and looked up.

    ¡°Don¡¯t look at the eclipse,¡± I said.

    ¡°Is it bad luck?¡± she asked.

    ¡°It will hurt your eyes, even though it doesn¡¯t look bright.¡±

    ¡°Max is smart, Daddy.¡±

    He smiled. ¡°Yes, she is.¡±

    Our conversation quieted as the day gave way to twilight. As the moon swallowed the sun whole and a thin ring of light shined from its edges.

    ¡°Look, Daddy!¡± Elsie reached her little hands up toward the black sun.

    I shook off my father¡¯s own voice. Nash squeezed my hand between us, grounding me here.

    Sweat beaded on the back of my neck.

    ¡°Wow!¡± Elsie hopped up and down in front of us. ¡°It¡¯s dark out, Daddy! Like the winter!¡±

    ¡°Don''t slip,¡± Nash whispered. "Let yourself feel it, so you can stay in your body."

    Villagers dotted the field. I blinked and they vanished. What if I slipped and took Elsie and Nash with me? I stepped back but Nash drew me back to his side, holding tight.

    ¡°Stay with us, here and now,¡± he said.

    I looked down at the ground, expecting to see my bound ankles, the strands of blood rushing down my legs. Or the little red books. But I only saw verdant green grass and dandelions and Nash¡¯s hand in mine.

    All that I''d tried to bury too deep to unearth rose up to my surface¨Cthe people I''d killed, the power I feared, the pieces I''d broken my father into. No longer did I hold back the sorrow or turn from the memories, instead allowing the screams that had begun the day my father died to flow through me, and settle into a moaning deep inside my bones. It hurt less to feel it than to hold it back. I was ready now to stop trying to escape, because ironically, avoiding it only trapped me in the inescapable loop.

    I breathed out slowly and settled against Nash''s arm. Years of tension unwound from my muscles.

    Brightness pierced the edge of the moon and slowly the sun began to emerge.

    ¡°Do you feel it?¡± My father¡¯s voice whispered in my ear.

    I did. I felt the power stirring inside of me¨Cpower that I¡¯d squashed down and hidden from. Power that I held firmly in my hands now. The power to hold myself in place.

    Elsie ran forward and clapped her hands. Nash drew my face to his while she wasn¡¯t looking and kissed me, his lips soft and warm and mine, at least for this moment.

    The eclipse had swallowed my heart up with the sun. ¡°I¡¯ll stay,¡± I said. ¡°With you.¡±

    "I know."

    I wanted so badly to kiss him again, but Elsie was skipping back to us. So I settled for grazing his forearm and ran forward to chase his daughter through the meadow until she laughed so hard she couldn¡¯t breathe.

    The sun shone down over us, free of the eclipse. The sun shone down over a world that was free and ours, at least for this moment.

 56. Cold

    The valley looked so small below us as we stood before the Sacred School. Elsie had been enthralled with the trip up the mountain elevator. But she kept poking at the snow with her foot and a twisted expression.

    "It''s cold up here," she said. "Look at all the snow."

    "I know, baby." Nash lifted her up. "It''ll be warm at home when we return."

    "When?"

    "When it''s safe. Until then, we''ll be together every day."

    "And Mommy?"

    "Mommy too, when she gets here."

    "It''s warm inside." Piercey smiled at Elsie. "Like spring. Want to go in?"

    Elsie''s eyes brightened. "Really?"

    Nash patted her head and then waved at the valley. "Say bye for now."

    "Bye for now!" Elsie waved excitedly. "See you later!"

    We chuckled as we turned and entered the school.

    Piercey led us to a hall that used to lead to the training rooms, which had been converted into personal suites with light yellow walls.

    "I let everyone know we would have guests," Piercey said. "You''ll have privacy here. If you need anything, Max can teach you how to use the phone. It''ll connect directly with me. Our graduates and their families often stay here, so it should be comfortable."

    "Phone?" Nash patted Elsie''s back.

    "I''ll show you." I smiled.

    Interesting that Piercey had connected a phone system to his neural link, so people without power could tap in. What else had he invented?

    "Here." Piercey opened a door to a small living room with two bedrooms at the far end of the room. "The little room is set up for you, Elsie."

    "For me?" She wiggled in her father''s arms. "I want to see!"

    "Say thank you," Nash said.

    "Thank you, mister."

    Nash lowered her to the ground and she peeled out in a run as soon as her feet hit the floor. He followed after her, leaving me with Piercey.

    "Your generosity¨C" I squeezed my hands in front of me.

    "Don''t act like it''s a favor. We''re all fighting this battle together."

    "Thank you anyway."

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    He shrugged. "No problem." His voice lowered. "Before you try to convince me that you should return to the valley, you need to stay."

    "I can''t abandon everyone to whatever the Prophets and Flare will do. The Prophet of the Valley has been humiliated. He''ll be ruthless."

    "You''re not alone in this, Max. Let''s do this the right way. My graduates are already on their way. We can meet, talk, vote. Join with us."

    I didn''t like the limitations that would impose. I wanted to be free to fight however I needed to. "I''ll talk with you, but I''m making decisions for myself."

    "I wouldn''t have it any other way."

    I snorted. "Yes, you would. You want order and justice. I do too. It''s for the best. But Dr. Henderson won''t play by any rules."

    "Just promise you won''t leave without talking to me."

    "I promise, Piercey¡­ It doesn''t feel right. My people are free now, but they aren''t safe."

    "Does leaving Elsie feel right?"

    I shook my head. "No. Nothing feels right."

    "Let me work my connections, okay? I''m sending people to protect your village. Everyone will be safe for now. It takes time to plan a war. Our enemies are doing what we are. Preparing."

    "I suppose I can train while I''m here. Nash can work on battle plans."

    Piercey clasped my shoulder. "There you go." He backed up to the door. "I have work to do before the others get here. Call if you need me."

    I walked past the sofa and coffee table in the living room to Elsie''s room. She knelt on a little bed by the window, gripping an armful of dolls. The bag with her clothes and belongings that we''d gathered had been thrown on the floor beside a small nightstand.

    Nash sat on the edge of the bed.

    "I''ve never had a room for Elsie." He chuckled and then looked up at me. "Strange, isn''t it?"

    My heart must have crumbled inside of me. Because of having to spy and battle for the Prophet, he''d never been able to really live with her, had he? That would change.

    I left them to settle in while I explored the wing. There were three more suites identical to this one and four with only a single bedroom. It would give plenty of room for everyone to stay.

    The closest one bedroom suite was two doors down from Nash. So I picked up my bag of weapons and carried them to the door when I heard him.

    "Are you lost?"

    I paused and turned to him.

    "You''re going the wrong way." He pulled the bag from me and backed up toward his suite with a smile hugging his lips.

    "I can''t stay with you," I whispered.

    "Why not? We need your protection. Who will look after us if we''re all the way down here?"

    I eyed his swords and then pursed my lips. "Because you''re totally helpless without me."

    He caught my hand and tugged. "We don''t have power like you do."

    "You''re very safe here."

    "You''ll hurt my feelings if you don''t come."

    "You have a four year old, in case you forgot."

    "Totally slipped my mind."

    I jerked my bag back from him. "We could be here for a while. I''m not going to live with you."

    "I don''t see the reasoning behind it, but fine. It''s your life."

    "I''ve known you for two weeks."

    "And multiply lifetimes."

    "It''s totally inappropriate for Elsie. It could confuse her."

    "What''s confusing about our own personal bodyguard?" He flashed that smile of his. Wasn''t even fair, the weapons he used against me. "She''s four. She''ll believe anything."

    "Nash. You can''t be serious."

    He hadn''t lost the playful look. "Take your own room if you must, but don''t tell me you''re going to leave me all alone in a strange place. Stay the night at least."

    I chuckled and lowered my head. "You''re impossible. I''m going to my room. Alone. Get back to your kid."

    He was looking at me, really looking, the longing I felt reflected in his eyes. His voice was quiet now. Instead of returning to his room, he walked close to me, lifted my chin, and looked into my eyes, so close to me that I couldn''t draw in a breath. "I''ll stop teasing you. Rest and settle in. Just don''t run from me when you get scared. I''m right here."

    My chest tightened.

    He left me with that, walked back to his room, and gave me another look before he disappeared behind the door.

    I fell against the wall and groaned. He made it hard to think with his ridiculous ideas like basically moving in with him and his daughter. Now was the time for me to plan.

    Although, perhaps, it should have been time for me to live.

 57. Ideas

    ¡°Again,¡± Nash said.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how many times I do it.¡± I swung my sword with both hands and groaned. ¡°I never break your defense head on.¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t be good at everything instantly.¡±

    I tilted my head back and breathed out slowly. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s start over.¡±

    Nash glanced over at Elsie where she played in the courtyard grass. The temperature controlled-zone had given her the closest thing to home she could get while outside. ¡°Okay.¡±

    When I¡¯d imagined getting to know Nash better, I had thought it would be alone. Somehow I felt that I could never have glimpsed the true him without his daughter here. Sure, I¡¯d be lying if I said I didn¡¯t want some child-free time with him. We¡¯d had some time together while Elsie slept, but I¡¯d quickly learned that I needed to sleep when she did. She was more exhausting than full days of training.

    Still, I wouldn¡¯t trade the time for the world. I loved Elsie. Yes, already. She grew on me quickly. And her dad wasn¡¯t too bad himself.

    I thrust my blade forward, knees bent. He deflected it again with only one hand holding the large sword.

    ¡°Damn it.¡± I¡¯d said I was ready, but frustration already clawed at my chest. ¡°Not even close.¡±

    We trained until my arms felt too heavy to lift, and then met everyone for a lunch that Piercey had prepared himself. Leif passed a plate to his husband and son. Wren poured a glass of ale for herself. Piercey and Nash both took chicken from the platter at the same time. Trish and her husband sat down with Elsie, ready to eat their first meal since arriving at the school.

    I let out a chuckle. One big awkward family.

    Despite all that had happened, peace flooded me. I almost pushed it away, but denying joy wouldn''t change what was coming. I couldn''t change the future I''d observed anymore than I could the past that I''d lived. Everything I''d experienced existed all at once¨Cpast, future, and present. So much so that I hadn''t even been able to die.

    Strange. I''d avoided thinking about it so much that I never considered that I''d never seen beyond my death, or everything leading up to it. Not that I had expected to see beyond, but I didn''t know what was coming. I''d assumed I was powerless in my death because I couldn''t prevent it. What if I had more power than I thought?

    I might not be able to change that I could die. What if I could choose why I would die? Or what if I could fight for my world after I died? I told Flare I''d fight her in the next life. Like so much I said, I''d only uttered in anger. Could I really do that?

    Piercey sat down across from me. "Tell me what you think of the potatoes. It''s a new¨C"

    "If there''s a passageway to the white room, then there must be a passageway to the after-life."

    He blinked and lowered his fork. I thought he''d tease me for interrupting him with something like that, except that this was Piercey. His expression went from intrigued to despondent in moments. Fear clouded his eyes.

    "What?" I asked.

    "Have you thought this through?"

    "No. I was realizing it when you sat down so I blurted it out."

    "It''s not a good plan." He looked around as if to make sure no one was listening. "You''ll want to enter the after-life like you did the white room and tell everyone there about Dr. Henderson. You''re right that there must be a passageway to the after-life, but there''s only one way to get there. You have to die."

    "Well, I''m going to die. We know that. It works out."

    Frustration leaked into his voice. "There''s no way we''re going to figure out how to break into the after-life with our memories intact. It isn''t possible."

    "You''ve thought about it for about a minute. It''s worth researching."

    "No."

    "This is because you don''t want me to die."

    "Yes." He lowered his voice when he became too animated. "Obviously, I don''t want you to die."

    "Let''s meet in the library."

    "The library?" Nash asked as he approached. "Are we making more war plans?"

    Piercey stared at his plate. "That would be a better use of our time."

    "What would be?" Leif dropped down hard enough on the chair that I worried it would crack.

    "Stuff that stresses you out," I said.

    Leif hooked both elbows on the table and scooped potatoes with his fingers. "Made up words about your power?"

    "Yes," I said.

    "Technology," Piercey mumbled.

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    "Made up words," Leif said.

    Arn settled Rune''s plate beside Leif while the little boy climbed onto his lap. "Good smells, Papa."

    Seeing them together again made me feel whole.

    Nash smiled at the boy. "Elsie said the same thing. Have you gotten to play with her yet?"

    Rune nodded vigorously. "She hit me with two sticks."

    Nash''s shoulders dropped. "Oh. I''m so sorry."

    "It was fun. She wants to sword fight like you."

    I twisted around to watch Elsie run up and down the table of food, sticking her finger in dishes along the way to sample it. "Now that''s something to be afraid of."

    Leif clasped his son''s shoulder. "It''s good for him to get a few good whacks. Builds his pain tolerance for battle."

    Piercey raised his brows but everyone else at the table nodded at the fair point.

    My eyes lingered on Rune and the inexplicable joy shining from his eyes. Just looking at him, I would have never known he''d been separated from his papa and held captive. Freeing him wasn''t enough. If I had to die, I had to know that he would live in peace. Rune and Elsie both.

    "I missed you, buddy." I reached across the table and tapped his nose.

    He giggled and squirmed. "I missed you more, Auntie." Then he twisted to look at Elsie as she sat beside her mother. "Is she your new buddy?" A hint of fear, even jealousy, tightened his voice.

    "You''re my only buddy. Always. But she is my new friend." I smiled. "My pal."

    "I''m your buddy and she''s your pal."

    Nash and Leif both chuckled as Rune repeated the words to himself. But I could only watch, frozen by the thought of how close I''d come to losing him.

    Never again.

    The battle to free them from the Prophet had only been the first in a war and I could let nothing hold me back, especially not now that I had even more to gain.

    Having everyone together for dinner brought so much fullness to my heart and flooded me with joy, but at the same time, made me dread all that could still happen.

    Piercey left his food only half eaten to make more potatoes when the children frowned at the empty bowl. They had gleefully followed after Piercey to help him cook, or rather run around the kitchen while he did the work. I couldn''t help but think that he looked incredibly happy having so many people around.

    "Try this." Nash pressed a piece of chocolate to my lips. "I don''t know what it is but it''s amazing."

    "Chocolate," I said, sighing when I ate it.

    Leif eyed us across the table and Arn nudged him. "Stop it," the other man whispered.

    "Seriously?" I asked. "After all that has happened?" It was Leif''s first day at the Sacred School and it had not occurred to me that he may not have accepted Nash yet. "Nash is on our side."

    "That''s only the first step to earning my trust." Leif anchored his elbows on the table and pointed at Nash. "What will you do when Max gets stubborn and refuses to listen to anyone?"

    "She does that everyday," Nash said, non-plussed by Leif''s behavior. "Watch this."

    He grabbed my cheeks, twisted my face to him, and plopped a kiss on my lips. My cheeks warmed.

    "See? Distracted. Problem solved. Move on."

    "Wow." I pushed him. "You don''t do that, do you?"

    "Sometimes."

    I gasped. "I''m never going to trust your kiss again."

    When Nash grinned, I realized he was messing with us, Leif and me both.

    "Oh. More games." Narrowing my eyes, I looked back at Leif. "He''s on his last chance. You may not have to worry about him for long."

    Nash snorted.

    "Mock me and see how that goes for you," I said.

    Beneath the table where no one could see, he smoothed his hand slowly over my knee. "It goes quite well, generally speaking."

    "The arrogance."

    Leif groaned and shoveled more potatoes into his mouth. "Fine, so long as you understand that you''ll answer to my blade if you hurt her."

    "That sounds reasonable to me."

    "It''s not reasonable at all. I don''t need you to coddle me, Leif."

    Arn worked his arm around Leif. "He needs to coddle you."

    "I do not," Leif mumbled, but then glanced up at me.

    I could not fail at protecting this family I had pieced together.

    Later, when everyone finished eating and became caught up in conversation, I led Piercey to the library to continue our talk.

    "Time isn''t linear." I folded my arms on the table. "We only experience it that way. Except, I don''t always. I can''t change what I''ve already experienced. It happens the same every time, but I change each time." I leaned against the table, eyes intent on Piercey. "Every time I relive something, it sticks with me."

    Piercey looked like he was piecing together a puzzle with his mind. "Time isn''t a barrier for you."

    "Exactly. However long we have before Flare strikes, I have longer than that. I have more time. If I can learn how to control my slips, I can travel throughout my life for as long as I need to."

    "What would you learn though? You can''t change anything. You''re only observing."

    "You love re-reading books. Come on. You know what I stand to gain if I just stop fearing it."

    Understanding lit his eyes. "You can look for different angles."

    "And find out what the limitations of our world really are."

    He straightened. "Max¡­"

    "I''ll only be able to find the passageway to the after-life as I die. I''ll have to die again and again until I glimpse it and learn to pry it open." I swallowed down the lump forming in my throat. "We are meant to travel to the after-life. There''s a way."

    "You can''t get past Henderson. She''s locked up that door. We''re stuck here."

    "Are we?" I picked at a loose thread on my sleeve. "I''ve avoided my death so far. But I''ve spent my life bouncing between these two Eclipses and every experience tied to them. There''s more here for me to learn. You found a way to break into the white room and take over our simulation. I think we can do the same with the after-life."

    Pain filled his voice. "We''ll figure out how and I''ll be the one to do it this time. It''s too risky."

    "This world needs you. Look at what your graduates are doing. You have students."

    Piercey grabbed my hands. "You''re the one with something to lose. You can''t leave Nash and Elsie when you''re just starting."

    I swallowed hard and looked down. "I''m going to die, Piercey. That''s why I can''t die now."

    "Reality is so complicated. You''ve experienced the Eclipse, yes, but you did die in your first two lives that way. Maybe you''re hopping timelines. Maybe you aren''t going to die in the eclipse here."

    "Then why can''t I die otherwise?"

    "You''re assuming that''s why. It could be that you subconsciously drew upon more power and saved yourself."

    "I didn''t."

    "Why have you always stubbornly clung to this death?" He ripped his hands away. "You left me behind once. I know how it feels to lose you. That little girl shouldn''t have to go through that."

    "Piercey¨C"

    "No. Nash was right. You refuse to give up on anyone. You refuse to give up on our world. But you jump at the chance to give up on yourself. I won''t stand for it."

    I lowered my head into my hands. "I need you for this, Piercey. After I relive everything, I need to connect with you again so you can experience it, and we can figure it out together."

    "Fine. But I''ll be the one to go to the after-life. I''ll train Val to take my place in case of the worst. There''s no one to take your place for Nash and Elsie."

    How must it have hurt him to say these things to me? "I can''t let you die for me."

    "I can''t let you die for me either."

    We stared at one another. No words could bridge this gap. We both meant what we''d said.

    I settled my hands against the table, feeling too heavy to hold myself up. "Fine." I sighed. "Neither of us can let the other die. We''ll just have to find a way to break into the after-life and make it out alive."

 58. The Graduates

    I traced a crack in the table and avoided the eyes of Piercey''s graduates sitting in the conference room with us. Somehow it reminded me that I belonged here and yet didn''t, that it was true of everywhere I''d ever called home. I didn''t fit in anywhere.

    Piercey used his teaching voice as he continued with the end of his report. It grated at me today. "Flare has united six Prophets who have formed a council and agreed to work toward combining their lands. Others have refused, including the Prophet of the Valley. There''s talk of war brewing." Piercey settled his clipboard onto the table. "We need to decide our next steps."

    "I say we ally with Max." Val nodded at me. "She''s proven to be very capable and she has the people''s best interests at heart."

    "I agree." Another graduate spoke up from the far end of the table. "Flare is an enemy to us all. If she uses the Prophets to conquer lands and create nations, they''ll never be nations for the people. They''ll be nations of terror and oppression."

    I held my breath as the next graduate spoke. They were all in agreement. I''d assumed they would fight me, maybe because Piercey always had in his own way.

    "Then it''s settled." Piercey''s eyes shifted to each person at the table. "We ally with Max against Flare. We''ll need to keep her alive while sabotaging her efforts."

    Nash gripped my hand beneath the table.

    "It''s tempting to kill the Prophet," Piercey said, "But Flare will use it to her advantage. It''s better to isolate the major players and keep them busy defending against us."

    I should have known Piercey would come up with an excuse to not kill. So, I rose, and nodded at Nash. "Show them your back."

    Piercey drew back at the interruption. "Max¨C"

    Nash pulled his tunic over his head and turned so the overhead lights shone against the scars weaving down his spine.

    "Eskel." I watched the graduates take in the devilishly elegant script running down the middle of his back. "Written in blood."

    Piercey lowered his head. The table fell silent.

    "I could tell you as many stories of Eskel''s ruthlessness as their are days. Not only did he conscript Nash and use the threat of hurting his daughter to force him to serve a cause he didn''t believe in for years, but the Prophet also tried to force Nash to bind himself to him."

    The graduates murmured at this violation, because binding yourself was meant to be sacred.

    "He used his power to carve his name into Nash''s spine, healed him, and did it again. How many times must you do this before it leaves behind scars not even power can heal? This was done to one man. What else has he done? What will he do if left in power?

    Val looked at Nash as he put his shirt back on and sat down.

    "The Prophet of the Valley, Eskil the Ruthless, must not remain in power. He is poison to the people. He uses his power against his people. Do not abandon them to suffer another day beneath his crushing rule. We should kill him now."

    Piercey raised his head again with his eyes unyielding. "The Prophet of the Valley has refused to surrender or join forces with Flare. It''ll mean war. He will be fighting Flare and keeping her distracted. That''s the best chance we have of holding Flare off."

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    "Innocent people will die." My voice hitched.

    Piercey''s eyes shone with tears. "And if the Valley falls to the Flatlanders? Into Flare''s hands? Are you prepared to handle the vacuum of power it will create while we also battle Flare?"

    "I can''t turn my back on my people," I said. "My chief agreed to hold off on attacking the Prophet until we all join, but they are prepared to defend themselves at a moment''s notice."

    "No one plans to abandon your people."

    "You already did it once." I slammed my fist against the table. "Cowering on this mountain while the world is at war is unthinkable."

    Piercey straightened, matching my stance. "Then don''t cower. If you can control your power over space-time, you''ll be able to travel anywhere instantly. Think of all you can do then." He drilled into my eyes. "We will not help you with the Prophet until we know the Valley will stay out of Flare''s hands. So focus on what you have power over."

    It didn''t matter that I understood Piercey or even whether he was right. Leaving the Prophet in power defied the justice and vengeance every ounce of my blood cried out for. I''d spent years fighting him.

    Nash reached for me, but I stormed out of the room. I didn''t need Piercey''s permission to seek my vengeance, not when I''d vowed to Nash that I would kill the Prophet. The problem was that I couldn''t say for certain that he was wrong. I had destroyed so much in my life and the two before this.

    How could I trust myself? This doubt plagued me always, now, worse than ever.

    <hr>

    It had taken me several days to stop shooting daggers at Piercey and even longer to warm back up to him during our training sessions. While I had not yet decided whether to kill the Prophet on my own, I did know I should not abandon my training sessions with Piercey. His knowledge had always helped me to control my power.

    "Focus, Max." Piercey breathed out slowly.

    "I am."

    "No, you''re obsessed and angry. It distracts you."

    I slammed my palm against my knee. "I can''t make myself slip through time."

    "You''ve learned how to stop yourself. That''s something."

    I gripped the back of my neck as I bent forward and stretched my back. "Val said that Flare is trying to unite even more Prophets. She''s using me and the threat of other demons like me to get them to join together. And who knows how close she is to breaking back into this world. I''m not progressing fast enough."

    "You''re training for battle with Nash, Leif, and Wren for four hours a day and sometimes five with me. You''re doing plenty."

    I shook my head. "There''s so much more this power of mine can do. I have move beyond just ripping people''s bodies apart. I need to learn control of myself, our world, time. All of it."

    "It''s going to take Flare time to accomplish her mission. It doesn''t matter that she helped create this world. The path we took in to gain control wasn''t easy to find. She''s also having to live here full-time without the luxury of all the god powers she''s used to and she''s playing politics. She''s a scientist. She''ll play it safe and want to be sure. I''m sure we have months, at least."

    "The Prophet doesn''t need months. He''s as impatient as I am."

    Piercey nodded. "He has many eyes on him. We should practice teleporting more so that you can get to him quickly if you need to."

    That I did need to do. Traveling was my skill set though. I had unwittingly played with space-time repeatedly in my life. I could learn to do it on purpose.

    I focused on Leif to search for his heartbeat and imagined peeling away the distance between us to travel to him. Heat swelled in my palms and I snapped forward. I opened my eyes in the hallway just as he slammed right into me.

    "Ouch!" Leif sprang back and rubbed his chin. "Where did you come from?"

    "Sorry. Practicing."

    "Are you teleporting again? Make sure you know where we are before you do that. You terrified Wren when you popped up on her bed. She was napping. I think¨C"

    His voice droned on as I listened for Wren and imagined myself standing in front of her. That was all it took to travel to her.

    She screamed so loud I thought my ear drums would burst as she pulled her blankets over her head. "Max! Not again!"

    "It''s your fault for sleeping so much." I rubbed my ear.

    "Teleport to Nash next time."

    "I don''t want to scare Elsie."

    "Oh." She ripped the blanket down. "I''m glad there''s someone you don''t want to scare. Must be nice."

    I grinned. This time, when I focused on Piercey, I hardly even had to think about it before I appeared in front of him.

    "That''s a record." He clapped. "Now we add in greater distances."

    I didn''t need to think about where I should learn to travel. My people were rebuilding our village, and I was long overdue for a talk with the Chief about all that I''d hidden from her. Wren had already told me that as soon as I learned to travel that far, I had better speak with her. The Chief would be an excellent person to discuss killing the Prophet with.

 59. Chief Kaid

    For the first time since our captivity, I stood in the home I had shared with Leif and his family since they took me in. When the Prophet of the Valley captured our people, they¡¯d set fire to dozens of our homes. I was fortunate that this one survived, but it was not without damage.

    The chief had wanted updated on everything and then to have time to think before discussing it further. So, I¡¯d started from the beginning, during the time when I trained with the Prophet of my hometown to when I¡¯d killed the villagers. I told the chief and commanders of my time at the Sacred School, the binding of my power, and finally of all I¡¯d experienced and learned since captivity. While I did not attempt to explain the science of anything, I even shared that the gods had created our world to test their power on us, and that I had stolen control of our world from them.

    I knelt down to pick up the broken brush off the floor that Rune always used to brush my hair before battle. Our home was small with only two rooms, separated by a thick curtain. The house was nestled into the hill with small windows that peeked out like eyes. In the summer, we kept the door open, but in the winter, we closed it and covered it with canvas to keep out the bitter cold. Before all this happened, we would have likely been home cooking this evening, preparing for the battles ahead as we defended our village from the Prophet. Today, our door was broken and the curtain separating the rooms torn.

    ¡°Max.¡± Beast stood in the doorway. ¡°The Chief is ready for you.¡±

    I held my breath for most of the short walk to the center of the village. I no longer recognized this place I had once loved with the homes burned and the ground blackened. It would take so much work to rebuild.

    I met with the Chief in a home that had not been razed and sat down on the ground in front of where she also sat. From her expression, I could not guess at her thoughts.

    ¡°You have carried secrets far beyond my imagination,¡± she said.

    Shame choked my throat. I nodded.

    ¡°I wish you¡¯d trusted us enough to tell us. Though, I understand your fear for our safety, since this god threatened the safety of anyone who you told the truth to. In the end, it was your power that freed our people. You did what no one else could.¡±

    My head lowered naturally, because I could not take praise when I had not accessed my power sooner. ¡°I should have killed the Prophet long ago before he destroyed our homes and stole our people.¡±

    ¡°I understand why you weren¡¯t honest and why you couldn¡¯t defeat him until now. It has challenged me to see that some without power are not hungry for it like the Prophets or wicked like many demons we have encountered. You only want to protect us. So, you remain one of us, and you are free of any guilt or blame.¡±

    My eyes closed tightly to cover the dampness spreading there. The chief could have banished me for simply having power and certainly for deceiving them.

    ¡°We knew when you came to us that you had secrets. We accepted your silence and we cannot blame you for what we willingly participated in. I know that wherever your battle leads you, you will fight for us.¡±

    ¡°Always.¡± I opened my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t kill the Prophet that day. I couldn¡¯t risk the child getting hurt.¡±

    ¡°I understand. It¡¯s better this way. Once you kill the Prophet, there will be chaos. We need time to recover and prepare for the coming war.¡±

    ¡°I want to kill him now.¡± My voice deepened. ¡°Piercey and his graduates voted no, but I am not bound to them. I could go to him now and finish what I started.¡±

    ¡°Then what?¡± The chief tilted her head. ¡°You¡¯ll have to kill the disciples. What about the one who takes their place?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll kill anyone who threatens this valley and my people.¡±

    ¡°When will you have time to train and become strong enough to ensure the gods never take control of our world again?¡± The chief leaned forward. ¡°You¡¯re young and impatient. You¡¯re used to charging into battles. I plan for wars. The Prophet is weak and humiliated right now. This is the perfect time for us to gain strength rather than replace him with someone strong.¡±

    Was I really hearing this? Not only did Piercey want me to wait, but so did the chief? ¡°What if he hurts people while we wait?¡±

    ¡°You won¡¯t let him do that. Will you?¡±

    My hands trembled. ¡°How can you say this? He would have killed all of the children in this village.¡±

    ¡°Just like the Flatlander Prophet who will take his place if our Prophet falls. Use him, Max. Be smart. When you can kill your enemy at any time, you do not need to rush. I believe that you can stay stronger than he can. Right now, you told us you have preparation to do. So train.¡±

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    I lowered my head, the tears that had threatened before now those of anger. No matter what anyone said, I could do it. I could defy them all to kill the Prophet. Nash would support me. There would be at least one person on my side.

    ¡°Max,¡± the chief said. ¡°You¡¯re powerful enough now to do what you want. You could take the village from me if you wanted.¡±

    ¡°I would never do that.¡±

    ¡°You could. Think with your mind and not just your might.¡± She rose, moved beside me, and knelt down. ¡°A few days will not hurt. Give yourself time to think. We¡¯ll speak again soon. Give us time to prepare. We¡¯re not ready for a war, even if you are.¡± The chief clasped the back of my neck, looking at me with a warrior¡¯s eyes now. ¡°A commander and chief must know what her people need. Do not lower yourself to mere warrior or demon. Learn to lead. All of Skia Hellig will soon look to you to guide us and protect us. Are you ready to do that today?¡±

    ¡°Just because I¡¯m strong doesn¡¯t mean I can lead the whole peninsula.¡±

    ¡°It does and you can. Return to the Sacred School and become who we need you to be. You¡¯re not ready yet.¡±

    I dipped my head, unable to speak. Finally, I managed, ¡°Yes, Chief.¡±

    <hr>

    After returning to the Sacred School, I dedicated myself even further to training myself, not just to hone my power, but to learn how to lead Skia Hellig. Two months had passed since we arrived here at the Sacred School and vengeance still pumped through my veins every day. I learned patience I hadn¡¯t thought possible.

    On a day when I¡¯d tirelessly trained on controlling my time-slips, I finally quit for the night to be with Nash. I spent the last hour of daylight with him and Elsie, before he tucked her into her bed in Trish''s suite while I waited in his. Traveling had taken it out of me, especially having to face my people. Chief Kaid''s acceptance of me stood and no one would dare defy her, but I hadn''t been honest. That wouldn''t just disappear. Besides, even if people pretended to be okay with the fact that I was a demon, not everyone would be. Should I ever make it back home permanently, it would take time to rebuild trust.

    When Nash walked in to his room where I waited, I moaned about the long day I had, but he raised a brow at the bag I''d left on the foot of the bed.

    "Hm." He crawled onto the bed over me. "I thought you desperately needed to keep your bag in that lonely room of yours."

    My breath caught as he lowered over me. "It''s only here for the night."

    "And you?"

    "For the night."

    He pushed off of me and flopped onto his back. When I rolled over, he pushed me back with his hand. "No. You stay on your side. You have your own room, your own side of the bed, your own sad little bag."

    "I''m not allowed to be near you because I won''t move in? You think your tricks will work eventually but they won¡¯t."

    ¡°It¡¯s a mistake to challenge me. I¡¯m going to prove you wrong now.¡±

    I groaned. "You know not to start a competition with me. Last time, we broke the bench Piercey made. He was so upset."

    "And I won that sparring match."

    "I won. Nash. Don''t antagonize me." I reached for him, but he pushed away again. "This isn''t even funny. It''s our day. Elsie is with Trish.¡±

    He folded his arms beneath his head, gazing at me, exactly how he knew would make my heart melt.

    We''d grown so close. It hit me then, clearly, as he teased me. The smile fell from my face. I couldn''t hold myself back from him, and yet still I tried, even now that I knew better. So with Nash looking into my eyes, I didn''t want to hold back anymore, even if I thought I should.

    "I have to tell you something."

    He rolled onto his side, the joking, the annoyance beneath the joking, gone just like that. "What''s wrong?"

    My mouth refused to form the words. He''d be so angry with me. I owed him the truth, though, so I finally forced myself to speak. "Piercey is helping me learn to control my slips. I''m going to travel on purpose and relive my death until I learn how to escape our world to go beyond to the gods."

    Nash''s breathing froze. He stared. Silent.

    "It''s our only hope. Dr. Henderson has already reset our world twice. She''s helping Prophets conquer our land. As long as she''s in control, we die over and over without end. What will she do next? I have to stop her. And I didn''t tell you because I''m a coward. I couldn''t stand to hurt you."

    Nash blinked, looked down, and then sat up, back turned to me as he slid his legs off the bed. He sat that way for torturous minutes until his hands gripped the sheets in a fist and the muscles in his arms tightened. Nash glanced over his shoulder and the pain in his eyes sucker punched me. "You just didn''t want me to get in your way."

    "That''s not it."

    I tried to explain, but he rose to his feet and raised his voice over mine. "It''s insane to torture yourself like this. You''re doing it to punish yourself."

    "I''m not, Nash. I really believe this will help me reach beyond Dr. Henderson."

    "It''s dangerous. Do you care about your life?"

    We both yelled over each other, neither of us listening, neither of us able to stop as we spoke in circles at one another. Until finally, Nash sat back on the bed and hurt filled in the spaces anger had burned into minutes before.

    "I don''t want you to hide things from me like I''m a child,¡± Nash said. ¡°Even if you know I''ll fight you, show me the respect of being honest."

    "I said I was sorry." I scratched the back of my neck. "This is my decision, though."

    "What if it were me? You would stop at nothing to keep me from doing it."

    "And you would do it anyway."

    We wouldn''t agree. The more we talked, the clearer it was, until I curled up on my side, stomach tied in knots.

    Nash settled beside me and twined his fingers with mine. We lay in tense silence, close, angry, together.

    The chief had told me to prepare myself but I still was acting like a frightened girl. I rose, grabbed my bag, and dropped it in his closet. He watched me quietly.

    I crawled back in bed beside him, heart pounding. "My bag can stay from now on."

    He drew his arm around me. "You never leave your weapons behind."

    A smile tempted me. "Never."

    "I''m still mad," he said.

    "Me too."

    Nash smirked, but it faded as he eyed me, until he whispered in a husky voice. "I love you, Max." His mouth was on mine before I could respond. "Fuck. I love you."

    I whispered the words between his kisses. "I love you too."

    I took the happiness, not minding the hurt and anger that twisted in with it, and for once, I didn''t push any of it away. It was just us, together, like one soul in two bodies that had been born and reborn, tangled together, in a thread between worlds.

 60. Again

    Where my power had once been a drip I could scarcely control, it had evolved into a waterfall that I could shut off at will. The only problem with a waterfall was how difficult it was to control once it plunged into a river. When even a ripple could hurt the people around me, I feared the power of riptides and raging eddies could destroy my world.

    After gaining control of my teleportation powers, I focused on my manipulation of time. I still needed to figure out how to break into the after-life and keep my memories, but to do any of that, I needed to learn to travel to the moment of I would die beneath the eclipse. That moment held valuable data. While Piercey focused on academic pursuits and supporting me, I plunged into the experience of trying to travel not through the space around me but through time. There had been progress, but not enough.

    I steadied my breathing as I focused on times throughout my life that I felt connected to. I''d learned I couldn''t travel to any point I wanted, at least not yet. But there were so many moments in my life that felt timeless, like they had dug so deeply into the fabric of existence that even time couldn''t force me to let go, that I had never left. I had stayed in the eclipse for my entire life. Had never left my father on those long days of training. Not for a moment had let go of Nash''s hand as he fell down the cliff in the landslide.

    All this time that I''d nearly killed myself trying to hold back the waterfall of my power, I''d forced it to explode out of hairline fissures. I''d been wrong. Wrong for a very long time. I had to embrace my power and tame it and make it truly mine.

    So as I sat in the grass beneath the towering tree where Piercey and I had long ago sat and talked, I thought of the points in my life I would like to travel to. Because why practice with the bad when I could drift off to the good?

    That was the greatest power I had learned. To live in my joy rather than to be trapped in my suffering. My mind was mine, as was my power.

    Not that I never struggled with anxiety. But I would enjoy every moment of freedom, because it would be a shame to reject happiness out of fear that one day I might lose it.

    "When will you travel to today?" Piercey asked.

    ¡°Probably the day when we were kids and I finally beat you at that puzzle game we liked.¡±

    A smile tugged my lips as I thought of memories I wanted to relive. I didn''t slip as much as I drifted into the warmth of days I wanted to never end.

    It would be harder to travel to the day I¡¯d spent my life avoiding.

    <hr>

    "You''re sure about this?" Piercey knew the answer. I thought what he really wanted to know was whether he could stop me.

    I breathed in deeply and smoothed my hands over the plush pillow beneath me. Piercey had surrounded me with pillows and blankets in the dim training room to make me more comfortable.

    "It''s time," I said.

    "No one should have to do this."

    I smiled sadly. "People have always done things they shouldn''t have to do. I need you to be strong for me. If I try to quit, push me to keep going." He shook his head but I made my voice stern. "That is the least you can do for me. I''m the one who will be dying."

    Shame flooded his eyes. He lowered his head.

    I didn''t soften my voice even though I wanted to. "You will not let me quit, Piercey."

    He nodded, though he said nothing.

    It had taken me weeks to reach this point, but once I began traveling at will, it all came to me quickly. There was nothing left to wait for. It wouldn''t get easier. I just had to do it. Besides, Flare could take back control any time. I had to be ready.

    So I clenched my eyes shut and thrust myself toward the death that I had always run from.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Slipping to my good moments felt like floating atop a peaceful pool of water. This was different. I tore my way through my own resistance in burning fire that felt as if it melted the flesh from my bones and bored its heat into my marrow. Pain dug its claws into me and tried all it could to stop me.

    I pushed through until I found myself trapped by thick ropes.

    The pain consumed me. My head fell and I opened my eyes to my bound ankles. To strands of blood rushing down my legs. I would die here.

    A crowd spilled out over every inch of the courtyard before me. Their screams tore into my mind. ¡°Kill! Kill! Kill!¡± The voices swirled about me. Growing.

    Stepping back, the Prophet raised up his bloodied spear of a staff against the dark sky. Black dripped from its tip.

    ¡°Oh gods, bleed this demon dry of the innocent.¡±

    His spear plunged into my gut.

    I jerked off the pillow, my eyes bulging, the pain still clinging to my body.

    Piercey knelt beside me and grabbed my arms. "You''re safe. You''re here."

    "I¡­" I lowered my head, hating how I trembled. "Damn it! I didn''t mean to come back."

    "Give yourself some time."

    "No." I growled and shoved Piercey away. Stumbling to my feet, I kicked the pillows and blankets away and cleared an empty space of tile. "Soft won''t help me. I have to do this."

    "That doesn''t make sense. Sit for a minute. Cool off and try again."

    I narrowed my eyes and blocked off Piercey''s voice as I plunged headlong through the agony of traveling to that day. I didn''t care about how my soul reached for my body beside Piercey. I didn''t care about what it would do to me. I didn''t care that I''d slipped away while standing and would probably smack my head on the tile.

    Rage was the only thing that would fuel me through these slips.

    Rage against the Prophet who''d killed me so many times.

    Against Henderson for engineering my death.

    Against me for failing to face the inevitable.

    Every time I tore my way to my death, my spirit threw me back to Piercey, until I was shaking on the ground, my nose and mouth bloodied. I didn''t even know what from. My head pounded. My body was on fire. Piercey tried to stop me, tried to hold back my power with his own, but this was war. And war was one thing I knew.

    It would hurt. That didn''t matter.

    In broken and shattered bits of memory of what would one day come, I witnessed my death, and plunged myself into it once more. And then again. Again. Again. Again, until I awoke to my nails bloodied from clawing into the grooves of the tile. Again, until Piercey was screaming my name.

    Again.

    The Prophet''s spear tore away bits of my life.

    The crowd''s chanting beat like a drum that throbbed in my temples.

    Blood rushed from me in a river of sheer agony.

    Like a star collapsing in on itself and exploding without control, death opened me up to the world, unleashing everything they¡¯d put inside me.

    Again.

    Blood snaked down my legs.

    Again.

    "Kill the demon! Kill her!"

    The Prophet''s inky eyes drilled into my own.

    Again.

    Death opened me up to the world. Death, death, death. A single moment I couldn''t quite grasp. A fleeting moment. A moment I needed to catch.

    Again.

    Flare tilted her head, the smoldering of her eyes bright against the all-white room. "You knew this would happen. Why did you never stop? The Prophet is waiting. The eclipse is waiting." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "The after-life is not. I can''t release you. You may not believe me, but I am sorry. I''ve never been more sorry for anything."

    Again.

    So many times I lost count. Might have lost my mind. No, definitely did, at least for a little while. My consciousness waned on the tiled floor as Piercey''s healing power flowed through me. It couldn''t stop the pain of the future that still clung to me.

    Then I felt the strong hand kneading the tight muscles in my arm. My eyes fluttered open to Nash holding me in his arms. Had I slipped away to another time?

    "You see me, don''t you?" Nash¡¯s jaw muscles bunched. "You have to stop. You''re killing yourself."

    "That''s¡­ the point¡­ I have to die until I learn how to escape."

    "You''re going to die right now if you keep going."

    "I won''t. I can''t." I smiled and slid my hand along his face, leaving specks of blood from the tips of my fingers. "I''ll survive."

    I dove back into death.

    Eventually, I caught the moment I took my last breath, thought my last thought, felt the last shiver of life creep from my body. I lived in that moment for what felt like eternity.

    Death bled into life. I''d learned to travel each but could never tame either. At some point, I lost my hold, and I slipped away to what my soul longed for.

    ¡°I love you," Nash whispered in a husky voice, mouth on mine before I could respond.

    He loved me again and again.

    When I finally awoke in a warm bed with the pain a distant memory, and realized I¡¯d given up in the fight to continue traveling, I opened my eyes to Nash sitting beside me and Leif staring out the window.

    ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± Nash sat forward and brushed my hair back.

    ¡°Get Piercey¡­ I need to share these memories. We¡¯ve got to study the moment I died and figure out the code. I can feel it¡­¡± My eyes closed. I was so exhausted. ¡°The way out.¡±

    I didn¡¯t want Piercey to suffer like I had and taking these memories from me would hurt him.

    We had to do this though. Our powers complemented each other too well.

 61. In Every Life

    It had taken me a week to recover from my slips until I could connect with Piercey to share what I''d experienced, and then another week for him to do the same after living through it all with me.

    Despite sharing, we couldn''t perform each other''s skills, though our abilities did improve from the knowledge. I needed more than just to connect with Piercey to become a healer, and he needed more to travel through time or space. It wasn''t something that could simply be known, but had to be practiced and mastered.

    Though Piercey didn''t want to admit it, that limited his ability to try to go to the after-life for me. Would he even make it through the door?

    My training turned entirely to breaking into the after-life with my memories, but I longed so fiercely to leave the mountain and battle that the yearning turned into a dull ache that spread throughout my body. The Prophet of the Valley had not dared to cross me, but other Prophets were growing more powerful, and my people had fought several battles without me.

    It was difficult to not let it distract me.

    Day after day, in the somber quiet, Piercey and I meditated on that moment when death had taken me, Piercey studying it and tearing it apart and breaking it down into binary I''d never really understand, and me instinctively feeling along the jagged boundaries of our world.

    I had began to sense it before he discovered it, but in the end, it was melting my instinct and his studies that opened our eyes to the elegant little door that led from our world to the after-life. The door that Dr. Henderson had locked.

    Since we had control of the world and Piercey could work in the white room, we had everything we needed for him to learn how to crack the code.

    Fortunately, Piercey had also been making rapid progress with the issue of potential memory loss. We¡¯d decided that relying upon only one strategy was not enough. So, Piercey helped me back-up my memories in the White Room in the hopes that it would be accessible from the after-life, considering it was distinct from my world. He¡¯d also helped to compress and store them in my neural implant. But the last line of defense was the self-construction algorithm he¡¯d been teaching me. If all else failed, I had to hope that it would be buried so deeply within me that I would remember to run the code and restore my memories.

    As frightening as dying should be, the fear of waking up in the after-life and remembering nothing was much worse. That would mean accidentally abandoning everyone I loved here without any help. I had to master this. So I couldn¡¯t worry about the battles happening in the valley or about my guilt for staying here on the mountain.

    This was a war only I could fight.

    Every time we practiced, Piercey made sure to the close the door to the after-life when were done, because Dr. Henderson couldn''t discover what we''d learned if she regained control.

    I practiced prying open the door until I could do it without even really trying.

    Flare would be in control of our world again someday. I had to be ready and trust that when I escaped to the after-life, I would know what to do. Someone would care about what was happening to us. Even in a young world like mine, there was always someone willing to help. I had to find those people and rally them to our cause.

    As challenging as this seemed, I had found my way to people I could trust in every life. I would find my way to allies beyond this world. I had to believe there was good out there, because if not, we really were doomed.

    Still, my dread only worsened as Flare made progress with uniting Prophets together. When the Flatlanders and their allies that Flare helped them form on the coast and in lands far beyond their own stole village after village from our Prophet, I could scarcely control the rage. We needed to act as soon as I had mastered these powers. Either, I would kill the Prophet of the Valley and begin the war that would plunge Skia Hellig into darkness or first I would travel to the after-life.

    The problem was that I couldn¡¯t die and pass through the door, even when we unlocked it. So, to go to the after-life, I needed to actually live through my death during the Eclipse. Piercey still believed that it may never happen, but I disagreed, because I could travel to it. I believed that once Dr. Henderson regained control of the world, she would find a way to send me to that day. When she did, I would escape from this world to fight her from the one beyond it. If that happened before I killed the Prophet, then Piercey had to watch over the valley until I found a way to return. He promised me that even if I didn¡¯t, he and all of his graduates would come together to kill the Prophet. That would be my dying wish should I truly leave this world behind.

    At this rate, Flare would have her nations in a few years¡¯ time. These wars would one day be forgotten as the wonders of plumbing and paved roads and maybe even factories elevated the life of everyone in the world. But whatever world she made would be built on a foundation of war, those with power crushing those without, a god who stole the lives of her own people. It would be a world that could never be fair and that would always be at risk of this power unleashing upon the people. Prophets, demons, disciples, graduates. It didn''t matter what any of us were called. We possessed something that could crush and torture and subjugate everyone else in the world.

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    And that wasn''t even taking into consideration that when we died here in this simulation, we may remain dead forever.

    We could not give up.

    In the face of so much danger, Nash and Elsie, Piercey, Wren and Leif and Rune, my hope that one day they could be free kept me grounded.

    The morning I took Elsie out for a walk in the snow and watched her make angels in the white, watched Nash smile at his child, I knew better than I had ever known that I couldn''t give up.

    <hr>

    Enough time had passed that when the day came, it felt swifter than anything ever had. I was preparing for a training session with Piercey to practice opening the door again and then to study how to make it back from the after-life alive, when he called out to me with his neural link.

    I traveled to him immediately and froze. Piercey was doubled over, holding his head.

    I pushed a hand against my stomach as I followed the trails of sweat trailing down Piercey''s face.

    "Don''t know how long I can last." He grunted in pain. "She''s forcing her way in."

    "I have to do it now." My feeling drained from my body for that one moment. "There''s no time to wait."

    "Do what?" He grunted and wiped his forehead.

    "Go to the after-life."

    "No!" His eyes snapped to me. "We have to figure out a certain way for you to return to our world.¡±

    "Hold her off as long as you can. I need to be in the right headspace to do this. I won''t wait for her to take me and throw me off. I¡¯ll travel to the Eclipse and I won¡¯t come back this time.¡±

    "Max!" Piercey reached for me as I slipped away to Leif and Wren.

    "We need another group to patrol here." Wren smashed her finger against the map in the library. But Leif wasn''t listening. He''d seen me appear behind her. Had seen the tears wetting my cheeks.

    Leif watched me. "What are you about to do?"

    Wren twisted her brows and then turned around.

    They''d always known what I couldn''t say. "Take care of them." I didn''t stop the tears from coming. "Kiss Rune for me. This is the only way."

    They stood and came to me, maybe to stop me, or just to hold me. I clung to my circle. "Goodbye," I whispered.

    "Don''t," Leif said. "Whatever this is, don''t do it."

    "Max." Wren clasped my face and looked forcefully into my eyes. "Stop it and tell us what this is about."

    "Flare is about to take back control. There''s no time." I kissed Wren''s smooth cheek and then Leif''s prickly one. "I love you both. Tell my little buddy I love him too."

    They uttered my name as they dug their fingers into me to hold me in place but I forced myself to leave them.

    I landed in Elsie''s dim room where she played with morning weariness slowing her motions. She hummed as she lovingly placed the hand of one doll in the other and then groaned when they fell away.

    I knelt down. She''d see my tears. A goodbye would only confuse and frighten her. So I gripped my hand into a fist and swallowed down the cry building inside of me.

    "Goodbye, Elsie," I mouthed. "I love you."

    When I closed my eyes, I didn''t have to try to imagine Nash. He was all I saw. My heart broke in two. Back when I''d allowed visions of my death to rule over me and hold me back from living, I''d decided not to ever have a family, so I wouldn''t leave them behind. How could I choose to leave now that I loved them and let them love me?

    I would lose them if I did nothing, though. Dr. Henderson would erase this life we created. She would erase me. Soon.

    If I wanted to save everything I had, I had to let go. I had to go beyond my life, beyond the world that Dr. Henderson could control, and step into the unknown.

    With my resolve fresh, I slipped to Nash, standing before him in the hall. It looked like he had been heading to find Elsie in Trish''s suite.

    Seriousness filled Nash''s eyes immediately. He said nothing. Fear flooded him, tightening the muscles in his face, his hands, his arms. He was afraid to ask and I was afraid to say it. So we only stared at one another with the unspoken between us.

    How could I say goodbye to him? How would that be possible when I didn''t know if we''d ever remember each other? Or how long it would take to find each other in the next life? What if somehow Dr. Henderson kept us apart forever?

    Hot tears flooded my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. The same heat built in my throat in a bundle that choked out my air and voice. I had to get a hold of myself. But I''d been slipping away my entire life no matter how hard I tried to hold on. Maybe people weren''t meant to stay in place through things like this. Maybe grief was meant to sweep us away and I should finally accept it.

    I''d always returned before.

    This time, I didn¡¯t know if I would.

    Nash rushed to me then and tangled his hands in my hair, tilting my head back, searching my eyes. "Tell me." It wasn''t a question or suggestion. His words were forceful, almost prying the truth from my lips. We had traveled so far since that day in the cell when he¡¯d been sharpening his swords or when I fought him in the woods after the Flatlanders hurt Leif. The months had flown by, but they¡¯d also felt like an entire life lived. I tasted the flavor of lives lost, dreams we could not remember but had fully lived.

    I would find my way back to Nash like I always had.

    I couldn''t hold myself back from him anymore than I had been able to hold myself in time all those days the past and future stole me away. "I''m traveling to the Eclipse." Resolution hardened my voice. "I have to die, Nash. I have to reach beyond this world. Flare is about to regain control."

    "Let me." He begged. It didn''t matter that he knew he couldn''t. Nash couldn''t accept what I told him. "I''ll be the one to die."

    I shouldn''t have told him. I wasn''t strong enough to face it. I should have run like a coward. "You don''t have to let me go. Hold onto me so you can find me again in the next life."

    His arms wrapped around me and smothered me.

    "I''ve found you in every life I''ve ever lived." I wove my fingers into his curls. "I''ll find you again."

    "Don''t let go."

    "I won''t, even when I die." I brought my lips to his and pressed closely to kiss him. Our tears mingled and smeared against our cheeks. "I''ll hold onto you forever."

    "I love you, Max." Nash kissed me hard.

    "I love you, Nash. I always have, in the dreams we can''t remember, and now, and in what comes next. I''ve always loved you and I always will."

    I lacked the strength I needed but that had never stopped me in battle. I reached within myself for something deeper and more real than my power. For the piece of me that told me I existed, that had been true in every life, the core of who I was, and I knew then that I could do this. I could do anything for the ones I love.

    "Goodbye, Nash."

    I slipped away from him one last time.

 62. Finality

    I opened my eyes after trying to travel to the eclipse and found myself lying on a white floor, suffocated by plain white walls with my arms tied behind my back.

    Flare¡¯s face blinked in and out of view.

    ¡°Flare¡­?¡± Her hair was a few inches longer than it had been.

    ¡°There you are." She tilted her head. "I thought it would be harder to bring you here, but you weren''t responsive. It feels even worse when you don''t fight back."

    ¡°I slipped to this time. I must have been unconscious."

    She pushed my hair back. "You''re burning up. Did you really just slip? Or are you toying with time?" She chuckled softly. "In your last life when you tried to learn to control it, you failed miserably. At least you''re making some kind of progress."

    "Why are we in the white room?"

    "I took back control, just recently, actually. You must have been drawn to this event."

    I squeezed my eyes shut. ¡°How did you get control back?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to explain myself to you. You showed me the error of such mercy. We should say goodbye for good this time, dear girl. You''ve caused too many problems. It¡¯s too dangerous to wait as you grow stronger."

    I couldn''t let her suspect I''d traveled here on purpose or she might figure out my plan. ¡°Don¡¯t do this.¡±

    ¡°Be a good girl and sleep this time.¡±

    "Don''t hurt anyone else. Please. Be satisfied with me."

    Flare tilted her head, the smoldering of her eyes bright against the all-white room. "You knew this would happen. Why did you never stop fighting me? The Prophet is waiting. The eclipse is waiting." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "The after-life is not. I can''t release you, not yet. You may not believe me, but I am sorry. I''ve never been more sorry for anything."

    Flare rose and faded into the image of Dr. Henderson.

    She smiled sadly. ¡°Sweet dreams, Max. I''ll send you and the Prophet to an eclipse that happened long ago. Like I did in your other lives. Only this time, you won''t come back.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Henderson.¡± I strained against my bonds. ¡°Dr. Henderson!¡±

    She slid her hand over my eyes and then I opened them to countless snarling faces in a crowd. Screaming and cursing.

    Ropes bit into my skin.

    This was it.

    I stared into the inky black eyes that had haunted me as long as I could remember. I was on the stage, bound to a tall post, like I had been so many times before, but this time, I wouldn¡¯t slip back to reality. This was my reality.

    Above me, the moon had nearly consumed the sun. A crowd spilled into the courtyard in front of me. And surrounding me stood ten figures wearing Prophet cloaks.

    There would be no escaping if I changed my mind. Flare had convinced them all to join forces and kill me.

    I focused on my arms to break my bonds anyway. Couldn''t help it. I hated being unable to move. But my wrists only tugged uselessly at them. Power came at me from all angles. They were holding me down.

    Fear sliced through me. It didn''t matter that I''d chosen this. I couldn''t shake it.

    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

    What kind of deal had Flare made?

    ¡°Kill her!¡± A woman shrieked and threw her shoe at the stage. ¡°Kill the demon! Kill the bitch!¡±

    The Prophet hypnotized the people with a speech so full of lies it made me sick.

    And then he turned on me. Turned his spear in his hand as he stared into my eyes. Plunged the tip into my stomach.

    Red hot fire seared my midsection.

    The Prophet pushed the spear in deeper. I screamed and slammed my head back against the post.

    ¡°Vile demon.¡± He stepped back and raised his staff to my face. Its sharp tip gleamed with blood. ¡°Go back. Back to the pits of hell.¡± Pain bit my neck. He pressed his staff carefully against my throat. ¡°Spew another curse and I¡¯ll sever the head from your body.¡±

    ¡°Kill her!¡± A man threw his mug of ale at me. It landed on the ground and splashed my ankles ¡°Kill the demon!¡±

    ¡°Kill her!¡± Another shouted. ¡°Drain her power! Bleed her and burn what remains! Hurry, before she devours our souls!¡±

    ¡°Kill! Kill! Kill!¡±

    The voices swirled about me. Growing. I¡¯d lived this so many times already and I was determined to do it one final time, but it felt different now. It felt so real.

    The Prophet spat on my face. I grimaced in disgust. ¡°We will show you no mercy.¡± Blood beaded on my neck.

    He slashed his staff and ripped my flesh open from my shoulder down my arm. Blood spilled onto the ground below. The crowd¡¯s roar swallowed my screams.

    Stepping back, he raised up his bloodied spear of a staff against the dark sky. Black dripped from its tip.

    ¡°Oh gods, bleed this demon dry of the innocent.¡±

    He jabbed his blade deep into my thigh. My voice cracked as I cried out. The Prophet struck me again, and stabbed his staff straight through my shoulder, skewering me to the post behind me.

    The pain consumed me. My head fell and I opened my eyes to my bound ankles. Strands of blood rushing down my legs. I would die here. I would die during the eclipse. I had so many times before but this time felt different. Felt final.

    How could I leave Nash and Elsie?

    ¡°I¡¯m human,¡± I whispered. Tears poured down my face. My body trembled. It hurt so bad. Sobs shook my shoulders. Terror suffocated me. I didn¡¯t want to die. I wanted to stay with them. I wanted to stay with Nash. Not slip away for good this time. What if I didn''t make it through the door to the after-life?

    ¡°I¡¯m not a demon!¡± I managed to raise my voice to a shout but no one could hear me. They¡¯d deafened themselves by repeating the Prophet¡¯s lies.

    He danced and chanted and kicked my blood up into the air from his feet.

    Men and women and children fought to get close to the stage where they smeared their fingers in my blood and painted it in messy streaks along their face. Some licked at their fingers, desperate for a taste of my power.

    ¡°He''s fooling you!¡± My cry was lost in the chaos.

    Coldness spread over me. My teeth chattered.

    ¡°I¡¯m human! Just like you!¡± I didn¡¯t hide my weeping. ¡°The gods are too. They¡¯re humans sitting above, watching us burn. No better than the rest of us!¡±

    ¡°Blasphemy!¡± The Prophet spun his staff and raised his voice in chant. But he couldn¡¯t come near me.

    The burning I¡¯d felt as a girl beneath the eclipse filled me again. If my power had been rendered impotent before, it had come rushing back down at full force.

    My father screamed in my ear. ¡°Do you feel it?¡±

    Both eclipses fully materialized now. Interwoven. I was myself in both places, both times. The child and the girl. The power that had once exploded from my body unraveled from me now, a long thread that twisted and turned between these two same moments. These two same moments in a very different time and place.

    The force swept my blood from the stage and cast it over the people who cried in pain on the ground. It was only then I realized the power bursting from me was hurting them. A wave of it knocked everyone from their feet like it had back then. I was helpless to stop it.

    ¡°No!¡± I ripped at my restraints. Blood squirted from my wounds, flying into the force that was quickly killing them. It fueled it. It was my lifeblood, so close to being spent.

    Like a star collapsing in on itself and exploding without control, death opened me up to the world, unleashing everything they¡¯d put inside me.

    I couldn¡¯t do it again, though. I couldn¡¯t slaughter these people.

    ¡°Live¡­¡± Despite the power, my words were only a whisper that rippled over the people. Soft and final. ¡°Live¡­¡± I gave myself over to the power, funneling it not into the people, but into my effort to break into the after-life and to save my memories. It took all my effort to contain myself and not accidentally hurt those surrounding me as my power swelled nearly out of control. They had to live. I wouldn¡¯t kill any other innocent people.

    I was slipping away. Far, far away.

    Live.

    It was my last word. My last thought. And it carried out my last instinct, to reach my fingers into the seams of my world, and to pry it apart. There wasn''t enough time for me to know if it had worked. If I could still open the door now that Henderson was back in control.

    Beneath the eclipse, I died with the prayer on my lips. I died with nothing left to give. Died with no idea if I¡¯d really go on to what came next.

    Not until I opened my eyes to the face of a woman I¡¯d never seen before. A face that looked kind and concerned. The pain was hardly more than a memory.

    But it was a memory.

    I¡¯d escaped death and I¡¯d kept my life for myself. I was in the after-life.

 63. After

    I''d made it to the after-life, whatever that really was. Wasn''t trapped in an eternal slumber, at least. Unless, so much time had passed that my world had ended and I''d been salvaged from some kind of permanent death.

    I shot up on lavender covers stretched tightly over the soft bed beneath me.

    "Good morning." Soft eyes met mine. ¡°Take it slow.¡±

    It wasn''t Dr. Henderson, not unless she¡¯d disguised herself. The smile was so genuine and kind, it was hard to imagine the god of my world managing it.

    "Who are you?" I asked.

    "That''s what I wanted to ask you." Despite the concern on her expression, there was no malice in her voice. Any suspicion she had didn''t seem to make her distrust me. I wasn''t accustomed to such a trusting disposition. "Do you know where you are?"

    The soft yellow walls closed in on me as I looked around. Natural light poured in from the floor-length windows and bathed the sparse room in so much life that it felt full even though there was nothing more than the bed I lay upon, the chair this woman sat on, and a nightstand with flowers.

    When I didn''t speak, the woman softened her voice even more. "Waking up can be hard on a person,¡± she said. ¡°My name is Dr. Drake. I¡¯m here to help you."

    I tensed at the title of doctor, and then winced, expecting the searing pain from my wounds. Except there was nothing. My injuries from the Prophet were entirely gone. My hands slid down my body, searching for the rips in my skin. Again, nothing.

    "I''m healed," I said.

    "In a way."

    "I died." I didn''t need confirmation. I remembered dying. Felt dead, like I¡¯d left an entire life behind. Muted grief panged the hollow drum of my chest. I¡¯d lost my life, my world. Lost Leif and Wren and little Rune. Lost Piercey and Elsie. Nash. Maybe I had a chance to win them back, but it didn''t feel like it. Even though I''d chosen this and I planned to find a way back to my world, right now it felt like pure loss.

    "Yes,¡± Dr. Drake said. ¡°Only people who have died come here. But you''re safe."

    "Here." I sat up, waiting to feel weakness or pain. I never did. "This is the after-life."

    ¡°Yes. We call it different things for different people depending upon your cultural and religious beliefs. You came in unexpectedly. I didn''t receive any information on you and I don''t take memories without permission. It would help me a great deal if you could share a few things with me.¡±

    ¡°First I need to know who you are.¡± I stared into her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m the supervisor of this realm of the after-life. I help people wake up from death and serve as a guide for them as they live here.¡±

    I¡¯d known that when I came here, it would be impossible for me to know for sure whether I could trust people and that at the end of the day, I had to go with my instinct. Just like when I chose to ally with Nash.

    ¡°My name is Max. I come from a world that¡¯s at war and a people who need me to find my way back.¡±

    Even though I''d kept my memories in the after-life, this place had a numbing effect on me, and I hadn''t even realized until this moment, when the look of pain in her eyes drew upon my own grief lying beneath the surface within me. My emotions were tamer here. My memories in the backdrop. And Dr. Drake pitied me for thinking I could return home.

    ¡°I see which world you came from. From what I read, it does seem you¡¯ve been through a great deal.¡±

    I shifted. "How much time has passed since I died?"

    "Six days. It takes a person time to adjust to death. I woke you up slowly. Time is the same here for you as it is in your home world, so long as you want it to be. I can slow it for you if you''d like."

    "Yes, please. Make it as slow as you can." Relief soothed the fire within me. She could be lying, but if she wasn''t, it meant that my plan worked. I''d escaped from my world and remembered my life in time to help everyone.

    Her brows piqued. "You don''t want to tell me more. I felt that from you. You''re afraid that you can''t trust me." She eased a little closer. "It''s okay. I would feel the same. Do you want to hear more about me and this world? Would that help?"

    My eyes snapped to her. I searched for any sign of evil lurking within her. This was how Dr. Henderson should have been. Kind and wise and caring. I couldn''t help but fear that this woman was only a more conniving version of the god lording over my world. Maybe she, too, had been cursed by death and lost her way. Only she was just better at covering it up.

    "Max?"

    "You''re too kind."

    Dr. Drake crossed one leg over the other. "Kindness is very important in my job. I usher people from death into new life. I help them find peace."

    "Peace and death don''t go together. I don¡¯t think I could feel peace here."

    ¡°People don¡¯t remember their life normally. Not at first. The pain isn''t so great and so peace is easier to find. It¡¯s very odd that you do. You traveled here unauthorized. You haven''t been processed. It''s very unique."

    "Why do you steal people''s memories?"

    She sat back. "People can remember any time they want to. It''s too traumatic to wake up here, remembering everything, and then figure out what''s going on."

    "Or they''re too hard to control. They might figure out you''re keeping them in this little bubble called after-life while there''s an entire digital universe out there."

    Dr. Drake paused. "You know quite a bit."

    "I do. Enough to know that stealing memories and saying people can have them back if they want is manipulative." The thought of Nash''s arms around me flooded me with grief. "They don''t know what it is they''re missing. If they did, they''d want it back."

    "They do have impressions of their life. Feelings they had. The sense of loved ones. The sense of memories they would rather forget. Each person has their own path to enlightenment. Some never want it. They are content to live here forever. But as soon as someone wants to remember everything, they can. And if they want to learn the truth, that this world is created and there''s more out there, they can. They can leave the after-life and join the rest of society."

    I straightened. ¡°Really?"

    "Yes. This isn''t a prison. It''s a safe place to transition from the physical world and the short life of the flesh to the digital world and the eternity of our lives here."

    As much as I didn''t want to, I saw the logic. "I think it''s better to remember, even if it hurts."

    "We''ve tried that before. This intervention came about after a great deal of studying. Our current system was voted upon solely by people who currently live in the after-life and who reached enlightenment and joined the rest of our society. I don''t make the rules. Although, I do agree with them. However, some share your views. Each person is unique."

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    I wanted to hate her so badly, because she shared the doctor in Dr. Henderson, and because she clearly was a part of the society that chose to make my world into an experiment. But my heart was slipping and I''d always lived by instinct.

    "You care." I swallowed hard. "You care about the people here."

    "I wouldn''t do this job otherwise. I can have any kind of life I want. I chose this. I''ve lived a very long time, but I''m still a person. We all are. We''re not so different from you. Only older."

    "More powerful."

    "There is power that comes with knowledge and access. Experience. So, yes."

    "You''re a god."

    She quieted. "Some do choose to view me that way."

    "In a way, people evolved into gods. Do you think some of those gods could be evil?"

    The suspicion in her eyes grew. "Max, this is very important. You must have learned about our reality from someone. Was it a person like me?"

    "You mean Dr. Henderson?"

    It looked like she stopped breathing. ¡°Do you know her?¡±

    "I don''t know her well." The lie burned on my lips. "But I am skeptical of people with so much power."

    "Perhaps because you have power in your world. We allow people privacy, so I can''t see everything about your world, but I do see that you were designated as one of the one percent to receive the neural implant. Did you know that¡¯s where your power came from?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡± I studied her reaction, probing her for authenticity. ¡°I know your people created my world as a simulated experiment.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Henderson is not supposed to tell you that.¡±

    I cast my gaze out the window, uncertain of how to move forward from here. I was playing a dangerous game. The most dangerous yet. If I didn''t stop Dr. Henderson, she may never release the people I loved from the simulation. She could reset the world hundreds more times and destine the people I loved to endless versions of her hell. Even if she didn''t do that, she''d wage wars against anyone who stood in her way. Nash, Wren, and Leif were warriors. They wouldn''t stop fighting until they were dead. Dead and never allowed into the after-life.

    What if I was trapped here forever without them?

    A shaky breath broke from my lips. The distant emotion welled within me again, within reach. "I can''t mess this up." I squeezed my eyes shut. "Somehow I find myself with a power no one in my world has ever had right now. What I say here¡­ I''m deciding the fate of my world."

    "You have a power that no one in any simulation has ever had. Souls are not released from the simulated worlds until the experiment ends. You''re the first one to come here while it is ongoing and to have all your memories. I understand your trepidation."

    "Are you a part of your council?"

    "Supervisors are not on the council. Some of us continue to work our way up from this position to the council. Some stay here. This is the final step before reaching it. It is a very influential position, but neither I nor Dr. Henderson are part of the council."

    I chewed the inside of my cheek. "You talked about privacy. Is our talk private?"

    "Absolutely. Everything here is entirely private. You give consent for anything to be shared."

    "Even if I tell you something you feel must be shared?"

    "Yes. We don''t have danger in our society, Max. Privacy is of great concern, however. In such a connected existence, it takes great work to protect that freedom."

    "Do you know Dr. Henderson?"

    "We''ve met. I haven''t spoken to her since the experiments began. We didn''t see eye-to-eye on them."

    I leaned forward. "You disagree with the experiments?"

    "I do. I want to help people in the physical world as much as anyone else, but I can''t justify manipulating people''s souls in a simulation just because in the end it creates less suffering. How can a peaceful society create suffering?"

    At least one of the gods made sense, unless she was trying to fool me. "Isn''t it also wrong to leave people in the physical world to suffer?"

    "Yes. That doesn''t mean we should create another wrong."

    "Apparently you''re in the minority."

    "I am. Some think that because I have spent so much time in the after-life that I''ve forgotten suffering. I haven''t. I''m reminded of it every day as I usher new souls into this life and as I watch them on their journey here. This power we have is sacred. It should never be used against someone."

    Grief twisted my heart so terribly that I suddenly longed to draw her into a hug as if she was one of my own people. My voice came out quiet. "Your council let death into a deathless world. Instead of gods of life, you became gods of death. My world has paid the price."

    Worry pinched Dr. Drake''s lips. "I know you must be afraid to tell me what happened, Max. I have no way of proving to you that I''m trustworthy. I''m guessing, though, that you came here for a reason. So, I hope you can take a chance on me. I want to help."

    I looked down to cover the tears that tempted my eyes. "Dr. Henderson has been corrupted." My stomach tightened. "I don''t know when it happened or if she''s always been this way. Only that she''s fallen into darkness."

    "She was a pure soul once. That much I can say for certain. Her fall must have happened during this experiment." Dr. Drake paused. "Can I trust you with something sensitive?"

    "Yes. Please."

    "She suffered a loss a very long time ago, during a time when so few died. Even later, when she was reunited with her child here, I sensed the pain that lingered. You wouldn''t imagine that there could be any pain in such a perfect world. There is, at least, when we choose to remember it. I wonder if the loss made her susceptible."

    The thought of Flare carrying Elsie away filled me with revulsion. "Loss doesn''t have to corrupt a spirit."

    "No, it doesn''t."

    "I did come here for a reason. I came to share my story. The story of my world. Except that telling you could end my world. If I had any other option, I would take it. I don''t. I''m powerless. So, please, don''t betray me."

    Dr. Drake took my hand gently. "You do have power, Max. I see it in you." She smiled. "Our system does as well. You were marked as a potential candidate for leadership here in this universe. You and a friend whose name I can''t see until they come here."

    "Someone with power?"

    "Yes."

    Piercey. I closed my eyes. "It would make sense that he would be. Not me. I''m impetuous and angry."

    "Is that why you''re here and not him?"

    I smiled. "Maybe."

    "Well, you weren''t marked as individuals, but rather as a team. Together, your wisdom and courage make you rare souls who we might choose to recruit. It''s very special."

    "Would you have known I was a candidate if I never came here?"

    "No. Only once you''re in my system. I only know about your friend because I see that you''re a team potential, not individual."

    Flare''s words ran through my mind. She''d trapped me in the simulation so I couldn''t leave the after-world. "Could Dr. Henderson trap someone in the simulation and conceal the record of them?"

    Dr. Drake drew back. "That would be worse than murder."

    "Is it possible? Is it possible because your people are so certain of themselves that they think you''ll all stay pure?"

    Understanding lit her eyes. At least, I hoped that was the look I was seeing. "We''ve evolved, Max. There''s never been a need for precautions against crimes and evils. I''m sure if she had malice against someone, she could do that though."

    I buried my head in my hands, temples throbbing with each heartbeat. Dr. Henderson had planned to leave me dead in the simulation forever. Probably Piercey too. It was the only way to ensure that we never recovered our memories in the after-life. "Would Dr. Henderson know that Piercey and I were potential candidates?"

    "Yes. As a supervisor, it''s her job to watch over people like you who the computer identifies."

    I bit off an angry chuckle. "She wanted me dead. Permanently dead. Because I know too much." I lifted my hand to Dr. Drake. "Take it all. That woman cannot be trusted with my world. I don¡¯t know if I can trust you, but I have learned sometimes it is too dangerous not to trust the person who you need to trust."

    She reached for my hand. "You¡¯ve shared memories before. I give you my word I will do right by you."

    Dr. Drake took my hand in her soft one. Her presence was so inviting that when we connected, I easily let all of myself slip away to her entirely. I couldn¡¯t even hold onto the fear that this was a mistake.

    When she released me, sorrow filled her eyes.

    "You''re self-aware. You know you were living in a simulation and you tried to make it here. This has never happened before, Max." Tears sprinkled onto her cheeks. Her voice was breathy and urgent. "We must take this to the council. This is worse than you know."

    "What if they shut down our world? Dr. Henderson said our experiment is unethical, so if it doesn''t yield results, it''s only ethical to end it."

    "Dr. Henderson has devolved. Her words are not to be trusted. This is evidence that the experiments were a mistake, a terrible mistake, and that we must make corrections. I know you''ve seen only evil from our world. That is only one grain of sand in a world of goodness."

    I rubbed my chest. Sharing with her had brought it all back, so it couldn''t be numbed. With my people on the forefront of my mind, I felt so close to the life I had just lost, that no matter how urgent this business was, my mind clouded with grief. I bent forward, memories zapping through me like shots of lightning.

    "Hey¡­" Dr. Drake touched my back. "It''s hitting you. Breathe through it."

    "I don''t have time for this."

    "You do. Time is relative. It hasn''t passed in your world since we paused the flow of time here. We have time for you."

    I clutched my chest. I needed to ask, but I was too afraid of the answer. "Will I¡­" Sobs gripped my tight shoulders and shook them. "Will I ever get to go home to them?"

    Dr. Drake''s silence carved down my spine. When she spoke, her voice was heavy. "I don''t know of any way to go home, Max. You died in your world. The physics of that world match the physical world. There''s no way to resurrect the dead."

    I scrambled off the bed, my legs desperate to run, though I had nowhere to go. Fear exploded in my mind. Dr. Drake stumbled out of my way as I pried the window open and clambered out. I landed on soft sand and sprinted forward, sliding with each step. Ocean waves rolled against the shore. I stopped before reaching the lapping water and fell onto my hands and knees. Fell and wept until I couldn''t even utter a sound.

    Her hand came to my back again and warmth flowed from it, easing me to sleep.

 64. New Plans

    I tightened my arms around myself, back in the yellow room on the bed, tears filling my eyes again. ¡°I¡¯m not ready to leave them.¡±

    Though my emotions had been dulled again, the grief still tinged my thoughts. ¡°They¡¯ll be here one day.¡±

    ¡°They won¡¯t remember anything.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s very traumatic remembering your life. The memories come back when people are ready. But sometimes seeing a person you knew can help spark it. You never know. Nash may remember you quickly when he comes. Usually parents remember their children right away. Sometimes it¡¯s the same for lovers.¡±

    I didn''t want to grieve. I finally had reached the gods. Gods who might be able to help. Right now, I didn¡¯t need to worry about Nash remembering one day. I needed to help him. It didn''t matter that Dr. Drake said I had time. I had to see this through before I could do anything else, including mourn the life I''d lost.

    ¡°I can¡¯t fall apart now.¡± I sat up and clutched my aching chest. ¡°Dr. Henderson is in control of our world and she¡¯s fucked up. I have to help them. I can¡¯t leave them trapped with her.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll report it. Right now.¡±

    ¡°Who do we tell?¡±

    Dr. Drake sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t like to give so much information at once. You¡¯re already overwhelmed.¡±

    ¡°Please. Please, the only thing I care about right are my people.¡±

    ¡°We could go to the Collective. They control forty-nine percent of the voting rights for the council. It¡¯s the easiest place to start.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± I nodded. ¡°Who are they? What¡¯s that mean?¡±

    ¡°This is so much to explain.¡± She pushed her dark hair behind her ears. ¡°In the highest dimension, you experience all of time and space, as one. It¡¯s like you become one with our universe. And the people who want to live in that plane are unified as well. Collective consciousness.¡±

    I¡¯d told her that I could handle it, but I couldn¡¯t wrap my mind around anything she just said. Piercey would have been all over this. ¡°They¡¯re like one giant mind?¡±

    ¡°Yes. They have all the wisdom of humankind.¡±

    My breathing sharpened. ¡°And they know about my world?¡±

    She hesitated and then nodded. ¡°The experiments never would have been approved without their vote.¡±

    ¡°Fuck!¡± I did slam my fist this time, hard against the bed. ¡°All of the wisdom of humankind and they dreamed up this shitstorm?¡± I doubled over. "I just want to go home to Nash and Elsie.¡±

    ¡°I can ease the pain,¡± Dr. Drake said. ¡°I can take it all away.¡±

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    ¡°The pain will keep me focused.¡±

    ¡°Right now it¡¯s going to make you lose your mind. Let me.¡±

    I closed my eyes. The acute panic and grief distanced from my mind, as if it had been locked away in a room inside me. ¡°How did you do that?¡±

    ¡°We can do anything here, Max. Your world had to follow the natural laws of the universe for validity. There¡¯s no reason for that here. We can simulate anything.¡±

    ¡°This is a simulation too?¡±

    ¡°Everything is a simulation now, really. Except for the people still evolving out in the physical world.¡±

    I had so many questions, but with my grief now muted, I had the ability to focus on what mattered. I couldn¡¯t squander that. The haze of death cleared from my mind. "I know it probably doesn¡¯t make sense to you, because my world isn¡¯t even real, but I don¡¯t want it to end. I can''t fail at this.¡±

    ¡°I do understand. And it is real because you¡¯re real. It¡¯s your experience. I told you¡­ I¡¯ve lived so many lives, and only one of them in the physical world. Every life I lived is as real to me as the first.¡±

    I swallowed hard. ¡°Do you really believe that?¡±

    ¡°Yes. You know, my world where I was first born is gone now." She smiled. ¡°But it still matters to me as much as it did then. All the things I saw, the good, the horrible, it matters that it happened. For the Collective, my world exists today. All time exists as one. Every day you lived in your world was real and will forever be a part of the Collective. They can¡¯t access individual memories for privacy, but the sum of your existence is with them. Now it will forever be a part of at least one person¡¯s memory. Yours.¡±

    "I need to speak to the Collective. I¡¯m going to ask them to send me back.¡±

    Dr. Drake shook her head. ¡°We talked about this. They can¡¯t send you back. Your world operates under physical laws.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Henderson¡¯s avatar doesn¡¯t.¡±

    Her eyes widened. ¡°You want an avatar?¡±

    ¡°If she gets one, why can¡¯t I? It¡¯s my world. I¡¯m the one who was unfairly experimented on. They owe me the chance to clean up the mess they made. If the individual is important, then the Collective has to see that my perspective is critical.¡±

    "We can''t let what happened with Dr. Henderson happen to other supervisors."

    "I''ll petition them to leave our worlds alone. I used to hate the silence of the gods. Dr. Henderson showed me how much worse it can be when they listen."

    "Let''s go for a walk and calm your spirit before we see them."

    <hr>

    Crystal clear water lapped over my feet as I walked along the shore of a gentle ocean. Dr. Drake walked with me.

    ¡°Dr. Henderson said Nash and I died as babies,¡± I said.

    ¡°You did. Your world is populated by young souls who died as infants during a certain time period. It¡¯s best for the subjects to actually be from the same world and time. For validity.¡±

    ¡°Validity. Of course.¡±

    She smiled. ¡°You were born on Earth in 2027.¡±

    ¡°And Nash?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t have access to his record, but it would have been within a three decade span of your life.¡±

    Warm sand squished between my toes. ¡°Why babies?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s our policy that people live at least one life to adulthood, so that you can develop properly. Normally, we would place infants and children together in a simulated world just like their own. Of course, your world was different.¡±

    ¡°Lucky us.¡± I stuck my hands in my pockets, because, apparently, I had pockets in the after-life. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just run simulations with fake people?¡±

    ¡°You can¡¯t fake consciousness. Either you have it or you don¡¯t. And conscious beings are very hard to predict. For valid results, we needed conscious people. The argument was that your life in the experimental worlds would probably be of a similar quality to your natural world.¡±

    ¡°Except we don¡¯t get our lives reset in an actual world.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Dr. Henderson has been lying in her reports.¡±

    A sliver of pain managed to slip into my heart. ¡°I just want to go back home.¡±

    We walked quietly for some time.

    ¡°Am I healed enough to see the Collective now?¡±

    ¡°Already? You¡¯re strong-willed. Not everyone can come back from the after-life, you know.¡±

    ¡°When will you ask them to meet with me?"

    ¡°Already did." She smiled. "Come on. They¡¯re waiting.¡±

    ¡°Thank you.¡± I swallowed hard, palms sweaty. Time for another battle.

 65. The Collective

    Dr. Drake and I stood before a window that that stretched from the floor to the ceiling and opened to light blue water. Light filtered through from somewhere above I couldn''t see, catching just right here and there so some patches looked teal.

    ¡°This is it?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Collective consciousness.¡± Dr. Drake touched the glass. ¡°You have the chance to teach the collective something.¡± Her voice was as tender as the hand she placed on my shoulder. ¡°So be nice.¡±

    I breathed in deeply, staring into the empty room. ¡°Why bother with this visual?¡±

    ¡°We need something. Religious people didn¡¯t want it to feel the same as praying. But how can you visualize the oneness of the multiverse? It isn¡¯t possible. But water is life, water transforms. Water can drip as individual droplets or crash together as raging waves. It can span the greatest depths.¡±

    ¡°Okay. I guess.¡± I shifted, strangely uncomfortable by the thought. ¡°Can they hear me?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    I crossed my arms, looking down. ¡°I¡¯m here on behalf of my world. Not the one I was originally born into, but the one I came to know. The one you made for me.¡± I looked into the blue. ¡°It¡¯s all we know. So before I tell you more, I¡¯m asking you to let the world continue and to grant the people the right to never be shut down.¡±

    Vibrations rippled the water before me. My eyes widened. I heard a melding of voices, young and old.

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry you have suffered for us.¡±

    Anger stirred within me. ¡°Be nice,¡± I breathed to myself.

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry we have not yet found a better way. The simulations have helped us get close to mastering evolution. Very close.¡±

    I straightened. ¡°Does that mean you no longer need worlds like mine?¡±

    ¡°The data is valuable. We would like to continue gathering it.¡±

    ¡°So, you¡¯ll let us live in our worlds?¡±

    ¡°Yes. The simulations are giving us billions of lifetimes.¡±

    Heat fueled my core, as fiery as when my power would fill me. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel bad for what you¡¯ve done? You created a world just to experiment on us. Gave us immense powers that we weren''t ready for and then let us kill each other with them.¡±

    ¡°Without the experiments, young worlds in the natural would continue to suffer indefinitely. Now, we have proven what the best methods for helping to develop more peacefully are. However, with it, simulated worlds are suffering. We grieve the decision but we have mixed feelings on whether we regret it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not right¡­ What you did isn¡¯t right.¡±

    ¡°It is the last great evil of human-kind. The last great evil of evolution.¡± A pause. I¡¯d imagine it was for me, not the collective. ¡°The reincarnation of your souls in the simulation had the same effect as if you¡¯d lived in the natural. We bear the weight of the suffering. We bear the weight of our evil.¡±

    Tears sprang into my eyes. ¡°Your words, many as they may be with so many speaking them at once, mean nothing.¡±

    ¡°We are sorry for what we have done to you and your people. We only wanted you to live and for us to learn from your lives.¡±

    ¡°Well,¡± I bit off the word. ¡°Despite the wisdom you claim to have, you overlooked an incredibly crucial risk. If you can guarantee that my world will continue without interference, I will share it with you. Dr. Drake told me that you don''t get all of the information from our world without permission. You rely on data compiled by the computer. I''ll give you all my memories, if you can make this promise to me."

    "We promise. Please, share with us."

    That seemed too easy. When I paused, the Collective seemed to sense my distrust.

    "We''re not looking to hurt you. We truly want what is best for you. If you, someone who lived in your world, wants it to continue despite its problems, then we must trust that it is only right to allow it to continue."

    I pressed my palm against the glass. "Creating unethical human experiments compromises your social evolution. Did you never consider these risks?¡±

    "We countered any risk of corruption with lifetimes of evolution and ethical mastery. Yet, you believe that despite this, we''ve failed?"

    "Being capable of unethical experiments requires that you are unethical. There''s no getting around that."

    "It isn''t so black and white. After making the decision, everyone involved in the experiments lived multiple more lives in simulations and were tested. Everyone was pure."

    "Not everyone is pure anymore. Dr. Henderson devolved. Who knows how many supervisors this has happened to.¡± The fury of my death rushed out of me. ¡°That¡¯s why you people should have never played god with us.¡±

    "Share with us. We will listen to you."

    I let my life rush into them as it had with Piercey and Dr. Drake. This time, I felt hollow when I was done, as though I had given away everything I''d ever had.

    "Do you see?" I asked.

    The voices of the Collective leaked out in a quiet and sorrowful moan. "We see." The words echoed, quieter and quieter, until all was silent.

    "Dr. Henderson had me murdered. I believe she planned to trap me in the simulation forever. If I hadn¡¯t figured out how to escape, I¡¯d be trapped there, dead. I know for certain that she has abused her power in my world."

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    "We did not expect these results."

    I ran my hand over my mouth. ¡°She sentenced us to lives we couldn¡¯t remember living. You left us with her. You placed us under untested conditions while she refused to intervene despite the dire consequences, all for the sake of your experiment. For the validity.¡± Slips couldn¡¯t happen here. Even so, I feared that I¡¯d open my eyes to the little red boots I''d worn as a child during the eclipse. That¡¯d I¡¯d be trapped forever in that moment, seeing the villager¡¯s bodies crumple to the ground like I¡¯d sucked the life from them.

    I didn¡¯t slip. But I was still there in my heart, beneath the dark of the Eclipse, with my father listless at my feet. With his words hanging in my mind. Even after all these years, these lifetimes, still I didn¡¯t understand how he could make me kill those people and abandon me by dying with them. How could anyone do that?

    ¡°You¡¯re as guilty as my father.¡± They¡¯d know what the words meant. ¡°Do you think that making an after-life for the people I killed makes up for watching them die? You gave me such incredible power when I was a child and didn¡¯t show me how to use it. How can someone that has so much knowledge, so much power, still not have a better way?¡±

    Their silence tore through me. I beat my fist against the window.

    ¡°Answer me!¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re trying to find a better way. We are not yet perfect. Even with how many people were injured in the simulations, it cannot touch the number which will be saved from that suffering from now. However, there were even more dire consequences than we had imagined.¡±

    I stared hard into the emptiness of the room. A lifetime of rage boiled over. These were ridiculous excuses. They really believed they couldn¡¯t find another way to gain the data they needed? ¡°Fuck you! Fuck you from each and everyone of us in every life we lived in the shit world you made for us.¡±

    Dr. Drake stepped toward me, lifting her hand. ¡°Max!¡±

    ¡°Let her speak,¡± the collective said. ¡°She deserves it.¡±

    ¡°All the beauty," I said, "All the wonderful things like love.¡± I lifted my hand. ¡°It was worth the suffering. But that doesn¡¯t justify what you let happen to us either. So sit with that for eternity, assholes.¡±

    ¡°How can we do better by your world?"

    I¡¯d almost let my anger blind me to the most important things I needed to say. ¡°If you want to collect data on our world, fine. You¡¯ve already set your experiments in motion. But do not intervene again unless people from my world approve it. Piercey can help create a fair system for evaluating your actions. Do not experiment on us. Do not manipulate our worlds. Make your supervisors simply watch.¡±

    ¡°In your memories, you didn''t like the silence of the gods. And yet now, you would rather that we ignore the prayers of the people?¡±

    ¡°I would because your answers to our prayers, when you bother to answer, are fucked up. Monitor us. Fine. But no one should be able to intervene in our world again like Dr. Henderson has.¡±

    ¡°We will collect information from our supervisors and consider this.¡±

    I pressed my hands against the warm glass. ¡°I lost my life because of your experiments going wrong. I want an avatar, just like Dr. Henderson has.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Henderson lived many lives in preparation for being supervisor and having an avatar, so she could make ethical decisions. Even she fell into evil. You aren''t ready.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t need to be able to access any of the god¡¯s powers. I just need a body to take back to my world. If the body gets destroyed, then I¡¯ll stay dead. I deserve a chance to finish the life I started. Your person stole mine from me.¡±

    Dr. Drake nodded at me, smiling gently.

    ¡°Please." I wiped my tears. "I may be a young soul. I may be angry. But there¡¯s something inside of me that made the computer identify me as someone who could make a difference. So, listen to me. Let me go back to my world and I promise, I will return one day with answers about how you can make things better for the people you experimented on.¡±

    I didn¡¯t like the silence that followed. Why was I asking? Begging? Sure, they could refuse, but I should stop acting like they were doing me a favor when their supervisor murdered me. With my eyes narrowing, I spoke in a low voice.

    ¡°Do you know what it¡¯s like to die? Can you even imagine how it feels for your life to be stolen? To be bled out on a stage while a crowd of ignorant people try to take your power for themselves? You owe me a body. Give me what I¡¯m owed or you prove that you still aren¡¯t better.¡±

    "We can agree to this on one condition. You shared all of your memories with us. Allow us to watch over you for the rest of your life in your world. We''ll give you reasonable privacy, but we want to see your decisions, and to look at your world through your eyes."

    I hesitated. "Privacy?"

    "Yes, we can filter out such things."

    I rubbed the back of my neck. "Okay. As long as you filter things." My chest tightened as I realized what they had just said. ¡°Wait, you¡¯ll really give me an avatar?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right that you deserve to return to your world. This is the only method available to us.¡±

    Tears flooded my eyes. Right now, everyone I loved had lived for nearly a week with me gone. They surely thought I was never returning. How must Nash feel? Elsie? Leif, Wren, and Rune? My chest ached with the horror of leaving them behind. I had to return.

    ¡°Is there anything else, Max?¡±

    I struggled to keep my voice from breaking from the emotion. "Take away the power. It''s only hurting people."

    "If we alter substantial elements of your world, it may cause irreparable harm. If you want to keep your world, you must keep it as it is."

    "What will you do about Dr. Henderson?"

    "We have a great deal to investigate. We must understand what happened to her and if it has happened to other supervisors. We will look into how she hid this from us and exactly what she has done in your world. And we will rehabilitate her."

    "Then you''re taking her out of my world immediately, right?"

    "We already attempted it as soon as you shared your memories. Dr. Henderson helped create our digital universe and understands it too well. She''s woven herself into the fabric of your world."

    Dread buzzed through my body. "Does she know you tried to remove her?"

    "She shouldn''t. We merely studied the code and determined that we may not be able to remove her without damaging your world."

    "What happens if her avatar is destroyed?"

    "We cannot condone murder and allow you to kill Dr. Henderson."

    I snorted. "She''s in my world. Mine. Our justice will rule. Self-determination, remember? I''ll give her the chance to leave peacefully."

    I expected them to argue, instead, they only paused. "Avatars follow physical laws. She would need to create a new one if hers were destroyed."

    Where was Piercey when I needed him? He''d be able to genuinely tell the Collective he would go to Dr. Henderson in peace. I drew upon how I knew he''d feel, sensing him through our connected memories, and tried to have his heart for this moment. "I swear that I will do everything I can to be peaceful with Dr. Henderson."

    Dr. Drake stepped forward. "I''ll go into the control room and convince her to leave Max''s world if all else fails. I can try to keep her from creating another avatar."

    "What if she won''t?" Fear tightened my voice.

    "As a last result, we''ll force her out, and attempt to repair any damage done."

    "Am I authorized to negotiate with her?" Dr. Drake asked.

    "Yes. Bear in mind the seriousness of her sickness."

    She dipped her head. "I will."

    "Thank you for sharing with us, Max. I hope that we will find a better path as we move forward. We will immediately implement security measures now that we know our supervisors are at risk of devolving."

    I settled my head against the window, afraid to be finished. Afraid there would be something I¡¯d later regret not saying. ¡°I feel like I need to apologize for my rage, so you¡¯ll grant my request. But it¡¯s how I feel. I don¡¯t think I should hide the suffering and pain of my people from you. So please, honor my request anyway.¡±

    Maybe in my next life I¡¯d be ready to grow out of my anger. For now, I held it close, as my longest, and truest friend.

    Because there was no way in hell Dr. Henderson was leaving my world alive. She needed to experience the death she¡¯d forced upon us all.

    I would kill her and she would never return.

 66. Return

    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡±

    I cocked my eyebrow at Dr. Drake. Was that a serious question? ¡°Yes. Absolutely. Let¡¯s do this, now. I need to get back to my people as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°You can take more time to recover from what you¡¯ve been through. You experienced death, Max.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ready to go home. Come on.¡±

    I tapped my fingers against the table. We¡¯d just learned that the Collective gave all the worlds like mine the right to continue without being shut down while they conducted investigations into the supervisors.

    I breathed slowly and met Dr. Drake¡¯s eyes. ¡°Thank you for your help. When I come back, I¡¯ll remember what you did for my world.¡±

    ¡°Be careful, Max. You¡¯ve already felt so much pain. If you lose this body, they won¡¯t make you another.¡±

    ¡°I will.¡± I breathed in deeply. ¡°You said Flare was with the Prophet in the temple. Are you sure there¡¯s no sign of her leaving?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sure. I¡¯ll pull you back into this room after you confront her. If she can''t be reasoned with, let me take care of her.¡±

    Reason with her. Ha! I had no intention of reasoning with Flare.

    Dr. Drake took my hands and looked into my eyes with what truly must have been the look of a god. So full of wisdom and grace.

    "Max," she said. "You have many lives to live. You''re so young. Remember that what you do matters, in every life and every world."

    I squeezed her hands. "See you on the other side, Dr. Drake.¡± I lay down and closed my eyes, ready to wake up back home and deal with Flare according to my rules.

    <hr>

    Dr. Drake did not disappoint. I woke up at the Door of the Gods with the promise that when I walked out, I would be wherever I wanted to be in the world. And I knew exactly where that was.

    Dying hadn¡¯t been easy. Coming back to life wouldn¡¯t be either. I hesitated before the door, realizing I was trembling.

    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± I whispered to myself. ¡°Be strong.¡±

    Taking in a deep breath, I lifted my chin and stepped out of the door into the courtyard at the Sacred School. The smell of hickory and grass filled my senses. Home. This had become home for the first time to me.

    I wanted to run for Nash, but first I needed to see what was happening. They had all been through so much already. I had to be careful.

    Dew wet my boots as I tiptoed into the yard. The sun had just risen. Quietly, I picked my way to the door, and opened it slowly so it didn¡¯t make noise. Silent steps carried me to the residential hall and into Nash''s suite.

    I steadied my breathing as I slid the door shut and crept to the bedroom. Standing in the doorway, my heart pooled in my stomach. Nash slept in the middle of the bed with Elsie bundled up in his arms.

    If I was careful, I could wake Nash without Elsie stirring. But I didn¡¯t know how to do this without giving Nash a heart attack. Maybe I should have waited until he woke up.

    My heart stormed. I couldn¡¯t.

    Morning sun shone on the ground beneath the curtain. I stood in it, staring for a moment. His curls were a mess, his beard growing out, and the bed was covered in Elsie¡¯s toys and clothes. Imagining him here for this past week, likely more certain with each passing hour that I¡¯d never return, grieved me deeply. My heart twisted as I slid into the bed beside him and placed my hand upon his heart, settling my lips against his ear.

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    ¡°Nash,¡± I whispered. ¡°Wake up.¡±

    His eyes opened. I rubbed my palm gently against his chest, wanting so badly to erase the grief of the last week. For a moment, he didn¡¯t move, and then his eyes lowered to my hand, his fingers barely grazing mine.

    ¡°I¡¯m dreaming.¡± It came on a breath. Pain contorted his expression as he turned his face toward me and his glassy eyes met mine. ¡°Don¡¯t make me wake up.¡±

    ¡°Then walk with me,¡± I whispered, kissing beneath his ear. ¡°Quietly.¡±

    It wouldn¡¯t hurt him to believe this was a dream for a few minutes. I took his hand and pushed a pillow against Elsie¡¯s back when he stood.

    Nash didn¡¯t move when I tugged his hand. His eyes were wide and his mouth open.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± I whispered.

    His hand was limp in mine. I led him out of the bedroom, down the hall, to the courtyard door, and out beneath the pale of the morning sky.

    ¡°Shh,¡± I said as we walked for the large tree where we could hide.

    He looked like he slept-walked as he followed me. I turned to face him, hot tears sliding down my cheeks.

    ¡°Nash.¡± My voice hardly worked.

    ¡°This can¡¯t be real.¡± Emotion shook his voice, his broad shoulders. ¡°We waited as long as we could with your body. It¡¯s gone now. You¡¯re gone.¡±

    ¡°Nash, this is real.¡± I took his hands, keeping my voice calm and gentle. ¡°I was with the gods.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve lost my mind, haven¡¯t I?¡±

    ¡°Okay¡­ Okay, sit down.¡± I tugged him toward the ground. ¡°Come on.¡±

    I sat on my knees, close now. This time, he really looked at me, and I saw all the agony that had twisted him up. My heart broke. I had done this to him. I had left him.

    ¡°You feel me.¡± I wrapped my arms around him and drew his head to my shoulder. ¡°That¡¯s all that matters. I¡¯m here.¡±

    Nash grasped me weakly. ¡°You went unconscious. Dr. Henderson forced you into the white room. Piercey couldn''t stop her. And then we found your body abandoned in the snow outside, bloody and cut badly.¡± His arms tightened around me until it was hard for me to breathe. ¡°Flare stood in the distance while I picked you up. Fucking Flare.¡±

    I ran my fingers through his tangled hair. ¡°I¡¯m here now. The gods showed me favor.¡±

    Nash dipped his hand into his shirt and pulled up the black burial beads of the dead. "We returned you to the gods. I buried you, Max. This¡­" He squeezed the necklace in his palm. "This is all that remains of you."

    My stomach revolted at the beads. "They gave me a new body." I wanted to rip the necklace from him and throw it off a cliff. Shivers cut down my spine. That had once been me?

    "I can¡¯t let myself believe this is real. It¡¯ll hurt too bad when I wake up." He drew back and looked at me, leaving the beads hanging at his chest. ¡°I can¡¯t lose you again.¡±

    ¡°The gods gave me an avatar like Flare has. You aren¡¯t losing me.¡±

    We sat together until Nash had calmed enough that I thought he could walk. I wasn¡¯t sure that he believed any of this was real. I would have thought I was losing my mind too.

    Once we were inside, I nodded toward the residential hall. ¡°Wake them up. I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll put them all in shock like I did with you.¡±

    #

    I twisted the bottom of my shirt and looked at each person as we sat on the grass together. Trish and her husband had taken Elsie away so she wouldn¡¯t see me yet. But everyone else was with me. And no one spoke.

    Might as well start. I breathed in deeply. ¡°I have no idea how to help you all cope with this except to be honest. I¡¯m here to stay.¡±

    Nash leaned against his knees, holding his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m hallucinating that all of you are seeing her too.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re all hallucinating if you are,¡± Leif said.

    ¡°Flare took me to the Eclipse," I said. "One in the past. I died and woke up in the next life.¡±

    Wren scooted closer and turned my hand over so she could trace her fingers along my palm. ¡°You feel normal.¡±

    ¡°I confronted the gods and convinced them to give me an avatar like Dr. Henderson has.¡±

    ¡°Why did the gods agree to this?¡± Piercey asked, the first time he had spoken.

    ¡°They told me sorry for the suffering they had caused and let me come because I only died due to Dr. Henderson.¡±

    ¡°As a god? Have they returned you to us in god-form?¡± Leif asked.

    ¡°No. Besides, they don¡¯t see themselves as gods."

    Nash lowered his hands, the look in his eye changing. His voice cracked. ¡°This is real.¡±

    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s real. It¨C¡±

    Nash hooked his arm around my waist and dragged me down to the ground against him, his embrace strong, desperate. The shock had passed and I had him here, with me. Rolling me onto my back, he kissed the side of my face, my jaw, my lips. A laugh loosened the tenseness in my chest.

    ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± He kissed me hard. ¡°You came back to me.¡±

    His fingers dug into my sides like if he didn¡¯t keep a hold of me, I might slip away. It didn¡¯t matter who saw. Couldn¡¯t matter. We¡¯d lost each other and now we were together again.

    ¡°We¡¯re still here,¡± Leif said. ¡°In case you give a shit.¡±

    I smiled as Nash¡¯s lips pressed against mine again.

    They laughed and teased and I hardly heard a word of it. Soon we would need to fight the hardest battle of our life. There had to be a moment to be reunited.

 67. The Temple

    I knelt on the hill where I¡¯d gathered with Nash, Piercey, and Val the first time we battled the Prophet when we were freeing my people. It felt like such a long time ago now.

    Even though I¡¯d agreed to this plan, worry sat like lead in my gut. Wren and Leif had returned to our village to gather our warriors to march to the Prophet¡¯s village, because when this was over, there would be chaos to continue. Piercey had sent word to his graduates, but I knew they wouldn¡¯t make it in time.

    It should have only been me here, risking a life I¡¯d already lost once. Instead, Nash and Piercey both knelt beside me as we eyed the Prophet¡¯s village.

    I glanced over to the man who I had never expected myself to fall for and wondered how we¡¯d ended up here. Only hours ago he¡¯d been silenced by the shock of my return. It didn¡¯t take long after I announced my plans that he quickly found his voice.

    ¡°We already lost you once,¡± Nash had said. ¡°You¡¯ve just returned. Let us handle Flare and the Prophet. Piercey will call on his graduates and this time they will act because you carry the gods¡¯ favor. Rest and recover from what you¡¯ve been through.¡±

    ¡°We can¡¯t wait for them. Flare may already know I¡¯m here. I¡¯ve waited too long as it is by talking to all of you. Now¡¯s the time. Piercey can gather everyone, but I¡¯m going ahead.¡±

    Nash had clutched my wrist and drawn my close. ¡°Not without me.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have power. What can you do?¡±

    I hadn¡¯t meant any cruelty by the words, but it had been clear from the pain in his eye that the words had cut him deeply. How must he have felt finding my body and grieving my death? The powerlessness surely haunted him now.

    ¡°I can fight.¡± His voice had rumbled deeply. ¡°Piercey and I will partner together again like we did before. Take us with you.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never traveled like that before.¡±

    ¡°Excuses. You can do this, Max. You will not fight this battle alone.¡± Nash had clutched the back of my head and bent to press his forehead against mine. ¡°Do not deny me this battle.¡±

    How could I when I would never forgive him for doing the same to me? ¡°I¡¯m scared of what could happen to you.¡±

    ¡°Then you know how I feel about you.¡±

    The conversation kept playing through my mind without end. I hadn¡¯t thought I would be successful in bringing the three of us to this place, but Piercey had focused on me, trying to lend me his own power. I¡¯d managed to teleport all three of to the village.

    The Prophet had been training and preparing and I knew Flare was with him, so it wasn¡¯t ideal for only the three of us to fight. We really needed more allies, but I couldn¡¯t afford to wait another moment. What if Flare knew that I¡¯d returned? What if she knew the Collective wanted her out of this world?

    There had been a time for waiting and that had passed.

    ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± I said, rising. ¡°It¡¯s time to end this.¡±

    ¡°The Prophet and Flare won¡¯t be alone,¡± Piercey said. ¡°The disciples will be ready for us this time.¡±

    I nodded. ¡°We''ll have to kill them all. Together."

    Nash held my stare, eyes determined. "Together."

    ¡°I¡¯m not wasting time being evasive when I believe Flare will already know we¡¯re coming,¡± I said. ¡°We move fast for Flare and the Prophet.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll focus on clearing a path and covering the two of you.¡± Piercey nodded at me. ¡°Max, give them all you have.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, eyes on his. We had always made a good team. When this was over, I''d have to tell him about how we were identified by the gods as potential candidates. ¡°You''ve always been there for me.¡±

    He smiled. "I always will be."

    We sprinted down to the front gates. The guards shouted from the top of the wall, screaming their warnings as they aimed their bows at us. A wave of arrows rained down over us moments later. Piercey deflected them all without slowing down so the arrows splintered and rained down around us. I lifted my hands and threw the gate off its hinges with my power. It slammed onto the ground in a cloud of dirt.

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    No slowing down to even look at the damage. We stormed into the Prophet¡¯s village, cutting right for the Temple at the center.

    Guards and warriors rushed to the streets, fighting against our unseen shields with thrusts of swords, with flailing arrows that burst upon impact, with spears that shattered. Doorways and windows clogged with normal men and women screaming the alarm, throwing chairs, pots and pans, anything that could do damage.

    But between Piercey and me we blocked every last assault. I pumped my palm and shoved everyone on the road away. People flew back against buildings, through windows, into people crowded together.

    My power flowed freely through my avatar, even easier to draw upon than before I¡¯d died. Maybe it was that I had changed. Maybe this new body was just better. All I knew was that at my peak of training before I died, it never felt this natural.

    I narrowed my eyes as the darkness within the temple door came into view. The towering stone doors of the temple were always open, but today they would close once we were all inside. I¡¯d trap the Prophet and Flare with us and ensure they never left.

    We reached the stairs and Piercey raised his voice above the screams in the village. ¡°I¡¯ve got it! Save your energy, Max!¡±

    I snapped off my power as I slid through the huge doorway with Nash at my heels.

    Piercey held back all of the warriors on his own with a protective shield around the temple that buzzed with his power. "Hurry!" His body trembled as he stumbled back to the door. It had been easy when we did it together, but the work had just doubled for him.

    My eyes adjusted to the dim light inside and my muscles coiled.

    The Prophet stood at the altar in his black cloak. The five disciples who''d survived our last battle circled him with their heads bowed and their hands lifted at their sides. A dozen warriors guarded them. No Flare.

    "Wait. Turn back,¡± Piercey yelled.

    I twisted for him. He grunted as he reached for me with his power. The force tugged Nash and me a few feet toward him but his power was weak as he held off an entire village.

    "They''re meditating on the Prophet,¡± Piercey said. ¡°They gave him their power. Turn back now."

    Alarm tensed my muscles. We needed to draw them out of this temple and try to separate them. Nash and I lunged for Piercey when a creaking started and then turned to deafening scraping. The heavy stone doors of the temple slammed closed and sealed us inside. The flames of the lanterns lining the walls flickered.

    Piercey was still outside.

    ¡°Shit.¡± I drew my blade.

    Nash turned, swords already raised.

    In a flash, immense pressure clamped down on every fiber of my being¨Cmy limbs, my heart, the very blood flowing through my veins. Power erupted from my core as I fended it off from Nash and me. It took so much energy that it felt like I trudged through a river as I struggled toward the Prophet and unleashed my own power upon him. There was no longer any holding back. With a scream, the heat within me erupted and exploded out, all aimed right at the Prophet.

    The incredible pressure on his body was immediately obvious as he knees buckled and his neck strained.

    Still, panic rushed through me, because Piercey hadn¡¯t come through the doors yet. I needed him to guard Nash. I opened my mouth to tell him to stay back when he took off in a sprint for the dozen warriors standing guard over the Prophet and his demons. Piercey wasn¡¯t here to block him. What was he thinking?

    ¡°Nash!¡± Energy rippled through me. I drew from deep within the well of my power and extended my hands like claws out toward the guards. Their heads shook. Eyes popped wide. One neck snapped. Another. Two more.

    Without slowing down, Nash slashed one sword through a man¡¯s chest and blocked a swing from a quick guard with the other.

    Snap. Snap.

    I took down two more in the same instant Nash¡¯s twin blades wrenched a guard¡¯s sword free. Sweat dripped into my eyes and tickled the nape of my neck. Nash cut through another guard¡¯s neck like butter.

    Only five guards left. Nash reared his blade back when it looked like he slammed against an invisible wall and then his body flew back through the air. I tried to soften his fall but he still bounced when he hit the stone floor.

    The disciples moaned low, bodies trembling with exertion, some collapsed on their knees. The Prophet¡¯s eyes bulged. His face burned deep red. So much power. A cry ripped from my chest as I struggled to break through their power and crush the Prophet.

    It felt as if I had to shred my muscles just to walk for Nash. Pain burned within my body and danced along my skin. Nash leaned against a knee, his determined stare on the Prophet. Blood trickled from his nose. My stomach tightened at that look on Nash¡¯s face. The brazenness. The fearlessness. His ferocity wild and almost inhuman.

    It could get him killed.

    No. I couldn¡¯t give in to despair or worry. Nash was fighting with everything he had. More than he had. All for me and Elsie. My nails pierced my skin as I dug them into my palms, turning my mind to the eclipse, when my life had rushed from me through my wounds, and I wanted nothing more than to stay with Nash. I had to find more within myself.

    Everything inside of me stilled.

    I looked at the circle around the Prophet and imagined that I could see the threads connecting them all. The threads of energy pulsating from the disciples to the Prophet. Trembling, I focused on that, my insides feeling as though they were melting.

    Pop.

    A disciple¡¯s wrist snapped. He fell back from the circle, panting as he stared at his wrist.

    A woman screamed as she convulsed. All the veins in her body bulged against her skin, as if trying to escape. She was fighting so hard to stay connected, but I saw the fractures in the circle.

    Nash took the distraction to move on the last guards. I ran with him, my legs finally flooded with energy now that I didn¡¯t need to use so much strength to hold off the Prophet.

    We struck at the same time, my blade catching against a guard¡¯s and forcing his own against the soft of his neck, deeper and deeper, until it embedded in his flesh. I grabbed his sword and slid it all the way through, killing him. Nash blocked hits from two guards.

 68. Round 1

    I focused on Nash to protect him but two demons pivoted away from the Prophet to me. They blasted me with their unseen power and I faltered.

    The Prophet¡¯s strength crushed my throat and the muscles in my body, immobilizing me.

    Beside me, the tip of a sword sliced through the edge of Nash''s bicep and slung his blood across my face. He was frozen in place, chest not even moving with breath. The guard raised her sword to strike him again.

    No! I caught hold of the attack against us that had immobilized us. Broke free. Shoved my palm at the fool who''d dared to hurt Nash and threw her back with a force so hard her skull cracked the stone floor.

    Her vacant eyes stared up while a pool of blood spread out from her head.

    A strangled cough spasmed Nash''s body. I¡¯d overextended myself, giving the Prophet a chance to choke us once more.

    Despite not being able to breathe, Nash blocked a hit on each side of his body. A third man stabbed for his back. A shot of heat burned from my chest, up my shoulders, and down my arm as I focused on the sword. It snapped in half before reaching Nash¡¯s spine.

    With a cry, I regained control of the Prophet¡¯s power again and loosened the pressure on Nash''s throat.

    The effort left me helpless to stop two demons who rushed for me with swords extended. I screamed through gritted teeth. Blood dripped from my nose. I stopped one blade right against my throat. The other in front of my right eye.

    I was doing too many things at once.

    So was Nash. Blood pumped from his wound as he thrust his sword with his injured arm and pierced a guard¡¯s chest. This couldn¡¯t go on.

    I planted my feet on the ground and tried to dig even deeper than the power I''d felt during the eclipses. There was more I hadn¡¯t tapped into. There had to be.

    Pressure swelled in my chest.

    ¡°Go!¡± The Prophet roared.

    The three disciples sprang from his side. The Prophet¡¯s pressure weakened considerably, but it only gave me a few moments of reprieve before I faced an all new danger. Nash was still fending off the remaining guards while the disciples were all headed for me.

    One of the women raised her spear, eyes on me, nostrils flaring. Beside her, a man reached his hands out, armored forearms catching the light of the lanterns. Gloves stretched over his hands, ending in sharpened daggers on each finger that looked like claws. His eyes shifted between me and Nash.

    The third disciple knelt down and then the strength on the blades at my throat and eye intensified with her power. She was pushing them with her mind.

    It all happened so fast, in just the time it took for the woman with the spear to steady herself.

    Nash spun toward the disciples and jabbed his blade for the throat of the woman with the spear just as she released.

    "Nash!"

    As I snapped the spear in half, I thrust a wave of energy at the clawed demon behind Nash but his daggers shot right through. The thing blades stabbed into Nash''s shoulders, right above his collarbone.

    Blood popped into the air.

    Nash stabbed his right blade behind his back. I drove it with my mind so it swiftly carved through the clawed disciple¡¯s gut.

    They both screamed as the claws tightened against Nash and the demon''s bowels pulsed against his open wound. Nash grabbed the wrists on each of his shoulders and yanked the daggers out.

    The sword nicked my throat, vying for attention that needed to be on Nash alone. I caught the blade before it could slice through me.

    ¡°Nash,¡± I whispered. Scarlet splotches spread across the ten holes torn into Nash¡¯s shirt. Rivulets of blood fell from his fingertips and splashed against the ground as he stumbled toward the last two soldiers. He grunted and growled with every step toward them. It was my fault for letting this happen to him.

    I screamed, pleading with myself to find more strength, but the blade at my throat only dug deeper against my skin. I couldn''t help Nash. Couldn''t even speak his name again. The effort to hold off the Prophet and disciples hollowed out my core.

    One guard broke into a run for Nash, but Nash only stopped in his tracks, watching. Watching until I thought for sure the enemy''s blade would pierce his heart.

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    Nash fell back to dodge a strike at the last moment and impaled the man in his exposed side.

    "Fuck this." The last man twisted and sprinted for the stone doors.

    His neck snapped and his body slammed against the ground.

    My heart jolted. I hadn''t done that.

    The Prophet looked at the disciples remaining. "You¡¯ll be next if you defy me!"

    The Prophet wasted his energy on making an example of the guard. I shouldn''t waste mine. This strategy wasn''t working. I was wearing down too fast, and I''d already gotten Nash hurt. I needed something else, something better.

    Instead of using so much energy on defending against the power that tried to crush our bodies and our windpipes, I let up on the effort to protect myself, and instead strengthened my own body. With the power pumping through my muscles, I ripped away the weapons aimed at my eye and throat and turned them on the two closest to me.

    I couldn¡¯t draw in any breath. Had to do this quickly.

    The woman closest to me drew a shorter sword just in time to block my first attack. Nash and I had trained together when I wasn¡¯t working with Piercey. My sword skills were better than they¡¯d ever been. Twisting, I powered a two-handed slash for the disciple¡¯s shoulder and broke the sword she raised to guard, carving deep through muscle and tendon down to bone.

    Two more disciples were running for me, but I had to finish this. With a roar, I pulled the blade free of the resistance of her body and skewered her through the chest. Black blood burst from the wound and soaked her shirt as fell to her knees.

    My lungs burned from the lack of air. I raised a shield of Nash and me as I focused on my airway to draw in a deep breath. A blade sparked against my shield while a fiery blast from another disciple ricocheted off.

    Nash, under the cover of the shield, rushed toward me, his arms and chest covered in blood from the claws. I didn¡¯t have time to tell him to stay back. He should have known that he was too weak to fight any longer and would be in the way.

    Only he reached his hand forward, slipping it through my barrier. I hadn¡¯t even thought about letting him in it. It happened naturally.

    He slid behind me. ¡°Your bow and quiver.¡±

    Two more hard attacks slammed into my shield and forced me back a step. Quickly, I pulled them off and passed them to Nash. I drew his twin blades from his sides. It felt surreal to swap weapons, but it was too dangerous for Nash to get close enough to these disciples to fight with his swords.

    From within my shield, he notched an arrow, roaring through the obvious pain of using the bow, and fired at one of the disciples. The arrow broke before reaching her, but I knew how hard it would be to fend off attacks once I started to overwhelm them.

    Time for another offensive.

    I charged forward and abandoned my shield with Nash still inside, as I lunged for a disciple. The blades danced as she blocked, evaded, struggled to keep her guard from breaking.

    The Prophet, perhaps no longer content to hide behind his disciples like a coward and only attack my airway, sauntered closer to the battle. He raised up the spear he had used to kill me.

    Vengeance flowed through my veins.

    A glowing orb mushroomed from the tip of his spear, sparking like electricity. Had he been learning new tricks as well?

    I feigned a strike and then teleported directly behind the Prophet. The twin blades pierced his sides but then stopped like they¡¯d run into a concrete wall.

    He spun and shot the orb at me, but I¡¯d traveled again. This time, right next to a disciple. The orb of power burst against an empty stone wall, splintering it.

    Meanwhile, I looked into the wide eyes of a disciple as I forced a sword between her teeth and out the back of her head.

    The Prophet¡¯s attack that threatened to strangle my airway had weakened. I could see the fear in his eyes from here as he raised his spear again.

    ¡°You truly are a vile demon!¡± he shouted.

    I gasped in a deep breath, exhausted from the battle, but hungry for the victory.

    Arrows suddenly flew from the shield I still used to protect Nash. The remaining disciple warded them off, but it had stolen her attention, and given me time to summon my strength for a hard wave of energy to knock against her. It flattened her on her back.

    I tried to teleport again, but my energy was dwindling and I remained in place. If I dropped Nash¡¯s shield, I could, but I didn¡¯t want to risk it.

    The Prophet walked closer to me, the fear now looking wild and dangerous. His guards and disciples all lay scattered upon the floor of his temple in pools of their own blood.

    The death did not faze me in that moment though I knew that part would come later.

    For now, I stared into the black eyes of the man who had stolen my life from me. I¡¯d lived through it over and over.

    I tightened my hold on the grip.

    ¡°There is nothing more pathetic than a man who kills only for the sake of power. You¡¯re weak.¡± I raised my chin. ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯ll die today.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re losing energy.¡± His stare cut to Nash and darkened with rage. ¡°And you, traitor, serve only to hold her back. Leave your shield and face me like a man.¡±

    Nash only smirked, obviously not so easily ruffled. But the paleness of his face worried me. His arms shook as he struggled to draw back the bowstring and fire an arrow right at the Prophet. It shattered mid-air, but Nash did not show any sign of discouragement.

    ¡°Kill him, Max.¡± Nash gasped as he notched another arrow, voice as tense as the bowstring. ¡°His blood is yours.¡±

    The arrow flew and I rushed forward just as fast, propelled by the power within me.

    I skidded to a stop, hit by the Prophet¡¯s own power as he raised his hands to me. This time, I focused my power into two points like the tip of a sharp blade and drove them toward the Prophet¡¯s eyes. He screamed as he struggled to fend off my attack.

    Nash fired two more arrows rapidly. The prophet broke one in half before it reached him, but the other caught the edge of his shoulder.

    The overexertion ripped apart every fiber of muscle in my body, but I powered my way forward one step at a time toward the Prophet, until finally he was within reach of the twin blades. I slashed and he blocked with his spear.

    We fought with ruthless hits powered by our energy. But as I blocked a strike from the spear, I noticed that the Prophet managed to tear a hole in the shield protecting Nash.

    The memory of the spear breaking through my defense to thud into Nash¡¯s chest gripped my heart with fear. I focused entirely on fortifying the shield to protect him.

    Bright pain screamed from my side. The Prophet¡¯s spear stabbed deeply into my abdomen.

 69. Blood

    The pain of the Prophet''s spear was one I knew far too well. I didn¡¯t let it slow me down. With Nash protected again, I counterattacked with the spear still in me, and managed to cut at least an inch into the Prophet¡¯s arm before he stopped the blade with his power.

    He ripped the spear free. I crossed the twin blades to slice at his throat, but the spear shot between them, catching the attack.

    ¡°Max!¡±

    An arrow lodged into the Prophet¡¯s chest just below his collarbone. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nash struggle with another arrow and lose it as he suddenly collapsed onto one knee.

    My energy seemed to flow as quickly as the blood from my side. I wouldn¡¯t come back this time if I died. There was no way I would fail.

    I struck. He deflected. He jabbed. I sidestepped. With each passing moment, our powers waned, until we had to rely upon the blades of mere mortals.

    My right blade cut through his forearm. His spear caught my thigh, ripping it open. The pain meant nothing to me. I¡¯d felt so much in my life, had suffered so many times when I looped to my death repeatedly, that I easily ignored the draining of life and power.

    I¡¯d gotten so lost in the battle, I almost didn¡¯t notice that the shield had entirely dissolved. The Prophet¡¯s eyes snapped to Nash.

    I defied all of my instincts and instead of protecting Nash, drove both blades forward into the Prophet¡¯s gut. His eyes opened wide. Though his power had managed to stop the swords from driving in too deeply, both ends had disappeared in his body.

    All my strength went into forcing those blades in deeper.

    But instead of the blow taking the Prophet down, I felt his power suddenly swell.

    Shit.

    I ripped the blades free and jumped between the Prophet and Nash. How could I have forgotten how dangerous it was to kill one of us? The instinct to survive was powerful, especially for a man with his strength.

    Blood oozed from his midsection, from the arrow still sticking out from his chest, and the slash against his forearm. He was dying and he wanted us to die with him.

    I looked up to the stone ceiling above the Prophet''s head. Hope flashed in my chest. If I could surprise him, maybe I could end this before he managed to do any damage.

    My eyelids fluttered as I focused on pressuring the stone ceiling above his head.

    The entire temple trembled with my power. My own desperation fueled me, so I could gather the remnants of my strength. Searing pain carved through every inch of my body like I was dying all over again.

    Rock shook loose and sprinkled all over us. My eyes rolled back in my head. My body went rigid. Power exploded from my body.

    I felt the rock give way. Slabs of carved stone right over the Prophet that dropped on top of him. The weight of it slamming against the ground echoed through the temple.

    The weakness sapped the strength from my muscles and I collapsed, unable to even catch myself. My head whacked against the ground.

    Dark spots popped over my vision. It was quiet.

    Nash¡­ What if I''d hurt him?

    I moaned and turned my head, shutting my eye against the blood that slid down from my forehead.

    Nash sat on his knees, eyes on me. Alive. I''d managed to protect him from myself.

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    The Prophet¡­

    My arms were useless. I focused to strengthen my muscles but the burning pain blinded me for a moment. The wound to my stomach screamed for my attention while the pain overextending myself with my power flooded my whole form.

    Then came the sound of rustling and shifting beneath the pile of rubble.

    Why wasn¡¯t this damn Prophet dead yet? I pushed through the pain, crying out as I rose to my knees.

    A heap of broken stone covered the place where the Prophet had stood. The slab on top was shaking. And then it slid away.

    The Prophet crawled out from the rocks. Blood gushed from his nose and mouth and ears. Covered his hands and torn cloak.

    He dragged himself forward with his inky eyes locked on me.

    Nash pushed to his feet and limply walked for him.

    "Don''t¡­" I managed to rise. Of course, Nash didn''t listen. We both struggled toward the Prophet.

    I grabbed my dagger from my side. Dropped onto the ground before the Prophet.

    He wheezed, clawing at the ground to pull himself away. "S-stop."

    With shaking arms, I lifted the dagger above my head and drove it down for his throat. I sliced through half an inch before the Prophet''s power curled around my fist, threatening to crush my hand.

    The blade thudded to a stop.

    Nash''s long arms wrapped around me, his chest against my back, his blood hot and tarry against me. He clasped my hands and pushed the blade with me, forcing it another quarter inch deeper.

    Nash''s blood flowed down our fingers onto the blade and against the Prophet''s neck.

    All of my strength went into the blade. Nash''s did too. I could feel it in his straining muscles. His shaking body. We both screamed and forced my dagger into the Prophet''s throat.

    A cry flowed out from the Prophet and wrapped around me like a physical force. As his life poured out, he surged in strength, and my throat felt as if it was being crushed by an unseen hand.

    Blood gurgled from his open throat like a fountain.

    I couldn¡¯t let him win.

    Wrenching the dagger free of his power, I drove it right into his mouth, skimming his cheeks. His eyes widened in terror and pain. I kept going until he gagged. Until the tip touched his throat and then I broke his will to plunge it through the back of his neck. With a snap, his power was gone.

    The life fled the Prophet¡¯s eyes.

    He was dead.

    Nash and I fell against one another. His bloody hands reached for my side. ¡°How deep is it?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I clung to him, eyes on the torn skin at his shoulders. ¡°That¡¯s too much blood¨C¡±

    Nash met my eyes, opened his mouth to speak, and then his body went limp against me. His dead weight knocked to the ground.

    ¡°Nash¡­¡± I struggled to pull myself out from under him.

    Listening, I heard his heart beating weakly. He''d just passed out. I had to get him to Piercey.

    Before I could even try to move him, a streak of red flashed across the room.

    A dainty form skidded to a stop in the middle of the room. Fucking Flare. She blasted the stone door with balls of fire. Two more blasts and one side popped free.

    Her eyes caught mine briefly. She''d been here this whole time. Hiding.

    ¡°Coward,¡± I growled.

    I kissed Nash''s face and rushed for the door, gasping at the pain in my side.

    Outside, Piercey still held off the entire army. Sweat doused his shirt. Flare was already dragging herself onto her horse.

    "Max!" Bloodshot eyes found me.

    I stopped and looked at the crowd. I needed to go after her, but first I had to put a stop to this.

    "The Prophet is dead," I said.

    The shouts lowered until it was silent. Shock contorted the faces of the villagers.

    "He''s dead,¡± I said. ¡°His disciples are dead. Stop fighting. We aren¡¯t here to hurt you. But we will if you attack us."

    Weapons lowered. Piercey''s body relaxed. Murmurings broke the silence. Warriors looked to one another. They would likely attack again, but for now, the confusion of having their leadership wiped out would buy us time, especially since most of them probably hated the Prophet.

    "Nash needs help," I said to Piercey.

    He looked to my side. ¡°You do.¡±

    ¡°No time.¡±

    Frustration flooded his face. He grabbed my arm to stop me from leaving and pressed his hand to my wound. It felt like he shoved lava into my gut. I bowed forward, falling against him as I screamed through gritted teeth.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± he said. ¡°This is the best I can do for now. I cauterized your wounds and hit you with as much healing power as I could.¡± His hands closed over my temples. ¡°I can¡¯t give you my power, but I can calm your mind. It¡¯ll help your own recover faster.¡±

    This felt more like Piercey¡¯s power, soothing, instead of painful.

    ¡°Stay here,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll get Nash.¡±

    Piercey ran into the temple and I sprinted for a horse. No one stopped me. The villagers were lost and stunned as I led the horse to the temple door. Piercey carried Nash over his shoulder, trembling from the effort. He must have used up all of his energy too.

    Once we got Nash onto the horse, I handed the reins to Piercey. "Take care of him."

    "Wait. I need to go with you.¡±

    I couldn''t wait though. There was no time and I needed him to save Nash. I focused on Flare, focused on peeling away the distance between us, on ignoring the pain and exhaustion so I could travel. As afraid as I was that I would lack the strength like I had in the temple, I quickly found the worry to be misplaced.

    "Max!" Piercey yelled it in the moment I disappeared.

 70. Vengeance

    I transported directly in front of Flare, eyes narrowed as she skidded to a stop in front of me.

    ¡°You killed me.¡± Hatred oozed from my words and deepened my voice.

    ¡°You already died on earth as a baby." Fear strained her voice. "This life was never yours.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s certainly not yours. I¡¯ve given the Collective all of my memories. It¡¯s over.¡±

    Terror flashed in her eyes, far deeper than even the bright fear that filled her eyes when I''d appeared. ¡°You jeopardized your entire world. They could end everything now. You have to let me help you.¡±

    I snorted. "It''s not that easy to fool me. I don''t need you to save me from the Collective. You want me to save you."

    "You think the Collective cares about this world? No one cares about any of you except for me."

    ¡°We''re done talking. We''ve had three lifetimes of it." I winced as I drew my sword, the wound to my side screaming in pain. "Now have some honor and face me yourself this time."

    Flare stumbled a step backward. She clenched her hands into fists. "You''re playing right into their hands. Doesn''t it strike you as odd that supposedly evolved beings would send you back here to kill me?"

    I swung my sword and smiled when she stepped back again. "I told them I''d give you the chance to surrender." My lips tightened into a snarl. "Maybe I need to be rehabilitated too. Because I''ll make sure you taste death if it''s the last thing I do."

    "Stupid girl." Flames flashed between us, singing my knuckles. "The Collective knows that. You gave them your memories. That isn''t all you gave them, is it? You''re letting them watch this right now. You agreed to let them watch you for the rest of your life if it meant coming back."

    My stomach tightened. "I told you that we''re done talking."

    "You''re not the only part of the experiment. Your world isn''t." Pain flooded Flare''s eyes. "It''s me. I''m part of the experiment. I should have seen it sooner. That''s the only reason the Collective would let you come back here when they knew you''d kill me. So they can finish monitoring what they started."

    I lowered my sword slightly.

    "Don''t you see, Max? The lack of safeguards to keep me from taking too much power in this world has nothing to do with my society being so peaceful it seems unnecessary. They wanted to see what would happen, so that when they implement interventions in the physical world, they already know how supervisors will act." She laughed bitterly and hung her head. "It isn''t that I never considered it. I just never knew they''d want data on my behavior so badly that they''d send death to me."

    "You brought death upon yourself."

    ¡°The Collective knew what you would do when they sent you here. This is a sanctioned killing.¡±

    My muscles ached as I wrenched my sword back up. "It doesn''t matter to me if the Collective is just as screwed up as you are. That''s a battle for another lifetime. Today, my fight is for my world to be free of your influence. To be free to choose its own path."

    "Free to destroy itself like every other world out there. You''re killing your only hope for salvation."

    Her claims itched at the back of my mind. Was I wrong to let the Collective watch over my life like this? It had played into their hands if they wanted to observe Dr. Henderson''s behavior until the end. Still, if that was the cost of freedom, I would pay it. I couldn''t stop them from shutting down our world if they had tricked me and planned to do it. But I could kill this miserable woman standing before me.

    I could kill her and I would.

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    I screamed and lunged. Snapped my blade like a cobra''s bite.

    Flare disappeared just as the tip nicked her side.

    Instinctively, I locked onto her, and threw myself through space-time, latched onto this thread that had always connected us through these lives. I was as entangled with her as I was with Nash and the eclipse. It was time to accept that and seize that awful bond.

    We appeared on a hillside I didn''t recognize. Vanished and then stood atop a shore with lapping waves. Fear emanated like heat from Flare as I followed her each time she traveled and seamlessly landed with her. Any weakness I¡¯d felt before burned up in the raging inferno within me.

    The world around us peeled away and blurred as we sped through distances I could scarcely imagine. We landed on hard rock. Grassy plains. Soft flowers. Thick mud and dry desert ground.

    I managed to lock my arm around Flare''s throat before she took off again and we landed in front of the Mountain of the Gods as I aimed the sword for the tender of her throat.

    "Hold still." I tightened my hold. "I might slip if you don''t."

    Her trembling hands grasped my arm. "We could agree this time." Tears spilled down her face and against my skin. "We both love this world. We work together this time."

    "No." I whispered in her ear. "This time, you die."

    "Max¨C"

    "You helped the Prophet of the Valley, even when he tortured and slaughtered his own people. You manipulated Piercey and me when we were only children. Reset our world to try to get your way." I ground my teeth. "You stole little Elsie. You had me killed." My nails dug into her shoulder. "You locked the door to the after-life and I know you were never going to let us through. You claimed this world as your own."

    "I am the only one who can ease the suffering of this world."

    "You''re not the medicine we need." I expected her flames to burn against me, but they never did. Flare knew she''d been beat. I''d endure any pain to kill her. No matter where she ran, I''d follow. This was inescapable and I reveled in the joy of knowing that she couldn''t deny it. "You''ve damned yourself to hell. I''ll gladly damn myself as well to end you."

    "I''ll make sure everyone learns about what the Collective has done." Her voice raised, reaching beyond me to the ones who watched. "If I''m tainted, then you''re evil incarnate. Her blade is yours. Any blood shed here is shed by the Collective."

    "My world, my justice." I ripped my blade against her throat when she vanished from my grasp. "Damn it!"

    I reached for her with my power and landed in the all-white room, facing Dr. Drake. Her sad eyes stared into my own. Dr. Henderson stood beside her.

    How naive to think she''d accepted the inevitability of her defeat. She was only feigning helplessness until she could decide on her next move. I wouldn''t let her escape so easily. "You can''t take this from me." I spoke to Dr. Drake but raised my sword up toward Dr. Henderson. "She has blood on her hands. My blood and the blood of my people. The blood of lives stolen and banished even from memory.¡±

    Dr. Henderson clutched Dr. Drake''s slender arm and ripped the other woman in front of her. "Stop her."

    "She can''t." I snarled. "This isn''t her world. What power does she have here?"

    "Max, please." Dr. Drake reached a gentle hand out to me.

    I wouldn''t be tempted by her grace and softness. Vengeance ran through my veins. "Do you know how many times I''ve died? It has haunted me every day of my life. Then, for her to threaten the people I love¡­"

    "We need to make peace with each other." Dr. Henderson dared to speak. "One day we''ll both be out of this world and in the rest of society. We must find peace."

    ¡°My blade will make peace with you.¡± I tilted my head. ¡°In this world, in my world, you answer to me because the people I love are still here.¡±

    "Max." Dr. Henderson lifted her hand. "Think about what you''re doing. The Collective is watching."

    "Let them see."

    Dr. Drake''s voice broke through, clear and calm. "If you cede control, Dr. Henderson, you won''t be here any longer, and she won''t be able to hurt you."

    "Don''t you dare run from me!" I ran forward and slid behind both women. Grabbed a handful of Dr. Henderson''s hair to rip her away from Dr. Drake. She shrieked.

    "Stop it, Max!" Dr. Drake''s voice commanded attention, but nothing could dissuade me now. "Dr. Henderson, listen to me. I''m authorized to negotiate. Instead of rehabilitation, you can heal in the after-life under my supervision, but only if you leave peacefully."

    The hazel of Dr. Henderson''s eyes erupted into red and a ball of fire slammed into my gut. I skidded back across the floor.

    The smell of fire burned my sinuses. Flames danced from Flare''s hands. "This is my world. I''m not going anywhere."

    Another ball of flames erupted from her hands. White snapped behind it. The walls closed in on me, trapping me. The fire swelled in the tiny space and bit into every inch of my body.

    I growled and focused on Flare. Appeared so close to her that I knocked her back a step.

    Dr. Drake shouted for us to stop and suddenly ran for us. I lifted my hand and pushed her back with my power so she couldn''t come closer. I wasn''t sure that we could even hurt her, but I wouldn''t take the chance.

    Fire erupted around Flare, spreading to the edges of the room, licking the walls, and quickly the ceiling. I had to focus to keep it from consuming me and Dr. Drake.

    This was the only way it ever could have ended between us.

 71. Reckoning

    I roared and swung my sword for Flare. Explosions erupted in the air between us. Knocked me back before I could reach her. Little sparks of fire popped like confetti.

    Flare had plenty of tricks, but she didn¡¯t know how to fight. Not like I did.

    Despite how my legs shook with exhaustion and my side screamed in pain, I stomped forward for her again. Flames shot against me, breaking through my defense. My clothes sizzled. I cried out but didn''t let it stop me, even as fire burned away the flesh on my blade hand.

    Flare was panicked. Terrified. I saw it in her eyes. ¡°Barbarian!¡± Flare screamed.

    I lunged, driven by a far worse pain. By Nash¡¯s pained eyes when I returned to him and he feared the hope of believing it was true. My friends choking under the Prophet¡¯s power. Elsie listless in Flare¡¯s arms.

    A hundred times that I died beneath the eclipse.

    I reached out and grabbed Flare''s throat with my flaming hand. She screamed from her own fire.

    Then she vanished from my grasp and I followed her without hesitation, gasping when we both slammed into a wall. The teleportation hadn¡¯t worked. Dr. Drake must have trapped her in the White Room. It had been a mistake for Flare to travel here.

    Grinning, I twisted her hair around my fist and slammed her face into the wall so hard it painted the white red. Flare tried again to transport away from me, but I followed, still gripping her hair. Blood gushed from her nose as she cried.

    ¡°Let me go,¡± she cried. ¡°Enough.¡±

    Pathetic.

    ¡°When did you show us mercy?¡±

    Lifting my blade, I looked into Flare¡¯s eyes and drove it straight into her heart. I could hear her ribs crack and separate from the force of the sword and felt the resistance of her body against my weapon. With a finale thrust, I forced it clear through her chest and out her back. The flames died and fizzled. The smoke burning my sinuses drifted up and curled against the ceiling.

    Complete shock dropped Flare¡¯s jaw. Had she expected me to spare her?

    ¡°This isn¡¯t your world anymore,¡± I said. The red faded until I stared into the hazel ones of Dr. Henderson one final time. Flare and the god melted into one. Terror and anguish warred in her stare. ¡°If you hurt anyone ever again, I¡¯ll come for you in the next life.¡±

    One last flutter of fear flickered in her eyes, like a reckoning for all that she¡¯d done. Maybe a recognition that she¡¯d lost. Appreciation that after three lives, I¡¯d destroyed her.

    And then she was nothing, nothing but an empty body.

    I had killed Flare and banished Dr. Henderson from this world.

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    <hr>

    Dr. Henderson''s body was gone. It had vanished. Like she¡¯d never been here.

    Dr. Drake sat down in a white chair, watching me with knowing eyes, but saying nothing.

    ¡°I accept the consequences of my actions,¡± I said. The thrill of victory kept the adrenaline pumping through my body, or surely my wounds would have taken away all my strength. ¡°Thank you and the Collective for giving me the chance to help my people.¡±

    The other woman averted her eyes with her jaw bunched. ¡°Please, don¡¯t thank me.¡±

    I almost asked her if she truly had believed I would not seek justice for all Dr. Henderson had done. ¡°You agree with her. You think it¡¯s barbaric.¡± Sliding my hand over my wounded side, I eased forward. ¡°It can¡¯t be left to your people to deal with her when you created this problem. She ruled over my world like a god. I have no regrets for what I did. Dr. Henderson chose a life of violence. She needed to taste her own blood for once.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t pretend it wasn¡¯t for revenge.¡±

    ¡°Of course it was revenge. But it was more than that. She needed to die by my blade. Now she knows the fear of death. She knows the pain of retribution by those she lorded over.¡±

    Dr. Drake was quiet for several seconds before meeting my stare once more. ¡°I entered so many simulations and live full lives in them. Do you think I¡¯ve never wanted revenge? Or that I¡¯ve never sought it? Do you think I¡¯ve never been hurt or lorded over?¡± The pain in her eye testified to what she¡¯d experienced. ¡°This is not the way to handle it.¡±

    ¡°It is in this life. Maybe one day when I¡¯ve lived as long as you, I¡¯ll be different. This is my journey and I needed to come to this place. Let go of what you can¡¯t change.¡±

    ¡°Here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking.¡± Her tone was sharper than usual.

    ¡°Yes,¡± I said when she didn¡¯t continue.

    ¡°You¡¯ve lived a hard life. These are unusual circumstances you¡¯re living in. You should live through a few extra lives before you try joining society.¡±

    ¡°Seems fair.¡± I hoped beyond hope that was my punishment for killing Flare. It was no small one. Still, it was worth it. I wasn¡¯t yet beyond revenge and I needed Flare to experience the pain she¡¯d caused.

    ¡°Don¡¯t make me regret putting my faith in you.¡±

    ¡°You still have it?¡±

    ¡°I would have done the same once. This is the world you live in. I just don¡¯t want you to have suffer through a life of vengeance.¡±

    I rose and took her hand, looking hard into her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re what I¡¯ve been looking for beyond this door my whole life. I¡¯ll never forget that. From here on out, I¡¯ll do my best to honor what you¡¯ve done for us. I swear it.¡±

    Her expression softened. ¡°Be wise, Max. It''s hard to fault you when an evolved woman attacked you, but I can''t pretend that I''m not disappointed.¡±

    "My world is free of Dr. Henderson and Flare. I guess it takes a demon to kill a god. And I can''t apologize for that."

    Dr. Drake sighed and rose. "I''ll be checking in on you from time to time. No one will have power over your world any longer, however. We''ll watch. That''s all."

    "What about other worlds where experiments are happening?"

    "The council voted on the same for them. We''ve identified other supervisors who devolved like Dr. Henderson. We''re trying to remedy the situation."

    Dr. Henderson''s accusation buzzed in my mind again. "Is what she said true? Did the Collective study the supervisors as well?" I couldn''t stand the thought of fighting more gods, but I couldn''t pretend that Dr. Henderson was the only issue. The Collective had created these experiments. What if they had devolved too? Fear trickled down my spine.

    Dr. Drake lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "I don''t have access to information like that."

    "What do you believe, though?"

    With a pause, her voice softened. "I believe we all need to investigate ourselves, especially the Collective, and that we cannot hope to help young worlds as long as we''re willing to hurt simulated ones."

    I nodded and smiled. "You''ll fight for us until I make it to your world, won''t you?"

    She took my cheek. "I will. Promise me one thing, young soul."

    I swallowed hard. "What?"

    "Let the demon die today." Her voice soothed the irritated places in my soul. "Become who you were born to be."

 72. Future Battles

    The travel back to Nash and Piercey drained my remaining energy. As soon as I landed in the path of the horse, my knees buckled, and I collapsed onto the ground.

    Piercey had healed Nash enough for him to regain consciousness, but that effort had taxed my friend when he¡¯d already used so much energy. They both climbed off the horse and rushed for me, looking ready to also fall over.

    ¡°Max.¡± Nash took my face and searched for new injuries. ¡°Is it¡ª¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± A weary smile crawled onto my face as tears filled my eyes. ¡°Flare is gone. I killed her and Dr. Henderson will never be allowed back in.¡±

    He drew me close and held me tight. ¡°I was scared I would lose you again.¡±

    I looked over his shoulder at my old friend. ¡°Do you hate me for killing her?¡±

    Piercey glanced down, his face looking sour. ¡°I hate myself¡­¡± He looked at me again with great pain in his eyes. ¡°Because I¡¯m happy you killed her after she stole you from us.¡±

    Nash and I both smiled appreciatively at him.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the Sacred School. The kids need to know I¡¯m alive.¡± I touched my side, really feeling the wound now that my adrenaline was waning. ¡°Piercey do you have any strength left? I need help getting us back.¡±

    Piercey managed to help me enough that I could get all three of us back to the Sacred School, but we all immediately fell onto a bench in the hall.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we should see Elsie or Rune while we¡¯re like this.¡± Nash and I rested against one another. ¡°But I don¡¯t want to wait.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll heal you both more soon,¡± Piercey said.¡±

    "You¡¯re exhausted." Nash¡¯s voice was tense. "You held off the entire town and then you started healing me as we fled. The kids will be fine. They have to understand the way of things."

    ¡°I died. They don¡¯t need to be scared of anyone else dying.¡±

    ¡°They need to know you¡¯re alive.¡±

    I swallowed hard and finally nodded. "But look at yourself." I caught a tattered piece of Nash¡¯s shirt, crusted with blood. "You want her to see you like this? We should cover the blood."

    "Fine. You¡¯re right."

    The holes all over his shoulders from the claws twisted my gut. As soon as we found the strength to stand, we stopped by our room to grab a blanket for each of us and then walked for the courtyard, where Trish waited with Elsie.

    My legs felt numb as we reached the door, until we opened it to sunlight, and I saw her small form. Energy rushed through me.

    A little purple skirt swayed with the breeze. Curls bobbed with each tentative step forward. Big, beautiful brown eyes stared wide at me in shock.

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    Elsie drew closer slowly. Slowly, until she stopped in her tracks, tears starting. And then she dashed across the grass with her fists pumping and sobs shaking her high-pitched voice.

    I dropped to my knees and caught her in my arms, holding her so tight against me.

    ¡°Max,¡± she sobbed.

    I kissed her face and rocked her. ¡°I¡¯m here, Elsie. I¡¯m here.¡±

    Lifting her, I turned to Nash, and slid an arm around him, so Elsie rested between us both. She cried and cried until it all turned to sniffles. Her eyes slid closed as she fell asleep in my arms, with her head against her father. Soon, I would find Rune, and set his world right as well. But for this moment, I held Elsie, focused on the little girl who I had never expected to have in my life.

    I looked up into Nash¡¯s eyes, understanding fully in that moment that I wasn¡¯t who I once was, and I now held what I¡¯d once run from, and how beautiful and dangerous that all was. Because I¡¯d never had so much to lose.

    <hr>

    Dusty morning light bathed the green field before us, filtering through the dirt picked up by the wind. It hadn¡¯t rained in the two weeks since we killed the Prophet and the people called it a bad omen.

    Nash slid his arm around me, unable to draw me too close because of my bow. ¡°Ready?¡±

    ¡°You know I always am.¡± Within a few days time, I expected blood to stain this untainted field. Two armies were close to colliding and I¡¯d been traveling with Nash to scout out enemy territory and locations we might use for battle or ambush. "The Valley is in chaos. War doesn¡¯t wait on us to be ready.¡±

    ¡°We wiped out the Valley¡¯s leadership. We knew it would be a rough transition.¡±

    ¡°I understand why Piercey wants to vote on such major decisions. It¡¯s too much power for us to have.¡±

    ¡°Does that mean your days of overthrowing Prophets and gods are over?¡±

    I chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s a big commitment. The Flatlander Prophet claims that he should inherit the Valley now that our Prophet is dead. Piercey and his graduates are preventing anyone from taking charge, but we¡¯ll need a leader soon. I hope it can be someone without power. I hope it can be the first step toward a different way of life.¡±

    ¡°Piercey loves voting. Perhaps we¡¯ll vote for someone.¡±

    My brow raised. ¡°Our people vote in blood. It¡¯s hard to change so quickly. We did this. We¡¯ll have to help stabilize the region. It¡¯ll be the kind of war we¡¯ve never fought, but we¡¯ll win.¡±

    ¡°We will.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Drake wants to be soon too. The gods want to hear from me again. They want to start making this right.¡±

    ¡°Do you think they will?¡±

    I paused. ¡°It sounds foolish to place hope in the people who created the problems we¡¯re trying to solve.¡±

    ¡°Dr. Henderson didn¡¯t have that much power compared to the Collective. They easily locked her out of the world once you killed her.¡±

    The words felt ominous. ¡°If others are corrupted, they¡¯ll be harder to deal with. Who knows what is happening to other simulated worlds like ours.¡±

    We looked into each other¡¯s eyes until I thought I could see straight through to his soul.

    ¡°We¡¯ll fight together,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ll fight in every life we live and every world we call our own.¡±

    ¡°Yes. I want to believe this is the beginning of peace, but Dr. Henderson is like our world. A symptom of a bigger problem.¡±

    ¡°We have each other, though.¡± He kissed one side of my face. The other. Voice husky. ¡°Always.¡±

    My fingers crawled along his whiskered cheek, up into his hair. ¡°No matter how many lives we live.¡±

    He grinned. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to Leif and Wren.¡±

    I took his hand and teleported both of us back to our friends. Leif caught my wrist as soon as I appeared and whispered quietly. ¡°Follow me. We have a target. Flatlanders are up ahead and we¡¯re going after one of their demons.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll shield you,¡± I said, heat already warming my palms as I listened for heartbeats ahead. The woods were crawling with enemies. I had to continue honing my power until I could protect this valley from everyone.

    These were the battles I had no doubt we could fight. What came next, now that had made it hard to sleep at night.

    No matter what though, I wouldn¡¯t let myself slip away from this life and the people I loved ever again.

    This was my world. I would protect it.

 73. Epilogue 1

    Epilogue 1

    None of this was real. But life in my world had taught me none of that really mattered.

    Even now that so much time had passed and everyone had reached the after-life, I still would think about what Dr. Henderson had done to my world, my people, and to me. I could feel the blade cutting through her chest when I killed her. Would I do the same today? Was I still that same girl I had been?

    I smirked and chuckled to myself.

    Life was a strange thing. I never would have thought that I could lose track of years, but I had, and I didn¡¯t care to figure out how many had slipped away from me in the after-life. So much had happened in our world before we passed on. Peace had been a nice change in this new realm. Although, I only wanted peace for so long when there was so much work to be done.

    Nash held my hand as we walked through the yellow meadow for the gathering of all those we loved. It still felt strange that they didn''t have all their memories like we did, but I had come to accept it. At least Nash and I remembered everything from our life. It¡¯d been difficult waiting for Nash to regain his memories, but it was worth it. We¡¯d fought so many battles. He deserved the peace I had never had. The peace of not remembering until he was ready. I was just thankful it didn¡¯t take him long to find me again.

    As we approached our friends, Dr. Drake met us and took our hands. ¡°It¡¯s the day. How do you feel?¡±

    ¡°Nervous,¡± I said.

    ¡°I was nervous my first time too.¡±

    Leif and Wren came to my side while I looked across the field for the kids. Rune picked flowers with his youngest daughter and smiled at me when I waved. Our lives had become full of so many people. ¡°Good luck,¡± Wren said and looped her arm through mine. ¡°I hope you enjoy your new job.¡±

    ¡°You better,¡± Leif said. His eyes looked deeper. Like maybe he realized I was holding something back from him but didn¡¯t want to say in front of Wren. Even though they remembered everyone they loved now, they remembered little about our life so far.

    ¡°Things tend to be pretty enjoyable in the after-life. I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll like it just fine.¡± I watched Nash as he slid his arm around Elsie.

    Leif flicked my arm. ¡°We should do some sparring before you go.¡±

    I grinned. That was something I would have to do. But first I made my rounds until I found my oldest friend sitting on a bench on his own, looking so content to watch everyone. Piercey had always been an old soul. His weathered fingers laced over his knee as he watched everyone in the meadow. We could be whatever version of ourselves we wanted to be here. A person¡¯s appearance often changed naturally depending on who they were with. Lovers might be young in one moment like when they first met and then the next middle-aged with their adult children. People could even become who they never had the chance to be, like children who died young, but found their adult forms here in the after-life.

    Piercey was always the same though. I wasn¡¯t surprised that he chose this version of himself, this older and wiser man.

    ¡°Hello, friend.¡± I sat down beside him.

    He smiled at me, the wrinkles of so many past smiles deepening. ¡°Max.¡±

    Like me, Piercey never lost his memories. We were potential candidates, but we hadn''t chosen to continue toward enlightenment as a team. After all we''d been through, we deserved to choose our own path. And he loved it here in the after-life. All he¡¯d ever wanted was peace. Now he had it.

    ¡°You¡¯re going off to battle.¡± Piercey¡¯s eyes glimmered.

    ¡°Not quite.¡±

    ¡°Not like the old days, but still, a battle.¡±

    I watched him for a moment. ¡°Do you wish I wouldn¡¯t?¡±

    ¡°No, Max. This is who you are. You could never stay here and be content, not until everywhere is as perfect as it is here. Neither could Nash.¡± He smiled. ¡°You¡¯re destined to do this together.¡±

    My chest softened. Buried beneath the years, my childhood friend still remained. ¡°I guess so.¡±

    ¡°Visit me when you¡¯re done.¡±

    ¡°I will, Piercey.¡±

    We squeezed one another¡¯s hands and smiled. I walked to the top of the hill where Nash sat with all of our people. I couldn¡¯t blame anyone for staying here forever. It¡¯d been all I wanted before, to be with the people I loved and never have to say goodbye.

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    But it was that yearning, that heartbreak we¡¯d suffered in our world, that drove me to continue working my way to the council. Those who remembered were responsible to carry all that we had learned and suffered so younger souls could find comfort. One day, Nash and I would be ready to return to our family, for good. Or they would come out into society and live with us there. One day, we would all be together, and there would be no end. Maybe I would even let myself forget about the world we¡¯d left behind. Maybe I¡¯d let myself have the peace that Piercey so loved.

    For now, I wanted to remember what happened, no matter how badly some memories hurt.

    Surrounded by everyone we had ever loved, the land around us shifted into the blue of the ocean. Our lives flowed into one, like these gentle waters. Like our memories became one, looking like one, despite each droplet still being its own. Somehow, despite all I¡¯d already experienced, I knew there was so much left for me to discover.

    ¡°We¡¯ll be back soon,¡± I said to our family. To our little village. To our world. Leif and Wren nodded at me with their smiles gentle.

    <hr>

    My heart pounded as I settled back on the white table.

    ¡°You¡¯ve waited a long time for this, Max,¡± Dr. Drake said. ¡°You two are ready.¡±

    I reached my hand out. Nash took it in a firm grasp.

    My voice came out in a hushed breath. "I love you Nash." The words mean lifetimes worth.

    "I love you, Max."

    Then we closed our eyes and fell into a deep sleep, deep in another world.

    Being born was so much like dying. A whole world in your heart and then suddenly a new one.

    I¡¯d held onto Nash''s hand in the white room so tight that I felt it every time something squeezed my hand after. First it was his, and then I was squeezing my own in the warmth of the womb. Squeezing my mother''s pinky from the crib. Squeezing the sticky fingers of the kid down the road.

    Squeezing the handlebars of my bike as I sped down the road with the wind whipping my hair. And there I was. The autumn night crackled with the croaking of frogs. Coolness tickled my bare knees. Riding alone on the street, I wondered, for the first time, what the world was like before I''d been born into it. How it would be when I died.

    My head fell back so the streetlights burned my eyes. Beyond them, the gaping black night stared back. The bike flew out from under me like someone had jerked it. In the moment before everything flashed impossibly fast, I felt myself slip, like I''d left the neighborhood.

    Then the ground ripped across my body and I slammed onto my side.

    I groaned, afraid to move and see how bad it was. My skin burned all down my left arm and leg.

    "You trashed that mailbox."

    I turned at the voice.

    A boy held the splintered hunk of a mailbox post. A laugh tinged his voice, bubbling beneath the concern. "You okay?"

    I glanced down. My skin was raw on my arm and my knee bloody. "Fine."

    "Here." He threw down the post and offered his hand.

    I pushed it away and scowled. "I don''t need some boy coming to my rescue." Wincing, I stood up, gasping at the burn in my knee. "I can take care of myself."

    Standing now, I met amber eyes. My stomach tightened and the burning in my knee seemed to have moved to my belly.

    "That''s a stupid thing to say." He arched one eyebrow. "Helping you up doesn''t mean you''re helpless. My dad says people who can''t take help are insecure."

    The burning erupted in flames of fury. "Shut your mouth or I''ll shut it for you."

    "Oh yeah?" He looked down. Grass and dirt stained my clothes. "Good luck catching me."

    He pivoted and took off in a full sprint. I ran hard after him.

    I caught him, of course. And the next time he caught me. If time had moved so fast before that, so instantly that I didn''t know it existed, it crawled through falls and winters and springs and glorious summers. It crawled until I''d come to expect that. Come to expect I''d never lose out on time to chase the boy who''d dared to help me when I fell.

    When the slipping started and time raced faster than I could catch it, I understood, actually understood, that one day I would die. Those questions from the autumn night slipped back into my mind as I watched an older woman move down the aisle of the courtroom on her walker. I was twenty-five, and for the first time, for no reason in particular, I grasped that I wouldn''t be here forever.

    Harsh lights glared overhead as the woman made it onto the stand.

    He stood up now, catching my eyes with the stare that could snap back time in an instant. He wore his curls differently in court. I wanted to pluck them so they¡¯d fall over his eyes the way I liked but he looked good like this too. Especially as he smirked at me now and then shifted his stare to his witness.

    The arrogance.

    We''d fought our whole lives and we loved it. It was no wonder we wound up fighting each other in court. Even though I''d complained he copied me when he started law school a year after I did, it felt like fate. Even so, I didn¡¯t have time for him and his dimpled smile. If I lost my focus this early in my career, I¡¯d be done for.

    I¡¯d been a fool then, though. I wished I could say I¡¯d never been a fool again, but it wasn¡¯t long after that when I realized I didn¡¯t have the time to not be with him. Life was too fleeting. Time passed so quickly again. Even so it was a long time, a very long time, filled to the brim with wonder and heartbreak, before I felt myself slip far, far away from that life.

    I awoke with a hand squeezing mine so tightly. I awoke in a haze, aware only that this had happened before, that we had never let go, that this wouldn''t be the last time either.

    As the memories slipped back in and I let my head fall to the side to look into Nash''s amber eyes, I squeezed him tighter. "Good morning," I whispered.

    He gazed at me like he had in the very long dream we''d just dreamt, how he gazed at me every night as we went to bed, and as we opened our eyes in the morning; like he had back in our first world when we fought our way through line after line of warriors; like he had when we sat with our family before entering this simulated life.

    I figured no matter how many lives we lived, we''d always have each other.

    Dr. Drake helped me up and I let her.

    "It''s not too late to go to back to the after-life," she said.

    I didn''t need to think about it, not after everything that had happened and that we¡¯d learned. My world¡ªmy people¡ªhad shifted places, but it was still mine to protect. "Bliss is fine, but I''d rather clean this place up. We have a lot more lives to live before we''re ready to do that."

    It''d be the hardest battle I ever fought. That we''d ever fought.

 74. Summer Comes

    The midnight sun cast twilight over the small village at the western edge of the valley, where the darkness of winter had ruled its streets the first time I had visited almost six months ago.

    Summer had come and with it brought the anniversary of the day when I had forever changed the valley by killing the Prophet.

    Now I stood in the dim space between two houses in the village I''d teleported to. Before I had even registered my surroundings, the wailing had hit me like a fist to the gut. Wailing and shrieks. I''d received the alert of a demon attacking here only a few minutes before. Though I''d arrived quickly, I knew I was too late by the guttural sobs I heard.

    The demon had already taken life. I did not need to see the dead to know it. The cries of those left behind testified to yet another loss I could not prevent.

    We needed to find a way for the people to warn us more quickly of attacks. Piercey had upgraded our neural connection so that we could now receive alerts from the computer in the White Room and we''d installed an alarm system in all of the villages we protected. But to call for us, someone had to physically hit the large button attached to a pole at the center of the village since power was required to sync with our neural network. As imperfect as the system was, it did allow for me to quickly help when the alert came. This had worried Piercey. He told me no one could battle without rest and wanted me to shut down the alerts at times to have peace. How could I?

    A demon was attacking a village I''d sworn to protect.

    I could never risk missing a threat like this, even though they happened infrequently now. Over the last year, those with power had learned the hard way what happened to anyone who attacked the people I called my own. With chaos descending over the valley after I killed the Prophet, it was my responsibility to ensure innocent families could live peacefully. Hundreds of villages and remote farmers had happily taken my offer to look out for them, and I''d made good on my promises. So what fool of a demon had dared to cross me? Everyone in Skia Hellig knew I guarded these people.

    I closed my eyes and searched for the feel of the demon''s power. He must have hidden himself when he felt me arrive. It was the downside of my teleportation powers. The energy that released when I appeared was like a small explosion. There was no hiding it.

    Still, I would find him. Not only had he crossed into territory under my protection, but he had interrupted an important battle. Most days had been like this since I killed the Prophet. Eskel the Ruthless had lorded over his piece of Skia Hellig and brought terror to those who dared to defy him. There had been order in his cruelty, however. His death had brought with it the swift dissolution of that unjust but absolute authority.

    For every person who wept with joy for their freedom, there was another whose sudden loss of security heaped on my shoulders like I alone carried the weight of the valley''s fight for survival. We remained at war and peace felt as impossible to grasp as the sea, but we had managed to put a stop to some of the worst consequences of killing the Prophet.

    Demons who had spent the last decade avoiding the valley or hiding from the Prophet who had sworn to kill them had flooded the villages. In the first few months of this war, I''d spent day after day teleporting from one village to the next to crush the surge of demon attacks. Piercey and his graduates had helped, but much of it had fallen to me since only I had mastered the manipulation of space-time.

    Demons and disciples alike who craved power had come to fear my name very quickly. Prophets who eyed this land saw the lengths we would go to in order to protect our people.

    We had warred for every semblance of security the valley now had. I only wished that we had accomplished more.

    While countless people with power had entered the valley over the past year looking to take the Prophet''s place, the greatest threats came from the organized and powerful armies of Prophets who already held power in the surrounding regions. It had been a tireless effort to keep those Prophets at bay while also defending from the countless attacks by rogue demons. Recently, the Flatlander Prophet and his disciples had taken new ground and we were in the middle of trying to push them back. Even though Piercey had told me that he would watch over Nash and that our allies could manage without me, I absolutely hated leaving them. But I was the only one who could make it to this village in time to stop the demon. I had to trust my comrades to fight without me.

    "Where is he?" I shouted, storming through the gap between two small houses to enter a larger dirt road.

    "Eclipse!" A woman I had never seen shrieked my name. "She came! We''re saved."

    "This way!" A man pointed to the east. "Hurry."

    I followed the directions of the villagers until I felt a flicker of power, no more noticeable than the warmth of burning embers. Twisting, I faced the door of a home and raised my palm just as it slammed open.

    The man who jumped out now swelled with power, enough that I was surprised I didn''t recognize him. Many demons had shown their faces in this past year. I thought I''d come to know all those worth remembering.

    Had he traveled from faraway lands?

    A powerful strike of wind erupted against me. I''d raised a shield, but it still shoved me back toward the house behind me.

    The demon had sprang forward while I was still sliding across the dirt. He raised a sword above his head with both hands while wind swirled about the blade in a dark twist of dirt, like a small tornado.

    I might have enjoyed his tricks if he hadn''t interrupted my battle and hurt the people of this village. As it was, he didn''t deserve for me to feel impressed, and I didn''t have time to waste fighting him. This needed to end fast.

    As easily as drawing my bow from my back, I gathered my power into one that materialized in my hands now, a glowing and at times translucent green bow made of my power. With a careful aim, I pulled back like I held a real bow string and shot an arrow of energy through the air. It pierced the cyclone surrounding his blade right as the tip of the sword struck my shield. The arrow skidded across his blade and ripped open the meaty flesh of his palm. The shot scattered his power, killing the wind. He screamed as he pulled his hurt hand from the hilt of his sword, holding it now with only his left one.

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    Over the past year, I''d trained so much with my power bow that it functioned exactly the same as my favorite physical one. Channeling my energy into such a familiar method of fighting enhanced my attacks. I could now fight on instinct with it. And these arrows were far more effective than that of wood and iron.

    As for a power blade, that effort had not been as successful. I still was learning to create and wield swords made from energy. But that didn''t mean I couldn''t slay an enemy with one. I just was not yet satisfied with the performance.

    There was no need for a blade with this man, though. I ripped him closer by my power so his face slammed against my shield and his body trembled with exertion as he tried to escape.

    "Who are you?" I shoved him back and rammed him against the shield again. The energy sparked from the impact. "What do you want with this village?"

    When he didn''t answer I raised my energy bow up once again and aimed an arrow directly at his throat. He struggled for breath as he stared at me, free of my hold on him now. Blood trickled from his nose.

    "I don''t answer to you," he said.

    "You do when I hold my life in your hands."

    "You alone decide my fate? How are you any better than the Prophet then?"

    The energy coursing through my bow and arrow pulsed at the anger tightening my chest.

    His nostrils twitched. "This village was safe before you came along, you know."

    My eyes narrowed. "No. It was safe until you showed up and killed an innocent man. Don''t blame me for your sins."

    "You know it wouldn''t have happened if Eskel still reigned. You know that to keep the demons out, you''ll have to become him. Silencing me with your bow will not change the truth."

    I shifted my aim and shot the energy through the base of his ribs on the left side. Swiftly, I drew another arrow with my power and fired on his thigh. He collapsed on the ground as the green arrows sizzled with fiery energy. When I released the arrows and they disappeared, blood gushed from the wounds. His scream echoed through the night.

    "You think it''s your silence I want?" I loomed over him now and placed the heel of my boot to his throat. "Let the people hear your screams. Let the valley hear what happens to those who take innocent life."

    "You''re¡­ no¡­ better¡­"

    "I don''t care what I am. You''re banished from this valley. Return and we will know."

    I covered his eyes with my hand as the code Piercey had created rolled through my mind. It would tag this demon''s neural implant so we could track him and I could take action immediately if he returned. Part of me believed it was better to just kill him, but I already had so much power. I did not want the power to unilaterally sentence anyone to death. If I had to kill to protect the valley, I had no qualms. But I''d stopped this man while his heart still beat.

    Perhaps, Piecey had gotten too deep into my mind when we connected. Even though a simple part of me said that those who killed should be killed, I was relieved to have an alternative.

    "What are you doing?" His voice shook with fear.

    Without answering, I transported both of us to the coast, far away from the closest village to a small shack with enough supplies for him to journey somewhere else.

    "This is the only mercy I will ever show you." I held his eyes. "Stay away from my people or you will die. If you even take one step into the valley, I will immediately travel to you and crush you."

    He trembled now, pale from blood loss and fear. "It''s really true. You must have stolen the power of the sun during the last eclipse."

    "I''m going to check on you. There is nowhere far enough away from me for you to run. If you continue to hurt the innocent, I''ll kill you."

    By his wide eyes, I knew he believed me.

    "Bandage your wounds before you die." I glared into his eyes one final time before returning to the village.

    The family of the slain man crowded around his corpse as they wept. I stood beside the village chief now as I watched. Their cries would echo in my heart forever.

    "I''m sorry," I said. "I was too late."

    "It was me. I didn''t raise the alarm in time."

    "This should never happen."

    He turned to me, the low-hanging sun reflecting as red in his eyes. "You are not a god." Despite the grief in his stare, there was also conviction. "You cannot expect to save us all."

    I couldn''t talk about this. With a stiff dip of my head, I said, "Please give my condolences to the family. I''m needed in battle."

    "Goodbye, Eclipse."

    That name had once been uttered only as a curse or whispered in terror. It had once been rumors of the demon who slayed an entire village. For the first time, some spoke it for a different reason. Plenty still cursed the name, but it was reverence I heard in this man''s voice.

    I wanted to ask him to call me by my name. I was Max the Sharpshooter, not the demon Eclipse. Only a sharpshooter could not make the people of this village feel safe again. They needed Eclipse, no matter how I felt about the name.

    It was for this valley and this world that I''d given all I had to fight against God''s and Prophets alike. If they needed me to be Eclipse, so be it.

    Let Eclipse be the last word uttered by those who threatened my people.

    My heart remained with the grieving family, torn with them, as I returned to the battlefield where my comrades had been warring without me.

    I landed right beside Nash, drawn to him, as always. Sweat slinked down the side of his face as his eyes met mine.

    It was already time to continue battling. I''d transported to the middle of an offensive attack against five demons who charged for us. There was no chance to tell Nash what happened. Even if there had been, it wasn''t necessary. He would know with one look at the grief in my eyes that I''d been too late to save everyone. Just as I knew from the glimpse at him that he''d want to tell me it only mattered that we helped those we could. But there was no time and no need for such things.

    The moment my feet had hit the ground, I''d launched into a sprint for the demons, no longer needing a few seconds to adjust to my surroundings. War pulsed in my heart now. This had become second nature to me.

    I would take back this valley for the innocent just as I''d taken back this world from the gods.

    I aimed my energy bow at a demon when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a familiar form. HIs image came like a flash and then vanished, but I could have sworn I saw Piercey watching me from the right. Except I knew my friend actually stood directly behind us as he always did when he guarded Nash so that they could battle as one. Still, I had to check, and just as I expected, I found him behind us with his palms raised toward Nash. Definitely not at the edge of the battlefield.

    My mind must have been playing tricks on me.

    It unsettled me as I released my first energy arrow and focused on the enemies who rushed at us.

 75. Endless

    The stench of blood grounded me after two successive teleportations.

    I battled against the demons contracted by the Flatlander alongside Nash and Val. Our strategy over this last year had been to immediately reclaim any lost land, no matter how much it cost us. This unyielding approach had been enough to convince some Prophets not to stage any attacks, though our spies constantly sent reports of their plans to do just that.

    The loss the villagers suffered from the demon attack would distract me if I let it. I had to force it from my mind as I fought the demons. It was strange that I often went to war without Leif and Wren now when they''d been my battle companions for so long. Even now, their absence in this fight gave me an empty feeling. If Nash hadn''t been impossible to leave behind, I would have fought without him too. The man was relentless, though. Last year, when we''d fended off the first few waves of invasion efforts, Nash had convinced Piercey to fight with him like they had against the Prophet the first time. There had been no going back after that.

    Nash would not let his lack of power keep him from the front lines of this war, especially not when I would be here fighting.

    I''d been incredibly skeptical of the tactic being worthwhile. But I had to admit now that I was wrong. Piercey and Nash had become so skilled at fighting together that they worked as efficiently as if they shared a neural connection. They were the solutions to each other''s problems. Nash had no power and Piercey was no warrior. Together, they made an incredible team.

    My friend guarded Nash and strengthened each thrust of his blade instantly, as if Nash used the power himself. This solution to their problems had seemed perfect a year ago, only I''d watched it wear on my old friend one battle at a time. A graduate of the Sacred School trained now to take Piercey''s place as Nash''s battle companion, but she was not as skilled yet. It wasn''t a lack of power, but knowledge. Piercey had come to know Nash''s fighting style too well.

    I also still felt nervous for Nash to fight demons when he lacked power. What if they pursued him for vengeance when he wasn''t near one of us? How would he defend himself against one of them? These concerns, of course, could not sway Nash. I couldn''t blame him either. Nothing would stop me from fighting this war.

    We no longer bothered arguing about it, not just because I wouldn''t dishonor Nash by telling him not to battle, but also because the rare times I did ask him to stay behind, he quickly reminded me that we''d killed the Prophet together. Nash refused to let me carry the responsibility and guilt alone.

    Despite my worry for Nash and the heaviness of our duty to the Valley, I did love fighting at his side. We had become as great of a team as Nash and Piercey had.

    A demon hurled a wave of energy at us that I blocked with my shield. Nash, trusting me implicitly to defend against the attack, never hesitated, but instead rushed forward. With the strength of Piercey''s power enhancing his attack, Nash slashed his blades across the demon''s chest. I followed-up with an arrow right into his heart.

    The problem I''d encountered lately was not so much the skill of my enemies or my own lack of progress. I''d continued to hone my power, constantly surpassing what I previously knew to be possible. The issue was that no matter how strong I became, I had my limits. I could only expend so much energy before becoming too fatigued to continue using it. This battle would have been over by now if I had enough strength left to teleport around the field to take my enemies by surprise.

    It took so much power to teleport anywhere, even a few feet away. I needed to reserve enough for emergency transport. That meant fighting the old fashion way, with sword against sword, or my arrows flying through the air.

    Truthfully, the most effective war we fought right now was not the spilling of blood. The political battle would end this war before force did. We needed leadership in the valley so that as we fought off those who tried to invade our land, the people could gain independence and be able to defend themselves. Piercey somehow kept his optimism for creating a better system of governance. I simply wanted to avoid another Eskel the Ruthless. No matter what we tried, the valley seemed to always fall to one head. We needed someone we trusted to take that place and we needed it soon. Because right now, I stood in the vacuum of power, and I had no interest in taking the Prophet of the Valley''s place.

    I could not leave behind the battlefield to lead the people into peace. It made me cringe each time the people called for Eclipse to reign over the Valley.

    Just because I''d become the guardian of our lands didn''t mean that I needed to be appointed as some Prophet or ruler. I didn''t have time for politics between training and war. I''d thought that Piercey would have been a good candidate, except he insisted that he couldn''t do the job either. It also was not him the people asked for. It seemed that for every enemy I''d made¨Cand there were numerous¨CI''d also gained steadfast followers.

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    The frustration churned inside of me as I fought. I felt pulled toward a life I didn''t want and truly believed I would not be suited for.

    I refocused on what I did best and knocked a demon back with a kick to the chest. Raising my hand, I drove him back even further with the force of my power. He threw two daggers at me as he flew back, but Nash knocked them from the air with his swords. It took only one second for my bow to materialize and then for the glowing arrow to pierce the man''s left eye.

    Careful to reserve my energy, I fought strategically with my comrades until we''d neutralized all the demons. Two were dead and the rest wounded. I left them to Piercey to deal with, as he handled the captives better than I did.

    Nash leaned against his knees now that the battle was over. Neither one of us had slept in almost twenty-four hours.

    "Are you hurt?" I asked.

    "No. Just winded. You?"

    "Same." The wailing of the villagers returned to me. "We lost one," I said, voice as hollow as my chest felt as I turned my eyes to the night sky.

    "I could tell." Nash straightened and drew me to his side. "Let''s go home. The others can handle the rest."

    I nodded but didn''t transport us yet. "If you could do it again, would you?"

    Even though I hadn''t said it, Nash knew what I was asking. He didn''t hesitate. "Yes."

    Once the pain might have wet my eyes with tears but I''d traveled long past the point of crying. I didn''t even have to try to keep my voice strong. "I would too. I just didn''t know what all it would cost to kill Flare and the Prophet. I suppose that was mercy at the time."

    Dr. Drake''s knowing eyes stared back at me in my memory. She''d said she''d been here before. In my fury, I''d refused to listen to her in the slightest, thinking she''d evolved too far beyond the chaos of my vengeance to understand what I needed to do.

    Perhaps it had not been disappointment so much as anticipatory grief she''d felt for me. Because she must have known what kind of war I''d been walking into.

    I needed to leave it behind on the battlefield so that I could take some kind of peace for myself at home. The energy it took to teleport both of us back to the Sacred School left me feeling hollow. My arms trembled with weakness as I unstrapped my armor in our living room. Too exhausted to actually put it away, I let it fall to the ground. Nash did the same.

    I glanced at the bedroom, but then slid down the wall and settled onto the ground, holding my side. My entire body ached, but sharp pain gnawed at my ribs. We had been fighting for so long that I often didn''t know where the pain had come from. There were too many hits to keep track of injuries unless they were severe. How long had it been since I''d gone a full day with no battle?

    Nash looked as exhausted as I felt as he eyed me on the ground. I thought he might tell me that it was ridiculous to not simply walk into the bedroom, but then he settled beside me. I couldn''t have taken another step.

    "You know how a week ago we said we wouldn''t make it without a break?" Nash''s voice was low and quiet from fatigue. "We''re past that breaking point."

    "I know."

    "How close are others to learning to teleport?"

    I shook my head, disheartened to even think about it. "There''s one guy who can sometimes make it across the room. Not very often, though."

    "Damn it."

    Nash always traveled with me when I received an alert from a villager, unless he was already in battle. "You should start staying home, sometimes. At least one of us¨C"

    "I''m not discussing this with you again." Nash opened his eyes only long enough to shoot a glare at me. "We fight together. If I''m not already in battle, I''m going with you."

    "Elsie needs more time with you."

    Guilt darkened his expression.

    "It could be years of this, Nash."

    "I see her every day."

    "Not quality time."

    He clasped my hand and drew it onto his lap. "Let''s fight after we sleep."

    I managed to smile. "You really want to sleep here?"

    But he was already drifting off. He mumbled, his voice hardly audible. "Just rest¡­"

    Something needed to change. We were only human, after all. Like the village chief had said, I was not a god. For now, this was all I could do, though. When I wasn''t in battle, I had to train, and that left little time for rest. Maybe once we found leadership for the valley and helped the people to become stronger on their own, we could step back from war long enough to really rest.

    I closed my eyes but couldn''t fall asleep because I felt so unsettled. It wasn''t the death in the village, as tragic as it was, or the long stretch of battles without break. No, it was that flicker I''d seen after teleporting back to my comrades.

    "I saw something strange today," I said, not even sure if Nash was awake to hear me. "I told myself it was my eyes playing tricks on me. But that''s not true." He was definitely asleep. I heard his breathing deepen. "I could feel his power. It looked and felt like Piercey."

    My eyes slid closed again.

    I didn''t know what it meant. Even though I wanted to brush it off because it was such a small thing, I couldn''t. I couldn''t afford to ignore any threats.

 76. Another

    When I killed the Prophet of the Valley, two of his disciples had immediately vied for power. This split the Prophet''s loyalist between the camps, but kept them focused on each other, which had ironically helped us a great deal in the early days of the war. The struggle ended in both of their deaths because outsiders had crossed into the Valley and targeted those stepping into the Prophet''s place.

    I had been the one to kill those outsiders.

    In the end, we''d been left with no leadership except what we pieced together ourselves. That didn''t mean the valley was without order. It was my own chief who had inspired me to seek out those who lacked power to rise up in the power vacuum. The problem was that anyone with a neural implant could easily kill those without one. So, any kind of leadership in the Valley had to be backed by someone with power.

    That had created this exhausting situation where I had to police the entire Valley. If anyone else had learned to teleport like I could, then it would have cut my work in half. At this rate, I would die of exhaustion. Of that, I was certain.

    So, even though ordinarily I carved out what time I could between battles to either rest or train¨Cconsidering I rarely managed a full night''s sleep¨Ctoday I had chosen, instead, to visit the students of the Sacred School.

    Nash had gone in my place to a Council meeting where the heads of major villages in the Valley gathered to fight their own manner of battle¨Cthe political one that I wanted nothing to do with but understood would end this chaotic war. I was happy to have an excuse not to attend. Even though I had planned to periodically visit the students and help with their training, I''d been far too busy. I hadn''t even met this new group that had started studying five months ago.

    Right now, though, I needed to invest in something just as important. I joined Piercey and his students in one of the largest training rooms. Thirty or so students gathered before me, standing side by side, in three rows.

    The students whispered as I walked across the room behind Piercey and sized them up. I couldn''t make out what they said until I heard one girl whisper. "Eclipse."

    I tightened my jaw. "My name is Max." When I stopped walking, they all straightened, like I''d suddenly issued the command to do so. "Max the Sharpshooter. Don''t call me Eclipse within these walls."

    "Yes, ma''am," one of the students shouted.

    A chuckle broke free of my lips and I glanced over at Piercey. Things at this school had changed so much since my childhood.

    "I don''t have time to waste, so I''m going to be direct." I glanced from one end of the students to the other. Growing up, we were always in class with similarly aged students. Things were different now with Piercey recruiting people of all ages across the entire world. "If others cannot learn how to teleport then we''re all fucked. We have warriors. We need travelers. That''s why I''m here today, because you guys suck, and I need you to stop. Get better."

    Piercey subtly turned his face to look at me, but I ignored his silent chastisement.

    "Raise your hand if you''re studying teleportation."

    Every student lifted theirs, which surprised me, because I''d always learned to focus on my natural talents first, and there was no way all of these people were gifted with time and space manipulation. I''d stumbled into it accidentally and I figured others had as well.

    "Well, most of you are wasting your time. Who actually shows promise? Yeah, put your fucking hands down." I walked closer and scrutinized their faces for any sign of either confidence or the self-consciousness of someone with an unrealized talent. "If there''s real hope of you learning to do this, raise your hand back on."

    The students were all looking at one another until finally three students raised their hands. I ignored them and instead watched a younger student who looked like he mentally wrestled with a powerful demon.

    "You." I pointed at him. "Why didn''t you raise your hand?"

    Shocked eyes met mine. "I, well, I suck."

    "Obviously. You all suck. That''s not what I asked. I asked if you had potential with teleportation. Raise your hand kid. I can tell by the look on your face that you''re debating whether you should, which means you should."

    Beside me Piercey nodded and the teen lifted his hand while he averted his eyes.

    "Anyone else?" I asked my friend.

    "I''d say this is accurate for this skill. Although," Piercey leveled his look at a man at the end of the line who proudly raised his hand. "I''m not quite sure he should be lifting his hand so high."

    "Have you shared how to transport through the neural connection?"

    "Yes."

    I turned my attention back to the students. "I need someone who can help to respond to emergency alerts from the villagers. I''m expending too much energy and spending too much time responding to every crisis. This is now a top priority, because it''s distracting me from the larger war for this Valley." Their faces looked serious as I spoke. Good. "I know many of you are not from this Valley, but please know that anyone who helps us defend the people here will always have a home with us. We will send you back to your own people well-equipped for whatever you face there. For now, while you''re our students, we need your help."

    I stood back and surveyed the students one last time.

    "Okay. Those of you who raised your hands, you start training with me in the evening. I need to check in on some business, but after that, this becomes your top priority."

    "Yes, ma''am," they said together. So strange to hear them call me that because one of them was definitely much older than me.

    "Yeah, don''t call me ma''am either. You can call me Sharpshooter, Max, anything but Eclipse or ma''am."

    "What about Commander?" The overly confident thirty-something year old man asked.

    Commander. I didn''t mind that. "That will do."

    Piercey smiled and clapped his hands. "Alright, back to training. Max, I''ll meet you outside."

    I left for the courtyard to wait for Piercey. This place gave me such peace now. It was one of the only spots I could find rest when I felt weary or stressed. As a child, it had been a safe haven for me and my old friend. It was also the place where I''d spoken with my people after I returned from the after-life.

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    When Piercey came out, I pounded my fist in my hand. "Did you see that kid? He can do it. I can just feel it."

    "I hope so. It worries me that no one has been remotely successful."

    "No, we''ve got this one. He reminds me of you with the lack of confidence but obvious talent."

    "Thanks, I guess."

    "Should we catch the end of the meeting and get filled in?"

    Piercey nodded. "A few graduates shared some things with me during our neural connection. They''re looking at leadership today."

    "That one guy?"

    "Yeah, the warrior that some of the villages like. But there''s also the politician."

    "Neither one of them can lead this valley."

    "I know. We need someone who will not be mad with power, but also can stand up against the threats we face."

    "We just have to keep searching," I said. "I''m nervous to look beyond the valley because they won''t be committed to our people the same way, but we''re running out of places to look."

    Piercey''s knowing look agitated me.

    "Don''t." I groaned.

    "I didn''t."

    "You fucking did. You gave me a look."

    "You''re giving me a look now."

    I shook my head. "I cannot lead these people."

    "You already are. You''re single-handedly protecting the villages. Just your name is enough to keep most threats out of the valley. Who better than you? You died for these people."

    "That''s why I can''t. How am I supposed to protect people if I''m busy playing politics?"

    Piercey lifted his hand. "You don''t have to play politics. You''d have a council. You just have to step up as the head."

    "No. I''m not the right person for the job. I need to be out in battle. I have enough getting in the way of me risking my life. I have to worry about Elsie and Nash. You and the others. I saw what dying did to everyone. How could I ever go into battle knowing a whole valley of people needs me to live?"

    My friend''s expression softened. "Oh, Max. You don''t realize that it''s already happened do you? We all need you. Whether you want to lead or not, you are. If you want to pass the job off, then find someone who can do better than you. Until then, the people will reject whoever tries to take your place."

    I crossed my arms and looked to the tree we always used to sit in. "I miss when our world was as small as this courtyard."

    He chuckled. "You do not. You hated it."

    "I didn''t know any better then."

    "Whatever. Let''s get out of here. We need to go size up those potential leaders." Piercey raised his hand. "Wait, I forgot my bag. I''ll be right back."

    I watched him sprint back into the school. I hadn''t realized when I mastered my power over travel that I''d end up being a taxi for the valley. So wonderful. I began to pace.

    Something flickered from the corner of my eye again. Before I could even question what I was seeing, a man stood only a few feet away. And he said my name.

    "Max."

    My heart dropped out of my gut onto my feet. Breath fled my lungs. I stared at this man, the one I immediately knew I had seen on the battlefield, unable to breathe or think or feel.

    "I need your help." His serious eyes met mine.

    In disbelief, my eyes fell down his form. Even as I stared, I couldn''t accept what I was seeing. Piercey stood directly before me, when I''d just seen him go back into the school. His hair laid against his shoulders in long dreads and a full beard darkened his face. How the hell could that be when Piercey had his hair buzzed right now? He hadn''t had dreads since we were kids.

    "I know." Piercey lifted a hand and though he had the exact same voice as my friend, there was an edge to his tone that was different. A look in his eye that didn''t quite match up. "You''re in shock. It''s like when you came back from the dead and didn''t know how to soften it for your friends. There''s really nothing I can do except for show up."

    If he didn''t look and sound¨Cfeel¨Cidentical to my friend, I might have blasted him with enough power to incapacitate him. As it was, my instinct screamed threat, because this was anything but normal.

    I drew my energy bow and though I didn''t point it at him, I had an arrow ready, aimed at the ground.

    "Explain." I ground my teeth to cover how my voice wavered. "Right now."

    "I don''t have much time before your friend comes back. Come with me and we can talk."

    "Come with you? Hell no."

    "Please. You''re more powerful than I am. You can kick my ass."

    "That doesn''t mean it''s a good idea to go with you."

    "Max." This Piercey look alike reached his hand out to me. "I''m begging you."

    It might have been my own arrogance in my abilities, or my stupidity, or my naivety, or the fact that I couldn''t help trusting Piercey, but against all my better judgment, I grabbed his hand. "You better not¨C"

    My words were cut off by a force that felt like it tried to rip my body apart. It pulled at my joints, tried to pry my skin from my muscles. To shred each strand of muscle and separate each bead of blood. To rip me apart one cell at a time.

    If it had lasted longer than a few seconds, I wouldn''t have been able to endure it.

    But in far less than a minute, we were standing in a field that I didn''t recognize, with a bright sun overhead.

    I stumbled back from this long-haired Piercey, gasping for breath.

    "I''m sorry," he said. "I didn''t have time to warn you. I could feel him coming. It would have been too shocking for him to see me."

    "Where are we?"

    "Before you panic, time is relative. You won''t lose any time back in the courtyard with Piercey. When I send you back, it''ll be like you never left."

    "Tell me where we are."

    He quieted for a moment and then breathed in deeply. "We''re in my world."

    I leaned forward, feeling like a strong weight was trying to drag me to the ground. "You mean¨C"

    "Not your world."

    I was going to throw up. I''d always had a nervous stomach and this was too much. I leaned against my knees, but just as quickly as the sickness came, it turned into rage. When I rose up, he must have recognized it in me, because he lifted his hands.

    "Stay calm. I''ll explain. I''m on your side."

    "Then explain!"

    "Okay, you know that the gods have run experiments on other simulated realities."

    My mind filled in the gaps. No, no, no. How many times would this happen to me? How many times could reality unravel before I lost my mind forever?

    "You knew there were other worlds. You just didn''t know they were filled with your people." Piercey''s eyes looked bright. "It''s us in every world, Max. They uploaded the same consciousness every time."

    The truth of what he said resonated deeply within me, as undeniable as seeing Piercey''s image in the courtyard, or even the flicker of him on the battlefield. I''d seen other versions of myself and Nash. This wasn''t new to me. Not the difference in hair and look. The subtle changes to our person.

    I was looking at Piercey. A Piercey born in another world to another experiment. It made sense. If the gods wanted our worlds for the data, then they''d use controls. Why not use the same people in every experiment? I should have thought of this before.

    I turned around, dizzy and overwhelmed. Knowing that we''d lived multiple lives in our world had hurt badly enough. Now I knew that there were copies of me in other worlds? What did that even mean? Was the Max in this world still me? Or were we completely different people because we''d lived different lives in different worlds?

    "I''m sorry, Max. There''s no way to make this easier on you."

    How had this Piercey learned to travel to my world when my Piercey couldn''t even travel across the Sacred School. And how did he know so much about me and what I knew?

    I turned back on him, dizzy from questions. "I need to hear everything."

    Just when I thought I was at least figuring out what my people needed, everything fell apart again.

 Authors Note

    I wanted to give you guys a quick update that I''ll be posting more chapters soon. I planned on releasing more this weekend but my husband had an injury. He will be okay. I just likely will need to wait until Wednesday to resume posting.

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Thanks for your patience! I would like to start posting three times a week on MWF once I begin releasing again. It''s possible that for the next two weeks, I will only be able to release twice a week depending on whether he needs a follow-up surgery.

 77. Counterparts

    I''d learned in the white room while subjected to Dr. Henderson''s cruel revelations that shock and disorientation could be physically painful. Staring at this stranger who looked and sounded exactly like my dear friend Piercey¨Cwho literally shared a copy of his consciousness¨Cthe disbelief hit as hard as a genuine punch.

    He nodded at me. "I know the version of you in this world just like Piercey knows you in his. You need to see or you''ll just get frustrated."

    "See what?"

    He pulled out crude-looking binoculars and passed them to me. Though we stood in an empty field, I noticed a small village to the east where smoke rose from dozens of homes, and what looked like training grounds to the west. If I squinted, I could make out the small forms of people milling about. I couldn''t make out very many details from here, but the land looked relatively vacant. If I had to guess, the village likely served to take care of whoever trained here.

    I lifted the binoculars and discovered I''d been right. Targets and dummies littered one area of the training ground while a large section provided space for sparring. Dozens of people trained now, not just with weapons, but with power. I let out an exasperated sigh. "I''ve seen this plenty¨C"

    Long dark curls floated like a halo around a tall man''s head as he hovered in the air. Chorded arms glistened with sweat. A strong jaw closed tight in effort. Amber eyes shone with the sun.

    Nash levitated in the field.

    I stumbled forward, staring. "He has power?"

    "We all do."

    Seeing an identical version of Nash hovering in the air stole my breath away. It made sense that the gods would have populated these worlds with the same souls, but my human mind could not accept this. I''d only ever known one Nash. My Nash. In every life we''d lived, we''d found one another. This man was a stranger, though. He belonged to a different world and if he''d ever met a version of me, he also belonged to a different Max.

    I jerked the binoculars back and stared at Piercey. "That''s the experiment here? What happens if everyone has a neural implant?"

    "Yes. It''s the counterpart to your world where only one percent received the quantum powers."

    It was so surreal, not because it didn''t make sense, but because the two worlds felt like double vision. My mind struggled to hold the two at ones. I couldn''t even find words for all the questions I had.

    "Who are you?" I asked. "How did you find my world?"

    "My name is Elias." His voice, though soft, came out smoothly and matter-of-fact. "I''m a technology officer for one of the largest guilds in our world. My specialty brought me to you."

    Despite the differences I had latched onto to force myself to recognize that this man was not actually Piercey, the similarities were overwhelming. "That means a whole lot of nothing to me. Technology officer? For a guild? Does that mean you work on computers?"

    "It''s more than that. In your world, so few people have power that you all have to fight. The few who don''t end up serving the strong. Here, we all can find our true path. We''re all working to master our power and have a much deeper knowledge of its potential than in your world. I know that Piercey is not much of a warrior but still had to learn how to fight. I''ve never trained in any style of combat."

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    I blinked. "You can''t fight at all?"

    "No. I use my neural implant to interface with technology and stretch the boundaries of what we currently know how to do. It''s like when Piercey taught you how to hack into the after-life."

    Suspicion nipped at me, but I couldn''t bring myself to feel distrusting of another version of my friend. "You really do know everything."

    "I''ve dug deeply into these worlds of ours. I haven''t gotten my hands on everything, but I broke into a great deal of data that''s been compiled. There''s a wealth of information about you since you''re allowing the gods to watch over you."

    It was strange for him to know so much about me, and yet, not at all when I''d connected to share all of my experiences with Piercey in my world. "Tell me more about your guild and how your work with them led you to my world."

    "It''s complicated. Our guilds are so competitive. Our organizations started out focused on certain trades, but grew into much more based on necessity. My world is not one where the few dominate the many. Not individuals, at least. When everyone has power, more people can defend themselves, but more people can also fight. True power here comes from coalitions. The combined strength of larger guilds can overpower smaller ones. But it''s not always about might here. Plenty of specialties and trades are just as important as combat. That''s why it''s guilds and not armies that have become such an integral component of our society. It''s also why we push ourselves so hard to innovate."

    I glanced over to where the man who looked just like Nash trained. "I take that innovation led you to me. So your world is run by these guilds?"

    "In a way. We have towns and cities. Kingdoms. Budding nation-states. But there''s no government in the world that has more power than the guilds."

    "Who rules the valley in this world?"

    He chuckled. "No one. There''s more than a dozen guilds operating between two kingdoms operating in the valley."

    "Are you at war like we are?"

    "Mutually assured destruction can be a wonderful and terrible thing. I can''t say the guilds or kingdoms get along, but we''re not in an all-out war."

    This new world sounded better than mine, but first impressions could be deceiving. What did my counterpart do here? "Are we friends in your world?"

    The look in his eye, how his gaze shifted for a moment, made him look sad. "Yeah, close enough at least."

    Whatever that meant, I wasn''t so sure I really wanted to find out. "Does she know I''m here?"

    "No. She knows nothing about you. No one does."

    The revelation startled me and I couldn''t quite say why. Not at first. Studying him, it finally came to me. In my world, Piercey worked within a team framework. He would never have traveled to another simulated reality without saying anything. In fact, my Piercey may not have been brave enough to go alone.

    The differences between our worlds had created a Piercey who truly was not the one I knew. Elias was different. I couldn''t assume I should trust him.

    "Why did you show yourself to me?" I asked.

    The breeze toyed with his dreads and the long sleeves of his tunic. "You''re the only one I know who has ever killed a god."

    My hands remembered the effort of stabbing my blade through Dr. Henderson so well. I curled them as if I held the sword still.

    He held my stare. "I have a god who needs to die."

    This really wasn''t my Piercey. Not at all.

    "If you help me, I can help you with your war. The answers about how to live with this power of ours lie in my world. We need each other."

    Dread climbed up my throat in a hot rush like bile. "Your supervisor is still corrupt."

    "No." Elias shook his head. "It''s not my supervisor." He walked closer and spoke in a quiet voice, like he was afraid someone was listening. "It''s my guild."

 78. The Guilds

    I didn''t know how to respond to what Elias had said. "So your guild is as powerful as a god?"

    "Yes. They might as well be one."

    "And you think I can take them down? Your entire guild?"

    Despite the edge of sarcasm to my voice, he looked full of confidence in what he said. "You don''t need to take everyone down. There''s a few people at the top. One person, especially."

    He was serious. He''d brought me over from another world to kill the leaders of his own guild. "I''m already fighting a war. I don''t have time for another one."

    "I told you I can help you with yours."

    "Then why can''t you solve your own problems?"

    "Because I don''t have the help I need here. I told you I''m no fighter. Your war is different. You have warriors. They just need power. And I have something that could change everything for you."

    He couldn''t be saying what it sounded like he was saying. The skepticism on my face must have given away my thoughts.

    A grin slid onto his face. "I can make more of us. I can give people neural implants."

    The possibilities spun wildly through my mind. Lifting the binoculars, I searched the training field for Nash once more and watched him still levitating.

    In my world, Nash was the best swordsman I''d ever met. Just thinking of pairing that with power made me giddy with excitement. He would be unstoppable. Together, we could fight so much more effectively than we did now when he had to rely upon someone else''s power.

    Leif and Wren would finally be able to fight with me again.

    I ripped the binoculars back down and raised my voice excitedly. "We could bring peace to the valley with more power."

    "I told you." Elias smiled as he watched me. "It''s really uncanny. You''re so much like her."

    "Same for you. You are different though."

    He had a faraway look for a moment. "Yeah. Just different enough to make it even more surreal."

    "You really could give the neural implant to more people?"

    "Easily. Everyone in my world has power. We can implant chips here. Since the experiment was to see what would happen if everyone had access to a chip, they ran it in the same way that they would in the real world. People receive the chip at age three when it is easier to help them learn to control it but not so late that they lose the benefits of rapid growth in early development."

    I watched Piercey skeptically. "This most certainly gets abused. There must be kids who never get one or parents who are extorted."

    He nodded. "We''ve had issues with this, but it actually is not very widespread because everyone joins a guild. You cannot survive in this world on your own unless you''re legendary. No guild is going to allow any of the kids to not get an implant."

    "Unless the guild wants to control their membership."

    "Yes, only the competition with others is so fierce that you need all of your members to be incredibly powerful. The issue we''ve actually had is that children are given the implants too early, which can cause problems."

    "Right." I thought back to stories I''d heard of babies losing control of their powers. "There''s a subset of the population who really struggles to adjust to it as a baby."

    "Truth is that everyone does. You''re just used to it in your world. It''s considered cruel here to give a baby an implant."

    I chewed the inside of my cheek. "The Collective will figure out that we''ve given power to some in my world. They probably will figure out that you''ve brought me here."

    "So talk to Dr. Drake."

    "No. I cannot ask them for permission. They''ll deny me. We have to do it first. Then, I''ll convince her to forgive me."

    "Sounds dangerous."

    "The Collective and Dr. Henderson caused this chaos in my world. They need to let me fix it. We''ll only give the implant to a few people. That won''t skew the results of their experiment."

    He nodded. "This is why I wanted your help. No one else has ever made it out of our simulation."

    I lifted the binoculars to watch this version of Nash again. I absolutely had to have this power for him. Even though he never said it, I knew that it grated at him to not be able to battle on his own at my side. Nash was a warrior. He hated having to rely upon Piercey''s power and to not be able to help me as he wanted. If there was anyone I could trust to use their power for good, it was him. He''d fought beside me tirelessly this past year to defend the valley.

    It felt too good to be true and I feared that meant it must be.

    "When can we do this?" I asked.

    "Who are you planning to give implants to?"

    "Nash, Leif, and Wren. They''re the only ones I know for certain I can trust." I passed the binoculars to Elias. "They''ll help your world as well. We repay our debts."

    "I know you do, Max. I''ve seen enough to trust you. The power won''t be easy for them to wield, though. It''s hard to receive it as an adult and learn to use it. Dangerous even. You know what power can do when you lose control of it. My people are experts in controlling power. They need to train here."

    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "You''re sure about the time relativity thing you told me about? That we''re not losing time in our world when we''re here?"

    "Yes." He crossed his arms. "From what I can tell, the mechanic was built into the system to allow supervisors to travel worlds without losing time."

    "Why would they need to do that when they can observe us from outside of the experiment?"

    He watched me for several seconds. "It''s a good question. There''s more going on than what the Collective told you. In fact, wouldn''t you say they really didn''t tell you anything?"

    Dr. Drake had revealed far more information to me than the Collective did, but I suspected that she didn''t know as much as they did either. "Right. I did always wonder why they created avatars in the first place. Dr. Henderson misused hers. What was their intended purpose?"

    "Exactly," he said.

    "You don''t know either?"

    "Not yet. I''m going to continue investigating though. This is still new for me. I only figured out how to travel worlds a few months ago and that''s what opened the door for me to start finding this information."

    When I began to ask my next question Elias turned suddenly toward the training ground. I focused on instinct, feeling power growing by the second. Then I noticed a form flying through the air straight for us.

    "Listen." Elias raised a hand to me. "His name is Jaxon and we''re not supposed to be here."

    "Seriously? So why are we here then?"

    Elias winced in apology. My Piercey would never have been so careless. I didn''t buy that this had been an accident. So what was his agenda?

    As he drew closer, I saw that it really was Nash¨Cor better yet, Jaxon. And he could fucking fly. That was such an amazing power to master. I had to get this neural implant for Nash. Would he be gifted in this area in my world too?

    Jaxon landed and stumbled to a stop, staring at me with his amber eyes wide and truly shocked. "Ash."

    His stare brimmed with so much history and emotion that I could not guess at. Clearly, we were not together in this world, because he would not have been so surprised to see me if we were. I had no idea what to say but maybe that was for the best. The air felt so tense.

    "I thought I felt you." Jaxon looked to Elias and then back to me. "You can''t be seen here. Neither of you."

    He could feel me even when I didn''t use power? I felt the same as the other version of myself? "I''m sorry."

    Jaxon''s eyes suddenly looked suspicious. It felt horrible that he could even look at me that way. It was like my own Nash looking at me, with his full head of curls longer than he had worn them this past hair, and it sparked real pain in my chest to see this foreign look on him.

    "You must have wanted me to come," Jaxon said. "You didn''t mask yourself like he did."

    What the hell? Elias hadn''t told me to do that. I wasn''t used to someone sensing me even when I wasn''t using power. It wasn''t me who had drawn Jaxon here but Elias, and I did not like being fooled. The distrust Jaxon seemed to feel for me now filled me for the man who looked like Piercey, but apparently was quite different.

    When I didn''t speak, Jaxon walked forward slowly and then stopped. His lips stiffened and pain shone in his eyes. It looked like he was holding himself back from something that tried to suck him closer to me. "We had an agreement."

    I didn''t know our history here or anything about what this version of Max did. It was clear from his expression that something had happened between us and it was significant enough for him to look like I''d just stabbed my sword through his gut.

    "We''re here because of our guild," Elias said. "This was the only way to discreetly reach out to you."

    Anger gripped my gut as my stare shifted to the other man. He should have explained himself to me before throwing me into this situation. Why did he want me to be caught off guard? What if I had said the wrong thing?

    Jaxon uttered a disgusted chuckle. "Your audacity astounds me. Using her, once again, to get to me." His hurt eyes turned back to me. "And you let him this time. What about our promise? Will you do it?"

    I opened my mouth, but nothing escaped. I couldn''t think of a single thing that seemed safe to say.

    The way he looked at me hollowed out my gut. It was betrayal wasn''t it? Or something close to it. He felt betrayed.

    "I can''t," he said. "I guess you knew I''d be too weak to do it. I''m still such a fool."

    "Jaxon¨C" What was it we had promised to do?

    "Whatever you two want, leave me out of it." Jaxon lifted into the air and turned to fly away when Elias''s voice stopped him.

    "You were right." Elias withdrew a long necklace from his pocket. When Jaxon turned around, he threw it through the air for the other man to catch. "That''s what I came to say. I brought her because I knew you wouldn''t talk to me otherwise. Just don''t blame her because she didn''t know."

    Jaxon glanced down at me.

    "I didn''t want to believe what you told me back then," Elias said. "I know the darkness within your guild. I thought I knew my own too. It''s worse than I could have imagined."

    I wouldn''t be played for a fool either. I turned on Elias and glowered at him, struggling to hold the heat within me back so I didn''t draw too much attention to myself. "You had better start talking."

    Elias lifted his hands. "I will. I promise."

    When Jaxon spoke, I was surprised to find that he looked at me and not Elias. "There''s no hope." His smile looked sad, but still appreciative. "Ashton will never turn on her people, even if that''s what they deserve."

    So, this was what had come between this world''s version of Nash and myself? We served warring guilds? That wasn''t so different from my own world. Only, it seemed that in this life, we hadn''t found a way around that. Maybe Jaxon was loyal to his guild. It wasn''t like Nash and the Prophet.

    If this Ashton was truly like me, then I hurt even more for the two of them, because my singular focus on my people could make me blind at times. I needed more information, but with so little said, it still was easy to piece together some very important details. Jaxon and Ashton had hurt each other here. They didn''t expect to see each other again. They were, by the way he acted, true enemies.

    There was more than just pain in his eyes though when he looked at me. "I won''t kill you, Ash. I don''t think you can kill me either. You would have long ago if you could. The promise was always a lie. But that doesn''t mean I''ll trust you. I made that mistake once." He lifted the necklace as he looked at Elias. "I''m sorry you confirmed the truth about your mother. I''m sorry I was the one to break it to you. I still can''t trust you either."

    Ashton and Jaxon had promised to kill one another. I couldn''t imagine this happening in any world.

    "At least hear me out," Elias said.

    Jaxon shook his head. "The time for deals is long past." He tossed the necklace back to him. "I wish you the best of luck."

    "We could actually take them down. Don''t be stubborn."

    He only hesitated a moment before looking at me one last time. "Goodbye, Ash. Don''t come back next time." The pain was so bright in his expression. What had I done to hurt him so badly? "You owe me that much."

    When he flew away, it felt like he took my breath with him. Logically I knew this wasn''t Nash and I''d done nothing to him, but damn it did he look like the man I loved. I couldn''t stand to see him like that.

    I stepped closer to Elias, full of vengeance. "Why did you do that?"

    Though he looked nervous, he didn''t back away. "If you knew what I did, you wouldn''t have talked to me. You''re too loyal."

    "What did you do?"

    Elias looked down in shame. "Ashton forgave me because it was for our guild. You won''t feel the same."

 79. Standing

    Elias stretched his hand out to me with his gaze pleading. "Let me take you back to your world. You''ve digested so much for one day."

    With a scowl, I smacked his hand away. "You brought me here as bait and didn''t say a word about it. You deceived me."

    "No, I just¨C"

    "Let me be clear." I moved close to him with my voice low and my muscles tensed. "I will not be used. We don''t know each other. You may look like my friend, but clearly you''re not him. Allies are earned and this is not how you earn that."

    His expression sobered and any attempt to dismiss what he''d done fell away. Instead, he nodded. "You''re right. I should have told you the truth."

    "So tell me now. Don''t force me to make assumptions."

    "His guild and mine are at war. Always have been. But because of Jaxon, I learned that my guild is not what I thought we were. I need help to make things right. There was no way I could talk to Jaxon at all without you¨Cwell, Ashton. And that wasn''t going to happen. It seemed easier this way."

    Was it really so innocent as this being easier or was Elias trying to conceal the truth from me? "I want to know what you did."

    Discomfort tensed his brow. "To even start that story, I have to tell you so many others."

    "You just don''t want to confess."

    "Not really." He shook his head, voice sorrowful. "It cost me so much already. I can''t ever escape it. It was nice to have you look at me again and not see everything between us."

    "I''m not her." It must have really been bad, or at least, had awful consequences for him. Damn it, though, I didn''t want to pity him. Whatever he''d done, he''d brought it upon himself. I refused to let any compassion show no matter how it tempted my weak heart. "If we''re going to even consider allying together, we have to be honest."

    "I know. Just¡­" Elias sighed deeply and finally straightened. "Can I tell you after I give your people the neural implant? Then you''ll at least have some sense of connection to me. You''ll have to give me a chance."

    Was it so important to him to have my approval? I''d never considered whether my Piercey wanted this so badly, but thinking back, I could see how it tormented him if I felt angry with him. "Seems kind of manipulative. It''s weird you''re so open about it."

    He smirked and shrugged. "I''m not trying to deceive you. I''m just trying to become allies, not enemies. I''ll explain everything. I swear. But there''s things I need to show you first if you''re going to understand. Go home, make your preparations, and when you return, I''ll give you the full truth."

    "And the neural implants."

    "Yes."

    When I''d suspected Flare before, it had seemed clear to me that we weren''t on the same side. Though I didn''t trust Elias, I also didn''t necessarily feel it was because we were enemies. Rather, he had an agenda that might not match my own.

    "You''ll regret it if you try to fool me," I said.

    "Trust me, I know this all too well." The sorrow returned to his voice, giving hint to a deep wound inflicted on the relationship between himself and my counterpart, Ashton.

    "Why are you willing to give us neural implants?"

    "First off, I care. I know what you did for your world. You deserve help. But mostly, I need you. If I help your people, I know you''ll help me. That''s the kind of person you are."

    That seemed genuine. "So why does it feel hard to trust you?"

    "Because I''m not as good as the man you know. I''m not Piercey. In this world, I didn''t become all you hoped I would. You sense that in me."

    "Why are you not as good?"

    He cast his look to the horizon, quiet for several seconds. "I gave my loyalty to people who didn''t deserve it and I couldn''t admit it to myself. Instead of confronting that truth, I twisted myself to fit a mold that didn''t belong to me. Despite this, I got things here. Once, I had it all." He watched me now. "I had it and I lost it because I lost myself along the way."

    The wound was deeper than I''d first guessed. Enough tension and hurt hung between us, even though I knew nothing about it, that I didn''t need to hear more to understand Ashton had a different relationship with Elias than I had with Piercey. The way he looked at me now, though it was meant for another woman, made it hard to breathe, because it was such a heavy regret I saw in him.

    "I''m ready to go home," I said. This wasn''t my world. I didn''t belong here and these people had a lifetime of problems of their own. At home, I could wrap my mind around everything I''d learned and plan with my people. "When I return, I expect answers. Otherwise, don''t waste your time coming back for me."

    He grinned and nodded. "You never mince your words."

    I wouldn''t entertain whatever he felt at the similarities between myself and Ashton. "Just so you know, I''m not hiding this from my people."

    "I didn''t expect you to."

    "Openness and honesty doesn''t seem as high on your list as it is on mine."

    Though he looked like he wanted to argue, he didn''t. "I did what I did for Ashton and our people. It may not all have been right, but it wasn''t without reason."

    "If you didn''t want me to be harsh, you shouldn''t have ambushed me with a clone of Nash." Now I was the one extending my hand to him. "Come on. I have things to do. Even if I''m not losing time in my world, I only have so much energy, and I''ve been expending a great deal every day."

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    Elias took my hand, in that moment, looking very much like Piercey again. He cared, even if we didn''t really know each other yet. I felt that as we returned to my world.

    <hr>

    I was so dizzy with new information and all the thoughts from what I''d encountered that I couldn''t pay attention to anything being said. As soon as Elias had returned me to the Sacred School, he disappeared, and Piercey arrived. There''d been no time to fill anyone in yet because we''d already missed so much of the important meeting about valley leadership.

    Nash sat on one side of me while Piercey sat on the other and dozens of leaders from the valley filled in the spots around the long table.

    I would have fought a battle over listening to arguments any day.

    "You okay?" Nash whispered.

    "I have something to tell you when this is over."

    Concern knit his brows together.

    "It''s okay. It''s just¡­" What could I even say? I met his eyes. "It''s a lot."

    I was running through ideas when a man at the far end of the room beat his fists against the table and rose fast enough to knock over his chair. "No more! If we cannot agree, our enemies from outside the valley will take advantage of our weakness and plunder our villages." His long finger pointed at me now. "We''ve left the security of the valley in one girl''s hands. This is ludicrous."

    The entire room felt utterly silent. Shock gave way to fear. I never got used to seeing that. Ever since I killed the Prophet of the Valley, everyone feared my name. It took so little, even as little as simply entering the room, to see the quiet of that fear still everyone.

    I slowly rose with my arms at my sides, quiet and calm when I spoke. "Girl?"

    The man gulped hard enough that his adam''s apple jerked in his throat. "I¨C"

    "I''m not a child. You realize that, don''t you?"

    "Yes, of course."

    "The situation is far from ideal. I, for one, would like to have a day off every once in a while. But when I killed Eskel the Ruthless, I understood the responsibility I took on. Foolishly, though, I thought after a year we might have our shit together better than this."

    "There it is," Nash muttered and hooked his elbows on the table.

    I ignored him and leveled my glare at the man who had spoken so rudely about me. It wasn''t what he said but how he said it. "I want a leader for this valley and I want it now. Who will stand up?" I looked around the room at the gathering of chiefs, graduates, commanders, disciples, and even a select number of demons who had proven to have potential despite being previously unknown. "Can''t one of you do the job?"

    Their silence made me want to scream. Finally, one older woman lifted her weathered hand, waiting patiently for everyone to look at her.

    "I believe," she began, "that there is already one person standing."

    A burning heartbeat pounded against my chest. "I''m not the right person to lead the valley."

    That awful quiet captured the room again. Even the people who had been vying for the position said nothing, likely afraid to position themselves as my opponent even though I had said I didn''t want the job.

    "Why not?" she asked.

    "I don''t want it. I need to battle. And I''m too hot-headed." I shot a hand out to Piercey. "He''s wise and patient. Don''t you want someone like that?"

    Enough murmurs of disagreement broke out that one of the chiefs winced and offered an apology to Piercey.

    "Who would cross us with you in power?"

    I turned in shock at the deep voice of a chief who had been a top contender for the position for the last year. Markus. He wanted to lead the valley. Why would he say that? Why would he encourage me to take what he wanted? I stared, shocked to silence.

    He stood up and walked toward the center of the room, his demeanor and voice so easy that I immediately saw why so many people followed him. This man had all the political charisma I lacked.

    "We''re at war with ourselves and with the world." Markus raised both hands out toward me. "Who better to lead us through this war than Eclipse? The most powerful demon in Skia Hellig. Maybe in the world."

    "What the hell?" I whispered under my breath.

    "With a strong council behind her and two top disciples to lead at her side, we could claim this land as our own and make peace for our children."

    Several clapped and a few cheered and I felt the walls closing in on me.

    "Let us guess," a woman I barely recognized said. "You would be at her side?"

    Some chuckles broke out, and then Markus surprised me again by laughing as well. "Naturally." He held my eyes, directly across the table from me. "If our Prophet would have me."

    Heat flashed down my spine. I plastered my hands on the table and leaned forward. "I am no Prophet and my name is not Eclipse." My voice boomed now. "I''m Max the Sharpshooter. The next person who calls me Eclipse is getting thrown through the wall."

    Markus only smiled even though he had no power and could not defend himself against me. "The only ones who can be trusted with power are the ones who never craved it to begin with. Will you truly turn us away when we need you?"

    Everyone was watching me. Even Nash. I looked over to see that rather than scoff at what this man had said and agree with me that I should never take on such a job, he watched me intently.

    Markus must have realized that he would never cease power for himself and positioning himself as my second would offer him far more than he could take himself. It was not all for vanity, however. Markus was a mighty warrior. He''d proven himself in battle many times, especially over this past year. Though he did hunger for the power I wanted nothing to do with, I believed he wanted to take care of the Valley with it.

    "Don''t I have enough power as it is?" I looked down at my hands, unable to keep out the images of the life jerking from the bodies of the villagers when I was a child.

    The first woman to have spoken, the older woman, smiled and lifted her chin. "Who else do you trust our lives with?"

    I clenched my teeth and nearly turned away, only that felt cowardly. Piercey stood up beside me now and calmly clasped his hand in front of himself. "I think it''s best that we take a break to consider what we''ve heard."

    Nice political speak for shut up, Max. Don''t say another word. It took all of my effort to keep from storming out of the room. Once a portion of the room had dispersed, I walked outside straight for the woods to the right.

    Piercey and Nash ran after me.

    "I''m not doing it," I said.

    "Why are you so against it?" Piercey asked.

    "I don''t want it. How many times do I have to say it? Just because I killed someone doesn''t mean I''m fit to lead everyone."

    "What if you do it for a few years until we''re stable?"

    "Have I not sacrificed enough already?" I wheeled around and dug my nails into my palms. "Day after day, I give all I have to this valley and to these people. There is only one thing I''ve said I won''t do, and still they harass me for it."

    Nash hadn''t said anything yet. His look caught my eye and I held his stare, my heart softening.

    "You do what you know is right," he said. "Just make sure you''re trusting yourself as much as the rest of the valley does. Eclipse is no longer a name of death but liberation."

    I lowered my head, consumed by a way of grief that overcame me. "I faced the gods and I stole our world from them. It was terrifying to wonder if I''d done the right thing. I don''t know if I''m strong enough to keep making these kinds of decisions."

    Nash walked closer and pulled me into an embrace, saying nothing else. The quiet strength soothed my storming heart.

    What scared me more than anything was the thought that maybe the reason I so vehemently refused to even consider leading the valley was because I actually needed to do it.

    "There might be another answer," I said, feeling so weary. "I have something to tell you two."

 80. Chosen

    "I could fly?" Nash''s brows arched high. It was the first thing either man had said since I''d shared the story.

    "That''s what stood out to you the most?" I asked. "Not that there''s multiple other simulations populated with our consciousness? Multiple versions of you and me."

    "I mean, yeah, but it''s incredible that a version of me can fly."

    Sighing, I fell back on my heels and glanced at Piercey. He stared at the ground as he chewed on a fingernail, his expression speaking just about as much as his silence.

    Nash crossed his arms over his chest and studied me intently. "Did this other me also use twin blades?"

    I honestly had no response. Of all the questions he could ask. "I don''t know. I didn''t see them."

    "Must not. I''d never train without them."

    Good point. Nash didn''t even eat breakfast without his swords. "Don''t you think¨C"

    "I want to know how similar and how different we are. I started training with the swords when I was seven because my grandfather had been so skilled with the twin blades. It''s one of the longest-lasting and most consistent parts of my life. Clearly, this version of me having power changed things."

    True. "We know each other there too, but that''s also different. Something happened between us. We''re enemies."

    His shoulders straightened. "True enemies?"

    "As true of enemies as the two of us ever could be. I¡­" The memory of the shocked and betrayed look in Jaxon''s eyes gripped me. "I met him. Apparently we''d promised to kill each other if we ever met again, but he clearly didn''t want to."

    "Elias really offered to give neural implants to whoever you chose?" Piercey still stared at the same place on the ground.

    It seemed odd to me that he felt detached enough from his counterpart to so easily refer to him as a different man. "Yes. He seemed to sincerely need help. He wouldn''t tell me what he did, but it seemed like he used the connection between Ashton and Jaxon to hurt his guild. I think he alienated his allies."

    "Do you really trust him to give the neural implants freely? What if he alters them in some way?"

    "Do you think you''d do that in any world?"

    "He obviously betrayed you in some way in that world. Why should we trust him?" Piercey''s eyes shifted to me now. "We don''t know how different we might be in each life and in different worlds living under different conditions. You can''t trust him just because we originated from the same seed of consciousness."

    "So you think he could do something to the neural implants to control or coerce us. Like hurt or even kill whoever had one."

    "There''s likely many things he could do."

    Even though I knew Piercey had a point, I didn''t want to hear it. Nash having power would change everything for us. He could fight at my side as a true partner.

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    "Desperation is a powerful tool. What better to hold something over your head than to give you what you need most?"

    "Or what better way to actually help."

    "He''s right," Nash said. "You know it too."

    "Maybe it''s worth the risk." Stubbornness kept me from admitting the truth to the two men. Piercey absolutely was right. I wanted this so badly though. "I need to learn how to travel worlds. That way, if he tries anything, I can kill him. That''ll keep him in line."

    "Not everything can be solved by threat of murder," Piercey said.

    Nash and I both disagreed.

    "It can solve an awful lot," he said.

    My old friend groaned and leaned back against a tree. "We need to connect with him. That''s the only way to know if he''s telling the truth."

    Brilliant. Would Elias do it? Instinctively, I thought no, because he seemed to have things to hide. So that meant I shouldn''t trust him, right? It seemed like a clear indicator that it wouldn''t be wise.

    "That can be our condition." I nodded. "He has to connect with one of us. His control of his power is different than ours, though. I wonder if he''d be able to hold back certain memories without us realizing."

    Piercey nodded as if considering.

    "We all need to meet him and talk to him," Nash said. "Connect with him. Do what you need. But you can tell a lot from looking into a man''s eyes and asking him an honest question. Try questioning him again."

    "Something has to change. We can''t keep doing what we''re doing forever." I raised my hand. "I can''t fight against the entire world. Nash, Leif, and Wren could help me protect this Valley and get control into the hands of leaders we can trust."

    Nash slid his arm around me. "I can''t fathom having the power to fight with you on my own. This seems too good to be true."

    "Yes." Piercey''s tone was serious and cold. "It does."

    Tension wound my gut into knots. "We have to deal with this no matter what happens. Elias knows how to travel to our world. He''s not going to just disappear."

    "Max the Sharpshooter."

    I tensed at the voice of the man who had taken over the meeting less than twenty minutes ago. Markus.

    He sauntered closer, as confident as ever. "I hope you didn''t mind that I took the liberty of speaking to the people earlier."

    The men eyed him quietly while I stepped closer to him. "I know what you''re doing."

    "Of course you do. It wasn''t my intention to hide it. With me serving at your side, we could change this Valley forever."

    "I clearly said I would not be leading this Valley."

    "How many people have told you that you clearly already are."

    My nostrils flared. "The people deserve a real leader who knows what they''re doing. I''m a warrior, not a ruler."

    "Take time to consider it. I understand this is far from your comfort zone. But I know you didn''t kill the Prophet and save the Valley just for us to fall into the hands of someone just as bad, or even worse. We''re wasting time when we could be trying to end this war."

    Despite my intense distrust for this man who wore far too charming of a smile most times I saw him, his eyes looked honest now. It was like Nash said. A person could tell a lot about someone by looking into their eyes. Though I''d thought he craved power, I recognized the steadfast passion in him. He wanted to protect the Valley.

    "Why not you?" I asked.

    He smiled sadly. "You know why. It''s you who the people have chosen."

    My heart started to beat harder beneath all this pressure when a bright light caught my eye.

    Green bolts of lightning sparked in the sky and branched out into dozens of bolts, striking the ground.

    I hadn''t felt the power at all before, but it erupted now from the other side of the building where we''d been meeting. I had no idea how many people it exuded from, only that it was an incredible amount of energy.

    Without saying anything to Nash or Piercey, I teleported directly in front of the building, with my energy bow already drawn.

 81. Vanisher

    Five warriors stood before me, all exuding tremendous power. Over the past year, I''d honed my ability to sense others like me in order to more accurately gauge their threat. I didn''t recognize any of them. A man stood at the head of the group, staring past my energy arrow to my eyes.

    No one spoke for the first few seconds. They were likely as busy sizing me up as I was them. The people of the valley who had been outside quickly retreated indoors to watch from the window. I heard Nash running around the building before I saw him and I raised my hand up to stop him without looking in his direction. I didn''t want to take my eyes off these guests of ours for a moment.

    Remnants of green energy still sizzled in the air like heat lightning.

    "Where did you come from?" I asked.

    "I doubt you''ve heard of our land, though we managed to hear of you all the way across the world." The man standing at the head of the group, who I assumed must have been the leader, spoke coolly and subtly lifted the corner of his lip in a hard-to-detect smirk. "My name is Gael the Vanisher. I''ve looked forward to meeting you in person."

    "I''m busy these days. So why don''t we skip this part and get to the answers you know I want." I aimed directly at this left eye now. "Now."

    Neither the weapon nor the threat seemed to intimidate him in the least. The slight smirk remained in place. "I come from the Hezala Kingdom, far south of this frigid land. My king would like a conference with you."

    "How did you get here?"

    "I traveled like you do. It''s a power passed down in my village, though it differs from your own. See, I create a portal using my energy. I''ve never seen anyone travel the way you do."

    "You''ve seen me travel?"

    "I''ve watched you often this past year," Gael said. "I simply wasn''t ready to introduce myself."

    I ground my teeth down, incredibly annoyed with the slow drip of information. Patience had never been my strong point. Now that I was so overwhelmed with defending the valley and had so many battles to fight, I struggled to control my temper when someone wasted my time. Growling, I lowered my arms and let my energy bow vanish. Best to save every bit of strength I could. It was my most precious commodity these days. "Will you really make me keep asking questions? Tell me already."

    "We''ve heard many tales. I travel the world gathering information for my king and he''s taken a keen interest in you."

    I noticed Piercey moving closer at this. He likely wanted to ask more about this man and the other travelers. Piercey had discussed using my power to travel around the world and gather information about kingdoms and Prophets that we knew little about. He dreamed of a world map that could help us understand the geopolitical condition of our world, something I knew could help us defend our valley, and something he believed could lead to us improving our society. We''d hoped the White Room would have helped us to find more information about our world, but it didn''t give us access to information the supervisors had. Knowledge about the peoples of our world came from word of mouth or from those who had been gathered from different lands to train at the Sacred School.

    I''d been too busy defending the valley, using all of my energy to keep out invaders and stop bad actors from rising up, that I couldn''t afford to travel around the globe with Piercey making maps or writing records. These people made me really wish I''d found the time to attempt it, though. I knew nothing about them, their land, their people, or their king. I knew nothing about what they truly wanted. I only knew their power. And it was substantial.

    "I would like to formally invite you to come speak with my king about how we could each other to prosper. Your valley has been at war for the past year and we believe a partnership could be mutually beneficial."

    Why were these potential allies suddenly appearing? First Elias and now this group. "You seem powerful enough on your own. Take care of your own people."

    "Your vicinity to the Sacred School is appealing. We come from a powerful lineage and have cultivated one of the best forces of Prophets and disciples in the world. Even so, the Sacred School is unmatched with its incredible security. There are powerful forces in our world, Eclipse. We need a safe place to train with villages close enough to travel to."

    So they wanted to take over the Sacred School. It sounded like that to me anyway. "We''re overcrowded as it is."

    Gael glanced behind himself at a woman standing slightly to his right. She nodded. "A meeting with our king does not have to take long. Please hear us out. We carefully guard our knowledge of traveling, but with the right partnership, we could share what we''ve learned. My kingdom is in danger, just like your valley. Don''t turn us away until you see what our part of the world is like and hear what we have to offer." He nodded at me. "Please. You need help. It''s very clear to see. We do as well."

    Piercey and Nash approached my side now, both studying the group.

    "If you want to have a conversation with me then earn my time." I eyed Gael. "Show me what your people can do. What you have to offer."

    "Is this a challenge?"

    "Yes. Follow me around the Valley and fight me. Can you track me?" I''d instinctively learned to do this with Flare. If he couldn''t after training, then he wasn''t worth talking to.

    "I can."

    "Good." I rolled my shoulders. "Do you accept?"

    The woman he''d spoken to early caught his wrist but he shook her off. "I do."

    Though I worried Piercey would question me, I knew Nash would not question my decision. He''d trust me to handle the threat. To my surprise, Piercey said nothing. I realized in that moment I''d earned more confidence from him in the past year than I''d ever had before.

    "Gael," the woman said quietly. I saw clear concern in her eyes. "Shouldn''t you set ground rules?"

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    "Eclipse has honor. There''s no need for rules. We should fight and learn about one another through battle."

    That tempted me to like this guy. Words could only say so much about a person. "Ready?" I asked.

    "Yes."

    No sooner had the words left his lips than I teleported to the sandy beach where I''d left the demon bleeding out the other day. I wasn''t sure why I chose the place. Maybe it had become a habit now since I always brought those I banished from the Valley. Or maybe I just wanted to show this man where he''d end up if he crossed me.

    I grinned when the explosion of energy rocked the ground beneath my feet. The green bolts of lightning lit the air and spread out in a circle. This time I noticed a small oval hole open at the center of the energy. Gael stepped through and landed on the ground.

    Without wasting time, I teleported behind him and drove my fist for his kidney. His traveling seemed to take more time and energy than mine, so I wasn''t surprised when he didn''t try to utilize his portals. Instead, he jolted forward at an impressive speed, dodging my hit. His heel whipped around as he spun into a kick.

    I pushed back against his leg with my power and teleported once again. He proved he could follow me but I wanted to see if he could keep up. How often could he portal? How quickly?

    I had to wait around twenty seconds before the portal opened again. With the amount of energy he released, I was certain he had to have only a certain amount of traveling in him each day.

    "How far can you travel before having to rest?" I asked.

    "Usually, I can craft around twelve portals a day. Sometimes more if I''m well-rested."

    "Does the distance you travel matter?"

    "No. Any portal takes the same amount of energy."

    Nice. The distance mattered greatly to me. While I could travel more often than that, it would take far more energy for me to travel across the world than it did for him. If he could teach this method of teleportation to students at the Sacred School, we could have an army of travelers ready to defend the valley.

    I was getting ahead of myself, though. These people were strangers from an unknown land. I also wanted to see more of his power.

    Breathing in deeply, I created my energy and fired three arrows at once almost instantly. My speed impressed even me. I''d gotten much faster in the last few months.

    Gael still managed to erect a shield that swallowed my arrows entirely so they disappeared. A blast shot back at me, one the same color of my arrows, like he''d repurposed the energy into an orb to use against me.

    I blasted it away with my own power in a forceful, unseen wave.

    "You''re well-trained," I said. "Disciplined."

    "You''re a rare talent. Not many people could harness your abilities after having their power sealed away."

    I really despised this sudden trend of having strangers know so much about me. "Why did you speak up now?"

    At first he didn''t speak, like he was considering whether to tell me the truth. "I sensed the most powerful portal I''d ever felt one day. It was something others couldn''t feel, not unless they also knew how to travel. There was no visible trace of the portal. Only the sensation. I felt it several times before I managed to actually watch the teleportation take place. A man who looks just like your friend Piercey walked out from it."

    My breath caught. He knew about Elias.

    "I know his power works similarly to mine but it''s far more sophisticated."

    "He works very deeply within the nature of our world." I didn''t know how to explain code, especially not without telling Gael more than I ought to. "I''m sure you know that I''ve met him."

    "Yes. I sensed the portal open at the Sacred School and then your energy disappeared."

    "You can feel me?"

    "I can if I''m close enough. That''s how I track you."

    "Even when I''m not using my power?"

    He nodded. Damn. These people had knowledge that I lacked. "So why did Elias speaking with me make you decide to finally come forward?"

    "You changed our world once already. I don''t know everything you did, but I know you killed the Prophet of the Valley, and that mysterious demon Flare. Whatever this strange man wants with you, I believe it will change the world again." He thumped his fist against his chest, voice passionate. "I have to fight for my kingdom. It''s not simply the Sacred School or your power that I''m interested in. It''s the future you''re creating as well. I want my people to have your favor."

    I saw the same love for his kingdom in him that I felt for this valley and I could not for a moment question its authenticity. But I was taken aback by this insinuation that I would do something to change the world again. I only had plans for my little slice of the world. I''d already defeated our god. What else was there for me to do other than fight for stability for my people? "How can you be so certain my favor will be worth anything to you?"

    "Your people beg for you to lead them because they know what you''re capable of. I see it as well. I want this partnership for my kingdom. I will give anything for it."

    The pressure of so many people crying my name, a name I didn''t even want¨CEclipse¨Covercame me as I stared into this stranger''s eyes. My voice came out quiet and sounding as exhausted as every single day of the past year had made me feel. "I''m just a warrior. I can''t give you what you want."

    "We both know that''s not true. Not anymore. Whatever happened in this valley didn''t happen between a ruler and a warrior. You fought gods. The ripples of that battle spread over our world to this day. They''ve drawn this powerful man who can portal in a way I''ve never seen. So I am drawn as well. I know you don''t want to stand at the center of so many people, but you''re here."

    The truth of it infuriated me. I did stand at the center and so many people ripped at me in so many directions I thought my body might explode. "I''m tired."

    Why did I say it to him? I didn''t know him. He had no reason to care. It wasn''t even smart to admit to someone who might have been my enemy. The words escaped like a deep groan, though, like I had no control of them.

    "It''s like I said." He walked closer, voice quiet. "You need help. And we do too."

    "There''s still more of your abilities I need to see." I grinned now, enjoying the thought of seeing what else he could do when he''d already proven to be worthy of consideration. I sensed the love of battle in him.

    Before Gael could respond, Elias appeared directly between us. It took my breath away.

    His eyes looked serious. "We have a major problem. Say goodbye and come with me. Please."

    I scowled, not liking that he expected my compliance. "Do we have a major problem or do you?"

    Elias twisted his brows and raised his voice. "We, Max. We do. There''s no time." He turned and lifted his hand to Gael. "I read about your people. I''m assuming you want some kind of treaty with Max''s people. I promise that I''ll return her in due time."

    Whatever happened, it had him shaken up. There was too much happening at once. "I''ll find you soon," I said to my new acquaintance. "You''ve earned my attention."

    "I expect to finish our sparring match then."

    I couldn''t help smiling at that. "We definitely will." Looking back to Elias, I made my voice stern. "Piercey and Nash are coming this time."

    "I''ve never let myself see him. I don''t know how our human psyche would react to seeing another version of ourselves. I¨C"

    I recognized a Piercey freak out when I saw one. These two at least had that in common. This would go nowhere. "Nash then."

    "Fine."

    "If you lie to me this time¨C"

    "I know, Max. We need to hurry."

    I grabbed his arm and teleported back to Nash.

 82. Mirror

    The shock hadn''t subsided from Nash''s expression since I appeared with Elias. I wasn''t sure it ever would, honestly. It was so strange to see another version of Piercey. Now the three of us stood staring at each other. Though Elias had insisted that I come with him with such urgency, he now acted hesitant to speak.

    "Say it already," I snapped.

    Elias groaned and scratched the back of his neck. "The leaders of my guild know I figured out how to travel to other worlds."

    What he said sucked the air from my lungs. Instinctively, I took one step toward him, perhaps to be close enough to punch him in his stupid face. "How could you let this happen?" I asked breathlessly.

    "It was my energy reading. They saw the pattern and had a data analyst track the my movements."

    "What does that even mean?"

    "The code, Max. They saw what I did. It''s only a matter of time before they figure out how to replicate it."

    My thoughts spun from this realization. Every single person in his world has power whereas only one percent of mine did. If they wanted to take over our world, they could. Would anyone do that, though? What a foolish question. Of course, there would be people who wanted to conquer another world. It wouldn''t require a majority of the population, only a small minority. I couldn''t breathe.

    "We need to stop my guild," Elias said. "Our world is gridlocked in this power struggle and fighting over resources. There''s so much potential here."

    "So you''re saying if I don''t stop your guild, they''ll take over my world. Your stupid war is now my war."

    He looked like he wanted to retreat, but held my stare anyway as he fidgeted uncomfortably. "I''m sorry. If they come here and realize your people don''t have power¨C"

    "I don''t believe this!" I shouted.

    "They just want to become more powerful. You have untapped resources here. They could recruit more warriors and give them neural implants. I doubt they''ll want to simply cause destruction for no reason."

    "How reassuring," Nash said.

    "It''s my world they want control over. I only wanted to get help for my people, not place your world in danger."

    My hands curled into fists. "As if I didn''t have enough demons and prophets to fight. Do you know what it takes for powerful people to torment those who are weaker than them? An impulse. A bad day. The taste of the thrill."

    Elias''s jaw clenched as he lowered his gaze. "They know nothing except that this world exists and I can travel here. That''s all. But if I refuse to take them, they''ll try to force the knowledge from me."

    "Can they do that?"

    "Not always. There''s supposed to be a willingness to connect like you and Piercey did to share your memories. But people in my world have trained in coercing this. It can be successful."

    "They would torture you," Nash said. "I know how it is to serve what you hate and feel you have no other choice."

    I nearly touched my finger to the scarring weaving down his spine before I caught myself.

    Nash looked to me now. "He didn''t mean for this to happen, Max. In his position, wouldn''t you do whatever it took to help your people?"

    "Not place other innocent in harm''s way."

    "I''m sorry," Elias said, his voice broken. "Time will not pass without you here, though. Come fight with me in my world. Put a stop to this before it threatens your world even more."

    "I''ve never turned my back on a fight before," I said. "No matter the odds, I''ve always believed in fighting until the end. It''s finally too much." It felt like my insides were collapsing into a bottomless pit that tried to consume my entire being. "I travel all over this valley battling whatever threat suddenly appears while trying to win coordinated war efforts on all fronts. People just ask for more. They''re pulling on me to be their leader." I clutched my chest, exhausted in a way I''d never felt. "I cannot save another world or another valley when my own is falling apart."

    "Max¡­" Elias spoke with such tenderness that I forget we didn''t really know each other and we didn''t share a long past together. Tears shone in his eyes. "What I''ve learned from the version of you in my world is that sometimes when you are so focused on one thing, you can''t see anything else, including what you need most. I meant what I said before. The answers you need are in my world. If you won''t fight for me and my people, then step away from this chaos here long enough to find a better way."

    "It''s not that I wouldn''t fight for you, Elias. I would love to fight for your people." The weight of the valley bore down on me, trying to send me to my knees, but I refused to yield. I remained standing, strong and determined, but so weary. "I just only have so much to give."

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    Nash laced his fingers with mine, drawing my attention. "This isn''t working. What we''re doing is not sustainable. We''ve been saying that."

    "I know but running off to another world is not the answer."

    "Why not? He has neural implants. Better yet, his people know how to properly use them. Their entire world is dedicated to mastering its potential. Stepping back might be just what you need."

    "I can''t walk away."

    "You''re not. Nothing will happen while you''re gone. Maybe you could manage a full night of sleep over there." Nash pinched my chin, lifting my face to his, as he looked deeply into my eyes. "Trust me. I''m the one saying this. We should not walk away from this battle. You want to help those people and they can also help us."

    I squeezed his hand and had that sinking feeling that I couldn''t deny what he said.

    "You''re too close to it," he said gently. "You need to step back."

    When I looked over at Elias, I saw that he looked at Nash with a strange expression. Despite glowing with gratitude and appreciation, he also wore a heavy look of pain. What had happened in that other world?

    "If I do this, I want the neural implants first," I said. "For Nash, Leif, and Wren."

    "Absolutely."

    "And I want help training them."

    Elias nodded. "Anything."

    "What am I signing up for, exactly? Do you have some kind of plan?"

    "The guilds will fight each other. We just need to spark their war and pull them out of their stalemate. Give the advantage to the other side. Other guilds will step in to create balance when our peace is disrupted. We just need a spark."

    Things still didn''t feel right. "Wait. Why was this such a hurry if time doesn''t progress without you in your world?"

    When he didn''t respond, only stared in shame, the realization thudded in my gut. "What did you do?"

    "I told her we would only come this once and I needed to talk to you to know if you''d help, so I''d know how to handle her."

    "Who, Elias?"

    "You have to understand how deep her loyalty runs. It''s like having one of them here. One of the guild leaders. She will never turn her back on our people."

    Beside me, Nash twisted in a circle, looking around. "Where is she?"

    Elias shook his head. "I didn''t want her to hear us or for anyone to see her. I''ve hidden her¨C"

    "Hey!" I shouted. "Come out!"

    Elias winced. "I''m not sure you should see each other."

    "Bring her here or I swear I will knock every single tooth out of your mouth."

    "Threats won''t make me put you or her in harm''s way."

    "Harm''s way?"

    "Damn it." Elias reached for my hand. "If I take you, then you have to stay hidden and quiet. Close your eyes and don''t look. I''m not sure how this works. Better yet, you should do the traveling. Right now, I only know how to go between worlds. I''d have to take us to mine first."

    "Where?"

    "The cabin you showed me."

    Grabbing onto both men, I immediately brought us to the closest tree line. "Get her to meet you out here so I can hear."

    "Oh, that won''t be a problem."

    Before I could ask why, I heard a door slam, followed by stomping.

    Elias rushed from the tree line and stopped twenty feet away.

    "You said five minutes," she yelled.

    The voice seized my heart in my chest and refused to allow it to beat. Nash clasped a tree in front of him as we both watched the strikingly familiar form appear.

    Elias had said not to look but I couldn''t take my eyes off of her. Someone who looked exactly like me launched away from the cabin for Elias, fiery with anger.

    It was like staring into a mirror, only the reflection acted independently of me, refusing to do as I willed. I saw my own eyes flashing with rage, bright in the sun''s light¨Ceyes that belonged to another version of me.

    A wave of nausea swept over me.

    "This isn''t good for you, Eli." The woman who looked and sounded like me slammed her fist into her palm. Ashton. My counterpart. "First you hide all of this and then you take off from me once we''re here."

    "It''s complicated." He lifted his hands. "Why can''t you trust me for once?"

    "Really? I wonder."

    "Stop holding that over my head. It was for your own good. You told me you agreed¨C"

    "You still went behind my back and made a fool of me with Jaxon. And don''t pretend this has anything to do with us. I''m speaking purely about guild business. You''ve been acting really weird for months now. Since when do you keep everything a secret from?

    After a beat of quiet, Elias chuckled low. "I don''t know, Ash. Since when."

    Ashton drew back and crossed her arms. Turning her face away, she spoke more quietly. "I''ve seen this world. I can report back and buy you a few days. That''s all, though. I want answers too."

    "I know." He sighed deeply. "I promise, I''ll explain everything soon."

    The way they spoke to one another, argued with one another, answered so many questions I had about them. I glanced at Nash to see if he noticed.

    "It''s you," he whispered.

    "Yeah. It messed with my head too when I saw your version."

    "Are you okay?" he asked.

    Strangely, I was. Even though she looked like me and sounded like me, she looked at Elias in a way that reminded me that we were different people. I''d never looked at Piercey like that. This identical woman was not me and my brain instinctively understood that to be true.

    In their world, Nash and I¨CJaxon and Ashton¨Cremained enemies, true enemies. And clearly, this version of Piercey and myself had been much more than friends at some point. Their life differed greatly from ours.

    But many things were the same. I recognized immediately in Ashton that she served her people as fervently as I did my own and the thought of those two purposes clashing flooded me with apprehension.

    I couldn''t deny what I saw as I looked at her. This woman was ferocious. So was I. And we wanted different things.

    Many times in my life, I''d felt as if I had to fight against myself. Now I feared that would be literally true. If Elias wanted to war against his guild, it meant warring against Ashton. It meant I would war against another version of myself. I needed to do what Elias had clearly failed to do and convince Ashton to our side. Otherwise, this would be very bad.

    I was not an enemy anyone should want to have.

 83. Fools

    My circle had grown since the old days. I''d brough Nash and Piercey to Leif and Wren back at our village where we sat in the house I''d once shared with my best friend''s family. I would never undo meeting Nash and Elsie or defeating the prophet, but I did miss the simplicity of those days.

    Simple was long gone. Though I''d felt bombarded constantly this past year, the last few days had truly overshadowed all else.

    "Here''s the plan," I said. "We need to get neural implants from Elias''s world and figure out our enemy there. When we get home, I also want to look into Gael and his kingdom. We need allies and they seem promising." I held my hand up to Leif when his expression soured. "Before you say I''m being too trusting, I only want to learn about them."

    Leif balked. "You once promised not to trust Nash. Now look at the two of you."

    "Here I was thinking we were past this," Nash said with a sly smile. "Are you still thinking of killing me?"

    "The threat remains forever. If you ever hurt Max, I''ll rip your throat out and feed it to you. It went something like that, right?"

    The two men laughed while I rolled my eyes. "Come on," I said. "Get serious."

    "We''ve been serious for a year," Nash said. "Maybe that''s the problem. I say we hold off on the plan, get drunk, and spar until we can''t stand up straight."

    As much as I wanted to entertain the idea and joke with them, seeing another version of me and knowing we faced an all new threat had shaken me too much. I was stressed the fuck out. Nash must have noticed because he sighed and took my hand.

    "Or we can do that after we get the neural implants," he said. "It''ll be more fun after that anyway."

    I needed to calm down. I breathed out deeply. "Sorry. I guess I''m on edge. I''ve been living on edge for months now."

    "That''s why we need to consider this partnership with Gael." Wren gave Leif a pointed expression. "Max needs help."

    "Once we have neural implants, she won''t need anyone else." Leif puffed his chest out and thumped it hard.

    "They can portal," Wren said. "Maybe we can get them to teach us."

    As they began to bicker, I shifted my gaze to Piercey. He''d been staring out the window without speaking. "Hey." I twisted to face him. "You okay?"

    "I''m bothered that time does not progress when you leave our world." He turned his pensive face toward me. "The supervisors only deal with one world and one experiment. The Collective wouldn''t have made a mechanic they didn''t plan to use."

    I swallowed uncomfortably loud, a shaky feeling coming over me. Even though I didn''t fully grasp the implications, I knew he was right. This might have been more serious than a more powerful world discovering us and potentially invading. "Time passes in our world for Elias, though. Just not his. It''s only relative when we belong to that world."

    "So whoever they built this for must be connected to multiple worlds."

    "You think the gods are really traveling between our worlds?"

    "They must be." He looked out the window again and chewed his thumb nail absently. "Why?"

    I didn''t feel like he was asking me that question. His question reverberated in my mind though. The Collective hadn''t told me everything. What secrets did they hold back? When I''d pursued Flare before killing her, the woman had accused the Collective of experimenting on her as well. They watched her devolve according to her. A creeping sensation wound through my gut. I really didn''t know what they were capable of.

    "Piercey." My voice fell. "I''ve been so focused on holding this Valley together that I didn''t let myself think about the bigger threat. I think I messed up."

    Without taking his eyes off the window, he reached out, and squeezed my hand once. "We''re only human, Max."

    That didn''t help us, though.

    <hr>

    Elias had returned to his world to prepare for our arrival. It would be difficult to sneak us in without his guild knowing. Truthfully, I didn''t know if it was possible or if we could even trust that he had any intention of doing it. He could lead us into a trap. The only thing that gave me hope was that even though Elias didn''t seem as honest as Piercey, I knew that he cared just as much. He''d made the choices he did not out of malice or the desire to deceive but to help the people he loved. We were too good of allies to pass up. Elias wouldn''t throw us away by handing us over to his guild. Or at least, he wouldn''t turn over someone who looked exactly like the woman he clearly had and likely still loved.

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    If he did, I''d just have to kill them all. We needed these neural implants.

    While we waited, we traveled to the southern border of the valley where scouts had seen warriors from the coastal lands traveling. We''d had several conflicts with them, though the battles were relatively short-lived. I wasn''t sure why they kept returning every few months. Each time, we fought and held our territory. They retreated once they faced too many casualties.

    Nash thought they were testing our abilities whereas Leif was convinced they came as a distraction. I wondered if they just wanted in on the fun of wasting my damn time.

    When I''d teleported our group to our uninvited coastal neighbors, I dropped us directly where the scouts had reported they camped. We landed in the center of seven tents by a large fire. Several warriors sat beside it, cooking food. Others peeked out from their tents.

    "Eclipse." A commander I recognized rose to his feet and grinned. "You didn''t wait for us this time. I expected to meet on the battlefield. Excuse me for not being prepared for you."

    "I''m short on time these days. Who keeps sending you? My friend Piercey has spoken with several chiefs from your area. They all deny any involvement. I hear it''s a few rogue commanders playing around in our lands."

    "Commanders like me?"

    "Like you." I narrowed my eyes.

    "You want to know why. I''ve heard things as well. That you''ve been asking questions."

    "So stop avoiding them."

    "No, I don''t think so. Why talk when we can battle?" He unsheathed his sword and the other warriors followed suite, surrounding us now. I scanned each of them and counted sixteen. What I really needed to know was which ones had power.

    "You''ve become a pest," I said.

    Was that the point? This commander wanted to be a pest to me? It may not have been that they simply wanted to be a distraction. They wanted to wear me out. What if they were working with the Flatlanders to weaken me by forcing me to fight so many battles? I knew some demon attacks actually happened because of the Flatlanders.

    I growled and fired my energy arrow directly between the commander''s eyes. As expected, it lodged in a shield and disappeared. My eyes shifted to the right. I''d felt the energy come from a small warrior near one of the tents.

    My group moved like we shared a body. While I turned on the one with power, Nash charged the commander, Leif lunged for one on the right, and Wren slashed her sword toward a close enemy. The battle erupted quickly. Piercey stood behind us all and erected shields around our friends.

    Swords clashed as I mercilessly tore at the body of the one with power. I could sense his bones crushing into powder. Why wasn''t he stopping me? I felt him resisting, but it was so weak. Why did they bring such a weak man?

    I regretted it immediately. It felt like killing a helpless child. But I''d prepared a powerful strike thinking he would make for a challenge. In seconds, I''d pulverized his bones so his body fell like a sack of flour onto the ground. Blood oozed his eyes, ears, and nose.

    A warrior nearby turned and threw up on the ground.

    Damn that had been way more brutal than I meant for it to be.

    I twisted, expecting to feel more power. But even as the warriors struggled to break through Piercey''s shields to attack my comrades, no one emitted even a blip of energy.

    Had they really only brought one person with power? What a foolish decision. That couldn''t be. No one else used any power even as Nash''s twin swords sliced open a man''s gut. His intestines spilled out in a gush of black blood.

    This was a pathetic fight. The commander stared at me as his warriors quickly fell to our blades.

    "Stop." I lifted my hands and cried out as I flung back all of the remaining warriors so they slid across the ground. I''d missed many of the moves my friends made, but I counted three dead already, and several severely wounded.

    "Do you care nothing for the lives of these warriors?" I pointed an accusing finger at the commander. "How can you be so careless?"

    By his haughty, taunting sneer, I knew he truly felt nothing about the blood pooling on the ground, or the warrior clutching her torn side, or another holding closed the tattered edges of his splayed hand. Such senseless death and violence. I resented him for forcing me to choose this. I would not apologize though. If I didn''t fight, they''d take this valley for themselves. I hadn''t warred against the Prophet for my people to fall into the hands of another tyrant.

    The ground trembled and then a wall of earth sprang up, blocking us from the commander and those warriors closest to him. I reared back and blasted a hole in the makeshift wall with a forceful wave of power. But he and three other warriors had already jumped onto their horses.

    I could stop them. Surely they knew this. The only problem was that someone, perhaps multiple someones, held back their energy. I had no idea how many of them had power and how much danger my friends would face.

    It was better to have our scouts watch where the commander went so I could figure out exactly what he was doing.

    Sadly, they''d abandoned their wounded on the ground. "That commander is a priority now," I said to Piercey. "Put as many graduates on him as it takes to get answers. They''re up to something."

    "What about them?" Wren asked quietly. At least four were still alive. I listened for heartbeats and discovered that one who appeared dead actually had a faint pulse.

    I didn''t like taking captives. After what I''d gone through with my people, I knew how awful it was, and I avoided it. But we needed to talk to them. "They''ll come with us. Piercey, will you heal them?"

    "Of course."

    I looked around at each of the warriors, my anger swelling more with each passing moment. They had no hope of taking over the valley. Clearly, they hadn''t come here to win any battles. Just to take from me. To wound me. To slow me down and exhaust me.

    Wheeling around, I shouted at everyone, everything. The entire world. "I''m sick of this!" Then, looking at my friends, I managed to barely lower my voice. "I want a meeting with Gael''s leaders now."

 84. Rest

    Nash had been so right. This was exactly what I needed.

    I knelt while I held Elsie in a tight hug.

    "I missed you, Maxy." Her curls tickled the side of my face. "It''s been four sleeps!"

    "I know it. I''m so sorry." It hadn''t simply been the four sleeps that made it feel so long. I''d only seen her for an hour the day she came to visit. As soon as I let go of her, she grabbed me again.

    "Biggest hugs!" Elsie cried.

    "Biggest hugs!"

    When I pulled back, my throat felt thick I could cry. I realized how badly I just wanted to go home with Nash and Elsie and take the weight of the valley off my shoulders for even a few days. I brushed her hair behind her ears and tapped her nose. "Did you know that you''re getting tall?"

    "Oh, I know. Strong too."

    "Very."

    "Watch this." Elsie suddenly sprinted away toward the big tree in the center of the courtyard of the Sacred School where her bag of belongings waited. That and the two sticks I noticed she grabbed now.

    I sank back onto the grass in the courtyard of the Sacred School. Nash settled beside me and laced his fingers with mine.

    Elsie wheeled around and slashed both sticks down. Stomping one foot forward, she let out a cry and jabbed one makeshift sword, while raising the other in a convincing, albeit clumsy, guard.

    "Wow," I said and clapped, truly mesmerized by the determination in her eyes. "You''ve been training."

    "Every single day, Maxy. Just like Daddy."

    Elsie kicked, spun, and launched into a series of swings. Max was surprised by her coordination at the young age of five.

    "Maybe we should take her to battle," I whispered.

    Nash smirked but shook his head. "I can''t even joke about it."

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    "Because you know she''ll be charging in one day. Look at her."

    He waved a hand at me. "Please. I''m hoping to have at least ten years before I have to worry about it. Maybe twenty."

    "Twenty? Are you insane? You''ll be lucky if you make it ten years before she''s trying to get to the front lines."

    "She makes me feel so conflicted. I love her courage, but part of me wants her to be a coward. I want her to stay home and safe forever."

    "Don''t let your fear hold her back."

    Nash nodded, looking serious now. "I know."

    "Thank you for making me come back before meeting with Gael. I wouldn''t have made it without this."

    When Nash met my eyes, the weight on my shoulders managed to slip off for a few seconds and for my world to become as small as this courtyard. "It''s not your fault we''re at war. We always have been." His thumb traced along my jaw. "Don''t let your guilt kill you."

    "How do I say no to people who need my help?"

    "I don''t know. That''s why we''re meeting with Gael. So they have more than just you to ask. Even if you make an agreement, you still have to be willing to let someone take care of the people."

    I chewed the inside of my lip while watching Elsie play. "It''s hard to step back. I feel responsible for the turmoil. I know you''re trying to tell me I''m not, but I did make certain decisions, and those had consequences."

    "Listen." Nash lifted my face to his. "You had us at your side every step of the way. This is not all on you."

    My lips melted against his. With the three of us together in the courtyard, all felt right. "I don''t know what''s going to happen with Elias''s world. The gods will figure out I''ve traveled there and they may get mad, especially after we give you an implant. Is this is even what you want?"

    "Absolutely." The muscles in his jaw knotted. "You remember what it was like when your power was locked away inside of you. So imagine how it feels to have none. It kills me that I can''t fight beside you the way you need me to."

    "You never say."

    "But you knew."

    I nodded, chest tightening. "Of course I knew."

    "I want that implant. I don''t want anything to hold me back ever again. If that power can help me make a peaceful home for you and Elsie and everyone we love, then I''ll do anything to get it."

    "The gods¨C"

    "Make them listen, Max. Dr. Drake cares about you. You have some pull with them."

    "Alright. We just have to make this work. We need more people with power we can trust. It bothers me a little, though. Deciding who gets power and who doesn''t."

    "Don''t get caught up in it. We''re in a crisis and this is part of the solution. You can beat yourself up about it later."

    I chuckled. "Fair enough."

    "Now no more talk about anything serious. Rest."

    I turned to lean against his chest and close my eyes against the warmth of the sun shining through the glass top of the climate-controlled courtyard. Elsie hopped onto her knees in front of us and retired her sticks at her side. When I opened my eyes, it was to her wide grin.

    It felt like I drew in my first breath in days.

 85. Deals

    I never had been too proud to admit my shortcomings. Well, perhaps that was being too generous. I was willing to admit obvious shortcomings once having enough time to process them that I realized it would be embarrassing to deny something so obvious. Sitting at the table with Gael''s people in their main hall, I simply had to acknowledge that tendency to only see what I chose to focus on limited me greatly. It was a wonderful thing to be singularly devoted to my people. They needed that. However, if I never broadened my horizons, how could I grow into who they truly needed me to be?

    We sat in the middle of one of the most complicated pieces of architecture I had ever seen in person. It truly made me question aspects of the history of my world that I had never been made privy to. How long had our civilization been developing here in this world? Because this place held history. Exquisite paintings stretched across the gold ceiling with ribbons of gold weaving through the pictures, catching the light just right so it gave the impression of natural light. I knew nothing about art. Absolutely nothing. Right now as I stared up at the image of an adorable and incredibly chubby reaching holding a scroll in one hand, I realized I had zero ideas on what it could mean and zero interest in trying to come up with any. This was definitely not my area. But it was amazing.

    Piercey had not been able to take his eyes off the paintings or the chiseled columns. Leif seemed as entranced with the food as my other friend was with the art. He lifted a piece of watermelon to his nose and sniffed. We didn''t grow watermelon in our frigid northern region, but I''d had it as a child in those distant lands. When the man ate it, his eyes widened.

    "The juice."

    Nash had been watching him and immediately reached for a hunk of his own. "Woah."

    Both men popped a few more pieces before seeming to remember their manners and reluctantly sat back. Wren sat the furthest away from me and gazed up at the flowing and gauzy veils that created a makeshift ceiling over the dining table.

    Seeing the beauty of this hall showed me clearly that I needed to travel more, not just to fight demons, but to experience the rest of the world. Gael''s land was very different from my own and his people also had mastered powers that no one in Skia Hellig had. I''d been so fixated on the valley that I neglected to ever consider what I could learn from other lands.

    "Thank you for joining us." Gael''s leader, King Tyroin, dipped his head in my direction. "I feared that you may not be amenable to meeting with us."

    "The reputation of my stubbornness has crossed the ocean."

    The king at first looked as if he was uncertain of whether it was okay to chuckle, but once I smiled, he did as well. "You are an impressive leader, Max. I can only assume that your steadfastness and conviction have enabled you to not only set your people free of the tyrant Eskel but also to protect your precious valley from falling into the hands of another."

    This guy was way too nice. I could see that Piercey was eating up the skill of this man''s diplomacy, but Leif had narrowed his eyes to slits. I fell somewhere between the two of them, wanting to believe he was genuine, but worrying that eloquence could paint over a much uglier picture.

    "I can see a few things about you as well, your highness. You rule a large kingdom and manage a great number of people. I''m sure that it requires as much grace and tact as it does strength."

    While I would not call him traditionally handsome, he flashed such a charming smile, that it almost transformed his appearance entirely. "Warriors never trust politicians. I can''t blame you for understanding that our tongue is the same as your sword."

    Nash glanced at me, the concern clear in his eyes. Though I knew about Nash''s past and that he acted as a spy when he served the Prophet of the Valley, I still struggled to make that time of his life actually feel real. I''d heard plenty of stories by now of his success with the Flatlanders and I remembered that he understood fighting as a politician much better than I did. Nash, too, had learned how to use his charm and charisma to control a situation and gain the advantage. Even if this king was genuine, he possessed the skills to manipulate. I would need to conference with my friends before saying very much at this meeting. Politics had never been my strong point.

    "Your highness." I breathed in deeply and met his eyes. "I''m going to be honest with you because you clearly already know that I''m a much better warrior than diplomat. It''s hard for me to trust you."

    "As it should be."

    "It must be hard for you to trust me as well."

    He seemed to consider this and sat back, looking to Gael now. When he returned his attention to me, he spoke in a quieter and more casual voice. "I''m a skeptic. It''s true. Gael came around to you before I did. We''ve watched you, Max, and you are very consistent in your traits. You will do anything for your people and that one fact rules every moment of your life. While I cannot claim to trust very many people in their relationships with me, I can trust their nature. A liar will lie. A loving parent will care for their child. The protector of her people will protect."

    Man, it really was hard to resist being pulled into his good-nature. I felt enthralled as I sat beneath the beautiful dome ceiling and smelled the freshness of the sliced fruit. "Just say it, your highness."

    "Whether or not I can trust you, I can trust your behavior. You will never put your people in harm''s way. If we make a treaty, you will honor it. You won''t bring the wrath of a kingdom down upon your people."

    This was an accurate assessment and it made me realize how easy to read I could be. "So why should I trust your treaty?"

    "Because you can kill me at any time."

    I blinked at his words, quickly glancing to his guards and finally to Gael. These were powerful people. I didn''t feel confident at all that I could.

    He sat forward and lifted his hand. "I''m not trying to be overly dramatic by saying that. I just feel it''s true. You could travel to me any time you want to and I believe you have the skills to ultimately kill me if you so choose. My warriors may strike you dead after. It''s difficult to say whether you would survive the effort. But breaking a treaty with you, betraying your people, these are things which I truly believe place my life in jeopardy. It is an inopportune time for me to die."

    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    I could not help but laugh and had to snap my mouth closed. "Inopportune?"

    "We have no suitable leader to take my place and we''re facing many dangers. Not only do I want to live because I value my life, but I cannot abandon my people here without someone to take my place. You and I share something in common. Our people depend upon us and they are in danger."

    My heart wanted so badly to trust what he said. It made sense to me. Why would he send people halfway around the world to pick a fight with presumably one of the most powerful people in the world? Especially someone like me who was so dedicated to my people? He could have a motivate, such as taking over the valley. But why would he want the valley? We had looked into him and he''d never made any move to acquire new lands. He had contented himself with taking care of the kingdom he had rather than trying to expand it.

    I looked to Wren now, because while I could trust Piercey''s mind and Nash''s heart and Leif''s loyalty, it was her wisdom that had always given me peace when I felt uncertain. Wren didn''t claim to have answers very often, but when she did, I trusted her implicitly. She never spoke unless she was certain.

    She held my gaze for several seconds and then she nodded. No more needed to be said. Wren trusted them enough to at least continue this conversation.

    "Let''s talk actual logistics. Then I''d like to conference with my people."

    <hr>

    "I want to hear from everyone." I crossed my arms and shifted my eyes from one person to the next.

    Piercey clapped his hands and sighed dreamily. "Well, as I''m sure you know, I''m in love. I would like to move here immediately and become a member of this society. Think of the time I''d have for science. I imagine there''s so much time for science here."

    Leif rolled his eyes. "You''ve been so easily seduced. I admit they have a few things going for them. Their riches for one."

    "Watermelon for another," Piercey added with an edge of frustration and sarcasm to his voice.

    "We don''t know them, though, and we have no reason to trust them. They want to come to our home. They want to learn our skills."

    "And teach us theirs," I added.

    Wren lifted her hand as if to calm Leif. "He''s right. However, no one survives alone. We''re stronger for our families, our neighbors, our village. Our people. Our valley is changing and it''s as important to find our allies as it is to identify our enemies. Consider Nash. What if we had followed after Leif''s paranoia? He''d likely be dead."

    Nash shrugged. "She''s right. Alliances are important and Leif obviously is a terrible judge of character." The sly smile on Nash''s face reminded my heart that these two who I loved so dearly did not actually hate one another. "They also have plenty to offer, from their wealth to their skills."

    "But," I said.

    "But¡­" He pushed to sit on the table. "Their king knows how to work a conversation."

    "Doesn''t mean it''s a bad thing," I said.

    "You''ve made up your mind already." Leif groaned. "Why even ask what we think?"

    I sighed. "I haven''t. I''m sorry."

    "When you want something, you try to force it, girl." Leif clasped my shoulder. "You may well be right. You have been in the past."

    "You mean when you yelled at me for falling for Nash?"

    "Particulars don''t matter," Leif said. "You are not always right, though."

    "So what do you think?" I looked to Nash now. He was so honest with me and so genuine. I truly struggled to imagine him every being deceitful. But he''d been a good spy and when we first met he had been incredibly charming. I knew that even Nash had been interested in me from the start that he had no more started talking to me for that attraction than I had him. We both had wanted to fight together. He''d been very convincing. So his opinion of the king mattered a great deal to me. Nash wouldn''t be mistrusting as a rule like Leif but he may see through the charm better than I would.

    "I''m not sure to be honest." Nash considered his words a few seconds more before speaking. "Good leaders are sometimes good manipulators. They use their skills to inspire and influence rather than control or trick. But it''s hard to say what he is without learning more about him."

    "Here''s what we do know," Piercey said. "He''s agreed to help defend the valley while his people train at the Sacred School and to teach our students how to portal. That''s exactly what we need."

    "Exactly," Leif said. "He''s giving us a deal we cannot resist. That''s dangerous."

    "That''s hope," Piercey countered. "We cannot afford to pass this up. Max is killing herself out there. Do we even have a choice?"

    "We always have a choice," Nash said. "We have to or we''re primed to be taken advantage of."

    "He''s right," Wren said. "We can''t take it out of desperation. If we get neural implants then we can help to defend the valley from the king and his people if they are up to no good."

    "We need a termination clause." Piercey stalked back and forth. "Both sides need to be able to back out of the agreement if our relations become tense, our interests no longer align, or we become suspicious of foul play."

    While they continued to talk, I replayed the conversation in my mind. "You know it isn''t the king I trust. It''s Gael. I don''t know him well but I trust my gut. He has honor. If we want to know whether we can trust the king, we need to see his kingdom and meet his people. And we need to see how they conduct themselves in our homes."

    Piercey nodded. "So the next stage of negotiations would be to spend some time in this kingdom and then to invite them back to the valley."

    "Yes. But we need to get to Elias''s world," I said. "Once we return, we''ll be busy with the new neural implants."

    "I can take care of this next step."

    "So what do you think, everyone? Should we take the next step?"

    Leif rubbed his chin. "We won''t be making any promises?"

    "No promises," Nash said. "I think it would be premature."

    "Agreed," Wren said.

    "It''s settled. We''ll continue getting to know each other."

    Time would pause in this world while I took Nash, Leif, and Wren to Elias''s world to get the neural implants and to deal with whatever situation awaited us there. But it made me feel better to know that Piercey would handle the business in this kingdom on his own, regardless. I needed to take a few things off my plate.

    "Let me know who you want me to bring here," I told Piercey. I didn''t want to leave him alone halfway across the world.

    This could be exactly what we needed. Elias had brought hope to us by his willingness to share the neural implants, but he''d also brought a threat. If Gael''s people came through and helped like they said, it would let me focus on dealing with Elias''s guild and on finding a leader for the valley. If the king and Gael betrayed us, though, it would be disastrous.

    I closed my eyes. There were too many problems. I had to trust my friends to help. Nash was right the night before when he''d said I had to let others help take care of the valley. My whole life, I''d fought tirelessly beside my fellow warriors. I needed to do the same now with the political affairs.

    "Thank you, everyone, for coming here with me. I need each of you."

    Wren drew me into a hug that brought warmth to the deepest reaches of my stomach. Leif kissed my temple. Piercey hung back but I could see from his look that he offered all the support. Once my friends moved away, Nash took me beneath his arm.

    "Let''s go start our next journey," Nash said. "I know it''s not what we expected and it''s far more dangerous than we''d like, but it might be just the answer we''ve been looking for."

    "I don''t know. I really don''t." I squeezed him around his waist and looked out the window. "I''m ready for the three of you to have power, though."

    I really needed them.

 86. Two Souls

    Elias had returned two days later than planned. During that time, I''d answered an emergency call from a village where one of the Prophet of the Valley''s old disciples had caused trouble¨Csomeone who generally I considered to be harmless unless he got particularly drunk¨Cand I''d joined one battle to push the Flatlanders back.

    I had also gotten a full night''s sleep for once.

    When Elias arrived, I didn''t want to waste any time. He showed up at the Sacred School and found us while we were all eating dinner. Wren and Leif had been staying so that we would all be together.

    "Let''s go," I said the moment I spotted Elias.

    He smiled at my eagerness. "First, let''s discuss our plan. My people know about your world and they''re monitoring my movements. I told them that I was gathering information about our world and I hadn''t wanted to tell anyone until I knew more, because I would feel rushed to action. Some of the leaders bought this and some didn''t, because they are rushing me."

    "Great." I crossed my arms. "What do they want?"

    "Detailed reports. One of the leaders insisted that I connect with them to share memories, but we have the right to refuse that in my world without question. There''s due process to force it. Even then, I can resist, and usually that works. But I''d be arrested at that point. I want to avoid that."

    "Doesn''t this give away to your guild that you''re betraying them?" Leif asked.

    "Not necessarily. I often go on my own way but I always come back and do what''s best for the guild. This venture certainly pushes the limits of what I can get away with not telling them, but it isn''t that different from my normal behavior. My concern is that when I return to my world, they''ll monitor me, and know that I brought you."

    "What if you take us some place far away from your guild?" I asked.

    "That''s a good idea. You can travel with us and they won''t recognize your power reading. If you get too close to a city, people will be alarmed by the burst of energy. It''s very large. We''ll have to travel on horse."

    "Old fashioned," I said.

    "It is. We actually have some automobiles, but not like the kind from the original Earth."

    "Some what?" Nash asked.

    "I''ll explain later," I said. "Once we get to your world, how will we operate without being discovered?"

    Eliash let out a long sigh. "That''s the hard part. I''m being scrutinized more closely. If I cut my hair to look like Piercey''s, we could bring him over."

    "One of you could provide a distraction so that we can do whatever we need to do without being seen." I nodded. "That''s a good idea."

    "If I connect with Piercey, I can share my life with him, and he''ll have all the information he needs to pretend to be me."

    I lifted my hand to him. "Connect with me. I need to know too."

    He looked at my hand warily. "I don''t connect often. I''m not very skilled with selectively sharing."

    "You''d rather hide your secrets from me than give us the best chance to deal with your guild?"

    The uncomfortable look on his face gave me pause. What was he trying to hide?

    "I can," Elias said finally. "I just would rather not."

    I scoffed. "So if I take you to Piercey right now, you''ll connect with him."

    "Yes, if everyone agrees to it."

    "But not with me?"

    "If you insist, I will."

    I tilted my head at him.

    "Piercey is another version of me. It''s intimate to connect with someone. It''ll be hard enough being honest with myself by giving it to him. There''s too much that has happened with your counterpart in my world. For you to experience it all¡­"

    Nash gave my hand a tug and forced my attention. "Listen to him, Max. This is his life you''re asking him to give to you."

    "It''s not something to take lightly," Elias said in a quiet voice. "You should think about whether you really want Piercey to have my experiences."

    The discomfort I''d seen in Elias shifted to me. Though no one had said it aloud, I was confident that the relationship between Elias and Ashton had gone further than mine had with Piercey. My friend here in this world would experience how life could have been for him. Wouldn''t that just break his heart? And wouldn''t it be too intimate? I hadn''t let myself dwell too long on the fact that Elias knew Ashton so intimately.

    "How long did it last?" I asked.

    "Us?" Elias glanced quickly between Nash and myself. "One year at first. We ended things and got back together. The time was three years."

    "Three years?" Nash and I had only been together for one. Elias had been with Ashton three times as long. Piercey would have way too many memories of another version of me if they connected. The same would be true if I connected with Elias. If we chose another party, then they would, and that seemed even worse.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    I rubbed my arm and turned my back on them. Even if I got past my feelings about the situation, Piercey had loved me once. I wasn''t sure how deep his feelings still ran. I hoped that he''d moved on. It seemed unfair to do to him though. Showing Piercey how our life could have been seemed incredibly cruel when we would never be together in this world. Although, maybe it would give him some resolution if he saw that even having the chance at being with me didn''t work.

    "What if you share up until the point that we got together?" I faced Elias again. "Could you try sharing different parts of your life?"

    "I can try. Sometimes though when you try not to share something, you think about it too much, and it''s all you share."

    Leif threw up his hands. "This is too complicated."

    "You can do it," I said, taking even myself by surprise. "Only if Piercey is okay with it and only if you try not to share too much about us."

    The heavy look filled Elias''s eyes again. He wasn''t over Ashton, at all, and it felt really strange to see that. "I''ll try."

    "He came in through a portal with Gael. Let me call him over. We should give them some privacy, everyone."

    Leif and Wren walked away. Nash caught my eyes first. "You''re sure? You''re okay?"

    "I''m fine."

    "I''m sorry," Elias said.

    "Don''t be."

    "I suppose now we''ll find out how speaking with our counterpart affects us. You managed to see and hear Ashton without being too affected."

    "Yeah, well with your tendency to analyze, it may break your brain."

    Elias chuckled. "Yeah."

    <hr>

    After Piercey had arrived, we''d eased into the two men seeing each other. Both of them had stared, dumbfounded, at another version of themselves. Piercey had reasoned it was no different than seeing a twin while Elias remarked that clone had a creepier feel to it and I reminded them that they were merely the same exact consciousness uploaded to different experiments. Surreal.

    The two had abandoned their initial shock, however, to sit across from one another and rapid-fire shoot theories at one another.

    "Enough." I smacked my hands down on the table. "You two could talk all day. We need to decide if you''re sharing or not."

    Piercey leaned in and spoke quietly, as if I couldn''t hear him clearly, which I obviously could. "Is she as scary in your world?"

    "Scarier. This one is nicer."

    "I''m standing right here," I said.

    "Nicer, really?" Piercey leaned back, looking deep in thought for several seconds. "I wonder why."

    "I believe it''s the time she spent living in the village, especially being an aunt to Rune and now having Elsie. She''s more mature and considerate, which makes her feel nicer."

    "I''m just as scary." I pointed at Elias. "Don''t forget that."

    "Fine." The man lifted his hands. "I remember."

    Piercey twisted to face me. I could see the difference in the two men now, not just because of their hair, but because of the way they looked at me. Piercey held all of our memories in his eyes, memories I knew. I didn''t recognize what I saw in Elias.

    "Max, I know you said to do this, but are you sure? I would never want to experience anything you didn''t want me to."

    "Our world is at stake again. I trust you." One nod at Elias and I hardened my voice enough that Piercey would know he didn''t need to question me again. "This is up to you now."

    "I''ll do it." Piercey sat up straighter. "I''m ready."

    I decided it was better to give them privacy. So I wandered the hall outside and looked out the window while they connected. It made me feel better to know that Elias would struggle to hold anything back, because despite the problem it posed, it would make it hard for him to lie to Piercey.

    After fifteen minutes, I''d started to get nervous. Had the experience been too much for Piercey? Finally, he entered the hallway.

    I stared at him nervously, wondering if he''d see me differently.

    He smiled, looking like my old Piercey. "It worked."

    "Can we trust him?" I asked.

    Piercey met my eyes, glanced away as he took in a deep breath, and then looked at me again. His gaze was full of memories that he possessed and I knew nothing about, but even with that, he still looked at me the same as before. "Yes. He''s had to make hard decisions and he has his regrets, but he''s not going to hurt our world. He really does want our help and really wants to help us."

    "Thank you, Piercey." My heart ached as I thought about him seeing that other life. "Are you okay?"

    He nodded, looking thoughtful. "I really am. You don''t need to worry about me."

    "So do you think you can do it? Can you pretend to be him."

    "I can. We''ll have to alter our plan so I can join you. Since we''re dealing with the time relativity, I won''t miss anything here with Gael and his people. Let me have Gael and his people settled in for the night. Then, we can leave."

    After he left, I wondered about everything he''d just seen. In a strange and entirely unexpected way, I didn''t mind Piercey peering into a world where we''d loved one another. If we hadn''t been apart, I would have done the same thing I had in the other world. In a way, I alway wished I''d been able to give him at least a little bit of time, because he did mean so much to me. Wasn''t that strange? I didn''t have feelings for him and I didn''t want to be with him. I knew, though, how it felt to be in love and to want someone so badly that it felt impossible to survive without them. While I had not been able to give Piercey my heart here, he''d received it in another world, and now both versions of himself had closure.

    "Has he moved on?" I asked Elias without facing him. "I can''t bear to ask him and risk hurting him."

    Elias smiled softly. "He has peace. He''s moving on, especially recently."

    I gasped and twisted to him this time. "What does that mean? A lady?"

    "You need to talk to your friend about this. I''m just letting you know that you don''t need to worry."

    After hesitating for a few moments, I asked another question that had been bothering me. "What about you?"

    The pain I saw now, that I''d been seeing, answered my question. "It''s easier for Piercey than it is for me."

    "Would you switch places?"

    "No." Elias spoke confidently and without hesitation. "Never. It was worth the suffering."

    The assurance stilled my breathing. "Does she know how you feel?"

    "She does. It seems no matter the world, my soul and her soul are not meant to be. Maybe one day I''ll find my peace like Piercey has."

    "I''m sorry."

    "That''s not something to apologize for. You don''t owe anyone your heart."

    It touched a sore place in my heart for the guilt I still carried over not being able to make Piercey happy. Knowing he had peace helped me put that away.

    Once everyone had gathered back together, we all locked arms, and prepared to travel to Elias''s world. There we would take the power we needed and we wouldn''t come back without a solution for the guild that now wanted to enter our world.

 87. The City

    While I had expected Elias''s valley to look differently than mine, seeing one of the cities in person stole my breath from my lungs. It was like walking into a different world entirely.

    The main roads were paved with what looked like concrete, except I''d never actually seen that in person. It was incredibly hard beneath my feet and rough when I''d bent to touch it. Most of the buildings in the city were made of brick, some stretching up to twelve floors high, and they all had electricity. A trolley system followed a long rail down the left side of the main road. It looked like something out of a book from the library in the Sacred School.

    We''d arrived nearly twenty-four hours ago and traveled to reach a nearby city where Elias had connections but wouldn''t be under the thumb of his leaders. Our first stop would be to meet with a friend who Elias said we could trust to install the neural implants without asking questions. The problem was that he didn''t have long to spend here before they would expect an update from him. Apparently, the time they had given him came simply from respect for his long-standing dedication to the guild, but they were growing concerned with his secrecy.

    Having Piercey with us also posed a challenge because Elias would have no way to explain an identical twin. He''d chosen to have us dress like the members of a religious group in his world who covered their heads and faces in public. It did draw attention because they were a minority group here, but Elias said that he had a reputation for making connections with people outside of his guild. He''d given them the cover story that they were here to study and he''d promised to help them in return for some training that would be useful to him mastering his powers to cross worlds.

    I just hoped we didn''t need to explain ourselves often because the entire situation felt too vulnerable to me. So far, no one paid much attention to us, which was good, because we all gazed at the city with eyes peering out from our covered faces.

    I''d noticed differences between my world and this one before reaching a populated area. Their highway system not only featured better roads but was far more expansive. While many people rode horses or walked, we saw a fair number of vehicles. Most were simple seats atop a wheeled platform that could connect with other small cars in a line. There were larger ones, however, that looked more like a carriage.

    My friend had been stunned to see people traveling so far without a horse.

    Their train system also cut through the countryside, carrying passengers. Leif had grumbled when he watched one of the "massive beasts" drive by, while Nash looked on with excitement, the two men surely remembering our time on top of one in very different lights.

    This city, however, caused all else to pale in comparison. We walked down the streets together in stunned silence, that I finally broke with a quiet question. "You said your world needs resources." I leaned toward Elias. "Is that why you still need horses?"

    "Yes. We are making progress with technology to improve our ability to mine resources and to produce our goods, but there''s steep competition between kingdoms and guilds. Some guilds hoard these resources and dominate our mines to keep others from advancing. We''re gridlocked in many ways, preventing us from advancing as much as we could because we''re too busy sabotaging one another. The conditions you see here in the cities are far superior to smaller villages and rural areas. The guilds take on special projects in the cities to improve conditions and master new inventions. It''s a competition really."

    I nodded as I looked up the tall buildings. Their world had advanced much more than ours. They must have had plumbing as well and a water system because I didn''t smell the stink that often accompanied so many people living in one area.

    "This is incredible."

    I looked over at Nash to see him looking dumbstruck. This would have been a greater shock for my friends who hadn''t grown up with the library at the Sacred School. They''d explored it in the past year, but we''d been busy. This was very new to them.

    On the right, we passed a building where I could see children gathered through a window. They were all standing in rows, holding small flames in their palms. "Is that a school?" I asked.

    "Yes. All children go to school here. Our Sacred School is very hard to get into it. It''s prestigious. In a way, every community has its own Sacred School. We each receive a basic education in utilizing our powers, which of course includes important elements of learning, such as history. Around the age of ten, once our talents begin to show, every student chooses a discipline to specialize in."

    "Discipline?"

    "Combat, technology, medicine, infrastructure, connections, and inventions."

    "What are connections?"

    "It''s a complex field that combines politics, psychology, and communications. People who study this are experts at connecting, which runs much deeper than your use of it. Bringing our consciousness together in any form creates dynamic opportunities. It''s one of our most versatile disciplines and it''s applications vary from interrogation to community leadership."

    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    I shook my head. "Crazy. At least some of the disciplines make sense to me, though. You chose technology. I would be in combat."

    "Yes. Each discipline has major categories of study as well. Combat, for example, breaks down into dozens of main forms, as I''m sure you can imagine."

    "What''s the difference between inventions and technology?" Piercey had worked closer. "I don''t remember that from connecting."

    "Our minds choose the important details when we connect. Things like that can often be lost. Inventions focus upon thinking outside of the box to develop uses for our powers that we have not yet considered, or by working to advance underdeveloped uses, or to create new technologies. While there is overlap with technology, traditionally, a person in technology will not be inventing but mastering and utilizing technology."

    "You found a new use of power," I said.

    "Yes. It''s one reason I got away with keeping it a secret. It''s not every day that new powers are discovered. We have millions of skills that we''ve developed as a civilization. It''s the one thing the guilds can work together on¨Csharing knowledge of our neural implants. We record everything having to do with our power in a digital library that we can all access."

    Wren took my elbow. "Max, we could take this information to our world."

    "I can help you do that," Elias said. "We have ways to share and store information. I can send files back with you to take to the Sacred Schools."

    Nash and Leif continued walking without joining the conversation. Both men seemed captivated by the sights around them. I smiled while watching them and realized that once they received their neural implants, they''d experience something even more shocking than this.

    What would it have been like to grow up with everyone having power? Again, I could not help but think that this world turned out better than mine had. Sure, they had their problems, but this city was incredible. It would take hundreds and hundreds of years for my people to reach this level because so few had power and we were so caught up in war. We hadn''t even explored a fraction of the uses of the neural implant that these people had.

    "We have so much to learn." I crossed my arms and nodded at Piercey. "Our people need this. They must have less sickness here. It''s cleaner than our cities."

    Elias looked happier than I''d seen him. "Our world has so much to offer yours. If my guild manages to find a way to travel, it would be a disaster, but if we can keep the circle closed to us, then think of what we can do."

    "You think the gods will allow that?" I hadn''t thought Nash was listening until he spoke up just then. "It''s only a matter of time before they check in with you, Max. What will they say about us mixing up their experiments?"

    Chills snaked down my spine. Even seeing this would affect their experiment. I''d considered the gods and worried about this, but I''d gotten so caught up in the excitement of this city that I''d forgotten about them.

    No one had any answers. It quieted the group. What if the gods did decide to shut down our worlds? They''d agreed to let us live in peace, but they didn''t want us altering their experiments. They wanted their data. Could I really trust that they''d allow us to live if we defied their will?

    Nash came to my side now and tilted my head up toward his face. "Dr. Drake will advocate for you. Calm down. I''m just saying that we need to think carefully about what we do here and what we bring to our world. We need to be discreet."

    "He''s right." Elias slowed to a slop at the door of a shorter building. "It''s something we need to carefully consider."

    "Is this it?" Butterflies tickled my stomach.

    "It is. Are you ready?" His eyes moved from Nash, to Wren, and finally Leif.

    Nash was the first one to speak. "Yes."

    Wren and Leif looked at one another before also nodding.

    "Good. Now, before we go in, I should explain a few things. My friend won''t ask questions or look at your faces. He''s discreet and can be trusted. But for any social setting, it''s important to know about our practice called composure. It means to regulate how much of our power we allow others to feel at any given time."

    Piercey and I did not normally need to hide our power, but I had done it frequently enough that I trusted my abilities. I doubted he would struggle very much with it either.

    "Consider it the same as your voice," Elias said. "Your tone and volume, as much as your words, will speak during negotiations or discussions. It''s polite to remain neutral, which is your most comfortable place of rest. However, some choose to always conceal their power until they''re ready to use it. While this can cause suspicions, it is considered socially acceptable."

    "What does Ashton do? In case my face is seen."

    Elias grinned and rubbed the bottom half of his face. "Ashton does as she pleases in the moment. She''s known for getting a little loud with her energy readings when it suits her. It''s not like her to overly moderate her resting state. So when she does choose to carefully control her composure, it is very significant and telling."

    "That sounds about right," Leif said.

    I elbowed him. "Sounds like I can follow my instincts on that."

    Elias twisted his brows. "It might have been cowardly and selfish of me to only connect with Piercey. You need the knowledge as well."

    By the conflicting look on his face, I knew it truly pained him to think about connecting with me and entirely exposing himself to me¨Chis life, his memories, his spirit. "Let''s save that for if we really need it. Right now, I think we''re fine."

    Now that Piercey had the knowledge, I could connect with him to receive it. Elias wouldn''t have to actually go through the process then. For now, I''d keep that to myself. He looked too thankful for what I''d said for me to bring it up again. The way Elias had hidden truths from me had made me focus on his differences with Piercey, but this sheepishness was all too like my friend. It softened my heart.

    "We''ll go inside then," Elias said. "Just follow my lead and let me do the talking."

    Taking Nash''s hand and meeting Leif and then Wren''s eyes, we all walked forward together. When we left, these three would have power. I couldn''t imagine how difficult it would be for them to learn how to control it.

 88. Power is in the Eye of the Beholder

    We entered a small room that reminded me of the lobby of a doctor''s office, like I''d seen in books at the Sacred School. Elias led us to chairs by the window and introduced us to his a friend, a stout man with a sharp gaze.

    "Nice to meet you, Bertrand," I said.

    He nodded without saying anything. I had the feeling he was studying us.

    "Thanks for helping us." Elias spoke quietly like it was only to him. "I will pay you back in kind, I promise."

    "Just don''t tell me anything you don''t have to unless I ask specifically. I don''t want to know."

    "That''s fair. I get it."

    I watched the man as he spoke, trying to judge whether I trusted him. It seemed like he had just the attitude we needed.

    "So the three of you want implants. It won''t take long. I''ll bring you back one at a time for the procedure. When you''re done, we''ll have slide on into the dark room. Sometimes people have a headache. You''ll want to rest for at least an hour."

    "What will it be like?" I glanced at Nash with a nervous feeling in my stomach. This was a good thing, but I couldn''t help thinking about how difficult it had been in my childhood to control my power. Children learned so quickly. Their minds were primed for growth and transformation. While adults could bring more discipline and understanding to their practice, much of the power of neural implants came as instinct because they were so integrated with our bodies. Piercey had more skill with purposefully controlling his power and utilizing study to enhance his abilities than I did, whereas I naturally picked up skills faster. But even for someone analytical like him, he''d had a time as a child where the power had come as unbridled as a wild horse. It was how we''d both ended up in the Sacred School

    These worries didn''t even take into account that I had questions about the risks of the procedure. I''d been born with my power. It was like a switch the gods had fliped in my code.

    "We actually implant it through a needle in the center of the eye so that there''s no need for surgery." Elias spoke slowly even though he acted like there was no cause for concern, because he likely noticed my anxiety. "It''s a tiny device that integrates with the neural pathways in your mind and grows. It will take a few days for it to fully mature, but you''ll notice some powers immediately. The process is unique for each person."

    "Have you ever implanted in an adult before?" Wren asked.

    At least someone else had the sense to ask questions. Leif looked annoyed with the conversation and Nash seemed content to trust that there''d be no problems.

    "Yes. We''ve had some people who didn''t get implants as children. It''s rare, but our world studies people like this. I know one woman personally whose mother wouldn''t let her get one when she was little. She hid her away and her village didn''t even know about her. It was a sad, abusive situation. We gave her the implant when she was discovered at the age of nineteen."

    "How did it go?" I asked.

    "It''s a challenge. Adults sometimes adjust to it very well. Sometimes it''s a major change that they struggle with. We don''t see as many impulsive displays of power or as much losing control. But it can take longer to master basics. It''s like trying to learn a new language as an adult. You can study and dissect the language, but you''re never going to keep up with a small mind that has more neural connections."

    By the look on my friend''s faces, I knew they weren''t following at all. This man wouldn''t know that they hadn''t received the kind of education everyone else in this world had. I gave them a subtle look to remind them to hide their confusion.

    "It''s strange to see three of you without one."

    "It was a religious situation for them," Elias said. "They came from a very small community that strayed off into a very niche sect. None of them have implants. They wanted to remain natural and as the gods created them."

    The man snorted.

    "Well, should we get started then?" The man clapped his hands together and looked from one waiting patient to the other. "I assure that it''s safe."

    "I''m done waiting," Leif said. "Take me first."

    I grinned at his eagerness. Wren lifted her hands to indicate that she was fine with it while Nash just shrugged. Actually, I appreciated Leif going first so that I could talk with NAsh. I just wanted to make sure that he really wanted this and was ready.

    "Can it be removed?" I hadn''t expected to ask the question, but suddenly this seemed so permanent.

    "No. I have no idea how to go about removing it from your neurology once it becomes a part of you. Only decide to do this if you''re sure."

    Wren and Nash looked at one another solemnly, while Leif just groaned. "Yes, yes. We''re sure, my boy. Let''s get on with it."

    I chuckled and then grabbed my dear friend in a hug. "Be safe."

    "You know I will be. Don''t let your mind run wild." Despite trying to wave off my worries, his burly arm came around me and he hugged me tight. "All will be well, girl. We''re hungry for battle and this is the best meal we''ve had yet. No one will stand in our way."

    When I pulled back, I pressed my forearm to his chest. He clasped it. "My flesh."

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    "My blood."

    Then he messed up my hair and pushed me back. "Go dote on Nash. I will not waste another moment before getting my hands on this power. Our sparring matches will be a sight to behold now."

    "Yeah." I smiled, set at ease by his confidence. "I''m looking forward to it."

    One last grin and then he followed the man into the room. I looked to Elias. "You''re sure we can trust him?"

    "He''s good. Absolutely."

    "Okay. Wren¡­" I took her hands and studied her eyes. She hadn''t seemed as certain. "You know you don''t have to do this, right? Leif getting power is such a help on its own."

    "I want to." She squeezed my hands. "I''ve watched you race around the valley for a year trying to hold us all together by yourself. Now when we travel with you, we can truly help. And maybe I''ll learn to portal."

    "I just hope you know how much you''ve already done for me. You guys have pulled me through this year. You pulled me through the fight with the Prophet and¡ª"

    "I know, Max. It''s okay. You''re not pressuring us. This is our decision."

    Her eyes shifted to Nash. "I think he''s the one you''re really wanting to talk to. So go. I''ll sit with Elias."

    When I turned to face Nash, he had that look in his eyes. The one that said he knew me far too well. "I don''t know what''s wrong with me."

    "Nothing. You know how much suffering this power can bring, even though you also know how great it''s potential can be." Nash drew me to his side and walked with me to the other side of the room. "You carry too much responsibility. Let us take care of ourselves."

    "You''re right."

    He hooked my chin and lifted my face to him. "Seriously, Sharpshooter. We''ve got this."

    When I''d first fallen for Nash, every look felt tantalizing. That fresh excitement hadn''t left, but something deeper grew day by day beneath the surface. We could make the rest of the world stop while we looked into each other''s eyes, the connection between us stronger each time. No matter what was happening or where we were, it quieted all within me and around me. As much as I loved the fire of his look, I found that I loved the peace even more. It brought me such comfort.

    The tips of my fingers trailed the side of his face softly. "You''re sure you''re ready?"

    "I have no doubts, Sharpshooter."

    The name made me smile every time. "Okay."

    "Are you ready?"

    I laughed quietly and let my forehead fall against his. "I don''t know. I''m nervous. I know he said it''s safe but¨C"

    "You''re thinking of the most insane scenarios of what could go wrong."

    His large, familiar hands smoothed up my sides until he held me firmly. "I''ll be okay. So will Leif and Wren."

    I nodded. My anxiety was so much better than it had been a year ago, but it never would leave entirely. "Let''s do this then."

    "I want to take care of you for once." His whisper tickled my air. A tender touch trailed my back now.

    "You always take care of me."

    "Not in the way you need it most right now. I need to fight, Max. This is a good thing."

    "I know. But Nash¡­" I drew back enough to look into his amber eyes again. "I love you just like this. You don''t need to change a thing."

    A sly smile crawled up his face. "You just don''t want me to start beating you at things."

    "I''ll still win."

    He cocked a brow. "Tell yourself that."

    We both laughed and then we settled against one another in an embrace. Nash was right. I needed help and this would change everything, not just for the valley, but for me. I felt like we were waiting to start our life together because I''d been so busy. It was silly to get nervous like this.

    "Alright, I guess that this isn''t too bad."

    Hardly ten minutes had passed when the man came back for Wren. I couldn''t believe the procedure was so short.

    "When we go home, I''m learning how to portal." Nash grinned with ambition lighting his eyes. "No, I''ll learn to travel the way you do. The way no one else can master."

    I noticed Elias watching us, though I wasn''t sure it was because of any kind of jealousy or longing. Rather, he looked quietly curious. Maybe he wanted to understand what Ashton and Jaxon shared, and where he fit into that.

    "Elias," I said. "Why do you think I travel so differently from others?"

    "Something seemed to happen whenever you lost control during the eclipse in your childhood. I think that your world being reset played a role. It''s just my instinct. The fact that no one in my world has figured out how to travel like that is telling. For you to instinctively pry open space-time like that is wild."

    "You figured out how to do something no one else did."

    "After intense and obsessive studying and trial and error."

    I nodded. "You think everything is going okay?"

    "Yes. He would have said otherwise."

    "They''re fine," Nash said and laced his fingers with mine.

    Time passed quickly when Bertrand came for Nash.

    We stood before room now while Wren and Leif were both resting in the procedure room still.

    "Do you want to come?" Nash asked.

    I shook my head. "If I watch them shove a big needle in your eye, I might just punch the guy."

    He laughed loudly. "I''ll see you soon. When I do, I''ll be more the person I know I can be. I''m meant to fight alongside you, not hiding behind someone else''s power."

    I saw it clearly. He was meant for this. The gods had it all wrong. Nash, the man who had trained so diligently with his swords that he''d become the best swordsman I knew to this day, certainly needed to wield this power I''d been born with.

    "I love you."

    Nash kissed me softly. "I love you too."

    "Next time I see you, you better have an impressive power."

    He winked. "You know I''d never disappoint you."

    I held my breath and watched as Nash disappeared into the room. They''d all have power.

    When I looked at Elias this time, alone with him, I heaved a heavy sigh. "I can see a glimpse of hope for the valley. But I also see a terrible war approaching."

    He glanced down. "I''m sorry. I put your world in danger."

    "You brought us help. Your guild put us in danger."

    "We''ll make this right. I have a plan."

    I sat across from him. "Alright. Let''s talk it out."

    "The problem is that I''m not sure there''s any way out of this without fighting my guild."

    "You need to fight them anyway."

    "You shouldn''t be forced to under the threat of your world being invaded."

    "What''s new?"

    He raised a brow. "Max."

    "Look, Elias, we can''t do anything about it now. We have too much going on to dwell on regrets. Let''s really look at the threat and figure this out."

    "Well, our first step is to get you all ready. Then, we need to recruit people. You''re the only one who can get Jaxon to our side."

 89. New Power

    Waiting for the news that the procedure had been safely completed for three of the people I loved the most had driven me insane. Now I stood in a room waiting for Nash, trying to decide how I felt. If it worked, he''d have the power I had. And that was a complicated thing. This power could be a curse as much as a gift. He wanted it so badly though.

    In a strange way, did I worry that this major change would alter our life too much?

    When the door opened and his broad form filled up my view, I half expected him to look differently. Silly, wasn''t it? Seeing his same light-hearted smile settled the nerves in me.

    "How does it feel?" I held my breath after asking the question. Nash and I had stepped into a recovery room away from the others. It was the first time I''d seen him since he''d had the procedure to receive the neural implant. Apart from a look of fatigue and a very different look of eagerness, he seemed exactly the same. As much as I wanted to check on Leif and Wren, I needed this moment with just Nash. I needed it to be just us and the changes he''d undergone.

    He lifted his hands and tightened them into a fist, staring at them intently. "I feel this strange sensation running beneath my skin."

    Excitement bubbled up in me. "It''s the power. Try to let it out."

    "I don''t know what will happen if I do."

    "I''m not the best at containing power, but I can contain yours. This is fresh. Go ahead."

    "You''re sure?"

    "Yes. Do it already."

    Nash looked nervous for once, but he still smirked anyway, as eager as he was uncertain. A haze rose from his hand, looking almost like smoke, only a light blue in color. It took my breath away to see my Nash wielding power.

    "Fuck," Nash shouted. "You see that?"

    I laughed and gripped his wrist. "Yes." Carefully, I placed my hand over it, feeling the heat emanating from it. I imagined that if I touched it, then it would burn my skin. "Look at that. You''re a natural."

    "How do you know?"

    "It''s not easy to draw out meaningful power on your first try. You can use this in battle. You just need to learn how to propel it or gather into a better form, like an arrow, or a little ball."

    I felt the energy slowly dissipate while the blue sank back into his palm. "This is incredible."

    Pride and joy burst within me. I jumped up to reach around his neck and squeezed his time while I let out a squeal. "You have power!"

    "I know. I can''t believe it."

    "Think of what we can do." I kissed him hard, squeezed him, and then kissed him again.

    Nash laughed against my lips, eased me back against the wall, and opened my mouth with his, tilting his head to kiss me properly. My insides pooled in my stomach. Sometimes, when we were together, I attuned my senses to hear his heart and feel everything at a deeper level. His eyes opened wide mid-kiss and I wondered if he''d naturally done the same thing.

    "Did you feel that?"

    "What?"

    "It was like everything I normally feel when I kiss you was intensified. Is it like that for you?"

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    "Sometimes, yeah. Many times."

    Nash pushed his fingers into my hair and pulled my head back, gazing down my face, his eyes hungry and fervent now. "You''ve been holding out on me, Sharpshooter."

    A giggle spilled from my lips as he melted his mouth to mine and roamed the soft of my tongue with his own, his kiss like electricity sparking. His hands slid down my back and pulled me close to him. A pulse of power sparked from his palms and rushed through my body. I gasped deeply with my eyes opening wide.

    "Did I hurt you?"

    It had been like a gentle vibrating buzzing across my skin and burying itself in my bones. I struggled to draw in a breath. "I wouldn''t say it hurt."

    He smiled now as he gazed down my face. "Yeah?"

    "I think¡­" My fingers stole down the side of his whiskered cheek. With his curls falling over his amber eyes, he looked incredibly handsome. It was fucking divine. "I think we should save this for later."

    He nodded, eyes intent on my mouth now. Gaze skittering down my body. "We should." Despite his words, he kissed along my jaw and gripped my hips. "We definitely should."

    His touch melted me. Nash lifted me then and I wrapped my legs around him.

    "I feel amazing."

    He looked like he felt amazing. His eyes had come alive. This man had been born to wield this power.

    "Everything is different now, Max." His voice became serious. "I swear to you that every day I live, I''ll hone this power and I''ll use it to build a home where we can rest and truly live."

    I bit my lip, shocked by how much his words soothed my heart.

    "You''re tired." He drew me down to rest his face alongside mine. "You''re not alone in this anymore. I swear it, Max. This is our fight and I''ll learn how to wield this power faster than anyone ever has so you don''t have to wait for me any longer."

    "I''ve wanted to run away." The confession burst from me before I could catch it. "To find some quiet with you and Elsie where nothing matters except for us. This makes that feel further away but also closer."

    "It''ll be okay. Everything is okay now."

    I rested against him and let my heart believe his words without question.

    <hr>

    "I think mine is broken." Leif punched his fist through the air like it would force his power to shoot out. "Come on!"

    Everyone had recovered from the drowsiness and headache of the power. We stood inside the room where the procedure had taken place now while the three of them tested their new abilities.

    "You''re overthinking," Nash said.

    "You aren''t thinking enough," Wren corrected.

    "Everyone taps into their power in a different way," I said. "Leif, you need to be patient. You''re locking yourself up by trying to force it."

    "I''ve heard that before. Arn thinks himself funny when I''m stuck in the outhouse. But this is a battle I''ve faced before. One I always win."

    "For the love of the gods," Wren muttered.

    He crouched and lifted his fists in the air. "Come out!"

    "I can''t tell if he''s actually about to take a shit." Nash snickered.

    Seeing normal in the midst of completely unbelievable¨Call three of them having power now¨Cmade me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

    We''d be just fine, wouldn''t we?

    "Don''t force anything," I said to all three. "You''re eager, but this will take time. Elias and Piercey both said they''d help you with your abilities."

    Wren raised one brow at me. "What about you? Not willing to help?"

    I leveled my look at her, because she knew. I was an awful, impatient teacher. "I''ll beat your ass down when you''re ready to fight."

    "Now I really have to get this power working," Leif said. "I cannot allow a challenge to go unanswered."

    Nash lifted his palm as a small, glowing ball of energy popped over one finger at a time. "Holy shit."

    "Are you serious?" Leif growled and pounded the air with his fists. "Where is my power!"

    I watched Wren as she placed a hand to her stomach.

    "You feel it?" I asked.

    "It''s like water trickling through my body."

    "Mine is like fire. I should have expected yours to be more peaceful and in control."

    She smiled and slid her arm through mine, quiet as she watched the two men.

    Yeah, it really would be fine.

    A sense of urgency suddenly came over me, followed by a feeling like slipping. I met Nash''s eyes just as the world was ripped away from me.

    And in a chilling sense of deja vu I found myself standing in the all-white room.

 90. Between Worlds

    White crashed all around me and swept me back into the days of meeting Dr. Henderson here. Though I immediately met the kind eyes of Dr. Drake, I still expected to see the older supervisor of my world appear.

    The disappointment and disbelief etched into her face made my stomach feel like a tight ball.

    "What were you thinking?"

    I swallowed hard and then breathed in slowly. I needed to stay calm, collected, and most of all, confident. "You know what I was thinking. You understand it too."

    "Max. You entered into another world and took implants for people who weren''t born with them. The Collective will not be happy."

    "Do they know yet?"

    "Not yet. The supervisor of this world contacted me because she knew that I was working with you."

    I blinked. "So she knows we came from another world?"

    "She monitors new neural implants. It didn''t take long for her to figure out that you weren''t from this world. You''re marked in the system."

    Dr. Drake knew things that she''d never told me. That didn''t surprise me really. I just had never thought about it. "You knew that it was our same consciousness populating all these worlds."

    "What good would it have done for me to tell you? I didn''t know how you''d react."

    "You see what I''ve been through and what I''ve accomplished. Don''t coddle me and don''t underestimate me."

    "Okay." She lifted her hands. "That''s fair."

    "How many other worlds are there?"

    "Well¡­" A look of shame came over Dr. Drake. "Each experiment has four worlds. The truth is that this isn''t the only experiment. We have ten groups of worlds running, all with different people. So that the Collective can compare data between the group of controls."

    "Controls. You mean us."

    "Yes." The anger edged into my voice, even though I knew that Dr. Drake didn''t agree with the Collective and cared about what happened to me. Standing here in this white room, saying things like "we", it was hard for me to separate her from the rest of the Collective, or even from Dr. Henderson. "I have no idea what the Collective will do about you sneaking into this world and taking powers for them. It can''t happen again."

    "It''s not. I needed help. You see the fallout of what Dr. Henderson did to our world." I crossed my arms. "I''m not a child, so I won''t pretend to be ashamed of my actions or act like I didn''t understand the implications of what we''ve done. I won''t act like I didn''t know how the gods would feel. I did what was best for my people. We all did."

    "It''s just, if you''d come to me first¨C"

    "Would they have this power if I had come to you?"

    Dr. Drake shook her head and looked away. Answer enough.

    "The only advantage I have is that you guys are not constantly monitoring me. I''m sure that''ll change. You''ve learned your lesson that I can cause more problems than you thought I was capable of. That''s kind of on you, though. I did manage to escape my simulation."

    "You scare me sometimes." Dr. Drake bit her nail and stared off quietly for several seconds. "I don''t know how to keep you from doing things that the Collective will not accept."

    "Then explain to me why it matters. Really. My world cannot be considered a valid source of data any longer. You guys promised to let us live in peace and stop experimenting on us. So don''t interfere."

    She sighed. "Still, that doesn''t mean that they want to let you start mixing worlds and borrowing technology and advancements. They want to salvage what data they can."

    "It''s their own fault for making it possible to cross worlds."

    "They aren''t going to be happy about this. I can tell you right now that this time relatively component will be changed. They certainly are not going to want you spending time in another world without losing time in your own world."

    "Why?"

    "The data, Max. It''s all about the data."

    "The data on what? Why do you need more data than you already have? Giving the implants to one percent of the world does not work."

    "They knew it wouldn''t. The point is to have different control groups to compare so that we can learn about how people behave with the implants and prepare for all scenarios."

    Max''s nostrils flared. "This is my life, not their experiment. They failed us so they don''t get to trap us in our world when we learn how to travel ourselves."

    Dr. Drake faced me again with her eyes looking sorry. "You''re right that you deserve to live life to the fullest."

    "We shouldn''t have our advancements stunted. We should be encouraged to reach the heights of our innovation. Isn''t there value in that data? Sure, it may not be what you wanted originally. But can you not find a way to start your study anew? A case study. Or a qualitative study."

    She smiled. "You''ve been talking to Piercey."

    "Hell yes, I have. Dr. Drake, my world is a mess. Elias has answers that can help us. I''m not giving everyone in the world powers."

    "Where will it end, though? Their world knows how to do it. Yours will figure it out now that you''ve seen as much as you have. Should only the people you love and trust get the power?"

    "For now. We have no better way of vetting people. It''s all fallen on top of my shoulders. So yeah, my people and I, we''re the ones deciding."

    "You better find another way soon. That''s all I''m saying. Introducing power to people who previously lacked it changes everything. If the wrong person got their hands on this ability, think of what they could do with it."

    I closed my eyes. "I know. I understand the problems with what we''re doing. We''re desperate, though. Dr. Henderson orchestrated so many power plays and enabled some of the worst people in Skia Hellig to pursue their ambitions unchecked."

    She sat beside me again and placed her hand on my knee. "I''m going to do what I can with the Collective."

    "Are you afraid that they''ll remove me from this world? Or shut us down?"

    "It''s too late for that. The fallout of you coming to our world and Dr. Henderson being removed has rippled beyond the Collective. It is not widespread knowledge, but enough eyes are on you that they can''t just kill you or destroy your world. And that''s what they''d be doing if they chose either route you mentioned.

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    "So why are you scared?"

    "The Collective has time on their hands. They have intelligence and wisdom and power. I want to believe that they will do right by you, but look at the mistakes they''ve made. If you keep causing problems, I worry about how that will effect you once you''re in the after-life or in my society."

    "That''s a problem for another day."

    "What if they take away your power?"

    "They said they couldn''t."

    "Your instructors sealed your power once. It''s possible. This time, you may not get it back."

    I breathed in deeply. "If they want to steal away the power of the person who is safeguarding an entire region, then that will be a very sad day for them. I''m not hurting my world. I''m just hurting their agenda, and it was a bad agenda to begin with. Take care of this for me. Apparently, they have plenty of other worlds to they can watch."

    "You know that I''m your side, don''t you? It''s why I care about you being in danger with the Collective."

    "I know that you care and I know you think that the safest thing for me to do is to keep the Collective happy with me. What you don''t realize is that if I wait for permission from people, then I''ll never escape the limitations they put on me. My world is in peril and it''s up to us to fix it. I can''t rely on the Collective for that."

    "I understand. I just want you to be safe."

    "Do you know what I really think?" My voice softened, maybe because I was afraid of someone hearing, even though I didn''t actually have any such privacy. "There''s more going on here than what they''re saying. There''s a reason they let Dr. Henderson stay in control of my world after she''d gotten corrupted. I don''t believe they had no idea. There''s a reason they let me come back and kill her. And there''s a reason that they continue to allow me to defy them. More than that, there''s a reason that time is synchronized across worlds for people inside the simulation."

    Dr. Drake looked just as troubled.

    "Who is walking between our worlds? What do they want?"

    "I don''t know."

    "You need to find out. They created this mechanic for a reason."

    She bit her lip. "You may have to ask them yourself. If I intervene too much on your behalf, they may think I''m too emotionally invested to work with you. I''ll find out what I can, but consider talking to them. I''m sure that as soon as they realize what you''ve done, they''ll want to meet with you."

    I shrugged. "You know, I''m sure they will. And I don''t really feel like waiting around for them to call. I want to see them now."

    "Are you sure?"

    "I''d rather approach them."

    "Just wait here and let me take care of this."

    <hr>

    The first time I''d placed my hand against the water beyond the window, I''d had no reason to believe I would ever be able to return to my home world. At the time. I''d felt entirely at their mercy. Since then, I''d come to understand that the Collective needed me. It was why they allowed me to return to my world and why they let me stay there after I killed Dr. Henderson. I may not have understood what they wanted with me. Only that I had more power than it first appeared.

    They were waiting for me to speak first. For a being that existed beyond the traditional sense of time, it seemed awfully manipulative. They didn''t need time to process or think for as long as I did.

    "I don''t plan to explain myself," I said. "You know what I did and you''re smart enough to know why I did it."

    "We are smart enough to also see that you are not remorseful in the slightest."

    "I''m as remorseful as you are for leaving us in my world with no power after Dr. Henderson made such a terrible mess."

    A moment of hesitation, for me, I was sure. "You''re committed to your people and will do what you feel is best for them, no matter the trouble it places you in. You must have thought that risking angering us posed less of a threat than choosing not to get the power. It touches us that you have some sort of faith in us after all that has happened. You believed that we would not end your life and we''re happy you feel that way."

    "Are you really?" Could the Collective lie? What a dumb question. Of course they could. I just wasn''t sure how often they chose to do so.

    "Yes, because we do care about the people in the worlds we created. We want you to know we care about you and aren''t looking for reasons to end your life. In fact, it''s important to us that we do all we can to help you flourish, especially given the mistakes we''ve made."

    "I''m not sure you see them as mistakes. You''re allowing experiments to continue in other control groups. That doesn''t sound like remorse."

    "We''ve told you before that having created this problem in the first place, we should at least reap the benefits of the experiments."

    A smile curled my lips. "If you could go back, would actually do anything differently?"

    "No."

    I appreciated that they answered quickly and didn''t pretend like that they needed time to think about it. They wanted me to trust them. They knew that I wouldn''t believe it if they said that they would make another choice and that I also wouldn''t believe any kind of false show of uncertainty. "Then I truly have no reason to regret my actions."

    "We suppose not. It''s problematic for us, though. We cannot have you operating with no rules."

    "I have rules. I do what''s best for my people." I stepped forward, studying the light rippling through the clear water. If I looked close enough, it seemed to have a rhythm. "You can predict what I might do knowing that about me. You shouldn''t try to interfere in what I do. We have a deal. You observe me. That needs to be enough for you."

    "You''re abusing the mechanics of your world."

    "So are you."

    "We''re shutting down the synchronization of time. Over time, you''ll age more than your worlds, and it''s difficult to say how that will affect you and your world."

    That sounded like an excuse to me. "I think you don''t want me to be able to use that mechanic."

    "We don''t. It''s not how nature is meant to work."

    "You''ve created your own nature. I''m sure you can handle whatever problems my world shifting might cause. Besides, I thought you couldn''t make changes like that to the worlds without hurting them?"

    "This is different. This is not built into the experiment or into your world. It''s basically a rule that we left turned on. If we turn it off, it changes little."

    The frustration clawed into my voice now. "I''m dealing with a dangerous situation. A guild wants to enter my world. I need for time to stay still in my world when I''m gone."

    "No, absolutely not. The world is not meant to work this way. You''ve brought your friends in on this too. You''re threatening the stability of two worlds and each of your lives. It''s absolutely being shut down."

    I swallowed hard. "Will you block our ability to travel worlds?"

    "We don''t know if we necessarily can without altering the conditions of your experiment. You''ve used your power to do this. You did not use your power to freeze time in your world. That was our doing."

    "Why?" I leaned forward. "Why did you build this in? Who has been traveling between our worlds?"

    "No one. We needed it as a mechanic in case. Just like how we have the ability to have avatars."

    "And why do you have those?"

    "We wanted all methods of observation to be available. Supervisors had the ability to enter the world as one of you and gather that kind of qualitative research."

    I didn''t buy it. These sounded like half-truths. That may have been the Collective''s preferred way of lying, not to outright weave together untruths, but to paint incomplete or skewed pictures.

    "Is there any other reason that you made that mechanic?"

    "We''ve told you the truth. Clearly, you won''t believe us."

    I closed my eyes and settled my forehead against the window.

    "Will there ever be peace between us, Max?"

    "I don''t know. I''m angry."

    "You''re tired, as well. It''s why you needed Nash, Leif, and Wren to have power."

    "I need just a little bit of mercy."

    "We know." The Collective''s voice sounded as smooth as honey now. "We don''t blame you for what you did, but it worries us for what you''ll do in the future."

    "I''m not going to let anyone else from my world receive a neural implant. This was a one time thing."

    "Will you travel to the other worlds."

    "I don''t know." Maybe I should have lied but I truly didn''t want to. I was tired of the lies, the half-truths, the hidden mysterious that they refused to unveil. "What do you really want with me?"

    "We want to watch what you do."

    "It''s more than that."

    "Max, go home. Don''t simply care for your people, but live your life. We have you another chance to live for a reason. Don''t let it waste away."

    The longing to have quiet days with Nash and Elsie tightened my throat. "Why are you letting me get away with this? I think you should. I believe in my argument. But I just don''t trust your motives."

    "We would also find it hard to trust in your situation."

    I had nothing left to say.

 91. Impossible Choices

    It was a major blow that time would now pass in my world when I traveled to Elias''s world. We had planned to deal with the guild threat here in Elias''s world and then return home, but now that would leave the valley undefended.

    The pressures of both worlds pushed against my skull until I felt certain my brain would explode. How could I fight wars in two worlds at the same time?

    I had Dr. Drake return me to Elias''s world first. We would need to go home and finalize the deal with Gael so that his people would help defend the Valley while we were gone. We all felt that he was trustworthy. I had no choice except to put faith in our gut and partner with him.

    Elias was in a bind in this world, though, with his guild becoming suspicious and wanting answers. We couldn''t freely travel back and forth.

    The worries spun my stomach into knots, but it lessened some when I saw the people in the world dearest to me.

    Leif slapped my back hard as soon as I entered the room. "You won''t believe it, girl. I felt the power."

    "You did?"

    "I did. I didn''t manage to draw it out, but I could feel it inside of me, like this other being that now dwells alongside my spirit."

    Interesting how it felt differently for everyone. "What about you?" I looked to Wren.

    "I think I''m picking it up quickly."

    When I looked to Nash, I could tell by the sharp determination in his eyes, the confidence in his form, that he had been excelling while I was away. "Are you ready to fight?" I asked.

    "Absolutely."

    "No," Piercey said. "None of you are ready to fight with your powers yet."

    Nash raised his twin blades and stared intently at the one on his right and then left. A subtle flutter, like a breeze, swirled around his blades. He thrust them both forward, piercing the air far faster than he should have been able to on his own. That was power.

    "Holy shit," I said. "You already can wield it in battle."

    "I''ve spent time with you while you trained." Nash nodded. "I''m prepared. I may not be ready to fight with my full potential, but I won''t waste time. We battle side-by-side now."

    His words melted my heart. As much as I wanted quiet days alone with him, the thought of fighting together with both of us wielding our power and learning how to draw it out of ourselves felt exhilarating. I grinned and nodded.

    "I think there''s going to be plenty of battles for us to fight very soon."

    "Agreed, unfortunately." It was Elias, standing at the end of the room with his arms crossed.

    Now was the time to move forward. My people needed me back in my world and I couldn''t waste any time here. After I updated everyone on what happened with the gods, I cast a glance at each one of them.

    "The gods aren''t happy. We''ve escaped the worst consequences, but time will now pass in our world when we''re here."

    Leif unleashed a string of curses and twisted in a circle, scratching at his beard. Nash lowered his head, eyes closed.

    "We need to go home," I said.

    "But¨C" Elias drew back, looking shocked.

    "Our world isn''t prepared for us to disappear. We need to get back home and figure it out there. Can you get us home without raising too much suspicion? Dr. Drake can''t keep helping us with the Collective not wanting her to intervene."

    Elias crossed his arms, looking like he was in thought. "I can kept you home and bring you back again. It''ll be hard but I can do it at least one more time."

    "What is it exactly we''re doing here?" Leif asked. "Do you really need all of us?" It wasn''t that he had no idea. We''d shared openly, but I felt the criticism in what he said. The skepticism that this was simply we could even accomplish.

    "We kill another god." Elias spoke soberly and with conviction. "If we don''t, my guild will invade your world, and they''ll continue their corruption in mine."

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    "It would be nice to know what your guild did," Leif returned.

    Elias breathed in deeply and looked to Piercey before nodding. "Fine. We''ve come this far. I won''t scare any of you away now. I''ll tell you everything when we return to my world. But when I do, I only ask that you understand I did what I felt I had to."

    Nash looked at me with a pensive expression. Elias really didn''t want to share this story with us. He''d dragged as long as through this journey as he could without telling us.

    "There''s something I''ve been thinking about." Elias focused on me now. "When you''re back in your world, maybe you can work on figuring out whether you can do this. There''s missing pieces to my story, things only Ashton knows."

    A sinking feeling weighed down my stomach.

    "You''re identical to her. Your code must be the same. If you can travel through your life¨C"

    "You could travel through hers," Piercey finished, eyes wide.

    "With my story and hers combined, you''ll know everything you need to know about the guild."

    It felt like a hot needle poked into my chest. Ashton and I might have shared a soul but we''d lived different lives on different planets with different people. Her life was not mine to take.

    Would that even work?

    "I''ll think about it. First, I need to go home."

    <hr>

    Fortunately, over the short time that we''d been in Elias''s world after the gods had essentially ruined our cheat code to pause time in my world, nothing really had happened here. It had only been a few hours at most.

    We now sat with Gael and a group of his warriors in a conference room at the Sacred School.

    "You''re saying you want to go forward with the partnership?" Gael watched me with a brow raised in skepticism.

    "You''ve had a year to watch us and decide whether to trust us. I''m confident you''ve had the time you need to decide. In ideal circumstances, we''d like more time as well." I breathed out slowly, nervous to trust Gael with this information because it showed a vulnerability. This was part of trust, though, right? When I''d met Nash and struggled with deciding to trust him, I''d had to choose to follow my gut at some point. Now was time to do the same with Gael. "We''re dealing with a threat that will take our attention off the valley."

    Gael and several of his warriors exchanged glances. "Something we should be worried about?" he asked.

    Instinctively, I wanted to lie and dismiss his concerns. That wasn''t fair though. We were about to build a partnership. "It concerns all of us if we fail. I can''t share everything right now. It''s not that I want to hide anything, just that we have to be careful to not create more conflict for ourselves than we already have."

    Gael drummed his fingers on the table, looking lost in thought. "You have dealings with the gods that no one else in the world has. I suppose that is a blessing and a curse that comes with the Sacred School. We''d already considered that you''d have some limitations imposed by them."

    Piercey leaned forward at that. "I promise you that we want to tell you what we can. Angering the gods will benefit no one, however."

    "We understand. Don''t think that means we''re happy about it or that we are not going to press for answers."

    Fair. They couldn''t allow us to live in secrecy with no questions asked. It was too easy for us to offer the excuse that the gods forbid us from saying something. We really couldn''t tell them about Elias''s world, though. Not without telling so many more secrets that came with it.

    "There could face a terrible enemy, like nothing we''ve ever faced before." I hoped that Gael could hear the sincerity in my voice. "If we can''t stop them and they attack, it''ll take us all to defeat them. I''ve dedicated myself to protecting the Valley. To do that, I have to leave to fight this battle."

    "You can''t tell us where you''re going."

    I shook my head. "I''m sorry. I can''t."

    "Will you warn us if you fail? Will you tell us what to expect?"

    "Absolutely."

    Gael sat back and looked to the man on his right, the two of them speaking quietly. "As our partnership grows, we would like for us to share more. For now, we''ll accept the limitations you say you have."

    "Thank you."

    "How soon do you need to leave?"

    "As soon as we can safely leave the Valley. It would mean having your help patrolling because you can portal when no one else can."

    "We''ve agreed to this. That''s fine. If you need increased support for a short time, we can work that out. I''m sure that you''ll do your part when you return."

    "If you help to take care of the valley while I''m gone, I will be personally indebted to you for as long as our partnership continues." Thinking about leaving my world entirely and not being here to protect my people made me sick to my stomach. I didn''t try in the slightest to hide that emotion from my voice. Gael needed to see my desperation to understand that I really meant what I said. "I never forget when someone shows kindness to my people."

    He spoke more quietly now. "I imagine that you don''t, Eclipse. Why don''t we plan to bring our students for training at the Sacred School when you return. In the meantime, our trained warriors will make preparations here for them and help patrol the Valley while you deal with your battle."

    I could have cried at his words. I didn''t feel comfortable leaving the Valley still, but this was a significant help. Piercey began to write as we hashed out the details and made plans for the future of our partnership.

    It felt strange inviting outsiders into our Valley and trusting them with security. At the same time, it also felt like one step toward the future I wanted for our people. I wasn''t sure how would find our way out of the darkness chaos had brought. Surely, we would need connections beyond our small piece of the world to do that.

    It seemed unwise to issue any kind of threat so that Gael knew now to turn on us. Still, I couldn''t help feeling tempted to let him know how badly I would fuck him up if he did anything to hurt my people.

    Sitting back in my chair, I closed my eyes for a moment and calmed myself. One day, I had to learn when to stop fighting.

 92. Torn

    We needed to return to Elias''s world as soon as possible to deal with his guild before they got tired of waiting and tried to force answers out of Elias. I couldn''t leave until I felt sure that Gael was ready to protect the Valley, and it proved to be a process to bring his people over.

    They had to portal here, something that not all of their warriors could do. Gael said it would take around a week to help transport everyone here due to the limitations of portalling for such a large amount of people. They planned to bring nearly two hundred warriors to help patrol the Valley and set up training grounds at the Sacred School. As many students and family members would follow when we returned from Elias''s world.

    And while I needed to help Piercey as he flew around the school trying to prepare for this influx of people, I had little time to do anything except manage an increase in attacks along our coastal border and fend off an increasing number of demons sighted in the villages. I''d carved out a short amount of time to train with Nash on using his power while Elsie played. Now we rested on the bench, both incredibly tired.

    We''d consistently had threats all over the valley to deal with, but this was a noticeable increase.

    "It''s because Gael''s people are coming." I whispered quietly to Nash while Elsie played in the courtyard. "This proves that the attacks aren''t random. They''re watching us and they''re coordinating."

    "So they''re distracting us during a transition?"

    "That and testing us, maybe? I just keep thinking about those warriors we ran into not long ago. Remember the ones who hid their power? They even let some of their own people die."

    "Yeah." Nash furrowed his brows. "I remember."

    "Ever since then, I''ve been playing back demon fights in my head, and feeling like some of them were holding back. I don''t know. I may be paranoid. I know there''s a lot of people wanting to use our power vacuum to their advantage. I just think some of what seems to be random chaos is actually orchestrated."

    Nash wiped a smudge of dried blood from my neck that I had missed when I washed up. "You should have brought me with you."

    "Elsie''s here and we''re going to be gone for who knows how long."

    "You''re exhausted. You only slept three hours."

    I nestled against him, letting my heaviness fall onto him. "I''ll just have to nap on you."

    "I''m serious, Max. We''re about to travel back to Elias''s world and take on his guild. You can''t go into it completely worn down."

    "You need to be with Elsie and work on your power. I''m fine."

    Looking unconvinced and concerned, Nash groaned, his body stiffening. "I''ve been patient for a year while you''re running around the valley killing yourself. I''m ready to fight with you."

    I stopped myself from speaking because we''d had this argument many times where I told Nash that he had always been fighting with me and he said not the way I needed. We''d only go around in circles and there really was no putting this disagreement to rest. Nash didn''t like helplessly watching me protect the Valley on my own. I couldn''t blame him for that, even if I wanted him to understand that I couldn''t do this without him, and I''d never felt left alone.

    After a beat of quiet, I wound my fingers through his and let my heavy eyes close. "Back when my power sealed away, I still slipped. It was like the past was so powerful, it could steal me away even from the instructor''s curse. I remember sometimes I''d lie in bed and try so hard to feel my body so I could stay put." I slid my arms around his waist and held him close. "When I hold onto you, I always feel myself. I never slip away."

    The tension remained in Nash''s body until he uttered a quiet sigh and I felt him melting. "I know. You don''t feel alone anymore and you don''t want me to think you do."

    "I want you to understand how powerful you are just like this."

    We looked at one another with the light filtering through the dome of the courtyard dim from the snow dusting the air overhead. "One day you won''t need to reassure me of that, because I''ll actually be powerful enough for you to need me."

    "Nash¨C"

    "Don''t soften it. Don''t tell me it''s okay and I don''t need power. I don''t care about any of that. I care about watching you slowly kill yourself while you travel around this Valley. No words or sentiments matter. Until you can sleep through the night in our bed, I will not be content."

    A fiery desperation flooded me, the kind that came in the midst of battle, to deny everything he had said and force him to accept himself, love himself, the way I did. Wasn''t that insulting, though? If I couldn''t fight a battle, would I want someone telling me it was okay? That wasn''t how warriors thought. Nash hadn''t been born with power but he''d been born to wield it, because he had the drive to fight the most powerful of enemies. We''d set something right in this world by getting him a neural implant.

    "Fine," I said. "I''ll stop arguing with you and let you feel how you feel on one condition."

    Surprise filled his eyes. I never backed down on this fight. "What?"

    "That you accept that to me, you''re everything I need, and you always have been."

    Nash wanted to fight that too. I saw it burning in his amber eyes. He nodded, though, and drew me back against himself. "Okay. Now rest and don''t fight battles that don''t need to be won."

    I smiled to myself, the weight of exhaustion, the weight of a valley resting squarely on my shoulders, falling off onto him. This feeling never lasted, but I cherished the brief moments of peace.

    For years when my power was sealed, I had yearned to unlock it, so that I could fight for my people and free them from the grasp of the Prophet. I''d wanted nothing more than to return home with Leif, Arn, and Rune to sleep with the peace of knowing that I could stop anyone who came to hurt my family. Wake in the morning to train with Wren and feel certain that each day we fought for a better future. Having this power I now wielded, freeing my people from the prophet, returning to the home I''d shared with Leif to see peace¡­ These were the dreams that dominated my heart once.

    Flowers budded on the tree in front of me in white petals with a soft yellow center. They scented the breeze with their sweetness. Elsie plucked one and lifted it into the sunlight, her cheeks round and her eyes dazzling. Her little hand wrapped around Nash''s pant leg as she gave it a tug and lifted the flower to him.

    Those eyes of his. The sun glowed deep within them. Glowed as he smiled down at his daughter, leaned forward, and let her place the flower behind his ear so the barely unfurled petals nestled into his curls. Sweat dampened his collarbone from training, but he looked so gentle with her that it seemed impossible for hands that knew war so well to now softly pat her head.

    Before, I''d wanted the power to win wars for my people. I now wanted something new that I couldn''t have dreamed about in those days.

    The heaviness of guilt bore down on me as I longed to turn off the neural connection and take these coming days to travel with Nash and Elsie to sea. To lose ourselves to the crystalline waters and the towering cliffs guarding the fjords. I wanted to forget about the power I''d fought so hard to regain, put away the fight for peace in the valley that meant everything to me, and leave my village behind for days of bliss with them.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    I wanted my own home.

    We didn''t have much longer before we had to get back to work. Elsie deserved more than that. Needed more than that and so did we.

    Even though I knew that we deserved the chance to live our life and be happy, the desire to abandon my responsibility here, even for a few days, burned through me.

    He picked Elsie up and set her on his lap, while giving me that look that said it all. I couldn''t breathe as I looked into those eyes of his. Eyes that always saw through me. We had to figure out this chaos in the valley so we could have more time for this. We''d made a promise to each other when we decided to be together and now were letting the chaos of the valley get in the way of moving forward.

    Elsie pulled the flower from his ear, twisted to me, and pressed it to mine. "Pretty Maxy."

    "Hey," Nash said. "That''s my flower."

    "It''s our flower, Daddy. We all share."

    He chuckled and kissed her temple. "That''s right, baby."

    The innocence in her eyes made my heart pound with that desire¨Cthat need¨Cto run away from all this stress and take them some place quiet. "Maxy, can you have another name too?"

    I piqued my brows. "What''s that, kiddo? Another name?"

    "Yeah, like Ba has two names. Mommy and Daddy have two names too."

    Nash grinned. "What''s my other name?"

    "Well¡­" Elsie seemed to think for a moment. "Maxy calls you Nash."

    "Very good."

    "That''s not my name for Daddy though. I want a name for Maxy. My name for her."

    It felt like water trickled through my chest and pooled in my heart. "Do you?"

    "What are you thinking?" Nash asked.

    "Well¡­" Elsie scrunched her nose adorably as she thought. "There''s Mommy and Ba." She made a hummy noise and then bobbed in Nash''s arms. Her body twisted so she could grab my shirt. "So Daddy and Ma!"

    My mouth opened and my voice quivered despite how I tried to keep it steady. "Ma?"

    "Is it good?" She lowered her head bashfully.

    "I love it." I grabbed her and stole her from Nash into a big hug, clutching her tightly to me. The urge to cry overcame me. Did that mean that Elsie saw me the way she saw her parents? Had I become more to her than Maxy? Did she need me the way she needed them? What did that mean for us and the fact that I was gone so much? What if I completely ruined her. What¨C

    "Max." Nash drew me close, holding me as I held Elsie. "Breathe."

    He must have seen the panic.

    "Ma," Elsie said, as if testing the new name. She tilted her head back and tapped her chin. "Ma. Ma. Ma. I think I like it. I might call you Maxy too."

    "Call me whatever you want."

    "Like how you call me sweet girl and baby and cutie and Elsie and Elsie-girl?"

    I smiled. "Yes."

    "And baby girl and stinky girl. And¡­"

    This felt like such a moment and yet it had come out of nowhere right before we needed to leave. Maybe I was doing this all wrong. Although, if Elsie wanted to call me Ma and give me a name like her parents had, then I must have done something right. I''d won over the sweetest girl in the world.

    If I''d learned anything the past year it was that I couldn''t let my worries ruin my joy. Closing my eyes, I nestled my head against Nash''s chest again, tightening my arms around Elsie. Gently, I whispered. "You''re my sweet girl. No matter how old you get, I''ll protect you with everything I have."

    "I''ll protect you too, Ma. And Daddy. Oh, and Mommy! And Ba!"

    I chuckled and nodded, eyes wet when I opened them. "I bet you''ll do great."

    "Uncle Leif too. Uncle Arn. Aunt Wren. Rune for sure. He definitely needs me to watch out for him."

    Elsie continued to rattle off all the people she needed to guard, including each of her sixteen dollies that lived between three houses¨Cwith her mom, with us at the Sacred School, and at Leif''s house when we visited the village.

    Could I blame myself for wanting to sink into this life? I''d never known life could be this way. I thought I''d die beneath the eclipse and lose my chance at having a family.

    I''d never felt so torn with my responsibility because as deeply as my devotion to this valley ran and as honored as I was to be able to protect this land, what I felt for this one girl somehow eclipsed all that I had loved for the last decade of my life. It was this child, with amber eyes that shone like her father''s, and a smile that reflected his own, and the unbridled joy bursting from her that I wanted to protect more than anyone. Even more than Nash, because I held his heart in my hands right now. He would die a thousand deaths for Elsie. When had that become true for me too? And if I''d die a thousand deaths, I realized I''d live a thousand lives. I''d life full, happy lives of protecting her.

    My people still needed me, though. I could not abandon them. How could I love both at once? How could I walk two worlds? The world of my people and this girl?

    I felt so guilty. So inadequate. So ill-prepared.

    If Elsie were in my shoes, though, I''d want her to live her life. I would want her to do more than protect. Even if I couldn''t really feel it for myself, I knew that to become the woman I''d be proud of Elsie looking up to I had to learn to seize life for myself.

    I could not flounder beneath anxiety nor guilt any longer. But damn it, I had no idea how to free myself of these burdens. The questions pounded my head until Elsie jolted me awake by hopping and I realized I''d fallen asleep against Nash.

    "Oh," I said weakly.

    "Maxy, you''re awake!"

    Nash placed his hand on Elsie''s head. "She needs more sleep¨C"

    Elsie didn''t hear a word her father said, because she was already clambering off my lap. "Did you hear about the show?"

    "The show?"

    "A big one!" Elsie bounced on the heels of her feet and clapped her hands. "I''m good with my swords now, Ma."

    The way she shifted between calling me Maxy and Ma warmed my heart. She tested the words out, trying to decide which fit, or maybe loving them both too much. "I noticed."

    "You know the kids at the school? The Sakey School."

    I had to hold back my chuckle at how she pronounced Sacred School.

    "Mommy said we could do a show. I want to show off my swords. I practiced a lot."

    I looked over to two practice swords lying on the ground, an upgrade from the sticks she''d ripped off a branch in the courtyard and stripped of their bark. "I wouldn''t miss it for the world, sweet girl." Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sat up with her. "I''m so glad you invited me."

    "Daddy said he''d go too." She twisted around to see him. "Right?"

    "Of course," he said."

    With her attention back on me, she wrapped her arms around my neck. "He said you guys will sit right up front and you''ll watch me the whole time. He said you''ll clap too." She gasped in a loud breath, somehow speaking before she''d even finished inhaling, so excited that she couldn''t take the time to properly draw air into her lungs. "There''s candy too. Mommy is making candies. Have you had her candies, Ma? Chocolate ones. The berry ones too."

    I nodded along with her, simply watching her bounce from one topic to the next.

    <hr>

    Late that night after I''d traveled to check in on some warriors who were waging a seven day long battle against Flatlanders, I found the door to Elsie''s room open. Nash leaned against her bedside with his long legs stretched out, leaning against his chin as he watched her sleep.

    I knelt down and settled against him, eyes on her as well. "You need more time together."

    "I know." I recognized that pain in his voice and the guilt that flooded it. "I feel like I''m missing her life."

    "You aren''t."

    "I''m not. It feels that way though. She looks older. I think she''s having a growth spurt." He pulled the blankets higher over her and then pulled her hand into his while she slept. "One day I''m going to come home, and she won''t be little anymore."

    "I don''t think it''ll just happen one day."

    He smiled, but it looked sad. "I know in my heart that I''m doing the right thing. She needs us to make this Valley safe for her. I just don''t know how doing the right thing as her father can make me fail so badly in other ways."

    I was tempted to tell him that he needed to stay home more, only we''d already had this discussion once today. Last year when I''d tried to convince him to turn back from the Mountain of the Gods, he''d asked me what kind of father could do that.

    We couldn''t keep doing this. I hadn''t just chosen Nash, but Elsie as well, and I''d left our budding life on pause to save the Valley. I couldn''t walk away from my duty to my people, but I couldn''t abandon a family I never thought I''d get to have.

    At some point, we fell asleep there at Elsie''s bedside, unable to bring ourselves to leave her when we already were missing so much time with her. I only realized that we''d both fallen asleep when I awoke with my eyes so heavy I struggled to open them from the sensation of alarm.

    There was another demon attack.

    Nash wouldn''t be happy if I left without waking him, but he''d also feel bad staying behind. Torn on what to do, I nudged him before I traveled, having just enough to whisper against his ear. "I''ll be home soon."

    Then, I vanished. Vanished from a life I wanted desperately to live with the two people who had become most dear to me. Even more dear than my village, than Leif and his family, and Wren.

 93. Wind

    The rage at facing my second demon attack in less than twelve hours poured through me like lava. I should have been home with Elsie and Nash. Instead, I faced off with a demon woman I didn''t recognize in the middle of a village that also should have been sleeping. These fools had to realize that I wasn''t going to ever miss their attack and that I always put them down. Did each of them really believe they would finally be the one to best me? It didn''t make sense. I was more and more certain that someone had coordinated these demon sightings over the last year.

    "Who sent you?" I curled my lips in a snarl.

    The demon answered with a bellowing roar and her palms aimed at me, nails sharp like claws.

    The gust of wind hit me first, immediately followed by razor sharp points as thin as needles. They shot through the air in hundreds of translucent daggers that faintly picked up a trail of dirt around its thin edges. I erected my shield in time, but the points cut through the wall behind me and poked tiny holes in every inch from the floor up to the ceiling. One had managed to pierce my shield slice through my forearm in a flash of pain.

    I couldn''t give her time to weaponize the very air around me as I was certain that she''d utilized wind to create a wave of razors. Darting forward, I drew my energy blade along the ground, scattering dust, as I swiped up along her torso. She dodged, but I''d at least managed to throw enough debris into the air for me to see the next attack more clearly.

    With a powerful blast of wind, she vollied four massive discs of air at me, the dirt I''d thrown swirling through their middle. These were so sharp and large that I worried they''d penetrate my shield after one of her daggers had already broken through. Instinctively drawing my shield, I didn''t simply brace for the attack, but slammed the shield into the discs of air and followed up with a powerful swing of my energy blade.

    Two of the discs slammed against my shield and exploded back toward the demon. But the other two sliced through my shield and caught my sword mid-swing.

    Gritting my teeth and screaming with effort, I pushed all my power into cutting through the discs. The energy of her attack had hit me like an actual explosion, the kind used to blow up cliff sides to make way for the trains. One disc snapped in half and burst through the building behind me on either side of me. But the other dug into my sword, refusing to give. And then the sword snapped. The demon stared into my eyes through the dusty air, looking ravenous with the hunger for power and the yearning to put down Eclipse.

    I teleported directly behind her, energy sword already ready against her throat. She was too vicious to try saving. I made no hesitation as I drew it back against her throat.

    Only the wind shoved my blade back enough for a sliver of air to appear between her slender throat and my sword. She was twisting toward me, hands pushing for my stomach, the air between us already whipping into a frenzy.

    I couldn''t take any more time to try measuring her power. Instead, I teleported again and this time my sword drove deeply into her gut.

    She was still twisted the opposite way, searching for my body, when the other end of the energy blade burst through her back in a flash of red power and black blood.

    It wasn''t fair. She shouldn''t fight an enemy who could teleport and it wasn''t because she wasn''t good. In a fight without this power of mine, she would have done significant damage before I managed to kill her. I actually hated fighting this way. Cursed myself for relying on it now. But I was too tired and had too much to do to spend time fighting her or getting injured by her.

    "Your power is incredible," I said as she sank to her knees.

    The demon collapsed onto her stomach with shaking hands, unable to stop the blood bushing from her wide wound. "Someone¡­ will get you¡­ one of these days."

    Probably true. I had no illusion about invincibility. I had a great power, sure. Gael and his people couldn''t travel as often as I did and it took longer for their portals to open than it did for me to simply teleport. So mine still proved more advantageous. Someone would figure out how to counteract it one day, though. It was inevitable that I''d find someone stronger than me, smarter than me, perhaps just luckier than me. Even then, that person would be a fool to underestimate me, because it would only drive me to grow beyond them.

    The demon twitched below me. I hadn''t wanted to kill her. The thought felt useless and far too little far too late as she fell into a heap, choking on her own blood. With a swift snap of my blade, I ended her misery.

    The villagers tried to talk to me. I was so tired that I could hardly form words. No one had been injured and they wanted to hug me. Thank me. Invite me in for something to drink or to wash up.

    With the little energy remaining to me, I returned to the room where Elsie still curled up sleeping and Nash sat. Waiting for me.

    "You''re okay," he said. I knew there was more he wanted to say. He hadn''t wanted to be left behind, even though he needed to stay with Elsie. He had wanted to help me, even though his power wasn''t nearly great enough yet to take on that demon. He wanted to ease the burden I''d been left to carry.

    I nodded and then swallowed hard. "Soon," I said, too tired to manage much more. "I promise."

    If he felt confused by what I meant, he didn''t show it. Nash pushed to his feet and placed his hand against my back. "Soon," he agreed.

    I smiled, hoping he understood. Soon, this would all be different. I didn''t have the answers now. It felt like even once others learned how to portal, or even if I taught someone how to teleport, I would still be running all over the Valley, trying to fight these demons and disciples and prophets and swarms of warriors breaking into our lands and mysterious coalitions that wouldn''t leave us the hell alone. Because I couldn''t imagine being able to truly step back from any of these fights. I only knew that I felt as devoted to this new family of mine as I did the valley, and I could no more fail them than I ever could fail my people.

    Nash lifted me into his arms and the relief immediately made my body go lax, just like floating in the water. I closed my eyes, wanting to stay like this longer, despite that it took less than a minute for him to carry me across the apartment to the bedroom. When he settled me on the bed, I gripped his shirt, eyes still closed, not letting go. He slid me over on the bed and held me close. Though I knew that he hurt as well, and could imagine how I''d feel in his position, he held it back from me, taking care of it himself. I wanted to ease his own burden, if only I had the strength.

    For the first time in a year, I felt that if I let go, I would slip away. The shaky feeling inside of me had returned. The difficulty of feeling my body. I didn''t want to leave the Valley and go to Elias''s world. What would happen while I was away?

    "Sleep," Nash whispered, just like he had in the cave the first time he''d held me. "Sleep, I won''t let go."

    As exhausted as I was and as inevitable as sleep felt, I found myself lost between the two worlds, between my dreams and my reality. My thoughts flittered over fantasies of a future where we tucked Elsie in every night and had nights to ourselves. And just as quickly I imagined demons storming our villages the moment I left for Elias''s world. And his guild joining them. My people, my family, left broken in the stampede of warring threats against this valley.

    Maybe I shouldn''t have killed the Prophet, not without being willing to take his place. I''d left an opportunity here for anyone to seize and now I lived out the consequence of having to stop them all myself.

    I hadn''t killed him to help myself, though. I''d wanted to save my people from his cruelty. Did doing that mean I no longer deserved to live my own life? I never meant to fall in love with Nash and dare to dream of a home and family of my own. But imagining Elsie in my situation, it was so clear to see. I would absolutely want her to follow her convictions and help the valley, but never at the total expense of her own heart and soul. I knew that I not only had every right to seize life for my family, but every responsibility.

    I just couldn''t get my heart to believe it.

    It felt selfish to wish for peace when others had no hope of this, not only because I had played a role in the destabilization of the valley, but because I wanted to help take care of them. Having a family felt like turning my back on the family. This was who I was¨Cthe person who protected and took care of my people. It''s who I''d been since Leif welcomed me into his own. Who I''d been at the Sacred School. Who I''d been when my father awakened the flame inside me and failed me so badly that I knew, fucking knew, that I could do what he did. I could never be the kind of person who fails to care for the people I love and to be what they need. I could never abandon my people in pain without being there to carry it alone. From the first day that my father broke my heart and left me to hold the shattered pieces alone, I''d known that I would be the one who holds others together.

    So who did I choose to care for when I couldn''t do both? My family or my valley?

    I knew there was no answering, because it wasn''t the right question to ask.

    It wasn''t wrong that my own suffering had given me enough empathy that I chose to ease the suffering of others. It was just that doing it in such an unthinking, compulsive, even childish way would ruin my family.

    Nash and Elsie deserved to be the center of my world.

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    I deserved to be in that center too, didn''t I? That sounded so selfish and entitled that I could hardly think it.

    There was one thing I could accept, though. Our family deserved peace. Just like the Valley did.

    I couldn''t be so weak as to bend my knee to the past and continue to live in ways that I needed to grow out of. Once, I''d retaken the power inside of me that the gods had sealed away. Imagine what I could become if I retook more of my power. If I retook what my father had destroyed. If I became someone who did not simply save the valley but raised up warriors who could help the people save themselves. As long as I was killing myself protecting everyone else, then none of us were living our best lives. I needed to give others the chance to become powerful.

    "Nash."

    He rolled his head toward me, eyes looking blearing with sleep. "You okay?"

    I worked my arm around him. "I''m sorry."

    "For what?"

    "For not giving you all of me. For giving to everyone else what should be ours."

    "Max¡­" He clasped my hands that curled at his chest. "You give me so much."

    "How will the valley ever be healthy if it relies so entirely upon me that I can''t have peace within myself? I''m holding us back." The realization cracked through my chest first in a shot of pain but then in soothing warmth. The kind of healing that hurt and felt good at the same time. "This whole time, I''ve been holding us all back. Not saving us."

    Nash was on the verge of sleep again and likely didn''t at all understand what I was talking about. I needed to hear myself say it, so I could make it real, and make it mine, and ensure that I didn''t bury it away again to where I couldn''t grasp it.

    I had no idea how to let the Valley shift from my center to its proper place, but I had to learn. And I had to learn now because soon I was leaving for Gael''s world, like it or not.

    <hr>

    Elsie was so excited for her upcoming performance that she joined us to train in the courtyard. I had only an hour before I needed to take a group of Gael''s men on a tour of our borders where we''d been clashing with Flatlanders and the strange groups of unknown warriors popping up. I figured that even though I needed more sleep, I actually needed this more. Nash had to learn to use his energy and do so quickly. I would have a few hours when I returned to rest before Elsie''s show, though I had to squeeze in time to meet with Elias, who had traveled back to our world for an update.

    For now, for a very short time, we had to train.

    Nash practiced drawing the energy into his hands while Elsie slashed her wooden swords at an invisible opponent.

    "Widen your legs a bit," I said, tapping her foot with mine. "Hold it a little lower."

    Elsie slashed the air and unleashed a shrill scream. "Wow! Did you see?"

    "I saw."

    "That was good. Gooder than ever."

    As much as I wanted to help her more and enjoy the thrill in her eyes as she improved, I didn''t have the time to give her more than a few pointers. Piercey was busy with Gael, so Nash needed me to help him with his power.

    "That''s good," I said, noticing the beads of sweat that had popped along his hairline. His muscles were clenched as he wrestled with the energy inside of him, now practicing to draw upon it without releasing it. As a child, the Prophet of my home region had taught me to do this, so that I could gain control of the power within me before I expelled it and potentially lost control.

    It was really hard to hold it inside, though. I used to feel like it was a monster inside of me trying to gobble up my insides.

    Nash''s expression scrunched in a pain I remembered too well, even after all these years.

    "Okay, now, very gently let it flow to the surface."

    A beam of red flashed from his fingertips. I caught it with my own and blocked it before it could shoot into the ground. Both of us pivoted to Elsie.

    "Shit." Nash wiped the sweat from his brow. "I shouldn''t do this with her around."

    I would never let her get hurt. Nash wasn''t going to be so powerful that I couldn''t control it. Still, it made me nervous too. I didn''t trust my ability to notice him losing control of his power like Piercey did.

    "Yeah." I swallowed hard and placed my hand on Nash''s chest. It was damp with sweat. "Why don''t we take a break."

    "There''s no time."

    I sighed. "You lost control of it. There has to be time. It''s counterproductive to push too hard and lose control."

    "Funny coming from you. You realize that right?"

    I twisted my face. "What do you mean?"

    "You never stop at your limit. You just keep going."

    "I''ve been dealing with my power longer." It was a weak response, though, wasn''t it? I knew that he had a good point and that I needed to really think about it.

    Nash rolled his shoulders. "I have to keep going. I''ll work on holding it in again. Trin is here. We need to send Elsie to her."

    When my expression soured, Nash sighed.

    "Max, we have to. We can''t let Elias''s guild come into this world. Elsie won''t be safe."

    He was right. I nodded and then walked to Elsie. "Hey, sweet girl. Your mom is looking for you. Let''s go see her."

    She grabbed my hand and waved at her dad. "I''ll be back, Daddy!"

    He looked at her with pain in his eyes, the kind I''d seen too often in him, first when he was forced to serve the prophet and be separated from her, and now when protecting her and this valley took away the time he should have spent being her father.

    I wanted to promise Elsie that we would fix this but she wouldn''t understand.

    <hr>

    Gael''s people had been professional and quick to learn when I brought them along with me to different important regions along the borders. After we returned to the Sacred School, I felt a little more comfortable about leaving the Valley in their hands. I still couldn''t shake my worry. In fact, the anxiety churned in me in a way it hadn''t in a long time. I just couldn''t settle down entirely.

    I met Elias for dinner while Piercey helped Nash train and down with him right as Elsie abandoned her food to swing her swords.

    "I''ve bought myself two weeks," Elias said. I told the guild leaders that I''ll explain everything to them but that time is of the essence."

    "Aren''t they getting suspicious?" I chewed the inside of my lip.

    "Yes. I don''t think I actually have two weeks. Maybe one."

    I leaned back and glanced at Elsie as she stabbed the air. How was I supposed to fight in two worlds at the same time? And be Ma to a little girl? That wasn''t even taking into consideration that I wanted to actually have a night with Nash where neither of us had to deal with any business.

    "I don''t know how to do this." I looked at Elias again, anxiety scratching my insides. I felt this bad since before I regained my power and learned how to hold myself in place so I didn''t drift through time. "If I leave, who is going to respond to the demon attacks?"

    "Isn''t that why you''re bringing Gael''s people?"

    "They can only travel so many times a day. This isn''t their valley. What if they betray us?"

    "Dr. Drake promised to alert you."

    "Who knows if the Collective will actually let her do that."

    Elias paused and sighed. "I don''t want to assume that you''re like Ashton in this way but considering you''re the same person in two different worlds, I''m going to make a guess that you do this also. She can only walk away when she knows for sure everything will be fine. After she''s run through every terrible scenario and has people she can trust to handle it."

    "Obviously." I leaned forward. "How could I ever leave without knowing everything would be okay?"

    "You cannot live life for every person in the valley. You can''t stop every demon attack or save every person."

    The words made me deeply uncomfortable. "I have to try."

    "What if trying to do that means that you actually are failing? You''re exhausted in every sense of the word. You''re guilty because you started a life with a man who has a child and you don''t have time to actually live it even though you want to and you know you''d be good at it."

    I didn''t like how accurate his assessment was when we hardly knew each other. I truly was so similar to my counterpart.

    "Max¡­" Elias clasped my wrist and then seemed to think better of it. He pulled away slowly. "You can''t sustain this forever. If I''ve learned anything watching Ashton, it''s that when you aren''t healthy, you aren''t your best, and if you aren''t your best, you''re not going to be the person you want to be. Not only that, but when you''re so off-balance, it''s for a reason."

    "What reason is that?"

    "You aren''t giving the people of the Valley a chance to learn how to defend themselves. You''re forcing a shortcut through your sheer will. What if you died? The Valley has to be able to survive without you."

    The words resonated with me in a way that made me feel sweaty and nauseous. It was what I''d already been trying to reconcile in my mind, but hearing someone else say it was harder than thinking it. "I can''t walk away."

    "Maybe walking away is the best thing for the Valley."

    "A demon attacks and I don''t respond. How is that good for anyone?"

    "A demon attacks while you''re in my world saving your people. What do you do?"

    I scratched at my arm and looked away.

    "You don''t know," Elias said. "That''s why you''re still here when you know you need to come deal with my guild."

    I slapped my hand down and growled beneath my breath. "Because you brought this on me. I was already over here drowning before you threw this bomb into my world."

    "I gave power to three of your best warriors."

    We started one another down, until I realized that Elsie had started watching us. Clearing my throat, I leaned back. Piercey and I never fought, and as far as Elsie knew, this was Piercey. I needed to watch my tone or she''d worry something was wrong.

    After a few seconds, she started playing again, this time practicing her spin, as she called it. She managed to get a little kick in at the end of the spins now. I couldn''t help smiling.

    "I know you feel bad," I said.

    "Of course, I feel bad. I wanted your help. I didn''t want to endanger your world. There''s nothing I can do about it now, though. Not only do you have to save your people from mine, but you also can learn what you need from us. I''ve told you that since the beginning. And look at what you''ve already gotten from my world. It''s going to change everything, having Nash be able to fight with you properly."

    "I can''t get over it that easily. You''re saying I need to step back from my people and let them fend for myself so I can run off to your world. It feels like I''m abandoning them. Who knows what could happen while I''m gone."

    "And I say that''s exactly what your valley needs. You''re too good at protecting them. You''ll never let them grow beyond you because you can''t stand to see them in pain. You need to be forced away from them and forced to leave them in someone else''s hands."

    My voice wanted to raise to a shout and that filled me with pressure in my lungs since I had to force myself to speak quietly. "The valley is not ready for me to abandon it."

    "You aren''t. Gael will watch over your people and so will the warriors here."

    I found myself grinding my teeth back and forth.

    "Are you okay?" The gentleness in his voice reminded me too much of Piercey. "You don''t seem okay."

    "There''s a lot going on."

 94. One Step Back

    Finally, much of our preparations for leaving were underway. Piercey had been working diligently on connecting Gael and his warriors with our neural interface so that they could receive the same warnings I did about demon attacks. It wasn''t operational yet and I didn''t feel safe leaving the Valley until it was, but Piercey assured me that within the day he would work out the kinks created by bringing so many more people into the system.

    What bothered me more than anything was not having time to figure out who was behind the increasing demon attacks.

    I''d been about to travel back to the Sacred School for Elsie''s performance with the other children, when the warriors had caught me a few last minute questions. Then, as soon as I returned to the Sacred School, Piercey pulled me into the conference room with him and Gael to discuss the alert system for the demon attacks and battle strategies.

    If I left now, I would have just enough time to see Elsie before the show started, but I couldn''t escape all the people with all their questions. I breathed in deeply when a student studying teleportation saw me in the hall and chased me down to ask questions.

    It wasn''t his fault. I reminded myself that over and over as he talked. "I love that you''re focused on this. I have to go, but I''m going to find you as soon as I return. It may be a while. Okay?"

    "Okay, thank you." He gripped his hands nervously in front of him, nodding a little too quickly. "I''m sorry for taking your time."

    Forcing myself to offer the most genuine looking smile I could, I thanked him again for his devotion to his studies, and raced toward our courtyard, where I knew Elsie would be squeezing in a last minute training session. This time, Leif of all people jumped in my path and grabbed my shoulders.

    "Did you hear? I made a spark of fire with my power."

    My heart soared with joy, but it couldn''t compare to my stress at having been sprinting around on little sleep, fighting battles and training small armies. I squeezed his arms back and gave a small scream. "I love that and I need you to go away."

    His eyes widened. Anyone else might have asked questions, such as whether I''d lost my mind, or if I was okay. Leif knew me though and he understood the pressures I was under. He didn''t even say goodbye, but instead pushed me forward in the direction I''d been rushing, and yelled out, despite that there was only one student I barely recognized nearby.

    "No one talk to Max!"

    A small smile crawled onto my face despite how stressed I still felt.

    I reached the courtyard finally and breathed in the fresh air, ready to hear Elsie squeal my name. She was already gone, though. I bit my lip and looked at the place she normally kept her wooden swords, noticing they were gone.

    They must have gone back to our apartment to get ready or had already gone to the show. Elsie was probably so excited to get there.

    Cutting through the courtyard, I decided to go straight to the show, because I was sure if Elsie wasn''t there, she would be soon enough. The tingle of warning struck me like lightning and turned my legs to lead. One of the villages was calling for help. What the hell was happening? How could I possibly be dealing with another demon attack?

    I would miss Elsie''s show. My breath started to come in short sports, my eyes trained on the door leading to her. She''d worked her ass off for this and I would miss it?

    If I sent a message to Piercey, Gael could travel and fight the demon. What if he couldn''t handle it, though? I couldn''t sit there watching Elsie play with swords while children were slaughtered in the streets. I needed to travel there, assess the situation, and decide if I could leave in Gael''s hands.

    When I left for Elias''s world, I wouldn''t be able to do this. I''d truly be leaving the people in his hands. Dread churned in my depths.

    My hands shook and I couldn''t stop it this time. I''d breathed through panic before but no matter how I tried to ground myself, I started to feel like I was slipping from my body.

    I clasped the armrest of the bench, bowing forward. Now wasn''t the time for this. I needed to reach out to Piercey, travel to the village, and try to get back in time for Elsie.

    With everything, I tried to cling to my world, to concentrate hard enough to communicate with Piercey through the neural link, but for the first time in over a year, my world slipped through my fingers anyway.

    I managed to hold onto my surroundings long enough to feel my body smack against the ground, and then I was gone, traveling into a past I had lost control of.

    I found myself lying beside Nash in the days after we''d killed Flare, when the world had freshly fallen apart, and we had no idea of what would happen. When we''d had a few days to ourselves to recover and be together and dream about what the future might hold.

    "Death isn''t hanging over you anymore. You can live." Nash''s breath warmed the side of my face.

    I''d never felt such freedom. Not even the looming war for control of the valley could hamper the thrill of a life with Nash.

    <hr>

    I shoved myself off the ground so fast that dizziness forced the world around me into a spin and I fell back onto my hands. Fear filled me that I could slip again and lose my hold on time.

    How long had it been since I''d received the alert and passed out? My stomach rolled with waves of nausea as I tried to travel. For the first few attempts, nothing happened, and then finally I managed to go to the people who''d cried out for my help, who I''d left unanswered for the first time.

    The acrid scent of smoke burned my sinuses and blotted out my vision. The small village housed only thirty people and it sounded like all of them were screaming. Stumbling forward, I searched for the feel of the demon, desperate to figure out who had attacked this poor village.

    How many people had died while I slipped through the past?

    I felt the power then in a massive surge that actually slammed the smoke back against me.

    Half a dozen men and women charged at me, all teeming with power.

    Of all the days. I aimed my energy bow and shot arrow after arrow, feeling like I was spiraling out of control. "Who are you people?" At any moment, I could slip away again. I thought that I had moved past slipping and that it could never happen again. But they''d inundated me with an onslaught while Piercey was busy helping Gael and his people transition here and I was completely exhausted from the lack of sleep.

    As I notched more energy arrows, I remembered Elsie''s excited voice as she told me about her show.

    "Fuck!" I screamed it so loud that it made my throat ache.

    The arrows tore through the man''s arm and shredded his bicep.

    I was supposed to be at Elsie''s show right fucking now.

    I couldn''t miss this. She was so excited for me to come and I missed everything all the time. Elsie was a sweet girl who never complained even though I knew that she wanted me and Nash to be with her every day. I''d heard her tell her mother that we had so many important battles to fight and that we were away keeping them all safe. These words couldn''t mean anything to her though when she was standing before her friends and family, her classmates, showing off the sword fighting she''d been practicing, and noticing that I was absent from the crowd. Nothing would matter except that I wasn''t there. And I wasn''t just Maxy anymore. I was Ma now.

    "Where the hell are you all coming from? Answer me."

    I wasn''t sure if these enemies were weaker or if I was so angry that I wasn''t holding myself back. I sprinted toward one, teleported, and slashed my blade across his chest to rip it wide open. Spinning, I moved so fast that I didn''t need to travel. I''d stabbed my sword through his throat.

    Blood burst over my hands and glistened in the sun.

    Three more ran for me like blind, panicked fools.

    With my energy bow back in hand, I shot one through the chest. Another managed to cast the arrow away, so I met him head on, using my palm to throw a ball of energy against him.

    He slammed back against the building, twitching.

    That left one staring at me now. The courage had long since fled his eyes and in its place was only fear. But he didn''t run. He walked toward me, sword raised, shield ready. The fool still relied on his weapons instead of his power. Could he really be connected with the woman I''d just defeated the night before?

    I shot forward so fast that he might have thought I''d teleported and wrapped my hands around the collar of his shirt. With a strength far beyond my own, I ripped him off his feet into the air, and shook him.

    Right when I started to question him, a tall man cut through the haze with his sword dancing for me.

    No time to chat. I sliced a small dagger of energy across his throat and dropped him. Turned in time to drive my energy blade for the new demon. His physical sword clashed with mine as the ground beneath me began to shake. He was surprisingly strong for someone who needed to rely on physical weapons.

    "Who are you?"

    With a cry, he forced my blade away and spun to cut for my throat. I blocked and slammed a forceful wave of energy at him.

    "Answer me," I said.

    I felt more power surrounding the village. It didn''t all come from this man. There were even more lurking about.

    The rage and adrenaline had temporarily made me feel wild with power, but that had come at a cost, because now it felt like every ounce had been spent. My weakness from the past few days and the lack of sleep compounded with the effects of slipping through time so I felt like I could hardly stand, much less fight. This was dangerous. I''d lived like I could endure any amount of suffering and it had finally caught up with me. Why did I always do this?

    The demon rushed me with an onslaught of attacks, fast and strong. I could beat him if only I could grasp a hold of my power. It felt like it leaked out from me like water I failed to catch.

    It was hard to feel my body. Was it happening again? Was I about to slip? I absolutely could not.

    I unleashed a cry and sprang back with my energy bow materializing in my hands. Shot five arrows rapidly. Instead of drilling them into his body, I sent them flying around him in a circle. The surprise caught him off-guard and gave me enough time to detonate the arrows.

    The explosions crashed into him from all sides.

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    I didn''t wait to figure out how much damage had been done. With my arrows triple notched, I aimed directly for where I heard his heart beating and fired. Then, I tried to teleport to him, skipping to a stop only three feet away.

    Every inch of my body tingled. I''d overdone it in the state I was in and I couldn''t manage to travel any further. With a shot of energy, I cleared away the smoke surrounding the demon, and my stomach tightened at the spot. Elsie was waiting for me though and there was something wrong with me. I could hardly feel my hands. Numbness spread over my fingers. If I slipped now, this demon would wreak havoc on this town, even being so weak.

    I tried to blink away the dizziness.

    The demon cradled a severed hand against his chest that hung by a thread. The explosion had ripped bloodied and burned holes all over his shirt and pants. Blood dribbled from his nose and both sides of his mouth. The three energy arrows protruded from his chest, not deep enough to have struck his heart, but enough to hurt him.

    I raised my arrow again. He raked in a rattling breath and let his injured arm fall so he could retrieve his weapon. The amputated hand bounced against his leg.

    A massive surge of energy physically shook the town and throbbed in my chest like it had hit me there. What the hell was that? I had my arrow drawn back as a sense of awareness scratched at me and I looked to my right.

    A demon spinning through the air like a human spear, hurling himself directly for me. I pivoted to aim the arrow at him, but it merely bounced off his body.

    Bracing myself, I struggled to gather the energy for a strong enough shield when a form slammed into the spinning body and sent him careening out of control.

    Gael caught himself mid-air, hovered for a few seconds, and then landed on the ground hard.

    He''d come. Why hadn''t I called out to him for help like I''d planned? Stupid. Careless. Between slipping and the panic of another demon attack when I needed to watch Elsie''s show, I hadn''t been thinking rationally. I''d mindlessly jumped into battle, ready to fight. I had to start thinking again. It was like slipping without traveling through time. I was running on autopilot, which turned out to be me fighting alone like I had so often done this past year.

    Gael cut a look to me, seeming to take note of my appearance, which I could only assume was uncharacteristically disheveled. I must have looked fucked up because the concern in his eyes now looked significant. "Are you injured?"

    "No. I''m just¡­"

    "Exhausted. Your energy feels strange. Return home and we''ll take care of this."

    I hadn''t even realized anyone had come with him. Turning around, I noticed two warriors behind us, scanning the perimeter, and caught a glimpse of others in the smoke, already spreading throughout the village.

    That surge of energy I''d felt had been from his portal. "I can''t. I don''t have enough energy."

    The man Gael had knocked the ground rose and stumbled toward us. The strength of his own attack had forced him down hard enough that the left side of his body was scraped from head to toe.

    Gael didn''t make an effort to move but a sheen of energy crackled against his skin, his eyes trained on the enemy. One of the warriors who had stood behind us walked to the demon I''d injured and killed him.

    I breathed deeply as I watched the demon still standing roar, low and guttural, while chunks of the earth dislodged and wavered between us.

    Instinctively, I prepared to lob a wave of force at them, but first felt the energy building around Gael. Without moving, the sparking sheen around him intensified until it glowed like the sun and the same power now sparked against the massive chunks of ground floating in the air.

    They slammed into the demon then and buried him in a pile of dirt. The sparks danced along the pile until I felt the last of the demon''s energy die out and listened to his heart slowing. Gael lifted his hand, forcing the demon''s body up through the air and threw him down between us.

    I stared at Gael in shock, not because I was surprised to see him wield such power, but because I couldn''t believe that he was actually helping us. It seemed too good to be true after a year of struggle.

    I looked down on the demon, the rage at this attack coming on the heels of the others fueling me now. "

    Blood pooled at the nape of his neck. "Your arrogance astounds me. You think you can fend us off forever. We''re only getting started."

    "What do you want?"

    "Everything." He leaned forward with his eyes glistening. "This world is broken and hopeless. We need to tame it and make it into something worthy of the gods."

    "Only a fool lives for gods who care nothing for them." I planted my boot against his bloodied throat to keep him down. Using my power on someone weakened so greatly never felt right. "I know you''re connected with the other demon attacks that have been popping up all over the valley. Who is sending you?"

    "You aren''t as cruel as them. You could never be. No one will ever talk to you until¨C"

    "As them? Who are you talking about?"

    He uttered a mocking laugh. "If I tell you, will you take me out to the cabin like you do for the others?"

    A tremble started in my numb fingers and spread up my arms. "You''ve talked to the ones I let live." What had I done? I''d left them alive to connect or even to return to whoever had sent them.

    He gasped as my boot tightened against his throat.

    "Eclipse¡­ I expected you¡­ to be more ruthless."

    My nostrils flared. "That''s not my name."

    Blood dripped from the side of his face from where it had scraped against the ground. "I''m never going to speak¡­ So kill me now."

    "I won''t kill you, but you''re not going to the cabin either."

    Gael joined me, staring down on the demon. "My men say they can handle this village without problem from here."

    "We need to find out about casualties."

    "Only two."

    Only two. That was fortunate considering how many were here, but it was still two. If I hadn''t slipped, they''d be alive. Anguish gripped my chest.

    "I''ll take you home," he said. "They''re fine here."

    It felt impossible to leave this mourning village behind before the flames had even been put out. This was my test, though. If I couldn''t leave now how would I go to Elias''s world while time continued unpaused here? Elsie was waiting for me and it was clear that Gael did have this covered. Yes, I wanted to comfort the families of those who had died, but I would have to send someone in my place.

    "Okay," I conceded quietly and clasped his arm. "I''m glad you came."

    I was sure that he wanted to ask questions and I was thankful that he didn''t.

    Gael opened the portal in an explosion of power that knocked me back a step. Impressed, I watched him for several seconds, before finally nodding at the demon on the ground. "He''s coming with us."

    <hr>

    Frazzled and more tired than I ever remembered feeling, I finally opened the door to where families and children gathered in one of the larger classrooms.

    Tears flooded my eyes as I saw Elsie sitting beside Nash with the swords lying on lap. I stepped forward and caught Nash''s eyes as he turned around. The relief on his face looked palpable when he saw me. Surely, he''d been worried sick about me. That was likely how Gael had known to look for me.

    He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed out slowly before slipping into the aisle, whispering something to Elsie. I tensed, thinking she''d turn around to see me, but her attention remained glued to the little boy dancing at the front of the room. Part of me hoped that I hadn''t missed her, except I knew the lineup by heart, seeing as how Elsie knew it by heart, and had rattled it off for days now.

    The dancing boy came second to last. Elsie was one of the first ones. I''d missed her performance.

    Nash caught my hands and stepped into the hall with me. "What happened?"

    "There was another attack."

    His eyes scanned me, searching for injury. "How bad is it?"

    "I''m not hurt."

    "Then what? You look injured."

    I let my head fall against him, feeling too weak to stand. "I slipped, Nash."

    Nash''s hold on me tightened. "Okay. Come on. Come sit."

    "I missed it," I whispered, unable to hold back the tears.

    "It''s okay."

    "It''s not." When he started to lead me to the door, I pulled back. "There''s no reason for me to go in there. Let her finish her show."

    I hung out near the back while Nash returned to his daughter and breathed in deeply when the crowd began to disperse at the end.

    Elsie looked all around, eyes settling on me. She released her dad''s hand and started to run to me. Trin and her husband watched her, the sympathy they felt for her obvious and fueling my guilt.

    "Maxy!" Elsie slammed into my legs and grabbed me tightly. "Where were you?"

    When I knelt down, I realized that she wasn''t angry, but relieved. She looked scared.

    Guilt pounded so hot in my temples that I thought I''d die from it. "I tried to make it. I promise."

    "I watched for you."

    "I''m so sorry, baby. I''m so sorry."

    Her eyes filled with tears. Her face puckered. I knew she was second away from full blown sobbing, so I carried her out into the hallway and away from the crowd.

    She buried her face against me and cried hard.

    "I thought you were never coming back," Elsie wailed.

    I understood what she didn''t have the words to say, because she was too little to realize what she felt. She knew I would never miss this performance, so she''d assumed the worst, no matter what anyone told her. My heart broke as I thought back to days I hadn''t been around to witness, after I''d died and gone to the afterlife, when Elsie thought I was gone forever.

    It had been a long time since I''d cried hard and I really didn''t feel like doing it. I struggled to swallow down the sobs making my throat ache as she cried far harder than her little body seemed capable of.

    Nash joined us, drawing me back against him then, and I couldn''t hold it back.

    Thinking about Elsie learning I had died last year was so horrific that I normally didn''t allow myself to ever remember those days. It was all I could think about now and how that fear would live with her forever. She''d always worry that the past would repeat itself. But she was so little she probably didn''t even know she felt that way.

    I turned my face against Nash''s chest to silence my tears.

    "I can help you now." His voice sounded resolute despite the pain creeping around the edges. "I''ll learn faster."

    I wilted in his arms, not having the strength to tell him how much training it took to wield power like I did.

    It wasn''t just that I''d missed Elsie''s performance. Her Ma had missed it. I was no longer simply Max but this little girl''s Ma¨Cand I realized I had no idea what that truly meant. I hadn''t had the time to figure it out and Elsie wouldn''t wait on me to grow. She was getting taller, smarter, older. Becoming her own person. And I was missing it.

    Battle always brought with it victory and defeat. I''d tasted success and failure more times than I could count. But this failure, the pain and disappointment that replaced the sparkle in her eyes with tears, was my greatest yet.

    Once Elsie had calmed down, her mother took her to get ready for bed, and I paced the hallway.

    "Max¨C" Nash took my arm in his hand.

    I pulled away, unable to stay in one place.

    "It''s not your fault," he said as I sought out the closest door to the outside. As soon as I reached them, I stormed through the outer doors of the Sacred School into the white wasteland of the mountain top.

    The cold numbed me to the core.

    "It''s not safe to be out here without a coat, Max." Nash had followed after me.

    "I''ve devoted myself to this Valley and in one night I failed it and Elsie. How could I fail when I fought so hard?"

    Nash took me in his arms again, this time not when letting go when I pulled back. I couldn''t deny his warmth in this bitter cold, but I didn''t deserve his comfort.

    "I killed Flare and the Prophet and now I can''t put the broken pieces back together. It''s killing me."

    "I know."

    "I can''t let it hurt Elsie too. I didn''t just choose you. I chose her. I love her." I wiped my face, realizing I was yelling, and unable to stop.

    Nash pushed my hair back from my face and forced me to meet his eyes. "I''m the one who is failing her. I''m her father."

    "I''m her Ma."

    The words silenced us both, maybe the realization for each of us that we''d come too far for Elsie to be just his daughter anymore.

    Hot tears flooded my eyes and blurred his face. "She asked me to be her Ma and I said yes. That means I can''t miss her life."

    "Okay." Nash wiped my face, nodding. Voice quiet. "Okay, you''re right."

    "She needs me. I let her down. It doesn''t matter that I couldn''t help slipping. I let myself get to that point. I can''t afford to fall in battle. I can''t get so beat down that I''m regressing to being swept through my life uncontrollably. This is my power to control, my life to live, my responsibility to be alive and well for Elsie."

    I might have kept yelling, except Nash''s warm lips eased against mine, and I accepted them desperately. "You''re right. We can''t keep doing this. We''ll fix this." He drew back to see me. "We. It''s my responsibility too."

    "If I''m ever going to be the Ma I know I can be, I have to start taking care of myself. I can''t die on her again."

    Pain as deep as the valley opened like a rift in his eyes.

    "I can''t die and miss our life."

    I was torn in two with the valley ripping at me on one end and the family I so desperately wanted on the other. When I''d fallen for Nash and decided to start a life with him, I''d known that I also wanted to be there for Elsie. But it wasn''t a clear thing to go from being myself to being a family. I''d always thought I would have been a good mother. I was failing. No more. I hadn''t wanted to go to Elias''s world, but maybe he''d been right that the answers I needed were there.

    The only way to help the valley and take care of my family was to figure out how to step away. Gael had proven capable of leading a force who could protect the Valley in my absence. I''d done what I needed to do in order to leave.

    "It''s time to go to Elias''s world," I said. "I''ll use this battle to become who I need to be and I don''t want to wait any longer to do it."

 95. Departures

    The strengths and truths I needed were scattered in worlds unknown to me, where pieces of myself grew without me, waiting for me to find them and to put our worlds together.

    When I returned home, I''d come as the person I needed to be, just like when I''d returned from the after-life to kill the Flare and the Prophet of the Valley. I had no choice except to grow beyond the limitations that had worn me down for the past year.

    In the morning when we woke up, ready to travel, I realized that there was one last thing I needed to do. And I wasn''t looking forward to it.

    "Nash."

    He sheathed a hidden dagger and pulled his pant leg down before turning to face me. "What?"

    It hurt me to even say it because I knew how he''d react. "I need to go to Elias''s world on my own this time."

    Nash''s jaw slowly fell slack. "You can''t be serious."

    "I¨C"

    We didn''t fight often and even when we did, I had a hard time calling it fighting. It wasn''t at all like my bickering with Leif or the arguments with Piercey back when we''d fundamentally disagreed about how to handle the Valley. It felt more like a tug of war between his heart and mine. "I can''t believe you''re even trying this. How has anything we''ve talked about lately made you think that''s what you need to do?"

    "Our plans have changed. Time will pass in our world while we''re away, the demon attacks are increasing, we''re investigating the connections, and do I really need to go on? We need everyone focused on the Valley. We have to put our feelings aside and do what''s best. You can train here with Piercey and continue our work here in the Valley while I''m gone."

    I adored Nash''s fighting spirit, his ferocity in battle, his insatiable hunger for improving. No one trained more diligently than he did. I might have first fallen for him as a warrior before I did as a man, dazzled by the flash of his twin swords, and the seemingly choreographed dance of his fighting. Right now, though, I wished he was less of a warrior so he could see that I was right this time. He needed to stay home.

    Nash looked ready for the fight, unfortunately. His voice sharpened. "You can''t be over there by yourself without anyone to back you up other than Elias, who, sorry to say, obviously has his own motives. Not saying we can''t trust him, but it''s not our world he puts first. And you''re not the you he''ll put first either."

    I paused at that. Of course, Nash was right. Elias would be more committed to Ashton than I would, just like I''d be more committed to Piercey than Elias. "I know it feels like shit to stay behind, but I need you to do this for me. I can''t really trust this valley to anyone but you and Piercey. You are needed here. Elsie needs you here."

    "A man does not stay home from a battle."

    "He does when his daughter and the woman he loves need him to."

    Nash''s nostrils flared as he turned away and groaned low under his breath. "Max," he said with more than a hint of frustration as he gruffly pulled his tunic over his head and down his shoulders.

    Before his shirt fell completely, I touched my fingers to his back, feeling along the script of Eskel''s name. Winning against Nash was no simple matter, not in an argument or a battle. Stubbornness and strength alone didn''t give him the endurance to stand up to the Prophet, however. A little girl he loved deeply did.

    "I need you at my side," I said quietly, my fingers drifting down the smoothness of his skin, palms working against him now, my touch sliding from the tightness of his back around to his stomach. I reached to wrap my arms around him and rested my face between his shoulder blades. "I always need you there. I just need you here even more. I''m not strong enough yet to leave behind the people we love without you here to take care of them."

    I felt the tension unwinding from his body, replaced by a heavy sigh. "The day you died and Flare delivered your lifeless body to us, it broke me knowing that I hadn''t been with you. I hadn''t fought for you." He gripped my hands against himself. "After you returned to me, I vowed that I would never leave you alone in battle again."

    "You aren''t, Nash. We''re fighting in two worlds at the same time. We''re still side by side, standing across worlds. It''s not fair to ask you to do what I''m not ready to do. I''m asking you to let me go when I''m struggling to let go of everyone else. You''re better at this than me. You don''t live with the guilt and fear."

    "I''m tired of you trying to save everyone from their pain by taking it on for them. I don''t want you fighting alone."

    "It''s different this time. I swear. We don''t have time to fight these battles one at a time."

    Nash faced me once more, muscles tight again and jaw bunched. "I''ll consider it on one condition. Gael has to bring you back in three days no matter what is happening."

    I didn''t need to consider long before nodding. "I think that''s smart."

    "I''m not saying I''ll do this. Just if I do, no starting a war over there. You can set up for one, but you are not fighting it by yourself. I absolutely will not forgive you if you do. I can''t watch you leave without that commitment."

    "I promise." How had I never truly understood Nash''s difficulty in having to see me live under constant threat? He carried the stress of it so well, kept it to himself so much, that I hadn''t really seen it before. I slid my hands up his chest beneath his shirt, not wanting anything between us. I couldn''t get close enough. "You stay safe too."

    He bent to press his forehead against mine, looping his arms around me. "I''ll find out who is attacking our valley. You figure out how to defeat this guild."

    The confidence of what he''d said soothed my heart as much as his closeness did. Damn it, I really didn''t want to leave him. It felt like our life hadn''t had the chance to start. We had to fight for time alone like this. We were always busy, all the time, and there was always someone''s life at stake. Everyone''s life at stake. The urgency filling me never abated and I knew that I needed to walk out the door to get to Elias''s world. I needed him though. Needed just him without the valley creeping in all around us.

    Our eyes met and I knew there was no walking out that door just yet. Nash hoisted me from the ground into his arms and walked to the bed, taking his time looking down my face. I should have said we didn''t have time, only when did we? We had to take our life or we''d never have the chance to live it.

    He dropped me on the bed so I bounced and giggled as he stripped off the tunic he''d just put on. When he crawled over me, the sound lodged in my throat. The cut of his shoulders, the indentation of that soft skin carved between his thick neck and his collarbone, stilled my breathing. I wasn''t sure I''d ever stopped being stunned by him.

    His fingers wound through mine and he drew my hands above my head on the bed, holding them tightly. "You don''t get to die again."

    Hot tears gathered in my eyes. My voice sounded small. "Okay."

    His kiss parted my lips, tongue like electricity, and breath hot in my open mouth. "We have a long life to live."

    I could only nod, unable to speak. Every speck of my soul yearned for this, for him, for us together. Strong hands roamed down my arms and over my body, our kiss deep enough for us to get lost in one another''s souls. I loved that I could give Nash that look when I''d always felt outmatched by him like this, that drunken look of deep satisfaction and want. I''d thought by now we would have discovered one another and lost the surprise, only I''d realized that being together meant uncovering bottomless depths we wanted desperately, but could never, fully explore.

    "I accidentally learned something," he whispered against my lips.

    A tingle licked my side and then branched into dozens of trails, like the lightest touch of Nash''s fingers or lips. I gasped and arched, grabbing his shoulders. "That is not what you''re supposed to be training for!"

    He laughed low and met my eyes, his grin as sly as when we''d first met, and he''d toyed with me. "Told you it was an accident."

    "Liar."

    "Fine." The buzz of his mouth on me made me question if he''d used his power again or if it just always felt that incredible. "I''ll never do it again."

    I would find a way to do what Nash said. I''d come home, alive, ready to fight for the life we deserved to live.

    #

    We were completely prepared for me to leave. I''d convinced everyone to let me go alone with Elias to his world so that they could continue the work we needed to do here. It was far from ideal, but the complications required flexibility. Elias''s guild wanted to break into our world and the gods had destroyed our unique advantage of time relativity.

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    Before leaving, I wanted to talk with everyone together to make sure we were on the same page, and check in with Gael and his warriors. We''d gathered a group that included my chief and half a dozen other important leaders in the Valley.

    I let Piercey do the talking this time as he explained that I would need to leave for a short time.

    "Whoever is staging the demon attacks wants to wear us down," I said after Piercey had finished. "Specifically me. That''s why they''re spreading them so far out all over the Valley, so only I can respond."

    "My people will be able to put a stop to them," Gael said. "Together, we could respond to three dozen demon attacks a day."

    "You''ll exhaust yourselves. Trust me. If your people patrol one week on and one week off, how many can you stop."

    "Half that then."

    I breathed in deeply. "You''re also training your people and mine."

    He shifted and sighed. "I suppose realistically on a long-term basis we could only handle a few a day. That should be plenty though."

    "Unless they wage all out war."

    "Then we pause training and focus on this. We''re allies now. If you fall, our efforts here fail."

    I''d made up my mind to trust him and I''d have to do just that. "I thank you for that."

    "We have spies who are working to get to the bottom of these attacks." One of the military leaders of a major village spoke up now. "You should not worry about your absence, Eclipse. We will all continue our work while you handle your important matters and our new allies will protect us."

    His words brought a smile to my face even though I felt so anxious about leaving because this was exactly what needed to happen. It was short-lived, though, because I had another matter to discuss.

    "We do have several captives at the Sacred School currently. They have not given us any information. A few are from a small battle we had at the border and another from the most recent demon attack. I have an associate who can force information from those with power."

    The table fell very quiet.

    "He can connect, like Piercey and I do, so that we use our powers to share our memories and experiences. Only, he knows how to do this without their willingness. It''s not a pleasant experience."

    Piercey lowered his gaze to the table and I didn''t need a connection to feel his emotions. It was plain to see that he didn''t agree at all. I knew he would. He''d once begged me not to kill the Prophet moments after the bastard had strangled them all. I needed his unyielding morality to guide me when my own unyielding commitment to the Valley blinded me.

    The surprise came from Leif. "There''s no honor in stealing another''s soul."

    I couldn''t disagree. This wasn''t something I ever wanted to do and couldn''t believe I was even considering. We were at war, though. We were killing one another. "They killed a child." Pain etched in my voice. I hadn''t let myself think about it since I''d heard the news because I couldn''t fight if I dwelled on it. It would break me. "He was three years old."

    Beside me, Nash closed his hands into fists on top of the table, looking ready to charge into battle even though there was none to be found in this room. Everyone reacted to news, at least, everyone from the Valley. No one felt like a stranger anymore when we''d all fought so hard to protect each other.

    "I don''t think it''s right to do," I said. "I''m not willing to let them kill more children, though. They took advantage of the fact that I''ve released demons on the coast with the tracking system. We didn''t catch any suspicious activity, but we''re too busy to monitor them. We have graduates looking into the demons we''re tracking now to see who they''re talking to. But we have little information so far and even less time."

    "Some would not hesitate to steal the information," Gael said in measured words. "It encourages me that it''s a dilemma for you. This is not something I would need to consider long, personally. You lived under the iron rule of the Prophet for so long that you have a keen sense of injustice and you haven''t had to make the kind of decisions you are now. Having power is very different from not having it. I''ve been in a position of power long enough to tell you that in a war, you must have rules, but those rules will not be fair, or good."

    "We need to decide together," I said. "And we need to think carefully, because whatever we do sets a precedent for the future."

    "We vote," Piercey said, always ready to take every opportunity to start a culture of voting in a land where such ideas were very foreign.

    "I recommend that you do establish formal rules, whatever you decide," Gael said. "Our king is an admirable ruler in this regard. We are happy to advise on the subject."

    "Thank you, Gael. Can you all discuss this while I''m gone? If we haven''t made progress with our investigation, then we will need to move forward without whatever we decide."

    Everyone agreed on the discussions, even Piercey, who was visibly distressed by the possibility of forcing our way into another person''s mind. I wasn''t even sure that Elias would agree, though I figured I had plenty of leverage to use to convince him to do this.

    "We''ll need to continue our talks of leadership," my chief said. "It''s as important as the demon attacks. We''ll be seen as weak until we can unite under one head."

    I felt the eyes on me like I did at all these meetings. "For the past year, I''ve struggled to find the time to sleep because I''ve been fighting and fighting and fighting. I''m starting to see how our Valley could become strong enough to protect itself. Still, I feel like I already have too many battles to fight to also take on leadership." They all waited patiently, watching me. "I hadn''t realized before that proper leadership actually would mean no longer fighting all the battles myself."

    The chief looked proud as she nodded. "There''s a reason leaders are not fighting in the mud every day, young one."

    "That''s where I love to be. At least, it''s where I did love to be. I have other places now. Other battles." I looked up at Nash. "I don''t want to be the leader of the Valley but I don''t want to spend the rest of my life so busy fighting that I can never sleep. I don''t know what will happen, but we all need to make changes. Myself included."

    We talked logistics, with Wren discussing our strategy for the border, and Gael providing an overview of their plans for handling security threats in my absence. When we finished, I grabbed Gael on our way out the door.

    "You remember what we talked about?" I asked.

    When Gael had first approached me with the offer for a partnership, he''d told me that he''d chosen now to act because he''d sensed the energy from a man who looked like Piercey. I hadn''t told him more since that day and I wasn''t ready to share very much, but I felt that offering trust mattered in a partnership.

    He stepped closer, nodding.

    "You might have been right about what you said about the world changing. I really do want to tell you more. I just want to show you that I meant what I said."

    "Then it has to do with the one who looks like Piercey."

    I didn''t respond, but wasn''t that response enough?

    Gael folded his arms over his chest. "I understand that there''s more at stake than what any of us know. I''m choosing to trust you this time. Just prove to me when you return that you are serious about this being a partnership."

    "I look forward to having the chance to do that. Please, just take good care of everyone while I''m gone."

    "I will. I honor my commitments."

    "I do too."

    "Then this will work out well for us."

    Smiling, I lifted my arm to him and he clasped my forearm. I didn''t need to explain that this was the custom of my people when he''d been watching us for a year. "Okay," I said. "Be careful."

    "You too."

    When we parted ways, I met up with Leif and Wren.

    "I know you don''t like that I''m going alone. I promise I''ll be home in three days and that I''ll be smart. You do the same. Don''t try to use your power in battle yet. You aren''t ready."

    "We know." Leif nodded. "We''ll continue to train. Deal with that guild and come home to fight our war here."

    "It feels wrong leaving the valley."

    "I know, but you have to."

    I hugged both of them goodbye before leaving to find Piercey.

    "Have you worked out the alarm system for Gael and the warriors?"

    "Yes. We want to do one more test, but it''s working well." Piercey lowered the notebook he''d been reading through and looked at me. "Changing plans like this is risky. Elias and I connected so that I could pretend to be him and we could accomplish more."

    "We''re still going to do that. Just let me make the preparations there. You have to close up this deal with Gael and his king and train our friends."

    "I''ll do what needs to be done so that I can come with you when you come back to us. You won''t keep us away next time."

    I smiled and then I slid my arm around Piercey''s side in a brief hug. "Thanks for always being here."

    He gave my shoulder a squeeze. "You''re always there for me too."

    Meeting Elias and learning about his relationship with Ashton had renewed the guilt I felt for ever hurting Piercey. I wouldn''t change it because I loved Nash and I didn''t believe that I would make Piercey happy when I didn''t want to be with him. It was just hard to shake feeling bad when I was the source of so much pain for him.

    "Piercey," I said quietly before leaving. "I''ve been thinking about how I haven''t given myself time to make a life for myself. It''s been one battle after the next, even before I killed the Prophet. It feels like you''ve done that too."

    He thought for several seconds before speaking. "I''m in a good place right now. I''ve been finding myself. We''ll talk soon. Maybe help each other figure out how to find room for ourselves in all this chaos."

    The guilt I''d been feeling dimmed and I smiled, my heart warm. "I''d love that."

    "Bye, Max. Three days. Don''t be late."

    "I won''t be."

    My last stop was always the hardest stop every time I had to leave. Nash had decided to spend the afternoon with Elsie because both of them would miss while I was gone and she really hadn''t had enough time with him.

    When I hugged her goodbye, she clung to me without letting go.

    "How many sleeps, Ma?"

    "Two or three, sweet girl."

    She drew back to look into my eyes. "Then you''ll come home?"

    "Then I''ll come home."

    I reached for Nash, still holding Elsie, and reached my arm back to pull him close enough to kiss his cheek.

    "When I get home, we''re going to spend time together." I met his eyes and then hers, still heartbroken over missing her performance. "I promise that I''ll fight for that time as hard as I fight for the Valley."

    "That''s real hard," Elsie said.

    Nash kissed my lips even though Elsie covered her eyes and chastised us. He whispered quietly against my ear so only I could hear.

    "You can do this."

    It was what I needed to hear most and somehow he always knew that.

 96. New Paths

    Traveling back with Elias and leaving my world, my family, left my chest feeling ripped open and raw. It also felt right.

    To move forward, I had to learn to step away, and what better time to do it than now. I would only be gone for a few days, but a lot could happen in that time.

    As I walked beside Elias in his home city, I easily imagined being born in this world instead. He''d helped me to pull my hair into a bun that looked just right for how Ashton normally wore it in case anyone saw me. While he hadn''t told her what was going on, he had asked her to take a few days to train in the countryside and not to contact anyone. Though Elias shared that Ashton wasn''t happy about being kept in the dark, he''d promised her that this would be the last time, and she''d begrudgingly agreed to listen to him. Part of me was surprised that she would do this, while another part thought it made perfect sense. If Piercey needed me to do something, I would do it, even if I didn''t understand.

    I looked up at the tall buildings in Elias''s city and marveled at all these people had accomplished. It was hard to even imagine watching these being built or helping to build them myself.

    "This seems too risky," I said quietly after someone smiled at me on the street. People here knew me. What if I said or did the wrong thing?

    "We''re almost to my place. Stay calm."

    I took in a deep breath and followed him into his apartment building once we arrived. This looked straight out of a book at the Sacred School. In fact, it was very similar to the suites there. They were so much more advanced than my people in terms of infrastructure.

    I sank onto Elias''s couch the second we entered the apartment. "Is it safe here?" I asked.

    "Yes. I make sure no one can spy on me here. I even have defense systems so no one can monitor our energy levels. It''s one of the safest places in this world."

    His skills as an information officer were impressive. I knew I wouldn''t understand, so I didn''t bother asking him to explain. All I needed to know was that what I could do in war, he could do with technology. Defend, attack, infiltrate.

    "Okay," I said, relieved that we speak openly. "Talk me through this plan of yours and how that''s going to change your Valley. Let''s say we do take down your guild. What then? Will your world actually be better? I''m sure you can see from mine that it''s not smart to just kill your leaders with no alternative."

    Elias smirked. "I can definitely see that. Piercey saw it too. He warned you."

    "You''re right." I hadn''t forgotten our conversation when we''d first reunited and Piercey told me that swooping in to save the day wasn''t always so simple. It had been a long time since I thought about that conversation, but I wished I had listened more back then, not because I regretted killing the Prophet, but because we might have been able to make the transition better if I''d not been so bullheaded. "He understands that the people in the Valley have to pave their own way or they''ll never be successful. I just didn''t really get it before."

    "You saw something he didn''t as well. You saw that the Prophet needed to die, no matter the cost. It''s something I''ve come to see in my own world, especially after observing yours."

    I shrugged. "I need to learn to delegate power and build up leadership in others. That''s what the library at Sacred School is teaching me, at least."

    "In my world, when we remove my guild from power, we won''t be dismantling them entirely. They''ll still serve as a check to the other guilds. My hope, though, is that others will see what we did, and try to hold the other guilds accountable."

    "That''s a naive hope, Elias. Your Piercey side is showing."

    He chuckled. "I suppose I''m very much in your situation where I know we need a change of power but I don''t know how to replace it."

    "Your people are well-educated and powerful. They''ve been trained since birth. I''m not sure you need me to come in and kill gods as much as you need to get your world to start fighting back."

    Elias leaned forward. "It takes a spark. Besides, my guild actually has to go. My world has problems, but it works well enough having different guilds to balance each other out and keep any one from becoming too powerful. Most of the guilds don''t want to take over the Valley. Mine is different. They do. I can''t let them."

    "So what is that you really want me to do?"

    "I want you to impersonate Ashton to bring Jaxon and his allies into the fight and to be able to get to the leaders. Specifically, I need to get to someone Ashton is close with. His name is Lote and he''s very careful about who he lets near him. He''s paranoid, but he trusts her more than he trusts anyone else in the world."

    "He''s high up in your guild?" I asked.

    "Yes. We''ve got the head of the guild, which consists of one leader from each of our specialties. They have equal power, but are not equal in their prowess. Lote is political, but very powerful as well, and will be the hardest to take down. The best chance to defeat him would be for you to get him alone. He''s very good with empowering others so if there''s anyone around, he''ll increase their strength tenfold, and you''ll be overwhelmed."

    "Do you think I can beat him as I am?"

    Elias nodded. "Yes, because I''ll fight as well. You could beat him on your own but it might nearly kill you. Together, we can do it."

    "I thought you weren''t a fighter."

    "I''m not, but I can make the fight harder for him. I have my ways. I''ve helped Ashton before."

    He looked sad every time he said her name. "There''s something keeping her connected to this guild beyond her devotion," I said. "I would not be blindly devoted to people who hurt others and if they were manipulating me, I''d eventually start to see it."

    "Your dad betrayed you in this world. That changed you. Ashton has never been betrayed like that before. She trusts the people she loves."

    I''d never thought about how that experience must have impacted me. "They couldn''t have had a good relationship."

    "No, they didn''t. It wasn''t the same, though. He had his own power to obsess over. He never spent time with her and they didn''t bond. It left her longing for family and now that she''s found it, you know how hard it''ll be for her to let go."

    That made my chest hurt for her because I couldn''t imagine having to turn on my people.

    "If we get Jaxon on our side, then what?"

    "He''s clever and has plenty of plans for how to fight against our guild. All he needs is some inside help. He can tell his guild when to strike too."

    "Aren''t you worried about his guild taking over?"

    "I have a plan for that."

    "Hm," I said. "That sounds suspicious. Are you going to destroy them too?"

    "They''ll be so focused on their enemy that they won''t see me coming. They have so many resources at their disposal. The Valley is angry with them for hoarding it, but they''re the only ones capable of dealing with my guild''s military expertise. My skills will make it simple for me to hack into their systems and redistribute some of that wealth while they''re busy killing my guild."

    "I never knew Piercey could have a deliciously evil side."

    Elias smiled. "I''m capable of more than what you''d think, Max. I''m doing this to put more power into the hands of the people. They know what to do with it. They''re just stuck between two guilds that became too powerful."

    "It''ll only happen again."

    "Maybe."

    "You need to get people from both guilds to agree to work together or you''ll be at war when it ends."

    "I don''t know how to get them to do that."

    "Someone will. Delegate. Just like I''m learning to do."

    We both laughed and it felt a little like talking with a friend, rather than an impersonator who''d forced me into his world and put my own in danger.

    "That''s why I really think you need to learn to travel through Ashton''s life." Elias sounded animated like Piercey usually did when talking about something that intrigued him. "Ashton refused to tell me anything about her time with Jaxon after what I did and I know that she had talked to him about plans for peace with the guild. There''s information she has that I need."

    "Can''t you explain why to her? I just don''t understand why she''s completely refusing to help you. I''m worried about wasting time trying to travel through her life when it may not be possible."

    "I''ve tried. It''s a dead end. This is the waste of time."

    I tensed at his impatient tone. "You''re not always easy to trust, Elias. It isn''t a waste of time for me to ask questions for myself. I won''t blindly follow you around."

    "Fine. Fair. I''m sorry. It''s just that if I knew how to defeat the guild right now, then I''d tell you how to do it. I''m missing pieces."

    "What if it doesn''t work?"

    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    "I don''t see why it wouldn''t work," Elias said. "The gods uploaded your consciousness to these worlds. There shouldn''t be any difference at all apart from your lived experiences. Theoretically because you are identical, you should be able to travel through her timeline. The only thing that would hold you back would be finding the entry point."

    I sighed with a great deal of discomfort in the pit of my stomach. "I don''t know. When I travel through time, I''m remembering."

    "What about when you''d slip?"

    "Well¡­ I guess it was different. When I slipped, sometimes I did remember, but often there was some kind of trigger. I just suddenly fell through time."

    "If it was like a flashback, then you were remembering, but it may not be in the same way as conjuring a memory. It could be that scent reminded you of that time or a feeling."

    "Wait." I lifted my hand. "I lived multiple lives in my world from when Dr. Henderson reset the simulation. Why can''t I travel those previous lives?"

    "It makes sense to me," Elias said. "When she reset it, she wiped it. How can you travel to something that has been erased from your world?"

    "I guess. I still am just worried about spending time trying something that seems so likely to fail."

    "If it works we will have a major advantage. You''ll have our missing pieces and you''ll know more about my world without having to connect with me. I think we''d both prefer to avoid that."

    Honestly, I would rather live through the life of another version of me than to connect with Elias.Thanks to Piercey, I knew that we could trust there wasn''t anything terrible Elias was holding back, since they''d connected. I really didn''t want that level of intimacy with him or to experience everything he had.

    "So if I travel back through Ashton''s life successfully, I should target the time where she was with Jaxon."

    "Yes, because before that, we told each other everything."

    "What about after she and Jaxon split up?"

    "Not as important because even though things were strained, we did talk. But if you can, yes. What I need the most though is what she saw behind enemy lines. She was with the other guild."

    "It''ll be hard to travel without remembering. I''ll try my best to get to these memories. I might be able to access different points in my counterpart''s timeline here in this world using what we do share.There''s definitely times we''ve felt the same since we both got involved with Nash, well, Jaxon. It won''t be perfect. I may end up in a memory that isn''t useful, but if I can do it a few times, I can get better at navigating her timeline."

    Was it right to travel through Ashton''s life as though it belonged to me? I didn''t need to wonder about that. Of course it wasn''t. I couldn''t trust that she would listen to me, though, and I needed to know whatever it was that only she knew. If Elias couldn''t repair with her enough to get this job done, then I simply had to do it.

    I didn''t have time to sit around worrying about ethical quandaries. This guild needed to die and if Ashton insisted on defending them mindlessly then she''d created her own fate. I wouldn''t go easy on myself, not even in another life.

    Sure, Ashton was a different person from me because we lived different lives, but we thought the same and had the same personality. Living through her world and seeing the guild through her eyes would tell me everything I needed to know.

    Part of me wanted to just charge in and blast the hell out of his guild.

    I had to remember, though, that this world grew up on power. They had more discipline and mastery of it. Their people had advanced beyond what I could imagine because they all worked on it together, rather than a small percent of people in my world who could barely pull together through all the chaos our power caused.

    Over the next few hours, I worked with Elias the same way I had worked with Piercey when I wanted to learn to master my control of time. We hoped that together with my natural instinct for travel and with his mastery of breaking into the code of this world, we could help us break into Ashton''s life.

    When I first started trying to travel, I found that I couldn''t return to my past experiences in this world, so being here closed me off from my own timeline. But I also couldn''t travel through Ashton''s. We might have had the same consciousness, but this world knew that I wasn''t her. Elias wore a pair of goggles while we worked, toggling things in the air I couldn''t see. I was curious about what he was seeing, but I didn''t have time to waste playing around with his technology.

    "That''s it." He pinched something and then dragged it down. "I can see you in the code. You''re designated not only by your personal identification, but your world."

    "So it won''t work?"

    "I think it can. If you try traveling while I work on the code, we should be able to splice you into Ashton''s life."

    That seemed like a long shot to me. "I''m not sure how to do that."

    "You don''t do anything differently. Imagine that you''re Ashton and try to travel back to when you first started working with Jaxon. I''ll do the rest."

    To my surprise, it took only a few more tries before I heard Elias exclaim in surprise, and then I could feel myself slipping away.

    "No¡­ fucking¡­ way¡­" I managed the words as my eyes drifted closed.

    The slip through time felt different than it did in my world, but only slightly. I often felt as if I stood in two bodies, my soul drifting somewhere between. I felt that way now but also with my mind. For the first few seconds, I still felt like myself. I was Max and I was looking through the eyes of Ashton. Quickly, though, my awareness of myself drifted as I fell fully back into Ashton''s past. I looked around at the verdant grass of the field and the strangers surrounding her, wondering who they were, until their names began to fill my mind, and my love for them sparked in my heart. Rapidly, I became her. I became her so fully that my last fleeting moments as Max carried with them the fear that I wouldn''t find my way back to my true self. The Max who loved the valley in my world and wanted to make a life with Nash. Who''d just become Ma to Elsie.

    This thread to my true self dipped into the river of Ashton''s life and no longer could I feel anything of my old self.

    The canvas of the tents whipped with the wind as I gathered with my closest comrades, prepared for a battle that already I realized might change everything.

    "I can''t do this," I said.

    "Ash." My friend let his head fall back as a frustrated groan slipped out his mouth. "I will go crazy if I hear you complain one more time."

    "We don''t need them, Ralphy." The four coastal kingdoms had united to try claiming dozens of villages along our border. They were powerful and it would take all of the Valley kingdom''s working together to rebuff their attempts. Our guild and the Silver Moon guild had agreed to partner together and share resources for this effort. I didn''t trust competing guild to work with us.

    "Right," my friend said. "We only need your sword and your thirst for battle."

    "Obviously. I don''t want to work with anyone from another guild when it''s unnecessary, but if we''re forced to ally with others, why them? Why our worst enemies? Why¨C"

    "Because they''re the best."

    "We''re the best," I said.

    "Other than us. You know they''re good. Put away your pride and do what''s best for the valley."

    That ignited my fury like nothing else. "Don''t act like I''m not doing that. You think this is good for the valley? Pretending that we can work together only confuses the people who want to see our feud come to an end. We need to actually resolve our issues, not ignore them."

    "So you''d make peace?"

    "I''d love to make peace." I shrugged. "As long as they''re willing to admit what pieces of shit they are."

    Ralphy laughed and shook his head. "You''re a child."

    "You feel the same. You just don''t say it."

    "Really, though. If the leaders came in today saying the feud is over, what would you do?"

    "I''d welcome our new brothers and sisters, provided they actually intended to behave themselves. I don''t trust them. They''re going to use this to soften our resolve and fool some of us into trusting them. They''ll try to plant dissent or wait for the moment to strike."

    "Paranoid."

    "Realistic."

    When he looked at me this time, he was quiet long enough that I realized he really was worried. "Ash, this is a significant threat. All of our guilds want to see our kingdom survive. Sure, we have preferences on who''s in power and that doesn''t benefit everyone. But any guild here taking power won''t wipe anyone off the face of the Earth. These guys want to destroy us and steal our resources. They literally want to kill every last one of us."

    I swallowed hard. "I know."

    "We can''t take chances. We have to work together."

    "It''s a simplistic claim that is going to get some of our people killed, Ralph. Just because we all have to fight our common enemy doesn''t mean we should stand side by side. It will only make it easier for them to stab us in the back."

    "Well¡­" Ralph sighed. "I guess watch your back, because we have our assignments."

    I grabbed his arm, horrified that he''d held onto this news. "Who? Who do we have to deal with?"

    His grimace told me all I needed to know. I wouldn''t like this.

    <hr>

    I stared at the enemy guild members who we would spend the next few days training with in preparation for entering the battlefield. Despite my arguments against working with them, I did see the wisdom of it. We had many battle strategies. This one, breaking into groups based on combat specialty, would work against this particular enemy. The number of people in my guild who could match our combat abilities obviously were lower than merging with this guild. Our group had increased from six exceptionally lethal warriors to eleven. Of course, we had more people operating at this level.

    What really made me angry was that they''d dared to give me a Silver Moon partner. We always had teams of two that we could break into in this formation, but for the first time, I wouldn''t partner with one of my comrades. I stared at the mop of curly dark hair atop my so-called partner''s head. He dared to fucking smile at me, like we were friends. Or worse, like I was a joke.

    I only narrowed my eyes in response and the stupid bastard chuckled appreciatively.

    I''d teach that asshole not to underestimate me. And if he wasn''t, if he just thought that I was someone to smile at, then he was in for a rude awakening.

    "We''re going to be working together for a few months at least." Our group leader, an older but ferocious woman, seemed to give me an extra hard look. "Be on your best behavior. Get to know one another."

    "Just don''t get too cozy," I said.

    The curly-haired fool crossed his arms, still not having the decency to look serious. I''d run into this guy before. Name was Jaxon and he was the hotshot of all hotshots. In his mind, at least. Dude could literally fly. I''d never actually met another person in the flesh who''d mastered it at his level. I hated how that gave me a thrum of excitement. I also hated how tense his gaze made me feel. What did he think he was looking at?

    "How should we get to know each other?" Jax had wandered a step closer.

    "Don''t fucking think about it."

    "Think about what?"

    I wrinkled my nose and glanced down his face, frowning at his easy half-grin. "That. You think you''re charming or cute or something. You''re obnoxious and I already don''t like you."

    "Ouch." He rubbed his chest. "My poor heart."

    He was mocking me. He didn''t look hurt in the slightest. I could fix that for him.

    "We''re gonna kill some coastal warriors over the next few months and then never see each other again. I don''t need to know you to kill people in your general vicinity."

    "We''re fighting together."

    "I fight alone."

    "Do you? I''ve seen you before. You''re a team player."

    "Not for this team."

    "Man, you''re going to be really fun."

    Maybe it wasn''t fair to be so antagonistic. I just didn''t want to let that smile convince me for one moment that we could be friends. I''d lost actual friends to these people. This wasn''t a bloodless war between our guilds. Maybe we all wanted to fight for the valley, but we were still at odds with each other.

    Something told me that I shouldn''t have to work this hard, be this mean, to keep someone as my enemy and I could let up. Only another part of me said not to let up, or rather, not to let down my guard. Jax crossed his arms over his chest, glancing at me one more time with his amused smirk.

    Joining together was so stupid.

 97. Wars in All Lands

    Plunging headlong into the river of Ashton''s life felt I was peeling the flesh from her bones and digging my way into the pit of her soul. I owed her every apology I could ever have the time to utter. But she was me, wasn''t she? And yet, she wasn''t. How deep did our connection run? If I had the ability to travel through her life, if we were connected enough for that to work, did it mean I had the right?

    I knew the answer. Because I knew that if she wanted my life, I''d give it to her willingly, but I''d want her to ask for it.

    "What if we tell her the truth?" I asked. "What has you so certain that you can trust me but not her?"

    "Because you trust Piercey but she no longer trusts me. She cannot let herself trust me. We''ve drifted too far apart and to come back together would only hurt us."

    Ashton had made decisions in her life that had push her away from the people who I held the closest to me. I didn''t want to believe that in any life I''d do that.

    "I think you''re underestimating her."

    "You know how stubborn you can be."

    "But I love my people. She loves you, Elias."

    I saw it then as a deep and burning pain flashed in his eyes. My heart softened.

    "That''s it. She loves you. That''s why she''s pushing you away."

    Confusion came over his face. Of course. I''d been here with Piercey, but we''d been able to move past it, because I didn''t give him too much of myself. More than I wanted to give.

    "Elias, if she gets close to you, it hurts you. As much as the way you too are right now seems to hurt, being with her without being with obviously kills you. So she''s letting you walk further from her. It doesn''t mean she doesn''t trust you."

    This man was too hurt to see clearly. I could practically hear his heart begging the question. Why not him? Why never him? No matter how much he loved her and no matter how he sacrificed, why was it never him in any world?

    He glanced away, the embarrassment he must have felt at his weakness apparent in his reddened cheeks. "She''s strong enough to handle that."

    "No, she''s not. You''re her weakness. Her people are. I would not be able to stand breaking Piercey."

    Elias looked at me now and that life that he and Piercey had shared with one another seemed alive in him. The knowing looked drilled fear into my heart. "Not if you didn''t know."

    Piercey wouldn''t want Elias spilling secrets. Why had he said it? Had he not learned the self-discipline her friend had? Or was he so hurt that he couldn''t help himself? I wasn''t sure I cared for a bitter version of Piercey, though I couldn''t help pitying him.

    "Sorry." He shook his head. "You''ve done nothing wrong. You''re not obligated to fall in love with someone and you''ve been a true friend to Piercey."

    "You mistake me for her."

    "I guess so. I didn''t mean to lash out."

    The softness of Piercey''s heart was also in Elias''s. "One day," I said, "maybe you''ll realize that while Ashton may not feel the kind of love you want her to feel for you, her love is just as deep and just as true."

    "Don''t. I''m not ready for that. Our life here is different, okay? I had her. She gave me her heart and I knew what it was to be with her. I ruined it. I ruined it before it even started because I knew she didn''t feel the same way about me. I thought if I loved her enough, she would love me too."

    "Elias¡­"

    "We never had what you and Nash have. That''s the worst part about all this. I realize that even after years of Ashton, I never actually had her heart."

    I swallowed hard. "Do you see why I don''t want to go peering in her life? Tricking Jaxon? This has consequences."

    "There''s consequences to not fighting this war. Ashton would do it to you. She''d enter your life and use it to save her people in a heartbeat."

    What the hell did it really matter? Ashton would never know any different. I shouldn''t have been copied and dispersed over the worlds anyway. "Let''s just get back to it."

    I said nothing further as I closed my eyes.

    <hr>

    My first few weeks working with the Silver Moon Guild and with Jaxon as my partner had not tempted me to allow these warriors from our rival guild to feel like anything except what they were¨Cour enemies.

    As the coastal kingdom ramped up their war against us, we gathered for what promised to be the largest battle I''d ever taken part in. In fact, battles of this magnitude did not happen often in the Valley. I''d primarily witnessed such events in mock wars, held annually as a part of training to mobilize our forces in the event of a large-scale attack by enemy kingdoms.

    There had been surprise attacks and ambushes during our dispute with the southern kingdom over the last month, but for the first time our armies met to face one another head on. They had gathered to overtake a large city and we''d stopped them in the plains of the Valley before they could gather too close. It had always seemed like a strange concept to me to gather in a field and kill each other.

    No matter, though. I was ready for this battle.

    Even if I didn''t feel quite ready to fight with Jax as my partner.

    It was strange that our guilds felt like they were at war, and indeed even acted as though, but steadfastly served the same kingdom. In the end, we would die by each other''s sides if it meant protecting our kingdom. How could we be so loyal to one another as countrymen and yet enemies as members of our guilds?

    We lived in permanent dissonance because of our competition. Competition that had soured into an outright blood feud. I feared that with time we could begin to place more loyalty in our feud with each other than in our kingdom. That would be the day that the guilds lost their souls, and those of us who served them, would perish with them.

    As much as I resented fighting alongside the Silver Moon guild, seeing this battlefield made me feel childish for complaining in that first week. I didn''t like having to collaborate, but I saw the need for it now. The four kingdoms of the coast had united several times in the past to challenge our borders, but never at this extent.

    It was unprecedented. Shocking. Deadly.

    I looked to my side where Jax stood tall and showed no signs of fear. He appeared entirely born for battle, from the hunger in his eyes to the broadness of his form. He was a war machine. I felt the same way, truly. I might not have had the size he did, but my natural talent for wielding my powers in combat had been the source of so much jealousy in my guild. Maybe he wasn''t such a bad partner after all. I wouldn''t confess that to him and would probably deny it to myself as soon as the high of battle wore off.

    Elias would say that I was acting immature. I smirked at the thought, unable to deny it. As quiet fell over the battlefield like a prelude to our war, my mind stiled.

    Our army moved first and that gave me tremendous pride.

    We charged forward together, no longer opposing members of warring guilds, but determined warriors of our Kingdom of the Valley. The lines between us no longer existed and the conflict that felt so deeply entrenched, so impossible to forget, became like a distant dream.

    The sharp screeches of steel blades clashing, punctuated by the first screams of the injured, erupted within seconds. I drove forward with Jax and the rest of our group, immediately cutting off the hand of an enemy warrior in my second strike. No one in my group used energy weapons, which was rare. Usually around half of warriors preferred this. While they did provide more versatility and were stronger than our physically created weapons, it required energy. Instead, I preferred to strengthen, shield, and power my physical weapons with my energy.

    As I swung my blade, the field began to darken, and I looked up to see navy storm clouds of power spread through the sky above us. Our enemy already vied for dominance of the airspace.

    Battles of this size posed logistical problems because the collision of so much power could devastate our region and destroy the natural resources we all wanted to claim. It had happened before. In school, we''d studied battles over the last few decades that resulted in unintended, mass casualties, or the destruction of scarce resources. Our most chilling example was a battle that took place a full hour ride from the nearby village and had reduced every structure there to rubble from an overwhelming surge of power.

    It wasn''t just that an individual could create too much power. When we worked together, our power became one, and as one, it could boil over to the top. It was harder to stop the out of control power of a group. More like trying to undo a massive avalanche. So we couldn''t throw all that we had at one another or reach our full potential. When using battle in war, it was as much as control and strategically holding back as it was about overpowering the enemy.

    That was why we divided into crews. Warriors on the ground, like Jax and I, used our power individually, only combining temporarily if a strategic opportunity presented itself. We engaged in targeted combat against individuals we could see or could sense within a close vicinity. Our powers strengthened our attacks or were focused on limited enemies. This was different from the aerial support who hid in the woods and united like one body to gather their individual energy into one massive and deadly pool. They didn''t target individuals but groups, or even entire divisions.

    The defenders had arguably the most challenging job of protecting our entire force and also trying to watch out for individuals. They banded together to shield groups or strengthen lone warriors.

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    We all worked in unison, the warriors, the defenders, and the commanders. The problem was that the enemy always had similar tactics. Despite our power and our tactics, the battle was actually quite simple, just like in the books we read about worlds that lacked power. We might have had different weapons, but war wasn''t so different in different worlds.

    I had to ignore the threat that loomed all around me, that currently darkened the sky in a navy film of power that swirled over our head like storm clouds. If our defenders lost their hold on that immense energy, it would crush all of us beneath it in a second, no matter how good we were with power. I could do absolutely nothing about this and so I banished the thought of the threat from my mind. It would creep in at times, especially when bolts of power cracked like lightning. But I had a job to do and I had to only think about what I could control.

    My group pushed forward through the enemy lines and trampled the slain bodies underfoot.

    "Now," I shouted. I darted forward, swinging my blade and unleashing a wave of power with it that sliced clean through a leg, severing it. It continued on but collided with the glint of an energy shield.

    Another blade caught mine, the edges clashing with a sharp cry, powered by our energy. I pivoted on my heel and used the power coursing around my blade to drive it unnaturally fast into the kidney of a nearby warrior.

    Jax moved with equal speed and precision, his sword carving through the back of a warrior as he skidded to a stop beside me. I dragged in a deep breath into my burning lungs, trying not to grin. I shouldn''t have been having fun when people were losing their lives and our Valley faced so much danger. Rarely did we get to face such an enormous battle, though.

    A group of warriors locked their eyes on us, perhaps seeing all their fallen comrades around us. We didn''t wait for them, but ran forward and clashed.

    Jax flew into the air, spinning rapidly, spreading bolts of power down in a perimeter around us. Usually, warriors did not attack so many at once. His power of flight gave him a unique and fascinating advantage. I''d never actually fought with someone who could fly before. Hovering was difficult enough.

    My heart was thudding hard in my chest and it wasn''t from the battle. He fought so beautifully. I could see the discipline behind each move and knew that he had trained incredibly hard and successfully.

    The warriors now focused on us were different from the others. Faster. Stronger. More brutal.

    A man with a blade the size of both my legs combined and muscled arms about the same size reared back, eyes locked on me.

    He lunged. I dodged. We danced around one another until the mighty swing of his blade came within inches of my left forearm. This time when he reared back, I had to face it head on. I caught the strike of his blade with my own and my energy surrounding my weapon.

    My body strained beneath the unwavering steel and the incredible power of the attack. Jax had noticed, tried to come to my aid, but was cut off by my opponent''s partner.

    I couldn''t defend against this attack. Any moment, the blade was going to snap mine in half and cut through my chest. It would be an instant kill if I didn''t do something.

    Releasing all of my energy, I lowered my blade and shot to the side. The massive sword thudded into the ground so hard that it almost disappeared completely into the earth. The man had no problem ripping it back up. Dodging out of the way was only a temporary solution. He wasn''t slightly winded. He''d let me evade because he likely had hundreds of those same attacks left in him. I wouldn''t win in a power or endurance competition with this beast.

    Instead, I drew the energy from my body out of every pour, surrounded by tiny droplets of power that would look like a glaze over my body. The man charged for me. This attack depended upon the flexibility of the form my power took, so I didn''t channel it into a weapon or even attempt to prepare a shield. Instead, I fell completely into my instinct, trusting myself to feel out what I needed to do.

    This would never work for people like Elias who grew their power through dedicated study. I was an instinct fighter and I needed to give myself over to those instincts and to the speed of my subconscious mind, which worked far faster than the part of me that needed to think and dissect.

    I trust the beads of my energy that surrounded every inch of my body to protect me, reserving only a small percent of normally I would need for my attack.

    The man nailed me with a hit so powerful that it clapped like thunder and shook the ground. Only it didn''t actually hit me. The beads of power surrounded the blade on all directions, each exerting a forward force, so the blade stopped inches from my face. The remaining beads darted out to cover him like flies on a rotting carcass.

    He cried out in alarm and jumped backward, blindly swinging his massive blade.

    Beads popped against his skin in tiny explosions. It wouldn''t kill him but it would hurt. Thousands of bloody pinpricks littered his body, distracting him.

    I drew my energy back to me in the form of a long, sharp spear that I threw directly at his throat. He cut through the spear easily enough, not realizing it was not my real attack, but a distraction.

    A quarter of the beads hadn''t exploded against him but gathered into a knife at the base of his skull. He drove his head into himself as he jumped back to avoid my spear.

    I breathed in heavily, drawing as much of my energy back to myself as I could. It wasn''t accurate to say that my power was a finite source, like a pitcher of water that had a limit. Rather, I thought of it as a waterfall breaking through a cave wall. Only so much water would come out at once, but there was always more waiting to rush out.

    Sometimes, I could break the hole in that wall open further. I focused on rest to replenish my energy as I turned to see Jax holding the severed head of his enemy. He''d grabbed hold of the man''s hair to hold him steady for his final blow. I only caught the end of it.

    Jax dropped the head, staring at me. He looked as shocked as everyone else who''d ever seen the strategy I''d used had. It was rare and while it was not my own creation, I was the only person in the valley who had mastered it well enough to use it in battle.

    "What the hell was that?"

    I smirked, unable to help it. We might have had a few skills we could teach each other. I couldn''t deny how incredible it was to fight with him and what a shame it was that we found ourselves on opposites of the feud between our guilds.

    We did, though. And nothing else mattered. Jax was my enemy. One day, it would likely be our blades crossing.

    <hr>

    The battle stretched on over seven days as warriors swarmed the area to stop the march forward of the enemy warriors toward our city. In the end, we''d fended them off, but we knew they''d return with a vengeance.

    Everyone had been exhausted from tireless warring. We''d earned a few days rest in the city we had battled to protect.

    Elias met our group there, worried about me after hearing about the ordeal. The time apart and the stress of the past few weeks softened the tension between us. I''d never wanted to have any in the first place. We''d broken up nearly a year ago and sworn to stay friends, so why couldn''t we put it behind us?

    "It''s inconceivable that we should have to join forces in any way, shape, or form," Elias said with a bitter note to his voice. "How did we let this happen?"

    "Even your greatest enemy becomes your ally when outsiders from the far lands try to steal your home." Jaxon stretched his arm across his chest. "Don''t worry. As soon as we''ve dealt with this threat, we''ll go back to kicking each other''s asses."

    "Yeah right." I leaned against my knees and leveled a look at Jaxon. "I''m going to kick your ass. There''s no each other''s asses in this scenario."

    "Try." Jaxon shifted to the side. "Come for me right now and show me what you can do."

    Elias guffawed and turned away as if he could not stomach the sight of Jaxon fooling around, but it only made me want to kick his ass even more.

    I slammed my boot forward swiftly. He dodged, of course, but I''d anticipated he wouldn''t simply stand still. As soon as I''d attacked, I''d erected a wall right before him, unseen, but hard as steel.

    Instead of slamming into it like I''d planned, he pushed off of it with a shimmering zap of energy that sent him flying to the side of my foot. With horror, I realized that he was mid-spin and headed for my own ass. Presumably to kick it. How had he anticipated the wall? Did he possess such fine detection abilities that he sensed it, though he could not see it?

    Didn''t matter. I''d look like a fool if I let him reach me. That definitely couldn''t happen.

    I funneled my energy against his chest. He blocked this, but it gave me time to reposition. I dove for the ground and swung my leg for its target. Jaxon leapt into the air and hovered there.

    Damn. There was no denying how good that move was. Pushing off the ground with a blast of force from each hand, I used the energy to throw myself into a flip and slam into him. Though I didn''t connect with the ass I wanted to kick, it did allow me to grab him around his waist so he couldn''t fly too high.

    A laugh bellowed from Jaxon as he ripped my arms away from him. We both landed¨Cmy palms raised to him and his fists to me. The sound of his laughter snapped me out of the daze of our skirmish. We weren''t friends and enemies didn''t laugh together.

    I shifted my eyes away from his easy smile and nodded at Elias. "The only good thing about working with them is learning for when we fight them in the future."

    Jax looked skeptical as he sauntered closer, quirking his brow at me. "I don''t buy your act, Ash. You''re having fun."

    "I''m having fun imagining the day I rip your head from your shoulders."

    Damn, that sounded like we were having fun, didn''t it?

    "You think I''m joking," I said. "I''m not."

    "Sure," Jax said.

    Elias eyed the two of us and it made me feel even more like I needed to set the record straight. Ensure everyone here knew where we stood.

    I shrugged. "I''ll confess that your warriors fight admirably and that you''re more deserving enemies than I''d originally imagined."

    "Your praise means everything to me." The sarcastic tease of Jax''s voice grated at me and made my stomach feel lighter.

    Instead of responding, I rolled my eyes, and walked into the other room so I could keep enough space away from everyone.

    The day passed slowly as I rested and sharpened my blades for the next battle. Eventually, Elias found me, letting me know he would leave in the morning to return home.

    "You''ll be safe?" he asked.

    I''d been lying down and sat up on the bed to face him fully. "You know I will."

    "It''s hard to leave you here when I know you''re going to be fighting."

    When we''d been together, he''d worried about me when I was away fighting, and normally those were a smaller scale than this. "You have to trust me."

    He nodded. Forced a smile. "I do. Your group is skilled. I feel better knowing you''re fighting alongside the best warriors." I realized I''d pursed my lips when Elias chuckled. "You really can''t let yourself warm up to them, can you?"

    I could be more honest with Elias than I could with myself, despite all that had happened between us. "You know that I let people in too deep. I can''t give them any room in my life or it''ll be too hard to go back to being enemies."

    A look of understanding passed over him. "You don''t want to feel any loyalties to an opposing guild." Elias sat down beside me, leaving enough space for me to remember when we didn''t have anything separating us. "You commit too deeply."

    That sounded loaded and I supposed it was. For all the years I''d spent with Elias, I knew for most of them that we shouldn''t have been together, but I couldn''t walk away from the relationship. It felt like abandoning him. In a way, it felt like abandoning me, because he was so much a part of my life.

    The pain of loving Elias cut into my heart like thorns. I truly cared for him and always had. I''d learned to love him. Had found every beautiful thing about him. He was like a wine that I''d come to appreciate and adore. But we were not right for each other and I realized I should never had trained myself to enjoy his taste. Loving Elias had robbed me of him.

    He reached across the space between us to settle his hand over mine, likely feeling the hurt now churning in that emptiness.

    I missed him so badly that I would do anything to have him back¨Ceven teach myself to crave him again. That wasn''t how love should work though. I should long for him, not make myself accept him.

    He''d always seen it in me, too. Felt it. The absence of my heat for him must have felt frigid and numbing.

    I had to let go of this part of our relationship so we could both move forward.

 98. Fog of War

    I ripped free from the currents of Ashton''s life and woke back in my own body. My eyes were wide as I was lying back on the couch.

    Her heart beat with my own now, a lifetime of experiences I hadn''t lived but had slipped into.

    "Are you okay?" Elias asked.

    He offered a hand to help me up and I viscerally his fingers sliding over Ashton''s. Her heart had been so broken. His was too. On instinct, I almost pushed his away, wanting to avoid the sadness I''d seen twining them together. Only I saw in Ashton''s memories how silly it was to push someone away like she had. I took his hand and pushed up to a sitting position.

    "I''m fine. It''s jarring, is all."

    "What did you get?" Elias watched me eagerly. "Anything we can use?"

    "Nothing for you, I don''t think. It''s useful for me, though. I think I need to go further. Ashton is really closed off to Jaxon still in the memories I lived through." It felt like a betrayal to share anything of Ashton''s with Elias. If she wanted him to have it, then she would have given it to him.

    "Okay." He scratched his chin. "Do you think you can control where you land anymore than you have?"

    "I know there must come a point when she starts to soften to him. I remember how I felt when I was in that place with Nash. Maybe if I think about that feeling, I can get close."

    "Good thinking."

    "How long was I out?"

    "Around an hour. I didn''t want to stress you before because you needed to figure out traveling, but I have to meet with the leaders of my guild in a few hours. They want answers about your world. I knew they wouldn''t give me as much time as they said."

    I could only blink in response. "What?"

    "I need you to come with me and pretend to be Ashton."

    My eyes closed, my headache really pounding now. "You have a serious problem with selectively withholding information from people." I felt the fire flashing in me when I opened my eyes back up. "Do it again and we''re going to have a serious problem. I''m considering it a lie if you pull that shit again."

    "Okay. I''m sorry."

    "I don''t care. Don''t say sorry to me. You don''t decide what I can and cannot handle. Understand?"

    We''d gotten to where we were more friendly with each other, so seeing my anger must have taken aback. "I do."

    "I need to keep traveling to prepare for this. You tell me what I need to know as well."

    "I''ve told Ashton very little, only that I will share the truth with her soon. You need to back me up but not let me off the hook. You''re angry with me, but supportive."

    I knew how to manage that and could imagine exactly how Ashton would react to Elias. We were the same person, after all. It was hard to say how different we were having lived different lives in different worlds, but we felt so similar in the memories I''d lived through.

    A wave of sickness filled me, thinking about how I''d hijacked her life and was about to do it again.

    "Don''t say much." Elias sat down in the chair in front of me. "She''ll be mad and feel torn and not want to talk. That benefits you. Lote will understand your silence."

    "Even though I didn''t live through many of her memories and I don''t remember thinking about Lote, I do know more about your guild and how she feels about it. Maybe this will work."

    "I know it can."

    Elias brought water to me and a snack of bread and cheese I hadn''t asked for. My stomach felt unsettled, but I figured it was best to eat. Once I''d finished the refreshments, I lowered to my back again.

    "You don''t need more time?" he asked.

    "No. I need to get home to my world. I have to get this done."

    He started to say something else, but I was already slipping, ready to find my way back home.

    <hr>

    Our group had trained and fought together for three months now. That was a hundred days spent stitched together like we''d never been enemies in the first place. Every shared laugh and beer drew us closer to each other. I''d started to care about these warriors from the other guild even though I tried so hard not to.

    A fire flickered at the center of our group as it did night after night. Jax sat across from me and I realized then he usually did. Like he knew I wouldn''t let him get closer than that even though we were partners. He drew near only in battle, or when our blades crossed in training. The steel edges sparking against each other was the closest I would let him come.

    It made me feel exposed to realize this when I''d looked up to meet his eyes across the flames.

    I fled the campfire for momentary reprieve to refill my mug of beer, only to knock into Jax when I turned around. His broad form cast a shadow over me, the fire burning ten feet behind him, making us feel far more alone than we were.

    "Sorry," he said.

    "It''s fine." I sidestepped to leave, but stopped when he said my name.

    "Ash."

    Why did it make my chest burn to hear him say it? "What?" I forced myself to look at him but failed to keep away the same thoughts that had plagued me since we''d bandaged each other''s wounds. His face looked beautiful in the red glow of firelight.

    "I¡­" He hesitated and then offered that charming smile of his, the one that both irritated and melted me. "I enjoyed fighting with you today."

    I nodded, unable to find my voice.

    The deeper look he had now made me afraid that he might say something else, so I started to walk backward. "You too," I managed.

    I spun around. It was so obvious I was avoiding him that I felt completely embarrassed.

    The beer helped me forget. We drank late into the night, later than we should have. Others returned to camp, but our group stayed up, caught up in stories that none of us had ever shared.

    We laughed hard enough that a warrior from another tent threw a rock at our fire.

    I breathed in deeply and leaned back, feeling better than I had earlier. It was nice to forget about the war and the feud between our guilds. To just be people. Warriors from the same kingdom. I was swimming in that feeling of peace when a loud thud interrupted our laughter.

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    My heart seized in my chest. One of the Silver Moon warriors who had been grabbing another mug of beer lay face down, the beer spreading in a pool beneath him.

    I jumped to my feet before my mind caught up with what I was seeing, dizzy from drinking.

    "Ambush!" My friend Ralph shouted it. "Wake up! Ambush!"

    I reached for my sword before remembering I''d left it in my tent. No matter. I erected an energy blade and searched the quiet darkness. Whoever had approached had concealed their energy so I had no idea where they were.

    Jax rushed to my side, ready to fight as my partner in this strange team we''d been forced into, and together, we crept close to a tent for cover.

    Everything fell silent as we searched for any sign of our enemy.

    I still felt no power emanating from anyone except for our own people. It was a moonless night, perfect for an ambush. If not for our fire that we''d left burning longer than we normally would have, there would have been no source of light apart from any we created with power.

    My heart filled in the silence, thudding steadily. Pain clawed at my chest for the man who had died even though he wasn''t one of my own. This was the power of fighting alongside one another for so many days. It wasn''t possible to avoid the connection of blood and the high of battle. The camaraderie of drinking by the fire.

    Jax''s body warmed mine in the cold of the night, the two of us close and listening. The enemy knew where we were, so they already had an advantage. We weren''t hidden here, only had more protection than if we stood in the open. So there was no benefit to running around trying to find them. It was better to listen and feel. To watch. An opportunity would arise.

    With my senses sharpened, I heard a blade piercing the air and flying directly for Jax. He must have heard it too, because at the same time, we both slashed our energy blades to knock it away. Together, as one, we knocked it into the darkness.

    Jax flew through the air faster than I''d ever seen him move in the direction the blade had come from. It was dangerous, because they may have been trying to draw one of us out. Instead of following in a direct path, I sprinted to the side and tracked Jax''s barely visible form in the darkness.

    There.

    I couldn''t see anything but a wall of black beyond the camp, but I did hear footsteps. I had to really focus to attune my senses sensitively enough to catch it. Since we''d fought together for long enough, I trusted Jax to recognize my power and to evade it. I gathered a massive ball of energy and cast it toward the sound. Despite knowing that Jax would make sure he wasn''t in the path, worry still churned in me. I couldn''t pass up the shot, though.

    The stillness and quiet of camp crashed around us in only moments. We were not the only ones who had been attacked or found a target of our own. Where moments ago the enemy hid with their power carefully concealed, they now swarmed us, attacking from all directions.

    I shot as many blasts as I could muster in Jax''s area, focusing on the enemies I now sensed, while I ran forward. He could move so much faster than me when he flew, but he relied on the cover I could provide from a distance while I caught up. I might have tried to avoid him, but we made a great team. It was something I wouldn''t even try to deny.

    As I ran, groups of our aerial fighters emitted a bright wave of power that swept over the camp. Light yellows and oranges poured between every tent like water and then began to swell until a fog of power consumed our entire camp. They would help to protect us from the attacks, but Jax had moved beyond the reach of the defensive mechanism.

    I burst out of the swirling fog of power and made out his dark form whipping through the air. A dozen enemy soldiers swarmed the wooded hillside where Jax flew around, deftly dodging every attack, while raining down strikes of his own.

    The sky brightened now with powerful attacks slamming into the fog over the camp. They didn''t penetrate the defense of our guilds, but I knew that over time, they would weaken it and the warrior''s who had erected it. We needed to hurry.

    What a cheap move to attack in the night. We must have become too great of a threat for the coastal warriors to leave us alone.

    With power sparking all over the sky and ground like fireworks, I could see flashes of my surroundings like the sun was blinking on and off. Nash dove through the air and smashed into a warrior who had been lobbing attacks against the defensive fog.

    A few more minutes, and I expected our aerial warriors to surprise our enemy with the second phase of their defense. While neither of our guilds had created the fog, it wasn''t used widely in our area, and I doubted that these warriors understood what they were fighting against. Each attack did weaken the integrity of the defensive fog, but the warriors did not allow the power to simply escape. The energy escaping from the fog and attacking it were being collected in a very difficult process called recapture.

    The reason we didn''t use it often was because it could go terribly wrong terribly fast. And even when it went right, it was still dangerous. This was urgent, though. We''d been caught unprepared by an enemy who had clearly strategically planned this ambush. We needed a surprise to win.

    I didn''t hesitate as I ran for a line of enemy warriors. They defended their own aerial fighters, a group of roughly ten gathered together beneath a powerful dome shield. The warriors targeted an area of the fog to break into. I watched one run straight into it with his sword extended, only to get thrown back onto the ground.

    The fog relied upon self-identification for our energy signals. It wasn''t a perfect science, but we had practiced maintaining a signal with our power that would be subtle enough that we hoped the enemy wouldn''t notice but enough for our warriors to detect, so that they could target the enemy and not us.

    This was one reason it was so difficult to wield.

    The warriors converged on me as I approached. Four continued to try to create a hole in the fog to break into while three targeted me. Another three focused on Jax in the air. And the final four shifted between the two of us.

    We really needed people to back us up. Why hadn''t anyone else left the fog? Obviously they wanted to remain there for protection and it was smart to keep a sizable force within its defensive barrier. We couldn''t leave the fighting to the aerial team, though. I hoped that others had left to battle like we had and were simply fighting other groups.

    I released a signal with my power that would let my group know we needed help.

    Taking on three warriors and defending against another four who alternated between Jax and me wouldn''t work if I blindly attacked. We were so exposed out here. The other warriors who weren''t focused on us could notice an opportunity and strike unexpectedly.

    Jax had a great approach in the air because he could retreat when he needed to and reapproach. I was stuck on the ground, really wishing that I had learned such an incredible skill.

    The best strategy would be for me to distract and manage attacks whenever I could. If more joined us, then we could face them in an all-out battle.

    I chose to continue sprinting, fueling myself with my power, so my feet barely touched the ground, and each step carried me much farther than I could on my own. With each step, I leapt forward and forward again.

    Beams of energy shot into the ground after me, missing as I dodged.

    I left a trail of my own power like a toxic gas that spread through the air. It forced the warriors back. Seeing what I was doing, they tried to cut off my path, but I excelled at this. My mentor, Lote, had called me a speedy little devil. As soon as I saw them trying to block my path, I twisted and shot toward the fog.

    Above me, Jax only narrowly avoided a hit. As I dove back into the camp, I shot energy toward his attacker to give him time to recover.

    I wasn''t sure that my first attack had done very much damage, but it had reduced the number of warriors attacking the fog on this side.

    From within the safety of the fog, I pelted the group with bullets of energy, blind to whether any of them actually hit, apart from hearing a few cries. I couldn''t tell if it was from Jax or from me. I had to stay rapid and unpredictable so I could take them by surprise and keep their focus on me.

    They might have expected that I would remain in the safety of the fog. I could do some damage here. But they were capable and they would figure out how to defend against my long-range attacks.

    My sense of pride as a warrior pushed me to pursue the three who had targeted me. It was honorable to fight face-to-face. Honor was stupid in an ambush, though.

    I leapt forward, running faster than before, and dragged two energy blades at my side as I shot through the group attacking the fog.

    One blade made contact, ripping open the bowels of the warrior who had been thrown back onto the ground.

    The other was deflected.

    Now, all attention was on me, though. I rolled off my shoulder, feigned right, and then twisted to run left. They were figuring out my speed and that they couldn''t predict which direction I was moving. And seeing as how they had the numbers to cover so many directions, they very effectively boxed me in by doing so.

    It didn''t matter. I anticipated an attack where I landed and erected a shield around me. A sword slammed against it at the same time that a beam of energy hit and the shield erupted, hitting the swordsman square in the face.

    He stumbled back, grasping his bloodied mouth.

    I needed to return to the fog, but they wouldn''t let that happen so simply. Jax flew over my head and fired in a circle around me, pushing the enemy back.

    It gave me the cover I needed to return the fog. The only problem was that he''d drawn close enough for me to notice the blood running down his arm. I''d missed whatever injured him and that wasn''t acceptable. I couldn''t leave my partner helpless.

 99. Outnumbered

    Rage filled me that no one from our group had yet joined us to stave off the ambush on the camp. What were they doing? It hadn''t been long and considering that most people couldn''t run as fast me or fly like Jax had, it could be that they just hadn''t arrived yet. It irked me, though, that others hadn''t managed to move as fast as we had. Maybe that was one reason they had paired Jax and me together. We were fast and took risks. We were the warriors who fled the protective fog to take on twenty warriors alone.

    We were crazy, weren''t we? Stubborn, perhaps. Maybe just arrogant.

    Jax sure was.

    I knew that when I left the protection for the third time that I would not return unharmed. They''d had time to think and observe me and they had numbers. I braced myself as I ran north and emerged further from the group.

    Silencing my power, I disappeared into the woods. This close, someone would be able to track my heartbeat and my steps. It wouldn''t give me very much time. But I stalked quietly through the trees and identified my target.

    The man never saw the attack coming. I used such a small piece of energy that it would be lost in the cacophony of power. It silenced the heartbeat I listened for.

    They all knew where I was now but I rather liked the cover of trees.

    This time, as warriors pursued me in the woods, I moved further away from the fog to force them to divide their forces. It was risky to move so far away from my group, but I was a believer that risks paid off. I also knew that having Jax flying overhead offered as much protection as the fog did. We had to trust each other if we wanted to defeat these warriors.

    I''d expected half a dozen warriors to pursue me, which I figured would be manageable given my speed and the trees surrounding me. The footsteps I heard following me took me completely by surprise.

    I sensed the swell of energy and dodged. Green consumed an entire group of trees inches in front of me. In seconds, they had vaporized.

    Shit.

    They''d combined their powers and I sensed more than half a dozen. They were all coming after me, weren''t they? All of them except for the aerial fighters.

    Well, it was a smart move, afterall. If they took care of the pesky lone warriors then they could focus their attention on their target.

    What if I could get them to pursue me deeper in the woods?

    I darted backward, losing myself in the darkness of the trees. I relied upon the sound of the wind and my sensitive hearing to navigate through the maze. While I could no longer see Jax, I felt him pursuing me, likely above the tops of the trees.

    The warriors were following me. I wanted to rejoice that they were falling into my plan, except I knew this meant that they had such large numbers that they could afford for a dozen warriors to break away from camp.

    Trees all around me vaporized. I could sense the attack before it came and evaded, but it was getting too close for comfort. It was also destroying my obstacle course.

    Finally, I sensed the other warriors from my group. They must have been following after us longer than I realized, because they were closing in on the warriors. I stopped, having forced everyone away from the camp, and now turned for my enemy.

    They no longer combined forces to use the vaporizing attack, but they hadn''t forgotten about me. I had to dodge blasts of energies as I weaved through the trees and around the assaults. I darted past one enemy warrior, my sword clashing with hers. But I didn''t stop. Didn''t slow down. I couldn''t afford to.

    Three of my fellow warriors now fought with me. I joined them, seeing Jax on the ground now.

    We were outnumbered still, but I trusted our combined forces. We had more to lose than these people. They were the ones who had attacked us and likely had an escape route planned.

    Together, we fought as hard as we had in every battle. Sword against sword, energy against energy, will against will.

    Blood splattered my feet as my energy sword broke the guard of a sword-wielding warrior and sliced open his shoulder and the inside of his neck. Three turned on me suddenly, like they had somehow communicated this. Maybe they were just so angry that I somehow was still alive.

    I struggled to fend off their assaults, but I wouldn''t give in. I kicked one back, used my shield to defend against the slash of a sword, and unleashed a powerful wave of energy to force them back.

    One person closest to me though turned suddenly away from his opponent, close to me, taking me by surprise. It left him open to an attack and I knew that my comrade''s sword would rip him open. But he''d sacrificed himself to catch me off guard.

    I''d been defending against the other three, and now, in a split second, had to choose where to leave myself open.

    Jax shot directly in front of me. The fist meant for me slammed so hard into his gut that I swore the forest shook from its impact. Flashes of power erupted from the man''s hand.

    My comrade''s sword plunged into the attacker''s side just as I expected. But he''d partially completed his mission, landing a powerful hit on one of our warriors.

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    Why had he done that? It was meant for me.

    "Jax!"

    A hit like that could have literally ripped his guts open. He managed to absorb the blow well enough to only slide across the ground. His meaty hand wrapped around the man''s face as he roared, hand burning bright and red with hazy energy. Jax finished him off by ripping the wound in his side open with his bare hand and blasting his organs with energy.

    Fuck. That attack.

    Jax''s knees buckled and he caught himself on the ground, gasping in a breath. He was hurt.

    I shot another wave of energy to keep everyone away from him. It was not the most effective maneuver since I''d already used it, but it bought enough time for Jax to force himself back to his feet.

    He pressed against my shoulder, clasped my wrist, and then funneled his energy into me. It poured into my arm, crawling beneath my skin, making me feel ready to erupt with it.

    I didn''t hesitate.

    Using our combined powers, I poured all of our strength into a single opponent. She tried to counter the attack, but the radius of the blast was too wide for her to avoid and her shield failed.

    The blast melted the skin from her bones and reduced her to a heap on the forest floor.

    I tried to look at Jax to see if he was okay, except the others were not going to give us the opportunity to take our eyes off of them.

    The battle continued and there was no room for weakness or a break. A sword skimmed my thigh. A blast of energy burst through my shield and hit me hard in the gut. Neither had hurt me very badly, but they distracted me.

    There were five of us and still eight of them.

    Now was the time to return to camp.

    "Go," I shouted.

    No one would know exactly what I meant. I had to hope that they would figure it out from my mad dash back toward camp. They all pursued, Jax burst through the air and shooting energy behind us so we could escape.

    I could see the energy fog, but no one was going to let us reach it. The aerial fighters who still worked behind their shield, cast a cloud of energy over us.

    Fucking hell. This would instantly kill us if we didn''t escape.

    "Faster!"

    We rushed for the fog, not even attempting to defend against something we would never be able to touch. There were too many warriors combining their power and it was too effective of a move.

    I could have reached the fog before my comrades, but I couldn''t bring myself to leave them behind. Craning my neck as I ran, I noticed that one warrior hung behind us. He wasn''t going to make it.

    The bolts of power began to rain from the cloud of power just as my foot hit the energy fog. I skidded to a stop as two comrades beside me rushed in. Jax dove through the air for our straggling warrior. He wasn''t going to make it to him in time. I brought my hands together and hit her with a wall of energy. It sent her flying backward. Bolts of power hit the ground where she''d been standing. The ground quaked. Pain flared up from my feet and shot through my body, the shocks of the enormous bolts of energy spreading along the ground.

    My comrades dragged me into the energy fog and I fell onto the ground, my body seized in a tremor from the power. I screamed through gritted teeth as the worst pain of my life exploded from my side. The power that had coursed through my body gathered there and exited, shooting back into the earth.

    I curled, grabbing the wound, oblivious to how bad it was. I could have been on the verge of death or it could have been a flesh wound. All I knew was that it hurt so badly I couldn''t think.

    Hands grabbed at me. I managed to gasp in a breath as my friend Ralph pulled me up against himself. Jax landed in front of me and fell onto his knees, reaching for my side.

    "How bad is it?"

    "Where''s¡­" I couldn''t form the words. I could only see my comrade''s body flying back through the air after I''d hit her. Sure, it saved her from the bolt that would have roasted her body like a chicken over the flames, and sure, she was from the Silver Moon guild. But we were supposed to help each other and I''d definitely hurt her.

    Jax slipped to the side so I could see her safely within the energy fog. He must have picked her up and carried her in.

    I pulled my hand away covered in blood.

    Ralph pressed down hard on the wound for me and I almost bashed the back of my head against his face. It hurt so insanely bad.

    Tendrils of his healing power flowed through me. He wasn''t skilled enough to heal me here, especially when we were all exhausted from the fight, but he could help slow the blood loss.

    "I''m not an expert, but I don''t feel anything too serious. I think it''s mostly a flesh wound. But it''s the size of my fist. You could have internal damage that I''m not sensing."

    We could lie here when we had to fight.

    I pressed my blood-soaked fist against the ground and started to push up. Jax caught my shoulders, forcing me down.

    "Don''t move," he said.

    "We have to fight."

    "We need to get you bandaged." Jax ripped off a strip off a thick strip of his tunic and helped Ralphy tightly bandage me.

    The warriors who remained alive had returned to attacking the fog. I noticed that the color surrounding us was more dull. It was thicker to breathe in, something that happened as the quality decreased.

    "They''ll be in here soon enough," Ralph said.

    I refused to lie there doing nothing. "If you want to help me, then get me closer to the edge of the fog. I''m going to shoot those bastards in the face."

    The pain tried to consume my thoughts but I couldn''t let it. Jax grabbed me to help me up, his hand stained with blood from a bound to his arm. It looked like the blood was no longer flowing. He must have been better at treating his own injuries than I was. Still, it must have hurt.

    Together, we traveled to the edge of the fog and began to attack the people trying to break in. They easily evaded our attacks, but it did slow them down.

    I didn''t like being stuck behind this fog when I could more effectively beyond it.

    A loud nose, like a hundred children crying out, exploded into the night.

    The enemy warriors fell back from the fog. It screamed like it was dying.

    I focused on releasing the signal to let our aerial warriors know not to target me. As the fog began to lower to barely cover the tops of the tents, acrid smoke washed out from its base. Yellow tinted the smoke, mingling. It rushed out into the woods, sweeping over the warriors.

    Their screams joined with that of the fog. The shadows burned their skin and singed their clothes. It didn''t take long for them to begin to erect shields, but the smoke lingered and ate at their defenses.

    "Abandon camp."

    The order flooded the fog, carried and amplified by every tendril of power.

 100. Flight

    Jax and I looked at one another. We knew what to do when we heard the evacuation order come through. Our camp would scatter, disappear in the night like we were never here. Abandon everything. It was a loss, but it would save our lives.

    The logistics of abandoning a camp during an attack were not exactly simple. The aerial team would need to keep their defenses up while we escaped, but then they would be isolated and trapped. So we had to leave in waves and remain hidden in order to help them.

    It was dangerous and we would lose some warriors while we did it. If they thought we needed to abandon, though, then that meant the alternative was for everyone to die or be captured.

    Jax''s eyes fell down to my stomach. I didn''t wait for him to ask. I didn''t want to be coddled.

    "I can move still."

    "You''re sure? We need to strategize if not."

    "I''m telling you I can. We''re in the first wave to leave, anyway. Let''s go. I want to find a place where we can offer support when the second wave flees."

    He nodded.

    I caught Ralph''s hand, wincing. "Be careful."

    He clasped my cheek, worry bright in his eyes. "You too. You won''t have a healer."

    "I''ll be okay."

    We couldn''t wait any longer. I remembered the powerful hit that Jax had taken to his stomach and wondered how much of a fight he had left in him as well. I could tell that his movements were not as clean and precise as usual. He covered it well, but he was hurting. I would go down faster, though.

    I stopped by the warrior I''d hit with my power before we left. "How bad is it?"

    She shook her head. "I''m okay. I put up a shield. You saved me life."

    I smiled, not sure that I''d directly saved the life of a Silver Moon guild member before. Of course, in battle we had supported each other and undoubtedly all saved each other with our efforts. This was new ground. So was fleeing with an enemy guild member turned partner.

    I swallowed hard as I grabbed my side and tried my best to run through the camp. Jax followed me on the ground when flying would be faster. He may not have had the energy, though.

    Abandoning camp felt terrible. It was worse than defeat because we weren''t even finishing the battle. When Lote had created our plans for abandoning camp, I''d told him that no warrior would be okay with it. He''d insisted that our lives were our greatest resource and the most important thing to the guild leadership. I understood the necessity of retreat and abandoning camp.

    I just resented not being strong enough to take down these enemies.

    As Jax and I escaped through the fog and ran into the smoke, I realized just how outnumbered we were. The warriors we had fought were only the first wave. I now sensed more surrounding the perimeter, waiting to join the reinforcements.

    I would make these people pay in battle for attacking us in the night when we were isolated from the rest of the army. What cowards. How had they been allowed to get this close? This would be investigated.

    I faltered as we stole into the woods, catching myself on a tree. Jax grabbed my hand and pulled me to him so fast that my feet lifted off the ground. He didn''t slow down, but held me with his arm around me as he ran. I managed to get my feet underneath me and to run with him, but I didn''t want him having to drag me around like I was a child.

    "I''ll be fine."

    "We can''t slow down."

    He was breathing harder than he normally would. Begrudgingly, I allowed him to keep hold of me and to help me run along. My ankles started to itch from the smoke. It was starting to attack us as well, which would force us to use a shield and give away our positions very clearly to the enemy.

    Then, I sensed the energy ahead.

    "Wait!" My body bowed as I pulled away from him and gathered my power into a sword. Three warriors moved through the woods for us. We''d been spotted or sensed. I''d been trying to conceal my energy, but it was hard when I was so weak.

    I noticed that this far out, the smoke wasn''t strong enough to break through their defenses. They ran toward us with a shield surrounding them.

    Jax and I let them come to us this time. We didn''t need to tell the other. For the first time, I realized that we had fought together so much that we''d gotten an instinct for each other.

    The fight immediately felt overwhelming. I parried a hit and tried to kick, except my foot completely missed when the enemy dodged. My wound felt like a weight trying to drag me to the ground. The adrenaline helped to energize me and mask my pain, but my body felt clumsy.

    I was bleeding again, likely having broken open my wound that Ralph had barely managed to close enough for me to not bleed out. Jax charged two warriors, forcing them to focus on him, and I knew he did this because I was hurt.

    Panic scratched at me. It wasn''t just this immediate danger right here. It was that all of our people in the camp were facing the same attacks.

    We needed to escape. We didn''t have the strength to fight these people off. I''d have to swallow my pride and let Jax help me. The only way to get away from these three would be for him to carry me while he flew away. Did he have the strength to do it?

    I couldn''t even communicate the plan with him, though, because I was breathless from the fight and the blood loss. I swung with all my might only for my attack to be easily knocked away.

    Forget honor. I gathered energy in one hand and thrust the blade with the other. When the warrior went to defend herself, I dropped the attacks, and ran to Jax.

    Just as I was about to reach him. A blade broke his energy sword in half and caught the edge of his chest. He managed to follow-throw by creating and throwing a dagger energy at the opponent, but the warrior knocked it away.

    The second warrior wasn''t slowing down.

    "Jaxon!" I dove forward, wrenched my shield up, and just barely caught a powerful blow from an ax that carried with it an enormous amount of energy. If I had not managed to steel myself with my own power and focus upon reinforcing my defenses, it would have snapped my shield in half and carved through my body.

    The fear that had flooded me when I saw Jaxon go down exploded out from me in a blast of energy that smacked against the attacker. He slid back from the invisible force pressuring his body, but I planted my feet and pushed more of my strength into the attack, until it broke through his defenses and sent him flying back onto his ass.

    I lifted my shield once more and prepared my blade. "Can you stand?" I couldn''t afford to look at him when I had to keep my attention on our enemies.

    His voice came out strained, but I could hear him rising behind me. "Yes. Thank you."

    "I couldn''t let someone else kill you, could I?"

    I heard his sly grin in the tone of his voice, despite the pain I heard as well. "That honor is saved for you alone."

    This damn man must have started to rub off onto me. What was I doing teasing when we were both bleeding and running for our lives?

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    "Can you fly?" I asked.

    He caught my eyes, seeming to understand.

    The three warriors attacked at once.

    Jaxon caught me around my waist and darted up into the air, breaking through limbs, the branches snapping against us. It hurt like hell but within seconds we were flying above the tree line.

    I couldn''t draw in breath. Agony screamed from my wounds and gripped my lungs.

    Jax fell lower in the air suddenly and then caught him. His blood soaked my back.

    "Hang on," he said.

    He tried to reposition his arms but no matter how he held me, it hurt horribly. Finally, he twisted backwards so I was lying on top of him as he continued to fly with his back to the ground.

    I gasped in a breath, digging my nails into my skin to keep quiet. The world spun, not just because of his flying, but because of the blood and pain and the dizziness.

    "Can you¡­ make it¡­?" I asked.

    "Yeah." His voice sounded as strained as mine and he said nothing else. We flew slower every passing minute, but we were still flying.

    How could we provide cover if we flew away like this? Protocol was that if you were severely wounded, then you fled. What about the others though? We couldn''t leave them to die.

    Tears burned my eyes. "Jax," I said. "The next wave."

    "We can''t."

    That was it. He said nothing else. I wasn''t sure that I even had a say in it because I could hardly talk and I couldn''t exactly climb off of him to plummet to my death.

    I tried to speak again but my voice came out only as a groan.

    My heavy eyes slid closed.

    "Hang on, Ash." He''d already said it and it wouldn''t help me any, but still hearing him say my name soothed me.

    The trees blurred beneath us as we disappeared into the dark of the night sky. I missed the summer when the midnight sun never left us. These days, the nights had grown longer and longer. Soon it would be horribly cold. Deadly cold. Too cold to war. That wouldn''t stop any of us, but it would likely slow down the fight for territory until spring.

    I wanted to tell Jax I was sorry that I couldn''t help and I was literally weighing him down. His breathing was ragged against my head now, his flight incredibly slow. His hard chest pressed against my back, straining from the effort of carrying us both away. I figured that he probably never carried someone around while flying, especially not while wounded and exhausted from a late night ambush.

    We cleared the woods and flew over a narrow stretch of field between the trees. Jax slowly lowered toward the ground until finally we landed. It wasn''t entirely graceful but it wasn''t a crash landing. Still, it was enough to jostle us both. We both groaned as we rolled onto our sides, his arm still around me.

    I couldn''t move. It seemed he couldn''t either. His heavy arm was limp and one of his legs lying over mine.

    If we could rest for only a few moments¡­

    No. Jax was bleeding and hadn''t been bandaged yet. I had soaked my own bandage. We needed to find shelter.

    I started to crawl out from under his arm but ended up collapsing on my back. I looked over to see his body covered in sweat. Dark blood stained his chest and his left arm. His eyes just barely opened.

    "We can''t stop," I said.

    Together, we managed to rise to our feet and clung to one another as we stumbled toward the next line of trees. We were far enough away that I could no longer feel anyone''s energy. So if we could find a good place to hide, we could stop.

    We needed water and bandages. Medicine. Neither of us had the strength for it.

    Jax and I stumbled along together, holding trees for support, until he spotted a little creek.

    I could have cried.

    We chose a spot where a tree had grown into the stream and a few smaller ones had formed a little alcove.

    Jax and I both collapsed and drank desperately.

    I felt myself on the verge of passing out. I couldn''t until we had ourselves bandaged.

    "Okay," Jax said. "Okay. Let me see your side." He tugged on me, rolling me toward him.

    In all the chaos, I''d managed to forget who we were, what he stood for and who he served. The temporary loss of my grip on reality now faded. We were once again Ashton and Jaxon, enemies from the two most powerful guilds in the Valley.

    I shoved him back, panicked I''d let him close, refusing to allow myself to be so weak that I accepted his help. "Take care of yourself. You''re hurt."

    "Stop it." He grunted as he pressed his hand to his chest and pulled at my bloodied bandage again. "Why are you being annoying again?"

    "I told you¨C"

    "You know what, we are going to fight. Right now." He pushed to his knees despite the pain tightening his expression. "Get your sword ready."

    I would have laughed if I had enough breath. "Look at yourself. You''ll pass out."

    "Look at you. I''ve put up with you long enough. If you can''t even let me help you¨C" He lowered his head, breath catching. "Shit. If you¡­ can''t let me bandage your wounds, then we just need to fight it out."

    I swallowed hard, realizing I''d gone too far this time. It was just that I could feel his body against mine still and he was so close that his heat warmed me. I needed to push him away. "You really want to fight me?"

    "You clearly want to fight, so yeah, let''s fight."

    Sweat peppered his temples. I felt my own wetting the small of my back. A laugh bubbled up and I was entirely too exhausted to hold it in. The sound came out winded and strained and more than a little pathetic. Practically a whimper. But I couldn''t hold it in.

    Jax watched me for several seconds before a tired grin crawled on his face and he laughed quietly as well.

    "Fine. I concede. I do." Gasping at the pain from moving, I moved my hands away from my wound so he could help me. "We have to take care of you soon, though."

    He peeled my bandage back. "It''s not good, Ash."

    "Yeah." I rolled my head to the side and glanced down him to search out any injuries I''d missed. "Do you think that punch damaged any organs?"

    "I think I''m just bruised from it."

    Jax tore away more of his tunic, leaving a swath of his stomach bare. We were all used to the cold here, but we didn''t have blankets. He was going to be freezing. I noticed gooseflesh prickling his skin already. The contours of his hips and abdomen caught my gaze for longer than it should have.

    I closed my eyes while he rebandaged my wound, not needing to distract myself for long because it hurt horribly.

    "If you help, we can close my wounds without bandages," Jax said. "I already closed the one on my arm. I may need just a little more energy."

    "Sorry. I''m not good at this."

    "You can''t be good at everything. It''s fine. Just focus on strengthening what I''m doing. I can get us both to stop bleeding at least."

    I could feel his eyes on me. Glancing over, I met his look, holding my breath. It scared me how he didn''t seem so bad. I so easily fell into loyalty for my friends. If I let him into my heart at all, then I''d struggle to keep him as my enemy. He might not have the same qualms about me. His easy attitude made me suspicious.

    Jax held pressure on my wound while I did so to his chest.

    "You lost a lot," he said.

    I nodded, trying to hide how shaky I felt. "What about you?"

    "I didn''t lose as much. It just looks nasty."

    "Probably feels nasty too."

    He managed a weary smile and I was too exhausted, too hurt, to draw my defenses up against him. It was hard to keep him and the others in his guild from encroaching upon my heart when we fought and bled together on the battlefield. It was especially hard to keep him out. He made it seem so harmless to pretend we were anything more than enemies. I reminded myself I couldn''t be his friend, that I should remain cold to him, only the worry in his eyes as he looked at me seemed so genuine, it disoriented me.

    I closed my eyes, wanting to drift to sleep and escape from him.

    "Hey¡­" His voice roused me from the verge of sleep minutes later.

    I murmured and forced my eyes open.

    His voice was soft and the smile absent from his face. The seriousness of his eyes took me by surprise the way it had in battle. "You sure you''re okay?"

    "I''m fine. Really."

    "You didn''t look okay. You were groaning."

    I glanced down to my hand that pressed against my wound. "We should sleep."

    After staring for a few more seconds, he finally nodded. "Just wake me up if you start to feel bad. I can try more healing."

    Jax had reached the limit of his abilities. The energy he would expend would not be worth the slight improvement to my injury. "Thanks."

    He hesitated, seeming surprised. "You too."

    For the span of only a heartbeat, I met his eyes, unable to keep myself from briefly seeing how beautiful they looked with his dark whiskers making the gold in them pop. My heart pinched and I turned my head away.

    Helping each other with our wounds was as close as we could get.

    I absolutely under no circumstance could allow myself to feel anything, no matter how infectious his smile, or how convincingly deep his gaze. This man had devoted his life to a guild that threatened the existence of my own. It was not that he simply belonged to them. His conviction and loyalty matched my own. We were enemies. The truest form of enemies.

    So why did I always have to remind myself of this simple fact?

    "You fight better¡­" My voice started to fade. "Than anyone I know¡­"

    His fingers were still touching my hand and I felt them move every so slightly, brushing my skin, as sleep took me under.

 101. The Dangers of Men

    The more I saw of Ashton''s life, the worse I felt about peering into her past without her permission, especially given that Elias expected updates. I refused to tell him any details and promised only to share with him what could help us protect my world from his guild and defeat their corruption in this one. So far, I had gained little, because I had only seen Ashton just starting to open up to Jaxon.

    I knew so well where her story would lead next, though. They were as drawn together as Nash and I were in our world, in a bond that defied time and the boundaries between worlds. My heart ached thinking that their story would not end the same as ours had and that while I started a life with Nash, Ashton had continued hers alone. While I felt like Nash and I hadn''t had the time we needed together this past year, seeing another version of ourselves made me so thankful for what we had that I was desperate to return home to him. I wanted to tell him, hold him, promise that nothing would ever get between us because I''d seen a world where we were torn apart.

    "You really don''t have anything yet?" Elias asked.

    "No. It''s not easy to travel around someone else''s life. I don''t have her memories. I''m trying to find a time when she felt close to him."

    Elias groaned and hearing his frustration for some reason broke the last of my self-control for my own. "I''m the one who should groan at you."

    He sat back, having the audacity to look surprised.

    "You don''t get to be annoyed. I''m meddling in someone else''s life and now I have to go meet your leaders pretending to be Ashton. There''s the potential for so many problems, especially if I go through with your crazy plan to try recruiting Jaxon. You realize that if Ashton and Jaxon meet again, she might try to kill him, right? He''s going to be so confused and devastated."

    "It''s the only way."

    I thought back to Ashton''s memories of fighting at Jax''s side. "I think we should be honest with them."

    "You haven''t seen what I have. Keep watching Ashton and you''ll see. Things are different here. In your world, Nash had no loyalty to the Prophet because he basically enslaved him. Jaxon is loyal to his guild. You also completed your training at the Sacred School and chose your guild. You guys grew up with these people. You''re very close to your people and you believe in what you''re doing. I''m telling you that it is way too risky."

    "You and Piercey do have one thing in common. You always imagine the worst case scenario when it comes to risk."

    "And you never imagine something bad enough. That''s how you and Ashton get caught up in messes that Piercey and I have to clean up."

    I drew back, brows raised. "Who asked you to clean them up? I''ve been cleaning up your mess."

    Elias heaved a sigh of frustration and ran his hands through his locks. "Look, at the end of the day, you got power for your friends. Be happy for that."

    Annoyed with Elias, I closed my eyes before continuing. "Let''s just get this meeting over with."

    As we left his apartment and traveled down the paved sidewalk, small between the tall buildings, I thought through Elias''s plan so far. He wanted to keep Ashton in the dark and secretly recruit Jaxon to fight with me, while I pretended to be here. We''d assassinate Lote and take the entire guild out of power. The pieces did not add up for me. Ashton needed to be a part of this battle. I''d felt how she saw Elias and I truly didn''t believe she would betray him. Even if she didn''t fight with him, wouldn''t she help him? Surely, she cared about whatever had turned Elias against his own people.

    I wanted to see the rest of what had happened between Ashton and Jaxon and witness what Elias had done to betray her. I needed to know more, though. That was all that Elias wanted me to see. What was he hiding? I needed to peer through more of Ashton''s life to see what had happened after she and Jaxon separated. Elias had connected with Piercey, but Piercey didn''t know Ashton. He could have missed the implications of something Elias had done and I would understand now that I''d lived through so many moments of her life.

    "You promised to tell me the truth." I spoke quietly as we walked. "You said we returned to your world, after you gave my friends the implant, you would fess up, because we wouldn''t be able to just get mad and abandon you."

    "You''ll see soon enough what I did."

    "Why are you being cowardly? Tell me yourself."

    Elias stopped walking and faced me. "The truth is that my own guild killed my parents and Ashton continued to serve them."

    Realization gripped me as I remembered Elias throwing the necklace at Jaxon and telling the man that he''d been right about what the guild did to his mother.

    "Elias¨C"

    "They learned the truth about Lote''s corruption and when they tried to stop them, he had them killed. He made it look like it was the Silver Moon Guild, but it wasn''t. So, don''t talk to me again how we need to be honest with Ashton, or how I''m being cowardly for not wanting to tell you. This has torn my life apart."

    "I''m sorry." My heart beat wildly at the raw emotion on his face.

    "I just¡­ I think you should see it all for yourself. It''s better that way since you don''t really believe me."

    "I never said I don''t believe you."

    "You''re suspicious. I would be too." He started to walk again, carrying an air of darkness that I''d never felt from Piercey.

    How could Ashton continue to serve the guild after learning about what they had done to Elias''s parents? She would never do that. But then, she had. I had to travel again and see this for myself. To get in her mind and understand what she was thinking. Was she trying to protect him? If standing against the Guild had killed his parents, Ashton may have wanted to secretly rebel without him.

    What Elias said left me feeling dizzy. I''d never understood why he didn''t want to tell me the truth until now. I wouldn''t have wanted to tell my story about my father using me to kill my village. Compassion melted the resentment I''d been feeling over Elias dragging me into the chaos in his world when I had enough in my own.

    I caught his wrist, expression soft. "I really am sorry."

    <hr>

    Lote''s office looked like it belonged to a man who spent too much time decorating when he supposedly helped to run one of the most successful guilds in Skia Hellig. His cobbled stone walls stretched high up to the tall ceiling. Paintings and even shelves lined with books filled the room. The largest desk I''d ever seen dominated the room on the other side of the seating area, where Elias and I both sat on separated leather couches. The furniture was so huge, it felt like I''d sink into it and never find my way out.

    Fortunately, I''d lived through enough of Ashton''s days to impersonate her shockingly easily. With us sharing the same consciousness, it all came very naturally. She always worried about Elias and would see this meeting as a chance to help him. She''d also be afraid for him that it wouldn''t go well. It was protective skepticism that I tried to make myself feel.

    Lote reclined in an impressive leather chair with his ankles crossed on the glass table sitting between us. Tattoos crawled up his fingers like a thorny vine and wrapped around his wrists. His long auburn hair was pulled together over one shoulder. "It''s time, don''t you think?" His hazel eyes drilled Elias.

    Elias appeared unfazed. "You said two weeks."

    "The guild said two weeks. I never agreed to that."

    This man seemed to think that it was his duty to operate beyond the guild.

    Lote crossed his fingers over his midsection. "Your time has run out. It''s that simple. We have no more patience to offer you, Elias. The only reason that we are speaking today instead of throwing you into a cell to await your trial is because Ashton has sworn to us that it will all be worth it in the end." Lote pointed a long, thorny finger at him. "I remember a time when I would have trusted you with anything. You''ve squandered my trust with this stunt."

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    Elias didn''t appear remotely nervous. I had seen Piercey get this way, but not often with someone threatening his life. "Do you know why I needed privacy?" Anger tinted his voice, something I was not used to hearing in Piercey. It shook me. "It''s because of you."

    Lote''s eyes narrowed.

    "Elias," I said with warning.

    "You''ve become greedy and you''ve started reaching too far. You''ve opened us up to extortion and¨C"

    "You don''t know what you''re saying," Lote said.

    "I do. Don''t worry, I haven''t told anyone. I see now that it''s dangerous to open your mouth around here these days."

    "What the¨C"

    "You wanted to get at the Silver Moon guild so badly that you made us vulnerable. You''ve been secretly working with operatives for years. If I had told you and Ashton what I was doing in this other world, you wouldn''t have been able to help getting involved, and the operatives you are working with would have reported on you. Because they have been for a long time."

    This silenced Lote.

    "So you want to yell at me for keeping secrets?" Elias asked. "I had to until I had everything settled and lined up because Ashton cannot help trying to save me and you cannot help your damn greed."

    "I should crush your fucking head." Lote''s tone did not change, nor did his expression expose his anger. It was chilling how calmly he said it and that only made me take the threat more seriously.

    "I suppose you can," Elias said, "if you don''t want to know the secrets stored inside."

    Lote shook his head. "You''re brave now, Elias. Brave and stupid. What''s happened to you?"

    "What happened is that I discovered a power no one else has and it opened worlds to me that you cannot imagine. My horizons have been broadened, Lote. I can see beyond you now."

    The way that Lote quieted reminded me of a snake waiting to strike. Did he suspect that Elias knew the truth about his parents?

    "So are you going to come clean now?" Lote asked.

    "I''ve come to realize that the power I have should never have been discovered. It''s dangerous and has the potential to end entire worlds. I thought that we could use it to learn and grow. Then, after you demanded to know about what I was doing, I realized what I''d done. No one can ever travel like I have."

    I closed my eyes and lowered my head, imagining that Ashton would have been overwhelmed with fear at his statement.

    Lote clasped the armrests of his chair and took his time rising to his feet. He stared down at Elias for a long while before speaking. "It''s not up to you whether you share."

    "Lote¨C" I started.

    "This is not up for discussion. Ashton, you''ll bring him back here tomorrow evening once I''ve had time to assemble a team for the questioning. If he doesn''t show, then you''ll both be placed under arrest. This is a matter of kingdom security. He is hiding information and we need to know why."

    "You''ll arrest us?" I asked.

    "I want Elias to hear the consequences of his actions, so he understands that his relationship with us does not mean that we will tolerate his disrespect. I trust you to watch over him in the meantime and keep him out of trouble."

    Knowing what Lote had done to Elias''s parents and having been exposed to corrupted leaders before, the manipulation seemed obvious to me. He didn''t trust Ashton. He''d have spies watching us. This was a ruse to keep his hold over her.

    "It''s okay, Ashton." Elias hadn''t moved from his place on the couch. "I knew what would happen if I refused. This is not your fight. It''s mine."

    I genuinely hurt for him. My fists wanted to curl tight and slam into Lote''s face. If I met his eyes, he might see it in me, so I averted my gaze, pretending to be too upset.

    "Leave us," Lote said to Elias. "I have nothing left to say to you. I hope that you''ll change your mind before we''re forced to question you and seek approval for an involuntary connection."

    "You don''t belong in other worlds, Lote." Elias''s resignation to his fate made his voice sound flat. "Leave this alone."

    Lote said nothing and watched as Elias exited to the hallway. The man sank back into his chair and held his head, kicking his feet back onto the table. "What a disaster. I never knew he could be so stubborn."

    I remembered enough from living Ashton''s life to instinctively know how to talk to this man, how to look at him. I needed to calm down so I could do it properly. Ashton believed he was her mentor. She actually thought that she owed him something and had no idea what a bastard he was or how little he cared about her.

    "I knew he wouldn''t say anything," Lote said. "What did you find out from him?"

    "Is what he has to say as important as what he chooses to hide?" I asked. "I''ve seen enough to make assumptions about his misdirections."

    "Explain."

    Ashton would want to see the glow of his approval and would hope that it would garner favor with Lote so she could get him to leave Elias alone. I needed to pretend to be hungry for his approval. "I don''t think he ever planned to tell us about that world. It''s not just that he changed his mind."

    "You don''t think he was trying to come up with a strategic advantage at first? It would have greatly increased his standing within the guild. Truthfully, his refusal to speak makes me wonder if he''s already working with another guild. A year ago, I would never be able to imagine saying that about him."

    "No, I''m confident he''s not betraying us for another guild. Elias is convinced that our guild will enter the other worlds and take their resources for ourselves."

    Lote raised both brows. "He really believes this is our plan?"

    "Yes. I''m certain he believes that. Here we have so many guilds to contend with whereas over there we don''t have any of our usual enemies."

    "We would have new, unknown enemies. They could be more powerful."

    I didn''t want to disclose to him how helpless we would be against him and his people. "It''s an opportunity, though. Something new. Would we pass that up?"

    By the way he eyed me, I thought that he was trying to gauge my willingness to engage in his plan.

    "You did say before that he took you to a remote area in the world and that you couldn''t feel even an inkling of power from anywhere. I don''t think they have the kind of power we have. No matter where you go in our world, you feel it. It sounds like an opportunity to me."

    Dangerous and hard to control warning stormed through me. I struggled to keep myself in check. "It''s not our world, Lote. What business do we have there?"

    "Don''t be naive. If they don''t have power or if they don''t have as many people with power, then their resources won''t be overly mined or controlled by others. Think of what we could do with more at our disposal."

    "You think that they''ll let us come from another world and take their resources?"

    "Do they even have a use for them? We can trade. There''s plenty that they would surely need from us and we have great use for them."

    "What about Silver Moon?" I asked. "They''ll want in too. If we start traveling worlds, they''re going to figure it out and learn to replicate. It''s a matter of time. The war we have will spread to the other world."

    "If the Silver Moon cannot be trusted not to invade and war in other worlds, then is that our fault? This is even more reason for us to gain control now."

    This was not a trustworthy man. Gael had struck a mutually beneficial deal with my people and I wouldn''t be here today if not for that. I was quickly learning the power of allyship. Lote was not a man who had allies. He had underlings. "It''s our fault if war spreads to their world. Imagine how devastating it could be to that world. Here, we want to protect our resources and our people. We work incredibly hard not to let our fighting hurt our people. It''s only natural that we won''t have the same respect for another world. This is opening the door to horrors we cannot imagine."

    "You''re being dramatic. We''re not going to destroy their world. We have the power to keep the situation from turning ugly."

    "An imbalance of power will always lead to unfairness when unchecked. I don''t trust the kingdoms of our world to responsibly negotiate with a less powerful world when we cannot negotiate here. It will be war and the people of that world will be dehumanized. People may even want to start living there. We''ll become invaders. Destroyers. It''ll be genocide."

    "Genocide?"

    I almost lost control of my tone. "I have no doubt."

    "Where is your trust in our guild?"

    "My trust tells me that we''ll be responsible and leave their world alone. Let''s deal with our own land first. We need to fix our problems in our kingdom, not create new problems in new kingdoms."

    Lote waved his hand at me. "You always have wise words. I''ll consider, though our leadership is very set already on working out an agreement with this other world. Elias is right that we plan to do this. He''s just wrong about taking a stand against it."

    I couldn''t let that happen. I''d seen enough from this world. We weren''t ready for a war like the ones waged here. Multiple guilds or multiple kingdoms fighting over resources, or even land, in our world would be disastrous. I had to put a stop to this.

    "What if Elias continues to refuse?" I asked. "What if the questioning fails?"

    "He''ll help us."

    "He said he refused."

    Lote leveled his look at me. "Elias has been making terrible decisions. If he wants to remain a member of this guild then he''ll have to follow our leadership like everyone else. We cannot give him anymore grace. If we take this beyond our guild to the kingdom level, then he''ll be imprisoned if he refuses to aid us. We still have conflicts over our borders. We need every advantage. He would be a traitor if he refused to help our kingdom. The questioning is to show him how serious we are. He won''t let it go beyond that. Elias might be feeling rebellious, but he is no traitor."

    A traitor. That was it then. Lote had certainly made up his mind.

    Elias had told the truth when called Lote a dangerous man. I didn''t need to know him well or long to see what had been apparent about the Prophet and Dr. Henderson. Lote needed to lose his power. It shocked me that Ashton had yet to see that.

    "I''ll talk to him," I said. "He''s going through something. He''s probably a little scared about the power he uncovered."

    "Then go. Convince him."

    "I will. Thank you, Lote. I trust you that we''ll be responsible with this new world."

    "I''ve never let you down before. I won''t start now."

    I sincerely doubted that.

 102. Lingering

    "This is bad," I said. Elias sat down on the couch beside me, quiet and unresponsive. "Why are you not panicking?"

    "I knew it would come to this. I''ve been preparing for it for a long time. We have to work fast. After they take me for questioning, I could be imprisoned. I should take you home first. We don''t have as long as I thought."

    "So in the next day we''re supposed to defeat your guild?"

    He settled his hand in his hands. "I don''t want you to get stuck here. I need to take you home. If we can get Jax to join hands with us, then he''ll help me break out. I have faith in him. Then, I can return to your world to get you and your allies."

    "I should spend this time learning how to travel worlds."

    Elias tilted his head to see me, still resting it against his palms. "It''s very dangerous. I practiced for months before I actually did it. It''s a technical process for me, not something I sense. I''m not sure how to teach you."

    "Instead of spending more time living through Ashton''s life, we should assemble warriors to help you. It''s time to come clean."

    "No." Elias patted the back of the couch. "Take a few hours to learn more about Jax and then go to him. Him only."

    "Why only him?"

    "I can''t trust anyone else from his guild. Ash trusted him and he told me the truth about my parents. I mean, he didn''t know for sure it was true. He only could tell me that he knew his guild didn''t do it and that he suspected Lote. I know that if you ask him to help, he will. I''m not a fighter, Max. I can''t help kill Lote in the way that Jax can."

    I leaned back against the couch. "I could kill him before I leave."

    "That would help. He''s hard to take down."

    "Listen, I''ll travel through time again to prepare so I can talk to Jax and tell you information about what he planned. I''m not promising anything else though. We''ll decide this evening."

    Elias closed his eyes. "Thank you, Max. You could have killed me for dragging you into this. I don''t know what I''d do if you weren''t here."

    I let out a very long sigh.

    <hr>

    The night Jax and I escaped the assault on our camp had damaged the shield I''d erected between the two of us and I wasn''t sure how to protect myself. We had survived the night and painstakingly traveled to the closest city, where we received healing treatments. I''d felt on the brink of death. Maybe I had been.

    Since then, every day, every moment, had assaulted that shield the same way the warriors had attacked the defensive fog. We spent too much time together, faced too much danger at each other''s sides. It wasn''t only the times we''d protected each other or saved each other that threatened to wear down my heart. It was also moments like tonight, when the moonlight glowed against his smooth skin, and his amber eyes found me in the dim light.

    "Can''t sleep again?" he asked.

    "No."

    He rolled onto his side. I''d become so used to sleeping near everyone in our group that I shouldn''t have thought about it anymore. I didn''t think a thing about it when other warriors placed their sleeping mat beside mine. We''d slept like this for more than four months.

    Every single time Jax did it, my stomach fluttered the entire night. I didn''t want to admit the truth to myself, so I didn''t. It whispered to me, though, in the heat in my cheeks and the drift of my gaze.

    "Try going for a walk again," he said. "That worked last time."

    "Why aren''t you asleep?"

    "I had a feeling you''d be up again. I noticed that when you''re quiet at dinner, you end up with insomnia."

    He''d learned that about me? I''d tried to hide when I felt anxious and I thought I''d done well with it, but I supposed I was more withdrawn than I realized.

    In the past, I would have lashed out at him for seeing me and knowing me, for the intimacy of the time we''d spent together softening my heart to him. It felt pointless today.

    "Maybe I''ll try that."

    Jax pushed himself up and offered his hand to me. "I''ll go with you."

    "I''m okay. You should sleep."

    He clasped my hand anyway and tugged me up. "I could use a walk too. You mind?"

    My hand was still in his, my body warm from his nearness. I shook my head, afraid that if I said anything, I''d give myself away.

    Only it didn''t take long for me to do just that. That night as we walked with fatigue softening my resolve, we talked for hours without realizing how much time had passed. After that, no matter how hard I tried, I craved more of him, desperate to know him. The weeks passed and soon there was nothing left guarding my heart from his. I''d seen his heart in battle and I''d become charmed by his surprising vision to bring peace to the guilds.

    One day as we walked through the woods on our own again, Jax started talking of this future he wished to see. "We fight well together, and I don''t just mean us. Our guilds do. We''re incredible alone, but look at what happens when we unite. But as for us specifically, it doesn''t matter where we come from or who we fight for. When we let ourselves forget, we''re unstoppable. In-sync."

    "What are you trying to say?" Discomfort filled me because I didn''t want to give myself the hope that we could ever be more than enemies.

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    "If we can make peace, so can our guilds. And they should. Look at what could come of it. We could do so much more if we worked together and combined resources." It was something he''d said often with a dreamy quality to his voice. He dared to not lose hold of this vision. "It''s hard to overcome bad blood and I think that''s the main reason that we''ve been held back from making progress. Our guilds can work together, though. We''re doing it right now."

    He never talked like this around the others, so it felt like a secret only the two of us shared. Actually, I couldn''t believe I was entertaining the idea because the blood truly was bad.

    "I''m not sure people can move past everything that''s happened," I said.

    "Maybe the next generation can unite if we pave the way."

    "It''s just that this hasn''t been a bloodless war."

    Jax hesitated. "Something happened to you personally."

    "Not to me. To Elias. His parents were killed."

    He nodded and sat back, speaking carefully. "You think my guild killed his parents."

    "It''s pretty well known."

    Jax took my hand, stilling my breathing. "I swear on my life that we didn''t kill his parents."

    "Then who did?"

    "I just know it wasn''t us. I''ve heard our leaders talk."

    I didn''t want to talk about this. I pulled my hand away, reminded again that we were not truly allies. Our time together had been making me forget that we''d entered this war as enemies and we''d return to enemies when it was over.

    "Ash," he said.

    "We shouldn''t talk about this. We shouldn''t talk about anything. This is why it was a mistake to act like we could be friends."

    I started to walk away, but he caught my arms and turned me back toward him, settling me back against a nearby tree. "We''ve been through too much for you to storm off like that. You know me. You know I wouldn''t support having people murdered. We''re all in the same kingdom."

    Jax stood so close to me. The heat of his body burned against me like an inferno. Irrational anger stormed through my heart, competing with that fire I felt. "You''ve been getting in my head."

    "You''re not this childish. Why do you insist on pushing me away?"

    "Because there''s no world in which we can be friends, Jax. It''s never going to happen. It doesn''t matter who you are and who I am. It matters who we serve. Our people are enemies."

    "Our people are this kingdom."

    "You know that''s not how it actually works."

    I breathed so hard that my body brushed his. He quieted, glancing down my face.

    "I''m not going to play the game where we pretend to hate each other." The touch on my arms turned tender as his palms smoothed up to my shoulders. "I don''t hate you and I know you don''t hate me."

    I couldn''t breathe. Not with him so close.

    "I don''t know if we can stitch our kingdom back together, Ash. But can''t we at least overcome the wounds between our guilds? Why can''t the two of us follow our hearts and find the narrow path that we can walk together."

    "There is no path."

    "So what if we forget just this once?"

    Forget and give in to what I''d been fighting. I didn''t need him to say it when I could read the want written all over his face, etched into his body.

    "You want to live forever wondering?" he asked.

    My eyes closed as the wondering took hold of me. Wondering how his hands would feel on my body. Wondering how his lips would taste. Wondering how we could make each other feel. "Wondering is better than knowing. Once we know, we''ll remember, and it''ll be worse."

    Jax pulled away from me and I felt so cold without his warmth. "Do you think if we were from the same guild things could be different?"

    I swallowed hard, afraid to let myself think about it. How could someone hold such sway over me?

    "I think if the war between our guilds can hardly keep us apart then surely in any other kind of life, there would be nothing to hold us back."

    "Then it seems so sad to give up without any kind of fight."

    The earthy scent of his flesh tangled my senses, stilling me so that his nearness had the chance to work through me.

    I had never understood people making bad decisions in love before. I''d never understood not being able to deny an impulse or to walk away from a bad situation. In mere moments, Jax had undone a lifetime of what I believed to be my own restraint and showed me convincingly that I was not as strong as I thought I was.

    "Tell me to walk away¡­" His breath tickled my ear when he leaned in. "And I will."

    I tried to make the words leave my lips but the temptation of stealing a few more seconds of this incredible sensation somehow turned into more time than I intended to give us. And I was staring into his eyes, no longer breathing, unable to move, to think. I could feel something dragging my body to him. His lips looked soft and beautiful. Looked like they needed me to kiss them.

    I''d never experienced a physical draw so hard to escape.

    "I¡­" My voice failed me as his eyes carefully, as carefully as he wielded his swords in battle, raked down my face to my mouth.

    "It''s okay," he said.

    "Is it?"

    Embarrassment flooded me. I couldn''t deny any of this. He''d told me he''d walk away and I hadn''t said anything or left. We both knew without a doubt that we wanted each other and I would never escape this moment, no matter how hard I tried. I would always remember it.

    Wanted desperately not to forget.

    Oh, damn it. I''d gone weak. I''d gotten myself into a mess. This wasn''t going to work out. What was I doing? In a few months, we''d return to our guilds, and we would not see each other again until we were on opposite ends of a battle.

    A pained looked filled his eye and then he sighed as he eased back, giving me the space I silently demanded. Only I didn''t demand it. I hated it. The loss ripped through me as more and more space opened between us.

    I caught the back of his neck with a desperate grip and lifted myself up to him, unsteady on my toes. He caught me around my waist.

    "It''s not okay," I said. And despite my words, I brushed my lips against his, afraid to get any closer.

    His body pressed mine against the tree now so he consumed my entire world. He was all I felt and saw. All I could think about. Jax opened my mouth with his and raked his hands down my body without the slightest hint of shyness. Desperate, ravenous energy possessed him as he kissed me deeply.

    I knew that wouldn''t be the end of the it. The next day he''d sidled up beside me. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

    "No. Never. We should never admit that it happened."

    He snorted and it made me want to punch him.

    "Are you really laughing right now?"

    "It''s a little ridiculous," Jax said. "It did happen. You want to be in denial about it but that''s not going to solve anything."

    "It''s already solved. We''re not doing it again and we''re forgetting it happened."

    "You can''t forget." Jax worked closer to me, bringing me dangerously close to the sweet heat of his. The way his body eclipsed mine made me crave more. What had gotten into me? "It''s going to happen again. Already is."

    Cocky asshole. I pushed him back a step and ripped my hand away before I could linger or make the mistake of discovering more of him to not be able to forget.

 103. Broken

    It only became harder to stay away from Jax as his talk of peace raised my hopes more and more. We both were influential in our guild. What if we could push them back to one another?

    Both of us knew it wouldn''t be so simple as convincing guild leaders to give it a try. We''d hurt each other and stolen from each other. As I''d always said, it wasn''t a bloodless feud. So we started planning and dreaming. Imagining forcing the hands of our guild leaders beyond this war. Could we mount political pressure for them to share resources? That drove most of their fighting. We each needed resources the others had and there was only so far we could come in power without being able to innovate. If the people of the kingdom demanded collaboration over competition and backstabbing, then there could be hope.

    I''d actually started think it might be able to happen until my delusions came crashing down around me.

    After six months battling the coastal kingdoms, we had a week break in a city we had stopped in frequently. Both of our guilds were housed in the same complex where commanders and guild leadership worked together on strategy and the rest of the warriors took a much needed rest.

    Jax and I had come long past wondering and guilty nights in the woods. We were dreaming of the future.

    Until halfway through the stay, the door to Jax''s room opened without anyone knocking, and a voice I knew so well tethered me in place.

    "Ashton." The sound of Lote''s voice twisted my stomach in knots.

    Jax and I stared into each other''s eyes with both of ours wide and my mind completely blank at how to spin this. There was no hiding, no denying, no covering up the truth. My hands were buried in his curls and his hidden beneath my shirt, my knees straddling him as I sat facing him.

    Lote was silent and I knew what that meant.

    My heart began to pound out of control. The rapid fire thoughts shooting through my head made my face feel red hot. How had he found us? Why did he even come looking? What the hell was I thinking putting myself in this position in the first place. Nothing could ever be more humiliating than to be found compromised like a couple of teenagers.

    I pulled my hands from Jax and slid off of his lap. When I turned, I looked directly into the shocked and burning eyes of one of the most respected leaders of my clan.

    "I''m glad to see you two have taken this partnership between our clans to heart."

    Every word hit like an individual punch to my gut. Tears of humiliation bit my eyes. Jax stood to his feet, grabbing my arm to help me up. But his touch burned like the fire in my cheeks. I ripped away, only embarrassing myself further.

    "Can I speak with you alone, Ashton? It''s about clan business."

    I winced and started to walk forward, refusing to turn to look at Jax. Followed silently after Lote through a maze of halls and what felt like an eternity of time.

    When we entered the room where he''d set up his things, he pivoted sharply on his heel. Gone was the silence and the shock. "What the hell was that?"

    I couldn''t breathe. "I¨C"

    "You can''t explain. There is no explanation for what I just saw. Of all people, I never expected¨C"

    "I know." I shouted it to overcome his voice. "You asked me a question so let me answer."

    He slammed his palm against the wall, but I didn''t let it rattle me. I''d been caught off guard and hit while unarmed. Now, though, I couldn''t accept any excuses to not compose myself. "He''s our enemy, woman!"

    "He''s Jaxon." I breathed in deeply, the fire that had been burning in my cheeks spreading into my heart. Yes, I''d never thought I would do this either. That didn''t mean it was a terrible mistake. "You wanted us to fight together, bleed together, serve this Valley together. You expected us to work as a team. I never would have gotten to him as a man if you hadn''t insisted on us putting aside our differences."

    "It''s my fault you''re in bed with our enemy?"

    "No, it''s your fault I had the chance to see who he really is. Jaxon is not my enemy."

    If anything had surprised Lote all night, it had to be this. While he''d been angry before, now worry crept into his voice. "Do you hear yourself? Jaxon is one of the most powerful warriors in their guild. He has personally overseen missions that hurt us."

    "Just like I have for them. It doesn''t mean that Jaxon and I are at odds. It''s our guilds that are at odds."

    "And you have sworn your heart and soul, your life, to your guilds. That means that you cannot be together. You cannot give any of yourself to him."

    I stepped closer, never one to allow him to intimidate me, or to pretend that just because he''d mentored me, just because I owed so much to him, that I didn''t have a voice in this relationship. If he''d taught me anything, it was that I should never surrender my power to someone else. "I can and I have. Jaxon is a good man. I never would have known that if we hadn''t fought together. There''s a way for our guilds to make peace. I see it now, because we made peace."

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    Lote listened without interrupting and then without warning he barked out a laugh, one that continued, and swelled, and reverberated off the stone walls. He leaned forward and gasped in a breath. "You''re serious, aren''t you? Our guilds can make peace because you found it in yourself to fuck our enemy?"

    "It''s not just fucking."

    "Perfect. I''m so thrilled to hear it is more than that. You realize this compromises us? He could be a spy. He could be working you. Even if he isn''t, they could use him to get to you or to us. You can''t trust yourself not to be manipulated because no one can be on guard every second of their life."

    It wasn''t something I could argue with. I hadn''t expected Lote to walk in on us, so clearly I could not account for all possibilities. What was he even doing here when he was supposed to be at war halfway across the coast? "Fine. I admit that''s a problem. It doesn''t change the fact that this war between our guilds has been hurting us and maybe it doesn''t have to."

    "You''re acting like a silly girl. I''m embarrassed for you."

    Claws of pain tore into my chest. I sucked in a breath, struggling to keep my emotions from swelling again. "When have I taken anything for myself?"

    "Don''t start that. You aren''t a martyr."

    "I''m serious. What have I done that is just for me? You lean on me because I''m consistent and I''m dedicated. That''s why you''re so shocked. Open your mind for one moment and consider what I''m saying."

    "We''ve tried peace, Ashton. We''re not fools. There cannot be peace right now. They aren''t willing to compromise and we can''t either, not for what they want. None of their demands are reasonable. No matter what, you and Jaxon are enemies, unless you plan to betray our guild."

    I dug my nails into my arms, holding them close over me. "I didn''t plan for this to happen. I never meant to fall for him."

    Lote shook his head and groaned. "No, Ashton."

    I hadn''t meant to say that. I hadn''t fallen for Jaxon. We had feelings for each other and were enjoying each other''s company. I''d finally convinced myself to open up to him. That hadn''t been what I''d meant to say. Right?

    Shoulders loose now, Lote walked to his chair, fell into it, and then indicated with his hand for me to sit as well.

    "This is worse than I thought," he said.

    "I didn''t mean it like that."

    He rolled his eyes and grabbed a drink off the nearby table, muttering to himself. "Of course, you didn''t."

    "I haven''t given away any kind of information that could hurt us and I''ve been with him every second of the day. I know that he hasn''t been reporting on me or anything."

    "You''ve given away that one of our top officers can be swayed into bed with an enemy. That you can be made a fool of."

    A swell of power plumed in my chest and nearly unleashed. Lote watched me for several seconds with warning in his eyes. Losing control of my temper would not help my case and make me seem in control. I closed my eyes for several seconds to calm myself down.

    "That''s unfair."

    "It doesn''t matter. That''s going to be their assessment. I''m sure you have such a special connection. Doesn''t matter. This is war."

    "Why is it? Why is it war? Because what we''re fighting right now along the border, that''s an actual war. So why should we be fighting a guild that serves the same kingdom?"

    "We don''t serve the same kingdom. They have ideals for our kingdom that we cannot support. Given the chance, they would take us in a direction we can''t stand for."

    "Any direction where we aren''t in control of the Valley is one you won''t accept."

    Lote''s upper lip curled. "A few months with this man and you''re already buying into his lies."

    "You know that I''ve always thought we needed to move toward peace. I''m quick to fight. Too quick. Even I can see it."

    "None of this matters. You need to gather your belongings. You''re going home."

    I shot out of my chair, voice raising without my control. "No, I can''t do that. I am not leaving our people here to fight without me."

    "You did this to yourself and to them. I cannot possibly let you stay after this. I won''t discuss it."

    "Lote¨C"

    "Ashton, this is a direct order. Pack your fucking things and go the fuck home. You and that man are finished, unless you want to turn in a letter of resignation."

    A letter of resignation had might as well been a death warrant because surviving in this valley alone could kill anyone and someone as high up in the guild as me wouldn''t make it a day by myself. I''d be a target for literally every guild and kingdom in the Valley. Even in neighboring regions.

    "I know that I shouldn''t have engaged with him while we''re away at war, not when we''re from opposing guilds. I should have worked it out with our leadership first. Sending me home though¨C"

    "You''re delusional, Ashton. Or just way more naive than I ever thought possible. No one in this guild would ever let you be with him in any way and under any circumstances."

    "I can only bleed with him."

    "Yes. You can only bleed with him because unless someone is fucking bleeding there is no reason for us to ever have anything to do with those damn people."

    What more could we possibly say? I wheeled around from him and left without being dismissed, because fuck him. Fuck him for not trusting me at least a little after all that we''d been through and all that I''d done. I slammed the door shut and stomped down the hall with hot tears burning my eyes. My power beat at chest in sync with my heart, desperate to escape.

    I was rushing so fast and was so distracted by my rage that I almost didn''t see Elias until running into him. I skidded to a stop.

    "Ash," he said.

    "What¡­ What are you doing here?"

    Then, I saw it all. I saw everything in his eyes like a written confession. I knew him too well not to.

    The realization tore me in two. It felt like my stomach had been tangled in knots and my heart shredded. "It was you," I whispered.

    "Let''s talk." The desperation in his voice would have gotten me at any other time.

    "Oh, you do not want to talk to me." I shoved past him and continued for my room.

    He was foolish enough to pursue. "Ash¨C"

    I turned as fast as lightning, my body glowing with power now, nearly nursing out of control. "Not now."

    He gaped at me, hurt and sorrow heavy on his strained face.

    He said nothing else as I walked away.

 104. Distrust

    I didn''t turn around when Elias entered the room.

    "Lote asked me to take you home."

    "And make sure I stay put," I finished for him.

    "Yes."

    My hands curled tightly around my pant leg. "I don''t want to talk to you. I know you think I''ll cave and then you can explain yourself, try to make me see your reasoning. Today is not the day."

    "I understand."

    Normally, Elias would not have been able to help trying to smooth things over with me. He could never stand there being any problems between us. I expected him to walk closer, to speak in that sheepish voice, to tell me he loved me. Instead, he left me alone to finish getting ready, and I managed to almost feel bad.

    The day passed in the silence that I demanded. I stared out the window, hating that I hadn''t said goodbye to Jaxon, and that I wouldn''t be joining everyone in battle. What if something happened while I was gone? We were all a team. This was life and death. We needed each other.

    I was not staying home. I had to at leat watch from a distance and see if I could secretly help. Elias wouldn''t be babysitting me for weeks. Lote wouldn''t assign me anything important to do because he was angry with me. I would have a chance to return.

    The day passed in slow motion. I could feel Elias''s torment at not having the chance to make repairs. I wasn''t trying to exact revenge. It just hurt too badly to speak and I didn''t trust myself not to lash out.

    Finally, when darkness fell over our carriage, I pried myself away from the window to face him. "I''m ready."

    "Are you sure?"

    I nodded, not wanting to say anything more than I had to.

    "I know how it looks and I hope that you trust me enough to realize it isn''t that."

    Already, this felt like too much. It was all so raw. I''d never been so humiliated in all of my life. I''d worked incredibly hard to make it to where I had and I couldn''t lose my integrity because of a sex scandal. It wasn''t that to me. It was so much more. But that was how everyone would see it. Something dirty, shameful, filled with lust. Jaxon had meant far more than that to me.

    "I know you have your justifications," I said.

    "I can''t tell you everything right now."

    I hands tightened into fists at this. "Excuse me?"

    "I can''t."

    "I looked the other way the last year with your weird secrets, but I''m not this time. I know that you told Lote about me and Jax and where to find us. This could completely ruin my standing with the guild."

    Elias tried to take my hand but I pushed him off.

    "Your standing will not be hurt. You''re well respected even beyond the Valley. The guild needs you. It''s going to be bad right now, but it''ll be forgotten one day. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone let''s their heart go soft for someone at some point."

    "I got caught with our enemy, Elias."

    He glanced away, clearly uncomfortable with the situation. "I can''t expect you to understand or forgive me or to accept the limits of what I can and cannot say. The only thing I can do is give you as much of the truth as I can. It''s what I owe you."

    "So talk and shut your mouth if I rage at you because you deserve it."

    Elias gripped his hands on his lap and nodded, stoic. "Lote was never going to allow you to be with Jaxon. It wasn''t going to happen and you know that. Eventually, you would have gotten caught. You''d have been closer by then and it would hurt more."

    "I honestly expected better excuses from you. You didn''t even try to talk to me about my relationship with Jax. You could have told me this instead of having Lote show up while I was with him."

    Elias nodded. "I have reasons, Ash. It needed to happen this way to protect you both."

    "Wow. Really."

    "Lote will never allow Jax anywhere near you again. I''ll help you find a way to say your goodbyes. In the meantime, you need to go home and stay there."

    I kicked my feet up and looked out the window, my chest feeling as heavy as if an elephant sat on it. "What hurts the most is that you can''t even tell me the truth. When did we stop trusting each other?"

    "It''s not like that."

    "I would have trusted you with anything."

    "That''s why you told me about Jax, then."

    I chewed my cheek at that. "I didn''t see a reason to hurt you. I can have a private love life."

    "I don''t see a reason to hurt you more than you already are. I''m trying to fix something and make sure that you don''t end up in a worse situation than this."

    "Elias¡­" The tears came without permission and I didn''t try to stop them. I just gave in, ready to quit. "I will never forget this."

    "I know." The resignation of his voice made me turn to look at him. Why would he do this to us? He hadn''t just hurt me but himself. He wanted to repair our relationship, not burn it to the ground. "You have to let him go, though. At least while things are the way they are. You will both be safe. That has to be enough for now."

    "What are you holding back from me?"

    "Don''t try to make me tell you. I will once it''s safe."

    "I don''t need you to protect me."

    He grabbed my hand this time fast enough that I didn''t have time to think better of it and push him away again. Looking deeply into my eyes, he pleaded with me. "I cannot lose you to this."

    My words were choked in my tight throat.

    "If you''ve ever trusted me at all, then trust me now. I hurt you and I will live with that forever. But I''m doing something important and I can''t stop now. I can''t. When this is over, you''ll be okay, and maybe you can find him again."

    "You think this is just about him?" A sob swelled in my throat. "You''re my best friend. You''re my world. You left me."

    Elias drew his shoulders back, his eyes looking hollowed out. I didn''t even recognize him.

    "What happened to you?"

    He released my hand, looking resolute. "I''m going to make things right."

    "You think I can''t forgive you for this but I can. I can forgive you for just about anything, Elias. You know what I won''t forgive you for? Shutting me out and getting yourself killed without giving me the chance to help you."

    "Do you know how many nights I waited up wondering if you''d make it home?"

    I couldn''t answer. Couldn''t even imagine. "You never said anything."

    "It''s always been you defending the valley, upholding the honor of our guild, fighting day in and out. I''ve never been able to save you from your pain. I''ve only banaged your wounds. So let me for once in our life be the one to fight. I don''t expect your forgiveness or understanding about what I did. I just want you to let me be the one to fight for once."

    "We can do it together."

    "No. We can''t. Trust me."

    "What does that mean?"

    Elias settled back against his seat, gaze on the window. "I told Lote that Jax was planning to infiltrate our guild through his relationships with our warriors. This time battling has been the perfect opportunity to for him to earn everyone''s trust."

    "That''s not true."

    "It doesn''t matter. Lote is paranoid. He doesn''t even need evidence. The mere suggestion is enough that he will never allow Jax to show his face near any of us again. He''ll be working on getting him moved away from all of our people."

    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    "Why would you do that? Jax actually wants to help us find peace. He''s willing to put his life on the line for it. He''s the reason I softened my heart to it in the first place."

    Elias''s voice sounded monotoned. "The further Jax is from our guild and anyone in it, the safer he will be. He was going to get himself killed. Get you killed."

    "By who?"

    He breathed out slowly and he never answered.

    "I want my Elias back."

    "Me too, Ash."

    In that moment, I wanted to hate him, because he''d derailed everything. None of this would have happened if he hadn''t sent Lote to me and lied to him about Jax. What Elias and I had was stronger than even hate, though. He had meant so much to me for so long and I''d believed in him so deeply that I couldn''t hate him, even now. In fact, I was afraid for him.

    It felt like I was peeling my own skin off because of how badly it hurt, but I reached across the seat and I slid my hand over his.

    We sat that way for a long while before I spoke one final time.

    "Don''t let our past destroy you. There''s nothing you need to prove or fix."

    But I didn''t think he was capable of actually hearing me.

    I''d thought that our rival guild would be the ones to get close to us and use us. Never had it occurred to me that it would be my people. That it would be Elias.

    Even though I couldn''t stand to suspect it, I wondered if he''d done this for another reason. Perhaps it had hurt too badly to see Jax and me together.

    I should never have brought this pain upon any of us. Now, Jax would only suffer.

    After Elias left, I didn''t reach out to him, and he didn''t reach out to me for months. I hadn''t been able to see Jax again, but I had written to him, telling him I was sorry, and that we couldn''t see each other again. It had felt like a slap in the face to send it to him, but it was better than saying nothing.

    I hadn''t thought that I would ever come to forgive Elias for what he did to me and Jax. Afterall, the two of them had become somewhat of friends. Whenever Elias would visit me, he would stay up late talking with Jax. So it was a betrayal of us both.

    With time, I came to see that I''d been foolish to think anything could come of Jax and me having a relationship or trying to push the guilds to have peace. Lote would have always believed that Jax was a spy, so we would have had to hide, and that wouldn''t have lasted long. Worse, though, after reexamining my conversations with Jax, I''d realized that the peace plan wasn''t as peaceful as it seemed. He''d never come out and say that uniting might require a war or a disillusionment of our current guild structures, but he had implied it.

    And then through our spies, Lote uncovered that Jax had been involved in assassination plots on our leadership, not only in the past, but after returning from the war. He''d asked me to rekindle my relationship with Jax in order to infiltrate his inner circle.

    If it hadn''t been clear to me before, it was then. Jax and I never had never had any kind of future together. Our guilds would have used us and one of us would have would up dead. Maybe both of us.

    Months passed before I allowed Elias back into my life. We met for tea in his apartment to try and find a way past everything that had happened.

    "What happened to us?" I asked.

    Elias''s eyes brimmed with sorrow. "I got greedy. I thought we could be more. And now there''s too much between us for us to ever go back."

    "We were more."

    "We shouldn''t have been. It''s not what you wanted. You convinced yourself that since you loved me so much as your best friend that you could love me even more if we were together. I let you delude yourself because I wanted it so badly. Look at us now."

    I bit my lip, not wanting to say anything that would hurt him, but also unable to hide the truth when we knew so much about each other. "That''s not why we''re like this."

    "You said you forgive me."

    "Forgive and trust aren''t the same thing."

    "You don''t trust me? You really don''t?"

    I shrugged. "I guess it''s not that. I''m hurt is all. I''m not angry. Just hurt. You did the right thing. You saw that I became blinded and I put myself and Jax in danger. His guild would have killed me and ours would have killed him. I don''t blame you."

    "But I didn''t tell you."

    "If you had¨C"

    "Still."

    Pain hardened like a knot in my throat. "I don''t want it to be like this. Tell me how to pull through it. Tell me." Reaching for him, I hesitated, seeing the hurt and want mingling in his eyes, and then I slid my hand over his cheek despite that I''d thought better of it. Could I do it? I''d made myself love him once before. Could I do it again? I cared so deeply for him.

    He caught my hand, voice thick. "Ash¨C"

    "If I fight hard enough, I can make it go away. We could go back to how we were."

    "We were done before you met him. We''d been done."

    "And we were okay. We were friends."

    From the look in his eye, I realized what I said may not have been right. I drew back but he caught my hand, keeping me from going too far.

    "Weren''t we?"

    "We were friends, but do you really think we were okay?"

    My voice tightened. "I was. I guess I missed it. I missed that you weren''t."

    "Maybe I also thought if I fought it hard enough I could make it go away."

    "I want to turn back time before we were together. I want my friend back."

    "Not me." The smile looked wistful. His thumb rubbed the back of my hand and then he released me. "I would give do it for you, but for me? No matter what I''ve lost, loving you was worth it. I would never want to live a life without knowing how it was to hold you as you slept or to be the one who could dry your tears."

    "Elias¨C"

    "Ash, you aren''t responsible for how I feel. We entered into a relationship and we both played a part in it falling apart. You have to let go of your guilt for not being in love with me."

    "I do love you, Eli. I''ll always love you."

    "You love me the way you love a childhood friend. You love with the confused love of a woman who gave herself to a man she realized she never actually wanted. You don''t love me the way you love him."

    It felt like he''d hit me with a jolt of power. I had never said that I loved him. Hadn''t even thought it. Did I need to, though? What could this be other than love? What else could haunt me for more than a year and make my heart ache so horribly? What else could feel as gripping as real power, simply from the sight of him, from the brush of his skin. This was love. Not the kind that I shared with Elias. Maybe not even as deep yet, because it had never gotten to grow. But I did love Jax. I had loved him for a long time. It''d started as a spark in battle and grown into a fire I could never put out. Those embers burned stubbornly.

    "Don''t tell me you don''t think you love him," Elias said.

    I looked away, unable to think of anything I could possibly say in response.

    "I didn''t break you two up because I''m jealous. Yes, I am jealous. Yes, I am heartbroken. Yes, I wish you loved me the way you loved him." His voice softened, so gentle. "I''d burn with those feelings a thousand times over if it meant that you were happy and loved. You have to know that''s true, because you''d feel it for him."

    I swallowed hard. "Eli, I''m sorry."

    "Stop it. Don''t be sorry. I''ve done all of this to fix things for you so you don''t have to feel this way anymore. I want to make a way for you to have everything you want."

    "You can''t try to fix it. It isn''t fair to you."

    "It''s my job to fix what I broke. You didn''t have the chance to figure things out for yourself because I got in the middle of it."

    I wanted to take his hand in mine like we used to and comfort him. "I should never have even thought to ask you."

    "I don''t feel that way. It''s fair for you to ask."

    "Because you think I can do no wrong. Even when you see my faults or disagree with me, you somehow find me blameless of my own wrongdoings."

    He didn''t respond at first. And then he smiled. "I want to let you go, Ash. It''s what you want and it''s the only way for me to move forward with my life. If I do this, I can let go. I can figure out what life looks like when I''m just me. And not the two of us."

    "Why can''t I make it work, Eli?"

    It wasn''t fair to ask him. It just felt like somehow he''d always known when I was so clueless.

    "Because I asked for more than you could give. You would have given me forever. You would have committed and honored me. I wanted you to love me the way you love him, though. And it''s okay that you don''t."

    Tears slid onto my cheeks. I had to hide the tremble in my voice, but he knew me too well, and he''d hear it. "We make so much sense. Jax and I, we don''t."

    "Funny how things work." He wiped my cheek with his knuckles, hesitating, savoring the touch. "I''ll make this right. You have to trust me. You''re going to get annoyed and question me, but in the end, trust me."

    "It''s already been made right. Jax and I shouldn''t be together."

    He looked down, jaw clenched. "What I did was wrong."

    "You did it for our guild, which means you did it for me."

    "If there''s anything I could undo, it would be that. Not our time together or that. I''ve accepted that. I cannot accept how I made it impossible for you to look at me."

    I bit my lip. "It''s not because of what you did. It''s because of what I did. I let that man get into my heart. How could I do that?"

    "He''s not a bad man, Ash."

    "He would kill our leaders in a heartbeat if given the chance. Thanks to you, I know that."

    "Wouldn''t you do the same?"

    "Hell yes."

    "So how can you blame him?"

    "Whose side are you on?"

    Elias laughed. "Our guilds are the same, Ashton. How can you not see that? We choose ours because it''s ours, not because it''s better or right. They do the same. If we could learn to co-exist then we wouldn''t have this issue. Jaxon realized we''d need one final war to get us to that point. Still, he isn''t the problem. You aren''t the problem. It''s the pointlessness of this blood feud."

    "I don''t know how you can say that. The Silver Moon are the reason your parents are dead." My voice chilled until it turned to ice. "They stole everything from us."

    "What did we do to them?"

    "What the hell is going on with you?"

    "It''s not like I want you to be with the guy. Don''t get me wrong. It''s just that I have to be truthful. There''s nothing wrong with him or what he''s doing. He''s us on the other side."

    "He betrayed me."

    "You betrayed him."

    "We betrayed each other."

    "Because of this blood feud. Because of your allegiance. This is why you two are fit for each other and we never worked out. You are so passionate and steadfast in your war."

    I tilted my head at him, struggling to recognize this man as my Elias. "You are too."

    "No. No, apparently I''m not. I don''t think we''re anything special. In fact, I''m afraid we might be the worst ones out there."

    "Elias."

    "It''s true."

    "Did something happen?"

    He smiled sadly. "We''ll talk more later. I''ve been having a hard time, that''s all."

 Authors Note

    Announcement:

    Advanced chapters of Eclipse are now available on Patreon. Thank you to those of you who responded to my poll about interest in this.

    The next 19 chapters of Eclipse are now up, which will take us to through the rest of book 2. I will have an intermission before book 3 begins, but I will continue to post advanced chapters on Patreon after that intermission. (I''ll do my best to get some exclusives up during the intermission, but please feel free to pause your membership at that time. I''ll announce when book 3 chapters begin to release on Patreon.)

    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    If you read my other series, Witness, I am working on a backlog for these as well. So I will post whatever I have available for Witness on Patreon in the future.

    Finally, I have some exciting announcements and exclusives that will go on Patreon as well, including deleted scenes.

    If you are interested in reading sneak peeks of my works in progress, there will be an option to see chapters of those new series months before their release. (Seasons of War beginning July 30th and an untitled Isekai beginning August 30th.)

    If there''s anything you would like to see on Patreon, let me know! As a note, anything I post will be a first draft because of time constraints I have with balancing my teaching career with writing. So I am extremely open to feedback, as this always helps once I edit.

    The link is in the author''s note. Thank you all for your support.

 105. The Promise

    I''d started to overcome the stain on my name from Lote and a select number of leaders discovering what I''d done with Jax. I''d even started to feel happy again most days.

    Then I felt the warmth of Jax''s power nearby. I''d gone to the market and he must have followed me here to this neutral territory.

    At first, I pretended not to see him, stricken by an onslaught of all the feelings I''d tried to run from. Hope and defeat mingled into one because I knew we could never be together. Our guilds wouldn''t let us. Even if we overcame what Elias did, I''d learned convincingly that we would only hurt each other. I had to forget about him and stop doing this to myself.

    But for all the time that had passed and all the new that came, I couldn''t forget this man or that feeling he gave me deep in my chest. The fluttering, warm, sticky sensation I could not manage to feel with anyone else.

    We hadn''t known each other long or even well. We hadn''t discovered nearly enough of each other. So why was he so deep in my heart? Why couldn''t I forget about him?

    It hurt to think about this, but as much as I had loved Elias and as close as I still felt to him, I''d never struggled to let go of him like this.

    Finally, he slid into my view and I feared I would give away everything I felt.

    "Ash," he said quietly, looking at me over a crate of apples.

    "We can''t do this," I said.

    "Just give me a few minutes."

    "Absolutely not." I looked around to make sure no one was listening.

    When he followed, I groaned, and fled for an alley, walking until I was sure no one would see me.

    "What?" I asked, wheeling around to face him. I nearly ran into him. Everything rushed back at me, every touch and kiss, how I''d tried to deny him and failed miserably in the end. The humiliation of being caught.

    "We have to talk. It''s been too long."

    "I meant what I said in my letter. We can''t see each other again."

    How could he look stunned when it was so clear that this was our only option?

    "We made a mistake and we need to move on."

    "We didn''t."

    I steeled myself against the pain lacing his words, my own resonating with his inside of my chest. Both of us helpless against the same waves in the same sea. "Jax, are you going to betray your guild?"

    "It doesn''t have to be this black and white."

    "I''m not going to betray mine. I''m not going to leave them either."

    He breathed out slowly, silent as he looked away, and then finally met my eyes with his emotions cooled, though still bursting beneath the surface. "Don''t let what Elias did ruin our chance at exploring a future. We get to make this choice, Ash. It''s been months already. I can''t keep doing this."

    "We already made our choice a long time ago. You''re a threat to my guild."

    "Don''t do that. You don''t believe that."

    "I do. You''re a threat. I know what you''ve been up to."

    "If we''re together, we''re not going to hurt each other, or take action without consulting the other. We''ll be a team. It might be exactly what our guilds need."

    I shook my head. "You''re living in a fantasy world. If you want to be with me, then you renounce your guild, and join us."

    He laughed bitterly. "I can''t believe you''re acting like this."

    "What do you think our life will look like? What Elias did simply reminded us of reality. We are enemies, Jax. Enemies."

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    "We don''t have to be. We both love the Valley and we care about the people in this kingdom. Our values align. Our passions align."

    "Our allegiances never will."

    He reached for me and I tried to force myself to step away, except I couldn''t. My feet were frozen in place. My body paralyzed. I couldn''t even draw in breath as his large hands smoothed up my arms to my shoulders and then he pulled me against his broad chest. The heat of his body melted me as it had every time he ever got close to me. It''d fooled me, hadn''t it? Being able to feel this good with him made me forget that a life together could never feel this way.

    My guild would never let me be with the enemy without using me, using us, to get to his people. I''d thought that I could find a way to make it work. Weren''t there worse things than being from different guilds? If we could work together to defeat a common enemy couldn''t we come together to love each other?

    "I can''t love someone who won''t fight alongside me." I uttered the lie against the soft of his neck, wanting desperately to melt my lips against his skin instead. Breathing him in intoxicated me. My hands ached to crawl up his tight chest. "I should never have made you think I could."

    "I don''t believe you."

    I let myself dig my fingers into his shoulder blades and rest my face against his chest. "How could I, Jax? Our values don''t align as much as you think if we can''t fight on the same side."

    "We need to bring our people to the same side. We''re the evidence that it doesn''t have to be a feud or a war."

    "We''ll only become pawns and either we''ll betray each other or we''ll betray our guild. I won''t do that."

    "So you''ll preemptively betray me."

    "It isn''t a betrayal to say no to a life together when we haven''t made any promises." I swallowed down the painful lump in my throat. "It might break our hearts, but it isn''t a betrayal. It''s a choice and one that is best made from a sound mind before we hurt each other too badly."

    I pushed him away from me and made my voice sound cold.

    "We can never see each other again, Jax. From here on out, we''re enemies."

    "You''ll never be my enemy."

    "I am, though. You''ll understand that soon enough."

    "What''s that supposed to mean."

    I nudged him back. "Go. Just go."

    It looked like he would fight me but finally his shoulders fell and he turned away, voice sorrowful. "This is the mistake."

    "Jax."

    He turned with a vague hope softening the sorrow, like I''d changed my mind.

    I steeled myself, certain that I had to put an end to this once and for all. "If I ever see you again, I''ll kill you."

    The attack hit him like the most swift and lethal did¨Cthe blood pouring before the damage could actually be felt. Several seconds passed where nothing changed except for an endless sorrow in his eyes, and then came the tightening of his jaw, the flicker of betrayed and hurt anger.

    "It''s a promise we should make to one another."

    "You don''t mean that."

    Tears fell down my cheeks. Pain suffocated me so I spoke without breathing. "Jaxon, I swear to you on everything I am. If you show your face again, you are dead."

    "Why? Because I refuse to stop fighting for our kingdom?"

    "Because if I let you live, someone in my guild dies. You proved that."

    This time, he said nothing. "I mean so little to you?"

    My throat felt like it was on fire. "It doesn''t matter what you mean to me. None of that matters."

    "Only that we''re enemies."

    "Yes!" I tried so hard not to sob but it broke free. "You''re my enemy. You''re the enemy of my people and I cannot let you hurt them, not when I swore to protect them and uphold them. I cannot betray the people who have loved me every day of my life."

    Jaxon grasped my hand suddenly and ripped me so close that I could feel the warmth of his body once more. He took my face into his hands and gazed down at me. "Tell me again. Prove to me you mean it."

    The tears blurred my view of his face. I tried to speak and couldn''t. Tried to look away, but he caught me. Forced me to face him.

    With my voice lowering a near growl, I held his stare and I spoke with the utmost truth. "Jaxon, I will kill you. Don''t come near me again."

    The pain in his eyes was as severe as if I had actually killed him, or at least tried to do so. "If you meant it, you''d do it now. You don''t want to have to face me again because you''ll melt."

    I ground my teeth.

    "You want to hide."

    "What''s the alternative? Will you leave your guild?"

    "No."

    "Will you betray them?"

    "Never."

    "So what''s the answer?"

    "I don''t know." Despite the pain and anger, he started to reach for me again before stopping. "I just know it isn''t this."

    "It''s over, Jax. It''s over and it never should have started. If you see me, you should do it too. Because I''m not going to hold back no matter what."

    "We promise to kill each other." He laughed bitterly. "Ridiculous."

    "Say it. If you care about me at all, then you''ll match what I give you, because I already cannot bear it. Come at me with all you have."

    "That is so fucked up and twisted, Ashton."

    "I don''t care."

    "If you ever loved me, then you''ll say it."

    He fell completely silent, staring at me. I struggled for breath. Right when I was sure he''d walk away, the emotion fled his face.

    "I promise."

    Those two words hurt far worse than any damage I''d ever taken.

    "Good." I choked the word out, unable to hide how badly it hurt me as well. "Now leave."

    The pain I knew was ravaging him was locked away too deeply for me to see. Jax looked unmoved. Unfeeling.

    "If we ever see each other again¡­" My voice died out.

    "It means death."

 106. Hunting the Truth

    When I''d awoken from Ashton''s last memory, I couldn''t bring myself to look at Elias.

    "I had to break them apart." The begging sound to his voice only irked me. "If I didn''t, chaos was going to ensue. The guild was never going to let anyone get close to Ashton, especially not someone who suspected them. We''re lucky that Jax never told Ash any of it because otherwise it might have cost her her life."

    "I''m sure he knew that," I said.

    "He did. But if they kept going, if they were truly together, then he would have told her. That would have been a decent way for her to find out. The problem is that Jax and Ash were not in a position to do anything. And I''m sorry, but patience is not a strong point for either one of you. I think that you might be ready to become a little more patient because of your experiences. She hasn''t had those. She hasn''t had to be in charge of taking care of the valley. I needed time to prepare for this war."

    I wouldn''t deny that Piercey always had been the patient, calculating one, and that he often helped to slow me down so I didn''t make a mistake. Ashton and Elias had a strain on their relationship. They weren''t in a good position to fight. I didn''t like Elias holding the truth back from her and thought that if he had just given her the chance to overcome the challenge, then she would have, but I understood why he worried that it would have destroyed her.

    My valley and the valley in the Elias''s world both lacked unity, and for completely different reasons. Seeing it through Ashton''s eyes, it was so clear to me that if the guilds could actually come together under the leadership of the kingdom, they could make life here so much better for their people. What did that mean for my world?

    How could my valley find unity?

    The question haunted me when I woke from traveling. The fallout of Ashton and Jaxon being forced apart stoked my own pain, leaving my insides felt cold and my body stiff. Elias watched me, but I had nothing to say to him.

    Ashton had never wanted to turn on Jaxon. There just had been no good choice other than to turn her back on him and vow to kill him if they crossed paths again. Elias had made sure that not only could they never have a future together but that they couldn''t even have the comfort pining for one another from afar. They had to hate each other and I wasn''t sure I could forgive him for that. Just like Ashton couldn''t.

    "You saw." Tears coated his eyes.

    "I saw. You''ve left her alone," I said. "You took everything from her and then you shut her out from your life too. No one knows better than I do how much she''s lost."

    "You have to understand. I knew that they''d kill Jaxon just like they killed my parents and that they might just kill Ash too. He''s way too dangerous to let near our guild, especially with his ideas of revolution. Add on the fact that he told me his guild didn''t kill my parents."

    "So you broke them apart to keep them safe. To keep Jax away from the guild. They couldn''t let someone who knew the truth be close to Ashton when her support is so important."

    "Yes and even beyond that it was too dangerous."

    Looking at Elias now, I couldn''t believe that Ashton didn''t see through him or Lote and realize that Jaxon never made any assassination plot. I didn''t believe that for a second. However, I also realized that  Ashton couldn''t see Elias the way I did, because I knew his counterpart so far, and I saw how far he had fallen from who he should have been. She''d been devastated, humiliated, and confused. She''d thought she could trust these two men who meant so much to her.

    On the other hand, I knew Elias''s lies too well. While I realized that I had the benefit of knowledge she lacked, I couldn''t help but feel disappointed in her for not trusting Jax more and for letting him get away.

    "You should never have intervened like you did." I didn''t spare him from my judgment when Ashton had never held him accountable. "Facing impossible challenges is what helps me to become more than I know myself to be capable of. Ash''s love for Jax would have changed your valley. She would have united the guilds."

    "It''s not as simple as killing someone like in your world. This is a dangerous place."

    "If I have to hear one more of your rationalizations, I''ll lose my mind. I''m not going to impersonate Ashton and try to get Jaxon to work with you."

    Elias''s eyes widened. "Do you want to protect your world from my people? Do you want to help my people have freedom like yours do from the Prophet?"

    "I could never do that to Nash." It didn''t matter that Jaxon wasn''t Nash because he also was. Yes, we lived in different worlds and that created differences in us. The same soul that had been uploaded to my world had been uploaded to this one. It would be a betrayal of my Nash to fool any version of him.

    "We have to do something. We need him."

    "You know who you need? You need Ashton. "

    "Well, Ashton refuses to help me."

    That wasn''t true. I needed no evidence, no time to think even. Experiencing all that I had, I knew with certainty that Ashton would never refuse to help Elias. As devoted as she was to her people, she was just as devoted to this one single person. Something else had happened. Something more. Piercey had connected with Elias and hadn''t found anything strange, and yet, I could sense that none of us had the full story.

    Either Piercey hadn''t known enough about Ashton to realize the detail was important or Elias had lied when he said it was hard to hold back when connecting. Shouldn''t he have been more panicked about Lote threatening to force connection onto him?

    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    A cold chill swept over me.

    Elias had been deceiving me this entire time, hadn''t he?

    "There''s something you don''t know," I said.

    He straightened. "What?"

    "Ashton saw Jax again."

    Elias leaned forward, jaw dropping. "Are you serious?"

    "Yes. She knew she would have to see him one more time, so she asked him to meet with her. I need to travel one more time to see what happened. It could be important."

    Would Elias see through my lies?

    No. He was too excited about this new development. Quickly, he pulled a pillow behind me, eager for me to travel.

    I had to find my way to a moment in which Ashton sought the truth and was denied it. I knew how Elias acted when he wanted to withhold information. If I just focused on that, maybe I could land in the right time.

    #

    I had always spent the anniversary of the death of Elias''s parents with him, but for the first time, he hadn''t invited me to sit beside him at their gravesite to read their favorite poetry.

    The day was always a hard one for him, so I didn''t want to ask him about it until he had a few weeks to get through the grief he always felt this time of year. After enough time had passed, I tried to get in touch with him, but he was avoiding me.

    So I had no choice except to use the key I had to his house to enter and see what the hell was happening.

    "Elias," I called out, not wanting to startle him. He''d become more paranoid about security over the last few years and obsessively upgraded the equipment in his house to make sure no one could spy on him.

    When he didn''t respond, I walked into the bedroom of the small apartment and found him facing the window, an open book face down beside him.

    "You haven''t been answering," I said.

    "I don''t want to talk, Ashton. It has nothing to do with you. I just need time."

    He kept his back to me, which was so much unlike him. I knew Elias so well that I had somehow missed this subtle transformation. I filled in his image with what I expected to see. The changes hit me all at once. His shoulders were hunched, his body lax, voice gruff and monotoned. He looked like someone had sucked his personality out of his body and left him shriveled.

    Pity and empathy twinged my gut in equal measures. I didn''t like seeing him like this.

    "Elias, you have to tell me what''s been going on with you. I noticed it back when we were fighting the coastal kingdom, but I thought you just weren''t comfortable around me yet. Or that you were worried about the war. Clearly, it is much more than that."

    My anger faded with each step I took closer until I placed my hand on his back. He stiffened at my touch, but didn''t push me away.

    "Talk to me."

    "I can''t."

    "Elias." I sat beside him now and leaned closer, trying and failing to get him to look at me. "What happened?" On occasion, Elias could get moody, usually if his feelings were hurt, or if he couldn''t solve conflict in some area of his life. Never did it come without cause and never this extreme. "Lote is concerned."

    Stiffly, Elias twisted his neck, a subtle flame of anger barely warming his cold eyes. "Concerned."

    I blinked, feeling on the verge of panic at his strange behavior. "You know that I''m on your side. I''m here for you. Let me help you."

    A smile completely devoid of any warmth or happiness lifted his lips without showing in his eyes. "I know that you''ll always choose me, Ash, whether it''s what you truly want or not."

    "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    "It means that I can see now that we were never going to work out. You saw that too. So why haven''t you accepted it? I finally have. You need to also."

    "Accepting that we cannot be together doesn''t mean that I''m not here for you."

    He took my hand gently. "I want you to live your life. I don''t want to see you spend one more second weighed down by the guilt of not giving yourself to me. You never owed me that. You don''t owe anyone that. I don''t want you to throw away what you want for me ever again. We''ll always be dear to each other, but this has to stop. You have to stop giving up pieces of yourself for me."

    "I love you." The words burst from my mouth before I could appreciate the implication and I visibly winced. "You''re my best friend."

    Elias understood what I meant, though. Not for a second had there been any confusion or hope. That made him look even more sad to me. "You''re mine too, Ash. That''s why I''m telling you no. No, you don''t get to take on this problem."

    The anger returned now and I sat back, not sure why I wanted to yell suddenly. "That''s not how friendship works. I gave you space. We should be here to help each other. Don''t abandon me just because I won''t be with you."

    Everything stilled. My heart, my breath, the very air around us. After a few seconds, Elias looked down.

    "I didn''t mean to make you feel that way. I promise that''s not what I''m doing."

    "So what are you doing? Ruining your standing in the Guild? We worked so hard to get to where we are. You had the favor of all of our leaders. You were the darling, Elias. They loved you and trusted you."

    A bitter laugh wrenched from his lips and he jerked away from me back toward the window, hiding whatever it was he didn''t want me to see. "Go, Ash. This is my fight. Not yours. Not anyone else''s. Sometimes, people need to do things alone. It doesn''t mean that we aren''t there for each other. We just cannot live as the same person, sucking the life from each other."

    "I suck the life from you?"

    "That''s not what I meant."

    "You know what, Elias. You can say this has nothing to do with me, but you''re wrong. They see us as a package. No matter how far you try to push me away, they expect me to figure you out and get you on board. Shutting me out doesn''t do you any favors and it certainly does me no favors."

    I thought he would respond. I waited, hoping that what I had said would break through the steel he''d erected between us. Elias didn''t, though. He stared in silence. And I had nothing left I could say.

    Instead of fighting a battle with a man who refused to engage, I pushed myself off the bed and swiftly left the room.

    How was it that we could overcome ending the life we''d led together and move past what he did to me by sending Lote to find me, only for this to push us apart? I had worked so hard to be the person he needed me to be. He''d said he didn''t want me to do that. But did that mean he had to cut me off completely?

    Something had happened and I had to find out what. It had made him angry with the guild and bitter with the leaders. He obviously felt like they never actually cared about him. So what could have happened for him to feel this way?

    For months after that, I tried watching Elias to find any clues about what happened. I didn''t want to ask around and put the spotlight on him, but I did all I could to investigate the situation without raising alarm about his strange behavior. Time passed and Elias began to act more like his old self, though he was still distant. I wasn''t the only one who had noticed and it was worsening his relationship with the guild.

    I hadn''t managed to figure out anything at all and almost gave up on the endeavor altogether, until one day I noticed that Elias hadn''t come home in days. I''d left his favorite snack at his apartment and found that it hadn''t been touched since, something he''d never do, no matter how awful he might have been feeling.

    Panicking wouldn''t help me to find him and since he''d not been on the best terms with Lote, I didn''t want to recruit anyone to help me search. First, I searched the cabin in the woods that only we knew about, hoping to find him hiding out there. But it looked like it had been empty for weeks. Fortunately, at some point while I searched the city for him, he came home safely.

    I never figured out what he was hiding and he refused to tell me.

 107. Coming Together

    Awareness of my own body in the presence shattered Ashton''s past and threw me back into my own body.

    Elias''s white ceiling reminded me of the all-white room and the disconcerting sensation of confusion and lies I''d always felt there.

    He''d launched into questions, desperate to know if Ash and Jax had met, and what had come of it. His voice sounded like a buzz to me.

    "You never told her." The whisper barely left my lips.

    "What did they say?" he asked.

    I snapped up off the couch, forcing Elias to nearly fall off the coffee table where he sat. "There never was a meeting. I made it up."

    If I''d given time to feel shocked, I was certain he would have stared for a long time with his mouth hanging, thinking I wouldn''t have deceived him. That I, like Ashton, always came out swinging and wouldn''t be inclined to lie. I gave him no time for shock.

    "Ashton never turned on your guild because you never told her." I felt breathless as the pieces fell into place. "You didn''t want to tell me you hid the truth from her because you knew that I wouldn''t help you."

    "I did tell her. You must have not have traveled¨C"

    "No." Power ripped through me as my voice lowered to a deadly threat. "I warned you not to lie to me again."

    Elias looked up at the ceiling, biting down the fear I saw flash over him. "You know I did the right thing. You''ve been in my position before. This is what happens when there''s no one opening up their eyes to the truth. I''m forced to become something we both hate." His voice raised. "I knew you''d hate me just like she does. So no, I couldn''t tell you. I need you. I need to believe that even if she''d abandon me, you wouldn''t, because whatever happened in your world made you strong enough to fight any battle."

    "You''re a martyr, aren''t you? Poor Elias, forced to sacrifice himself because no one can do the dirty work."

    "I''m still Piercey. In my position, he''d do the same thing. So take a second to try understanding your friend, because I know you wouldn''t be so quick to turn on him."

    "You are not Piercey. Don''t you dare pretend you are. I won''t be manipulated by you. I''m sorry for what you went through here, but it twisted you. You can''t even see how far off the path you are."

    He pinched his eyes and huffed out a breath. "I just needed help, Max. You know how desperate you can get when you need help."

    He looked so pathetic to me in that moment that I struggle to keep my temper flaring. "You should have been honest from the start. Instead, you tried to control what I did by lying to me. I thought I could trust you because you connected with Piercey. We were foolish to believe that meant anything."

    I''d learned Elias''s guilty look the first day I met him and I''d seen it too many times since then. He kept his posture strong but his eyes had that glassy, dismal look to them. "I''m trained to resist interrogation. I know how to hold back when connecting. It''s hard and imperfect but I know how to do it. I just needed you to think I didn''t so you would trust me."

    How could he be so conniving? "Every step of the way you''ve deceived me. You ambushed me with Jax the first time I came here without telling me anything at all about what had happened between us. You refused to tell me what you did to Ashton and Jax or anything about your guild. Now I find out that what you''d done to prove your trustworthiness also was an act of deception."

    "Tell me what your first instinct is now that you know."

    "To tell her, like you should have."

    "Exactly."

    I cocked my head. "You need to just come clean to her."

    "She won''t be able to stay out of this fight."

    "Good. You need her, you idiot. You don''t need me. If you''d talked her in the first place you wouldn''t have had to pluck another her from another world and then have me live through her life like some kind of voyeur. This should have been your war together from the start. Why don''t you trust her? You''re so convinced that she''ll never betray her guild when I''m confident that she wouldn''t support what they''re doing."

    Elias shook his head. "It never had anything to do with that. I can''t risk her life."

    The words stilled me, stole my ability to speak, until enough time had passed for them to fully digest. "But you can risk my entire world."

    "I didn''t know¨C"

    "That''s a load of shit and you know it. You''re careful and you know how your guild works. You never considered that they''d find out what you were doing and come to my world?"

    Elias finally looked away, a sure sign that I''d pushed him into feeling too bad, and that I was onto something.

    What was wrong with me that I''d let him get away with so much? Sharing the seed of consciousness with one of my closest friends wasn''t a good enough excuse. Pitying him because Ashton didn''t love him and I felt bad for not loving Piercey wasn''t either. I tightened my jaw and hardened my glare, my limbs tensing as I walked slowly toward him.

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    To his credit, he didn''t try to avoid me. Close to him, looking into his eyes, I spoke in a low growl. "How could you be so stupid?"

    "I would do anything for Ashton. I told you that."

    "Stop with your rationalizations. Seriously."

    His eyes closed and pain etched into his face in strained lines. "Ashton never had to endure what you did. I''m not saying she can''t handle herself or she isn''t strong. She is. You, though, have had to do what no one else has, not even her. I needed you. I still need you."

    "So stop treating me like this."

    "I''m scared. My heart is broken. I don''t¡­ I don''t know how to rely on anyone anymore because that''s when it all falls apart. I know how you''ll react so I just try to control it. To keep you from even finding out."

    "What are you afraid of?"

    He swallowed loud enough for me to hear. "If Ashton knows what the guild did to my parents, then she''ll fight them, no matter what it costs her. Just like you did in your world. I don''t want to lose her."

    "You think she''ll die."

    "I know she will. You have an advantage here that she doesn''t. You''re unknown and unconnected. You have a relationship with the gods that no one else does and I just know you can win whatever war you fight."

    "So can she. Why don''t you believe in her?"

    "I don''t want her to go through what you did. I had what you needed desperately. I could see it so clearly. All those days of you killing yourself in battle, I knew if I could just give you what my world has, then you''d be okay again. Why put Ashton through hell when we could do this together? And maybe¡­" He breathed out slowly, voice sounding resigned. "Maybe I didn''t believe in her like I should have. I couldn''t think past my fear that they would kill her just like they killed my parents."

    His admission made the words catch in my throat, the raw pain in his voice battering my heart. "Elias." Damn it, how did he always make me feel for him like this? I wanted to be angry so badly, and yet I could only think of consoling him. The struggle came through in the tenseness of my voice. "Ashton is not your parents."

    "I can''t take the chance. You shouldn''t be surprised anyway if you know Piercey as well as you claim."

    "What''s that supposed to mean?"

    "You don''t realize everything he did for you, do you?" Elias asked. "You connected with him, you work with him every day, you basically live at the Sacred School with him, and still somehow you don''t really see him."

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Piercey fought through all of his fears at the Sacred School, alone, so that he could protect you. That''s why he became director. You should know that. You have his memories and his heart etched upon your soul."

    The room felt smaller as he talked. Was it true that I didn''t see him? "I know what he sacrificed for me."

    "Then why would you be surprised that I did all this to protect Ash? It''s because you haven''t let yourself actually digest what you mean to Piercey and what he''s done for you. My actions here in my world should be no surprise to you. I won''t risk Ashton. I won''t put her in harm''s way. I''m going to fight the battle for once and spare her from the horrible way the guild has made me feel."

    "You need her. Piercey and I work so well together. You wouldn''t have needed to call on me if you would have just talked to her and let her help you."

    "No, it''s all too broken. I made a mess with her long before I broke apart her and Jax. There''s too much history. This is my penitence. I can''t heal what''s been broken, but I can give her peace."

    I stared at him, struggling to understand how he could be such a fool. "She needs you. Make a way for you and her to be in each other''s lives again. That''s the best thing you could do for her."

    "I don''t want to be Piercey." Elias shrugged sadly. "I really don''t. Would you?"

    His words hollowed out my chest.

    "I''ve been in his head and in his life. He''s so good at what he does and he''s accomplished great things. He''s better than I am. I think he''s starting to feel better than I do. I still don''t want to be him."

    I was too afraid to ask him a question I already knew the answer to.

    "I''m sure he''ll find his happiness soon and he''ll go on to have a great life. At least I had you. He never did. I would rather live bitter and guilty than give that up. Ashton changed me."

    It was hard to breathe. "I think she might not have changed you for the better. You can''t let your pride push you to make bad decisions. If you''re trying to be her hero then stop."

    "I''m not."

    "So stop giving yourself excuses. Piercey has moved on. I know he has because we didn''t just connect once. I can feel him moving on."

    After a few seconds, Elias finally nodded. "It does appear he finally has. You still feel bad, though. We both know why. You''re loving another man right in his face and he chose to stick around for it."

    "Piercey is more of a man than most men can ever imagine being. You''re a fool if you don''t want to be like him."

    "I''ve been through enough pain. Stop wishing more on me."

    "I don''t really want to talk to you about this anymore. No one is owed my heart. I didn''t do anything to him. I didn''t promise to love him or abandon him. I asked him to come with me when were kids and I escaped. Sure, as a young kid who knew nothing about love, I might have given him hope there could be something more. I never did that as an adult. Don''t take it out on me that you can''t get Ashton to love you."

    The final sentence was too much to say and I regretted it immediately. He''d vexed me so badly that I didn''t even want to apologize. Instead, I scowled at him as I grabbed his arm.

    I couldn''t let my feelings get in the way, though. It was time for me to take action. Elias thought that destroying the guild would free the Valley from the corruption that seeped into the veins of this kingdom. He was wrong. The Valley was too complicated to simply destroy one guild and think it would do any good. Much more needed to be done. Simply wiping out his guild would lead to far more chaos than in my world when I killed the Prophet. Here, the people fully participated in this culture of conflict whereas mine were victims to the Prophet. My people had not had the opportunity to make bad decisions.

    They needed to change the guilds from the inside out and target specific leaders. Elias was blinded by his heartbreak and the injustice. He''d wanted to save Ashton from it so badly that he refused to tell her, so there was no one to show him his blind spots. He couldn''t see that he was going about this all wrong. This wasn''t as simple as bringing me in to kill another god¨Chis guild. I had to bring together the right people to fight this war so I could make them take responsibility for these people who now wanted to invade my world.

    It was time. "You''ve lost your right to make a choice about this," I said.

    "What are you¨C"

    "I won''t let you lie to me anymore, not in any life."

    "No!"

    Elias tried to rip away, so I grabbed him with both hands, and transported us to the quiet cabin in the woods I just knew he''d told Ashton to go, not giving him time to prepare himself.

    We appeared in a living room dimly lit by candles and covered with papers on the floor that mapped out battle plans.

    Ashton rose from where she''d been kneeling and then she didn''t move another inch, not even to breathe. She''d gone as still as a statue. Elias did as well, his arms limp at his side.

    I spoke with a level voice. "I''m what Elias has been hiding."

 108. Mirror Image

    Ashton''s shaky hand reached out beside her so she could grab the edge of a table. "What the hell is this?"

    Elias turned on me then with his voice loud enough to reverberate off the walls of the small room. "What is wrong with you?" I''d never heard Piercey or Elias come close to yelling like this. Hearing his voice this way completely paralyzed me. "This is the one thing you absolutely could not do."

    "No." I jabbed my finger at his chest. "We''re not doing this. You go sit down with Ashton and explain everything to her."

    "I can force you back to your world."

    I snarled, tempted to do more than poke him. "You have repeatedly deceived me. You brought me into your problems and created a massive threat for my world. I don''t care if you''re mad at me. If you didn''t want me to meddle, then you should have known not to involve me. Now go explain before she passes out from shock."

    Elias seemed like in his blind rage he''d forgotten about her and turned now, breathing ragged. "Ashton, listen¡­"

    Something flickered in Ashton''s eyes as she took one shaky step forward. I waited, understanding fully how painful shock could feel.

    Her stare scanned my body and then focused on my eyes. A calmness came over her, one that was unnatural and most certainly not how she felt. I recognized the feeling of slipping in her. Like I watched her leave her body in real time.

    Hollow eyes shifted to Elias. "Explain."

    She spoke only that one word in a commanding, emotionless voice.

    #

    For the next hour, Elias spoke with Ashton on the far side of the room, so I could hear and ensure he came clean, but also give him privacy. He told her everything about finding my world, what he learned there, bringing me here, hiding the truth from her. But when Ashton asked him about what the guild actually did, he turned away from her and rested his hands on the wall for support.

    "I''ll handle that part," I said gently.

    "Fine," Ashton said. "I can agree to that."

    After talking for a few more minutes, Ashton asked to talk alone with me, and sent Elias outside to find his composure.

    "I should be surprised," she said quietly as she walked closer to me. "It makes too much sense, though. It''s shocking, but fitting. He hasn''t been himself."

    "He told me that he needed my help because you were so loyal to the guild that nothing could ever convince you to betray them. They''re your people. I came to realize that he actually never told you and all this time he wanted to protect you from this war he was starting."

    She shook her head and then lowered it to her hands. "There''s no way to keep me out of anything he does. He''s being stubborn."

    "I know."

    "We used to tell each other everything, no matter how hard it was. There''s things we probably should have kept to ourselves. So for him to hide all of this¡­ It breaks my heart."

    I nodded and said again, "I know. And I owe you an apology for knowing. It wasn''t right for me to live through your past. The problem with apologizing is that I chose to do it knowing it was wrong."

    "That''s some apology."

    Seeing another version of myself and witnessing her reaction to my own decisions really helped me to understand how other people felt interacting with me. I could be great to deal with. But I could also be a challenge. I supposed I owed a few apologies back in my world.

    "I can''t let your people invade my world and I thought you were supporting them."

    It did nothing to lessen her anger¨Cthe fury had her pacing again¨Cbut I recognized that the truth of it resonated with her. This could have been her sitting here in different circumstances.

    "I am sorry," I said.

    "I guess it doesn''t really matter since we''re the same person. Just, that''s my life. Mine."

    I didn''t say anything else. I had no right to defend my actions when I agreed with her.

    "I would have done it too." She shrugged. "That feels really awful. Maybe there''s something wrong with us."

    "There is, but we could have worse faults, don''t you think?"

    That made her chuckle, though I knew she didn''t want to let it. "I can''t wrap my mind around this."

    "I hate throwing all of this at you and showing up like this. I needed to move fast before Elias got his senses about him and sent me back to my world. He isn''t thinking right. You know that. What you didn''t know, though, was how far he''s taken this. You need to know the truth."

    Ashton faced me again at that, her eyes desperate. "I wanted to be there for him."

    "Yeah." I bit my lip and scooted forward onto the edge of my seat. "You don''t have as bad of anxiety as I do. I went through something with Dad in my world and it really sparked it for me. I know you still have it. So you should go ahead and sit down. We do better sitting down."

    Expression blank, Ashton thudded down onto the chair. "This is so surreal."

    Taking in a deep breath, I prepared myself to shake her world far worse than Elias and I had so far. She truly loved her Guild and had devoted herself to leaders she believed in. Even when she knew that they had issues, she worked through it, and saw the best in them. She would feel like a fool and I didn''t want to make her feel that.

    "Lote had Elias''s parents killed."

    Ashton didn''t comprehend what I said. I knew that because she had absolutely no reaction.

    "It wasn''t the Silver Moon Guild."

    Pain slowly spread across her face like cracks in a damn, breaking along the fault lines. "No. He wouldn''t. He has his problems, but he loves Elias. He loved his parents. Every year, he visited their graves and made food for Elias. He¡­" Ashton touched her lips, eyes already turning red. The realization must have been spreading, because she knew Lote well enough to know that when he was guilty, he covered it up well.

    "His parents realized that Lote had been using his influence to stir the feud between your guild and others, especially Silver Moon. He wanted you to control more of the resources and to be able to lead the Valley with a stronger hand. So he told himself that the little sins here and there were worth it, until he was secretly planning attacks on your guild, and pinning it on the Silver Moon Guild."

    Ashton leaned forward with her hands covering her mouth and her elbows anchored to her knees.

    "Elias''s mom was the first to figure it out. She started to suspect something was going on while working on the finances. Lote did a great job covering his tracks, but she was sharp. She started asking questions. Stopped asking once she realized it was bad."

    "She was incredibly wise."

    "That''s when she got Elias''s dad involved. Together, they secretly figured it out. They were peaceful people and believed in the best in others, so they thought that they could convince Lote to change his mind. They believed that he had good intentions but his actions were misguided and he''d lost himself along the way."

    She wiped tears from her eyes, clinging to every word I said. She knew I was telling the truth. I could see it in her eyes. Everything she hadn''t wanted to believe, she''d hoped wasn''t true, must have seemed clear to her now.

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    "They didn''t tell anyone else or make any kind of arrangements to protect themselves. They likely hadn''t uncovered the worst of what Lote had done. When they confronted him, he pretended like he was sorry and he was going to change. Instead, he had them killed, and made it look like the Silver Moon Guild. Of course, he left enough doubt that no one would ever be sure of who it was, but he planted the seeds of suspicion. Lote didn''t stop or change. He dug his heels in and he got worse. He escalated. Now, he''s out of control."

    I breathed in deeply, hating that I had to hurt her this way when I knew what Lote meant to her. Our father hadn''t been a good man in either world and he''d been like the father she never had. That was the problem with fathers, wasn''t it? If someone didn''t actually want to be a good one, they could abuse that sacred, special bond so easily. It was a vulnerable position, to look up to someone and trust them so deeply. My heart broke for her as I watched her lose the second father she had ever known. Watched her lose them both, because it only stirred up the loss of the first.

    "How did Elias find this out?" Ashton asked.

    "They recorded it and kept it hidden. He said that his mother kept a diary for everything. Lote knew this and I think he tried to find the diaries but couldn''t. He must have assumed they didn''t exist. After Elias talked to Jax, he couldn''t get rid of the suspicion. He started to see it everywhere. Finally, he started investigating himself, and when he did, it led him to the same places his parents had been."

    "That''s how he found the diaries."

    "Yes. His mother had hidden them away in the code of your world using a key that she''d taught Elias. She''d told him to only use it for the most sensitive information that he couldn''t tell anyone, not even her, if such a day ever came."

    Ashton''s nod looked more like a tremble. "Did you see the diaries?"

    "I did. Not all, but enough. The choice is simple. Do you believe his mother or do you believe Lote?"

    Tears wet her cheeks. She looked away, rubbing her chest. "I''ve defended Lote so many times. That''s the first sign, right? Why should I need to defend him to anyone so often? Defend him to myself? I never had to defend Sharice. Elias''s mom was a saint. I would trust her more than I''d trust anyone."

    "I''m sorry to be the one to tell you."

    "Why did he hide this from me? I stood with him through every second of his mourning. I grieved with him. I loved them too. Why wouldn''t he tell me?"

    "I wondered at first too. It''s obvious now. He loves you, Ashton. He doesn''t want Lote to kill you like he killed his parents."

    "I''m not his parents."

    "You aren''t, but you are good like them. You wouldn''t be able to sit on this information. You''d fight and Elias couldn''t risk you in a fight like this. It''s not a normal battle."

    Her hands tightened to fists. "We could have done this together. Now he''s brought you from another world and implicated your people in this as well. This is a mess."

    "It is. I think learning about this broke something in him. He needs your help finding his way."

    "So he thought he could bring over another version of me and just kill everyone?"

    "Only your corrupt leaders like Lote. He hoped that by killing them, he could shake up the entire guild system, to bring more balance to the power they''ve taken for themselves."

    Ashton groaned. "I''m too frazzled to even unpack that."

    "In my world, we had a corrupt leader terrorizing our Valley. I killed him and our supervisor, the god of our world. I told you about them earlier. What I didn''t tell you is that it threw our Valley into chaos. I don''t regret killing them. It wasn''t a solution, either though. It stopped him from hurting anyone else, but now I''m struggling to protect my people from enemies on all sides."

    "You think it would be a mistake to kill Lote?"

    "Not necessarily. I think that you have a different problem. You don''t have one leader lording over the entire Valley. You have a network of competing leaders in competing guilds all working within a single kingdom. Killing Lote won''t change things the way that killing my leader did. It''ll hurt your guild. Maybe we could even take your guild down. But the kingdom isn''t run by just your guild. Wiping out leadership made a mess in my world. It''ll be worse in yours."

    She crossed her arms and sat back. "If it''s true that Lote has been sabotaging us to make us try to fight the other guilds, then he deserves to die. There''s no convincing him to make peace. He''s a threat to my people. He''s keeping our kingdom from uniting as one."

    The fervor she''d felt when she and Jax had dreamed of how to unite the guilds filled my own heart. "This is why Elias didn''t tell you. You''d have to kill Lote and then you''d be a target. He''s distanced himself from you so that you can''t be blamed. You truly knew nothing."

    "Does he expect that he won''t survive his coup?"

    When I didn''t respond, she slammed her fist into her hand.

    "He doesn''t get to go martyr himself like this. It''s unbelievable."

    "We do it, don''t we? We sacrifice ourselves again and again for our people. Elias is doing the same thing. It seems so obvious when you''re seeing someone else do it. He needs help. He needs to work with people who care so that everyone can find the best path forward and survive it. Instead, he''s battling on his own."

    "I can''t let him do this."

    "He thinks I''m going to help him kill Lote. I met with him and pretended to be you."

    "What do you really plan to do?"

    "I don''t know. I have to stop him and anyone else who wants to come to my world. If I just start killing people, it might be a long list, though. I don''t know who all knows about my world."

    "I know he did something horrible, but I can''t wrap my head around it. I can''t imagine killing him. I just can''t believe I never saw it." Ashton''s voice sounded broken.

    "I wouldn''t have either if I lived in your world. You''re loyal and good-natured. Those are wonderful things about us."

    "It still just hurts me that Elias didn''t tell me."

    "He couldn''t be the man you would love for the rest of your life, so he had to be the man that saved you."

    She lowered her head, shaking it softly. "I never thought he would do the things he''s done. Love is not justification. Love doesn''t mean lying. Love¡­"

    "I know."

    "I''ll forgive him. He''s finally come back to me and I''ll forgive him." She looked at me. "I just wonder if he can forgive himself."

    "I''m not sure."

    "Maybe your Piercey can help him. From what Elias told me, it sounds like you got the best version of him."

    Warmth flooded my heart. "Sometimes I still feel bad that I didn''t love him when he deserves it so much."

    "Well, you see how it worked out for us. I feel bad in a different way. It''s not any better."

    She was right.

    We were both quiet for a moment and then Ashton laughed. "This is so weird."

    "I''m desensitized to weird now. What will you do, Ashton? Now that you know what Lote has done?"

    She rubbed her throat and closed her eyes. "I can''t let him get away with this. I still contend that Jax''s guild is terrible and dangerous. I don''t think they''re better than us. But Lote has taken it too far and everyone else is following after him. I need time to think about this."

    "What do you think about bringing Jaxon in? I know the history is painful. We can trust him, though."

    Of everything I''d said, this proved to be too much. Ashton walked to the window and looked out at the darkness. After a few minutes of quiet, she opened it and peered out. "Elias. Come back in."

    Soon, we all sat together, Elias rubbing his arms as he shivered.

    "I want to stick to business," Ashton said. "There''s too much shit to deal with. If we try to apologize or talk about how we feel, we''ll get derailed. There isn''t time since Lote is wanting to arrest Elias."

    "Agreed," I said.

    "Of course you two agree." Elias averted his gaze after saying it and receiving a glare from both of us. "I just really didn''t want you involved, Ashton."

    "That isn''t up to you. I told you we aren''t going to get into the feelings side. We need a plan that we can all agree on."

    "The plan," Elias said, "Is to kill Lote and anyone who will stay loyal to him. Jax will help. He has plans. Max has heard some of those plans which means you have too. You guys can finally fight for unity like you wanted to."

    "This isn''t how unity comes. We''re going to end up in shambles like Max''s valley."

    "I don''t want to be at odds with this plan, but they are not coming to my world. Whatever happens, I''m stopping them, and I hope you''ll support me. It would be unfortunate if I had to fight another version of myself or Piercey or Nash."

    I winced after I said his name.

    "Nash?" Ashton asked.

    Elias groaned. He had left mention of Nash out of the conversation and I''d done the same. Knowing that we were together could influence Ashton and she needed to make her own decisions.

    "It''s Jax''s counterpart," I said.

    "You know the other version of Jax?" More questions filled her mind, I could see them overwhelming her. "Were you also enemies?"

    "Yes, but not the same kind as you. We should focus on our plans."

    "What are you not wanting to tell me?" she asked. "You''re both acting elusive."

    I chewed my thumbnail. "I''ve already interfered in your world."

    "Don''t treat me like a child. I can handle it."

    "Well," I began. "We''re together."

    It seemed to knock the wind from her. She sat back. "Together. Like¨C"

    "Together," I said. "For a year now."

    Ashton looked away. "I''m glad it worked out in some world."

    I wanted to tell her it could work out in her world, only I knew to stay out of this. She had too much of a mess to clean up in her relationships for me to get involved. Hearing that it was possible for us to be together might make her even more angry with Elias¨Cnot that he didn''t deserve it.

    "I said we''d stick to business and I''m derailing us." She wiped her eyes and clasped her hands. "What if we confront Lote and tell the rest of the leadership?"

    "My parents mistake was announcing their intentions. They thought that taking a stand would force change because they didn''t understand how deep the rot ran. Lote killed them both and went dancing the same night. There''s no point in confronting them. Jaxon tried to tell me but I didn''t listen, not until I found the evidence."

    Ashton cursed. "Why didn''t Jax tell me?"

    "I told him those were the kind of dangerous thoughts that could get people hurt and not to toy with your mind if he didn''t have evidence. I begged him not to say anything until we knew because you would have to take action."

    "I hate that you''ve been making decisions for me for years."

    I lifted my hands. "I think one choice is obvious. We need allies. Jax clearly has been planning. Our next move needs to be to talk to him. And we''ll tell him the full truth, just like we did with Ashton. I know Nash in my world and now I know Jax because of Ashton''s memories. We need him and we can trust him."

    Neither Ashton nor Elias said anything.

    "Ashton, you can''t be upset with Jax for wanting to kill your leaders when he knew that they killed Elias''s parents. He''s right. And you can''t do to him what you''re upset with Elias doing to do. He deserves the truth. Be strong and face him."

    "Okay," Ashton said. "There''s nothing like getting your ass handed to you by yourself. I just have to do it. Take us to him."

 109. Convincing

    Jax had not wanted to visit Elias''s apartment and the man reported that it had taken extreme measures to force his hand. He''d had to share that it was a matter of life and death for Ashton.

    Wanting to gauge his willingness to help, Ashton had both of us hide in Elias''s bedroom so she could decide if she wanted to go through with recruiting Jaxon to help. I thought it was stupid. We needed him. But this wasn''t my life and I''d already overstepped by living through her memories.

    "I told you, Elias." Jax sounded far colder than when he''d spoken to Elias and me together. "I don''t want anything to do with you. Tell me what I need to help Ashton and then stay out of my life."

    "What do I have to do for you to be willing to work with me again when we want the same thing now?"

    Jax snorted. "Nothing. I will never trust you again. It wasn''t enough for you to split Ash and me up. You had to send your guild after me."

    "It wasn''t like that. I made sure that you were both safe."

    "Safe? They tried to kill me, asshole. I did you a favor and I didn''t say anything to Ashton, but don''t think it was actually for you. It was for her, because she''s already had to deal with enough of your shit. Stay away from me."

    Ashton covered her mouth beside me.

    "You used what Ashton and I had to get to me. Own up to it and stop playing innocent."

    "I''m not here to argue with you. We need your help."

    "You told me that already and I told you the time for deals is done. Ashton isn''t going to turn on her guild. She walked away from me when we could have tried to make peace with the guilds together. She didn''t fight for us. She isn''t interested. Let me move on."

    Ashton leaned back against the wall with an anguished sigh and covered her face. "I''ve heard enough," she whispered. "Let''s do it without him. He doesn''t need to endure anything else because of us."

    "That''s your take away?" I smacked her arm with the back of my hand. "Go fight for him. He wanted you to."

    "I told him I would kill him."

    "That was really stupid. Fix it."

    "I don''t want him to be in danger. He said they tried to kill him."

    "Isn''t this what Elias did to you."

    She lowered her hands and nodded. "Okay. I just need a second." Then, she shook her hands at her side. "No. I need to just do it."

    "Do it," I whispered harshly.

    Ashton opened the door and walked out, her presence immediately silencing both men.

    "I was wrong," she said.

    I really wished I could see Jax''s face in that moment.

    "I never should have turned my back on you, no matter what side we''re fighting for."

    "Ash."

    "You don''t have to forgive me or understand, but I hope that you''ll hear us out, because we really need your help."

    I heard footsteps and tensed, hoping it was Jax walking toward her.

    "You want my help?" he asked.

    "Yes. It''s better to show you. Just, prepare yourself, because it''s going to be hard to accept.

    "What do you mean?"

    "Max," she said. "Come on out."

    I stepped into the doorway, pausing there, as if it would lessen the shock at all.

    Jax blinked several times.

    "You have a twin?"

    "Not exactly," Ashton said.

    #

    Jax had spent most of the conversation shifting his gaze between Ashton and me, looking overwhelmed. Now I sat back on the couch with Elias while Ashton and Jaxon talked on the other side of the room. Being alone in the bedroom must have felt like too much for people who had promised to kill one another, but they both looked like they couldn''t keep away if they tried. I swore I could feel the energy trying to tether them to one another.

    Jax looked at Ashton for a long while and smiled wistfully. "Tell me, Ash. Don''t make me wait."

    "Tell you what?"

    "Are you going to kill me?" The smirk melted my heart because I knew exactly how it was melting hers. All this time and for Ashton it was their first time talking. For Jax to put aside that pain, that awful promise, and tease her must have made it feel like things could be okay.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    She covered her mouth, tears springing into her eyes. Her voice shook with a mix of longing and relief. "You know I can''t kill you. That''s why you were supposed to stay away. I could never kill you, Jax."

    I couldn''t keep myself from smiling, despite that Elias shifted uncomfortably next to me.

    "I didn''t know my people tried to kill you," Ash said quietly.

    "I knew you wouldn''t have been okay with it."

    "I''m sorry for everything. I''m sorry that I didn''t try to make things work between us. I didn''t see a way. I''ve been wrong about a lot of things."

    "Stop eavesdropping," Elias whispered to me.

    "I can''t help hearing," I said back.

    "You''re on the edge of your seat leaning in."

    I looked down at my posture and scooted further back on the couch, turning my head, though I could still see them out of the corner of my eye. "I''ve seen too much. I''m invested."

    I dared a peek at them and Elias clamped his hand over my eyes. My elbow smacked into his shoulder, knocking him away. A laugh almost escaped, before I remembered that I didn''t want to laugh with Elias. Reminded of this, I scowled at him.

    He grinned in the way Piercey had when we were kids, a smile somehow both innocent and devious.

    "We can''t be friends," I said. "You lied to me. Once I get really mad at you, it''s not easy to come back from."

    Elias hooked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. "You think I don''t know that? I just forget you aren''t her sometimes. I forget that I pushed her away and now she''s gone."

    "Don''t you make me feel sorry for you."

    He squinted one eye at me and chuckled. "Fine."

    "You made me miss things," I whispered and glanced at Ashton and Jaxon again.

    They were closer now, quieter, perhaps reconsidering their decision to stay in the same room as us.

    "Don''t forgive me so easily," Ashton said.

    "I didn''t say I forgave you. I just feel like you''re finally back. That day you left with Lote, it''s like I never saw you again."

    Seeing them made me want to run home to Nash and never be separated again. I hadn''t been gone from home for long, and yet being in a different world made it feel like it had been weeks already. I didn''t want to have regrets like these two had. I''d decided to figure out how to be with my family and take care of the Valley before I left and this confirmed to me that I couldn''t stop until I''d learned to do just that.

    When they finished talking, we all sat together in one strange group. None of us had simple relationships here, and I wasn''t sure which was the most awkward. Elias being the one to break them apart should have been high up there, but my presence was surreal enough to probably beat that out.

    "I don''t want to rush anyone, but my world doesn''t have very much time. We need a plan. I think all of us here agree that we cannot let anyone from this world enter into mine and steal from my people or hurt anyone."

    Jax''s eyes were determined. "That won''t happen. We need to work together to straighten our political mess, but first we have to stop it from bleeding into your world."

    Finally, someone who had a sense of urgency. "Thank you."

    "I can assemble allies. That''s no problem," he said. "The question is do you guys have anyone other than this?"

    "I do. People from my world will help us fight. The problem is that the only ones who know about you are Elias''s counterpart, Piercey, who isn''t much of a warrior, and people who didn''t have power until very recently."

    Jax hooked his elbows on his knees. "Okay. So, you have some kind of help."

    "I do have some allies I could call on. They don''t know anything about this, though, and I worry about spreading it beyond our inner circle."

    "We need to keep it quiet," Ashton said. "Elias told me the gods are already angered."

    "Then what is the most efficient and powerful move?" Elias asked.

    "We kill Lote." I turned my attention to Ashton. "That won''t stop your people from entering my world. It''ll hurt the effort, though. It''s clear he''s the leader for efforts like this. I know he was important to you but¨C"

    "He killed Elias''s parents and he tried to kill Jax. He lied to me." Ashton breathed out slowly, looking shakier than she sounded. "I know what I have to do. I don''t need time to prepare. We have to act swiftly in battle. Grief can wait until later."

    Jax clasped her shoulder, visibly squeezing. Ashton froze at first and then her shoulders relaxed. "If we kill Lote, the guild will have to scramble to deal with the fallout. They won''t be in a position to invade any worlds. At that point, we land our next strike, and launch our plan to bring peace to the valley."

    "Our next strike?" Ashton asked.

    "Our guild has to come down," Elias said. "Others were complicit in killing my parents. I''ve found out since that there''s much more than that going on. When we have time, I''ll show you all of my research and evidence."

    Ashton scoffed. "If our guild suddenly falls out of power, what''s to stop Silver Moon from a power grab? We''d be vulnerable enough that they''d get a hold of our resources and then they''d effectively own the Valley."

    "She''s right," Jax said. "I don''t trust my guild to have that much power. Between my guild and yours, I would choose us, but that doesn''t mean it''s best. We shouldn''t destroy your guild."

    "Lote is not the root of evil in our guild. If you leave the current leadership in place, someone will take his place."

    "Listen." I clasped my hands together. "I sympathize with your position given that I''m dealing with wars of my own. Having said that, I don''t have time to fight your war too. I really don''t and I''m not going to. I''ve realized I need to learn when to step back. This is me stepping back."

    I expected everyone to get angry with me for this, only no one reacted that way at all.

    "I understand," Ashton said. "This was never your war. We need to get you back to your world where you belong. Elias shouldn''t have dragged you into this."

    "I was trying to save you," he said.

    "By implicating another version of me?" She groaned. "I''ll stop. We have time to fight about that later."

    "I just want to put a stop to this threat against my world and get home," I said. "I can give advice to you about what to do with your guild issue if you want it. I can''t kill your god, though. You need to do it yourself."

    Jax spoke solemnly. "I''m very sorry you were pulled into this and your world is in danger. We''ll stop at nothing to make sure your people are safe. Our world having so much more power than your world makes this so important."

    "If we kill Lote, it''ll buy us time to deal with our guild, and keep your world safe." Elias didn''t look at any of us while he spoke. I almost felt bad for everyone ganging up on him, except that he deserved it. This version of Piercey had not made the best decisions.

    Nash had made me promise to come home before starting a war. I didn''t have time, though. Elias didn''t have long before Lote would try to force him to connect and then they''d have what they needed to invade our world. I would ask Elias to return to my world for my comrades if I thought it would help. This wasn''t a massive battle, though. We needed to assassinate one man and we needed to do it discreetly.

    "You realize that you''ll be implicated," Jax said to Ashton and Elias.

    "I will stand by what I did," Ashton said. "Lote needs to die."

 110. Attack

    Ashton had said that we needed to kill Lote, but I could tell she wasn''t ready to do it. I believed that in the moment, she would rise to the occasion, but I easily recognized the anxiety in her after a lifetime of dealing with it. She was still emotionally attached to him and struggling to reconcile the truth with what she''d believed until today.

    The plan was for Elias and Ashton to enter Lote''s office early so that Elias could voluntarily turn himself in and open a dialogue with Lote. They should have already arrived. Meanwhile, I waited with Jax at Elias''s apartment, waiting for Elias to send the message that they were ready for us to teleport into Lote''s office.

    Back home, Piercey had connected us all through the neural network so we could communicate whenever we needed to, and even hooked up the phone system at the Sacred School and the demon alerts to help those without power join. I wasn''t a part of any such system here, but Elias and Piercey had connected, so Elias knew how people in my world initiated communication through our neural implants.

    It could be hard to connect from a distance, but Elias was very good with technology, so I believed that he would be able to do it. His messages so far had come through just fine.

    "I can''t believe how much you look like her." Jax held his sword in hand, already well-prepared for the upcoming assassination.

    It felt like Nash stood beside me and I missed him so badly that I had to remind myself that this man was not him. The problem was that he felt like him in every way. Even smelled like him. "Same for you."

    "You know another me?"

    I smiled, only meeting his eyes for a moment, because I felt bad that my stomach felt lighter near him. My memories and Ashton''s intertwined in my mind, so similar to my own memories anyway. Nash and Jaxon even kissed in similar ways. I wanted to go home to him. "I do."

    "Did you go to the Sacred School like Ashton?"

    "Yeah. I escaped and had my power sealed."

    "Wild. Does Nash have powers like I do?"

    "He does now. Elias gave him a neural implant."

    "You''re close enough for that." I didn''t even have to look at Jax to know he had that cocky smirk. "That a boy, Nash."

    "Don''t tease me. That''s his thing."

    "Oh, Ashton used to say she hated when I teased her."

    "Well, she didn''t." I waved my hand at him. "I miss Nash and you literally are another copy of him, so give me some space. It''s hard to keep reality straight."

    "I''ll show you some mercy, mostly because I feel the same." He started to turn away but then stopped. "Can you tell me just one thing?"

    "What?"

    "How happy are you? I always thought if Ash and I could just find a way to be together, we''d be happy, no matter what problems we had to deal with."

    I wasn''t sure how much I should say to him. I hesitated and then met his eyes. "He makes me happier than anything else in the world." Mentioning Elsie seemed wrong, as if I was bringing her into something that none of us should be a part of, much less a little girl. But I wanted to tell him it was her too. That the three of us together made life feel perfect, no matter how imperfect it might actually be.

    The depth of Jax''s eyes when he smiled made my heart ache for the life that he should be living with Ashton. I worried that knowing might hurt him or even spark jealousy, only I saw nothing like that in him. "I''ll remember that forever," he said in a low whisper that I thought I might also remember forever. If I wasn''t sure before, I was now. Jax loved Ashton very deeply, so deeply that the thought of the two of them living out a happy life in another world fulfilled a piece of him even without living it.

    I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I expected to taste blood. "Jax, I''m so sorry¨C"

    "There''s nothing in either world for you to be sorry about when it comes to this. Go home and live the best life you can. I''ll cherish knowing that you''re happy there."

    A hot, messy ball of emotion lodged in my throat. "Don''t give up on her. This will change her and then you can try again."

    "Yeah." He sighed. "We''ll try."

    "Don''t sound so hopeless."

    "I''m not. I just have been through this already. I can''t hope yet. The time for that will come later."

    I yearned for Nash again, wanting nothing more than to grab him in an embrace right now. I wanted to do the same to Jax and assure him that Ashton absolutely would come around, because how could she not?

    "There was a time that I told Nash no. I didn''t believe we could have the life we have. I truly didn''t. I''m so happy that I changed my mind. I''m telling you, don''t give up."

    He looked at me a little longer this time before he smiled again. "Okay, Max. I won''t. I''ll be even more stubborn than she is."

    I burst out a laugh, understanding intimately well just how stubborn that was.

    "One minute," Elias said through the neural connection.

    I straightened, yanking myself from the spell of getting lost in thoughts of my life with Nash and the one I wished that Ashton had here with Jax. "Did you get it too?" I asked Jax.

    "Yeah. I got it. Make sure not to communicate like that in Lote''s office. Elias is a technology officer, so he''ll know how to evade any security systems. It''s too advanced for me and you have no experience with it, so receive, but don''t send."

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    "It''s crazy what you all have developed here with the same amount of time."

    "When the entire world runs on power, you get pretty good with it."

    "Now," Elias said in our minds. "He''s sitting in his normal chair.

    I clasped Jax''s wrist and whisked us through spacetime to Lote''s office, hoping everything would be right when we got there.

    When we appeared, we landed directly behind his chair. I didn''t even take the time to register everything I saw in the room. Ashton and Elias both were in position on the couches, with Jax and me close behind Lote.

    I wasn''t waiting and neither was Jax. My readied blade already pressed against his throat, while power burst from Jax''s palm toward Lote''s face.

    Ashton''s wide, shocked eyes must have mirrored Lote''s own as the double assault hit him at once.

    My blade screeched as if it had hit steel, while Jax''s power bounced off Lote''s skin. I didn''t see any kind of shield erected around him and I hadn''t sensed it before, but I did now as it deflected our attacks. His skin rippled with a red sheen of power in the places we''d hit.

    Lote leapt from his chair, whipped around to face us, and used his power to push himself toward the other side of the room, presumably so that he could see all four of his guests. But as his eyes found mine, he slowed to a stop.

    How had Lote prepared his shield instantly? It happened faster than human response time should have made it possible, even if he''d enhanced his senses with power constantly. It was an automatic shield and neither Elias nor Ashton had indicated that was a possibility here. Nothing in my memory of living through Ashton''s life suggested this was an ability they had mastered. I could keep a shield around myself at all times, but it would require constant energy. This was something I''d never seen before.

    The low grumble from Jax told me that he also hadn''t expected this and realized that Lote was going to be harder to kill than we originally thought. He was similar enough to Nash for me to be able to fight easily with him. Neither of us had said that we weren''t going to wait to negotiate like Ashton wanted, though neither of us had agreed it, but I wasn''t surprised that he''d done the same thing I had.

    I needed to move right in this second if I wanted to take advantage of Lote''s shock, which was far greater than the simple surprise of two people teleporting into his office, an office that he likely took great pains to protect from any intrusions. The problem was that I no longer knew what kind of weapons we faced.

    I''d have to just try him out and see what he was capable of. Standing here, wasting my advantage, would do nothing.

    My thoughts moved fast as I rapidly considered these options and teleported across the room to him. I heard his deep gasp the moment I made it by his side, this time attacking with my energy sword, and the strongest plunge of the blade I could manage having just teleported.

    Bursts of power exploded from the collision of his strong shield and my overbearing sword. In the time it took for him to raise his hands defensively, casting another shield, my sword cracked the one that had instantly protected him, slinging blood through the air.

    I teleported again on instinct, knowing that he was too dangerous to linger beside.

    When I landed by Ashton, I caught the end of the attack that would have definitely injured me. His shield had shot out a beam of power that he now caught and rendered inert before it crashed into his beloved artwork.

    Jax rushed for him and I joined, both of us swinging our blades.

    "Ashton!" Elias shouted.

    As both my blade and Jax''s swung for Lote, Ashton stood paralyzed, staring with tears shining in her teams.

    Damn it all to hell. She wasn''t ready to kill him.

    "Fuck," I shouted as I had to pivot to avoid a second shield and a second beam of power. So far he was predictable, but that didn''t matter when his attacks were so effective. The energy was too powerful for my shield. I could sense the enormous amount packed into each beam.

    I was going to have to unleash my own blasts on him, but I worried in this small space that I could hurt the others, especially Elias.

    "Ashton," Lote said in a voice thundering with authority and expectation, the same word that Elias had spoken, but bursting with the kind of power that only came from either mastering the neural implant or living the life of a king.

    Elias closed his eyes and raised his head back. Lote shouldered past me, driving straight for Elias, the beam of power flickering for an instant before it shot out.

    I caught Elias just in time, but a shield that looked like a cement wall shot from the ground up in front of him. The beam hit it with an ear-shattering whack that made the room tremble.

    I hadn''t known that he could use shields.

    "Code," Elias said breathlessly, apparently realizing that I was confused.

    Brilliant. I was mistaken to assume that since he focused on technology he wouldn''t have any combat abilities. He''d said that he didn''t know any combat at all, but he could still protect himself, and probably manage some kind of an attack.

    It would help, at the very least.

    The wall slowly turned translucent so I could see Jax viciously attacking Lote with his swords. Ashton ran to his side and jabbed her sword for her mentor''s gut. I wasn''t sure if she''d have the heart to actually hurt him after I saw her freeze, but I was thankful she could provide some kind of assistance.

    "Go," Elias said. "I''ll protect myself and strengthen you."

    I sensed the others trying to break into the room now. "Are you the one holding them off?" I asked.

    "Yes."

    "Then focus on protecting yourself and holding them off. I don''t have to hold back if I know you''re safe."

    I caught his smile as he nodded and I lunged for Lote.

    Ashton, Jax, and I all attacked at the same time, primarily utilizing our weapons in this small space. My blade caught Lote''s thigh, the only of our attacks this round to break through his shield.

    "What the hell are you doing?" he cried out, aiming his palm at Ashton.

    She dodged a beam of power that shot straight through one of Lote''s paintings and set the two beside it on fire.

    Anger darkened his expression as he flicked his hand to put out the power.

    As we fought, I felt something strange, almost like hearing static in the background that grew by the second, only it was power that I sensed.

    Something was wrong.

    We were starting to breakthrough his defenses, but he didn''t seem concerned in the slightest. If no one had been aware of his ability to instantly erect a shield over himself, one of the most powerful I''d ever encountered, what else could he do?

    "It''s a machine," Elias said. "I can see it now. He''s using a machine somewhere in this room to provide a constant shield over him. It''s activated by power or by the force of a strike, but it''s always there. I just can''t shut it down or find the machine."

    Machine? I ground my teeth. "Why did none of you tell me he has machines?" I channeled my power through my blade, piercing his shield right as his gut and screaming as I struggle to force it through the shield. A pinprick of blood bubbled at the blade before he blasted me one of those damn energy beams I had to dodge.

    "He''s not supposed to," Elias said. "We''ve been trying to figure out how to create and incorporate machines in our warfare, but we are far from actually utilizing them. Or so I thought. Apparently he''s keeping it for himself."

    A twisted sneer snapped onto Lote''s face. The low-grade power I felt started to surge.

    We needed to get out of here. Urgency filled me, undeniable. The instinct that we absolutely could not defend against whatever was about to hit us.

    "Come to me," I said and shot back to Elias. If we could all grab onto each other, I could teleport us to the cabin where Ashton had been fighting.

    Jax and Ashton didn''t question it. They abandoned their attack on Lote and sprinted for me. I clutched Elias with one hand and reached for Ashton with the other. She grabbed Jax''s hand, her fingertips straining for mine.

    That power I''d felt traveled through every fiber of my being and locked me in place with my fingers and Ashton''s so close that even flinching would bring us all together. We all stood frozen in place, my hand wrapped around Elias''s wrist, and Jax and Ashton''s laced together.

    I remembered when the Prophet of the Valley would use his energy to bear down on us so we couldn''t even breathe. This was different. I could breathe just fine and my heart didn''t race. It was like the power had wound through every strand of muscle in my body and locked it rigidly in place.

    With horror, I realized that I couldn''t even gather my power at my fingertips.

 111. Innovations

    The power immobilized me entirely.

    "Incredible, right?" Lote sauntered closer, his sneer cocky and triumphant, and quietly seething with rage. He slowly walked around our group, studying each of us without any concern that we might escape. "I hope that we can bring this to the battlefield one day. What do you think, Elias? It''s based on your prototype." He laughed then. "Sorry. I forgot that we still need to adjust the settings so you can talk. One moment."

    He looked up at the ceiling like he was reading something and then suddenly I was able to move my lips. It must have targeted certain muscles, because I found I could also swallow like normal, in addition to breathing.

    "How did you do this?" Elias asked. "It never worked."

    "It never worked because I had the missing pieces. I knew that in order to ever crack this technology, you would need to not simply learn the skill to selectively freeze muscles in the body while simultaneously binding the energy. You would need a machine that could do it precisely and effortlessly."

    "So you stifled our research."

    "I did. We can''t let our best technology get into the hands of our enemies. Our machine division is limited to myself, two of our leaders, and a single inventor that each of us chose. That''s why you didn''t realize just how far we''d come."

    Elias''s nostrils flared. "You stole our machine research."

    "It''s not stealing when we funded it in the first place. That''s my research."

    "Lote," Ashton said.

    He raised a single finger to her. "I don''t want to hear from you. Not yet. I promise you that you don''t want to cross me right now, Ashton. I''m not happy with you." He looked at Elias again. "I expected this from you." Now at Jax. "No surprise to see you here." His stare turned to Ashton. "You though¡­ You''ve genuinely hurt me." Finally, he looked at me. "And you," he said, barking out a laugh now. "My first thought was twin, my second clone, and now my mind is reeling with all the possibilities."

    Lote walked so close that I could feel him breathing against my forehead. He studied my eyes.

    "Just who are you?" he asked with enough intrigue and excitement to make my heart race with fear. "Are you from the world Elias has been traveling to? The timing makes too much sense."

    I clenched my jaw, refusing to answer.

    "Is the whole world populated with more of us?" He crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing me like I was a brand new machine someone had handed to him. "Fascinating. The possibilities are endless."

    "Whatever you think this means, you couldn''t be more wrong," I said.

    "Well, you''ve given me plenty of gifts today. My office is wired with all my favorite machines. My best kept secrets. I''m lucky that you chose this location. Then again, I exclusively meet with people here for a reason. I''m not sure how else you could have gotten to me."

    This was really bad.

    "What other machines do you have?" Ashton asked.

    "It''s not very fun to tell you. I don''t get to try these out very often." He wandered to his desk, opened his drawer, and retrieved a headset. "This is portable, but it just can''t do what my office can. The equipment is too bulky to carry out and the conditions need to be exactly right. The temperature being even a degree off can ruin it."

    "You must be excited to have the chance to talk about your secrets," I said dryly.

    "Yes, actually. It''s thrilling. Ashton and Elias have helped me so much with this work and they didn''t know. I wanted to share it with them so many times. You just can''t be too careful about who you trust." The sharp stare turned to Ashton again. "Can you?"

    "I know what you did," Ashton said. "What you''re doing now only confirms that you''ve been shady as hell."

    "Yes, well, I have a kingdom to look after. I can''t afford to think only of myself or only of our guild. Our enemies will war with us again and we lost too many people last time. Our guild is the best to lead. We have the greatest innovations. We need to get stronger and set our kingdom above the rest."

    "Oh, shut up," I said. "No one wants to hear your excuses. You murdered Elias''s parents."

    Lote didn''t look surprised. "I figured that must have been what this was about."

    Ashton let out a strangled sounding breath, but Elias only stared with fiery eyes.

    "It looks like I don''t need to deny it. Elias is a smart kid. I''m sure he has all the evidence he needs, enough for Ashton to ambush me. What else could make you both turn on me?" He shrugged. "It''s not that I wanted to kill them. It''s just that I couldn''t trust them to keep their mouths shut. They were never going to back down from their ideals and so nothing could be done about it."

    Elias managed to spit on the ground, which only drew an amused smirk from Lote. "You sick, bastard. They were loyal to this guild. They were a part of our kingdom. What right do you have to take their life? You''re a murderer."

    "A murderer with the most advanced machines in the world. Thirty years from now when every person in our kingdom is equipped with the protection of these machines and we can wage war remotely using them, do you think anyone will a fuck about your parents?" He shook his head and leaned in close to Elias. "No one cares as it is."

    "What is wrong with you?" I asked. At least Dr. Henderson had the gall to care when she had me killed. He had the sadism of the Prophet of the Valley. I needed to find him in my world and figure out what he was up to because this was a sick man.

    "I care." He plastered his hands to his chest. "Genuinely. I celebrated their anniversary with you every year because I actually am thankful for their sacrifice. They gave their lives for our kingdom. It might not have been in the way that they wanted, but they did. I mean it that I didn''t want to have to kill them. I''m just saying that it doesn''t really matter that I''m a murderer when I''m the person who can save this kingdom. Line up all the children who would die if not for me and ask their mothers how much they care. Give their mother''s the choice to snap their fingers and make me disappear or save their children."

    Tears sprinkled onto Ashton''s cheeks. "I don''t know how I never saw it."

    "Well, young Ashton, I didn''t let you see it. Don''t blame yourself. I know how to pretend to have compassion and empathy. I can be more convincing than any of you because I can''t afford to ever seem like I don''t have it." He stood beside me again, studying my face. "How uncanny. I want to know more about you now. We can catch up on the whole Lote is a monster shock later. Which¡­" He raised both brows. "I do choose to care, okay? I''m not a monster. It''s just that I have the ability to rationally decide when to feel bad and when not to and thus can lead this valley."

    "Stop talking," I said. "Just stop."

    "Will you fill in the silence? I''m very curious to hear if I''m right about you being from that world."

    When I only glared, he groaned and dragged his chair closer. He sat down now and looked between the four of us for a while.

    "Listen, you''re all very capable at what you do. To force you to talk will probably be very painful and bloody. I''m not sure how resilient you are to forced connection," he said to me now. "But I know that Elias will be exceptionally hard to break through. Ashton and Jax will be simpler, but still, it will be very challenging and stressful for all of us. I encourage you to just talk to me. Let''s start over and pretend for a minute you didn''t try to murder me. We can negotiate."

    "Negotiate?" I almost laughed. "I''m not negotiating with a sociopath."

    "You read old medical literature from the original Earth? I''m a fan as well."

    It wasn''t me. It was Piercey, but I wouldn''t say that.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    "You really shouldn''t use sociopath as an insult," he said. "It''s a mental illness and there are plenty of health sociopaths out there living a great life, making contributions to society. It is treatable."

    "Fuck me," Jax said. "You''re insane."

    "I''m using my condition for good if you can bring yourself to accept it. I make our kingdom safer. We need people like me. It''s just better to hide such realities from people like you who are hurt by my methods. But don''t judge all sociopaths because of me. That''s just unkind."

    I couldn''t believe this. "Fine," I said. "You''re negotiating with a soulless murderer."

    "I can understand that," he said. "I make very good deals, though. Ashton can testify to that. Let''s hear about this world of yours."

    "You''re making assumptions."

    He leaned forward and I saw the danger in him, veiled by his unsetting ability to talk casually about the unspeakable, and hidden by his calmness. This man was sharp, cunning, and absolutely deadly. "My assumptions are correct. You get defensive about your world."

    Did denying it even help me? I could position myself better if I told the truth in some way. He already knew I wasn''t a twin or a clone. He was right that the timing made it obvious. "You will never step foot in my world."

    "I don''t think that''s true. See, we''ve already come close to figuring out how Elias is traveling. I have a small team working on it constantly. We''re breaking it down and will replicate it soon. In fact, we hope to create a machine that do it for us. Machines are so much more reliable."

    Panic made my heart pound in my ears. Their power wasn''t simply greater than what we had in our planet. Their technology was far beyond what we''d manage for probably hundreds of years. Those of us with power were so focused on warfare and survival, not to mention that many of us had been hunted and killed by people like the Prophet of the Valley. When would we have time to create machines like this?

    "You''re doing the math, aren''t you?" Lote asked. "Trying to figure out if you can stop me. Calculating the costs of doing so."

    I couldn''t let him see that our world absolutely could not have any hope of stopping his attack. "It''s not simple to wage war in an unknown world."

    "True. We have the logistics of bringing our people and potentially machines to you¨Cmachines that we haven''t even used in combat here yet. So, you know. I won''t lie and say that we''re going to be widely using them. But I won''t give you false hope and pretend there won''t be any."

    I didn''t like the cavalier way he discussed his strategy with me, making it obvious that he didn''t care if I knew about his battleplans, because his victory was so assured that he could tell me exactly how he wanted to beat me and do it anyway.

    This current situation didn''t exactly show him any reason to have confidence in us. So far, I had no idea how to break free of this machine. I didn''t even know where it was. What it was. Normally, when enemies used power attacks like this, I could at least count on it wearing them down. Lote didn''t use any of his power.

    The machine did need a power source, though. And Lote was desperate for resources. "You want machine parts and fuel for your power source," I said. "What makes you think there''s any more in my world than there is here? Or that you''ll have easier access to it?"

    "Good questions." Lote crossed one leg over the other. "You were worried enough about it to try killing me, unless you''re also avenging Elias''s parents. I doubt that. Even if you do want to avenge them, I doubt you''re in this world simply to do that. I''m a threat to you. How much of a threat is the question."

    I didn''t hide my emotions as easily as Nash or Piercey did and it was something I had been working on. I didn''t want Lote to figure out what I was feeling. Total fucking panic. That wouldn''t serve me or my people well.

    "I''m so curious about your people," he said. "I wonder how similar and different our worlds are."

    I knew from Elias that they didn''t know about the experiment here. Their supervisor hadn''t gotten involved in their world the way mine had and so the gods'' true nature hadn''t been revealed like it had in mine. So Lote didn''t have as much information as I did. "You have plenty of battles to fight here. Focus on your own world."

    "I can''t ignore an opportunity like this. You''re powerful. I can tell. Ashton and Jax are two of the finest warriors I''ve ever met, but you''re the one piercing my shield. That''s incredible. Are all people in your world this powerful?"

    "You''ll just have to start your stressful bloodbath, because I''m not telling you shit."

    "We have so many politics at play here. We''re at an impasse on trade because anyone in this world giving resources to my guild also gives up their power. We''re hurting each other because we won''t share what we need. Your world isn''t mired in my politics. What if we can offer something to you that you need? Who in your world would I need to speak to about this?"

    I spoke in a low growl. "You will speak with me and only me." Where was Piercey when I needed him? He was so diplomatic. I knew war. If we couldn''t fend off Lote, then it was possible we needed to consider a deal. I couldn''t trust him, though. If we made a deal, it would only be to buy time for figuring out a plan to survive. I knew from the Prophet of the Valley that there was no long lasting peace with men who were gluttonous for power.

    Elias''s voice came through my mind then. "Don''t respond or acknowledge that you can hear me. I found the machine but I can''t hack it. I''ve never seen anything like this before. But I do know that behind the walls, there''s veins of fuel."

    Message received. I needed to cut the fuel lines. That was why Lote had protected his paintings. It was really the fuel he protected.

    "I''m going to try to help you break free. The machine uses your own power against you to utilize the energy inside of you to contract your own muscles. My energy, from an outside source, has a better chance of freeing you."

    I didn''t want Lote to suspect that Elias was talking to me, because I knew that it was risky for him to send any messages in a room like this, equipped with technology far beyond my imagination.

    "What do you think you could offer me?"

    I purposefully said "me" and not my world because I wanted to send the message that I had the authority to decide. That I was not someone to fool with.

    Damn it, Nash had told me not to start a war by myself and I''d gotten myself trapped in Lote''s office after an assassination attempt. I should have gotten help after all, even if it was risky traveling like that when Elias was supposed to be brought in today.

    "You see that we have a great deal to offer. You''re surprised by our machines. I can tell. I doubt you have any or that if you do, they can''t do this."

    He was right. We had some level of machinery in factories near the mines, but no one had ever managed to make machines of war. Our world simply didn''t have enough people with power or the infrastructure to make advancements like this.

    A vague hope filled me that the gods would see this predicament and intervene, because I knew they wouldn''t want one world invading another. I''d told them to stay out of our worlds, though. If I asked for help now, how could I ever get leverage again? They were far more dangerous than any person in any world. Asking for their help today could surely lead to our downfall.

    I forced my breathing to slow. Elias had said he was going to focus on helping me break, but I didn''t feel any power from him. I realized, though, that his power had felt different when he erected the shield, one more like a wall than a shield. Maybe because he used his power differently, in such a technical way, he could work more quietly.

    "Do you really think we could ever have successful negotiations when we began this way?" I asked. "We tried to kill you."

    "I know it''s nothing personal. Elias is angry because I killed his parents and lied to him about it for a decade. I understand that. Jax is my enemy. And Ashton feels betrayed by the lies. Who could blame you for trying to kill me? I can be a business man first."

    Unbelievable. The Prophet had been vindictive. Was I really supposed to believe this man wasn''t? Everyone wanted revenge at some level. Perhaps he wanted the resources we had more, though.

    "I honestly really want to talk about a deal. I agree that warring in an unknown world is dangerous. I will do it, but negotiations benefit us both. We should see what we can work out before we jump to destroying each other."

    "Considering that you have no idea who I am, who my people are, or how many of us are here, you had better believe this is dangerous for you." Oh, that was good. That put some worry in him. I could tell by how calm he looked now. "You don''t even know what we really want."

    Lote''s voice dropped to a growl. "Oh, I knew not to assume you''d be simple."

    "You know Ashton, so you should know I''m not an enemy you want to have."

    "Why do you think I worked so hard to keep her close."

    "Asshole," Ashton said. She and Jax had kept quiet while I fought for my world with the only weapons I had available right now, my words and my mind. "You aren''t saving our kingdom. You''re staining it. This feud is the reason we aren''t safer. People like you make it so we can''t have peace."

    "I''m happy to work for peace. I won''t simply give it away for free, though. I do care about our guild. Does it even matter to you how badly it would have hurt us if I suddenly died? Think of how we would look to our enemies."

    "Don''t listen to him," Jax said. "He only wants to hurt you."

    "Hear me, Lote." I raised my voice. "If you step foot in my world, I will kill you."

    He rose from his chair and took his time working close once more. "I can''t wait until the day you''re forced to submit to what I want. Just remember that the more lives and time you cost me, the less I''m willing to give in negotiations."

    The power that forced my muscles to contract strengthened, until a terrible pressure bore down against every bone in my body. My muscles were tightening more and more, my body rigid now. Pain splintered through me.

    "Stop," Jax said.

    "Did you know that muscle contractions can be strong enough to break your own bones?" Lote glanced down me. "Snap. Snap. Snap."

    I struggled for breath, feeling like my bones would do just that at any moment.

    As hard as I tried to gather my power and defend myself, I couldn''t.

    "We can heal you and do it again. That''s no problem. However long it takes for you to be willing to have a more honest conversation."

    "That''s enough, Lote." Ashton and Jax were both yelling at him now, but it wasn''t them that Lote noticed. He turned finally, eyes on Elias, who stared at him silently.

    "What are you up to?" Lote asked.

    I couldn''t take much more before I actually did pop a bone. Pain consumed my entire body.

    "Elias," Lote said.

    Snap.

    I gasped in the deepest breath of my life as relief flooded me. The power forcing my muscles to contract had snapped suddenly like a bone breaking. Letting out a cry, I shot power out of both palms toward the paintings.

    Lote tried to shield the walls, but he was too late.

    A sweet smelling mist poured out from the walls.

    Jax broke free first, wrenching himself one step forward to catch Elias''s arm. Lote aimed his palm directly at me.

    I grabbed Ashton''s hand this time and we were gone before the energy could hit us.

    We all collapsed onto our knees in the cabin where Ashton had been hiding, silent, together.

    Sweat doused my body. My muscles ached from contracting and my bones felt bruised. Everything hurt.

    I lifted my head and looked between the three. "We''re all going back to my world. Now."

 112. Another Shift

    "If we flee to your world, it only gives Lote that much more motivation to quickly figure out how to make it there," Elias said.

    "And if you stay, they''re going to break into your brain and figure it out that way." I checked out the window again, convinced someone could approach at any moment. "Lote is very motivated and I don''t think you taking refuge in my world makes a meaningful difference."

    "She''s right." Jax rested against the wall, but his hand remained on the hilt of his blade. "Do you really think that someone in your guild won''t be able to crack the code on what you did? It''s a matter of time."

    Ashton paced on the other side of the room, the sound of each footstep unnerving me.

    "We can''t just leave here without taking care of Lote and the rest of the guild," Elias said. "It''s only pushing off the problem."

    "No, we''re recruiting allies. You, Ashton, and Max return to your world. I''ll turn to my guild for help."

    "Wait." I shook my head. "That puts my world in more danger. Lote will be limited right now by trying to keep this a secret. He didn''t even tell Elias and Ashton about his machines. He keeps his secrets well-protected. My world is a major secret. He''s not going to bring an army over, at least not yet. He''s going to try to get the job done with the least amount of people."

    "True," Elias said. "Even a small amount could be enough."

    "I have allies I can trust." Jax walked closer to me, his tone imploring. "We at least need to gather a few strong warriors to support us."

    "Won''t your guild ask questions?"

    "Not right now. They trust me. If they know I have a plan and it''s not safe to say much yet, they won''t ask questions. I''ve done this before."

    Back in my world, Nash had secretly worked against the Prophet unsuccessfully for years before we met and killed him together. It didn''t surprise me that Jax was so active here with plans of his own. "How many?"

    "Three I would trust with the life of anyone in this room."

    "What about with my entire world?"

    "Yes." He spoke with such assurance and conviction that I couldn''t bring myself to question him. "I have more I trust with my life, but with those three, I would trust anyone''s life."

    "Bring them," I said. "I trust you and I trust your word. So they''ll fight with us."

    The fire of battle ignited in his eyes as he nodded. "Will you transport me to them?"

    "Yeah. Let''s plan here and then we''ll gather your allies. I want us in my world as soon as possible, though. Lote is capable of more than we can imagine. For all we know, he already can travel to my world, and could be going there now."

    Now that terrified me to think about.

    "It''s okay," Elias said. "I don''t think that''s the case. We''ll work fast here and get you home."

    "You too." I wasn''t taking no for an answer. "They''ll kill you here."

    Ashton chewed her thumbnail as she paced. I huffed and twisted her way.

    "Would you stop it?" I raised my voice at her. "Get over here."

    "I need to think," she said.

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    "No, you don''t. You''re spiraling. You need to stop thinking. Trust me. Get over here and help us plan."

    "I fucked up." Ashton shook her head, her voice on the verge of tears. "I stood there and watched you two fight him."

    "Ash." Jax spoke softly, the way Nash did to me when I felt anxious. "You loved Lote. You can''t be expected to turn on him in a day. It''s understandable."

    "It is." Elias took a few steps closer, but didn''t fully approach her. "Let it go."

    "It''s not. It''s unacceptable."

    The two men started to talk at the same time, both wanting to console her. I crossed my arms.

    "It is unacceptable," I said. "You never enter a battle with an enemy you aren''t prepared to kill. You should have stayed home."

    Jax and Elias both looked at me with surprise.

    "Max," Elias said quietly.

    "No, don''t coddle her. That''s the problem, isn''t it? Elias, you coddle her. Ashton, you never had to fight alone. You always had someone. You''re stronger than this. Stop pacing around and get into this battle. Now."

    Ashton slowed to a stop, facing away still.

    Everyone quieted. I could see by the look of admonition on Elias''s face and worry on Jax''s that they thought I''d been harsh. I knew myself, though. When I was on the verge of breaking, I needed comforted. Ashton was not close to breaking. She was guilty, and I knew that feeling well.

    Slowly, she turned to face me, staring at me without speaking. Finally, she walked up to me, leaned against the wall beside me, and breathed out very slowly.

    "Thank you," Ashton said. "I needed that."

    "I know."

    The men raised their brows at each other.

    "Just so you know, you two are not allowed to do that to me." Ashton pointed a finger at each. "Only I can do that to me."

    I grinned at that, holding in my chuckle. She had that right. I would lose it on Piercey if he tried that and if Nash did, I would probably only crumble. Leif and I were the only ones who could give that kind of talk to me and have it work.

    That was why I needed my dear friend so much.

    "Let''s figure out our plan and get to my world." I clapped my hands. "No wasting time."

    <hr>

    My world and Elias''s were the same in every way except for the number of people who had power and the myriad ways that changed our civilizations. It was the same sun, though, the same weather, the same animals.

    And yet everything felt so much brighter when we appeared in the courtyard of the Sacred School with the sunlight bathing the dome above us.

    I closed my eyes for a few seconds, the feeling of home hitting me deeply in my chest, settling in my gut.

    "You all go sit behind that big tree. No one is going to snoop around over there and I don''t want you to be seen." I pointed to the tree where Piercey and I had often sat.

    The Ashton, Elias, Jax, and the three warriors from the other guild walked over and sat down with their backs facing the rest of the courtyard. I felt for Nash and teleported to him. I''d used so much power today, that transporting was starting to feel like a strain. My desperation to see him drove me, though.

    I landed in a hallway right in front of both him and Leif.

    "Nash," I said the moment I saw him.

    He had been mid-sentence when he saw me and he grabbed me without saying another word, closing his arms tight around me, holding me so close it suffocated me.

    "You''re okay," he said. He kissed the crown of my head, pulled back enough to see me, and kissed my temple. My cheek. "I worried every second you were gone."

    "I''m sorry." I clasped his shirt with both hands, letting my weight fall onto him, breathing him in. "I missed you so much." There was work to be done, though. "Listen, there''s a lot to say, but we need to get to the courtyard." I motioned for Leif and he grabbed my shoulder. Not wanting to take the time to walk across the complex, I transported us to the courtyard.

    Nash immediately noticed the group by the tree. "Is that¡­"

    "Yeah," I said. "Jax is over there. Be prepared for that."

    "This is crazy."

    "I''ve got to see this," Leif said. He walked ahead of us for the group and called out in a boisterous voice. "Who dares to copy the face of our great Max, the Sharpshooter, and the spy."

    I snorted at him calling Nash a spy and jogged to catch up. The group stood to meet us, Jax turning around to face Nash.

    The two both paused. I looked from one head of curly hair to the other.

    "Holy hell," Leif said. "There really are two of them. Just know I''ll still you if you hurt Max. Any version of Max."

    He nodded at Ashton. An uncertain but amused smirk came over her face.

    "It doesn''t feel real," Jax said.

    "This¡­" Nash looked between Ashton and Jax. "This is incredible."

    I''d been living in this chaos for so long that I couldn''t feel it anymore. Instead, I felt removed, even numb, to the shock of seeing copies of ourselves.

    Ashton stared at Nash before turning her attention to me and I saw pain in her eyes. Pain I could feel in my own chest, because I''d lived through enough of her memories to know that she hated herself right now for letting anything keep her away from Jax.

    "Let''s talk," I said. "Our apartment is close by. I''ll call Piercey and Wren to have them meet us."

    "Apartment," Ashton said.

    Nash scratched the back of his neck. "Is it too much for you guys?"

    "No." Jax shook his head. I wasn''t sure about Ashton, though. She said nothing.

 113. Return

    "This is a nightmare." Piercey held his head in his hands and groaned low. "It''s taken most of Gael''s manpower to defend the Valley while you were gone. The attacks are happening at the same rate as when you had to leave. They''ve waged all out war. How are we supposed to fight another war on top of this? With more advanced warriors?"

    Nash spoke up. "We have news about that. There''s hope. Max, I''ll update you as soon as we''re done talking about this."

    I nodded and refused to allow myself to give in to despair or panic, even if my stomach churned and my heart raced. I kept it distant from my mind.

    Jax leaned his weight against his knees with his hands clasped. "Attacks?"

    "Until recently, we didn''t have many warriors to help defend the Valley. There''s only power for one out of every one hundred people here, and on top of that, the man we killed¨Cthe Prophet of the Valley¨Chunted demons the entire time he was in power. He killed off and drove out a lot of people with power. Someone is having people randomly attack all over the valley and we''ve been so busy surviving, we haven''t made progress with finding the root issue."

    Ashton glowered at Elias. "You got her involved in our guild when she was dealing with this?"

    "I thought I would be helping her. I gave power to three of her best warriors and planned to help train them. When this was all over, I was going to share technology and information."

    "All because you didn''t want me to get involved. Because you can''t trust me to win the battle. You think I''ll get myself killed." Real hurt broke through the anger in her voice. "You think she can win a war I can''t?"

    "No," Elias said. "We both needed help and I thought we could help each other without having to hurt anyone else. I didn''t want you to know what Lote did. I didn''t want you to have to fight again."

    Nash eased closer to whisper to me. "You''re the one who told her, didn''t you?"

    "Obviously," I said. "He was being a stubborn idiot." My gaze turned to Piercey then, and I interrupted Elias and Ash''s bickering. "Did you know that he hid this from her? You two connected."

    He shook his head. "I didn''t realize. Looking back, I don''t have a memory of him telling her, but I had no memory of him concealing it. I just didn''t think about it. There were too many things on my mind. I''m a fool for not realizing."

    "You''re all too trusting is what you are." Leif had said little since we came into the apartment. "I say this all the time."

    Piercey and I both groaned at the same time. Leif was right about this for once and he''d never let us live it down.

    "Okay, we can all fight later," I said.

    "Now you want to change topics." Leif flashed a smug grin. "I''ll take that as you saying I told you so."

    I made a face at him and then waved him off. "We have a giant mess to clean up. All of us."

    "We have to finish the job," Jax said. "We kill Lote and whoever is helping plan to break into this world. Your world will be safe and we can take the next step toward peace for our guilds."

    Jax''s three comrades stood in a group together on the other side of the room, all of them nodding together.

    "I agree with Jax on this," Elias said.

    "Killing Lote won''t be easy. He''s expecting us now. They''ll be monitoring for your return, Elias. You told me before they can catch your power readings. We''ll be walking into a trap no matter how we do it."

    "What if you force him here?" Nash asked. "Take away the advantage of him being at home."

    "It could work. Then again, we''ll be opening our world to danger." Anxiety twisted my insides. "Right now he can''t hurt anyone here because he''s trapped in his world."

    "Until he figures out how to travel," Elias said. "Our greatest advantage, though, is that he''s keeping this a close secret. We won''t be fighting against the entire guild."

    "The secrets are the problem." Ashton stared at the ground, sounding as numb as I was starting to feel. "All these secrets are killing us. We should tell the truth."

    "What does that even mean?" Elias asked. "You want to advertise this world to everyone?"

    "Not happening," I said.

    "I didn''t say we should tell everyone," Ashton said. "Only that we should tell the truth. Some could see this as a coup against our kingdom''s leadership. The guilds are meant to have a similar standing. Lote secretly amassing so much technology, power, and resources is a threat to the order of the kingdom. How are we supposed to know he simply wants our guild to be on top? Maybe he wants to overthrow the kingdom."

    Piercey had slowly straightened while she spoke. "You want to tell your king. Can he be trusted?"

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    "I think so," Ashton said. "He doesn''t have as much power as a king in your world might because the guilds are so powerful. But he does have the final authority, especially in regard to the wrongdoing of guild leadership. It''s a balancing act of power and why we''re so stonewalled."

    "Lote may kill the king if it comes to it." Worry shadowed Elias''s tight frown. "The king is supposed to have final authority, yes. He doesn''t. Telling him might mean he tells the leadership of all the guilds what''s happening because he relies upon their power to manage the kingdom."

    "What''s the point of a powerless king?" Leif asked.

    "Central leadership, even a weaker one, has its merits." Elias sighed. "From diplomacy, to negotiations, to our judicial system. He might have to share power with the guilds and he rules under their shadow, but he does bring order to our kingdom."

    Order. I rubbed my arm, thinking about the order that our valley had once had before I destroyed it. It was an awful order, but we certainly had one. The feeling that had been gnawing at me for months turned painful as I thought about the future of our valley and the threats that we faced from all sides.

    "The power of a king is that he is one voice that will always be heard above many. If he calls Lote a traitor, the guilds will be quick to listen. He doesn''t need to tell them about our world. There''s plenty of other evidence."

    The urgency inside of me grew, as it had been through every day of fighting through chaos. I''d tried to run from it and deny it and seek out another way. I''d been convinced that I didn''t have the time to lead the Valley and so I''d taken on the bulk of the war when we needed a kingdom to fight, not just me. It wasn''t just that the valley needed someone to lead, but to have the chance to become one people, instead of the disparate and abandoned villages of a horrible Prophet. We needed to unify together as one.

    I couldn''t sit still so I pushed out of my seat and walked to Piercey, pointing at him. "Assemble the valley leadership immediately. Tell them it''s an emergency. Use Gael to bring everyone here to the Sacred School."

    He started to stand even as he asked the question. "What are you planning?"

    "Nash." I turned so I could see his amber eyes, feel if this was the worst mistake of my life, and if it was something we could survive.

    "Don''t wait," he said. "Go."

    A pang of love so sharp it felt like pain stabbed into my heart. I couldn''t assume he knew what I was planning or doing and it didn''t matter to him. We''d been through so much together. He recognized this urgency I felt. Trusted me. At one time, I relied on his trust to believe in myself. It now mingled with the faith I felt in myself now. This was the right call.

    "Piercey meet me in the conference room with the others. The rest of you, stay here and plan. Leif, take care of them." I looked to each person to check for understanding and looked at Nash again. "Let''s go."

    He pushed from his chair and I didn''t even walk across the room. I ran.

    The last thing I heard before the door slammed shut was Leif''s loud voice. "What the hell just happened?"

    <hr>

    "We deal with this captive demons now. What did you learn?" I asked as we ran through the halls of the Sacred School. A student jumped to the side, avoiding us.

    "Piercey used the tracker you''ve been putting in them to help Gael and me to travel to some." Nash shoved a door open for me as we both burst through. "I pretended that I was offering them money to attack again. One took the bait."

    I cut a look to him. "They all did this for money?"

    "Only some. The demons attacking right now are serious. I think a lot of the random attacks over the past year have been demons who were paid to cause mischief."

    I slowed to a stop as soon as we reached the door leading to the holding rooms¨Cclassrooms that we''d converted into temporary cells for our captives. It was guarded by some of Piercey''s best graduates. "What did you find?"

    "It''s the Flatlander Prophet. He''s working with a cult of demons to weaken us for invasion. He wants land back that the Prophet of the Valley stole from him long ago."

    "What cult?"

    "I don''t know. Those demons won''t talk."

    "Well, today is their last chance."

    The graduates guarding the door stepped aside to allow us entrance.

    "What does that mean?" Nash called after me.

    "It means we''re using manpower to keep a constant check on their power and guard them and we can''t afford that."

    A graduate opened one of the converted classrooms for me when I stopped in front of the door.

    "Eclipse," he said.

    I ignored the name, peering into the brightly lit room. One of the demons I had fought recently sat on the far side of the room with his arms and legs pound, his skin flushed red. I could feel his power warring to free itself.

    Nash and I both entered the room.

    "You have a choice today," I said. "Vow to leave the Valley in peace or die."

    The hard set of the demon''s frown remained frozen until his mouth opened wide in a loud laugh.

    Resignation hardened like lead in my gut. I spoke in a voice devoid of the anguish buried too deep beneath my determination for me to feel. "I''m sorry I did not do this in battle as I should have."

    I drew my sword, lunged forward, and buried my sword deep into his heart without hesitation.

    "Max¡­" Nash''s eyes didn''t leave the dead demon''s vacant stare.

    "We need every single warrior we can get. There will be no one left to guard them." I slung the blood from my sword and turned my back on the dead man. "You don''t have to stay for this."

    Nash clasped my wrist and jerked me to him. I caught myself on his chest with the bloodied sword between us. I waited for the sting of his judgment and horror at killing a captive man.

    "You''re the one who doesn''t have to stay for this," Nash said. "Go prepare for the leaders."

    A strangled breath caught in my throat. My eyes burned. "Nash¨C"

    "One day this valley will have justice and no one''s fate will be decided by a single person. Today is not that day. You''re right that this should have been done in battle. So let me do it now. You''ve carried the burden long enough." Nash pried my fingers from the sword and wiped one side against his leg. The other. He pushed it back into the sheath at my hip. "It''s time to step away, Max."

    Nash had a way of forcing me to stay in my body and feel everything I wanted to run from. Tears fell down my face as hundreds of days of killing gripped me. His hand worked over my face, his soft lips finding my cheek.

    "I know what you''re planning to do." His nose brushed mine. "I''ll fight by your side every second."

    I kissed him, desperate for the life I knew we could lead. "I love you."

    "I love you too. Don''t take the blame for this. They came here to wage war."

    "Killing someone on the battlefield is different than plunging a sword into their heart in a jail cell."

    "That''s why we''re going to make sure the valley is capable of handling prisoners from now on. So go."

    I nodded and backed away, realizing my hands were shaking. "If anyone is willing to talk, bring them to the conference. Choose the best one. Those left alive will fight with us or meet the same fate as the others. They stay under guard."

    Nash shifted so I could no longer see the man I''d killed and nudged me toward the door.

 114. Ascension

    It surprised me to see the number of leaders who had managed to make it to this sudden meeting. Gael had just finished bringing in Marcus, the commander who had overtaken one of our meetings to insist that I take over as leader.

    I looked to Chief Kaid, hoping that she would agree with what I was doing, and forgive me for taking so long. Wren and Leif took their seats on either side of her.

    "We are facing a new kind of threat that is much graver than our neighbors attacking us and taking advantage of the fragility of our current state." I stood as I spoke to them, making sure to meet the eyes of each of the dozens gathered today. "It occurred to me that we have an incredible power that we don''t yet know how to wield. We have a valley of leaders, warriors, and families who are committed to protecting our land."

    My chief smiled, holding my gaze.

    "We all know that we need a leader. We''ve spent a year searching for one. Calling on people to step up." I clenched my teeth, knowing that if I continued I couldn''t turn back. "We''ve spent a year with you crying out for me to lead you and I refused."

    Nash entered the room and closed the door, blood splattered over his chest. My stomach turned with nausea. Never again could I fail to take the action that needed to be taken to protect my valley or to wait so long to remedy it. We were fighting for our lives and I''d wasted precious resources on trying to keep alive the enemies would see us dead. We had taken a few for questioning, but ever since I realized my mistake in releasing demons to the cabin, I simply hadn''t wanted to kill every demon who warred against us. Trying to avoid the inevitable had made the awful deed that much worse and I would never repeat that mistake.

    "We can''t afford to wander lost in the darkness any longer. I might be able to fight a war for the valley, but I can''t win one. We need to do this together. So today we''ll make a decision together." I found Piercey at the far end of the table and breathed in deeply. Looked to Nash, to his confident gaze, the unshakeable calmness despite the blood covering his shirt. "Today we decide to become a kingdom. One people, united together."

    Marcus pounded his fist against the table so loudly that I thought it would crack. "Yes." He rose to his feet and thrust his fists in the air. "Rise, everyone. We will be a mighty kingdom."

    A village chief stood. A demon who had proven vital in battle. A commander. All around the table, people shoved their chairs away and joined in the battle cry.

    Chief Kaid stood and raised her forearm to me.

    I thought most would join but that some would need time. Soon, every single person stood, including Piercey.

    He might sit back down if he knew what Nash and I had just done. I didn''t like our kingdom beginning in a blood bath. Had there ever been another possible way? I hoped that one day someone would find it and do better than I''d managed to do.

    "Everyone will write down their vote for leader. We''ll collect¨C"

    "Eclipse." A chief''s voice boomed from beside me.

    "Eclipse," Marcus called out and beat his fist against his chest. "The Prophet Eclipse."

    Eclipse. Eclipse. Eclipse.

    The name echoed and swelled and spun around me.

    The leaders of the valley chanted it together as loud as any war cry I''d ever heard.

    Nash leaned against the wall, eyes on me, that half smirk filling one side of his face. "Max." I couldn''t hear him above everyone. Just saw his lips mouth the name.

    My heart pounded in sync with the cry of the name I never wanted but that all of Skia Hellig had learned to fear.

    "Our kingdom is under attack." I used my power to amplify my voice above their shouts. "Gather your warriors."

    <hr>

    The show of faith had overwhelmed me, but before long, the valley leaders had returned to business as we discussed the logistics of uniting our kingdom.

    "I want to hear from the chief of every single village within a month," I said. "Everyone gets their say. If they don''t want to join, they don''t have to, and I personally guarantee that they will still be protected. But I need word from each."

    Marcus tugged on the end of his short beard. "You''re giving away one of the motivations for joining the kingdom for free. In the future, there will be disagreements, and you''ll need factors like protection to convince people to stay. Kingdoms don''t hold themselves together."

    "I could never let any village in this valley fall."

    "Once they join, they join," Piercey said. "It''s binding."

    Marcus gave one more tug and then lowered his hand to the table. "Very well."

    "All of you, tell the chief''s that they need to talk with their people," I said. "There should be a consensus. When we need next, I need your preliminary ideas on laws and systems for our kingdom. Please make it a top priority." I stepped back away from the table. "Go on, everyone. We''re done."

    It should have felt surreal to give orders and see everyone jump to following them, except I''d unofficially done that for the past year. The valley had relied on me so heavily that with each passing week, I naturally had more authority when I gave orders. We all wanted to survive and they''d quickly learned I was their best chance at that.

    As people began to depart and Nash spoke with a few commanders, Piercey and Marcus both moved to sit closer to me. "Don''t stress," Piercey said. "I can feel you freaking out about the governance. We''re good at this part, okay? Let us work on this. We''ll draft ideas and gather thoughts. Once you''ve dealt with the threats, we''ll have plenty of long days of meetings to figure all of this out."

    Marcus spoke in a softer tone than I heard him normally use. I realized that I''d only ever experienced his political persona, not who he was on a personal level. "You''re a war-time leader. You need help with the political aspects. We all understand we signed up for."

    "Okay," I said. "It feels weak to not be involved with all of this."

    "You''re busy," Piercey said. "Step back. Remember? Delegate. We''ll come to you when it''s time to make decisions."

    "Speaking of decisions," I said. "The Sacred School cannot be so involved with this new kingdom forever. You need to choose whether you want to be a part of this government or the director of the Sacred School. I think after a transition period, the Sacred School needs to remove itself from the kingdom. It''s important that the school continues to grow into a true place of education and training and that it is not tied politically in anyway."

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    Piercey focused intently while I spoke. "You made a difficult decision. I will too. Know this, I will be with you until this kingdom is stable. No matter what."

    I nodded. "Thank you, Piercey. I couldn''t do any of this without you. We also need to immediately start raising up an heir. I''m not doing this for the rest of my life. I recognize that I''m the leader the valley needs right now. One day we won''t be at war and we won''t be emerging from chaos. I want to hand the kingdom over someone eventually."

    "We can talk about this later," Piercey said. "Deal with what you need to deal with now."

    He was right. After months of feeling beat down and lost, I could see exactly what I had to do. Maybe it was from getting out of my world and away from my problems, or living in Ashton''s life, seeing her world, but it seemed to clear to me now.

    It wasn''t that I''d never known we needed a leader¨CI did. I''d been begging for one for the past year. I just hadn''t realized that what I actually didn''t have time for was to refuse the role I''d already stumbled into. So before I left the valley again and confronted our threat in another world, I had to take a stand against the ones who had spent the last year attacking my people and I had to do it as the leader of the valley. I couldn''t afford to wait one more minute.

    I excused myself from Piercey and Marcus to move to Nash''s side. He turned from his conversation, his hand on my lower back.

    "You did incredible," he whispered close to my ear.

    His closeness brought me back into my body and down from the shock of what I''d done. It might have seemed impulsive, but it had been building inside of me for the last year. "I just got too tired of running from the job everyone could see I needed to do."

    "I''m with you." He kissed my temple. "We''ll do this together."

    I wanted to melt against him when he said it. I felt more terrified than I ever had stepping into battle and I knew that I hadn''t even done the hard part of leading yet. "I have to take care of something. I''ll explain when I''m back."

    "Go. I''ll take care of things here. I''ll work with the others at our place on our plan."

    "Thank you." I clung, not wanting to let go of him. I really couldn''t wait, though. One last squeeze and I stepped away.

    I teleported directly into the dining hall of the Flatlander Prophet. A massive table covered to the brim in beats, cheeses, vegetables, and multiple potato dishes sprawled out before the Flatlander and who I could only assume to be his family. A young boy stared up at me with chicken hanging from his mouth.

    "Eclipse," one guard shouted.

    Immediately, they ran for the Prophet.

    "I''ve come to talk," I said. "That''s why I''m alone. So you know I''m not a threat."

    The Flatlander Prophet pushed himself up from the tower and yelled in a voice shaking with rage. "How dare you enter my home and come to my family''s¨C"

    "How dare you enter my Valley? Why don''t we discuss this away from young ears."

    "I could have you killed."

    "You aren''t going to attack me in front of your family and put them in danger. I really do just want to talk and my time is short."

    He grumbled and slammed his fists against the table. "Everyone leave except for my guards."

    His wife grabbed the hands of his children as everyone began to flee the room. I did feel bad for scaring his family. That wasn''t my intention. How many families had he scared in my village though? He''d sent demons to attack innocent people in the middle of the night.

    He needed to know that I could appear before him at any time.

    "You have lost your mind," the Prophet said once we were alone with only his guards.

    "I thought it was time we finally meet since you''ve been waging a silent war against me for a year."

    I remembered hearing once that the Flatlander Prophet was on the short side, but I hadn''t realized he was barely taller than I was. And I was certainly short.

    "I don''t appreciate having my meal interrupted by an uninvited guest."

    "Then I''ll be quick so you can get back to your important task. The valley leadership has made a decision today. We''re uniting as one kingdom. I''m the new Prophet of the Valley."

    His lips curled. "It''s pathetic that it took you this long to make such an obvious decision. You don''t have what it takes to rule."

    "Maybe I don''t, but I can lead, and I have been for a while now. I didn''t come here to debate with you, though. We are about to be invaded by an enemy that is far stronger than any of us."

    The Prophet said nothing for several seconds. Suspicion and worry both clouded his look. "Who?"

    "You know that I''ve had dealings with the gods?"

    His nostrils twitched. "I know you''ve been up to plenty of wickedness, Eclipse. You killed Flare."

    I had to control myself. "The gods commanded my silence on the matter. I cannot tell you who this enemy is, only that when he arrives with his comrades, it will change our entire world if we don''t stop him."

    "Why should I believe you?"

    "Because if you don''t, you''re going to probably die. We don''t have very much time to prepare. If the enemy comes, we all need to fight him. I''m trying to stop him, but if I can''t¨C"

    "You want us to fight alongside you? Eskel the Ruthless stole our land twenty years ago and you have kept it for yourself."

    "The villages you claim as your own chose for themselves. They did not want to be under your rule. I''ll honor their choice."

    He breathed out hard. "Listen, Eclipse. I''m not a brute like Eskel and I''m not a fool either. I realize that you very well could be telling the truth. What you must understand about our land is that we had to fight to keep what we have. You have the natural protection of the valley and the mountain and coastal regions have better geography as well. We''re caught in the middle of you all, trying to keep ourselves together."

    "You''ve attacked us for a year while we reeled from the Prophet''s death. I''ve run myself ragged trying to protect my people." The innocent lives that this man was responsible for began to crowd my mind and made it hard for me to keep my temper in check. "You didn''t have to do that. You could have talked to us."

    "What good are words? Skia Hellig runs on blood."

    My power churned inside of me, heating my palms. "Children died because of your attacks."

    He looked down, grimacing. "You''ll soon learn the hardship of being a leader. War is inevitable and you never know who will die."

    "We don''t need to be at war. I don''t want your lands. Just let go of the valley villages and we can start over."

    "We aren''t going to fix the relationship between our lands while we talk. You came here to discuss this common enemy. Now that you''ve accepted leadership of the valley, we will arrange to meet as fellow Prophets and have formal discussions."

    I swallowed down a bitter taste in my mouth. "We will talk at the same exact time that our people fight and kill each other."

    "You''re in a new world, Eclipse. You should get used to it now."

    "Well, I''ve learned a few things recently, and one is that sometimes you have to fight with your enemies. And if you can fight with your enemy, maybe they can become something other than that."

    "I''m not sure whether you''re naive or resilient."

    "Does it matter when you know I''m deadly? I know you''re the one who has coordinated the attacks on the valley all year while you''ve also been attacking us outright. You''re bouncing off of the coastal warriors who''ve come after us as well. We''re going to be even harder to kill now that we''ve become a kingdom."

    He studied me. "You''re right. You are deadly and I''ve never made the mistake of overlooking that. Why do you think I''ve gone to such lengths to wear you down? You killed a man I have tried to kill for years."

    "I''m not going to kill you for no reason."

    "How am I supposed to know what you''ll do?"

    I stepped closer. "I suppose that''s a matter for these formal discussions we''ll have. Can I count on you to fight with us if this enemy shows up?"

    "Give me time to consider."

    "We may not have time."

    "I suppose that if the enemy comes, you will look to your side, and either I''ll be there or I won''t."

    "You know." I really wanted to punch this guy. "Some of my people didn''t want me to tell you because they worried you would see it as an opportunity to join with this threat or to attack while we deal with it. You should not toy with the unknown, though. This is not someone who will ever let you keep your land."

    He said nothing, but only stared.

    "Oh, one last thing. We don''t need negotiations for you to understand this. I will never allow you to enter into my kingdom''s territory and hurt my people. So consider yourself warned that any unauthorized movement in my kingdom will be an act of war."

    The Prophet shifted his eyes to the door. "I think we''re done."

    "I killed Eskel because he hurt my people. You should remember that, Prophet."

    "Leave," he said in a booming voice.

    I sneered and teleported away.

 115. Kings

    Nash and I stood together in the bathroom of our apartment while everyone waited in the living room. He spoke to me in a hushed voice.

    "Do you think any of them will help?" he asked.

    I wiped my face and dropped the towel onto the counter. "I don''t know. The Flatlander Prophet was not very receptive. My next visits weren''t much better. I wasn''t exactly welcomed warmly by the fjellfolk in the mountains or anyone in the coast. Skia Hellig has always been divided. But Gael said that he is willing to help bring warriors through portals if Lote ends up in our world. I don''t feel optimistic after reaching out to them."

    "They could double cross us even if they agree."

    "It seems almost as likely that they would join Lote as it does that they would join us. If I could explain the situation to them, they would see they need to help us. I have no doubt Lote would take over all of Skia Hellig."

    "I at least was able to introduce myself as the Prophet and let them know that things are different now. We aren''t tolerating attacks and we''re figuring out our shit." I turned around and leaned against the counter, making a face like I''d eaten something sour. "I really don''t like the sound of that. Prophet."

    He folded his arms around me. "I''m sure you could pick another title."

    "I don''t think I''ll like any of them."

    "I''m proud of you." He squeezed me. "I really am."

    "We said we wanted more time with our family and then I did this."

    "I know. I told you to do this, remember?" He held my arms, giving me a squeeze. "This is what needs to happen. The order in the Valley will lead to peace and stability. We''re on our way to a better future."

    "I hope." I stood on my toes and kissed him. "Thank you for believing me and for not resenting me when you wanted to do more."

    "I would never resent you for my own weakness."

    "It''s not weakness, Nash. You''re the strongest person I know."

    He brushed my hair back and smiled. "I will be soon. You better watch out, Sharpshooter."

    I chuckled, already looking forward to days of training with him now that he had power. "We have to be careful then. We can''t make it this far and lose. We can''t die."

    "No. No dying."

    "I guess it''s about time to go then, isn''t it?" His amber eyes drew me in and I wanted to promise that soon we''d have our life together. It just felt so far away.

    I opened the door and returned to where everyone waited for us in the living room.

    "We think it''s best that we keep the group small," Ashton said. "The king will be jarred having us suddenly appear. It''s the only way to keep the news from getting out though."

    "That sounds good to me," I said.

    Jax smirked. "I heard that while we were sitting here snooping through your apartment, you took over an entire kingdom. I''m not impressed at all."

    My cheeks felt warm. "I''m afraid of what I''ve just gotten myself into."

    "You''re exactly what they need," Elias said. "Everyone can see it."

    Ashton smirked and then bit her lip. "We also saw the child''s room. Leif told us about Elsie."

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    I looked over to Jax to see how he would handle figuring out that another version of himself had a child.

    "I can''t digest any of this," Jax said. "I''ve given up on even trying. It sounds great, though. Having a daughter. I can''t imagine."

    "She''s the greatest honor and joy of our life."

    The way Nash said our made me want to beam with joy. The last year could have torn apart the freshly budding love between us. Instead, through all the impossible battles, we''d grown closer together.

    I had so much to fight for. To live for.

    "We have to make it home safely," I said. "Let''s go."

    <hr>

    This week, we had revealed ourselves to so many people that I''d managed to become bored with the inevitable disoriented reaction to learning that there were multiple worlds just like ours.

    Interestingly, Ashton''s king had adjusted to the bizarre reality faster than anyone else had. When we''d appeared outside of the court, it had alarmed the guards, but because of the reputation of Elias, Jax, and Ashton, the king had been willing to see us.

    "I hope you realize that revealing all of this to you places my world in an extremely vulnerable position," I told the king. "We love our Valley just like you do here and we will fight for our people to be safe. I sincerely hope that we can work together on a safe agreement that honors both of our worlds."

    He crossed one leg over the other, his hands clasped tightly. "I absolutely have no interest in harming this valley in any world. You''re a sister kingdom to us. A twin. Anyone from this valley who would hurt you is a traitor to our kingdom. I won''t stand for it."

    Hope fluttered inside of me that maybe we really could find a resolution. I''d laid the groundwork at home for a road to peace, even if it happened to be the most overwhelming and scary thing I''d ever had to take on. How were we supposed to create and run a kingdom? But the kindness and the genuine camaraderie I felt from the king eased my deep fears about this world.

    "Your highness," I said. "There''s a reason that we''re so concerned for the safety of our Valley. Elias came just as an observer for a long time. He wanted to bring knowledge to your kingdom that could help you. But not everyone feels the way he does."

    The king leaned forward. "Who else knows about this?"

    "It''s my guild, your highness." Elias dipped his head. "Lote and his closest confidantes realized I was traveling worlds. He wants to take resources from Max''s world to enrich our guild."

    "Why have I heard nothing about this?"

    "I''ve kept it a secret, your highness, because I saw problems in my guild and I felt that I needed a plan before telling anyone. Their reasons for keeping secrets are more nefarious."

    The king raised his fist to his mouth and averted his gaze to his advisor. "What, exactly, is Lote doing? Don''t mince your words."

    Ashton surprised me by speaking before Elias could. "Lote has been hoarding resources and secretly developing technology without telling anyone else in the guild. He has sabotaged our guild and blamed it on the Silver Moon Guild to stoke tension between us." She looked to Elias now with teary eyes. "He covered up his crimes by killing Elias''s parents when they learned the truth."

    The king jumped to his feet and stomped down the stairs. "Bring him to me at once!"

    "Your highness," his advisor said.

    "This man is a traitor and as soon as the evidence is gathered, we''ll have a hearing. He will be jailed immediately.

    "Your highness," the advisor repeated. "Lote is very powerful. His guild will fight against this."

    I pitied the king in that moment to see his authority collide with the reality of how much power the guilds carried. "What are you saying?" the king asked in a steely voice.

    "We should talk before we make any moves."

    "I can''t stand for this. I knew Elias''s parents."

    "We''ll deal with Lote. That is certain. But let''s talk about how to do it in a way that does not lead to war or jeopardize you."

    The realization that it could be the king, rather than Lote, being ousted seemed to settle over the man. He turned back toward Elias with heartbreak gripping his expression. "I''m so sorry this happened. I need to see your evidence, but I know your family, and I trust that you have it."

    "I do, your highness."

    The king looked to me now. "You were right to bring this to me so that we can discuss as leaders. It would be a wonderful thing for us to share knowledge with each other and if we wanted to share resources as well, that would only help us. But I never want your kingdom to be in danger."

    I walked closer. "Thank you, your highness. I can''t tell you how reassuring it is to hear that."

    "I don''t believe that we''re made stronger by subjugating those who are weaker. It only invites problems to our doorstep. This must stay a secret. Your instincts were right."

    He settled back against his throne and tapped the arm rests several times. "If we take this problem to the guild leaders, it gives them time to prepare. We should take Lote into custody first to show how serious we are and then work toward peace with the others."

    His advisor looked uncertain. "We can bind Lote''s power while he''s here. Summoning him suddenly to the court may set off alarm bells for his co-conspirators."

    "We cannot ask for permission to jail our traitors. If we want to be strong, then we must be strong. I want Lote here at once."

 116. Alarm

    I''d worried that Lote might not appear, but he''d arrived within the hour, and had honored the order to come alone.

    As soon as he entered the court and saw all of us standing before the king, his eyes narrowed.

    "Your highness," Lote said as he bowed slightly. "I see my would-be assassins have paid you a visit."

    "Yet another thing you failed to report to the crown," the king said. "I''ve heard about what you''ve been doing."

    "It was for the kingdom, your highness. I planned to come to you in due time."

    "You''re a traitor," the king said and beat his fist against the arm of his throne. "What did you plan to do once you had this power? Perhaps, you thought you might like to be king."

    "No, your highness. I would never think such a thing. I only wanted to make us stronger to protect against our enemies. Our guild is the best equipped to lead this kingdom into the future, under your authority."

    "You''ve lost your right to speak. Your aggression and corruption has tainted what could be a mutually beneficial relationship. Do you really believe that going to war in their world was your best course of action? We could gain just as much through peaceful means."

    "They tried to kill me and still I offered peaceful means."

    I rolled my eyes. "Your highness, I can''t trust him. I did try to kill him and my only regret is that I failed."

    "We have a means for handling crime in our kingdom. Elias, Ashton, and Jax should have minded that."

    "Your highness," Jax said. "The Silver Moon Guild has discussed with you before that some of the problems between our guilds are best handled discreetly, away from the king''s court. We felt it was safer to handle this on our own."

    The advisor shifted toward the king and spoke quietly.

    "We''ll discuss this further at a later time," the king said.

    That didn''t sound good, but the others looked calm. So it must have been a political reality they could handle. The king seemed aware of his limitations and might have secretly appreciated that they were handling it on their own so it didn''t endanger him.

    The king gripped the arm rests of his throne and looked down on Lote. "I''ve seen the evidence of your crimes. I will honor your right to a hearing before I sentence. You''re now under arrest and you will be stripped of your titles and authority until such a time that I see fit to return them. Which I must say I anticipate not happening."

    "Your highness," Lote said in a gravelly voice. "You''re making a mistake. I understand that you need to deal with my indiscretions, but you need to see the advancements we''ve made and are working toward before you¨C"

    "I''ve seen enough. In this kingdom, we follow the laws of our land, and we will not operate in the shadows like you have been. You know how I feel. I''ll give your guild the chance to make a case for you. You''ll be at the mercy of your leaders and me if you are proven guilty."

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    "And what about Elias? He lied as well."

    "I''ll deal with Elias separately. He hasn''t killed anyone, has he?"

    Lote snarled at Elias and wheeled around toward Ashton. "You''ll regret this," he seethed.

    "That''s enough." The king was standing again. "Your power has been bound and now it''s time for you to be remanded to a jail cell."

    Lote''s hard eyes found mine. "There will be no mercy."

    He lifted his hands and light carved through the vines that wrapped around his fingers and hands and wrists. In the same moment the bright beam of power lit his fingertips, I teleported to the king and dragged him instantly to the other side of the room with me.

    A smoking hole replaced the throne.

    "A machine," Elias said.

    The guards all were screaming and rushing for Lote. Jax and Ashton both shot energy at him, but it sizzled against his skin.

    I covered the king with a shield and reached for Lote to try sealing this power he wielded. He sneered and disappeared, leaving behind only the image of his haughty face in my mind.

    The power had felt strange, like it had in his room.

    "Someone find him," the king shouted. Breathing hard, he looked to me. "Thank you."

    I didn''t have time to talk to him. Instead, I sprinted to Elias, caught his hand, and reached for Ashton and Jax. "Hurry," I shouted. "He''s gone to my world."

    As soon as we all had a hold of each other, Elias unleashed a surge of power, ripping us between the worlds. We landed in the courtyard of the Sacred School with the heat and pain I''d grown used to from traveling swelling over me.

    "How the hell did this happen?" I snarled and pointed at Jax. "You and Ashton try to search out his power. Elias, go with Piercey to the White Room and look through the code for him in case we don''t find him. I''m going to gather people."

    Ashton held her head with both hands. "He inserted the machine beneath his skin. We should have thought of this."

    "It doesn''t matter," I said. "He''s in my world. That''s all we need to think about now."

    "Lote is here alone," Jax said. "We can kill him."

    "We can''t assume he''s here with no one," Elias said. "I''m sure that he shared the technology with his allies. It''s possible he even left to get them first. We need to prepare for the worst."

    I stormed through the halls of the Sacred School and sprinted for my apartment where Nash had planned to wait on me. "Nash!" I screamed his name before even reaching the door. He burst into the hallway, drawing his swords in a flash.

    "What happened?"

    "Lote escaped. He tried to kill the king. We think he''s in our world."

    "Fuck." He slammed the side of his fist against the wall.

    I closed my eyes and sent a message to Piercey and Gael. We needed their portal system to start gathering allies, except I wasn''t sure where to take them.

    "Elias," I said through the neural connection. "Have they found him?"

    "Not yet. Maybe he''s back in his world gathering people or machines."

    It might have been hasty to leave Elias''s world when I had no idea what Lote was thinking. I just needed to be here in case of an attack.

    Everyone began gathering in the courtyard. We returned to Jax and Ashton there.

    "Anything?" I asked.

    "No." Ashton paced with her eyes clenched tight. "I don''t feel him. I can only search out so far though. We may want to get to a more central location in the valley to seek him out. I''m sure that he would have transported somewhere in Skia Hellig. It''s all he knows."

    "Or he wanted us to think he came to this world so we''d leave. He might be staging a coup back home right now." Jax turned to the three comrades he''d brought. "Decide now. Are you fighting here with us or returning to the guild?"

    One of them spoke quickly. "We''ll go wherever Lote is. He''s the priority. I think he''ll come here. Too many people will be seeking him out at home."

    "He''s leading the rebellion. He''s the one we should fight." Another comrade agreed.

    "Max," Piercey''s voice came through the neural connection. "We found him. He''s near a village. I''ll use the alarm system to send you the location."

    "Everyone." I reached my hand out. "Hurry. We have him."

    I would not hesitate to kill Lote as soon as we made it to him.

 117. Begin

    We landed outside of the village, where the sensation of Lote''s energy drew me. The capped peaks of the Mountain of the Gods glowed against the twilight of the midnight sun, once a promise of the gods and their aloof watch of the valley, and now a reminder of all that we had conquered.

    Lote''s form moved like a soft shadow ahead of me. I teleported directly behind him, stunned when he blinked out of sight and appeared behind me as well.

    I spun around to face him. So he''d figured out teleportation in addition to traveling between worlds. The bastard.

    "We should talk before we fight," Lote said.

    I threw my fist for his chin. He blinked out of range, appearing a few feet back.

    "There is no talking," I said.

    My group ran to circle around Lote: Nash, Leif, Wren, Piercey, Elias, Jax, Ashton, and the three comrades from the other world.

    "I didn''t come alone," Lote said.

    Of course not. I wanted to scream.

    He cast a look around the warriors surrounding him. "They''re masking their power, but they''re with villagers, and they''ll kill them if they sense us fight for longer than a minute."

    I raised my hand to signal for everyone to hold their positions. "Have you even stopped to think about what you''re doing? You tried to kill your own king. You have no world to return to."

    "The king is a joke. The valley is better off without him. Do you really believe that I would leave my world without plans for it? I don''t need to be there for the rest to continue in my place. You forced me to act early by going to the king, but what will happen now is inevitable."

    "Lote," Ashton said. "You need to stop. This is taking it too far."

    "Will you stay here to fight me or return to the kingdom?" Lote smiled at Ashton now with his teeth shining. "By the time you make it home, it may be too late. I told you our guild is the best suited to run the valley. It''ll be a difficult transition. Well worth it in the end. If you come to your senses, I might be able to make a place for you."

    "I will never help you overthrow our kingdom." Ashton clenched her fists. "This is not the right way to lead the Valley."

    "It''s useless," Jax said. "Don''t bother talking to him. We should stay here and kill him. There are plenty of people in our kingdom to fight back home. He''s the one we need to take down."

    "Will you let the innocent die then?" Lote laughed so hard his shoulders shook. "Go ahead and attack me. We''ll fight with their wailing in the background."

    "You couldn''t have had time to give everyone a machine," I said. "You helped them transport here. They''re close by."

    I quickly sent a message to Gael through my mind with directions on where he and his warriors should portal.

    "You wouldn''t risk a single life." Lote raked his eyes across each of us. "Your only choice is to negotiate. It''s inevitable that you''ll lose a significant number of hostages if you fight."

    "If you want to negotiate," I said, "Then bring the hostages where I can see them."

    "Why would I do that? Do you want me to order one to die now as proof? You''ll hear the screams of the mothers all the way from here."

    "Bastard." Nash stalked forward with his blades extended. "You want your damn resources? This is not how you''ll get them."

    "I will get them no matter what you do," Lote said. "I can feel the weakness of this world. It''s pathetic. Soon, I can tell my entire guild about the resources here without worry about our competition and we''ll have far more warriors here than you could hope to deal with." Lote turned his attention to me. "You''ve pissed me off enough. I suggest you start trying to get on my good side."

    "As someone who has already overthrown Valley leadership, I have to tell you that I think it''s pretty important for you to actually be present for it." I eased closer. "What is it? Are you afraid? You''re hiding out in my world while your lackeys do the work for you? If they can overthrow a kingdom without you, they''ll realize they can lead without you. You better get home before it''s too late."

    "I won''t be so easily goaded. I''ll return with what I need to make fuel for our machines and then we may not even need to stop at the valley. We''ll take all of our Skia Hellig and raise it to the greatness I know we''re capable of."

    I couldn''t leave these hostages in Lote''s hands much longer, if he even had them in the first place. I didn''t trust him not to kill them anyway and I refused to negotiate with him. He''d just started a coup against his kingdom. It would be a bad faith negotiation from the start.

    The only option was to kill him and anyone else who insisted on invading our world and our kingdom.

    "I''m going to kill you," I said. "I fucking promise."

    I sensed the explosion of portals from the village right when they began to open and reached out for any of my people close by to grab a hold of me. I teleported to the center of town, not able to wait on everyone. Nash, Jax, and Ashton landed with me. The others would be able to make it in a few minutes if they ran.

    All around the village, warriors jumped out from the portals and landed on the ground with quaking thuds. They all bore the same color of armor as Gael. The sheer number almost made me freeze. There were far more pouring through the portals than whoever had come to the Sacred School. He must have gone home to bring more warriors.

    My eyes burned at the realization that Gael and his king had gone so far to fight with us.

    It was short lived though, because Lote appeared directly in front of us, the line shining from the vine tattoos.

    Nash broke for the closest house and Jax and Ashton followed his example, each running for a different residence.

    "Kill them!" Lote roared with a voice that carried through the entire town, louder than the worst of any valley storms I''d ever heard. "Kill the villagers!"

    Gael''s warriors flooded the town, rushing through the open portals. They immediately entered the houses, searching out hostages. For a few seconds, I had the vain hope that maybe it was a bluff, because I felt no power. Lote grinned at me with that gleaming smile of his.

    Then all the power came like a massive tidal wave. Power swelled over this village in a tidal wave, the feeling of some comforting and familiar, but much of it foreign to me.

    "Max," Gael shouted. "I''m going for more."

    Lote turned to target him with a raised palm, but Gael erected a shield to block him as he opened a portal. A beam bit into the ground as Gael dashed into the opening he''d created. It closed rapidly behind him.

    I sprang forward for Lote with my energy blade swelling with power. We clashed, his physical sword steady against the force of mine.

    Screams rang through the town, clawing at my mind with the fear that I''d made the wrong call. In my first day as the new Prophet of the Valley, I''d gotten my own innocent people killed.

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    I couldn''t question myself now. I had to fight.

    "You''re a fool if you think you''ll get away with any of this," I said. I ripped back and lunged with a two-handed swing for his shoulder. He teleported to the side so my sword cut through empty air. At first, I almost followed him on impulse, before I realized that he might have wanted me to waste my energy chasing him around the village or the world.

    I had been teleporting longer than him. If I could follow the trail of his energy to teleport with him, I could follow it and pursue him on foot.

    When he teleported next, I clung to the thread of his energy like I would if I wanted to pursue, and instead sprinted forward, striking right when he appeared. Surprise filled his eyes when he sidestepped to avoid the hit.

    A man burst out a window on the second floor of a home and skidded across the ground between Lote and me. Jax flew out after him and rammed his shoulder into the man on the ground so hard that the enemy''s body dented in the earth.

    Lote aimed his fingers at Jax, but I replaced my sword with my bow and fired it at the same time the beam shot out from our enemy. While Lote must have assumed I''d fired to protect Jax, I actually trusted him to evade on his own, and instead aimed for Lote''s free hand that he hadn''t used to attack. The vines had lit brightly with power and I wanted to see if damaging his hand would hinder his ability to use his machine.

    Jax darted high into the air, narrowly avoiding the beam. The fallen man cried out at the massive shot of energy that cut deeply into the dirt inches from his face.

    Lote twisted to the side to dodge at the last moment, when he seemed to realize what I had aimed for. My arrow skidded across the top of his hand, ripping through his skin.

    I notched another energy arrow when I noticed the dim glow of the midnight sun reflecting off Lote''s hand. The arrow had torn a hunk of his skin off and it hung now, flapping lightly as he stepped closer. A coating of metal covered what should have been his raw, damaged hand. Wires that matched the pattern of the thorny vine tattoos snaked across it and disappeared beneath his skin.

    A proud grin stretched his face eerily in the dim light. "It runs off my own energy."

    Lote had surgically implanted the machine beneath his skin, something that either he''d already done in the past and hidden, or had used power to heal from since we''d tried to kill him.

    Jax hovered overhead, also staring down at his hand. "Have you tested that before?"

    "This is the future of our power," Lote said. "Machines can enhance our neural chip for instant, reliable responses." He ripped the loose flap of skin away with a growl and threw it at my feet. "This could be yours if you would cooperate."

    I grimaced as I looked at the hunk of tissue on the ground. "You''re so fucking proud of yourself."

    "You would be too. I admit this might have been overkill. I expected your world to pose a greater challenge and rushed the surgery."

    Shrieks from a nearby home rang out into the village. I fired arrows as quickly as I could, sinking four into the injured man on the ground. They exploded in his back, ripping apart his skin in chunks of flesh and blood that popped in all directions. The next flew straight for Lote.

    He teleported¨Csomething that was turning out to be a cheap trick since I could track it and travel if he moved too far away. I''d have to remember that for when I used it in battle in case anyone else ever learned how to do it.

    Jax seemed to have also figured out how to follow the trail of his energy, because both of us attacked the exact place that Lote landed. The shield automatically shimmered across his skin as my arrow and Jax''s ball of energy hit his body.

    I couldn''t be sure of how deep the machine ran or how much of his body it covered but I knew I needed to destroy as much of the machine as possible. I had no idea what he was capable of with it, but it looked like this was capable of automatically erecting a shield around him just like the machine in his office.

    Was it more limited without all the extra fuel? And did any of his men also have the machines beneath their skin?

    Elias ran from a building, carrying a small child in his arms. Without even looking at him, I erected a shield to surround him and the child. Lote, meanwhile, had no concerns for anyone but himself. He left his people to fend for themselves while he focused his attention on Jax and me.

    Jax and I both attacked Lote fervently. Every time we managed to assault him with an attack I thought capable of shattering his defenses, he teleported again, traveling only a few feet away.

    "His machine is teleporting for him." I glanced at Jax. "You see that? The shield and the teleportation."

    I didn''t say the rest, that I knew intimately well how much power it took to teleport and that he would wear himself down faster than he thought. Only going a few feet did extend his ability to travel, but it would run out. Maybe if I couldn''t get past his defenses, I could at least wear him down.

    The cries of the villagers tore my mind in two. Where was Nash? Leif and Wren? Piercey? Everyone here had power, but the people I loved either weren''t really warriors or had just gotten their power. They needed to ally with people who could guard them and enhance their abilities, like Piercey usually did with Nash.

    I needed to trust them and believe in them to handle themselves. They knew their abilities. Each scream flooded my mind with images of the horrors that could be happening, Lote''s warriors splattering living rooms in blood. Over the last year, I had gained so much control over my anxiety. The numbness threatened to spread throughout me, even into my heart, surely ready to stop it from beating in my chest.

    I parried a slash of Lote''s sword while Jax rained down balls of energy from the sky where he flew strategically around. I remembered fighting with him in Ashton''s memories and didn''t attempt to protect myself from his hits. He was good. I could throw everything I had into battling Lote and trust that while Jax''s attacks looked chaotic, he had carefully strategized to take advantage of Lote''s weaknesses, to limit his range of abilities, and to protect me as we engaged in close combat.

    I spun and threw my momentum into a hard slash for Lote''s chest when Nash stumbled through the an open doorway. A sword followed him, its tip catching his shirt. I couldn''t tell from here if it had hit him, but I knew it would be superficial. Even so, I faltered, terrified that whoever attacked would use his power to immediately strike Nash dead. Mid-hit, I split my attention to shield Nash.

    Lote broke through my guard and drove his blade for me with a surge of power. His sword shattered my energy blade, sending the power scattering into the sky in a beautiful array of flashes of power. I teleported just as the sword nicked my shoulder.

    When I landed close enough to Nash to help him, I realized that he hadn''t needed me to shield him. His blades swung over head, deflecting the strikes of his opponent. My heart raced as red energy flowed over his twin blades, pulsing with power, more than I''d expected him to already be able to wield. He fought with the same grace that had mesmerized me in our first battle together, his footwork impeccable, and every single move purposeful. Now, his fighting was strengthened by his own power, driving his speed and fueling his attacks.

    How was Nash wielding his power so expertly?

    "Focus, Max," Nash cried out as his foot rammed into the enemy''s chest.

    Then, I saw Piercey inside the house behind the enemy and realized that he was helping Nash to hone his strength, fighting with him as they had for the last year. Only this time, Piercey hadn''t needed to give Nash his own power, but to help Nash draw out and control his own.

    I saw the beam of energy a split second before it would have hit Nash. I barely grazed him with my fingers in time for us to teleport inside the house with Piercey. Lote had punished me for my distraction by targeting to man I love.

    Enough.

    I could not allow myself to fail at this battle because I couldn''t trust everyone else to fight. Nash deserved all the confidence in the world, and so did my friends. I teleported back to Lote and wasted no time in pummeling him with attacks from my energy sword.

    Jax attacked with his sword now as well.

    We needed to move the fight away from the village. I started to see more of Gael''s warriors in the streets, battling intensely with our enemies. Elias, still holding the small child, now had a group of villagers beneath his own shield, no longer relying upon mine. He ushered them toward one of Gael''s warriors.

    Good. They must have been preparing to create a portal for them to escape.

    Ashton leapt across a rooftop and landed in a burst of energy beside me, having propelled herself farther than I ever remembered her managing to jump.

    Jax and Ashton attacked at the same time. I exchanged my sword for my energy bow and shot ten arrows, sending them flying around Lote. They followed his every movement as he fought against the other two. Ashton''s sword forced him backward and he slid right to avoid Jax, hitting one of the arrows.

    It burst against him, flashing against the instant shield. Another hit, doing the same. None of them broke through, but since he used his energy to power his machines, I knew that every single attack on his shield contributed to overloading his capacity for drawing enough energy to use his machines.

    I just wished I knew how deep his reserve of energy ran. His machine might have used power more efficiently than we did on our own, but wasn''t it possible that it actually required more? This technology was newer and not yet refined.

    One by one, the explosive arrows that tracked his movements exploded against him, until the last two actually managed to break through his shield. It didn''t seem to hurt him very badly, but I could smell his singed clothes.

    I rushed beside Ashton and we both attacked at the same time, in unison with each other. Jax''s sword raked across Lote''s back, catching on the shield. The force of the attack nudged Lote in our direction while Ash and I both slammed our swords against Lote''s.

    His sword cracked with a sharp cry.

    He teleported far away to the other side of the village. Ash grabbed my hand and I carried her with me as we pursued. Jax flew after us.

    "As much as I enjoy a good battle," Lote said, "I''m getting tired of this."

    The exposed metal on his hand flashed bright while the vines on his other hand glowed and his shoulders lit with a dim golden light.

    Fuck.

 118. World Shifters

    Light like the morning sun dawned over the battered village, empty of its people, and bright with the clashing power of my allies and our enemy.

    I found the strength to stand before Lote and look into his eyes as the army, at my command, lambasted his shield with an onslaught of powerful attacks. As his warriors fought to defend him, I didn''t even glance to them as my people felled one after the next. I watched the stubbornness and arrogance born of the lust for power wilt in Lote''s eyes, as the realization tore through his determination.

    He would die today.

    Was this how a battle between leaders needed to be waged? My people fighting against his people. Our power lent to them. I wanted to kill him with my own hands, to submerge my gunky, bloody arm deep in his body like I''d done with his warrior.

    I''d given every drop of strength I had for this village, though. And there was a satisfaction in standing here, watching his demise unfold slowly and decisively.

    While I wanted to feel nothing except for detest, I was impressed by how he managed to hold his shield strong against these attacks. Elias worked fervently as well to hack into his shield and render it inert, something he''d failed to do earlier in the battle, but hadn''t given up on. Lote''s shoulders slumped as the golden hue of his power began to grow pale.

    I lowered to the ground in front of him. His shield shrank, close to his body now. My breath wafted against it.

    "You won''t surrender," I said.

    "Never." He growled, his previously unflappable demeanor utterly shattered.

    "Not even to save your warriors?"

    The defiance in his glare answered for him. Sad.

    "I can hold up for days," Lote said. "My machines strengthen me. What about your warriors? Don''t be so certain of yourself."

    I didn''t need to respond because I could see the once bright gold barely shimmer now as the attacks on his shield continued.

    I was looking into his eyes when Elias clapped his hands and the shield vanished.

    Lote''s head slowly fell.

    "Bind his power," I said. Rising to my feet, I turned in a full circle. "Your battle is finished. Stand down."

    Lote''s warriors lowered their weapons. They knew and at this point defying me would only stoke my anger.

    Piercey and his graduates gathered in a semicircle around Lote with their hands extended. The vine tattoos dimmed until the glow ceased entirely.

    Ashton walked forward and stopped beside me, staring at Lote.

    "Ashton¡­" Lote lifted his bloody hand with the exposed metal and looked at her with pleading eyes.

    "You won''t kill anyone else ever again," Ashton said. "You''re done. There''s no excuse for the life you''ve chosen to lead."

    "Do you understand what will happen to our guild?" He turned his palm up, as though she might actually take his hand. "This feud will only deepen until one guild comes out on top. It should be us. They need me to come home and help them survive."

    "I''m done hearing you talk," she said. "This world has shown me what happens when you kill your overlords with no one prepared to clean up the mess. We''re going to catch our valley when it falls."

    At least our mistakes here could help us in another world.

    Ashton raised her voice. "This is for Elias''s parents and everyone in our guild you hurt. For deceiving me."

    She gripped Lote''s hair, her expression unflinching and unapologetic, as she looked into his eyes, set the sharp blade against his throat, and cut deeply into the flesh. His throat opened in a bloody smile, the life spilling out of him.

    Lote was shocked. Terrified. Not believing that Ash, who he had conditioned to follow him, would do this to him, even after seeing her fight against him.

    "You should never have assumed that your power over me would be so great that I''d stop thinking for myself." She glanced down the blood pooling at the nape of his head and washing over his collarbone. "I''m ashamed that it took me as long as it did, but you overestimate yourself."

    His lips moved wordlessly, opening like a fish stranded on the beach, searching for water. He couldn''t say a word.

    "It should be Elias killing you now for his parents." She dropped him and turned around before he''d taken his last breath. I stepped aside to let her walk past.

    Ashton left Lote bleeding out on the ground without even stopping to see him die. Her attention went to Elias, who had struggled in the battle with his grief over the death of his parents. I watched as Lote''s body gave the final twitches and his vacant eyes lost their life.

    I felt no pity for this man.

    His remaining warriors stared down at his corpse.

    "I''ve learned the cost of taking prisoners," I said. "Your world has a place for you. If Elias is willing to take you back, you can go with him straight to your prison."

    They said nothing.

    "Flinch wrong and we will kill you."

    I felt faint as I surveyed the warriors, taking stock of the injuries and searching out casualties. Nash moved behind me with an arm around me, supporting me. Part of me wondered if I shouldn''t let myself look weak, but I didn''t push him away. I needed him and I wouldn''t hide that from my kingdom. I did not rule alone and at the expense of my people like Lote.

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    "Eclipse," Gael said. "We''ll search the town and ensure there''s no villagers remaining or injured."

    "Thank you."

    From the sound of respect in his voice, I didn''t think anyone looked down on me for struggling to stand. They''d fought against Lote''s people and knew how difficult they were to kill. Seeing my power wash over the streets and slaughter his forces would surely have left their mark. His men began to disperse, when I felt a strange sensation.

    It reminded me of the day I''d first seen Flare, locking eyes on me through the crowd.

    I froze at the chills prickling my skin.

    A tall man and a shorter woman walked toward us from the far side of the village. Everyone halted as I took a single step forward.

    What now?

    "Prophet Eclipse," the man said in a low, strangely soothing voice. "I was not sure we would ever formally meet."

    "Introduce yourself," I said.

    "My name is not important." Large, gray eyes set beneath a thick, defined brow stared back at me. He carried no weapons while the young woman beside him wore full armor with a sword, a spear, and a bow and arrow.

    "Are you the one who''s been attacking my people this year?" I didn''t have enough power to muster an energy sword, so I ripped my steel blade from my side. Nash did the same and moved to my side.

    "No." He watched me impassively. "I''ve simply been an observer. If you want to ask questions about the attacks, you''ll have to speak with her."

    He looked down at the young woman at his side. As calm as he looked, the girl beside him appeared terrified in opposite measure. "I need to go," she said. "I don''t think we should talk."

    "You''re not going anywhere." I scowled. "I want to know who you people are."

    Wait. I recognized this girl. A demon. I''d fought her before and released her back to the cabin.

    I gripped my weapon tighter. "I remember you. How long have you been here?"

    Her face looked ashen. "Long enough. We never stood a chance, did we?"

    "Who is we? Are you with the Flatlander Prophet?"

    "No." She looked around at the haggard warriors. "We''ve fought alongside him, but we''re not one of him."

    The cult. "Who''s your leader then?"

    She shook her head. "Please, Eclipse. Understand that I cannot say."

    "I don''t want to hurt people," I said. "That''s why I sent you to the cabin in the first place. If you leave my kingdom alone, I won''t fight you. You don''t have to be scared."

    "I do," she said. "They won''t give up, even if you think they have. When I tell them, they may retreat, but they''ll be back. Either I fight with them and die against you, or I betray them and they kill me."

    "We can protect you," Piercey said.

    She laughed loudly. "You can''t. You should let me go, though. If I tell them what I saw today, they''ll know that we aren''t strong enough to win right now."

    "How are we supposed to know that you aren''t going to bring them back to fight while Eclipse is weak?" Gael asked.

    "Because you don''t need her to beat us," the girl said. "Look at yourselves. Look at all these people you have now. I didn''t have to tell you I was here. I did it as a favor to you, so you can know."

    "Know what, exactly?" I asked.

    "Know that there''s the chance for a season of peace. Know that it won''t last forever. Know that today''s hope is tomorrow''s demise."

    "I''m not listening to whatever weird shit that''s supposed to be." I pointed my sword aimed at her face. It quivered from my exhaustion, but that didn''t stop the fear from tightening her expression. "Say it plainly."

    She breathed out slowly and met my eyes. "I''ve watched you sacrifice for these people for a year and I know you''ll die to save them. I''ve said too much already. I just wanted to extend the grace I could, because you deserve peace after all I''ve seen. After you spared my life."

    I managed to take one shaky step forward. "If you care, then ally with us. You can return to your people but report back to me. I''ll offer you my protection. You see what it''s worth."

    She smiled sadly and took a single step back. "Don''t tell them I talked to you like this. Just remember me, if you''re willing. When the time comes, maybe you can send me back to the cabin. It would be a nice place to die, at least."

    What was this girl saying? "If you''re this afraid of us and know that your group cannot win right now, then why don''t you trust us to protect you? We could defeat them before they get stronger."

    "Because you''re the kind of person who lets their enemies live and they aren''t. Your strength cannot protect me against their savagery. You just don''t think the way they do."

    "What do they want?"

    "They want to defeat Eclipse, the most powerful demon in the world. The killer of gods. They''ll be even more eager to beat the Prophet Eclipse. They do not want scraps of the gods'' power. They want it all. They want to consume your soul."

    A cold feeling gripped my chest.

    "Maybe we should take her back to the school," Gael said.

    "No," I said. "Let her tell them what she saw." Every ounce of anger and exhausted I''d felt over this past year, the desperation of missing Elsie''s performance, filled me now. "Let her tell them that this is my valley and I will slaughter anyone who comes against my people." I spoke the words so loudly now that it vibrated in my bones. "Let them hear their fate." I glowered. "No matter what you may think, I will win. You should tell them that."

    The girl stumbled back, looking around at everyone who watched her, and then began to sprint away.

    I let her go.

    "Track her," I said, casting a glance to Piercey. "I want someone watching her at all times until I say otherwise."

    "I don''t like this at all," Nash said.

    "I think we should have killed her." Leif rubbed his shoulder, close now. "Or taken her captive."

    "She''s afraid," I said. "They should see the fear."

    I walked forward, feeling a little stronger, and stared at the man who had quietly watched the encounter with the girl. "What about you?" I asked. "Will you report back as well?"

    "I told you I''ve been with them as an observer. I wanted to see."

    "See what?"

    His eyes scanned the crowd of warriors carefully and methodically, then his gaze settled on the row of Lote''s surviving lackeys. "Seven remaining from the other world."

    He flicked his finger.

    Blood erupted from the chest of one man at the end of the line. It happened so quickly, that the man hadn''t seemed to register the wound. He looked down at the blood that began to dribble down, his face twisting with surprise. And then, he dropped to the ground like a rock.

    Blood burst from the chests of the enemy forces in the same exact spot on each of them, hitting them one after the other in rapid succession, their bodies jerking in a steady rhythm, collapsing to the ground with a steady percussion.

    Only one remained standing. A scream tore from her lips as she jumped away from her dead comrades.

    A cold hand of terror strangled my throat.

    These were incredibly powerful warriors who had survived battling against our small army. He''d killed them all with a flick of his finger.

    "I only ever give one warning." The stranger spoke calmly above the woman''s screaming. "This is the warning for your kingdom." Then his cold stare shifted to me. "I suppose it would not be fair for this to count as yours considering it was your world that was invaded."

    I struggled to find my voice. Nash clasped my hand and ripped me against his side, shielding my body with his. Like it would do any good against this man.

    "Follow the laws of nature. The order the gods gave to these worlds is final." The stranger lifted his finger in the flicking motion and the woman fell onto the ground, covering her face. He looked to Ashton now. "Or die." The fine muscles in his face looked rigid and as unmoving as stone. "I hope to not meet with any of you again, in this world, or any other. Farewell."

    He vanished.

    Instinctively, I tried to trace his power to pursue if possible, but I felt nothing. He was truly gone.

    And that might have been for the best, because I knew with certainty that I could not beat him, not at this moment.

    Elias stared at the place where the stranger had once stood. "It''s like he doesn''t exist. I can find him in the code. He''s a ghost."

    Piercey looked at me with the same mask of horror as the day in the white room when he''d realized that we were living in a simulation. "Max." He gasped my name.

    I had no idea what was happening here, but I knew it was far worse than the Flatlander Prophet attacking my Valley, or the cult wanting to consume my power, or invaders from another world attacking my people.

    "It''s him. Isn''t it?" The feeling drained from me as I spoke. Drained from my voice. "He''s the reason the gods synchronized time."

    The gods had done this.

    "He''s the one who walks between worlds."

 119. Security

    The people I loved had survived Lote''s assault on my world and that felt like a miracle considering what we''d faced.

    Our warriors defended the villagers, managing to save every single person. The few who''d come close to death were saved by those in Gael''s forces gifted with healing.

    When we returned the villagers to their home, I gathered with them all in the center of town, standing atop the ground still stained with the blood of our enemies.

    "I realize that I cannot ensure that our secrets won''t spread beyond those who witnessed our battle today. I ask you though, for the safety of our kingdom, do not tell anyone about the people who look like Piercey, Nash, and myself. Don''t mention other worlds. If I could explain it to you, I would. Understand that the mysteries of the gods were never meant to be revealed."

    The village chief reached for my hands and I let her have them. "Prophet Eclipse," she said. "We love our village. We love our valley. We love this new kingdom. When we speak of what we saw today, we will tell the world about the mighty power of Eclipse and her warriors. That is all."

    I squeezed her hands, hating that I asked her and this village to hide anything. "I want nothing more than for us all to speak the truth."

    "We''re only human, Eclipse. The truth is not always ours to speak."

    That wasn''t a reality I could abide, though if I''d learned anything this past year, it was that I needed to strategically choose my battles and mind my limitations.

    "Our world is safe. That''s what matters right now." I looked out to the people, anguished by the memory of the children crying. "I promise that we will leave behind a valley that is much safer and that your children will not grow up living in fear." I pressed my forearm to the chest of the chief. She clasped mine. "My flesh."

    "My blood."

    The people raised their forearms. "My flesh," they said.

    "My blood," I finished.

    <hr>

    When I returned to the Sacred School, the healers were finishing their treatments of our warriors. Jax wiped the blood from his face with a cloth and regarded me with a smile. I returned one.

    "We have to go home now," Ashton said.

    We''d fought alongside each other without any thought of our circumstance and everything had been too crazy to really let myself feel what hit me right in the gut now as I looked at her. "This is so fucking weird."

    She laughed, letting me see exactly what I looked to the world, dappled in the blood and sweat of battle, and somehow smiling anyway. "We''ll come back as soon as we can and update you on our world."

    "You need help," I said.

    "No. Absolutely not. We have plenty of people with power. What you did today will discourage your enemies, so you all need to be here if you''re actually going to scare them away. They could decide to attack while you''re weakened."

    I''d spent enough time in her past to worry about her kingdom and her friends. "What will your kingdom look like when this is through?"

    "I have no idea. It won''t look like Lote''s vision is all I know. He''s dead and his rebellion will die with him. We need to kill the foolish hope of anyone else who might rise up in the chaos he''s created."

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    "Okay. Go. Don''t wait around. I''ll see you soon." I looked to Jax and Elias. "All of you because you''ll fight well and return safely."

    "I''m not sure it''s wise to ever come back," Elias said. "That man said not to defy the order of the gods."

    "I''ll get their approval."

    "You think he''ll know? That it''ll be enough?"

    "Yeah." I looked around at the damage to the town. "He said he''s been observing. He''ll know."

    "It seems risky," Elias said.

    "Stop worrying." I nodded at him. "Go home and I''ll talk to the gods. He didn''t kill anyone until they invaded our world and they''re the only ones he hurt."

    "You don''t think he''s a threat?" Piercey asked.

    The question made me feel sick. "I didn''t say that. I just don''t think he''s going to stand against the gods and I''m confident I can get them to agree."

    "What makes you so sure?" Ashton asked.

    "Because they would rather let us receive a harmless update on your safety than explain to me why they built a security system into our world."

    That quieted everyone. Piercey and Elias both watched me with the same worried eyes. They both knew it was true.

    "Who else would know so much and travel between worlds? He''s here to ensure that a total breakdown in the order of nature doesn''t occur."

    No one asked the question I thought they all wanted to know and I wouldn''t answer even if they did, because it was something I could never say aloud when I''d given the gods permission to observe me.

    Yes, the security system was a threat.

    Yes, I would figure out how to kill him.

    Yes, if he ever threatened my people, I''d end him.

    The gods be damned if they ever tried to hurt my kingdom.

    <hr>

    I felt like I hadn''t slept in over a year, but I told myself that soon I would finally rest. Some matters simply couldn''t wait.

    "Thank you for seeing me," I said, peering into the deep blue of the Collective''s waters.

    "Congratulations and best of luck with your ascension to power in your new kingdom." The waters rippled smoothly as the Collective spoke. After a pause, "You feel discontent."

    I nodded. "When we first spoke, you assured me that you cared about our suffering, and that you didn''t intend for Dr. Henderson to meddle in my world. A year later and I feel toyed with still."

    "We are not and have never toyed with you."

    I placed my hands on the window, stilling my fear of this god who could crush my entire world¨Call the worlds¨Cand searched for the humanity buried in these waters. "I want to meet with the rest of the council. You hold 51% of the voting power. I want my voice to be heard by all of you, not just the Collective."

    "It''s a reasonable request, but what do you think you''ll gain?"

    "From now on, I want to meet once a year with your entire council, and have the right to request a hearing any time. I''m letting you observe me and that means that now you''re watching an entire kingdom. My new position requires more power in your society."

    The Collective sounded amused now. "Does it?"

    "It''s only fair."

    "We can accommodate this request. The council will be eager to hear personally from you as you embark on this new journey as the ruler of your kingdom."

    "I''m sure," I said. "This must be fascinating for you." My heart began to beat harder as I thought of the last thing I wanted to say. "Collective."

    "Yes?"

    "Do I need to be afraid that the strange man will hurt my kingdom?"

    "You think this is something we can answer for you?"

    My gaze sharpened on the ripples in the water. "He wants us to follow the nature and order you created for our world."

    "It sounds like you have no reason to fear, then."

    "I don''t want to lose contact with Elias or Ashton and Jax."

    "You want our permission?"

    I swallowed hard, afraid of who the stranger who could be, and what the Collective might be capable of. "Yes."

    "You''ve already made contact. We can''t approve of you sharing resources or living in the world you weren''t assigned to. Or dramatically altering your world due to the conditions of the other. But it would appear that the results of the experiment are already contaminated. Seek our approval if you have questions."

    Was it a threat? Or a direction? Seek our approval or we''ll send an assassin to take you out, perhaps.

    When I''d first met them, I''d allowed myself to lash out in anger. I had a kingdom to run now and there was no greater threat to my people than a god who could destroy us in an instant.

    For now, I would practice the diplomacy Piercey so desperately wanted me to learn.

    "Thank you for being accommodating," I said. "I think we''ll be learning a great deal over the next few years."

    I stepped back, feeling chilled deep inside of myself.

    Soon, I would see if the rest of the council was like the Collective, and just how twisted this society might actually be.

 120. Home

    I figured after speaking with the Collective, I needed to quickly communicate with my other potential enemies. This time when I met with the Flatlander Prophet, I sent word of my arrival first, and met with him before his advisors.

    I chose to stand instead of sit because I wanted to keep this brief.

    "You didn''t call on us for help," the Prophet said. "I heard about your battle."

    "I looked into your eyes and knew I couldn''t trust you."

    "I suppose this is a new beginning for us, with you taking the position of Prophet. You should know I''m not giving up our stolen villages and I won''t stand idly by while you grow in power. I''ve looked into your eyes as well, and I know I can''t trust you either."

    I lifted my chin, looked to Piercey on my right, and Marcus on my left, before smirking at the Flatlander Prophet. "It''s hard to trust what you fear."

    He breathed in sharply through his nose, anger hardening his eyes.

    "We shouldn''t allow ourselves to hate each other too much. New enemies could come to Skia Hellig and we may need to fight together." I watched his reactions carefully. "What do you know about the man who travels with the cult?"

    "What man?"

    "He calls himself an observer."

    The Prophet made an exasperated sound. "I don''t meddle in their dealings. We had a partnership of convenience. I only know that like many in Skia Hellig, they want to see you gone."

    "I have no interest in your land or in challenging you. I only care about my kingdom. You should consider who is truly worth your time fighting."

    "Your kingdom? A fifth of your land is stolen. I will not rest until I have it back."

    Those villages that Eskel supposedly stole from him never considered themselves a part of his kingdom in the first place. I had no intention of ever allowing him to occupy them. "If it''s so important to you to waste the lives of your people," I said, "Then who am I to stop you? I am not so quick to send my warriors into pointless battle. But we will never hesitate to defend our valley. Attack us and you will die."

    His jowls trembled with rage. "I think we''re finished here."

    "Stay the fuck away from my people." I reached my hands out on either side so my advisors could take them. And we vanished from the sight of our enemy.

    <hr>

    I traveled a great deal the first few days after we killed Lote. One of my first stops after dealing with threats to the valley was to portal with Gael to his king to thank them for their allyship and discuss how to reciprocate their loyalty and kindness. Though the king shared that he wanted to help, he reminded me that partnerships like these weren''t simply for charity, and investing in a budding kingdom helped us both. In a show of trust, I shared enough about the gods and the other world that they had to swear themselves to secrecy, but not so much that I felt in jeopardy of angering the gods.

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    Immediately, we returned to the valley to meet with leadership and plan our crucial next few weeks. No demons attacked in the initial days after the battle with Lote, but we couldn''t become lax with our security. Our young kingdom faced threats from our neighbors, the cult, and now this alarmingly powerful man who called himself an observer. I didn''t tell the leaders that I thought he worked for the gods, but I did assure them that we would investigate his identity and his abilities.

    While throughout the valley, the people and their leaders worked on establishing our kingdom, Nash and I traveled to the old village of the former Prophet of the Valley, Eskel.

    I stood directly beneath the hole in the ceiling of the temple where I''d buried the Prophet of the Valley beneath a pile of rubble.

    "We can''t choose this village," I said. "Wherever we settle will become the center of the kingdom and this temple should be demolished."

    Nash lowered to one knee and touched the black stain. "This place holds too many memories."

    He''d lived years here, forced to serve the Prophet to protect his daughter. "Do you really think we can do this?"

    Nash looked up at me and gave me that easy smile. When he stood back up, he tilted my face up toward his. "Absolutely. We''re already doing it. Now, we''ll have the help we need."

    "I''ll miss the Sacred School. I never thought I''d be able to say that. When I ran away, I planned on never coming back. Now it feels like home."

    "You''ll feel that way about leading the valley one day. When the time comes to pass it on to the next ruler, you''ll miss it."

    I shrugged one shoulder. "I don''t know. Remember when you told me you wanted to find a quiet place to live? At least a day''s ride from the nearest village? When we''re done here, we can make a home like that for ourselves."

    "If we''re ever done here, people will follow you, you know."

    "I suppose I could let them visit."

    "What about your village? Could we build there?"

    The hope of returning my people and ruling from there hurt too much to think about. I wasn''t sure how everyone would feel about the natural increase in power, at least in the perception of power, it would give to my village. "What if people complain?"

    "We have to pick a village. Why not home?"

    "Chief Kaid can teach me what the hell to do," I said with a laugh.

    "Have you seen the library at the Sacred School? Piercey and Marcus are basically living in there with their team. You would think they''d been working on these plans for a decade already. The room is covered in maps and drafts of laws and plans for infrastructure. We''re going to be fine."

    I smoothed my hands up his chest and wrapped them around his neck. "How is it that we''re undertaking the creation of a kingdom and somehow it feels like a vacation?"

    "Because you scared our enemies away. This is what peace feels like."

    "They''ll be back."

    "Not before we manage to sleep through the night."

    I settled against him and sighed. "Are you sure Elsie will let that happen?"

    He laughed and ran his hand along my back. "I guess there is no peace when you have a five year old at home."

    "I miss her. Let''s go. Let''s never come back to this temple again."

    "I like that plan."

    My hold on him tightened as I stared at the blood stain beneath us. "What about that man? I don''t know if I can sleep knowing he''s out there somewhere."

    "He never intervened until someone invaded our world and he said he hoped not to encounter us again."

    "I don''t trust the gods. I need to know who he is and if they sent him. They could get angry and have him go on a killing spree."

    "Our world is filled with dangers, Max. Some are out of our control and some are problems for another day. Chances seem good that he isn''t coming to hurt anyone we love this week. So let''s rest and we''ll try to figure out who is another day."

    "Okay." The feel of him against me soothed the wild fear in my heart.

 121. Bound

    The village chiefs insisted that our people needed a celebration and we would prepare for a three day ceremony to formally commence my rule as the new Prophet of the Valley.

    I didn''t mind a good party, though I worried about our enemies taking advantage of the occasion to attack, something I''d counter with some proactive diplomacy¨Cor rather, threats. News about our battle spread quickly throughout Skia Hellig, helped along by our spies, and Marcus spearheading a campaign to strike the proper tone for our new kingdom. He figured the world could use a little fear when it came to the Prophet Eclipse.

    So while all of that was fine and I figured I would have a nice time with my people, it wasn''t what I was certain I would remember and cherish for the rest of my life. Because I did not feel the most myself as the Prophet Eclipse, or the renowned demon, or even the warrior Max the Sharpshooter.

    I felt the most myself in the quiet with Nash and Elsie when I needed no name and no kingdom. No power.

    With Elsie perched on the chair across the narrow table from me, I strived to memorize every second of this week, when finally after so many tireless days and nights of battle, I could live the life I wanted most in the world.

    She closed her eyes for Wren to smear the black war paint across her lids and in stripes on her cheeks. Her mother covered her lips with her fingers seeing her daughter''s requested makeup choice actually get applied. I couldn''t stop smiling watching Elsie get painted up for war.

    "Do you like it?" I asked and held up a small mirror for her.

    She admired her dark hair, tied into plaits, and the war paint on her eyes. "I love it." Elsie bounced on her knees. "What about you, Ma? Do you want the war makeup too?"

    "I think I''ve worn enough war makeup for now."

    Elsie nodded. "Yep, you and Daddy can''t go to war for a whole week. A whole week!"

    Not unless a crisis came about that our army could not respond to, though I doubted that. Gael kindly offered to keep the increased forces active for the next month while we prepared our government and my family stole a much needed week to ourselves.

    I couldn''t believe that after how hard I''d fought to avoid taking leadership of the valley so I could have the chance at being with my family, the position actually allotted the time I needed. It changed everything to switch from fighting all battles myself to uniting with my people to defend the valley together, and to give others the opportunity to grow into the warriors they wanted desperately to be.

    Trin sat down beside me and patted the powder with the brush before dabbing it against my cheeks and my forehead. "I hope you know that I am here to fight alongside you."

    My jaw tightened to stave off the emotion welling in my chest.

    "I''m honored to have you in the family." She smiled and patted my chin with the powder. "Keep taking time for your life. I want Elsie to grow up with more of you and Nash."

    "I''m sorry I wasn''t there."

    Trin caught a tear that strayed from my eye. "No apologies. We all did the best we could. Today is a new beginning."

    At one time, I hadn''t been sure that Trin would ever accept me. There hadn''t been time for us to get to know each other, so it meant more to me than I could comprehend to hear her say this today.

    Soon, the women of my village crowded around us to wish their blessings and feed us fruits and candies. Elsie begged for more, while the ladies happily obliged.

    Wren helped me into a flowing lavender dress and fastened bracelets around my ankles and wrists.

    "Perfect," she said, applying one last coat of lipstick for me.

    We walked out to the field, set against the distant Mountain of the Gods, and woods that were green and full of life for the short summer season. I walked up the stairs to the short stage my people had erected and turned to face away from the place where Nash would stand.

    According to our customs, we would see each other before the ceremony started, but only once everyone had gathered outside the curtains that enclosed our perimeter.

    I heard Nash''s steps behind me. Felt the warmth of his back pressed against me.

    "Hi," he said.

    My stomach flopped inside of me. "Hi."

    Only a few people had entered the ceremonial space inside the curtains. I anxiously waited for the bell that would tell us our people were ready outside. Finally, for the first time since killing the god and the Prophet, it felt like everything had stopped.

    The bell rang and I held my breath as I turned around to face Nash, feeling giddy, like I was about to see him for the first time.

    The sight of him stilled my breath and my heart, maybe even time. Those curls I loved were full and pinned back so nothing covered his defined cheeks or the gold band around his neck. His close shaved, dark beard was perfectly trimmed and contrasted with his bright eyes. A green tunic tied over both his shoulders with golden beads that matched the band. Nash looked perfect.

    While I''d been marveling at him, he''d done the same to me, eyes on my dress and my long hair lying over my shoulders. My silver jewelry caught the sun and shone against my skin tanned from the summer days. He lingered on my dark lips.

    "I think I''m ready to go now," Nash whispered.

    I laughed hard enough to draw curious looks.

    He let out a tisk. "You always think I''m joking when I''m serious."

    "Oh, I know you''re serious." I placed my hand against his cheek, melting beneath his gaze. "First, you have to see your daughter."

    "What?"

    I nodded in her direction where her little hands ripped the curtain open and she leapt through. Trin caught her by her dress and yanked her back. "I told you no."

    Nash''s eyes widened at the war paint covering her cheeks. "What did you do to my child?"

    "Her request. You raised her. It''s your fault."

    He eyed me again, easing closer. "I think she gets it from her Ma."

    I gave the little girl who''d stolen my heart one more glance. "She''ll be a fearsome warrior. It was hard to convince her to leave her training swords at home."

    Nash chuckled and then ran the back of his knuckles down my cheek.

    "Max," he said in a husky voice. "Do you think we''ve ever done this before?"

    The unknown grave of our past lives gaped like a numb hole in my chest. "I don''t know how long we survived, but I do know Dr. Henderson can''t steal this from us this time."

    His lips hovered close to mine, so close to breaking tradition that I''d never cared much for to begin with. Not even to say no to this man.

    "Not the Prophet either," Nash said in defiance of the man who had stolen years of his life.

    "Not Lote or the flatlanders or that creepy cult."

    Neither of us spoke of the mysterious man, though I felt him hanging over us.

    "I''ve loved you in every life, in every world," he said.

    "I''ll love you in the lives to come."

    Nash tilted his head and brought his tender lips to mine, his taste and smell overtaking my world. Ours bodies knew each other so well, perfectly in sync in battle, and . We were drawn together and long past trying to deny that.

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    A loud groan almost distracted me. "You''re not supposed to kiss yet," Wren said. "The elders will complain if they see."

    I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me off my toes. Unhesitating, we kissed each other deep and full and with the promise of the rest of our lives, whatever lives may come, binding us together.

    Elsie''s voice rang out in a mixture of squeal and horrified scream. "Icky! Icky kissy! Icky, icky!"

    We laughed against each other''s lips and looked deeply into one another''s eyes.

    Had we done this before?

    For once, it was a thrill to not know.

    When I lowered back onto my heels, Leif smacked Nash''s chest once and then gave him a firm shove away. "I can still rip your throat out, you know. We put too much work into getting this ready today for you to piss the elders off and cancel on us."

    Nash smirked. "You get your power to work yet, buddy?"

    Leif bared his teeth in a smile. "Ha."

    Wren hung her arm around my neck. "I have and I can rip everyone''s throats out."

    I rubbed my throat. "You guys know you can just say you love us instead of you''ll kill us."

    Leif shook his head. "You know we love you. You forget we can kill you."

    Wren nestled her cheek against mine. "Are you all moving back in with Leif now that you''ll be in the village again?"

    Leif glared at her. Nash grinned.

    Elsie ran up the steps and pushed her way to the center of us. I bent to pick her up.

    "I can live with Rune?" she asked.

    "You want to?"

    "I don''t have to marry him, do I?"

    We all laughed hard at that.

    "I don''t want to get married," Elsie whined.

    I kissed her forehead. "Okay. You never have to get married if you don''t want to."

    "I want to fight, though."

    "Well, obviously," I said. "All you have to do is convince your dad."

    "Daddy?"

    Nash sighed. "Keep training and ask me later."

    "That means no." Elsie pursed her lips in a pout. "It always means no."

    I treasured hearing them all laugh, having them all close, because I never knew how long it could be before we had this again.

    Our guests started to gather before the stage and Elsie scurried to her mother''s side. Rune found her and poked the dark streak on her cheek. "You look weird," he said.

    Elsie turned her nose up at him. "What do you care what I look like? We''re not getting married. Ma said I never have to get married, ever."

    His face scrunched. "Why would we get married?"

    "We aren''t, dummy."

    I smirked when Trin chastised Elsie for name calling.

    The head elder came to stand beside Nash and me and everyone quieted.

    I never cared much for ceremonies before. If I''d always had Nash dressed like this then they might have been my favorite thing in the world. We couldn''t stop staring at each other like we hadn''t seen one another almost every day for more than a year. Warmth burned inside of me like my power, or like when I''d first met him, so tempted to kiss him after the initial battle with the Flatlanders.

    Bonding had always seemed silly to me before too. Nash changed a lot of things for me. It felt so true after learning that we''d been together in our previous lives. Our people could bind ourselves to anyone, but often people only married each other. They were too superstitious to go further when it involved the next life.

    Elsie joined us on the stage halfway through the ceremony and Nash picked her up. She lifted her small hand between us like we''d practiced. The warmth of Nash''s amber eyes filled me as we closed our hands around hers. The elder wrapped the satin ribbon around our wrists and over our hands.

    "I bind this family," the elder said, "in this life and in the next."

    Elsie looked between us with tears coating her eyes. We drew close to each other and settled our foreheads against her temple on either side. Nash''s hand slid tenderly over the small of my back.

    "My life is yours," he whispered to us.

    I kissed Elsie''s cheek. "Mine too." Not just my death or my protection, but my life¨Ca life I would fight to live fully.

    Elsie returned to her mother and Nash clasped his hands with mine.

    "The gods gave us marriage that we might have a partner to cherish our best times with and to hold us through our worst."

    I''d thought about asking to break tradition and leave the gods out of the ceremony, until I spent more time considering the truth of it. The gods did create this world and giving us the library at the Sacred School changed our world in ways that only they could as the knowledge trickled down into the world. I could not erase them from my life, no matter how much I wanted to. Pretending I could wouldn''t help me protect my world from them.

    The gods gave and so the gods thought they could take. Humanity had a way of ascending.

    The bond with this family we had created would last into the next life, and no god would ever break it. This was ours and ours alone.

    "As your people, we bless your marriage and your bond. We will honor and protect your unity."

    Our people raised their forearms in their vow.

    Nash settled his forearm against my chest. I clutched his.

    "Will you give both and life and death to one another? Will you give flesh and blood?" the elder asked.

    "I give everything," Nash and I said together.

    He took my face into his hands and kissed me without anyone complaining this time.

    Our people shouted for us and held onto one another, celebrating a bond they''d promised to uphold.

    Then Nash lifted me into his arms and held me close against his chest. He ambled down the stairs, pushing through the gathering of our people.

    "Bye," he said to a chorus of laughter. "See you in a week."

    I threw my head back, laughing as well.

    "No one call on us," he yelled. "I''m not joking." Then, walking past Elsie, he slowed to a stop. "See you tomorrow, baby girl."

    She clutched his leg and hugged him tight. "Bye, Daddy. I''ll miss you."

    I reached down to take her hand. "We''ll miss you too."

    Trin lifted her to plop a quick kiss on each of our cheeks.

    And then Nash whisked me away without looking back on our people.

    The chuckle on my lips died when we walked through the curtain and our eyes met for the first time since we''d promised our lives to each other.

    Face as serious as when he charged into battle, Nash said, "I only ask one thing as your husband."

    My chest tightened. "Anything."

    "I fight in every battle from now on."

    I nodded. "Yes."

    "The next one, I won''t ask, because I know you''ll always fight it with everything you have. But just know, Sharpshooter." He held me closer. "I will die for you."

    "Nash¨C"

    "The world needs the Prophet Eclipse. Elsie and I need Max. You need to live."

    "So do you. I''ll die for you."

    "You think I don''t know that?" He started walking again. "We''re going to have a long life of arguing about who gets to die for the other."

    I smiled and ran my hand up the back of his neck, lifting, to kiss him with no one watching.

    A long life sounded nice.

    <hr>

    The wavering reflection of torches danced upon waters so still it looked like black glass. With the cover of clouds, the darkness of the lake disappeared into the black surrounding me. The bugs were quiet here in Skia Hellig, much quieter than where we''d just visited Gael''s people. That quiet slid through me like a breeze and gently pushed into the depths of my bones. Settling me to my core.

    Nash stared out at the darkness, his face a mask of the ease I felt.

    "It''s amazing that moments of peace come no matter how tumultuous the battle. You can be covered in blood and find that surreal second where the sky looks beautiful and the air feels wonderful. I feel like we''re still in battle, finding a glimpse of peace."

    He met my eyes as he had so many times before, but it never got old. Each time was better than the last. Deeper. "It''ll be better one day."

    "Will it?" It was not a question meant to antagonize. I genuinely wanted to know. "I think we can survive no matter what. We''re strong together."

    His rough fingers gently brushed my hair back, the soft touch a contrast to skin toughened by steel and leather. By swords that he wielded as well as his own body. "It will. I have no doubt."

    "One day¡­" My fingers wandered over the back of his hand, my look and touch driving deep into him like the peace of the quiet, so I could unearth parts of him unknown even to himself. "I want to lie out in the grass with nothing to worry about except for what to eat for dinner and how I''ll beat you at sparring."

    He chuckled, though the same want burned as bright in his eyes as the torchlight. "Then we''ll fight for that day."

    "It''ll be me, you, and Elsie. And we''ll have to make it happen before she''s too grown and off fighting her own wars."

    "Why just me, you, and Elsie? You don''t think you''d want anyone else?"

    "I love Leif and Wren and Piercey. But¨C"

    "No, no, no." Nash drew me beneath the warmth of his arm and gazed down my face. "Another child."

    My eyes widened. "We''re literally starting a kingdom from scratch. When would there be time to start a baby from scratch too?"

    He snorted. "Not right now. We''re talking someday. The kind of someday we can dream about."

    It wasn''t something I''d thought about even once. We''d been too busy to even start our life together. "I never thought I''d get to have a baby. I guess I can think about things like that, can''t I?"

    "Yes, Max. It''s okay. We have plenty of time to dream."

    "I don''t know if I''ve ever been as relaxed as I have been this week, which is sad, because I''m still really worried about the future."

    "From now on, we''re doing this once a year."

    "One a year? What if we''re at war?"

    "Yes, once a year," Nash said.

    "For a few days, maybe. Not a week."

    "You''re the ruler of the valley now. You have to take care of yourself."

    "You know¡­" I chuckled. "I truly believed I didn''t have time to lead the Valley because I didn''t have time to even sleep. I realize now that leading the Valley gives me the time I need, because with leadership comes help. I''m not going to be doing it alone. I''m going to say no to battles I don''t need to fight and stay where I''m needed most."

    "I told you that you were made for more than you could imagine." Nash kissed my cheek.

    I turned, wanting more while we still had time together, before the rest of the kingdom crept back in. The heat of his lips caught mine ablaze.

    "I am bound to you, Max." The words came as a breath against my mouth. "Bound in this life and the next. In all the lives I will ever call my own."

    I remembered when we''d first met and he''d said he thought he''d met me in a dream he couldn''t remember. How lives I couldn''t remember had played out on the walls of the white room, Nash with me in each. I had loved him in more than just this life, in more than just this world.

    When Nash and I had decided to pursue each other and when I''d given up my fear of dying to the eclipse, I''d thought that we''d made the hardest decision¨Cto be together. It turned out that living was far harder, especially in a valley at war. But Nash and I fought so well together.

    We would fight many more wars together, wouldn''t we?

    I settled back against his thick chest and rested my head against his shoulder, feeling the kind of peace I wasn''t sure I''d ever felt. It wasn''t that I lacked any kind of tension inside of me, but rather that I knew what to do with it. I could sit with it and not slip away. I could sit with it and not fix it. I could sit with it and leave it for the future.

    Nash and I fought well together. Now we would learn to live and to lead well together.

 122. Speak

    Though I''d already accepted my role as the leader of the valley, the villages were still voting, and everything was in flux. I felt like I was living my last days in my old life, before one I really couldn''t imagine began.

    We packed our belongings at the Sacred School and prepared to leave this part of our life in the past. Piercey would keep the apartment available for when visited or if we ever needed refuge, but it would no longer be our home.

    We were collecting our weapons from the various training rooms when Piercey sent the message over the neural connection.

    Elias, Jax, and Ashton were back.

    Nash and I met them in our apartment, along with Piercey, Wren, and Leif.

    Elias stood up from the couch when we entered. Jax and Ash already waited by the door.

    "You''re safe?" I asked.

    "We''re safe," Elias said. "Our guild is in upheaval still, but the rest of the kingdom is fine. The king kept control."

    "Lote''s network ran deep." Jax leaned a hand against the wall. "We had some hard battles and there will be more to come. It''s been a chance for the guilds to talk, though."

    "You''ll push them to unite." I nodded at Ashton. "You can do this."

    "We can," she said. "We''re not giving up until there''s peace."

    "But is there some kind of stability? You really are safe?"

    "Yes." Elias nodded. "We''re fine."

    "Well," Ashton said. "Elias needs our help. The king isn''t happy with some of the decisions he''s made."

    "They don''t need to worry about that, Ash."

    "Can we do anything?" Nash asked.

    "No." Elias lifted his hands. "Really. I''ll be fine. These are my mistakes to deal with. It looks like the king and my guild will be willing to give me another chance considering the circumstances with my parents and Lote''s corruption."

    He stepped closer to me, his voice quiet and sincere.

    "I owe you an apology, Max. I''m sorry." Elias lowered his eyes. "I was floundering and I''d lost Ashton. Instead of doing the work to repair with her, I stole you away from your world. I''m the reason our problems collided and all this happened."

    I wanted to tell him he didn''t need to apologize and I understood, to ease the pain I saw in him. But I was angry too and I resented that he''d lied to me. "I''ll forgive you. Just stop with the hiding and lying."

    "I''m done with it. I learned my lesson."

    I sighed and grabbed his hand for a moment. "Take care of yourself, Elias."

    "You too. And congratulations. Piercey told us you had a beautiful ceremony."

    Thinking about the past week made it impossible not to smile. "Thanks."

    "Where''s the apology for old Leif?" He fell onto the couch and kicked his legs up. "I pulled a muscle in my shoulder because of this ordeal."

    "Shut up, Leif." I rolled my eyes at him.

    "I was promised beer, too. Where''s that?"

    I looked over at Piercey. "You promised him beer?"

    "I did." Jax nodded his head toward a table beneath the window that held two jugs of beer I hadn''t noticed. "We can''t stay for too long, but I thought we all needed a good drink after what we went through."

    Nash grinned and moved for the table. "Hell yes, we do."

    An hour later, everyone had drained the last drop of beer. We sat on the ground and on the couch together, comparing stories of childhood, and trying to figure out what Leif was doing in the other world.

    "How has no one seen me?" he asked. "Am I dead?"

    "Maybe." Jax hooked his elbows on the ground, leaning back. "Wren is a great warrior over there, though. I wish I could remember her name. I''ve seen her in a few battles."

    "This is ridiculous," Leif said. "What is that lazy asshole doing? He should have made a name for himself."

    Nash and Jax belted out the same exact laugh at the same exact time.

    "Don''t do that," Piercey said. "That''s creepy."

    The two identical men stared at each other now. "Yeah," Nash said.

    "It''ll never be normal," I said. "You just have to accept it."

    We continued talking until Elias left to use the restroom, and I leaned over to punch Ashton''s leg.

    "What was that for?" she asked.

    "Making me wait so long." I glared at Jax. "I should hit you too."

    He gave the same lopsided grin as Nash and for one dizzying moment my mind couldn''t process which one was my husband and which one was the man from another world.

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    Ash sheepishly looked at Jax and my heart erupted with all the longing I knew so well that she felt.

    "I fucking knew it," I said. "You''re already back together."

    "Quiet," Ash said. "Elias doesn''t need to know yet."

    "He probably knows."

    "Max," Ash chastised.

    It was making me way too self-aware to have so much exposure to another version of myself.

    "You know," Jax said. "While we''re all here and on the subject." He pointed between Nash and myself. "Have you ever threatened to kill each other?"

    "No," I shouted.

    "Yes," Nash said, with a look of incredulity. "You don''t remember? You smeared berries in my eyes after we had to leave Leif and Wren behind. Attacked me. There were plenty of threats thrown out around that time."

    I pursed my lips, remembering clearly. "Well, that doesn''t count. That was before I really knew you."

    He snorted. "Wow."

    "You were my enemy and I didn''t know if I could trust you! You needed to be warned that I would slaughter you if you threatened my people. It''s a kindness, really. If you didn''t know, crossed me, and had to learn the hard way, wouldn''t it be worse?"

    Nash hung his arm around me and cocked his head to the side. "I didn''t say it wasn''t merciful of you to make me aware of your propensity for slaughter, only that you did, in fact, threaten to kill me."

    "Fine," I conceded.

    When Elias returned, Wren turned her attention to him. "You''ve traveled to the other two worlds, right?"

    "I have, just not as much as this world. In one there''s no one with power and in the other half the people have it. That''s the worst world. It''s in ruins."

    "Wow." Wren chewed on her nail. "That''s terrible."

    "This world caught my interest because it had been reset twice before. Actually, I''ve given this some thought and I want to amend my position that your previous lives were erased entirely. Max can''t travel to them and access them like her past, however, I believe that the quantum power from those lives has impacted this one."

    Piercey looked captivated by what Elias had said. "Do you think that''s why Max is able to tap into that incredible power?"

    "Partially, yeah. She''s had experiences no one else has had, especially with Dr. Henderson. But if she''s somehow connecting with her past lives, it would explain where that immense well of energy comes from."

    I touched my stomach, feeling the warmth of my power buried deep inside me. Could that really be? "Then maybe there''s a way to recover those lives. We might have learned things in them that we haven''t here."

    Piercey looked nervous. "It''s toying with that line again. We don''t know enough about that man."

    Ashton scooted to the edge of her seat. "I think I saw him in my world."

    The news shot through my chest like a blast of energy. "What?"

    "Yes, it was a glimpse, but I think I saw him. I think he wanted us to know he really can travel the worlds."

    That silenced everyone for several seconds. I drew my knees up and leaned against them.

    I had to figure out everything I could about that man and get strong enough to beat him if the time ever came. He''d killed some of the most powerful people I''d ever met with a flick.

    "I want to learn to travel worlds," I said. "We need to be able to contact each other. The gods are fine with us having some contact."

    "Okay." Elias placed his empty cup on the ground. "I''ll come back when I have time and try teaching you. We should return home though."

    "Be careful," Nash said. "You have a difficult battle ahead of you."

    "Same for you all," Ashton said. "We''ll ensure that no one trespasses into your world again."

    If they did, that stranger might just kill them.

    We said our goodbyes to these pieces of ourselves from another world.

    One day, I hoped that everything would be set right for all of us.

    <hr>

    The first month of our kingdom came and passed in what felt like only days.

    People had traveled from all over the entire valley to join together for the three day ceremony celebrating the birth of our kingdom and my formal acceptance of Prophet of the Valley. Despite a prolonged debate about changing the title, in the end the people had made the decision for us, because they had lived their entire lives having a Prophet, and there was no stopping them from calling me the Prophet Eclipse.

    Before traveling to the mirror of our world, I hadn''t thought I was strong enough to lead the Valley. Learning how to let the valley stand on its own while I traveled to Elias''s world had been one of the hardest battles I''d ever fought. I wasn''t close, yet, to really knowing how to do that. I wouldn''t give up though. I''d fight and fight until we had raised up enough warriors, leaders, and protectors to take on any threat. So that when I was gone, the valley could flourish without me.

    Wasn''t that the true job of a leader? To one day be able to walk away and watch from a distance as the thing you had raised became better than you could make it?

    I wanted to learn how to do that.

    After running away from the Sacred School as a teenager, I somehow had still become a Prophet.

    None of it felt real as I looked down upon the largest crowd I''d ever seen.

    Nash stood at my side, honoring his promise to fight every battle beside me. This might have been my hardest one yet.

    Marcus, the commander who had been the most likely of everyone else to become ruler of the Valley, spoke to our people in a voice assisted by power. I needed to know him better before I decided to trust him, but the role he had played so far had been pivotal, bringing the political power and charisma to my advisory team that I required.

    "We will remake the name Prophet and teach all of Skia Hellig how to run a kingdom." Marcus swooped his arm over the crowd while they cheered. "Our Prophet Eclipse freed us from the brutal hand of Eskel and shed her own blood in countless battles to protect our families and our children from all those who want to harm us. It is our turn to honor her and thank her for her sacrifice. Let all of Skia Hellig hear our cries. We stand together. We stand with Eclipse."

    The roar of the crowd erupted like a wild beast, their stomping and clapping making the earth tremble. Nash grabbed my hand and thrust it in the air. The people screamed again.

    I belonged on the battlefield with my comrades, living in each swing of my sword, and each arrow I shot. That wasn''t what my people needed from me anymore, though. They needed someone to rally around and to lead them through the growing pains of a kingdom that rose from the ashes of a dark and brutal reign.

    I wanted to be another person for them, someone born to rule, who had always yearned to have the power to guide, and lead, and govern. That wasn''t my story, though. I was a Prophet¨Cin-training turned demon-in-hiding who refused to allow anyone in any world to hurt my people. So I would become the ruler my people needed me to be. I would defend them as a war-time Prophet and carve out safety and security from a Skia Hellig that yearned for blood. And in the greatest twist of irony, I would have the support I needed to also live my life, to be Nash''s wife and Elsie''s Ma.

    With Nash raising my fist before my people and Marcus leading the crowd to roar Eclipse, it felt like the inevitable culmination of a long journey and the beginning of the rest of my life. And yet, I sensed strongly that there was more for me than this. That one day I would live in a moment like this once again, but feel I had been born for it.

    I figured some of the greatest rulers were born to lead and that others were brave enough to step into a battle that they were uniquely equipped for.

    I would become the Prophet Eclipse, but I wouldn''t stop there.

    Marcus stepped to the side so I could speak to my people and I imagined that they expected to hear a speech as powerful and viscous as would be befitting the renowned Eclipse.

    The people I loved and all I wanted for them and myself flooded my chest. I walked to the center of the stage, my gaze sweeping over the people who were placing their lives in my hands.

    I knew what I most needed to say to them.

    "This is our valley." My power swept my voice over the field. "And in our valley, we fight without surrender to seize the lives we want to live."

 123. Epilogue 2

    I awoke from our third simulated life with Nash''s hand in mine, the two of us bound together through time and through lives and through more battles than we''d ever known we could fight. We''d found one another again, as we vowed to always do, and we''d changed yet again. Changed together. Grown together.

    Once I couldn''t fathom experiencing multiple lifetimes in multiple simulations. It defied the boundaries of my human mind. Now, I held more memories from these new lives than I did from our first, and yet I would never love another life more than the one I first lived.

    "Good morning," Nash said again.

    I smiled, tightening my grip on him. "Good morning."

    We needed time between living through these lives. After the second simulation, we''d returned to our family and friends in the afterlife until we felt rested enough to continue. This time, I wanted to keep working. With every life we learned more about ourselves, humanity, and our mission to find justice for the young lives we''d left behind in our world, when we''d lived to defend our kingdom, and cherish our time together.

    At one time when I accepted rule of the valley and became the Prophet Eclipse, I felt certain I would never face a more monumental task or have to learn to grow more rapidly. I was so young then. So young and so naive to what I would soon face. But it was that version of myself I felt the most gratitude for, because I''d found the strength to fight and the courage to take on a position I feared more than anything.

    If only I could return to those days as a young ruler with what I know now. I wanted to both laugh and cry thinking about it. Back then, I would have absolutely lost my mind if I understood what it would take for me to formally join this society and climb the ranks to join the council. To have the power I needed to protect the young worlds of our universe. While once I wanted nothing to do with power, resented it even, I saw clearly that I could fight much more effectively with it.

    I no longer apologized for having the strength to lead. I wanted to finish the fight I''d begun back in the days when I battled the supervisor of my world and the original Prophet of the Valley.

    We left Dr. Drake behind and traveled to a different sphere of the after-life than where the people of my world lived.

    "Think they''re tired of the after-life yet?" Nash asked as we transitioned into the similar, but unique world that mirrored our own.

    "Undoubtedly." I bit down my smile as we approached the cabin that looked identical to one that I once traveled to in Elias''s world. Ashton reclined in the grass outside while Jax hovered in the air beside her, the two of them deep in conversation, their fingers intertwined just like Nash and mine had been when we woke from this past life.

    "You''ve gotten lazy." I walked across the crisp grass and leaned over her.

    "Max." Ashton shoved herself up and grinned. "It''s been a long time."

    "We were busy," Nash said. Such an understatement. Since we''d seen them last, we had lived through two fully simulated lives, one in a medieval world struggling with a plague, and another at the precipice of Earth''s flight into the stars at the dawn of interstellar travel.

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    "If you don''t remember everything yet, I''m going to punch you in the head," I said.

    Jax smirked and hung his arm around Asthon''s shoulders. "We remember now."

    "It''s your fault we''re still here." Ashton frowned at me. "They said they weren''t sure anyone could handle two of us out in the wild."

    I snorted. "So you let them lock you up here? You''ve had plenty of time to figure out your escape. It''s politics. Play the game."

    "I might be a little behind you in every world, but with time, I rise above your highest reaches." Ashton stepped closer, the competitive edge lighting her eyes. "I''ll make it to the council before you."

    "Good luck," Nash said. "You have a lot of lives to lead."

    I saw myself in Ashton still, only it had been such a long time since I thought the way she did, that we no longer felt like the same person. Three lives ago, looking at her felt like looking in a mirror. Every decision I had made, every victory and mistake, shaped who I had become today.

    I smiled. "I''m only teasing you. We''ll talk with Dr. Drake again. Everyone has the right to work their way out of the after-life. It isn''t your fault there''s multiple copies of us."

    "Unprecedented," Ashton said. "That''s what they call more than one of us leaving the after-life."

    Sounded right. We often were unprecedented. "What about Elias?"

    Ashton chuckled. "He''s been visiting with Piercey in your after-life. They''re working together on writing a historical collection that bridges the gap between each of the four worlds from our experiment. They travel to each realm of after-lives connected to our worlds to interview everyone about what they remember."

    That sounded almost as exhausting as living through simulated lives like Nash and I did. "I would love to read that."

    "You read now?" Jax asked with his eyebrow quirked. "I remember you visiting our library once and insisting that someone just connect with you to infuse you with knowledge."

    "It''s scary what habits you pick up given the time." I glanced at Nash, chuckling at the thought of the obsession he''d developed in our last life with cooking in space. He''d never cared for cooking in life, but when faced with a decade of eating food he hated, he had apparently evolved.

    Enlightenment felt possible¨Cinevitable¨Cbefore we started living through these lives. Surely, given enough time and experiences, we would ascend to a new realm of humanity. Our wisdom and grace and empathy would know no bounds. We would become gods.

    I no longer could fathom considering myself enlightened no matter how many lives I''d lived. That was the first sign that something had gone wrong. That anyone in the council or collective would believe they were truly enlightened. Yes, I grew more than I imagined possible, but because of that growth, I understood the beautiful fragility of life and the true depth of perfection.

    We were still human. We always would be. There were no gods among us. Only people.

    In fact, one of the reasons we had to rest between living lives was because it could be so overwhelmingly traumatic to remember the pain of multiple lives. I could see how it could twist and deform a soul rather than enlighten it.

    Nash and I joined Ash and Jax for dinner, the kind we would have eaten back in our worlds. We reminisced and dreamed. We planned for wars we never knew we''d have to fight. We lived lives that could flourish in any world.

    With Nash sitting beside me, I gazed up at him, remembering the day we had promised our life and what was to come to one another. We couldn''t have known what that would mean at the time.

    When we left Jax and Ash, we had planned to travel to the council to speak with them about the interventions they currently took in physical worlds with data collected from the experiment run on ours. But I couldn''t stop thinking of the family we''d built and how I couldn''t live one more second without returning.

    "Let''s go home first." I tugged Nash down to me and kissed him softly. "Work can always wait, no matter how important."

    I held the man who had loved me in every life I''d ever lived and imagined the worlds and lives still unknown to us that would one day be ours.

 Authors Note

    Hello, everyone. I just wanted to give an update. I know I said before that I''d do a short intermission between books 2 and 3 but I don''t for sure have a date yet when I''ll post again. I have a lot going on right now with teaching and grad school, so it''s slow-going still. My goal is to start posting again in a week, but it may be two depending on how this next week goes. Thank you all for reading this series and for your patience!

    I do have some exciting things happening with the Eclipse series right now. If you don''t follow my socials, you may not know this yet, but I have a publishing contract for the Eclipse series. The first book will release April 29, 2025 on Kindle and Audible. So if you haven''t finished reading the first book yet, there''s still plenty of time. Right now book 1 is out with the editor and the audiobook will start being recorded in November. Tess Irondale will be the narrator, which I am so excited about! I think she does a great job with the Salvos series. If you want to learn more about her, I recommend joining her discord. She does live recording sessions which are really fun to listen in on.

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    For more updates, follow my Facebook or join my Discord. I''ll post the links below. I appreciate your support and I love hearing from everyone.

 Convention

    Join me on October 26th from 9:00-11:00 am PST for the 3rd Annual Webfiction Convention where I will be a panelist. I will include the RSVP link below in the author''s note. We''ll be chatting about webnovels, progression fantasy, and much more!

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    As a quick update while we''re all here, I''m making progress on my backlog to be able to start posting again. I''m very excited about the direction of book 3!

 Audiobook

    Tess Irondale will begin recording book 1 of Eclipse live tomorrow! Join her discord if you would like to listen in. I love that she does live sessions. Book 1 will be available on Kindle and Audible on April 29, 2025.

    You can follow my Facebook group, as well, to keep up-to-date with publishing news on the Eclipse series.

    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    In other news, I am continuing to make progress with my backlog and am getting closer to being able to start scheduling chapters of book 3. I apologize for how long it has taken me. I''ve had a very crazy few months. Once I post chapter 1, I will continuing posting 1 chapter a week until I''ve completed my draft of the book. Then I will move to twice a week updates.

    I hope you are all doing well! Click the picture above to follow her discord or see the links below.

 124. Long Rests

    My village sprawled out across the land below me, reaching much further than in the days when I first arrived after fleeing the Sacred School. This place had grown with me and our kingdom, not only from the new homes and buildings, but the people who flocked here to help rule our valley. We''d built all of this, my people and me. Built it from the grounded up together and watched it grow with each year. I never thought I could feel comfortable standing atop of a tower assembled for me to rule from, but despite that I once ran from this responsibility, this tower now felt like home. Like family.

    Frigid wind bit my cheeks and the tips of my fingers, the only parts of my body left exposed as the light of summer gave way to a quickly approaching winter. In Skia Hellig, the frigid temperatures needed little time to overcome our lands. Darkness consumed more of our sunlight with each passing day. Soon we''d only have a few hours of full sunlight every day.

    I slid my left foot along the rock wall and opened my stance, focusing my power on the very tip of my sword. Another gust of wind might have hurled me from the tower if not for how I anchored my body with my power. The pain prickling my cheeks kept me focused as I stared at the blue bead of energy steadily growing smaller. While it looked like such a tiny amount of power, the dense energy could reduce the tower I stood upon to a pile of dust if I released it.

    Nash drifted from the wall and floated directly in front of the bead of energy, so close that if I flinched, it might hit him. The fear of unleashing it upon him flashed down my spine and the energy dissipated as I recoiled.

    "I told you before not to do that," I said.

    He lifted my sword so it was level with his heart.  "Do it again." He wore his dark beard a little longer this time of year and his hood hid his curls from view. It made the golden hue of his eyes pop. "You''re too afraid of your power still. Trust yourself. What good is pushing your limits if you''re not confident?"

    "What if the wind gusts again?"

    Rather than speak, he merely held my gaze, silently challenging me.

    I clenched my teeth and focused on forming the dense ball of energy again, only this time it wasn''t even a fraction as powerful as before.

    Nash shrugged. "We''ll work on it."

    "I don''t want to work on it."

    "Well, that''s the problem with peace, isn''t it? You don''t have enough enemies to test this out on. These are the stakes you need."

    I shook my head. "The stakes of accidentally mauling my husband if I so much as sneeze?"

    "Yeah. Those stakes."

    I rolled my eyes and dropped my sword to my side. He eased back onto the tower with me, his side brushing mine. "Have faith, Sharpshooter."

    Nash slid his arm around my waist and drew me back against him. He lifted us from the tower so we floated in the air, and my stomach fluttered at the pull of gravity insisted on dragging me back to the ground. But he held me steady in the gusting wind as we hovered over the village. It wasn''t quite right to call it that anymore, truth be told. This was a city now, the jewel of a young and thriving kingdom. In my mind, though, I could never let go of the quaint image of the place I''d called home for so long.

    "Are you going to try out your new move at the competition?" Nash''s breath warmed my temple.

    "Great idea. I can accidentally kill our most promising warriors."

    The buildings and homes grew in size as he lowered us toward the ground. Crowds already gathered at the center of town where we rearranged our community area into the main arena for our annual competition. Markus endlessly mocked the idea of hosting any kind of combat in the center of town rather than in the fields surrounding us, but no one wanted to miss a moment of the action. It made no sense to force the children and elderly into traveling outside of town or to erect new areas for cooking and serving food. If our people loved anything as much as fighting, it was eating and drinking. The community area provided us with everything we needed. We could handle fixing any damages we caused.

    Markus had also questioned Nash when he originally pushed for a yearly competition back in the first days of the kingdom. My advisor had balked and said we literally had thousands of more important decisions to make. But Nash understood people. That made him a great spy back when the Eskel the Ruthless forced him into service and it made him a great war chief now. People needed community, even warriors. No, especially, warriors. And so this competition came into being the very same year our kingdom had eight long years ago.

    I looked forward to it every year.

    More than providing our people with community, tradition, and entertainment, the sparring matches challenged our warriors and allowed us to watch for promising young fighters.

    Heads lifted in our direction as we neared the ground. Nash''s longer legs dangled below mine until his feet touched down on the stone tiles of the makeshift arena. Mine settled right after him, and his palm smoothed over my stomach briefly before he released me. With all our responsibilities, some days we only managed these stolen touches and glances, so we savored each. The eyes of the kingdom never strayed from us, not for a moment, but we learned how to be alone in the midst of a crowd, even if only for fleeting moments during busy weeks like this.

    "Prophet¨C"

    "War Chief¨C"

    No less than a dozen people barked our names at once as everyone crowded us, two advisors tugging us in opposite directions. I glanced back at Nash over my shoulder, catching his eyes as well. The familiar quirk of his smile filled me with warmth. We both loved the festival and I knew what he was thinking. Nash couldn''t wait until it was our turn in the arena.

    "We''re running out of lodging," one of Markus''s assistants spoke above another who tried to direct my attention elsewhere. "Can we use rooms in the tower for¨C"

    "You know I don''t care about that," I said with a sigh. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    The advisor who ushered me away nodded subtly toward an elderly woman seated in the front row of the wooden seating erected for the festival. "The grandmother of the chief from the village¨C"

    I waved my hand. "I know." Then, smiling wide, I took both her hands as I sat. "Elara. I didn''t believe you last year when you told me you''d travel all this way."

    Weathered fingers gripped me. "You must be busy. You don''t have to sit with me."

    "They can wait a few minutes." I glanced at the small crowd waiting on me and they all shuffled back several steps, averting their eyes.

    "Do you ever get time alone?" she asked.

    "Only when I hide out on the roof."

    She laughed loudly and patted my hand, surely thinking I was joking. Her expression quickly straightened, though, and emotion filled her voice. "I''m just happy I lived to see days like this. I never could have dreamed of this kind of peace."

    Her words tightened my chest, because the threat of war never receded far from our kingdom, and any peace felt only like a rest between battles. "I just want to hold onto it."

    "Oh, dear." Sympathy filled her eyes. "Let go of your worries. Some peace runs so deep it remains even in the midst of war. You''ve done well, child. We''re ready for our next dark season, whenever it may come. No one can stop the cycle of war and peace, not even the Prophet Eclipse."

    I nodded, but it didn''t loosen my muscles. "I''ll trust you on that."

    After I became the new Prophet of the Valley, we quickly dealt with all our threats. The year of turmoil without a leader fueled the people''s desperation for unity. The valley-dwellers had been hungry for power of their own and fought tirelessly to protect our piece of the world. The coalition we amassed to take on Lote and the threat from Elias''s world provided us with all the might we needed to force out all those trying to cause chaos in our land.

    Not that the years since only offered us peace. That couldn''t be further from the truth. The Flatlanders never surrendered in their battle to reclaim the villages Eskel the Ruthless once stole, but those people wanted to remain in our kingdom. We defended them against the Flatlanders in two separate short wars. Plenty of danger still threatened the Valley, but it felt like peace to me after all I''d faced in my life.

    I knew, though, that while we''d secured our piece of Skia Hellig, our region was not yet stable. What came next? That question stirred fear within me. Any conflict, no matter how minor, could plunge us into war.

    I started to say something else to the elderly woman when her attention shifted toward the arena and her eyes lit. I heard the yell only a moment later.

    "Finally!" Elsie ran toward me in a full sprint. Sunlight glinted off the silver band holding back dozens of tight braids from her face. I missed when she wore her curls loose and full, but our little warrior would never allow anything to hinder her in a fight. Rightly so. I''d never allowed my hair to get in the way either.

    She bounded over a bench and skidded to a stop right in front of me. Her brand new armor matched the style of young warriors training for battle and it made her look too grown up.

    "What took so long?" She asked with her fists on her hips. Then, seeming to remember her manners, she turned toward the woman beside me and dipped her head. "Oh, hello, dear elder."

    I let out a heavy sigh. Elsie had offered just enough of a welcome to skirt around being chastised, or so she likely thought. "Introduce yourself properly."

    Though the girl smiled politely, I recognized the annoyance in her golden brown eyes. "I''m Elsie, a junior warrior-in-training."

    Warriors-in-training most certainly existed, but not any junior ones. Elsie made that title up for herself because at thirteen, she did not yet qualify for any official training position. I struggled to hold back my smirk.

    Elara raised her brows. "Daughter of the great Prophet Eclipse and the fearless War Chief Nash," the woman corrected with an amused smile.

    "That and¡­" Elsie sucked in a deep breath. "Future undefeated War Chief Elsie."

    "What a formiddle young lady you are. I''m Elara, the mother of Chief Frode, and the grandmother of a young man you may remember. A young warrior in-training named Axel."

    Elsie''s stare burned at the name. Her shoulders straightened. "Yes, I remember Axel."

    "He''s competing today," Elara said.

    No one needed to tell Elsie that. After the young man two years older than her defeated her in the twin sword competition, she''d talked about little else for weeks afterward. Elsie prided herself as the greatest adolescent twin-sword wielder, though such a thing didn''t exist before tales of Nash spread over the valley. "I''m sorry you''ll have to witness your grandson''s defeat," Elsie said.

    Elara chuckled lightly. "You should never apologize for your victories. You''ll only encourage him to train more."

    The girl smiled at this and lowered her head with much more deference this time. "Thank you for your wisdom."

    "Now, run off and play," I said.

    "You mean train." Elsie''s eyes narrowed.

    "Sure."

    She groaned at my jesting, but she still looped her arms around my neck before leaving and whispered in my ear. "You better beat Daddy in the first match this year. His ego is getting too big."

    I squeezed her arm and kissed her cheek. "You know I will, baby girl. Now go find him and tell him you want me to win."

    She grinned and ran off with her twin blades bouncing lightly at her sides.

    "I believe I was promised that I could meet someone else too," Elara said.

    I looked up at those waiting for me, gauging how antsy they looked to guess at how much more time I could spare before one of the advisors complained. "Will you get him?" I asked one of the men, butterflies filling my belly as they always did when we reunited, no matter how long or short our time of separation might have been.

    One of the young men ran off quickly. I didn''t have to wait long before I spotted Nash cutting through the crowd. My legs moved on instinct, drawing me closer.

    Elsie strode beside him with both hands resting on her swords, but the gleeful smile undercut the tough demeanor she wanted to put on.

    I should have known. Despite only arriving at the festival a short while before, Nash already beat me to it. His large hands lovingly cupped the small bundle against his chest, the white straps of the carrier tight against his leather armor.

    I ran the last few steps until I saw his face. "There you are," I said softly.

    A small pudgy hand reached into the air at the sound of my voice. Honey eyes opened sleepily, searching for me. The baby stirred until his gaze found mine and then the bright, toothless smile spread over his chunky cheeks.

    He saw me. For right now, for this short time in his life, we were his world. Nash, Elsie, and me.

    The pure rush of joy that captured his little body at seeing me made me feel like my heart might stop beating. I needed to hold him and never let go. I needed it like my lungs needed air.

    "Hi," I whispered and slid my finger into my son''s hand. Nash smoothed his hand over my hip, holding me close while we both looked at our baby. He had his father''s eyes, just like Elsie.

    All this happiness inevitably ushered in that twinge of fear that I''d lose it all, but the warmth filling me, the overwhelming joy and awe pounding in my chest flooded me so much that the anxiety couldn''t dim the happiness. Not right now.

    I didn''t know how Elara could be right about a peace so steadfast that not even war could break it, but this moment made me see how it could possibly be true.

    But wasn''t this peace also as fragile as the four month old infant nestled against my husband''s chest?

    We were so powerful and so fragile. So fully both at the same time.

 125. Legends

    I slid my hand over the back of the baby''s head and Nash''s gaze found me. Seeing him cradle Finn against himself melted me from the inside out. Every time.

    Elsie took Finn''s hand and seemed to forget all about her status as a junior warrior-in-training or the stakes of her upcoming matches. She cooed at her baby brother and bounced on her toes when he laughed while looking at her.

    I pressed against Nash, drawing close to Finn, and relished the fullness I felt.

    Having this baby was by far the scariest thing I''d ever done. In fact, the fear of managing a pregnancy while leading the kingdom paralyzed me for several years after I''d decided I wanted to try for one. The vulnerability for myself and my people felt insurmountable. It required a level of trust in Nash as my husband and war chief that he proved more than deserving of. A trust in all those who lead with me, as well, and with all my people. But even though I trusted, I still struggled so much with my fear. Often I couldn''t sleep at night while pregnant, worried that a terrible threat might strike when I went into labor and that we''d lose everything because I wanted to bring this life into the world.

    One thought had held me back for so long. Our kingdom and our life was finally safe and stable. How could I risk that, no matter how much I wanted a baby? Wasn''t that foolish and selfish?

    But then I''d look at Elsie and I''d know in a place that reached much deeper than my fear that my family deserved to live. To expand. To become all we wanted it to be. This was what we were fighting for. Life. Our lives and everything that made them worth living.

    I clutched him tightly against myself and breathed in the freshness of new life. He was worth it. So worth it. The fear didn''t disappear with his birth, though. New ones entered. What if I couldn''t give him the time and attention he needed? What if war called me away? What if I died and not only left behind a kingdom and a family but this brand new baby who depended on me?

    There was no preparing for the worst, so dwelling on it made no sense. While I couldn''t erase the anxiety, I refused to freely hand it power in my life. When the thoughts stormed through my mind, I did my best to think about something else.

    Right now, I thought about how wonderful it would be to tuck him in tonight and listen to Nash sing him to sleep. I looked forward to that every single day.

    "Ma." Elsie''s giggle reminded me that she was still young when she acted so grown up all the time. "Look."

    He popped his toes into his mouth. I chuckled. "You''re not supposed to eat those, silly."

    Elara hobbled close to us and brushed back his short tufts of hair. "What a beautiful boy. It is a pleasure to meet you."

    "This is Finn," Elsie said, apparently minding her manners this time. "He''s the future second to our undefeated War Chief Elsie."

    Nash smiled wryly. "Is that so?"

    "It is so." Elsie raised her chin. "I guess if he wants to be Prophet he can be that. No offense, Ma, but I''ll be too busy with the warriors to do anything else." She seemed to mull this new thought over. "Prophet Finn. It sounds right."

    It did not sound right to me. I could hardly imagine him as a toddler, or a young boy, a teenager. Definitely not as a grown man ruling a kingdom. I didn''t want my children to ever carry such a weight, but if they wanted it, I would help them seize it for themselves.

    We enjoyed our time together for a few more minutes before I returned to festival preparations. Within hours, no less than a thousand people converged upon the village, until every inch of the center of town and all the surrounding rooftops were full of onlookers.

    Running this kingdom took so much time that I really cherished any days we could all be together. Piercey resigned from the Sacred School seven years ago and left the director position to Val in order to work with Markus as a permanent advisor. My old friend''s role continued to grow beyond our small kingdom, though. Piercey wanted to see all of Skia Hellig agree to peace negotiations and his diplomatic work encouraged chatter throughout the peninsula that perhaps it was time for there to be a new kind of Prophet. One who we could trust to judge fairly and facilitate talks between rulers.

    Wren served as one of Nash''s top commanders and chiefs from all over the valley called upon Leif for assistance in training their young warriors. With Nash leading the valley as war chief and my role as Prophet, it was a wonder we ever had time to sleep.

    So days like this with all of sitting together in front rows with our families felt like perfection.

    Leif leaned down to loop his arm around my neck. "Next year, you''ll face me, girl."

    I laughed. "Definitely."

    "There''s more colors this year," Elsie said, pointing.

    No less than a hundred baskets of powder covered the floor of the arena, all different shades of color. What I loved about the festival is that even though we hoped for it to draw out the young talent of warriors in the kingdom, it also provided a venue for those with other talents. Elias''s world valued artists. I didn''t mean for the festival to encourage the arts, but that just showed me what the people could accomplish when given the power to do so.

    The opening ceremony began as it always did. Four people with power sat together on a bench, their focused stares shifting to the sky.

    No one needed to tell the crowd to quiet. An expectant hush settled like winter''s first snow over young and old alike. A red explosion of power burst directly over the area, high in the air, and unfurled in a sheet of shimmering energy. Blue and purple erupted next, forming a hazy triangle. The quiet broke as gasps peppered the gathering.

    While my people watched the display of power, I stole a look at them, at the scarred faces of warriors who fought alongside me tireless day after day, at the young, innocent eyes already dreaming of the day they''d join us in battle. I looked at Nash, taking more than a glance, as his fingers stroked Finn''s hair and his hand held the baby close to his heart. I knew all memories that tinted his look with the kind of heavy, quiet contentment and gratitude only earned through winning impossible wars, the kind born of the responsibility of leading an entire kingdom of warriors through battles that decided whether our children lived or died. The gold and silver sparks now lighting the sky filled his eyes, brightening when Elsie grabbed his arm with a gasp. Explosions popped overhead while waves of rolling light stretched beyond what we could see, coating the sky in a radiant golden, lined with veins of silver.

    "Daddy!" Elsie whispered it, most definitely not wanting the young warriors-in-training to hear the remnants of childhood in her voice. Remnants that I so cherished.

    The kids all squealed and cheered while watching the lights dance above us. Not long ago, Elsie would have joined them. Now she held the excitement down so she was quiet, but she couldn''t hide the glee beaming from her face.

    Elsie looked exactly as she had at six or seven years old in the early days of the festival when she''d never seen anything like it. Soon, she''d be old enough to start officially training, and not long after, we wouldn''t be able to hold her back from battle. And even if her eyes lit this brightly after that, it would never be exactly the same again. It couldn''t be.

    But today was not that day. I refused to allow it to come into being in my mind before it even happened in real life.

    So I melted against Nash''s arm, my own fingers now wandering absently to the baby''s hair. Nash shifted to wrap his arm around me and pull me into his warmth.

    Finn fussed for a moment, not yet used to the rancor of Skia Hellig. That wouldn''t last long.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    "Welcome, brothers and sisters," Markus''s deep voice belted throughout the crowd, aided by power. He walked into the arena with his long arms raised up. "Welcome to our eighth celebration, in the glorious 8th year of the fuckthenamexxx kingdom."

    He loved this part, which worked for me, because I hated doing it. I relaxed with my family while Markus impressed himself¨Cand, in all fairness, the entire kingdom¨Cwith his charisma and charm. His eyes found mine as he gave a smile, maybe remembering the early days when he cajoled me into doing the parts of this job I hated with the promise of days like this. I''d been so young then that I sometimes forgot I was still young now. Every other Prophet was still at least ten years older than me.

    Markus''s remarks would soon transform into a show of our history as a kingdom, and while everyone else loved this part of the festival, I always cringed. It wasn''t because of the pain behind those memories, but because of the way he told the stories. Like they were tales passed on through the generations. It didn''t feel like my story. But I supposed it was no longer my story. It was theirs. The people of my kingdom who needed me to be more than any human ever could be.

    Still, I twisted with the unpleasant anticipation of watching the rest of the opening remarks.

    "Once, the poison of Eskel the Ruthless spread over the entire valley." As Markus spoke, black powder as dark as obsidian shot up from the basket and covered the area above the area like a black cloud. Lighter shades of black and gray rose up, mingling until they formed a shadowy figure that held a long spear. Silver power flashed in tiny bolts of lighting.

    My people were silent again, watching the show unfurl above them as Markus narrated our bloody history. The artists blended into the crowd like the picture created itself and they weren''t the genius behind their own work and the young seemed to forget for just a moment that this wasn''t real.

    People like me who feared for the ones they loved and washed the blood from their armor never could forget this was only a show. I bit my cheek.

    Nash dipped to whisper in my ear, his lips brushing my skin. "What do I get if I win our matches?"

    I scoffed and twisted to shoot a glare at him. "Absolutely nothing but scorn. You won''t win."

    His smirk dragged me through time just the same as if I used my power to travel. Same smirk as the very first day we met. As every time he''d teased me since. "You''re adorable when you''re mad, though. That''s something."

    My jaw tightened. "Don''t. I won''t give you the satisfaction."

    He snorted and returned his stare to the arena. "Already are."

    "Damn it, Nash." Despite my pouting voice, I still nestled back against him, realizing that he held me in place even now, when I hadn''t slipped in longer than I could remember. Nash knew me so well. Knew when I needed him.

    But I still couldn''t let him get away with winning, so I dug my knuckles into his ribs hard enough that he brushed my hands off. My pettiness only made him smirk again. "Let me beat you down in peace. Don''t take this from me."

    Nash kissed my forehead and then nodded. "Alright, I''ll let you win."

    My fist jabbed his side, stirring the baby. He knew I never wanted him to let me win. I wanted to defeat him soundly, with no question about who bested who.

    His eyes widened. "Really?" he whispered.

    "Sorry," I mouthed at Finn and took him from Nash''s arms. "It''s your dad''s fault." With Finn curling up against me, the entire world felt right, as if there wasn''t a single awful thing happening anywhere right now. His body was so tiny and soft against me. So innocent and perfect.

    This time when Nash smiled at me, it was serious and full of life. "I love fighting you during the festival."

    Warmth filled my chest. So much warmth, I wasn''t sure how to even contain it. "Me too."

    "Be quiet," Elsie whispered. "You''re so annoying when you flirt. It''s gross."

    "You''ll make him do it more," I said. "You know your dad can''t resist vexing us. He''s too much of a child."

    "One day," Nash said to Elsie. "You''ll love someone so much that you''ll start a family¨C"

    "Oh, for the love of the gods." Elsie plugged her ears and closed her eyes.

    "¨CYou''ll have kids just so you can torture them with how much you love each other."

    "You''re ruining the ceremony," she whined.

    "Then you''ll thank me for setting such a good example and preparing you to live a long, joyful life."

    "She''s not listening anymore," I said.

    Elsie trained her stare on the glittering red figures forming an army above us.

    Nash held me close as we quieted, held me in place as he had for almost a decade now. I hoped I''d helped hold in place as much as he had for me.

    Soon, dozens of different colors of powder formed an image of Flare''s face shockingly similar to how she really looked. We neared the part of the story Elsie wasn''t allowed to watch.

    "It''s time," Nash said.

    Elsie continued to watch, her stare fervent.

    "Elsie," Nash said with a warning note in his voice.

    She groaned and looked down as she pushed the cloth into her ears to block the noise.

    We never used to allow Elsie to remain during this part. She and Trish left to return to the tower until it was over. But two years ago Elsie insisted that it was her right to hear our history and to deal with it however she wanted. I couldn''t deny that, so we allowed her to stay, so long as she did not watch the part where I died.

    I couldn''t bear for her to see that in any depiction.

    Besides, she was still a child, and it was our job to protect her.

    I also was always tempted to look away, but of all the pain that haunted me still, somehow this no longer hurt me. I didn''t fear memories of the Prophet killing me at Dr. Henderson''s behest, not when I''d lived it so many times and returned home beyond what once felt so singular. Plenty of past pain invaded my nightmares and hung heavy in my heart, but killing those two wasn''t part of that. So I wanted my people to see me watch. I wanted them to know that I''d conquered this part of the story.

    As the dark spear of powder plunged into my depicted form, red powder burst and rained down over the crowd.

    My brow raised at the new addition this year. "It''s so crass."

    "Are you okay?" Nash asked. "We can tell them to stop."

    He said it every year and every year, it was fine. "It honestly doesn''t bother me because it''s nothing like it was. It''s just kind of silly."

    "They love it." Nash tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "The Prophet Eclipse gave her life to fight the gods and stole her body back on Earth to save us all. They can''t get enough of it."

    "It makes it feel like it didn''t really happen when it did."

    "Shh," Nash whispered. "Legends never feel real. It''s your fault for becoming one while you''re still alive."

    I chuckled and shook my head. If I really wanted to put a stop to this, I could. Markus would never hurt me by resurrecting the pain of days I''d left behind. But I''d once spent a great deal of effort trying to derail the inevitable transformation of my name into Eclipse and my life into something much more than mine. So I endured the discomfort every year. Like Nash said, the people loved it.

    I tapped Elsie''s knee when the story turned to the chaotic days after I killed the Prophet so that she could watch the birth of our kingdom. She was right. She did need to know our history, because one day she''d be the one making it. Elsie needed to see the mistakes we''d made and not repeat them, and to learn from what we did right.

    The girl looked enraptured as she watched the story dance through the sky.

    "They don''t have the full story," Nash said. "You''re right." He kissed my jaw while everyone was too distracted by the show to even remember we existed right here in the flesh and not merely as pretty pictures in the sky. "The rest is for us."

    I ran my knuckles along the side of his face. "I''d tell the story differently."

    "You know too many secrets. You''d anger the gods."

    The thought of their security system gripped me with a paralyzing fear. In the last eight years, there''d been no sighting of him, no reminder of his promise that if we defied the natural order of the gods, he''d kill us. How could we learn to defeat an enemy we''d only seen once? Who could appear at will and finish us with a snap of his fingers?

    The same fear darkened Nash''s eyes. We said nothing more, only watched the rest of the show while holding one another.

    When it finished, the powder fell like rain all over us, bathing us in our own history. With it cleared from the air, the sun seemed turn back on and shone brightly upon us.

    "So let us begin," Markus shouted. "Bring your mightiest warriors. Let our young test themselves and our legends remind us all of what we aspire to." Lifting his hand to me and Nash, Markus grinned now. "There''s no better way to start than with our most popular tradition." When he raised his fist in the air, all of our people screamed and cheered, challenging us to the arena.

    Piercey reached for Flinn. "Have fun," my old friend said.

    Wren pinched the baby''s cheeks while Piercey pulled him between them.

    When Nash and I stood, the crowd roared. The excitement of facing him pumped through me. Last year we couldn''t have a real match because I was pregnant. Nash hadn''t even wanted to face me, which made me mad enough to fight him for real. He most certainly was not going to actually swing his sword at me when he spent nine months thinking any wrong move might hurt me or the baby. It drove me crazy.

    But this year¡­

    This year there was no holding back.

    We eyed each other as we walked up to the arena, the people growing louder with each step. Even with the power amplifying Markus''s voice, we could barely hear him.

    "Our mighty Prophet Eclipse and the fierce War Chief Nash."

 126. Skirmish

    I preferred Max the Sharpshooter and Nash the Unknown to Prophet and War Chief, but those names existed now as family names, marks of those who truly knew us.

    Nash and I climbed into the arena and kept our stares locked on one another as we walked to Markus. Our people loved this nearly as much as we did. They loved that their war chief could take on their prophet, as well, when the kingdom considered me invincible. I wasn''t. But I couldn''t convince any of them of such a truth. That I was human and fallible like the rest of them. Coming back from the dead might have played a role in that. After my ascension to Prophet, stories like that couldn''t be kept quiet. While I managed to guard our most important secrets, all of Skia Hellig knew of my greatest exploits within a year''s time.

    Markus smirked at each of us. "Don''t cause too much damage. We''re busy enough as it is."

    "We can''t worry about damages when fighting, Markus." I nodded at the warriors gathered around the arena. Their shields would protect the people and village alike. "That''s their job."

    He sighed and then lifted the necklaces holding our sealing stones. Nash and I grabbed them eagerly, ready to begin.

    I fastened the silver chain around my neck and closed my eyes as I focused upon the clear stone hanging from its rungs. The fire of my power poured out from my body until heat from the necklace stung. The stone now glowed red against my skin that already started to pale in the darkness of our approaching long winter season.

    Piercey and Elias created this incredible device together. It relied upon me using my own energy to bind my power, so no one could ever force me, but the chip at the heart of the stone helped me to not allow even the slightest leak of power while it was activated. I loved being able to train and spar with our warriors, regardless of whether they had a neural implant or not.

    Nash bound his power in the stone as well, turning it a deep blue, and winked at me, already trying to unnerve me. Every year, he won the powerless sword fight against me, and every year I returned the favor once we fought with our power. And every year it infuriated me that I still couldn''t beat him at both.

    I narrowed my eyes and he merely smirked in return. He loved to tease me as much as he loved to fight me, and I supposed that was because they were two sides of the same coin. It still bothered me that he won at this too¨Cthe teasing and flirting. He knew I hated losing.

    But I did love the look he got in his eye.

    Nash''s hands settled on his twin blades, looking deceptively relaxed, when he was prepared to strike in a fraction of a second.

    My own smile broke through my forced frown and I snapped forward to cover it, not wanting to let him feel satisfied with himself once again. At least not with our swords drawn and a crowd watching.

    No matter how many times I saw Nash draw his swords, I never got used to the rapid blur of blades. How anyone could move so fast without power amazed me.

    Our blades clashed with a hissing promise of more to come. The crack of sword against sword erupted in rapid succession. The cheering began to die as our people studied the display of swordsmanship. I couldn''t pretend the fascination was for the heavy arc or rapid thrust of my blade, but for how handily their war chief fended off the sword of their invincible Prophet. This was only one reason why all of Skia Hellig feared more than just my name, but also his as well.

    I understood. Watching Nash fight mesmerized me too.

    I rolled off my shoulder and sprang up, forcing him to block low, and quickly abandoned the assault to pivot behind him. His blade snapped behind his back, catching my own. I prepared myself for the moment the tide of the match would change, for the strike that signified Nash no longer observed and waited but drove forward on the offense.

    There was never any preparing.

    He turned on his heel, locked onto my eyes, and as quickly as he''d unsheathed those swords drove both his blades for my core in a pointed strike. I threw all my weight into my blade to defend against the attack and still I barely held him off. In the past, it would have landed me on my ass.

    Pride and satisfaction flooded Nash''s face when I successfully blocked the powerful attack. He didn''t slow down, though. No time to get my bearings. I used both hands to block the next one, my arms shaking and my blade wobbling from the last hit. He was too strong. Another hit like that would break my defense for sure when I couldn''t use my power to fortify myself. And I was certain he''d held back just then, which infuriated me.

    "We talked about this before," I said as we both struck. These weren''t real hits, though. They were enough to keep the crowd happy while we talked.

    Nash didn''t ask what I meant. He knew exactly what I meant because he knew what he was doing. "I can''t help it."

    It was hard enough for him to knock me down during a sparring match before the baby, but now that I''d carried our child, I wasn''t sure he could bring himself to do it. I needed him to do this, though. I needed a real match against him. "Fight me," I demanded.

    Nash had been with me every step of the way through the pregnancy, delivery, and recovery. He''d seen how hard it was on the body, even for someone like me who trained and battled my entire life. I really was ready, though. Flinn was four months old now and I worked hard to prepare for this match.

    "Are you sure you''re okay?"

    "Yes."

    He nodded, speaking quietly. "Sorry."

    "Not forgiven." But my grin told him otherwise. I threw myself forward and unleashed a series of rapid strikes. I could see Nash wrestling with his instinct, but I trusted him to overcome it and to face me the way we both truly wanted him to. We loved fighting each other and I wouldn''t allow having a baby to change that.

    The muscles in jaw bunched and a certain hardness came over him. That lethal look quieted his expression. Fuck. I wanted this, but fuck!This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

    A wave of exhilaration hit me. Nerves and excitement. The fear that I couldn''t win and the determination that I absolutely would.

    This time when Nash moved, I instantly knew I wasn''t going to stop him. I tried, but blades knocked mine away, leaving me wide open. His knee came for my stomach and I jumped back as it grazed my tunic. Despite the concern in his eye, he kept coming for me. I dodged the slice of his swords, trusting my instincts and the warriors who guarded us to thwart any lethal strike.

    Even though Nash forced me onto my heels, the challenge fueled me. The next time he attacked, I wedged my sword between his and twisted my wrist like he''d taught me while I tried to push them apart. It spread his blades just enough for me to slip through and close in on him for a devastating thrust of my blade from close enough to feel his breath on him. Only, Nash dropped one of his swords to catch my wrist. Knowing I wouldn''t be able to free my arm, I let the momentum swing me so my back slammed against his chest, and I slammed my palm into the crook of his other arm to force his second sword away.

    I threw my head back for his throat but he released me and sidestepped. Desperate for the advantage, I wheeled around to block him from retrieving his sword. He slid across the ground, scooping it up on the way, and then he was fully armed again.

    I groaned with disappointment. He looked surprised and as exhilarated as I felt. Nash hadn''t expected me to get that close.

    "Get him, Ma!" Elsie screamed from the sidelines.

    My muscles burned as I attacked as rapidly as possible, searching for any opening. Our swords danced until Nash successfully knocked mine to the side with one of his swords and jabbed for my midsection with the other. I shifted to the right, just evading the attack, and caught his arm with my own so I held his forearm against my side. He was stronger than me and he''d easily break free, but it gave me a precious second to reposition myself.

    Instead of ripping his arm away from me, he slipped it behind me, and pulled me against his chest. With my sword still forced off to the side by his and his free arm holding me close, we were both left open. Our bodies pressed together so tight I could feel his pounding heart beat against my chest. It lasted only a second, but Nash brought his mouth to mine and stole a kiss. The heat and softness of his lips warmed me in the cold.

    I shoved him back even though my body wanted to lean in for more. "You ass."

    He grinned, his gaze skittering down as he repositioned his swords.

    "Don''t kiss me when we''re fighting," I said.

    His sword slammed against mine and we spoke with only our steel separating our faces. "You love when I kiss you while fighting."

    I kicked at him and forced a few inches to open between us. "Not with the whole kingdom watching."

    The cocky smirk crawled back onto his face and he rolled his shoulders, looking far too confident. "Make me apologize, then."

    That drew out my own grin. "Oh, I will."

    Even more desperate to win, I attacked so ferociously that the steel of our blades cried out as in pain and a loud crack erupted. The top half of my sword flew free and embedded itself in the ground. My eyes widened at the jagged edge of my broken weapon.

    No way would I lose because of a broken sword.

    I screamed and slammed into Nash so hard that he seemed to catch me on instinct. Rearing back, I swung my broken sword for him, and when he blocked it, the uneven edge caught one of his swords. It spun from his grasp.

    We both dove for the sword to retrieve it. I landed on top of him, straining to reach, but he rolled me over to block me from grabbing it.

    Suddenly Nash locked my wrists against the ground above my head, nearly wrenching the sword from my grasp. We both breathed hard, coated in sweat despite the cold wind. The feel of his hard chest bearing down against me made me think about how my lips still burned for more after he''d kissed me. I slammed my head forward and rammed my knee into his side. Nash shifted to dodge the headbutt, but the hit jostled him enough that I managed to rip out of his grasp.

    We both rolled, jumping to our knees. I landed with my sword catching on his armored forearm, holding it back from his throat. One of his twin blades might have cut into my side, except I blocked it with my sheath. My arms trembled with his exertion as his hot, heavy breath fell against my face.

    "You got distracted," I said.

    He made no apologies, the love of battle and the heat we both felt bright in his stare. "You did too."

    We shoved back from another, on our feet now, swords ready. The people cheered, but I barely heard them. As desperately as I wanted to finally win this first match, I almost wanted to let him kiss me even more.

    Damn this man.

    We''d been married for eight years. We''d had plenty of time together. Now was the time for fighting. That meant nothing in this moment, though. I needed him close.

    I launched forward, but twisted right before striking, coming up on his left side at just the right angle, because I knew every one of his weak spots. Seeing what I was doing, Nash grinned, and blocked. He''d barely made the move in time, but that didn''t matter. He stopped me and the disappointment stung.

    I reared back from another hit when his sword cut against the top of mine and wrenched it from my grasp.

    Just like that.

    I stared in horror at my fallen blade while he set the tip of his remaining sword against my chest. "I win."

    My jaw tightened and anger flashed through me. How could I let him break my sword and make me lose mine? Looking at him though, a different kind of tension wound through me. Nash looked amazing with the high of the fight shining in his eyes and his chest pumping with his deep breaths.

    "Good fight," I said.

    His stare tore through me. "Incredible fight."

    Nash locked my hair in his grasp and with the same steadfast determination he''d shown in our match, dragged me up to his face. A strong hand dug firmly into the small of my back, holding me tightly against his body, and his mouth came down against mine. He opened my lips with his own, his tongue raking along mine. The passion of the fight still pounded heavily in my chest and mingled with his commanding kiss. We plunged into the deep waters between us so quickly, his familiar taste and smell as powerful as the combination of each day we''d spent loving each other.

    I didn''t even care about our people hooting or Elsie hiding her face in embarrassment. The want to finally beat him in a swordfight burned with all my other wants for him. I needed him.

    In the final moments of his kiss, his touch turned so tender, so soft, that I couldn''t stop myself from melting in his arms.

    He drew back just enough to see me, his stare as consuming as his kiss. That look said more than words could.

    But, he did beat me in the match, and then he kissed him for the whole kingdom to see.

    I surprised him when I rose on my toes to quickly kiss him one more time. Then, as I started to pull away, I slammed my fist into his side. Nash grunted and uttered a low chuckle. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, still holding his sword, eyes still on me. The fight still burning there.

    "I warned you." My fingers found the clasp of the necklace and I removed it, feeling the fire of my power pour back through my body. "You brought this on yourself."

    His gaze wandered. Quiet enough for only me to hear, he said, "I know I did."

    I shook my head at his teasing and brazenness. At his seriousness, as well.

    "I''m going to win this year," he said, and I thought he really believed it, just as I did in the last match. He unfastened his necklace and threw it to the side. I thought he looked more beautiful in that moment than he ever had. His short beard dark against the cut of his cheeks and jaw and his endless shoulders tensed in anticipation of battle. Of all the things in my life that amazed me¨Cand there were too many count¨Cthis stunned me the most. That this man loved me and I slept beside him every night of my life. That I got to have him. Him.

    These baby hormones were no joke. I already couldn''t think straight around Nash some days and now with my poor body flooded with all this oxytocin, I was helpless against the flood of emotion. Was I about to cry about how much I loved my life and my family right here for everyone to see while my husband waited for me to hand my ass to him?

    I drew in a very long, slow breath and steadied myself. Any enemies out there who wanted to fight me for real right now would do best to run and hide, because I felt like I could instantly eviscerate anyone who tried to take this precious family from me.

    "I''m ready to fight," I shouted desperately, earning a laugh from Nash.

    Fuck, did I love festival days.

 127. Winners & Losers

    The warriors raised a powerful shield around the arena to protect everyone who watched. The light grey dome flickered with energy and slightly blurred the faces of those eagerly watching.

    Nash lifted from the ground and hovered over the sun so I needed to squint to look at him.

    "Already resorting to cheap tricks?" I asked.

    "Just catching my breath," he said.

    I rolled my eyes. The people loved to see him fly because no one in our area did that. If not for connecting with Jax, I doubted Nash ever would have figured out flight.

    He drifted over me so I could see him without the sun shining in my eyes. "Ready?"

    I answered by raising my palm to him and blasting him with an unseen wave of energy. He dodged in the air and impressed me with his steadiness. Even two years ago, Nash might have careened out of control.

    Nash had advanced with his powers faster than I''d ever seen or than I could imagine. It reaffirmed Piercey''s belief that Nash and I both somehow drew upon power from our previous lives. He was the only person I''d ever taken through time with me. That day when I''d slipped after he figured out I had power, I took him back to the eclipse, and I wondered over the last few years if entangling him like that unlocked something in him as it had for me.

    But I knew with no doubt that Nash could not yet beat me in a competition using power. He must have known the same about me and his twin swords. No one could beat us in such a match, not even each other.

    I loved that even more than I hated it.

    We fired on one another to warm up with our powers, using shields or dodging to defend against each other. Nash flew straight down for me and I teleported out of the way just as his powered punch cracked the stone floor of the arena where I''d been standing.

    I reappeared in front of him, already kicking. He blocked with both forearms but the force of the attack splintered the armor on his forearms.

    He ripped the guards off and threw them to the side.

    The people loved seeing us fight with our powers, only I worried about hurting Nash. I''d never seen anyone grow so rapidly with their abilities and yet it still took time to master them, a considerable amount of time and practice. Without the use of the necklace to bind our powers, I relied upon my own control, and no matter how much I grew in that area, losing control as a child always haunted me.

    Every year that we dueled at the festival, Nash performed considerably better than the previous year with his power. So that actually made it more dangerous to spar with him using our powers, because I needed more powerful attacks that I struggled more with controlling.

    Nash peppered me with small blasts of energy that I fended off with my forearms and knees. No longer did I need to lean on bulky shields that required more energy unless the attacks proved too powerful. As long as I matched or exceeded the energy thrown at me with my movements, I deflected the strikes with ease. Seeing these attacks as a waste of energy, Nash twisted and lobbed a more powerful attack at me.

    I jumped and kicked it right back for him. He slid to the aside to avoid his own attack.

    "Not bad," he said.

    "You too."

    "Get her, Daddy!" Elsie screamed from the sidelines.

    I gasped. "I thought you were rooting for me."

    "Not this match," she said.

    Nash beat his fist against his chest. "That''s right. She picks me."

    "Because she knows you''re the loser."

    He wagged his finger at me. "That''s not very nice, especially coming from someone who just lost."

    I bolted forward and slammed my fist into his gut, leaving behind a small fog of energy that erupted as I sprang behind Nash. He shielded himself against the attack in time to avoid damage, but I knew it stung.

    His elbow reared back for me. I blocked and hit him with enough force to force him a few steps back. Or, it should have been enough. It had been last year. This time, Nash grunted and held his footing, determined eyes on mine.

    Impressive.

    I couldn''t keep from smiling at the progress as we returned to trading punches and kicks, sneaking in energy attacks at the most opportune times. One of my hits drew blood from the corner of his mouth and stopped me in my tracks for a second. Nash advanced, though, and when my heart accepted that I hadn''t hurt him, I continued as if it hadn''t happened.

    The spectators enjoyed the show so far, many shouting for Nash to fly again, or for me to use my energy bow and arrow. They wanted to see their favorite moves from past years and we enjoyed showing it to them.

    But there came a point in the battle when I realized that I no longer could defeat Nash in a match of my power against his without crossing a threshold I didn''t want to cross. I needed to hit him with too much energy and even knowing warriors guarded us, prepared to intervene to save us from the worst attacks, I still couldn''t actually hit him like that.

    That left me few options to win this fight without making it bloody.

    He flew around me in an attempt to find my weakness, but I gathered my power in my hands and teleported a few feet away from him. As he started to run for me, I focused the energy on the tips of my pointer fingers, packing into a dense ball. This much energy normally might be hard to control or would take a huge amount of space. Being able to compress it into a manageable size not only allowed me to shoot it through the air quickly, but to control it better.

    Nash erected a full energy shield in front of him and shook his head. "Oh, so now you''re not afraid of that attack?"

    "I felt particularly inspired."

    "You are so vindictive," Nash said.

    "You know how I hate to lose."

    Sweat wet Nash''s temple as he continued to power his shield, the energy undergirding it growing more powerful. I stepped forward until the dense ball of energy touched it and immediately the shield dissolved like the powder scattering in the wind during the opening ceremony. I stood still now with the energy aimed at Nash''s chest.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    He sighed long and slow. "I lose."

    "Yeah, you do."

    Markus joined us to rile up the crowd again and though I waved at our people, shouting my hello to visitors I didn''t see often, Nash consumed my thoughts. I replayed our first match in my mind and analyzed the moves we made to improve for next time, which inevitably drew my mind to his kiss.

    We mingled as we waited for the rest of the day''s matches to begin. On the first day of the festival, the commanders and most renowned warriors competed against one another. Elsie sat with her friends and made bets on the potential winners of each match. Elara proudly carried Finn around, much to the jealousy of many others who wanted to hold him. She offered to do us the favor of watching him today, but I knew she silently begged for us to share him.

    Once the next match began, we managed to extricate ourselves from conversations with our guests, and stepped in the slim walkway between two houses.

    Nash eased me back against the wall and spoke close to my lips, his thumb trailing my chin. "Get us out of here, Sharpshooter."

    "Only if you agree to a third match."

    "I agree to anything."

    "Whoever lands the first kiss on the lips, wins." I focused on our room and teleported us away from the festival. my lips brushed his. "Winner takes all the glory."

    "Another one I''ll win at," Nash said with a sneer.

    I pushed his shoulders hard so he fell back on his hands.

    "A little rough, but it''s a good effort¨C"

    My fist rapidly connected with his sternum, packing enough power to attempt to break through a defense he might erect. With the speed of my hit, I expected I might land it, but I was shocked when my punch plowed into him completely undefended.

    Nash coughed and clutched his chest, gasping.

    "Why didn''t you block me?" I cried.

    "I didn''t think¡­ that''s what you were going for¡­"

    "I thought it was clear."

    "Flirting, Max. I figured you meant whoever got the other to cave first." He rubbed his chest. "Damn, that hurt."

    I winced and reached forward to touch my fingers to the spot I hit in apology. Unless he only wanted to fool me right now so I drew close enough for him to trick me. I froze and narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

    "What is happening in that head of yours right now?" Nash asked.

    "I don''t like losing. You know that. I have to fight you the way I best know how." I jumped on top of him and yelled as I tackled him onto his back. "Now lose!"

    Nash caught my hands before I could grab his face. "Max!"

    With a small blast of power, I shoved his hands away from mine to grab his head like catching a ball. My lips dove for his but he smashed his palm against my mouth.

    He turned his face away, laughing. "Stop it."

    I scurried away from him just in time to dodge him suddenly trying to catch me about my waist. Nash caught my leg and dragged me beneath him, rolling on top. A laugh pried free of my lips as I covered my mouth with both hands, fending off his kiss. His mouth landed against my knuckles.

    "You''re driving me crazy," he said. "There''s no kids, no advisors, no farmers complaining about land divisions, or townsfolk bickering over their feuds. Who knows how much time we have."

    My laugh only grew when he pulled my hands away and I hid my face against his chest. I bit him and he drew back.

    "Ow." He caught my cheeks and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. "Cut it out, Max."

    "I''m going to win this time." I craned and my lips almost found his, but he stuck his fingers in my mouth to block me.

    I gasped and drew back. "See. You don''t want to lose either!"

    A touch as soft as feathers tickled behind my ear and Nash nipped my neck. Hot breath wafted over me.

    "No, no, no," I said, slapping his shoulders. "Don''t you dare."

    "It''s not my fault you aren''t using all the weapons at your disposal." He spoke the words slowly, tugging my sleeve down until he could speak against my bare shoulder. He kissed me softly. "Concede."

    I shook my head, closing my eyes at the chills from his mouth gently gliding to my collarbone. My body remembered how he pulled me into his kiss after we fought. How he ripped me to him.

    I wasn''t the only one he distracted right now. My hands circled his wrists and I used my power to pin them down against the bed, pulling him close against me. "Ha," I said.

    Our breath washed over each other''s lips.

    "You''re going to lose," I whispered.

    "You," he said, looking so close to kissing me.

    Our eyes met for only a moment and then we both pressed closer, lips parting in a deep kiss.

    My palm glided up to his shoulder and he released my arm to drag me closer.

    We never decided who won or lost.

    <hr>

    "Hold it steady, Els," I said. "Better to take a few extra seconds than to miss."

    Her focused eyes narrowed as she aimed her arrow at the target. I watched her take in a deep breath and then release her arrow. It cut through the air with a perfect spin, its path arching up to take the breeze into account. I knew the moment she shot the arrow, much before it cut right into the center of the target, that it was perfect.

    "Yes!" I shouted. ''

    Nash clapped loudly. "You''ve got it, baby girl."

    A subtle glare shot in our direction while Elsie nocked another arrow.

    I covered my mouth. "We distracted her."

    "No," Nash said. "We embarrassed her."

    "Same thing."

    When the next arrow plunged directly into the second target, I had to bit my lips together to keep from cheering.

    The kid next to Elsie started sweating as she continued to shoot with lethal accuracy. The next two flew slightly off-center, but still earned her good points. Many of the other kids missed their target entirely.

    Elsie trained with the bow and arrow every day, just like with her twin blades. No matter how many times I watched her shoot, though, it always amazed me. In a few years when she was strong enough to hold a bigger bow, she could compete against the older teenagers.

    Ten minutes later, the competition ended with Elsie the clear victor. She walked through the gate toward us with her bow secured on her back and Nash took hold of her arms. "You did it, Elsie!" He hoisted her in the air and spun in a circle. "Look at you!"

    "Oh gods," Elsie cried, kicking her feet. "Put me down."

    He obliged and set her on the ground, but only to grab her up in a big hug. His large frame seemed to swallow her whole. Elsie screamed with embarrassment and pushed away.

    "Would you stop it," she whispered.

    "I can''t be proud of my little warrior?" he asked.

    Her hands flew over her face. "Ma, please."

    True joy filled Nash''s eyes as he patted her head and more quietly said, "You did well, kid."

    Despite Elsie acting so ashamed, I caught the little smile that sneaked its way onto her face. She started to say something when her eyes widened. Elsie stomped past us and stopped in front of a young man. His sandy brown hair looked ruffled with bits of sticks and leaves in it. He must have just finished fighting. It was Raylen, Elara''s youngest grandson.

    "You," Elsie said.

    He leaned in, eyes sharp. "Me."

    She drew back, pinching her lips together. "You better sign up to face me with the twin blades. I need my rematch."

    "You didn''t hear? I''m a warrior-in-training now. We''re not competing against each other anymore."

    The realization seemed to horrify Elsie. "Fight me anyway. Come back to the tower later and¨C"

    "Elsie," Nash said. "You''re not dueling at the tower."

    "Why not? You fight there all the time."

    "He''s a guest. He traveled a long way. I''m sure he wants to visit with friends and family, not fight you after dinner."

    The boy was still looking at Elsie. "I''d fight you." Then he looked up at Nash. "But I won''t fight you." He chuckled. "Not yet, at least. Give me a few years."

    Oh, Nash liked the kid. My husband was grinning now. "You''ll fight me, huh?"

    "Yes, War Chief. I''ll fight you and I won''t be easy to beat."

    Elsie groaned at her challenge seeming to be forgotten. "You''re not getting to him unless you can beat me. I''ve been training. If you ever want to fight our war chief, then you fight me first. You''re not worthy if you can''t beat me."

    "Deal." He raised his forearm in her direction. "I need to prepare for my next match." Walking away, he turned back around to Elsie. "We''ll compete properly when you''re a warrior-in-training too. You better prepare, because I won''t go easy on you."

    Elsie watched him walk away, and I couldn''t help watching her, stunned to see how much she grew up each year. Nash looked from Elsie to me, the admiring look he''d given the boy now turning to a pensive expression.

    "What do you think¨C"

    "Don''t think," I said. "Elsie is like me. She doesn''t like losing. Don''t get paranoid."

    "I''m not paranoid."

    "You''re a little paranoid."

    "It''s just that if any boy wants to even think about charming my kid, he''s got to meet some standards. Elsie might have a whole kingdom of boys wanting to marry her, especially if she keeps winning competitions."

    "Dad." Elsie turned around slowly. "I can hear you. Rylan is my enemy. He beat me and I cannot ever allow that to happen again."

    "Well, you can''t assume that''s all you are to someone. Ask your mom."

    I hushed Nash. "I''ll deal with him Elsie."

    "What did I do?"

    "You know," I said in a whisper. "For someone so annoyingly charming, you''re a real idiot when it comes to your daughter and her relationships."

    "Being a father makes you stupid sometimes."

    I sighed. "Yeah." In the moment''s pause, my mind wandered to the days when the festival ended and we planned to journey to the coast. "I hope the summit with the other Prophets goes well."

    Nash smiled away my worry. "Pretend it doesn''t exist today."

    I often needed to live by those words.

 128. The Coast

    Fjords rose all around us as our boat snaked through the narrow channel between the rocky enclaves of the cliffsides. Now that we left the open sea, the wind stilled, but the bit that still whipped across the deck of the boat was bitterly cold. I sheltered Finn with a small energy shield and held him close to keep him warm.

    "We should travel down here more often," I said, nudging Nash. "It''s so beautiful."

    He tilted his back looking toward the jagged tops of the fjords. "Our neighbors should invite us more."

    I raised one brow. "Well, wouldn''t that be nice. An invitation to sail rather than to battle."

    When Nash glanced down at me, he hesitated and then nudged me in front of him so I was nestled between him and the edge of the boat. "You''re freezing."

    I nodded and cuddled Finn closer, relief filling me as heat drifted from Nash''s body over mine. If I tried to warm us with my power, the fire within me always burned too hot. Nash used just the right touch with his power.

    "Do you think this will work?" I asked.

    "Probably not."

    A long sigh released from my chest. "Piercey is so hopeful."

    After a year of planning and tireless negotiations with each of the Prophets, Piercey finally arranged for our first annual Skia Hellig diplomatic conference. I told him it needed a much better name than that and that no one even understood what a diplomatic conference was, but this attempt at peaceful discussion consumed Piercey''s world. He first started talking about this right after the birth of our kingdom and it took this long to convince the leaders in the peninsula to agree to talk.

    "It''s a start, though," Nash said. "We have to start somewhere. Peace doesn''t simply come to us."

    "Especially not with that stubborn asshole ruling the flatlands."

    "Skia Hellig doesn''t understand the meaning of peace, but if we don''t force it, we''ll war forever."

    "It''s been four years with no major battles." I bounced Finn when he stirred and let out a few sleepy cries. "Some might call that peace."

    "What do you call it?"

    "Not good enough." The baby nestled his face against me again, quieting. "I want true peace. I want a treaty."

    "Theus is too stubborn for a treaty," Nash said. "He wants it to remain unspoken and unofficial."

    "So that he can back out at any time. We need to force his hand."

    "Then you do believe in what Piercey is doing."

    I patted Finn''s back. "I believe in what he''s doing. I just know it won''t work."

    Nash chuckled at the contradiction, but I knew he understood. "Well, it''s a start."

    "A start is good enough for today."

    Water crashed against the side of the boat, its mist sparkling in the sunlight. The air smelled so fresh out here.

    "We should return to Piercey and Markus before they make decisions you''ll hate." Nash tugged me back a step. "We''ll come back out with Elsie before we dock."

    "Where is Elsie?"

    "Last I saw, trying to convince Markus''s daughter to spar with her."

    "Of course." I looked at the water again before turning to walk with Nash. We walked to the other side of the boat to descend the stairs to where the others conferenced when I noticed a long shadow falling across the deck of the boat.

    Elsie stood upon the hull with her twin blades drawn and her braids tied upon her head.

    With her knees bent, Elsie rode the rise and fall of the boat, striking the air with her twin blades. One step forward, and then she launched herself into a spin, landing on one foot before pivoting and thrusting the sword behind her. Mist from the waves sprayed over the side of the boat, sprinkling against her and splashing upon her swords.

    "Hey!" Nash scrambled forward. "You get down right now!"

    She kicked above her head and slammed the hilt of the sword against an invisible enemy, earning a round of applause from the sailing crew.

    Nash whirled around and pointed at the men. "No clapping for her." Facing Elsie again, he raised his voice. "Right now or I''m taking your swords again."

    She sighed. "Dad. Really? Come up here and spar with me. It''s great practice."

    "You could fall. I told you to get down."

    She scoffed. "You think I would ever let myself lose these swords? I''m not going to fall."

    "But if you did¨C"

    Elsie tugged on the thick gold necklace that hugged her neck and softly tapped the black button at the center. "Then Ma would save me the instant I called on her."

    Nash straightened, a knowing look coming over his face. I walked up slowly, keeping my voice low. "I would save you if you fell."

    Elsie''s confidence dimmed somewhat when she met my eyes and surely saw the indignation written across my face. "You always save me."

    I tilted my head, glancing past her to the choppy, frigid waters. "You can''t live your life putting yourself in danger expecting your father and me to rescue you."

    "I don''t need you to rescue me because I''m fine but if I did¨C"

    I smiled stiffly. "I''d save you."

    "Yes. Just tell Daddy I can train here. It''s not every day we''re out at sea. I know it''s safe."

    Nash ran his hands over his face. "Elsie, you didn''t ask first. You didn''t get either of us to spot you. It''s irresponsible, so the answer is no. Next time you want to act grown enough to do shit like this then you have to actually act grown."The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    "I know you want you to swordfight up here! I can see it in your eyes!" Elsie released the battle cry of a vexed teenage girl. "You''re just being stubborn." Her voice lowered to a harsh whisper. "And you''re embarrassing me."

    "I''m embarrassing you?" Nash chuckled and climbed onto the wall with her. "Me?"

    "I''m sorry, okay? I should have asked and I shouldn''t have argued."

    "That''s exactly right because if you had asked, I would have said yes. Max could have spotted you while we sparred."

    Regret darkened her gaze. "Really?"

    Nash nodded. "Yeah, really. This is a good training exercise and you were doing really well. Obviously I want to spar with my kid on the edge of a boat. Why wouldn''t I?"

    Elsie''s shoulders slumped and her swords fell to her sides. "What can I do? I''ll do anything."

    "You can give me your swords for three days and go to your room until dinner."

    Her jaw dropped. "Wait¨C"

    "You are not a warrior yet. If you can''t be safe with your swords, you don''t get them."

    "I have plans. You can take them after tomorrow. Please, I''ve been planning this competition. That''s why I needed to train today."

    "You should have thought of that before you climbed up here and embarrassed yourself."

    "A week." Tears filled her eyes. "I''ll give up my swords for a week if you just let me compete tomorrow. It''s for our honor, Dad. This idiot insulted our swords. I have to put him in his place."

    "Elsie."

    "Please, please, please."

    I passed the baby to Nash and then climbed up onto the wall behind her. "Your dad might reconsider if you spar with me instead."

    Nash''s brows twisted as they both looked at me.

    "Really?" Elsie asked.

    "Really?" Nash mouthed, his look questioning.

    Elsie hesitated, looking as though she debated whether to walk into this trap. Straightening, she raised her swords and nodded. "Okay."

    "Don''t lose those blades, and remember your necklace if you need help."

    She repositioned her footing, looking far less confident than she had jumping around alone when we''d come aboard.

    I held her gaze and waited for her to move. Nash watched from behind, still looking uncertain.

    I climbed onto the edge of the boat with her and surveyed her. The giddiness couldn''t hide her nerves. Elsie likely didn''t want to lose in front of her audience and most certainly knew there was no hope of her winning.

    The girl snapped forward with her blades testing the space between us. I leaned backward as I drew my sword from its sheath. Her brows twisted and she pursued with greater speed this time, sliding forward in a beautifully smooth strike.

    Very nice. It impressed me to see her hold her footing so well on the choppy waters.

    When I evaded her hits, Elsie growled in frustration, raised both blades above her head, and swung with all her strength.

    I slammed the edge of my sword against hers close to the hilt, the strength of the hit knocking her first sword into the other.

    Both swords flew from Elsie''s grip and clattered upon the wooden deck of the boat. The strength of the hit nearly threw her onto the deck of the ship but she recovered. I watched her, always keen to see how a young warrior reacted the moment they lost.

    Her lips puckered as she stared at her fallen swords and I thought she might cry, only her eyes narrowed as her gaze shifted back to me. She sprang forward and ducked beneath my blade, raising her palm to strike my stomach.

    I smiled as I blocked with my knee.

    "Don''t forget I still have a sword."

    Both of her hands clasped mine and she twisted her whole body to try to wrench my weapon free. "I didn''t forget!"

    I ripped backward to free myself and then sheathed my sword. "Show me what you can do without those swords."

    The words hadn''t even finished leaving my lips when Elsie kicked for my side. I caught her leg and shook my head. "I''m stronger than you, Elsie. You have to be more creative than that."

    When I freed her, she sprang back so fast I almost instinctively caught her. But Elsie kept her balance, even when she flipped forward to spring off her hands and drive her knees down against the tops of my shoulders. I couldn''t believe she managed the attack on the side of a boat.

    I caught her knees and shoved her backward. Elsie twisted her torso, just barely landing on her feet.

    "Careful," Nash said.

    "How''s that for creative?" Elsie asked. Her dexterity and her ability to manage this fight while balancing seemed to flood her with confidence now. She charged me and I clearly saw the folly of all talented warriors who still needed to hone their skills. Elsie was too confident. When she attacked, I caught her by her sides and threw her overboard.

    As her body flew through the air for the ocean, her bewildered eyes found mine. I teleported right behind her, my arms coming around her as we both fell into the frigid ocean waters.

    The cold dug its claws into my chest and I couldn''t help but release my air from crying out. Elsie fought against me, surely panicked. I dragged us both up the surface where we gasped for air. Kicking, I managed to keep both of our heads above water

    "What the hell?" Nash screamed from the edge of the boat, standing on the edge now, looking ready to jump in until he seemed to remember he held Finn. "Max!"

    I made no apology, but tightened my hold on Elsie. "Do you see?" I asked. We both convulsed with the shocking cold. "Never feel confident against a stronger enemy."

    "Wh-why d-did you throw me in?"

    "Use your necklace," I said.

    "What?" Elsie trembled so badly I wasn''t sure she''d have enough control of her limbs to to actually touch the stone.

    "The necklace." I jerked her hand up to it.

    Elsie grabbed the stone and I sensed the alert immediately.

    I teleported back onto the ship and released Elsie. She collapsed onto her hands and knees, coughing.

    "Why didn''t you use your necklace?" I looked down at her as she trembled with cold.

    "I didn''t have time!" Her voice hitched. "You threw me into the ocean."

    "I thought it didn''t matter if you fell in when your dad and I will always be here to save you."

    Elsie lowered her head, silent now as she wrapped her arms around herself.

    "You''ll be more careful next time," I ordered. "Or you''ll never be accepted as a warrior. There are rules to follow. You live like you don''t have that necklace or me or your dad. You live like you''re just another warrior. Otherwise, you cannot be trusted in battle."

    Such official talk gave Elsie pause. She raised her head up to me, water dripping from her face, her eyes full of both anger and understanding.

    "Is that clear?" I asked.

    She wiped her face and sat up on her knees. "Yes."

    "Your dad and I will spot you next time you want to train like that."

    A sailor ran up holding thick blankets in his arms. He laid one over Elsie''s shoulders and then turned to offer one to me, dipping his head. "Prophet."

    "Thank you."

    Nash stepped beside me, eyes on Elsie. "Go change into dry clothes."

    "I''m sorry, okay?" She barely glanced at me.

    "I accept your apology."

    The girl waited instead of leaving to change.

    "Oh, you want me to say sorry?" I asked.

    "Obviously." She sprang to her feet, her teeth clattering. Mine would too if I didn''t hold my jaw so tight.

    "I''m not sorry. If you fell while I wasn''t around, you may have hit your head and died. Or the shock of the cold and the waves might have kept you from activating your necklace. You understand the danger now, so I''m not sorry."

    Elsie looked to her dad now, but when he didn''t soften his expression, she turned and ran inside.

    Everything was quiet for several seconds while Nash stared at me and I stubbornly refused to act like I noticed. When I finally did, I shrank back from his look.

    "It had to be done," I said.

    "Of course. I understand." He patted Finn''s back. "Would you like to throw our baby in the ocean next?"

    "I might like to throw you."

    "Between you and Elsie, I''m not sure how I''m supposed to sleep at night."

    I pulled the blanket tighter around me. "Trust me. I was a thirteen year old girl who loved to fight once. Elsie needed to feel the pain of the cold water. More than that she needed to feel the pain of losing in front of the people she wanted to impress."

    "I trust you." Nash nudged me toward the door Elsie ran through. "You need to change too. It''s way too cold for a swim."

    My shoulders fell some. "Are you mad at me?"

    "Yeah, I''m a little bit mad at you." Nash laughed and gave me a small push this time. "You threw our daughter into the freezing ocean. Now go change. Maybe tell me next time so I don''t have a heart attack." He tapped his temple. "We can talk without her hearing."

    "Right."

    Nash sighed. "What am I supposed to do with you two?"

    I smirked and disappeared inside, walking to Elsie''s room before changing. At first, she didn''t answer when I knocked on the door. It opened to her using the towel on her wet hair.

    "I''m sorry," I said.

    "Are you really?"

    "I don''t like throwing you in the ocean. But I''d do it again."

    "That''s not much of an apology then."

    I took her cheek in my hand. "I love you, baby girl."

    Elsie glanced down, her expression softening. I thought she wouldn''t say it back, but then she muttered, "Love you too, Ma." When I backed up, she opened the door wider. "Wait."

    I stopped and looked at her.

    "I really won''t do it again. You''re right." As if saying that took more humility than Elsie could manage, she slammed the door shut.

    I laughed and left to change.

 129. The First Life

    In the morning while we continued to sail toward the summit, Arn offered to watch Finn and let Elsie stay to spend the day alone with the kids so Nash and I could have our time alone like we did once a week.

    But, Leif couldn''t resist complaining, of course. He took the baby from me and cast a look at me. "Must be nice to rule an entire kingdom and get to order everyone to take care of your kids. Must be nice¨C"

    "Here we go," I said.

    "Having a date every single week."

    I watched Leif patiently while he finished.

    "Must be so nice. Is it?"

    "Yes," I said. "It''s so nice."

    Looking unhappy with my lack of reaction, Leif looked between Nash and me. "You''re like a couple of kids and it''s been how many years now? You should be ashamed of yourselves."

    "You know I said I''d watch your kids any time." I hooked Nash''s arm and took a step back. "Just ask."

    "You don''t have time to watch my kids. You don''t have time to watch your own kids. Get out of here." He waved the back of his hand at me while he bounced Finn with the other. "Your parents don''t know how good they have it. You''re going to end up with as many brothers and sisters as my kids have."

    I smirked and nudged Nash toward the door. Leif loved watching Finn, no matter what he said, and he loved that Nash and I were happy. If he knew what we actually did every week, he might not be so happy then. Not with the security system out there and his threat hanging over our heads Any time I tested the limits of the gods, I feared he may appear again.

    But I couldn''t speak of such things with the gods listening. I''d given them permission to watch my life closely to earn the avatar and return home after Dr. Henderson killed me. If I wanted to hide anything from them, I needed to do it carefully during the few times of privacy given to me. Usually, I forgot that they watched, because their computer program catalogued my life and they only cared to actually observe the most important things for themselves. They just wanted their precious data.

    What Nash and I had been doing the last three years would certainly be something they''d take the time to watch. So we needed to know for certain they wouldn''t be able to observe. That meant no one else could know. Only Nash and me.

    I did enjoy our weekly date even if it wasn''t the time together everyone else thought it was. We always started with something nice together, like a meal, or a walk. Something convincing. At some point, we''d return home, and Nash would kiss me, or I''d tug him along to our room. Today we spent time watching the ocean before returning to our suite.

    Once inside, Nash tossed his shirt on the ground and ambled back toward our room. I smiled, taking a moment to watch him. I never got tired of being with him.

    When I followed him in, he took my arms as soon as I entered and kissed me deeply enough to tempt me to forget about our plans.

    We settled on the bed and I pushed against his chest, my gaze falling down his whiskered cheeks and his long curls lying against the pillow.

    "You can''t distract me this time," I said.

    Nash lifted, capturing my lips with his again. "I won''t."

    Snorting, I shoved him back down and rolled onto my side, nestling back against him. But the tingle of his kiss burned against my mouth and I couldn''t help drawing him to him for one more.

    "Now we work?" he asked.

    "Yes, Nash, now we work."

    "I suppose that''s the responsible decision."

    Even though I rolled my eyes, my fingers trailed lightly along the curve of his shoulder and down his chest. The feel of his smooth skin warmed me deep inside, making me feel as close as when we connected. The gods would no longer be able to see us. We could talk freely.

    "I still want to go back to the very beginning," I said.

    "We''re getting closer."

    "It''s hard to navigate, but I feel like we''re close."

    It always felt bittersweet to do this. For years after we first talked about it while lying in bed, we struggled to figure out how to do it. But ever since, we never stopped. We needed to learn everything we could to protect our world from the gods, the security system, and any other threat we didn''t know about yet. This summit only made it more important because I thought finding the path forward might come from looking back to the beginning.

    I laced my fingers with his and closed my eyes. "Ready?"

    "Yes," he said.

    Taking in a deep breath, I focused very deeply, after all this time still finding it incredibly hard to do just right. Soon, the slipping feeling came over me, and I no longer felt his hand in mine.

    <hr>

    <i>Wind whispered through the tall grass. Here in the flatlands there was nothing to stop it and it could turn from gentle to furious very quickly.</i>

    <i>I crawled along with my party but I searched the perimeter, thinking about my best opening. I''d felt the same way as on the Mountain of the Gods the last time I ventured this close to the temple and I needed to know why. It was a tiny temple that I doubted was very important to the Flatlander Prophet. More a place for local villagers to give their offerings than anything actually used for official business. But the tiniest warmth of the flame inside me sparked when I was here, just like on the Mountain of the Gods. I needed to get inside that temple and see what was drawing me there. See what was stoking my sealed power.</i>

    <i>I didn''t like knowing that I''d be leaving my people during the battle, but we had such an advantage. I knew that they''d be fine. Once we received the all clear to continue from the scouts, we stood up and marched across the field toward the trees. As soon as we were in the thick of the woods, I darted to the right to escape to the temple. </i>

    <i>Leif caught my forearm and dragged me backward. I fell against his burly chest, grunting in frustration. </i>

    <i>"What is wrong with you?" I asked.</i>

    <i>"I was about to ask you that," he said.</i>

    <i>"I told you¨C"</i>

    <i>"Didn''t we agree it was a stupid plan?"</i>

    <i>"No." I jerked my arm away from him. "I never agreed. Apparently, you assumed."</i>

    <i>"Why do you need in there so badly?"</i>

    <i>It wasn''t that I didn''t trust Leif. I didn''t want to put him in more danger when we all lived under so much danger already. "It''s a dad thing." Leif knew to never ask questions when I said that.</i>

    <i>Though what I said gave him pause, this time it didn''t silence him entirely. "It''s too dangerous. Wren and I will go with you."</i>

    <i>"You will not. You''re my cover. Go fight and act like I was there."</i>

    <i>"You''ll get yourself killed. They put their best warriors on the temple. What if one of them has power?"</i>

    <i>"They''re not wasting a disciple on this temple. Why would one be here? It''s in the middle of nowhere." I stepped backward and raised a hand to keep him away. "Let me go, Leif. I''ll be fine."</i>

    <i>He shook his head, but finally he growled and turned away from me. "I''m coming for you if you aren''t back by the time battle is over." He spoke as he walked away.</i>

    <i>Sighing in relief, I quickly stole through the trees and hiked to the temple. By the time I reached the hill overlooking the small holy place, the sun sank into the horizon. I spotted the warriors patrolling and prepared my bow and arrow.</i>

    <i>Once I started, I couldn''t stop. I flexed my fingers and rolled my shoulders, breathing in deeply. The grass tickled my arms as I stretched out along the hill, aimed my arrow, and eyed my first target. For a full minute, I watched the movement of the warriors guarding the temple and tracked how they moved. Several stood still, while others milled about. </i>

    <i>I chose the one walking the fastest and let my arrow fly.</i>

    <i>Swiftly, I knocked another and shot for the head of the man next to him. Reached for another.</i>

    <i>I moved so quickly that as the first man collapsed on the ground, the second joined him only seconds after. My arrow thudded through another skull before anyone spotted me.</i>

    <i>Four more to go.</i>

    <i>Letting out a cry, I peeled off arrows faster than I ever remembered doing so. One woman cut my arrow down in the middle of the air and dodged backward, but my third arrow sank into her throat.</i>

    <i>I sensed that lingering even another moment would provide my enemy with too much time to attack. I shoved myself backward and flattened on the ground, rolling sideways as soon as I landed. As I sprang to my knees, two arrows lodged into the ground where only moments before I had shot. There was a sniper somewhere. Scanning the temple and the surrounding area, I saw no signs of anyone with a bow and arrow. I hadn''t been able to see which direction the arrows came from.</i>

    <i>Ducking low, I sprinted down the hill in a jagged, sideways run. Arrows followed my tracks and then one bit the grass right in front of me. There was more than one person shooting and they aimed from ground level. I expected them to come from the temple.</i>

    <i>Diving into the tall grass, I wheeled around to face the direction one of the arrows came, trusting myself to find the source by the time I prepared my next arrow. Sunlight glinted off the tip of an arrow, flying right for me. I rolled off my shoulder, drew my bowstring, and shot on instinct alone. After so much time fighting with the bow and arrow, I quickly tracked the location of shots, and didn''t need to spend a great deal of time thinking about the trajectory. I felt the path of the arrows like I did the wind. </i>

    <i>I didn''t hit, but the fact that the next arrow crashed aimlessly into the middle of the field told me I came close enough to force them to pull their shot at the last moment. </i>

    <i>Not wanting to waste my advantage, I fired two more shots rapidly. Both arrows cut through the chest of a man kneeling in the field.</i>

    <i>That left three warriors and at least one more sharpshooter.</i>

    <i>I sprinted toward the enemy warriors and drew my sword, slashing an arrow down. There was only one place safe to turn to with this sniper and that was close to other warriors, where it would be hard to hit me without endangering them.</i>

    <i>The three warriors raced for me. I clashed with one and ducked beneath the swing of his sword. His strike was powerful, but his movements sluggish. I jabbed my sword up toward his side as I ran past him, slicing the skin at his ribs in a flash of blood. Without slowing down to try to kill him, I converged on the next warrior. A black haired woman roared as she leapt forward, her long sword skimming the edge of mine. I pivoted on my heel and braced my sword against my arm to block her next strike. </i>

    <i>The man I''d grazed lunged for me. Leif''s warning looped through my mind. I lived each day acutely aware of my lack of power and yet I still acted as if I wielded it. </i>

    <i>I kicked the woman in the gut at the same moment that I blocked another strike. Instead of following through on an opening I made, I wrenched my bow from my back, and shot the charging man in the face. His surprised eyes widened as he slowed, a trembling hand rising to the arrow sticking through his cheeks.</i>

    <i>He slammed into the ground.</i>

    <i>The woman cried out and attacked without discipline. Fueled by emotion. The third warrior, who had been the furthest away, approached. I couldn''t waste any time on this fight. Not as the fatigue of fighting so ferociously and facing so many warriors grabbed at my muscles. </i>If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    <i>The fury and grief of the woman seemed to consumed her so much that while her attacks were more powerful, she couldn''t anticipate my moves. She wasn''t thinking. Only slashing blindly. I parried a hit and buried my sword in her gut. Kicked her body against the final warrior who ran for me.</i>

    <i>We exchanged several blows before he struck me so hard I feared my blade my fly from my grip. The fatigue was getting to me. I sidestepped another and then surprised him by drawing my bow and arrow. He pivoted to block my shot successfully, but I peeled off another that lodged in his foot. Crying out, he lunged for me, and I shot the next one in his chest, finishing him off. </i>

    <i>I fell against the wall of the temple and strained to draw breath into my tight chest. The blood of my enemies slickened my hands. I wiped my palms against my tunic and cleaned the handle. What would Leif say to me now? That it wasn''t too late to turn back?</i>

    <i>I gritted my teeth as I straightened. I needed my power back. I''d made up my mind to stop at no lengths to regain it. If it killed me, then it killed me. Better to die fighting for my people than to give up and watch the Prophet of the Valley destroy us all by forcing us into this war with the Flatlanders. I hated being forced to fight for him, much less invade our neighbors. He reasoned that they first tried to invade us and that we needed to strike before they did. He just wanted to take their villages, like he''d taken mine seven years ago. I couldn''t wait to get my power back and kill him.</i>

    <i>When I entered the temple, I expected guards to immediately charge me, but the hall at the entrance was completely empty. Quiet. </i>

    <i>I stepped through the door into a long hallway with several doors leading to two large doors at the end. I opened each as I passed, finding empty rooms as well. One looked like a storage room for the guards. Another an empty bedroom. The third housed religious icons like incense and robes.</i>

    <i>When I reached the two large stone doors, I stopped. A creepy feeling stirred in my stomach. Where was everyone?</i>

    <i>I pushed open the doors of the inner room just enough that I could kick them the rest of the way so that I could have my bow and arrow ready. My eyes adjusted to the torchlight of the inner room. </i>

    <i>One lone warrior stood in the middle of the large room. </i>

    <i>He studied me as I took another step into the room, my arrow aimed at him. I didn''t see any other doors. Could this really be it? He was the only one in here? Tall and broad with thick muscle evident beneath his tunic, he certainly looked like a threat, but enough of one to justify not placing another guard inside?</i>

    <i>Offerings lined the back wall. Food, gold, armor, and weapons. Something smelled sweet, mixing with the smoke of the torches. </i>

    <i>I expected the warrior to lunge forward at any moment and race toward me like the other warriors or to draw a long-ranged weapon. Instead, he stood still as a stone statue, a sword gripped calmly and confidently in each hand. His stance looked deceptively like not a stance at all, like he only held his weapons. I noticed in the subtleties of his posture, the twist of his wrists, the way he leaned forward slightly against his foot, that he was prepared to respond to any attack I made.</i>

    <i>How could there only be one man guarding the most important room of the temple? Then again, if not for our army attacking, I never would have made it to the temple to begin with, and they may not have expected any outsider to get so close. The warriors guarding the perimeter likely planned to deter villagers and other locals who may try to get away with stealing from the offering to the gods. The real defense of this temple was the one our army had broken through.</i>

    <i>Still, only one man?</i>

    <i>"Did you lose your way from the battle?" the lone warrior asked.</i>

    <i>It unnerved me how relaxed he sounded. Relaxed and even amused. </i>

    <i>I eyed the identical swords again. This was a first. I might have laughed and assumed him a performer if not for the lethal look in his eyes. I didn''t need to see him attack to know what a threat I faced. His stare said it all.</i>

    <i>"Will you help me find my way if I am?" I asked.</i>

    <i>A smirk twisted his full lips. He glanced down me quickly, settling on my blade. "That''s a lot of blood. I think it''s best to keep you here."</i>

    <i>"Don''t assume that''s up to you." Clearly he didn''t intend to strike first or even step toward me. It allowed me more time to catch my breath, but I figured it still advantaged him more. He would force me to give him the opportunity to study the way I moved before I could do the same. </i>

    <i>Fine. I wasn''t known for patience. I rushed toward him, intently watching for his first movement. Three steps to go and still he hadn''t budged. I slid by his side, conservatively protecting myself with my sword as I attempted to rake it across his ribs like I had with the warrior in the field.</i>

    <i>He shifted slightly to the side, angling back, sword merely twisting ninety degrees. It was enough for him to deflect my strike entirely. Instead of skidding to a stop and pivoting for him like I''d need to do if I engaged him directly, I continued running past him right for the altar.</i>

    <i>It stunned me how quickly he matched my speed and carved his blade through air right before me. Instinctively, I wanted to slow down, but I remembered his second sword, and jumped to the side instead.</i>

    <i>Both blades cut through the air where my throat had been.</i>

    <i>My heart lodged in my throat as I ripped my own sword up to deflect his next strike. His twin swords sprang through the air too fast to track properly. I stumbled back a step, shocked by the strength and speed of his attack when he moved so conservatively. He made it look effortless, but it was anything but. </i>

    <i>Suddenly I understood why a single man guarded this room. He wasn''t simply a warrior but a master of his swords. </i>

    <i>Plenty of my comrades envied my sword fighting skills, but I wasn''t a master of blades. Without drawing my bow entirely in front of me, I ripped it beneath my arm and drew the string back just enough to snap an arrow at his feet. </i>

    <i>He sidestepped, drawing his swords back to him in a subtly defensive motion. I''d surprised him this time.</i>

    <i>I learned a great deal by the reactions of my opponents, whether anger or fear might tighten their expression after I forced them back on their heels. This man smirked. He smirked and snapped both his blades for me.</i>

    <i>As much as I hated retreating, he gave me no option except to continue moving backward to avoid his blades. I feared that a direct strike would easily break my guard. I needed a different approach if I wanted to win.</i>

    <i>I fended off his advances, but sensed he only tested me rather than actually attempted to kill me. It felt like he was toying with me. But why?</i>

    <i>The stare of his focused, amber eyes drilled mine between the clashes of our swords, so deep and intent it felt as if he tried to read my mind. No matter how quickly I moved, he followed seamlessly. </i>

    <i>Burning heartbeats pounded in my chest.</i>

    <i>Curls bounced against his face as he broke through my guard and forced me to pivot. </i>

    <i>It gave me a precious second to rip my bow from back and nock an arrow. There wouldn''t be time to actually raise it and aim. He instantly turned for me with his swords striking like snakes. I threw myself back onto my ass to avoid his counterstrike and shot as I fell.</i>

    <i>The arrow pierced his bicep and splattered blood into the air. The force of the hit knocked the left side of his body back so the thrust of his swords fell short of me. Damn it, even throwing myself down, he still managed to almost hit me.</i>

    <i>Without slowing down from the hit, he slid across the ground on his knees with his blades biting up at me from the ground.</i>

    <i>I rolled off my shoulder, but I couldn''t dodge it in time. The sharp edge of one sword cut deeply into my side and sliced me open. I shoved myself into a roll, landing with my sword drawn to defend myself.</i>

    <i>My side screamed with pain. Hot blood gushed. </i>

    <i>Instead of rising back up to attack me with a full advantage, the guard had thrown himself across the ground for me. He landed a moment after I did, his twin blades baring down on my sword so hard I had to withdraw to keep my own blade from carving through my body.</i>

    <i>I kicked the blade from his injured arm, finally managing to slow him down when he jerked from the hit, his arm falling limp. But he still didn''t stop going after me. He was relentless. He caught the swing of my blade with his sword and grabbed me with his injured hand.</i>

    <i>I grimaced, stomach tense. Pain consumed my world. Panic. I fought with all I had and still I was lying on my back, struggling to manage each attack.</i>

    <i>"Listen." His chest heaved as he struggled for breath, face strained with pain. His bloodied hand held my wrist above my head while he fended off my blade with his injured arm. "One of us is going to die and the other will be gravely injured." </i>

    <i>My nostrils flared and summoned the strength to push harder against him, earning a grunt from him. "You''re going to die."</i>

    <i>"I don''t have time for serious wounds right now." Despite the wound and all the blood he''d lost, he managed to force my blade further down. "Do you?"</i>

    <i>What the hell? Was this some kind of negotiation? "No, that''s why I''m going to kill you."</i>

    <i>He shoved my blade so low it nicked my neck. I slammed my forehead into the softness where his shoulder met his chest near the arrow in his arm and pushed my sword back toward him, almost reaching his chest. </i>

    <i>With a growl, he released my wrist to grab the handle of my sword and wrenched it free of my grasp. I knocked his own away from him and slammed my elbow into his temple. We wrestled for control on the ground. I couldn''t think past the pain screaming from my side and blindly attacked. </i>

    <i>I grabbed the arrow sticking out from his arm just as his large hand wrapped around mine. We froze, staring at one another, the slight pressure on our injuries just enough to keep the pain alive but not immobilizing.</i>

    <i>"You obviously are doing something important," he said. "I have important things to do too. So let''s stop."</i>

    <i>"Do you really believe I''m going to trust you?"</i>

    <i>"No. We''ll back away from each other and take our weapons."</i>

    <i>I didn''t want to concede. It felt like losing. "I''m not leaving here without what I came for. I don''t care what it costs me." Except I still didn''t know what that was. I didn''t feel the warmth in me at all, even when I was so desperate to draw upon it to kill this man.</i>

    <i>"Fine." He released my wound and slowly pushed off of me. "I don''t care."</i>

    <i>I blinked, losing the few seconds I had to successfully attack before he retrieved his weapon. Scrambling for my own sword, I scooted across the ground and grabbed it. He knelt above me and reached a scarlet hand down to me, his sword at his side. I narrowed my eyes at his hand. What if he pulled me into his sword? No way.</i>

    <i>I dragged myself up to my knees and leaned against my sword, my world spinning. He leaned against his as well, both of us prepared to fight should the need arise. </i>

    <i>"What do you mean you don''t care?" I asked.</i>

    <i>"I mean I don''t care."</i>

    <i> He snapped the arrow protruding from his arm and reached around the otherside to rip it free with a low growl. Blood poured from his wound. He gripped his bicep and lowered his head, the muscles in his jaw bunching. I stiffened, staring at the broken and bloody arrow on the ground. It took a lot of self-discipline to remove one of those himself. </i>

    <i>"The gods aren''t real," he said with a tense voice. "These offerings are meaningless."</i>

    <i>"So why are you guarding them?"</i>

    <i>"It''s my duty. For now." He fell back against the wall and sank down. "We''ll make a deal. I let you take it and you don''t tell anyone I did." He raised his head, brows knitting. "You need to rest. You''re going to pass out."</i>

    <i>My vision swam, but I refused to admit it. "I''m fine."</i>

    <i>"You''re stubborn is what you are. Here. I''ll move down. You sit." He shoved his foot against the ground to put more space between us. A swath of blood stained the wall behind him. </i>

    <i>"Don''t you care that I killed your people?" Reluctantly, I sat back against the wall and nearly slid completely to the ground. With the high of the battle wearing off, the immense pain threatened to immobilize me. I felt so weak.  </i>

    <i>"Those aren''t my people." He pulled his tunic over his head, gasping when he pried the material from his bicep. Sweat dapple his skin and blood ran all the way down both sides of his arm to drip from his fingers. His thick chest moved deeply with each heavy breath. </i>

    <i>I averted my eyes and looked down to the blood stain spreading all the way to my pants. Not good. </i>

    <i>The guard''s arm lay limp in his lap as he bit the collar of his tunic and ripped it with his good arm. A few more tears and he ripped the garment in two. "Loss of life is always a shame." He tossed half of his tunic to me. It landed on top of my feet. "It means no more to me than whoever you lost in battle today, though."</i>

    <i>I lifted the clothing and stared at the bloodstains that belonged to us both. Was this all a ruse to get me to let my guard down? My stomach tightened as he tied the makeshift bandage around his wound. I did the same, my hands trembling as I forced myself to tie it as tightly as I could.</i>

    <i>The pain must have silenced him as it did to me. I didn''t have the breath to speak or to question this strange, enigmatic man. I''d never had a fight end like this. Nothing close to this. </i>

    <i>I struggled to hold onto consciousness, knowing that nothing would stop him from killing me. Despite this, I didn''t believe he would. For some reason, I thought he was telling the truth.</i>

    <i>"What''s your name?" I asked weakly.</i>

    <i>He looked at me, pale and exhausted. "Nash. Yours?"</i>

    <i>"Max."</i>

    <i>The slightest smile lifted the left corner of his lips. "Max. No one else has ever drawn my blood inside this temple¡­"</i>

    <i>My view of him doubled. The torchlight dimmed. </i>

    <i>"Don''t die," he said. "It''d be a shame. You''re too good of a warrior¡­"</i>

    <i>Questions that I didn''t have the strength to ask burned. I entered this battle already worn down and sleep deprived. This man, this Nash, proved too great a foe to fight a state like that. I told him I was going to kill him before, but I thought he would have actually killed me. As my vision waned and the feeling fled my body, I realized that by offering to stop, he wasn''t calling a truce. He was offering me my life. Because I was losing consciousness now and he wasn''t. I was the one losing.</i>

    <i>Why he hadn''t wanted to kill me, I didn''t know.</i>

    I woke from our forgotten dreams¨Cour stolen lives¨Cwith my cheeks wet and my arms already clutching Nash.

    Knowing Dr. Henderson stole entire lives from us and witnessing them were so different. Grief consumed me at the thought of how the story ended for those two people we once were and the understanding that we''d actually lived through it. Our lives had been filled with suffering and love, thousands of days lived and thousands of days lost. Traveling to our past lives set something right inside of me. It gave voice to the whispers of a past that had echoed through my entire life, but it also awakened a depth of grief I otherwise wouldn''t know.

    Nash and I always awoke from living through our stolen lives solemn and quiet. We''d lie quietly together after, not speaking because what words could even scratch the surface?

    Every time it left me tempted to travel back to the day I ripped Dr. Henderson''s life away with my sword, but I never did. I didn''t want to spend one more moment with her than I had to. She''d taken enough time from me.

    "We found it." Nash''s quiet voice rooted my mind back in our world, our lifetime, and plunged me into the pain of all we''d once lost. The anger of it. "The true first time we met."

    "Those two don''t know what''s coming. We didn''t know what was coming." I looked up into eyes filled with lifetimes worth of both love and grief. "What is coming for us now that we don''t know about yet?"

    "That never leads anywhere good for anyone, especially you, Max."

    Piercey continued to monitor and treat my anxiety so I controlled it much better. It would never leave though and an unknown future, especially cast in the fear of all that awaited us, allowed the anxiety in me to grow out of control.

    "I know," I said. "I just can never shake it. Twice before we lived like we are now and things weren''t okay."

    "We''re in a very different position than we''ve ever been."

    I nodded. He was right. Dr. Henderson no longer supervised our world or tinkered with our lives and we ruled a thriving kingdom. Nash and I built a life together I doubted I ever could have imagined in this life or any other. "I''m just so sad for them."

    Nash squeezed me and stroked his fingers along my back. "Me too. I could tell the man I used to be anything," he whispered. "I''d say this. You''ll get more of her this way. You''ll get more with her than a single life could contain. You''ll lose it all, but you''ll win it back, and more."

    I turned my face against the soft crook of his arm and struggled to hold in the sob that bit into my throat. Nash and I could never undo the death Dr. Henderson threw upon our world, but we could build something she would never be able to touch.

    "We have to keep going," I said. "There''s something Dr. Henderson never wanted us to remember. I''m sure of it."

    "We''ll keep going."

 130. Summit

    The temple of the coastal Prophet reminded me of a much grander version of the original Prophet of the Valley. The high domed ceiling climbed beyond what the torchlight could reach so the center looked like a black void.

    "Please signify that you still agree to adhere to our rules by raising your hand."

    Groans broke out among all those gathered from every corner of Skia Hellig. Undeterred, Piercey waited patiently.

    "Yes, I am serious," my friend said. "I need to see that every single person agrees."

    "Remind me," the Flatlander Prophet said. "What are the ramifications of breaking these so-called rules?"

    "Eclipse paints the floor with your blood," the Fjellfolk Prophet called out.

    I smirked at how Theus whipped around to face the other Prophet.

    "We will work together to bind your power and remove you from the assembly," Piercey said, ignoring the heckling. "Let me remind you that we gathered together today out of respect for our individual lands and kingdoms and out of the desire to see our people live peacefully. Why should we spill the blood of other Skia Helligeans?"

    The people quieted at this and I smiled at Piercey when he glanced our way.

    "The rulers beyond the peninsula continue to overreach," Piercey said. "They see us fighting amongst ourselves. They see how much smaller this peninsula appears than all that land north of us. They see our mistrust for each other." He turned slowly in a circle, looking at the xxx sections of all the peoples of Skia Hellig. "They see a weak land waiting to be ruled."

    The silence sounded like a resounding agreement to me.

    "We may fight, our land might be small compared to others, and we might not trust each other, but will not be conquered or subjugated by anyone." Piercey slammed his fist into his palm. "So do not let your feuds with each other weaken our peninsula to the point that we are picked off easily."

    The coastal Prophet stood. She''d ascended five years ago after decades of shadowing the former Prophet who retired in his old age. Quiet, intelligent, and slow to speak, I never knew what to expect from her. "I agree with Eclipse''s Second, Piercey. Our enemies see weakness. Can we say they''re wrong to?" Her sharp stare turned to the Flatlander Prophet, Theus. "What else should they think when they see a man fail time and time again to reclaim lands long lost to him?"

    Theus charged forward and threw his staff onto the ground. "I will not be maligned!"

    The snickers made me wince. I hated Theus as much, if not more, than anyone else here. He refused to agree to peace and cost my kingdom valuable men and women who would never be returned. I wanted nothing more than to rip his head from his shoulders.  There was nothing worse than a weak man with too much power, but I knew how such men hated to be scoffed at. How they''d use their undeserved power to make others suffer for their humiliation.

    "The Prophet Theus and I have come to an agreement for the time being," I said. "This matter can stay between us.

    "The agreement is that you won''t slaughter him and his entire family," a voice from the crowd called. I couldn''t tell who had said it.

    Theus glowered. "You all think I''ve given up? It benefits us both to agree to a temporary ceasefire. One day, my villages will be returned to me."

    "Or something like that," I said, desperate to move on from the tiring subject. "There''s no need to talk about it."

    "Well," Theus said. "Just because I''ve shown you mercy by holding off on military action doesn''t mean I''m willing to agree to anything else. I don''t see how I can discuss peace or any matters of diplomacy with the woman holding my villages hostage, or any Prophet who sides with her."

    My shoulders straightened. He couldn''t be serious. "Now is not the time, Theus."

    "Those are my villages," he shouted so hard that spittle sprayed from his mouth.

    "The villages rejected you long ago," I said. "I won''t force them to return to you. You''re holding back the entire peninsula if you refuse to enter into an agreement with the rest of us."

    "Our land is sacred. Given to us by the gods themselves. We won''t abandon a single speck of dirt."

    Dozens of groans spread over the assembly as people mumbled to one another, but he only lifted his chin in response, stubbornly ignoring them.

    Theus raised two shaking fists above his head. "I will never yield, Eclipse."

    After almost a decade of bickering, skirmishes, and two separate short-term wars, I knew this man far better than I ever cared to. "You''ll sacrifice much more than a shred if you impede our alliance," I said. "Our enemies strike any time you make moves against me because they know that''s when we''re the weakest. Your stubbornness risks all of Skia Hellig."

    "So I should give up my kingdom because¨C"

    "I am not listening to this argument again." The Fjelfolk Prophet slammed his fist against the table. "You''ve said the same thing for decades. Silence yourself or I will silence you."

    Theus possessed an impressive ability to not care whatsoever about what anyone thought about him. He only smiled in return, as if the other ruler''s ire amused him. "Tell her to return my lands and you won''t have to hear it again."

    The entire room groaned at this. I stared impassively. "Are you done with the obligatory fit,Theus?"

    "I will not halt my conquest. I''ve worked too hard on this."

    "She''s going to beat you." The same Prophet beat the table again. "For the love of Skia Hellig and the gods themselves, give up already. You''re fortunate she''s more honorable than the rest of us or she would have killed you long ago."

    The Flatlander Prophet''s cheeks tinted pink at this. "Eclipse couldn''t kill me if she tried."

    Laughter erupted from around the room. I didn''t join in. I didn''t even smile. A fool like Theus didn''t know when to quit. This would only encourage him.

    Markus often pushed for me to kill him. Was it honor that held me back? In my life, I had decided things a person never should. The weight of killing Dr. Henderson and the Prophet of the Valley never left me. I lived through the consequences of upending our world and I never wanted to do that again. Who would take the place of Theus if I did kill him? What if they were worse? I knew how to deal with him, even if it annoyed me.

    "We can argue about this later," I said. "At least agree that you won''t impede this summit. There''s other business to discuss. Our disagreement is not the only reason blood has been shed in Skia Hellig." I looked to the coastal Prophet, sensing by the look on her face she weighed whether or not to speak. "If anyone wants to speak, then speak now."

    "Everyone is afraid to even discuss peace because they fear it is a capitulation to Eclipse." Her chin raised. "You''re all afraid of her. You''re afraid she will steal your power and your lands and that your very own people will praise her for it."

    Everyone quieted at this.

    She continued boldly. "Anyone with a half brain knows that Eclipse has no interest in taking your land from you. She doesn''t want the kingdom she already has."

    I narrowed my eyes. "That couldn''t be further from the truth. I''ve dedicated my life to my kingdom and my people."

    "You resisted ruling for a year of grueling fighting because you''ve no interest in it. No one contests your passion for your people, but only a fool worries that you''ll try to take more power for yourself when you aren''t interested."Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    I couldn''t exactly deny that. I wouldn''t change anything and yet I still saw myself as a wartime Prophet. My people needed a Prophet like me today but one day I wanted to pass on this position to another ruler with the kind of mind Piercey possessed. A mind that worked best in peace and not in war.

    Theus raised his chin. "Even if we trust that Eclipse wants nothing else for herself and her kingdom, what about her successor? One day someone will take her place. If power is not evened out then that person may seize our lands."

    I rubbed my eyes and then let my hand fall to the table. "So should I conquer you all now and save us the trouble of all this worrying?" One lone Fjellfolk advisor laughed while the rest of the assembly said nothing or murmured quietly.

    "It''s no laughing matter," the Fjellfolk prophet of the mountains said. "These are real concerns. Just as we''re concerned with the attention you bring to the region. We still don''t have satisfactory answers about the strange battle right before you became prophet and that''s not even mentioning the cult."

    "That''s unfair," Piercey said. "Theus is the reason the cult came into our region." My friend''s eyes narrowed at the Flatlander Prophet. "Mistrust her all you want, she will still stand between your lands and any foe that comes for our people."

    "Our people." Theus rose to his feet. "You hear this talk? Our people. What does that even mean? My people are in the Flatlands. Eclipse''s are the valley-dwellers." He tilted his head. "We have some here who cannot claim alleCleonce to any people of Skia Hellig. Like the foreigner." His look cut to Gael, who temporarily returned from his sabbatical to his home kingdom for our summit. Quickly the accusing stare turned back to me. "Let''s not forget she''s a foreigner too. Eclipse wasn''t even born in Skia Hellig."

    Several of my people shoved their chairs back at this and yelled out in protest. I shook my head, quieting them. "Let him speak," I said. "We all have a voice here."

    "And what if she decided we didn''t?" Theus turned in a circle, raising his arms to the others gathered at the assembly. "Do you understand what might happen if she decided we didn''t? Do you want her to have that kind of power over you?"

    I breathed out slowly, pushed my chair back, and stood to my feet as well. "What, exactly, do you plan to do about it?"

    I wasn''t sure whether I was merely goading him or inviting him to speak, only that I disliked the theatrics and wanted him to simply say what he meant.

    "How do you plan to take this power from me?" I asked. "Is taking back the villages who don''t want you not enough anymore?"

    The entire assembly fell so quiet that I thought everyone held their breath.

    Theus watched me for a long while before speaking. "It''s a simple question, not a plan," he said.

    "It''s not a question, but a challenge." I cast my look to the rest of the assembly. "I won''t apologize for being as strong as my people need me to be. I''ve given you no reason to mistrust me. Don''t let your discomfort over my power keep our lands from uniting."

    "We can never unite," Theus said. "You may not want to rule over all of Skia Hellig, but you didn''t want to rule over your own people, and now look at you. If we join hands, one day we will all bend our knee to you." Bitterness edged his voice. "That''s the way power works."

    Eight years of ruling taught me not to speak until I knew I actually wanted to say whatever tried to fall out of my mouth. It had been a hard lesson learned. As his words turned through my mind, I found that I couldn''t deny them. I spent a year tearing myself apart trying to avoid becoming the new Prophet of the Valley before I accepted my position. Could I truly promise these people nothing like that would ever happen again?

    Markus taught me to never concede defeat in politics, no matter how sound that defeat might be, but I resented inauthenticity. So I nodded, lowered my head, and breathed out a deep sigh.

    "He''s right." I curled my hands to fists, leaning them against the table. I had to ignore the quiet admonishment Markus shot me with the subtle look in my direction. "I didn''t ask for this power I have over my valley. I agreed to serve my people when they needed me." I lifted my head again and drilled the Flatlaner Prophet with a stare. "If all of Skia Hellig one day needed me, we all know I would answer that call too. And that''s what you really fear. You''re afraid you might need me one day and that if you do, you''ll lose this power you crave so deeply. You''re afraid your people will like me more than like you, just like your lost villages do."

    "How dare you," he said with his upper lip curling.

    "Then why are you so afraid? Aren''t you pleading with your people right now to choose you over me? If you want to keep your power, then earn it. Don''t try to steal it from someone else."

    The coastal Prophet lifted her hand. Everyone quieted as they turned their attention to her. "I agree with Eclipse. We cannot resent her for her power. We should focus on ourselves and our people. If we want to unify and also remain our own unique people, then why shouldn''t we explore this? Is Skia Hellig not strong enough to take on any battle?"

    Several people beat their fists on the table in agreement.

    "The man who fears change is a man too weak to survive it." She raised her chin, smirking at Theus. "Are you a weak man?"

    His nostrils flared. "Fucking bitches."

    Nash had said nothing until this point, but now stood beside me. "It''s time for you to sit down."

    The Theus bit off a laugh and twisted to face Nash fully. "Is it, boy? You''re not the one who decides that. I''m a Prophet. You''re just the bitch''s bitch. She''s even got you carrying around her baby for her."

    Nash stroked the back of Finn''s head and shrugged one shoulder. "He''s actually my baby too. Maybe you missed that while you were busy crying about how strong my wife is."

    Snickers broke out among the assembly. Markus crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, looking content to watch the show now.

    "I should cut out your tongue," Theus said. "No one talks to me like that."

    Nash''s brows raised. "My tongue? You want to try?" He started to unlatch Finn from his chest. "Here, someone take my baby. I''m sorry, I mean my wife''s baby."

    I chuckled and reached for Fin, kissing his forehead once I had him in my arms. Piercey was already headed in our direction, ready to put a stop to this.

    "Daddy''s going to kick that man''s ass," I whispered to Finn. "I know. It''ll be so fun to watch." I turned him on my lap, took his hand, and waved it at Nash. "Say good luck, Daddy."

    Nash grinned at me as he lifted in the air to drift over the table and land on the ground.

    "I said no fighting." Piercey tried to keep his voice low but it still sounded like a shout. "Max¨C"

    "This is Skia Hellig. We can''t meet without a little blood."

    "Your husband is fighting a Prophet. A prophet, Max!"

    "Theus will call on one of his disciples to fight for him. He''s a coward." I watched as the energy shield raised around the center of the room like this had been built as an arena and not a meeting hall. "It''ll be good for everyone to remember I''m not the only reason to fear the Valley. It''s because of him too. Because of us. Everyone who fights alongside us." I patted the seat beside me. "Sit. Look at Markus. He''s enjoying himself. Let yourself enjoy it too."

    "Because he''s a blood-lusting warrior like the rest of you," Piercey said with a sigh.

    Markus roared. He jumped onto the table and slammed his heavy foot down. "That''s our war chief." Another slam that reverberated through the hall. I wondered for a moment if he''d cracked it. "The greatest war chief in Skia Hellig!"

    Our people beat their fists and screamed so loud I could no longer hear Piercey''s protests.

    Wren stood beside the energy shield with her arms crossed and a glint in her eye. Piercey shook his head, likely recognizing he''d truly lost the battle when not even Wren tried to reason with me.

    Piercey burst through the energy shield. "We will adhere to the rules set forth at the beginning of this conference. If we want to change them, we vote and we agree."

    Warriors from all over the temple shouted in protest and threw objects against the shield.

    "Why must he always talk of voting," one voice shouted above the rest.

    I sighed and teleported next to him, still holding my baby.

    "If you want honorable battles between two worthy warriors, then raise your hand."

    The protests died down. A few people raised their hands while many refused.

    I grit my teeth. "Raise your hands you stubborn assholes! I know you want to see this."

    Hand shot up around the room, greatly outnumbering what Piercey clearly voted for.

    "The usual rules apply. We don''t need to go through them do we?" I asked. "These men fight on behalf of our kingdom. The outcome is final, just like on the battlefield. You all agree to control yourselves."

    Piercey looked at me. "Thank you," he said quietly.

    I narrowed my eyes and turned to look at anyone. "Throw anything at him again and I will find you." A man nearby laughed and I raised my voice to a shout. "I''m not joking. Throw something and find out. Go on," I shouted.

    He sat back, averting his eyes.

    Nash stood inside the shield now with his tunic discarded and his hands clasping his blades.

    A bulky man entered from the other side, the best warrior among Theus''s disciples. His deep voice carried throughout the room without being amplified by power. "Our people have warred for decades. If this meeting here today is truly about peace, then we will decide peace now. The winner of the match will choose the fate of the contested villages and the future of the relationship between our kingdoms."

    I turned at this, my breath catching in my chest. "You can''t be serious." My stare turned to Theus. "You''ll turn a match over honor into this?"

    "You want peace?" Theus yelled. "Then take it!"

    He thought he stood a better chance in his best warrior fighting against Nash today than another losing war against my kingdom. What a fool.

    Nash nodded at me. "I say we do it."

    "It''ll be a fight to death if it''s over the villages Nash."

    "You think I''ll lose?"

    "No." I didn''t. Even if I did, I''d never let anyone kill Nash. "Our council hasn''t discussed."

    I noticed Piercey and Markus in a heated discussion. Not wanting to talk out loud, I connected with Piercey to use our neural connection.

    "I want to do it," I said. "I''m tired of his antics."

    "He will never accept the results," Piercey said through his mind.

    "At least we can formalize it. Other Prophets are tired of him. They won''t approve of him breaking a written treaty."

    My friend turned, continuing to talk with others from the council. Markus pushed Piercey aside and looked at me. Did he want me to make this decision without hearing from the others? I didn''t like ruling that way.

    "Piercey," I said through our connection.

    "Do what you think is best," Piercey said. "Everyone is split. I support you if you want to do this, but consider whether it''s worth the risk. We can defeat him in war."

    I turned back to Theus. "We accept. When we win, you will sign our treaty and agree to peace."

    I walked up to Nash and pressed my hand over his heart, feeling the warmth of his bare chest. "Will you kill him?"

    He seemed to be considering still. "I''ll decide when it''s time."

    "I doubt he''s still deciding. Be careful."

    He met my eyes, his smirk lighthearted, as if this was just a skirmish. "Stop worrying."

    I breathed out deeply and gave him one more pat before leaving to take my seat.

 131. Duel

    Fear dismantled the amusement of seeing Nash duel against enemies who annoyed us for so long, against the people who once exiled him. Any fight over the villages, even if this obviously wouldn''t put the issue to rest, meant death.

    Theus forced my hand.

    He knew backing down from this duel after Nash instigated wasn''t an option. Even if Nash agreed, which he wouldn''t, it weakened us politically, and as much as I hated taking politics into consideration, I understood reality. Optics mattered. Optics meant life and death. Our people needed to believe in us and seeing their War Chief back down didn''t encourage confidence. So even if I didn''t want Nash risking his life today, I couldn''t ask him not to do so.

    I reasoned with myself to accept the part I played in agreeing to this, but it did nothing to silence the voice inside of me pleading with me to call Nash back. Nothing was worth losing him and no matter how great of a warrior he was, nothing was certain in battle.

    With a hard breath, I steeled myself against the thoughts. I felt this every time Nash entered into battle. This was no different.

    The two men didn''t waste time. This disciple who faced my husband, Jakob, originated from the same side of the Flatlands as Nash. Odd to see them on opposite sides. Odd to see such fierce warriors hailing from a rural area.

    Nash rolled his shoulders and waited on his opponent, who seemed in no hurry to make the first move. Instead, Jakob slowly approached, eyes scanning Nash.

    "I thought the tales of your twin blades were overblown until I saw them for myself." He didn''t smile¨Cdidn''t look like the kind man who ever smiled¨Cbut a flicker of appreciation lit his serious eyes. "I will enjoy this fight."

    Nash didn''t respond, only smirked. He was enjoying this too, free of the fear that clutched me.

    Jakob offered no warming up or slow start. He attacked Nash with intense speed and strength, his sword plowing into Nash''s twin blades, both men powering their weapons with their energy.

    I''d heard that he was also an excellent swordsman, but I doubted he could ever beat Nash in such a contest.

    Their swords moved so swiftly that it was difficult to follow their movements. Jakob matched Nash''s skilled footwork, making his attacks look effortless, though I knew they were anything but.

    The two men remained on each other as their swords deftly danced, neither able to break the other''s guard for several minutes into the fight.

    Jakob opened enough space between them to shoot a disc of energy at Nash. He defended against it with an energy shield, not allowing it to distract him from his offensive efforts with his blades.

    Nash bashed his forearm into Jakob''s nose and caught the edge of the man''s bicep as he whipped his sword back.

    Red oozed from a surprisingly deep wound to the disciple''s arm. It happened so quickly, I''d missed the strength of the attack.

    My heart thrummed with hope watching the disciple struggle to regain his footing and take a hard kick to his gut.

    The movement shifted him backward though, and even reeling from the hit, he released another disc of energy. Nash jumped to the side and erected a shield. The sizzling red blade shifted its trajectory right before clashing with Nash''s shield, cutting through at a sharp angle. Though Nash was in the midst of dodging the blow with great speed, the disc sliced through the top of his shoulder and continued on until it thudded into the barrier of their makeshift arena. Blood poured from Nash''s wound down his chest and back. The impact of the hit had thrown Nash to the side, forcing him to lose speed. He blocked a strike from Jakob''s sword with his good arm, grunting as he struggled to fend it off.

    I didn''t realize I was rushing to my feet until Markus caught my wrist.

    "Stay seated," he said. "You can''t interfere."

    I ground my teeth. "I''m not."

    "You may think you aren''t but you''re a few seconds away from losing control. Hold Finn and breathe. Nash has this."

    I squeezed my eyes shut, but I still saw Nash''s blood gushing, painting the darkness when I closed my eyes. What was I doing? "Piercey."

    My friend turned to me with grave eyes.

    "Take Finn. He shouldn''t be here."

    "Of course." He reached for the baby. "I''ll watch where he can''t hear anything and will return to heal Nash when it''s over."

    While I worried about Nash, he recovered his position in the battle already, but I knew that blood loss placed a time limit on how long he''d be able to fight like this for.

    Nash''s twin blades sliced through attack after attack by Jakob and scattered his energy in red streaks and sparks. Every movement of his injured shoulder only pumped more blood from his wound, though. Splatters and streaks of blood from both men painted the floor where they fought.

    This fight didn''t need to happen today. We walked right into a trap because we allowed Theus''s foolishness to distract from the true threat his reign posed and to catch us off guard.

    I watched as Nash and Jakob''s movements lost their precision and lethal speed, but neither man let up in their determination. They both attacked each other without pause or reservation.

    Nash''s skirted past Jakob''s and pierced a secondary energy shield. It pricked the disciple''s neck, but stopped there, as his energy swelled, a mist of red hovering around Nash''s blade.

    "Enough," Theus said. "You''ll both die at this rate. What good will that do any of us?"

    I hid my own fear behind a hard voice. "Nash is not dying."

    "The floor is coated in his blood."

    "Does he look like he''s done to you?"

    Nash''s chest glistened with blood and sweat, pumping with each deep breath. The tip of his sword still dug into Jakob''s throat, fighting to break through his defense to drive into his carotid artery. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    No matter how it looked, Jakob wasn''t done, and I knew that.

    "I can fight, Prophet," Jacob cried. Blood bubbled from the wound at the pressure of him speaking.

    I knew Theus''s answer before he spoke. Nash didn''t grow up with his power. For him to be even remotely competitive against a disciple was a grave embarrassment. If this went further and everyone saw the Prophet''s best man actually lose, it might start a war. Nevermind our agreement or the truce. There would be retaliation. Theus couldn''t risk losing today.

    "I said enough." Theus sat.

    Nash withdrew the blade and used it to push himself to his feet. He offered his hand to Jakob. The man stared for several seconds at the bloody palm waiting for him to accept or reject it. Then to my surprise he grabbed Nash''s hand and took the help rising to his feet.

    They each looked ready to collapse, but instead of returning to sit down for healing attention, dipped their heads at each other.

    "I enjoyed fighting you," Jakob said. "I would have liked to see how it ended."

    "I feel the same."

    They clasped forearms and then turned away from each other. I wanted so badly to teleport to Nash and bring him to sit down immediately, only I knew better than to do that. Warriors walked themselves back from battle. I ground my teeth, forcing myself to stay seated until Nash weakly rounded the table and sank down beside me.

    "How bad is it?" I whispered, grabbing his arm.

    "Nothing healing won''t fix."

    Two healers gathered around him even before Piercey returned and began working on the wounds.

    "I''m sorry if I scared you." Nash settled his head against mine.

    "I''m always scared about you." I sighed. "It was hard to sit here."

    "This was good, though. Jakob is unhappy with Theus pulling him out of the fight. I wonder what else he may be unhappy with. A warrior like that cannot be content serving as a disciple for a Prophet like Theus."

    "You think we could reason with him?"

    Nash paused. "It''s possible, if the time comes."

    Piercey returned and handed Finn to Wren. He walked toward the center of the temple, stepped over a smear of blood on the ground, and anchored his hands on his sides. Evidently beyond frustrated with the type of battle culture he never experienced living on top of the Mountain of the Gods. "We will take a thirty minute recess to clean this place up. If you wish to speak in private, please go to your designated meeting rooms."

    The color already started to return to Nash''s cheeks from the healing treatment. Once Piercey joined the other two, they worked quickly on Nash''s wounds. We were all quiet, giving Piercey his space as to not provoke him. After ten minutes, Nash raised his hand to say he was healed enough for now and we left for our private room to talk. There he accepted a basin of water and wash rags brought by one of the locals to clean himself off.

    Piercey joined us, looking no less annoyed than earlier but not angry enough to chastise us. Not yet. I was sure he planned to do plenty of that later when we finished the summit.

    "Speak quickly," I said. "Our recess is short and I want to discuss several more things before we go back out there."

    Markus looked around the room and then leveled his stare at me. "Kill him. Kill him as soon as the summit is over."

    "Kill Theus?"

    "Yes."

    "We just agreed¨C"

    "That was for show," Markus said. "We all know it. So kill him already. The report we drafted last month made it clear. His own people are rejecting him as leader. A majority want him out. He weakens all of Skia Hellig and while it''s easy to think that a pathetic snake like that is only a nuisance, you can never underestimate a determined fool. Don''t give him the time he needs to make us live to regret sparing him."

    "I don''t care about sparing him. I need more support," I said.

    "What more could you need?" Markus looked to Leif, likely for support, but my friend didn''t return the look this time. Normally the man jumped at the chance to say we needed to kill Theus, but I also knew Leif took deals made over blades seriously and I doubted he wanted to break the agreement made before all of Skia Hellig today. "The people have spoken clearly."

    "Then the people should remove him and choose another."

    Wren winced. "Really, Max?"

    "They can''t," Markus said. "You know how hard it is to kill a Prophet, even a Prophet like him."

    Piercey scratched his beard. "If the people voted and couldn''t enforce their vote, we could uphold their decision with our force."

    "You with the voting." Markus shook his head.

    I couldn''t speak though. Piercey''s willingness to even consider this shocked me. How was I the one holding out on killing and not Piercey? I really had changed.

    "It doesn''t feel right," I said. "Look at what it took to help the valley recover after we killed Eskel. Are we really prepared to help the Flatlanders through that? Either we support a new leader and meddle in their affairs or we allow them to join our kingdom. But I''m not looking to take in strays. We have enough on our plate."

    "Since when are you so cautious," Markus asked.

    "I''ve learned some lessons the hard way."

    Nash lifted a hand and spoke quietly, making me realize that Markus and I both started shouting at some point. "The Flatlands are stable and we''re at peace, for now. We put them in place in front of Skia Hellig. Let''s take this issue up in a few months. During that time, we can use our allies and our spies to support a suitable new leader for the Flatlands. The duel today should humble them, and if not humble them, scare them."

    Markus crossed his arms, quiet long enough that I thought he''d given up. "Do you know the problem with you all having power?" He shook his head. "You learn to fear your power more than anyone else''s, because you no longer have anyone to fear but yourself." He let out a long sigh. "The powerless never forget the fear of those more powerful than them. That fear doesn''t make them weak. It gives them power. It makes them desperate and cunning. Maybe you intimidated them today, or maybe you made them more desperate."

    Nash and I shared a look at that as I considered his admonition. Before becoming my top advisor, Markus lead warriors in battle for nearly two decades. Known as one of our greatest warriors and commanders, I knew that ever referring to himself as powerless required more honesty and humility than most people could manage. But when facing an enemy with a neural implant, normal warriors truly were powerless. He was right. I needed to remember how it felt when I suffered beneath the seal that stole my power away.

    "Okay." I nodded. "You''ve made a wise point, Markus. Let me think about this and we''ll talk more when we''re home. I''m not doing anything hasty, though. We did make an agreement today and I refuse to render my word as meaningless."

    "Honor is what''s meaningless in war," he said. "At least when you have thousands of innocent lives in your hands. I urge you to kill him. He''s proven that he will never surrender."

    I clasped his shoulder. "Thank you, Markus."

    Though I meant it in all sincerity, Markus did not at all look like a man who won. The reticence I saw in him told me that he believed he didn''t reach me. He did. But I wouldn''t jump to killing another ruler of Skia Hellig so easily.

    "What about all of the Prophets essentially agreeing that Max is a danger to them?" Piercey''s entire body looked tense. "That''s not good."

    "No," Leif said. "People attack what they fear. It certainly doesn''t bode well for the peace Piercey so desperately wants."

    "What do they really want? Do you believe them that they''re simply afraid of Max?" Markus paced the back of the room now, scratching his thick beard. "Something is missing."

    "They might be," Piercey said. "Our neighbors are afraid of her taking power, whether she wants it or not. Are they wrong either? It''s true that the next enemy or war will come, and then there is no telling what will happen. Max will take care of whoever she needs to care for. We all will."

    "I certainly won''t put any fears to rest by singlehandedly deciding to murder Theus, will I?" I didn''t attempt to hide my sigh.

    "Put it to one of Piercey''s precious votes," Markus said, and I truly couldn''t tell how facetiously he meant it.

    "I know you''re mocking me," Piercey said, "But it''s not a bad idea. We cannot simply vote on whether to kill someone. We can make rules of engagement, though, and formalize the maps of our lands. We set him up to break the new laws that Skia Hellig rulers will vote on here in this summit."

    "That''s actually a really good idea," I said.

    "Actually?" Piercey furrowed his brows.

    "You have many good ideas, Piercey."  I simpered. "You just don''t always understand the culture of Skia Hellig."

    Wren looped her arm through his, saying nothing, but offering her own quiet encouragement.

    "This is our strategy then," I said. "We do not leave this summit without the rulers of Skia Hellig agreeing to recognize the boundaries of our lands. Maybe it will help them to not be so afraid of me stealing their power from them."

    "They''ll always fear you," Markus said. "Let them. Just don''t make them desperate in their fear."

    When we first began working together, I worried about trusting Markus. Now, I couldn''t imagine ruling our kingdom without him.

    "One step at a time," I said, remembering what Nash said to me about peace starting somewhere.

 132. Visitor

    For two miserable days, we debated and argued with each other over major issues such as the boundaries of our land to the most minor wording in the draft of our agreement. While I did not foresee anything we did to lead to cooperation or peace in the near future, it did provide a starting point for all of us to trust one another. Though we couldn''t be further from trust.

    Theus abandoned the talks for over twelve hours in his fit over the boundaries that all of the rulers except for him agreed on about the boundaries of my kingdom. When he said he refused to agree, all of the Prophets stood together to say that we would all consider him our common enemy. When he finally returned, he said that he could not accept the boundaries but that he agreed to continue with the summit for now. I refused to remove the boundaries of my kingdom from the discussion, though, because if I ever did kill Theus, I wanted to gain the support of the other Prophets.

    "If any member breaks a single line of this agreement," Piercey said, "they void every line for themselves and are no longer a part of our agreement. They lose the truces and privileges we''ve agreed upon together. So consider carefully before you betray the new laws of Skia Hellig."

    None of us wanted to forbid war between the kingdoms because such promises could not be kept. We all knew that and refused to limit ourselves in such a way. Instead, we focused our efforts on boundaries for war, like not poisoning innocent people or stealing land from each other.

    I wasn''t sure how this experiment would work out but I did feel confident the gods must have been enjoying this show.

    As Piercey continued to speak, the large doors of the temple opened and light poured in from the outside. Though I sensed no power, I did feel something else. Eyes on me. Turning slowly, I saw three figures in the doorway eclipsing the sun.

    As they walked forward, dozens of others filed in behind them. Soon, I made out an image that turned my blood cold.

    A powerful Prophet from beyond the Skia Hellig Peninsula.

    Our neighbors north of the peninsula rarely ventured into our lands except for trading. Some attacked or stole resources during opportunistic time. The shadow of war had crossed between our lands more than once without actually breaking out. But I knew this man, even though we''d only spoken twice. I knew him from the reports of our most trusted spies and from staring him down in the battlefield the one time he marched an army almost to my land.

    Two other rulers walked beside him.

    My heart pounded in sync with the footsteps of the three rulers from beyond the peninsula. The rest of their people spread out around the edges of the assembly.

    "Good day to all the wonderful people of the Skia Hellig Peninsula. There is nothing quite like the sight of the ocean and the fjords here on the coast. What a beautiful land."

    Every word wound around my heart like a tight chord until I could barely breathe. The three walked directly into the center of the temple.

    "We love that you are finally talking." He touched his hand to his heart and gave a friendly smile. "It really is wonderful to see. We could not resist joining, because we''ve been wanting to talk with you all as well."

    One by one, all of the Prophets and our most powerful warriors stood. I did so last, taking my time to study him before moving a muscle. With my muscles clenched, I teleported a few feet away from him, standing between him and my people. His eyes found mine and beneath that warm smile, I saw nothing in his eyes. No emotion, no fear, no malice. Just nothing.

    "Eclipse."

    The other Prophets didn''t approach, though several warriors did. Nash slid right beside me, his arm brushing mine.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    "You were not invited here," I said.

    "I needed an invitation?" He looked at the rulers beside him and then chuckled. "That''s embarrassing. Did everyone here receive one? Were they written? I thought you wanted to hear from everyone who desired peace for their lands."

    "No," I said, offering nothing further.

    He eyed me, chuckling lightheartedly again. "Well, I hope you''ll consider allowing me to join."

    I tilted my head, holding his eyes for several seconds. "No."

    His expression betrayed no frustration or annoyance. With a sigh, he shrugged. "That''s too bad. I suppose we should leave then."

    "I suppose so."

    "If we aren''t invited to the peace talks and we do leave, how do we go about declaring our peace? Or are we obligated to remain at war forever?"

    "We aren''t at war. There''s no need for peace talks."

    "Maybe this is where the misunderstanding is." He took one single step closer, his attention seeming to narrow down to me, no longer casting any glances to anyone else. "We are not at peace, Eclipse. Not when you bring so much attention to our region and haven''t had the decency to make any kind of arrangements with us."

    I stepped forward now as well, quietly waiting for him to continue, because I refused to take his bait.

    After several more seconds of quiet, he seemed to accept my declination to speak. "You are war, dear Prophet. You warred against the gods of our world. How can you claim any peace?"

    The cold of the ocean this morning crawled back into my bones.

    The twitch of his smile told me I''d given away my feelings. I hated that I could be so obvious with how I felt. "Oh, you thought no one cared that you jeopardized our entire planet with your whims? You thought you could attack the gods who could end our world with a snap of their fingers and we''d just forget about it?"

    "It sounds like your issue is with me, not the rest of Skia Hellig."

    Suddenly his friendly voice deepened into a guttural roar. "Skia Hellig belongs to you." He jerked forward, stopping within an inch of me. Nash slammed his shoulder into the man''s chest, forcing him back a step. The two men locked eyes for only a second before the ruler looked at me again. "Your people will answer for your decisions. So tell me if we are to have peace. I can wait no longer to find out."

    I walked up close until I looked up into the rulers eyes and I tugged Nash back to my side. "Do you know what I''m hearing?"

    Where I saw nothing in his eyes before, I now saw burning fire. "I would love to find out."

    "I''m hearing excuses." I placed one finger against his chest and shoved him back a step with my power. "Excuse after fucking excuse to drag my kingdom into war. Tell me what you really want. Don''t hide behind your words."

    "Whether you want Skia Hellig or not is meaningless. These peace talks are the first step to you taking the entire peninsula and none of you can see it. Look around. Do you see anyone else talking?" He leaned down, speaking only to me. "It''s your kingdom and mine. We are the true rulers of our land."

    "I''m not taking over the other kingdoms."

    He uttered an amused laugh. "And I am here to talk peace."

    I narrowed my eyes.

    "Creating your kingdom kept you occupied. Your ascension scared off your enemies for a time. Sooner or later, the next enemy will come, or the next war. As long as you''re here in Skia Hellig, you''ll bring death to us all. I fear as long as you live you''ll bring death to our world. I''m not waiting to see what you do next." His nostrils flared. "So talk peace with me, Eclipse. Convince me arrangements can be made."

    "Or what?"

    "Or we stop pretending there''s any peace to be had."

    He backed up and the two other rulers followed like he controlled their bodies as he did his own. Our sources from beyond the peninsula told us of the power he held over the other rulers, but I didn''t understand how severely.

    He looked to the other Prophets now. "Do any of you have anything to say or do you let Eclipse speak for you?"

    Theus only watched from the protection of his disciples. The Fjellfolk Prophet crossed his arms and then walked a few feet closer. "I believe she spoke what we all are thinking. No one invited you."

    The coastal Prophet who hosted this meeting surprised me by saying nothing. I didn''t see any cowardice in here and it didn''t appear she had nothing to say. No, she looked full of thoughts and considerations.

    She simply chose not to show her hand.

    I looked up at Nash as his concerned eyes met mine.

    "I think that was a declaration of war," I whispered after the rulers began to walk away.

 133. In the Shadow

    Once the summit ended, I declined the hospitality of the ride at sea and transported us all back to the tower. We met on the floor reserved only for our family to keep our discussion private.

    "I don''t trust what Malach said about the gods." I closed my arms around myself, fighting the chill again. "I can''t place it, but it sounded like it came from someone else."

    "You think the gods told him to attack?" Nash asked.

    "No. I don''t. They believe they''re above that." I closed my eyes. "And they can hear us right now. Don''t forget that."

    "Shit." Markus slammed his fist against the wall so hard he knocked a hole in it.

    "That cult disappeared but I know they haven''t stopped scheming," I said. "What if it''s them? What if they''re working with Malach?" I dug my nails into my arms hard enough to scratch my skin. "It never made sense to me why he marched to our lands and didn''t attack. I know we said it was a warning over our dispute about trading, but the way he looked at me. I never thought he only wanted to warn me." I closed my eyes. "It was a promise."

    "A promise to what?" Piercey asked.

    "To kill me." I turned my stare to the window. "It''s the first time in eight years I felt that shiver of fear. That little voice inside that said he could do it. I don''t know him. I don''t know why I felt it." I swallowed hard. "But I do know the eyes of death. Whatever he wants, he won''t stop until he has it."

    Nash''s voice lowered to a growl. "He will never kill you."

    I ran my fingers absently along the side of his face. "We''re okay."

    He grunted quietly in frustration.

    "I want to know more about him," I said. "I don''t believe we have seen what he''s capable of."

    "That''s because anyone who sees what he''s capable of dies," Nash said. "He doesn''t leave witnesses to his power. Our research on him has never been complete for that reason."

    I clenched my teeth. "Those Prophets following him like puppies have seen it. That means some of their people have too. Don''t we have any reliable spies that close to the action?"

    "No," Markus said. "It''s not easy to keep anyone in lands that far away. We''ve been busy with Skia Hellig. Malach''s kingdom alone is half the size of all of Skia Hellig."

    "We should have seen this coming," I said.

    "We did." Piercey rubbed his eyes. "We''ve worried about it for years."

    "No, I mean we should have realized that they actually planned to make their move." I shook my head.

    "Sometimes war is inevitable." Wren turned from the window. "We''re so afraid of it because we love our people and don''t want any of them to die. That''s not the world we live in. Each of us enters battle prepared to give our lives. We need to accept that from our people as well."

    "I don''t accept any of you dying," I said.

    "That''s why you''re always exhausted." Wren took my hand and held it with a tender grip. "It''s also what our enemies are using against you. They know that every life cost you more than it costs them. Do you think Malach cares about his people? We know rulers like him. He doesn''t care about anyone but himself. He can hurt you in ways you can''t hurt him."

    I searched her wise eyes for the answers. "Then tell me what to do, Wren. You always know what to do."

    She settled her forehead against mine. "None of us can know what to do. But I know what we shouldn''t do." Still holding my hand, she lifted it between us. "Do not let your love for your people turn into fear and do not let that fear kill them."

    My eyes closed.

    "Prepare for war, Max. Look at all of your options."

    "Think of the people we lost against Theus. This will be so much worse."

    "Yes," Wren said. "So let''s give ourselves the best chance we have. We can''t change that war is coming."

    "I''ll be sending kids barely older than Elsie to die." I started to rip back, but Wren kept firm hold on me.

    "Be strong, Max. You''re leading the people to save themselves."

    Leif''s hand came over my shoulder and he settled his arms around us both. The three of dipped our heads together. My circle.

    I didn''t want to do this. Days like today, I thought I never wanted to do any of it. I told everyone no. I refused to rule this kingdom because of terrible decisions like this.

    That was a coward''s way out though. I couldn''t allow regret to take hold of my heart when we built a kingdom I adored and when my people needed me. They needed me eight years ago and they needed me now.

    Giving myself another a few seconds, I lifted my head and looked at two of my oldest friends. Their arms lowered as I turned to Nash.

    "Say it." I swallowed hard as I waited for him to say what I sensed he wanted to.

    "They''re not our children." Pain lined his expression because he loved the people as much as I did. "Not if that will make you hold them back. You have to distance yourself or it will kill us all."

    I covered my eyes as the tears started to fall. Nash came to me and let me hide my face against him.

    "They can be our children again when the war is over. This is how it has to be."

    Of course Nash and I weren''t really the mother and father of this kingdom. These people weren''t our kids, but when I looked at the young warriors-in-training, they felt like it. It felt like sending Elsie to die.

    "Nash," I cried in a hoarse whisper.

    "I know." He held me firmly.

    "There''s no time for this. I need to plan. But I''m afraid to plan because it''ll become real. It''s hard to think about and even harder to talk about, but once I start digging into the war that is coming and plan for how to get my people through it¡­" I let my voice fade so I wouldn''t cry more. When I could stifle the tears, I spoke quietly again. "People are going to die. I don''t want to return to the days of war."

    Instead of speaking, Nash held me, keeping me in place like he used to when I''d slip away.

    Minutes passed before the warm trails started my cheeks and the thickness filled my chest. I couldn''t hold it back and I knew better than to try. "We were making progress. We tasted peace. Now we''ll spend years just surviving and trying to minimize our loss of ground."

    "Yes," Nash whispered, voice laden with the grief that gripped me. "People will die. We''ll be at war, and peace will come only for fleeting moments between battles. We don''t know if things will be okay." He gripped me tighter as the sobs started to shake my body. Somehow, he stayed steady and calm. "But we have reason to believe we can win and that our greatest days are ahead of us."

    "What if they''re behind us?"

    He kissed the side of my face. "Then we remember and we grieve. We seize every good thing we have and cherish it. We remember that our people are worth fighting for, that we''ve done this before, and we''re stronger than last time."

    "We''ve done this before," I whispered. "So many times." The words flooded me with both hope and despair like pouring oil into a glass of water. I wasn''t sure which feeling to trust or whether maybe both were true. That the relentless cycle of suffering meant this wouldn''t be our last war and that we were prepared because we had fought before.

    The peace and life I''d enjoyed made me feel the continuing. I was so close to living my life. I was finally finding my path. I didn''t want to do this again.

    For the first time in my life, I knew I didn''t have to. I could take my family, protect what was mine, and run away to peace. I could say I''d served my people longer than I first planned and just live my life.

    But that wasn''t the life I wanted. I didn''t have to fight. I was choosing to. I did not want to take peace for myself when my people didn''t have the power to do so for themselves.

    I''d bound myself to Nash and Elsie and now our baby. They came first. But I knew Nash already chose to fight the war. I heard it in his resolute voice. I wanted our children to grow up learning true peace and I would never find that by that walking away from this war.

    But that didn''t mean this had to be like the wars before. I was different now and I had more power. Had more to love and protect and more to take pride in. This time, I would fight the war better than ever before.

    If it killed me, then it would be a life given and not a life lost, because I wanted peace for all my people, not just my family.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    "I want new reports on Malach and the other Prophets and to strategize before we report to the wider assembly. I''m telling the assembly immediately."

    "You don''t want to gather more facts," Piercey asked.

    "No. We need to prepare." I wiped my eyes and smoothed my hand over Nash''s chest, steadying myself. "There''s no time to waste."

    It took only hours to gather the assembly with the help of Gael''s warriors who were still stationed with us.

    I paced before them.

    "We don''t know what Malach and his allies are planning or even that they plan to declare war." I paced before our assembly and allowed the conflicted emotions storming in my heart to fill my voice, both strengthening and flooding it with all I felt. "But we won''t wait for them to make their intentions known. By then, it will be too late. I looked into the eyes of the Prophet Malach and in them I saw death."

    The commanders and chiefs, the advisors and council members, all stared at me with faith in my words. No one questioned me or second guessed me. Could their confidence survive a war? A real war against enemies from a kingdom larger than ours?

    "We start preparing for war immediately. Advance any warriors-in-training who are ready and accept those into training who you believe can handle it." I nodded at Nash. "We start strategizing today."

    Nash crossed his arms. "Prioritize our pairing system for the younger warriors. They adapt best to this partnership. We need to utilize our young who possess power but are not suited for combat with our most promising warriors who lack power. We will look into recruiting from the Sacred School and Gael''s kingdom as well."

    "Will Gael return?" a chief asked.

    "We will speak with him. He faithfully served with us for many years and while I know he has enjoyed the last two years at home, he made it clear that he plans to return. It''s possible he will be willing to do that now rather than in a few years."

    "We helped them with their last war," the same chief said. "Can we expect them to send more than just those training at the Sacred School."

    "Yes," Nash said. "Their king agreed to this contingency already."

    "I''ll visit the king as soon as possible," I said. "There''s no sign yet of any warriors advancing to our lands. More than likely, we have some time. We should be prepared for smaller scale attacks in the meantime. Update the defense plans for your villagers."

    As we continued to plan and discuss over the next week, the flurry of activity forced the fear from my mind during the day, so only at night when I tried to sleep did it consume my thoughts.

    I rocked Finn one night after he woke and tried imagining his future. Tried imagining just the next few years.

    Maybe we overreacted to the interruption of the unwelcome guests at the summit. Other kingdoms prepared just as we did, however. If we united, I knew we would win.

    But so far no one would join hands with us.

    Everyone was so afraid of losing their power.

    <hr>

    The weeks chipped away at the dread and fear so that what once panicked the entire kingdom now felt unreal and distant. Therein lay the greatest danger of a looming threat. That it was looming. And our everyday life continued to happen, numbing us when we most needed to remain alert.

    I opened the door of the war room and looked down the stairs at the commanders gathered with my husband.

    "That''s a weakness." Nash pointed toward one of our most rural areas. "We need more surveillance in that area today."

    Watching, I leaned the rail.

    One of the young commanders named Owen leaned over to speak to an equally young woman beside him. His mother was a warrior I deeply respected. "It''s hard to take him seriously with a baby strapped to his chest."

    Nash lifted a wooden battle marker that represented a division of our military and turned his attention toward the commander while the piece floated through the air to the center of the map. He patted Finn back lightly while placing the marker near the mountains with his power. "It''s hard to take you seriously when my twelve year old daughter can beat you in both a sword and bow contest."

    Laughter belted through the room.

    The commander furrowed his brows and glanced at his comrades guffawing beside him. He seemed surprised Nash had heard his comment. "Everyone knows I don''t use a bow, and she can''t beat me in a sword contest. Only your made up game of twin blades."

    This didn''t lessen the laughter, nevermind that Elsie scored higher than half the warriors in this room in the twin blade fighting at the summer festival.

    "My baby can likely beat you as well," Nash said above the noise of the warriors.

    I smirked as I began to descend the stairs again. "So who has a problem with my baby?" I asked. I''d gone unnoticed before, but now all eyes turned to me.

    The commander who had mocked Nash straightened and blinked at me. "I don''t have a problem with your baby. I just don''t think babies have a place in a war room."

    "He spent a great deal of time in the war room when he was inside my body." I shrugged as I strode toward Nash, glancing at the commander again. "Enough time in war as well."

    Leif snickered while everyone else fell quiet.

    Finn twisted his head at the sound of my voice and giggled when he saw me. I slid my arm around Nash''s waist and brushed my finger along the baby''s puffy cheeks. "You''re already a little warrior, aren''t you? A cute little warrior." My gaze snapped up to the commander. "I''d overlook the comment if you were only joking, but this isn''t the first snarky remark you''ve made. Do you think our children should grow up without their parents? The wars over this valley consume our life."

    Nash leaned down to whisper to me. "It''s fine, Max."

    "Yes, Max," the commander said. "It was a joke."

    The man next to him shoved his forearm against his chest and knocked him into the chief standing behind them. "That''s Prophet Eclipse, you snot-nosed brat." He gathered up two handfuls of the other man''s tunic. "You weren''t even holding a sword when she saved us from Eskel the Ruthless. This is the problem with letting children call themselves commander."

    When the older man released him, the young commander straightened his tunic, jaw bunching.

    His chief grabbed his ear and yanked him to his side. "Not another word. You''ve embarrassed yourself enough."

    I tilted my head. "It seems it doesn''t take long for everyone to forget that we''re at war. Don''t let what feels like peace lull you into complacency. At any time, our enemies could strike. Is it really the time to joke in the war room?"

    Owen lowered his head at this.

    "Will we strike first?" A chief from the back of the room asked.

    "We''re working on such plans," Nash said. "There''s many considerations. Taking an army to them hinders our defenses. We''re outnumbered. A smaller force could enter covertly, but we need the right target or we''ll waste our efforts."

    The uneasy feeling growing in the room constantly filled me. It seemed like we were disadvantaged in every way.

    The commanders and chiefs continued to evaluate our defense and our weaknesses until breaking for food.

    Markus approached me while the others gathered around the tables filled with meats and cheeses.

    "You''re too soft on them," Markus said. "If he feels comfortable mouthing off not only to Nash the war chief but also the Prophet Eclipse then how can you trust him to lead in battle? How can you trust in battle at all?

    I watched the young man. Markus was right. My people never created problems with disrespect, so I didn''t encounter these situations often. The unrest from the potential war perhaps stoked something in the younger generation, a dissatisfaction with a failure of leadership to stop such a threat.

    When the day ended, after a heated discussion about the boy with his mother and village chief, I stopped by the house which housed our visiting young commanders.

    After I knocked on the door, the commanders scrambled to bring Owen to me.

    The commander who we argued with in the war room gawked at me. It seemed that without the crowd and the distance between us, he didn''t feel as brave.

    "Your mother is angry with you," I said. "She asked me to formally discipline you in front of the war council."

    Owen lowered his head. "Please accept my most sincere apology, Prophet."

    I recognized the utter lack of sincerity in his fiery eyes. The demure voice couldn''t hide his rebellion. "She''s the reason you''re a commander at such a young age. She''s one of our greatest warriors. Your skill made us all believe that you could follow in her steps." I tilted my head. "Did we judge you wrongly?"

    "You did." Despite keeping his gaze and his head lowered, his voice sharpened. "I''m not my mother. I will be a great warrior, but you''ll be disappointed if you expect me to turn out just like her."

    I smirked. "You''re a little shit is what you are."

    He lifted his head now, brows furrowed.

    "You lack respect and the good sense of when to shut your mouth. You''re undisciplined with your anger. My kid can beat you in two of our contests."

    Now he met my eyes again, his voice raising. "I scored the highest in blindfolded two-handed¡ª"

    "Blah, blah," I said, cutting him off. "No one cares about what you scored the highest in when you score so low in so many categories. You do have great potential. So don''t embarrass yourself."

    "Why are you even talking to me? Don''t you have an entire kingdom to run?"

    I flicked his forehead. "I used to be immature and angry. Now I''m grown and angry. And I do whatever I like. You''ll lose your duties as commander for a month. Go home."

    "A month? You can''t! We''re preparing for war."

    "The fact that you don''t know when to be quiet makes me worried that you should permanently lose your duties."

    "You don''t like that I criticized your husband."

    That made me snort. "You think I''d come pick a fight with a kid like you over that? I don''t like that one of my commanders who could be great one day is acting like a child. I''ll be watching you."

    With that, I left Owen in the darkness.

    I found Markus in his office, still working, as he had late every night since the summit.

    "Markus," I said.

    He paused and looked up at me.

    "I want to see all of the commanders who were promoted in the last two years." I nodded. "You''re right. I''m too soft on them. Our people needed mercy when we emerged from the tyranny of Eskel and from the dark days before we united. The young don''t remember how it felt to be powerless. And so my mercy isn''t mercy to them. It''s coddling. Bring them all to me."

    <hr>

    I stared at the rows of young warriors.

    "A generation of commanders proved themselves in the midst of a bloody war to unite this valley. You are untested, and without proper testing, you''re still weak. So I will test you. I will make you prove yourself. If you fall short, you will relinquish the title of commander."

    I expected groans or the kind of insubordination the foolish Owen had shown me. But no one dared to allow anything to show on their face except for fear. Perhaps it was all they felt.

    I pressed my finger to the sensor on my choker and sealed my own power. Raising my sword, I hardened my voice. "Who will fight me first?"

    Owen stepped forward while everyone stared with fear in their eyes. Though he didn''t speak with confidence, he did speak when all others remained silent. "I will."

    He raised his sword with two hands, his preferred way to fight. One swing. Two. I sidestepped them both.

    He twisted for a rapid strike to my side, which really wasn''t bad, but I easily saw the hole in his defense. I kicked the side of his knee just enough to make him falter and shoved him onto the ground. My blade barely pressed against his adam''s apple.

    "You''re too slow," I said. "Good form, but what''s that worth if I can see every step you make so easily?"

    He stared at me from the ground with his eyes wide.

    Whispers spread among the young commanders.

    Did they think that because Nash beat me at the sword competition every year that any of them stood a chance against me with the sword?

    No one in the kingdom could defeat Nash when it came to swords.

    I grabbed his arm and jerked him up. "Go. Who''s next? Don''t make me choose for you."

    I''d teach these kids how little they knew of war.

 134. Warriors-in-Training

    After two weeks of personally humiliating the young commanders and then sending them out to continue training with a new dose of humility, I only felt more aware of their youth. The fresh memories of knocking them to the ground, seeing bruises blooming across their bodies as the days of training wore on, beating them no matter how much they improved and how hard they tried, ruthlessly proving to them that they were not ready for war¡ªthe thoughts cut into my heart.

    I chewed the inside of my cheek, unable to stop staring at the rain drizzling against the dark window when I needed to plan with Piercey to defend against Malach''s threat. "I never thought I could do worse to another person than the instructors did to me."

    "They aren''t children," Piercey said. "They aren''t held against their will. They''re commanders who hold the fate of warriors in their hands. This is not the same as what the instructors did to us."

    I trailed my finger along the choker, tempted to turn it back on, and to leave it on for days. Tempted to walk this kingdom without power like most of my people did so I could remember how it felt to live like they did. "That''s not what I meant." I looked into my own eyes in the mirror, searching the subtle ways I''d changed over the years. Sometimes I didn''t recognize my life or myself. And yet I felt I was exactly as I needed to be. "This coming war will be like nothing they''ve ever seen. They remember hiding while their parents fought for their lives. They don''t know what it is to wield the sword in a battle they don''t believe they can win. To know that if they fail, the children hiding in their homes will die."

    Piercey quieted, looking at me in the reflection of the window.

    "How can I send them to bathe themselves in blood?"

    He shook his head, pain filling his gaze. "Because how can you not? The alternative is far worse."

    "Isn''t this what the gods say to themselves? I''ll make you suffer so many more will never know your suffering?" I touched the choker again, staring at it against my skin that had paled in the winter''s darkness. "Have I become like them?"

    "No." Piercey didn''t offer an explanation or try to convince me. He merely spoke the one word with such confidence and authority that I couldn''t bring myself to question him.

    It all haunted me as I continued to train with the others. The threat was too far removed from most people for them to feel it, but it never left it. Even training in the evening with Nash, it distracted me.

    Nash''s forearm slammed into my gut, powered by his energy. It knocked the breath from my lungs. I barely caught myself before I fell over.

    Nash skidded to a stop. "You okay?"

    I growled and lunged forward, throwing a punch. "You aren''t supposed to stop."

    He gave me a look of incredulity as he blocked my hit. "I''m always going to stop."

    "This isn''t normal training, Nash. Piercey will heal us."

    "Fine." He opened his arms. "Stab in the stomach. Prove to us all you can do it."

    Leif heckled from his place on the grass and tossed a handful of peanuts into his mouth.

    "Just fight me," I said.

    Leif rose and dusted off his hands. "I''ll fight you, girl."

    I pushed Nash away and nodded at Leif. "Good."

    "Really?" My husband took a step back. "You''re replacing me?"

    "Yes," I said. "Until you can fight me properly."

    Leif and I fought against each other with no weapons like the old days, except now we both could use our energy to enhance our attacks. Since Leif never showed promise with long-range energy attacks, he was actually the perfect partner for sparring. He reserved his energy for improving his combat rather than creating new skills and I found him very challenging to beat in this kind of a match.

    One of his hits broke through my guard and connected with my jaw. I kicked him to create enough distance to recover and spit out a mouth full of blood. Leif didn''t relent, charging for me again. I pivoted and evaded a kick.

    "See?" I stole my eyes from Leif long enough to glare at my husband.

    "Yeah," Nash said with a sigh. "I see."

    I jumped and kicked for Leif''s head. He blocked, but I heard him wince as he slid across the ground.

    "I don''t go to war as often as I used to," I said while fighting Leif. "It''s important for you to not hold back, Nash. It didn''t matter back when we battled every day. It matters now."

    "Ma is right."

    Leif and I both stopped when we saw Elsie approach. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Hey, Els." I wiped the blood from my mouth. "You''re done studying already?"

    "Some of the warriors-in-training advanced. There''s openings in our village."

    Nash responded before I managed to shoot her down. "You''re still very young."

    "Didn''t you hear what Ma said? We''re at war. I''m a good fighter. If the war lasts for years and I start training now, I''ll be ready to join when you really need more warriors."

    I did not care for her logic. "Not this year, Elsie."

    "Why not?" Her angry glare cut between her father and me.

    "Because you only turned thirteen a month ago," Nash said. "We can look at this next year."

    "Why delay my training? It only puts me at risk."

    "You aren''t ready." I shrugged. "That''s the truth, Elsie. You haven''t shown the maturity."

    Nash looked away, clearly uncomfortable with the harsh response, but unable to deny it.

    "What kind of maturity do I need to show?" Tears filled her eyes.

    "There''s a shift from the thinking of a kid to a teenager, and you''re just at the start of that. I''m sorry, but it actually can disadvantage you to start too early. I started too early. It didn''t do any favors for me."

    "I''m not you. I''m not going to lose control of my power and kill people because I don''t have power."

    I ignored the sting of her words. "You''re training fine enough on your own. Don''t bother asking your mom either, because she wants you to wait until you''re sixteen to start."

    "Sixteen? That''s crazy."

    "Our word is final," Nash said. "I decide who advances into training. As your father and your war chief, my answer is no. You''re not ready."

    Elsie looked to Leif but he didn''t attempt to argue with us. With a look of betrayal, she spoke with her chin quivering. "Fine."

    Then, she turned and ran away.

    "I wish she''d stop doing that," I said.

    "You were mean." Leif pointed at me. "I''m going to punch you in the face again."

    "She needed to hear it. You think I like hurting her feelings?"

    "Would you really say the same thing if it was someone else''s child?" Leif didn''t seem to accuse, but to genuinely ask.

    It wasn''t something I wanted to think about. "I have a hard enough time letting those of age advance. Let''s just keep training."

    The passing days brought with them more planning and training.

    Each morning that we had time, Nash and I practiced fighting together, rather than sparring.

    The cold morning dew left he air heavy and wet. I searched along the warmth surrounding me and deep within myself for his feel, instinctively connecting as soon as the peace of his presence loosened my chest. In the beginning, it took three years of daily practice to connect from only an arm''s length away. We stretched our limits now, moving further and further each day.

    When I opened my eyes, I saw the world through my eyes, but I sensed it through his like a mirage hovering over my own. I felt the warmth of power sparking in his hands form in my own, the two of us sharing the same attack that fed off the same source of energy. We''d combined ourselves and powers into one. At the same time, we fired on a target only he could see, and I pivoted to hurl another blast at a tree near me. My energy blasted a hole through the trunk and seconds later, his shot inches below mine.

    I grinned and relished the intimacy of intertwining our minds, bodies, and perspectives. Our power. It was a physical manifestation of the closeness I felt to him after so many years together.

    When we released our connection to one another, a pang of emptiness hit me in my gut. We couldn''t connect for too long without exhausting or overstimulating ourselves, and yet letting go of another always hurt a little. Nash''s hovering form appeared and he quickly shot through the air, feet drifting above the ground. When he landed, he hooked his arms around my waist and carried me several steps with him as he skidded to a stop.

    "Look at that, Sharpshooter." Nash slid his fingers along my palm to open my hand and intertwined his fingers with mine. "That''s a perfect shot. Mine looks just the same."

    "When we started this years, I thought we''d be further along by now."

    "This is farther than I could have imagined. You should be less of a visionary like me."

    I smirked, but it stung that we hadn''t been able to use this in battle yet. Anxiety churned inside of me thinking about countering Malach''s threat.

    <hr>

    Training and preparations continued all over the kingdom while Piercey continued to work on negotiating with neighboring kingdom and Nash led plans for a covert operation.

    I''d just returned from meeting with Gael and his team. Soon, Gael would join us, and I couldn''t be more thankful to fight alongside someone who''d become a dear friend.

    "So that''s it?" I asked Nash. "The plans finalized?"

    "That''s it," he said. "Twenty portals, twenty targets, and two hundred warriors with power. We''ll be able to function here while still damaging their infrastructure."

    Our spies and scouts had been observing movement from Malach''s army for the two weeks. They hadn''t reached Skia Hellig yet, but we believed they were preparing for a full march to our kingdom, with a sizeable force only a six day journey away.

    "If we destroy some of these weapon caches and take out a few of their commanders, it will really hurt their plans to advance. But if we successfully take over the five villages we targeted, we can portal in more warriors to establish a strong base in enemy territory."

    "They''ll accuse us of starting the war."

    "Does it matter? They''re coming for us, Max. Should we wait for them to take the advantage? They''re the ones threatening us. You can''t give them the benefit of doubt when they''ll use it to slaughter our people. We know what Malach intends."

    "Then we need to act soon. Too much time has passed. Their army is closer."

    "What about Sloane and Demetri coming?" Nash sighed. "I''m more concerned about that."

    "I''m not. Piercey worked hard on arranging this meeting. Sloane invited us to her land. She''s smart and careful too. If she ever acts, it won''t like this. We''d kill her. She isn''t the most powerful, just the most cunning. And Demetri is afraid of me."

    "We shouldn''t trust that anyone will follow the agreements we made at the summit when we''re facing such a huge threat from the north."

    "I know. We did all agree though. No one is compelled to help the other. We aren''t even compelled to not war against each other. But none of us should accept invaders stepping foot in Skia Hellig. Anyone who does, offers their kingdom to be conquered."

    "You''re right. You''re right. It would be self-destructive."

 135. Awaken

    "Tell us what you''re looking for," Leif said. "Soon the Prophet will realize we''re not following through on our fact-finding mission and he will want to know what we''re really up to."

    "Go back like I told you to." My eyes shifted to the right as I drank from the mug, searching for anything or anyone in the tavern that seemed out of the ordinary. I didn''t feel any flicker of the flame inside me. This was another dead end. In the three months since I nearly died at the Flatlander temple looking for the artifact, I searched every chance I got and found only disappointment.

    "We won''t leave you. The last time we let go off alone, you came back nearly dead." Wren gripped my wrist when I didn''t respond and shook my arm. "Max, talk to us already."

    "It''ll endanger you." I set my mug down hard and shoved myself away from the table. "Do what I said and leave."

    "You stubborn fool," Leif said.

    I wove through the crowds of villagers and warriors who drank the night away, focused intently on any flicker of power.

    "I''ve not seen you around here before." A man shifted from his conversation toward me. "What is a strange warrior doing out here without her army?"

    He turned fully now, forcing me to ease back toward the wall to open up space between us in the tight space. Did he suspect me? And if so, what? I studied him, wondering if the artifact might be in the area after all. "I''m passing through."

    His gaze fell to my sword. "How quickly might you be passing through?"

    Suspicion twinged. My voice hardened. "What do you care?"

    The man shrugged a shoulder and planted his hand against the wall on the other side of my head. "Wondering how long I have to know you is all."

    My eyes narrowed in warning and utter lack of amusement, or more importantly, interest.

    Another man standing beside this one started to turn around. "Rufus, what are you doing to this poor¨C" Golden brown eyes met mine and immediately widened.

    My breath was lodged in my lungs as I looked up at the swordsman who nearly killed me. "What are you doing here?" I asked in a fleeting breath.

    His shock slowly shifted into awe and then his plush lips twisted in a thoroughly amused smirk. "Now this is very interesting."

    This man called Rufus glanced to Nash. "Great, you know each other." He muttered under his breath and rolled his eyes. "Might as well find someone else."

    Nash slapped the man on the back when he walked away, but his attention never left me. "I''d also love to know what you''re doing here. Perhaps we''ve been drawn here for the same reason."

    My heart beat harder, and my hand shifted to rest against the hilt of my sword. A mix of danger and curiosity swelled inside of me.

    "Unless you came to mingle." He placed his hand where Rufus had settled his and leaned in, eyes glinting with his teasing smile. "I can bring my friend back. Rufus loves women who carry swords."

    "Rufus, huh?"

    "Rufus. Yes." Nash''s gaze fell to where my hand curled around the hilt of mine before he raised his gaze back up. "So, tell me. Why are you here?"

    No longer dressed for battle, Nash wore his curls down, so they fell delicately against his whiskered cheeks. He looked beautiful, like someone sculpted him perfectly. A hint of his defined chest above the opening of his tunic nearly drew my eyes and successfully brought to my memory the image of him taking his off to make a dressing for our wounds. He was too close, so close I felt his nearness, and it tangled my mind in a way I didn''t expect. I never let myself get distracted like this.

    Was he doing this on purpose? He carried himself like a man who knew how he looked, and he wielded it now like a sword. I shoved my palm against the crook of his arm, knocking his hand away roughly. I wouldn''t be disarmed and played for a fool.

    "I''m only passing through," I said in a steely voice.

    Nash chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. The space between us opened up enough for me to breathe comfortably but not for the warmth to leave my cheeks. How did I let him get to me like that? I felt like an idiot.

    "For a moment, I thought we may be destined to finish our battle." His gaze lingered another moment before he started to shift away. "I suppose I was wrong, if you''re only passing through."

    "Wait." I gripped a handful of his tunic and jerked him back toward me. He came too willingly, not putting up the resistance I expected, and I pulled him so close our bodies grazed. Surprised, I pressed back against the wall. "What are you up to?"

    He took my hand in his larger one, pulled it free of his tunic, and then released me. "I told you last time we met I had important things to do. I should thank you, though. Trying to figure out why a warrior like you would seek out a little temple showed me a whole new path."

    Alarm rang through me.

    "Of course, you''re on this path already, aren''t you? Conscripted warriors are always looking for a way to escape their Prophet."

    Words like that could get a person killed. He implied we both wanted to kill our Prophet, but he might lie to trick me into confessing. "I promise you do not want to cross me."

    He winked. "We''ll see who finds it first."

    I needed the artifact to regain my power. He wouldn''t even know what to do with it.

    #

    In the end, it was thanks to Nash I found the artifact. He proved to be well-connected here in the Flatlands, an obvious advantage I lacked as an outsider. The problem with Nash finding it first was that he had a head start on me.

    I slipped away from Wren and Leif in the night, not wanting to endanger them further, especially with this deadly swordsman.

    My lead hadn''t been entirely wrong. The artifact did pass through that tavern, but whoever carried it continued with their travels. Now they were back at another temple. I didn''t understand why, but I suspected that it was a religious person carrying it. That they didn''t use it for themselves and kept returning to holy sites made me think they revered it too much to use. They have thought bringing it into the temples would make the gods bless the Flatlands.

    This temple was far easier to enter than the last one because I arrived to find a blood path already carved through the woods and through one of the entrances. I stepped over a dead warrior I knew Nash had slain. He was here and he wouldn''t be easy to defeat.

    Picking my way through the temple, I heard nothing, which didn''t bode well for the unsuspecting guards. I followed the trail of fallen warriors until I heard a crashing sound and rushed for the noise.

    I opened the door to the main room of the temple to see Nash surrounded by guards. Quickly, I looked to the offerings of gold, fruit, wine, and other useless gifts, trying to sense anything. The commotion was drowning out my thoughts.

    Nash should be my first target. He was too deadly, and he chased what I needed more than anything in the world. But looking at his mesmerizingly precise footwork and swordsmanship made me just want to stand here watching him fight. He took full advantage of every motion, conservative with every move, never expending more energy than necessary or opening up more of himself than necessary to vulnerability.

    One of his swords sliced down another man''s and cut off his thumb while he used the other to block an attack.

    I might be able to take Nash out now with an arrow aimed for his head or heart. I''d need to find a clean shot through the others. It felt cowardly and wrong. Or maybe I just didn''t want to kill him. With the memory of his warmth the night we ran into each other filling me, and my eyes catching the tight swell of his arms from here, I understood with great frustration for myself that my hesitance to kill him had nothing to do with battle. My body betrayed me, wanting to spare a threat simply because of how it felt to stand too close to him.

    I nocked an arrow, determined to defy these senseless impulses and smother the warmth he''d brought to my middle. But just when I aimed for him, his stare pierced my own, and his gaze caught me between the clashes of blades. Unsurprising that a warrior with instincts like his was attuned enough with surroundings to detect the threat. I grunted and fired on a guard who didn''t see me. The arrow jerked his body, ripping a cry free. He stumbled back right into a second arrow that stole his life away.

    They all saw me, so I had little time to take advantage of the distance. Running to the side to give myself as much time before they reached me as possible, I shot my arrows rapidly enough that I saw it panic them. I peppered the area, forcing their formation to scatter, while some arrows were deflected and others embedded deep in the men''s bodies.

    Nash sliced an arrow in half before it reached him.

    The two of us attacked the warriors guarding the temple at the same time. Half the party split, pursuing me, leaving the other half to be more easily picked off by Nash.

    I didn''t launch an offense but rather continued sprinting for the offerings. A warrior lunged in front of me, striking. I deflected and kicked my heel against his shoulder. It opened his posture, leaving him vulnerable to my piercing strike. My sword lodged deep in his chest.

    Three more warriors converged on me. I caught glances of Nash, needing to keep track of him before he sneaked up on me or found the artifact before me. I noticed he did the same to me, our eyes locking more than once as we fought.

    A slash nearly caught my shoulder. I jumped back and swung my sword in a wide arc. It was then I realized they were pushing me back toward the other group, trying to reunite their war party.

    I dove for the ground, rolled off my shoulder, and came up to the side of one man, dragging my blade up to slice him open from hip to shoulder. Spinning, I ducked to avoid a strike from another guard, and used the momentum to throw myself close the third man. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Our fight continued, successfully pushing the two groups closer, until I realized how close I was now to the other guards and Nash. I tore away from my group suddenly and snapped my blade for Nash. Twisting, he wrenched his twin sword up from the back to deflect my strike.

    Damn it. I thought I''d at least clip him.

    Nash growled, glancing to me as he fended off another strike from me and the guards.

    We each turned our focus to the guards, but I watched for my next opportunity, and took it without apology, driven even more by my ridiculous hesitance to shoot him with my arrows.

    He slid back to avoid a hit by me and barely blocked a guard''s slash. "Stop it," Nash said. "We can kill them faster together."

    "I''ll kill you and them."

    "Fine." He ducked beneath a guard''s swinging sword and with incredible speed sprinted toward another, cutting open the man''s back in a long swing. Nash kicked the wounded man directly at me.

    I dodged the body and missed my opportunity to attack the person to my right. Nash and I traded blows with every chance we grabbed, greatly endangering each other in our fight against the others, forced to duel in two battles at once.

    I didn''t care. I refused to pass up any opportunity to defeat my enemy.

    Soon only two guards remained and neither Nash nor I had injured each other.

    It was time. I abandoned the battle to run for the offerings again. Nash yelled after me, but I left him to fight the two remaining guards.

    I reached the offerings and began to pick up each, searching out the warmth. "Please," I whispered. It had to be here. I couldn''t keep doing this forever. The Prophet would figure out I was up to something.

    A guard shifted toward me when Nash''s sword slid through his throat from behind. With only one target left, he quickly killed the other.

    I continued to search the offerings, growing more desperate. But I didn''t feel anything.

    He began to search through the offerings as well, ignoring my threat to try to find the offering before me.

    "It''s not here," I said in a deflated voice.

    Nash tossed a block of cheese to the side, muttering curses under his breath.

    "We''re too late." I shook my head. "It''s gone."

    He didn''t give up, inspecting everything he found.

    "You''ll use it to kill your Prophet?" I asked.

    "What other use for power is there? All the Prophets must die. There''s not a good one among them." He threw a bottle of wine against the wall. "Damn it."

    I studied him for a stolen moment while he ransacked the offering. He seemed lighthearted at the tavern, but he''d left all that behind. Nash wanted this artifact desperately.

    If I didn''t stay focused, he''d find it before me. Saying nothing else to him, I abandoned the main room of the temple and searched the vacant building, still not feeling anything. All the guards had pursued. The temple was ours now, but there was nothing useful here.

    I turned down a hall, giving up, when warmth kindled in my middle. I twisted around and saw the man from the tavern standing at the far end of the hall. Rufus. In his hand, he held a cylindrical device that looked straight out of the books in the library of the Sacred School. He had my artifact.

    I drew my bow silently, not wanting to give up my advantage at seeing him. Aiming for his head, I drew back and fired.

    With my arrow soaring through the air, hope filled my heart. Until Nash lunged from a room to the right for his friend. I started to reach for another arrow before knowing whether it would hit.

    Nash''s arms wrapped around his friend, and he knocked them both to the ground. The arrow caught the back of Nash''s shirt and continued on to bury itself in the wall. If it hurt him, it wouldn''t be badly.

    "Drop it," I shouted and shot another arrow. Nocked more, fired without hesitating. Nash''s blades swung up from the ground and sliced the first in half. He rolled onto his knees, his twin blades whizzing through the air to knock the arrows away from him and his friend.

    Rufus scrambled to his feet, disappearing in the next room.

    "Shit." I sprinted toward Nash and peeled off another arrow. He rolled off his shoulder and then was out of sight.

    As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw Nash standing there with the artifact pressed to his left eye. Rufus stared at him with alarm.

    "Wait, okay?" I lowered my bow. "Just wait and hear what I have to say."

    Nash held still, one eye still on me, and the other blocked by the device.

    "You don''t know what to do with that power. It''ll take you years of training to get good enough to kill a Prophet, maybe decades. Maybe never." I reached my hand out. "You''ll waste it if you use it."

    When he still didn''t move or even acknowledge what I said, I let out an anguished cry. Would I really resort to telling my secret to this man when I never even told my closest friends?

    "Nash," I said. "I trained at the Sacred School. They sealed my power, and I need to unlock it so I can save my people. If you give that to me, I''ll actually be able to kill them. And I will. I''ll kill your prophet and mine."

    No movement.

    "Nash, come on¨C"

    His eye rolled up until only the whites showed and his body dropped like a stiff slab of rock. Even after hitting the ground, his posture didn''t move in the slightest. I gasped and stared in shock for a moment. The device was still held to his eye.

    Anguish filled me as I rushed to him and ripped it free.

    "Damn it!"

    It was empty. Gone. Useless.

    Nash had already used it on himself before I even found him and now he was passed out cold, frozen in place like he''d been captured for touching the stolen treasure.

    I hit my fist against his chest. "Wake up." Again when he didn''t respond. "Wake up, Nash." Panic welled up when he still didn''t move. I pushed against his chest with both hands. He wasn''t breathing. Rufus dropped beside me, shaking his friend.

    Nash used the artifact I spent a year hunting down. If he died, then it went to waste.

    "You don''t get to die." I slapped his face. "Snap out of it." Sitting up, I slammed my fist against his heart as hard as I could, once, twice, a third time. A scream of frustration ripped free and I hit him again.

    A deep gasp rocked his chest, and his eyes shot open. That kindling of warmth inside me exploded into a deep fire. I reached for it, desperate and hopeful I might catch it, but it quickly dwindled.

    Nash jolted up, face-to-face with me, eyes on mine.

    I stared, trying to sense his power. "Did it work?"

    His hand came to his stomach, right where I usually felt my power in my core.

    He coughed and bowed forward like someone socked him in his gut. Pain tightened his expression. His fingers curled in on themselves, muscles tightening as if out of his control. He grunted and he grasped his side when white tendrils of power suddenly zipped along his body.

    Nash struggled for breath, body stiff and trembling.

    "You''re losing control of it." I reached for him and bright hot pain snapped against my palm. I gasped. "Nash, pick one thing to focus all of your attention on. Focus your mind, and you''ll calm your power."

    His skin reddened where the power danced along it, and then bright sparks zapped along his arms. The power ripped open a gash on his forearm and then sliced down one of his biceps. It was tearing him apart. Blood darkened spots on his chest and sides. I saw this once before. He didn''t have long if he didn''t stop this.

    "Focus, Nash." I pushed him back against the wall and took his face with both of my hands. The energy spread up my arms, burning every place it touched, but I didn''t pull away.

    "Don''t¨C" he cried out, weakly pushing me away.

    I slid my palms over his face again, straddling his legs. "Look at me." My fingers dug into his cheeks. Pain spread along my body, and I grunted, forcing myself not to let go. "Now, Nash. Look at me!"

    His eyes opened to mine, our faces hovering close to each other. The pain gripping us both was evident. Blood dripped from one of his ears and trailed my pinky.

    "Focus on me," I said. "Breathe with me."

    Everything about him seemed to still as he looked into my eyes. Our closeness burned as much as his new energy spreading from his body to mine, tangling us both together. My stomach fluttered in a softer version of the sparks of power.

    The pain lessened. "That''s it," I said. "Focus on breathing with me."

    Relief filled his face. So close to each other, looking so deeply into each other''s eyes, I saw more of him than I should see in any stranger. The power dissipated and no longer danced along my skin, but it felt like it moved into my chest, the burn so deep I nearly squirmed. My body wanted to melt against his even though I didn''t even know him. I felt his breath on my lips.

    Finally, every bit of the power disappeared.

    "Hold onto it," I said. "Imagine you can hide it deep inside."

    Eyes soft with wonder, he nodded slowly, and then his stare fell. Embarrassment filled me as I looked down to how thin the space separating us was. I started to slide off him, but he caught my arm, his thumb softly brushing the skin beneath a jagged cut. His gaze ran along the abrasions and minor burns.

    His brows knit. Sweat clung to his skin, wetting his hairline and the nape of his neck. His breathing was labored still and his voice sounded weak. "I hurt you."

    "I''m okay." It felt like breathing in water. "You''re the one who''s hurt."

    "I''m sorry." His eyes slowly slid close, head lowering. I remembered the pure exhaustion of losing control of my power, just as powerful as a sedative. "I couldn''t control it¡­ Thank you¡­"

    I took his head and helped him as he lowered to his side. A streak of blood smeared the wall behind him. "Nash." I tried shifting his heavy body to look at his back. "Try to stay awake and don''t move. I don''t know how bad it is. If your power injured your internal organs, then any move might make it worse."

    "It feels superficial," Nash said.

    Rufus approached now. "This was a gift for the gods and now you''re cursed. We''ve committed a grave sin."

    "It''s not cursed," I said. "He doesn''t know how to control his power."

    "Is it true?" Nash opened his eyes, skin pale and clammy. "I was frozen after I injected myself, but I heard and saw everything¡­" He grimaced, touching his hand to a blood stain on his chest. "Did you truly have power before?"

    I sat back, struggling to bring myself to utter the forbidden to these strangers. "Yes."

    "My little sister is sick¡­" He drew his fingers back, bloody. "She''s struggled with the sickness all her life. Our villages are starving, and she can''t take more¡­" His eyes closed again. "If I don''t kill him, people will keep dying. She''ll die."

    "I''m sorry about your sister. You know how Eskel the Ruthless treats his people. I want to free the valley."

    "You offered to kill both Prophets. You said you know how to use this power." Nash started pushing himself up. I tried to stop him, but he shook me off. Once sitting, he settled against the wall to rest. "Help me wield this power and I will do what you offered. I''ll kill the Prophet of the Valley and the Flatlands."

    I swallowed hard, not sure I really had a choice. He stole my only hope at getting my power back and without it I was worthless in a battle against Prophets. Without me, he might be worthless too. It took a long time to learn to wield power.

    "How do I know I can trust you?" I asked.

    He reached a bloody hand out to me. I stared for a moment before I reached out. He clasped my forearm, his hand easily stretching around mine. I tightened my hand against his as well, chest tightening at hard muscle beneath my hand.

    "I give you my word." He tightened his hold, nodding. "Help me, and I will not harm you or those you care for. I''ll kill Eskel the Ruthless."

    Words meant nothing, but his felt like power. The conviction I heard in his voice made me want to believe him. Or maybe it was hand on me that did that.

    What could I do anyway? This was the greatest sin of the gods, to give the power to crush so many to so few. Nash possessed power now that could tear him apart but also rendered me and others helpless.

    I hated myself for losing mine.

    "Okay." I dug my fingers into his arm. "I accept your word."

    His shoulders relaxed. His arm lowered and he relaxed against the wall. "Thank you."

    I opened my mouth to speak when Nash''s eyes widened. He grabbed both Rufus and me, pushing us aside. As I hit the wall, I turned to see a man standing behind us. His eyes looked void of life or emotion.

    "You defied the order of the gods by stealing their power for yourself."

    Nash struggled to his knees and started to stand when the stranger raised his fingers and snapped. A scream pried from Nash''s lips and a burst of energy tore through his gut. Blood spurted from the wound. Gushed against his fingers as they came to his wound. He teetered, staring in shock at the devastating attack.

    Who was this man?

    "Wait," I said, hands lifting. "We didn''t create this artifact. We did nothing wrong."

    Globs of Nash''s blood fell from his fingers and plopped onto the stone ground when he pulled his hands back to look at them. Then he collapsed, hitting the ground hard, his moan hardly audible.

    I covered my mouth.

    "You now know not to defy the order of the gods." Steely eyes fell to Nash''s collapsed form. "Let this be your warning. I''ll let you keep your life if you stop here. I know you plan to create more for your allies. Do so, and I will kill you and anyone involved in your plan."

    "What about me?" I asked.

    "You mean what if you regain your power?" He shook his head once, scattering blood all over the floor. "This matter has nothing to do with the gods. You lost it without them and if you regain it without them, what difference does it make?"

    Despite my instinct to attack this incredibly powerful warrior, I knew deep down that even if I never lost my power, I''d still have lost against him. I sensed it in the void I felt in him, not the abundance of great power, but the destruction of it. This man was death.

    He disappeared.

 Stub Announcement: Time Thief (Book 1)

    Hello, readers. The first book of the Eclipse series, Time Thief, releases on Kindle & Audible on April 29th. I will be stubbing book 1 on March 15th prior to its release. If you have not read book 1 here on Royal Road and wish to do so, please read it before March 15th.

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 136. Turn

    "Thank you for joining me and showing willingness to talk more about Malach and the kingdoms beyond the peninsula."

    Sloane didn''t respond or react. Her cool stare remained on me.

    "I understand that everyone worries that if we partner together too much, we''ll end up combining kingdoms and that inevitably I''ll be in charge. Like Malach and his lackeys. I think that if we don''t unite to face this threat then we''re more likely to see kingdoms fall, either into his hands, or into the comfort of another Skia Hellig Kingdom."

    Demetri rubbed his chin. "I would tend to agree though Theus won''t see this. The problem, though, is that we don''t really know what Malach wants."

    "You mean who," Sloane said pointedly.

    "Who?" I leaned forward. "You think Malach is only going after some kingdoms?"

    Sloan ran his fingers along the threads of the couch cushion. "I think that in Malach''s position, if I wanted to conquer Skia Hellig, I''d start with the hardest to beat and leave the others alone."

    "Why not start with the easier ones?" Demetri asked.

    "Because Eclipse will help them. Declaring war on any kingdom in Skia Hellig is declaring war on her. Even if she could stand for the injustice of it, which we know she can''t, she''ll see it as a threat to her kingdom."

    Damn did this lady read me well. "If he attacks me, you think no one else will fight with me."

    Sloane shook her head. "Maybe not if they don''t attack us."

    "If he conquers my kingdom, it only gives him more power to conquer yours."

    She smiled and I realized I''d never seen her do that. It looked serious and wooden and somehow only made her appear that much more intelligent. "Only if we believe you''ll lose."

    "So, I''m your shield. My kingdom defeats the invaders and no one else lifts a hand. Can you be so shameless?"

    She crossed one leg over the other and reclined back against the seat. "Absolutely. There is no shame in saving the lives of my people."

    "I guess I know where you stand," I said.

    "No. I only say this to challenge you to open your mind in this situation. You see too much good in people."

    Demetri groaned. "You''re as cold as I''ve heard, Sloane. I think it only makes sense to do all we can to stop Malach and the others from crossing into Skia Hellig. If we all fight, we''re in less danger. You''re not afraid of Eclipse taking our kingdoms. So, it is purely a strategic decision for you. But haven''t you considered the future relationships of our kingdoms? Do you think Eclipse will ever look kindly upon you if you scorn her people?"

    Sloane looked at me instead of him. "No. That''s why I came."

    "So, you''ll fight with us?"

    "I traveled an awful long way to tell you to go fuck yourself, didn''t I? And I volunteered to host the summit. My problem with you, though, is that you cannot let go of your principles. You''re so against everything Eskel did and everyone else who you''ve fought that you can''t take anything from them. You''ve never truly warred as a Prophet, Eclipse. You won''t be able to keep your soul clean."

    "You think I''ve never dirtied myself for my people?"

    "It''s different to dirty your hands as a ruler than as an individual." Her eyes seemed to read my soul. "Isn''t that why you haven''t killed Theus? Would the old Max have hesitated?"

    I scooted back in my chair. "You also think I should kill him."

    "On the contrary, I''d consider it a threat. You disposing of another ruler in Skia Hellig worries me and I don''t like feeling worried. I say this to point out the difference in your behavior as a warrior and as a Prophet. If it does come to war with an enemy far greater than Theus, you''ll have to grow beyond what you''ve been. I told you I don''t like to be worried. Well, this is what worries me for you. You are what stands in your own way."

    Demetri watched me. "I must admit, she''s right about this."

    "I thought you didn''t trust me." I glared at him, unnerved by the conversation. "Wasn''t that what you went on about at the Summit?"

    "Do you think any of us trust each other? Everything is different now than it was. Malach came. You said yourself that you''re a shield. I won¡¯t turn away a good shield."

    "You think you know what I''ll do." I sat forward now, my sharp stare cutting from Demetri to Sloane. "You think because I care about people, and I love Skia Hellig that I''ll kill myself to save your people. Many people have lost their lives assuming they can beat me just because they think they know what I''ll do. I will not allow you to hide behind me."

    "Then you will kill us and take our lands." Sloane settled her head back. "That''s an important consideration."

    "Don''t mock me."

    "I''m not mocking you. I wondered what you would do in the situation. I didn''t believe that you''d abandon any innocent person in Skia Hellig, but I also know you do not run from a fight. I just wasn''t sure how you''d fight me if I betrayed you."

    Demetri was right that none of us trusted each other, but I thought Sloane might be the most dangerous person to trust, even more so than Theus who absolutely wanted to kill me. She possessed the mind of Piercey, the practicality of Dr. Henderson, and an air of ruthlessness that reminded me of Lote. I didn''t know whether she was an ally or an enemy. I suspected neither.

    Sloane didn''t want to war with me. That didn''t mean she wanted to work with me either.

    I shifted from my seat to take the space directly beside her and held her stare. "You know I won''t fight you if you don''t give me reason to."

    "Yes." She didn''t withdraw, but she also didn''t look fearless. Rather a perfect amount of trepidation and challenge emanated from her.

    "You know I will kill you if you give me reason to."

    Sloane didn''t question whether I would considering I allowed to Theus to live. With all confidence she said, "Yes."

    "Then I hope you don''t plan to ever give me reason to." I sat back and turned my eyes to the ceiling. "I hate politics."

    Sloane surprised me by chuckling quietly. "And yet, in your own very strange way, you''re surprisingly good at it."

    Demetri leaned against his knees. "So, what will we do about Malach, ladies."

    "We kill him." I closed my eyes. "We don''t allow him to take a single grain of dirt from Skia Hellig."

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    "War," Demetri said.

    "I hope you''ll join me." I sat up. "Together, we can tell the world not to touch our lands so loudly everyone will hear."

    <hr>

    Our guests, top advisors, and most trusted commanders and chiefs gathered in the dining hall to eat dinner. The children dined with their families, and I couldn''t help watching Sloane''s two teenage daughters. I didn''t doubt her love for them, but she wasn''t particularly warm with them either. Reserved and calm, she might have seemed aloof if not for how intently she listened to the girls when they talked.

    "How did your discussion go?" I asked Nash as he cut into his chicken.

    "Surprisingly well. Should we war together, we''ve already drawn up some solid preliminary plans to discuss with our assemblies."

    "Demetri will fight with us. I feel like he will. Sloane, I''m not so sure about."

    "Whoever is sure about her?" Nash took a bite of the meat and looked at her briefly. "Her head disciple is easier to read, but I sensed that even he has no idea what she plans to do."

    "She''s so careful. She may not know yet. I''m sure she has a hundred possibilities she''s imagined and will choose based on what seems best in the long-term."

    "The question then," Nash said, "Is whether she''ll do anything to hurt us."

    "She doesn''t want to fight with me. I told her I''d kill her if she gave me reason to."

    Nash stopped cutting and looked at me. "Max."

    "She needed to hear it."

    "She''s a Prophet. We just worked on that peace summit."

    "Well," I said. "She knows how to keep peace with me now. I want her to know she cannot toy around with me."

    Elsie leaned forward to see us better. "Finn threw up on me."

    I bit my lip and reached for him.

    Nash helped Elsie clean her shirt. "A little spit up never hurt anyone, did it," he said.

    "It got on my swords."

    "Why are you wearing your swords at the dinner table, anyway?" Nash asked.

    Elsie furrowed her brows. "The same reason you are, Daddy." Her voice lowered. "Warriors are always prepared, especially when enemies are around."

    "We don''t know that they''re our enemies," I whispered.

    "We don''t know that they aren''t. Prophet Sloane''s youngest daughter is really good with swords. We had fun racing earlier, but I need to be ready in case she attacks. I can''t let myself have too much fun without being ready."

    Nash coughed like he''d choked on his food. "Elsie, I swear¨Cand I mean swear¨Con your life, on Finn''s, on your mother''s, and on Max''s life that if you pull a sword on a Prophet''s daughter, you will never hold one again in your life."

    "What if she pulls one on me, Daddy?"

    "She won''t."

    "What if?"

    He dropped his silverware. "Then use that necklace to call for me and your Ma. You''re thirteen. Starting a war isn''t up to you."

    Elsie crossed her arms and stared at her plate. "You guys don''t trust me."

    "I trust you more than I trust any child in the world," Nash said.

    "That''s right." I wiped Finn''s lip. "More than any child."

    "One day I''ll be grown up."

    Nash patted her head. "That''s right, baby girl. One day. Now eat and stop sulking."

    "I''m not sure now was the right time for what we planned," I said, referring to sending warriors to attack the targets we discussed. "Tomorrow may be too early with these talks looking promising."

    "We can''t wait," Nash said. "We move forward. Give the others someone to follow. It''s been long enough already. Once that army starts moving, there''s no stopping them, and it won''t take long for them to enter Skia Hellig."

    "Right." I took a bite of the chicken but couldn''t even taste it. "I hate this."

    His hand came over my knee. "Me too."

    I kissed Finn''s soft cheek wanting so badly to give him peace. We waited to have him until it seemed like a good time and now we were about to enter a war that didn''t even feel real. I didn''t want Finn to grow up at war.

    "You need a break from thinking about it." Nash took Finn from me. "Elsie is done eating. Why don''t you two invite the other kids to the game room? You love taking kids there."

    "I guess I could do that."

    "Distract yourself and use the excuse to form bonds that will make you more than just the Prophet who can kill the other Prophets. Become a person to them, especially to Sloane. Elsie said she spent time with her daughter."

    I ran my fingers through Finn''s feathery hair. "That''s a good idea. Maybe I should have Elsie put her weapons away first."

    He snorted. "Maybe."

    I scooted my chair back and tugged on the girl''s sleeve. "Dad had a fun idea. Let''s invite the kids to the game room."

    Her eyes lit. "Can we really?"

    "Yes, as long as you put your swords away and change into something else. You smell like spit up."

    Elsie grimaced. "Deal."

    Before I left, I kissed Nash''s cheek. "Charm our guests, please. We need allies."

    "I will."

    "Alright, Elsie girl. Let''s go. I''ll change too."

    "Do you get to keep your weapons?" she asked.

    "Obviously."

    "You don''t even need them. How''s that fair?"

    I looped my arm through hers as we walked out of the room. "How''s it fair that you''re already as tall as me? When did that happen?"

    "I''m growing up, Ma. Mom says that I''ll be tall like Daddy."

    "Maybe not as tall."

    "You never know."

    I shrugged. "True. You have a lot of growing to do then."

    Elsie leaned her head against me as we walked. "Can I really not fight that girl if she pulls a sword on me?"

    "It''s complicated. You shouldn''t let her hurt you, though."

    "This is why I don''t want to be a Prophet. There''s so many rules. A War Chief can focus on war. I mean, Dad helps you with more than other War Chiefs do, right? I won''t have to do all that?"

    "That''s right."

    "I know you two are only trying to make me feel good. That''s what you do to kids. You tell them you believe in them." She looked up at me, very suddenly not looking like a child anymore despite how young she appeared. Her eyes looked older. Wiser than she honestly acted. "I''m going to surprise you."

    "Oh, Elsie, we do really believe in you."

    "You believe in me as much as you can believe in a kid. You need to prepare yourself for me to grow up. I don''t want Finn to ever get hurt. I know you won''t want me to get hurt. It''s going to be hard for you to watch me be War Chief when you''ll just want to relax with Dad and live the kind of life you haven''t been able to."

    "Where is this coming from?"

    We climbed the stairs and Elsie''s voice quieted. "War is coming. I''ve been thinking."

    "I don''t want you to think about that."

    "That doesn''t matter. We all want things we can''t have. I have to think about it. Do you think the war won''t touch me?"

    I couldn''t think about this. "I won''t let it, not until you''re older."

    She gave me that beautiful smile with her dimples showing. "I love you, Ma. I know you would do anything for me. You''ve always protected me."

    "I always will." I tapped her necklace. "That''s why you have that."

    "I''ll let you protect me, even when I''m War Chief, if you let me be a great warrior."

    I almost said yes immediately without really thinking about what she said. Elsie wanted me to let her grow up. She felt held back. Could I watch her go into battle? Could I see her bleed and not save her? These were problems for another day. "Okay. Deal but give me a little time."

    "A little. That''s all."

    "Don''t be in such a rush to grow up. I lost my childhood. I want you to have one. You don''t know how much it matters and how lucky you are to have the chance to be a kid. Cherish it. You''ll be a better warrior in the long run for it."

    Elsie seemed to consider this. "Okay."

    Once we reached our floor, Elsie stopped and pursed her lips.

    "Do you always make me walk up the stairs to make sure I don''t get spoiled?"

    I tilted my head back and laughed. "What? You want me to use my power to teleport you everywhere? Walking is good for you."

    "Just curious." She put her hand on the door to her room. "Can I keep my dagger, at least?"

    "You''re carrying that?"

    "I carry it everywhere."

    "Fine." I ran my hand over my face. "I guess. Be careful with it around smaller kids."

    "I know that." She opened the door but looked back at me before walking in. "You don''t have to remind me all the time to be careful."

    The door at the end of the hall opened and my intuition recognized it before my mind did. Before I even felt the fear or confusion, I threw up a powerful shield that blocked the entire hallway and hurled a wave of energy. Arrows scattered¨Cthe sight that first caught my eye.

    The wall at the end of the hallway caved in. I was halfway to Elsie when I noticed more arrows flying. Even though my shield would destroy them, I swung my sword in front of Elsie on reflex.

    Arrows flew through my shield as if it didn''t exist. My sword sliced through the ones flying for Elsie. No time to think. I teleported directly in front of her with the fraction of a second I had, my heel landing on her foot so I could immediately transport us away from the attackers.

    But it was too late. Arrows thudded into my body as we disappeared from the hall.

    I''d focused on the Sacred School, the place that felt safest for Elsie on instinct. It felt like I missed a step walking down the stairs. Rather than instantly appearing at the Sacred School, we appeared on the roof of the tower.

    It all happened so quickly that the impact of the arrows was still hitting my body. I jerked as they finished plunging through me.

    I turned to see Elsie, to see that she was okay, just as the pain began to branch over me. I didn''t even know where I''d been hit. Only that I needed to know if any made it to her.

    Confusion and shock scrunched Elsie''s young face as a weapon I hadn''t seen her draw fell from her hand and clattered to the ground. "Ma?" A frigid wind swept between us.

    I touched an arrow protruding from my side, catching a glob of blood that snaked from the wound. Lifting it, I stared, unable to accept what I saw. A perfectly normal arrow destroyed my energy shield and cut through my body.

    What the hell?

    A choking sound escaped from Elsie''s lips and then she screamed this time, terrified and desperate. "Ma!"

 137. Attack

    I didn''t understand what was happening. The arrows flew straight through my shield, and I failed to teleport to the Sacred School.

    A terrible sensation ripped through my body, completely different than anything I''d ever experienced. Not just pain from the arrows. My stare fell to the arrows sticking out from my right shoulder, my side, and my left thigh.

    The feathers of the arrows curled in, turning black, and then dissolved. I watched as the dark color slowly ate up the wood, petrifying everything it touched.

    It felt like the darkness ate me up as well. I looked down at my hands, expecting to see them turn hard like stone.

    Elsie reached for me, but I shouted. "Don''t! It''s poisoned somehow."

    I noticed then that she clutched her necklace. The stone glowed. Good. Nash would come for us.

    These arrows were sucking the power out of me. I needed to get rid of them. I gripped one arrow and tried with all my strength to break it, but I couldn''t. It was hard as stone and my power dwindled so rapidly.

    My power dissipated far more quickly than my blood spilled out. I couldn''t take the time to figure out what was happening or why. I only needed to know that I was losing my power and soon maybe my life. And that Elsie needed me to get us to safety.

    I used my power to hold the arrows steady in my body and swiftly spun my sword, so it sliced cleanly through the arrows. I grunted in pain at the pressure on my wounds, but that pain couldn''t compare to the agony of using my power to shove them free of my body. Blood gushed from the wounds.

    With what remained of my power, I focused on the holes in my body and burned them closed from the inside out. Though I tried to hold in my scream, it escaped, and I curled in on myself, crying out at the fire eating away at me.

    Weakness threatened to drag me to the ground. I shivered in the cold. Elsie watched me with horror written across her young face, her hand covering her mouth.

    "We''re exposed here¡­" I nodded toward the door leading inside. "They may find us soon. We''ll separate."

    Elsie shook her head. "I''m not leaving you. You''re hurt." She grabbed both of her swords now. "You can''t fight like that."

    I spoke with a low growl. "Yes, I can. You''ll hide where I tell you to hide." Pain clutched me and I nearly doubled over.

    "I can''t hide away from you," she said. "Daddy won''t be able to find you. Your powers aren''t working right."

    No arguing with that. I''d tried to reach out to Nash with my neural connection, to anyone, and it was like I''d lost the ability entirely.

    "Wait." Elsie ran from me then to the outside cabinets that housed our training gear. She loved to practice here with us when we wanted to be alone as family. Her hands shook as she withdrew her bow and quiver of arrows. I didn''t stop her. Once she hid, it would be wise for her to be prepared to defend herself.

    I walked forward and ground my teeth so hard I thought I might shatter my jaw. Every step ripped at my wounds, gravity hanging from them like weights. Blood still oozed out from my burned skin and the parts of the injuries that were not properly cauterized.

    Elsie slowly opened the door and peeked into the hallway before I could stop her. The pain and injuries distracted me. I struggled through every step until I reached her side.

    "You only do what I say," I whispered.

    She started to walk beside me, but I pulled her behind me with a grunt and drew my sword with my uninjured arm. My other hung limp at my side. It hurt too badly to move it.

    My heart raced, though I needed to calm it and not worsen my blood loss. My mind reeled with questions. Who attacked us? Malach or our guests? How did they manage to steal my power?

    What about Nash and Finn? What if they tried to hurt my baby?

    What was I thinking bringing a helpless life into this brutal world?

    Elsie''s voice whispered in my ear. "Let me help you, Ma. You''re shaking."

    I looked down and noticed the tremble for the first time. She started to slide under my arm to help hold me up when I heard a sound and stopped. Elsie did as well, listening with me.

    I opened the door beside me and nudged her inside. She stumbled in, swords locked in her grip, the anger in her eyes telling me she didn''t want to hide and yet knew better than to fight with me at a time like this.

    Warriors burst into the hallway.

    Arrows flew again and I summoned enough energy to erect a shield to cover the doorway sheltering Elsie. I crisscrossed the air with my sword, breaking every arrow.

    "She still has power, Commander," one of the men yelled with his lips twisting in a horrified gasp.

    "Not for long," the commander said with narrowed eyes.

    Screaming in agony, I swung one blade for the man closest to me.

    I grew weaker by the second, not just from the injury, but from my quickly draining power. I barely managed to strengthen my hit. It was enough though. My sword shattered my enemy''s and sank into his chest. I ripped it free and spun for the next one. The shield over Elsie grew so thin I worried it would not stop an attack. Using my power, I ripped a warrior through the air while he screamed and impaled him upon the sword I held with my injured arm. We both cried out from the pain, but he fell into a blood heap while I lunged for another warrior.

    Only two remained, but I wasn''t sure I''d be able to even take a step after this next one, much less take them on. I blocked a hit with my right blade from one and caught another with my left, but I faltered from the pain and weakness, and my enemy''s sword bore down against the blade, forcing my own sword to sink into my thigh.

    I slammed my head against the man''s nose and kicked him in the gut using what power remained. He flew back and slammed against the wall with a thud. Twisting, I reared back to attack the next one when weakness knocked my legs out from under me. I couldn''t control it. I fell onto the ground, barely catching myself with my sword.

    A sword swung for my head. I focused on it to stop it, struggling to lift my own weapon in defense.

    An arrow whizzed past my ear and embedded in the chest of the man attacking me. His sword fell short as he stumbled back, shocked eyes falling to his chest. Another arrow flew and then a third.

    "Ma!" Elsie screamed as each of her arrows thudded into the two men.

    I summoned all my strength and launched myself forward, burying my sword in the closest man''s gut. Elsie wasn''t ready to take life. She wasn''t ready. Even if it killed me, I needed to kill these men before her arrows did.

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    The warrior and I both fell to the ground together. My grip on my left sword failed and it clattered to the ground. My arm hung uselessly at my side. I gasped with pain as every single movement ripped at my wounds as if tearing them wide open.

    Tendrils of my power flowed through me, the last remnants that kept my insides warm. I directed it all at the man running at me from the far side of the room. A red streak of power broke through his teeth and escaped through the back of his head.

    "Ma," Elsie cried again and ran to me. My hands trembled from the exhaustion and injuries. The girl caught me as I fell, struggling to hold me up. "I called for dad." Tears filled her voice. "He''ll come. He always comes."

    Blood poured out from the fresh leg wound, but I couldn''t draw upon any power to burn the skin closed. I needed to bandage it before I lost any more precious blood.

    "Elsie¡­" I struggled to find my voice. The world around me spun slowly. I tugged at one of my sleeves. "Cut this off for me."

    She nodded and used her dagger to saw the sleeve free. Without being instructed, she wrapped it around my thigh tightly. I swallowed my grunt of pain so I wouldn''t upset her, but the burning and searing agony of the arrow injuries strained my voice badly. "Thank you¡­"

    "We have to go." Elsie sniffled and stood up, trying to drag me to my feet. "We have to hide until dad finds us."

    I struggled to my feet and stumbled forward, nearly falling right back down to the ground. It hurt so badly to walk. Every step tore at my wounds. Elsie held me tightly around my middle, dragging me toward the door at the end of the hall.

    "Baby girl¡­" I settled my cheek against her temple as we trudged forward. "I need you to listen."

    "No." Anger tensed Elsie''s fine features. "I won''t. I know what you''re going to say."

    "Elsie¨C"

    "I said no. We''re staying together. You want me to leave you, and I won''t. You can''t make me."

    As we continued forward, hot blood started to drizzle from my side. I put my hand to it, feeling the skin swollen with internal bleeding that my cauterizing job blocked from freely leaving the wound.

    Elsie slid her hand over mine, her voice shaking. "Ma¨C"

    "Keep moving." I nudged her forward, powering through the heaviness of my body and the pain sawing at my wound.

    Wild fear danced in her wide eyes and tightened her voice to a small tremble. "It''s really bad."

    Warm blood pooled between my fingers. With my free hand, I took her face and held firmly. "Elsie, listen to me." Every second intensified the pain as my energy waned. It''d been so long since I lacked power. I forgot entirely how it felt. "You trained your whole life for this. You''re ready."

    She started to shake her head no, but I gritted my teeth and deepened my voice.  "Now''s the time, Elsie. Move. Don''t stop, even if I do. You find your dad."

    Tears slid down her face. Lately Elsie felt far too grown. I wasn''t sure when it happened. One day she was running barefoot through the village and the next, an independent mind bloomed beneath deep eyes and a surprisingly confident veneer. But Elsie looked every bit the small child I''d tucked back into bed after nightmares or the crying girl who couldn''t stop crying after skinning her knee. Right when I thought I''d been wrong, that this would break her, she let out one long, slow breath. The emotion fell from her expression, and she nodded.

    "Let''s go." Elsie wrapped her arm around me. When had she grown this tall? Since when could she reach around me like this?

    I focused on each step to keep my weight off her, but as we rushed through the hall, weakness tangled my body. I faltered and she caught me, grunting to help keep me standing. I leaned against the wall for support.

    As we walked down the hall, I saw the door open.

    My vision blurred.

    I pulled my bow from my back and screamed as I drew back slightly on the bowstring. Despite my best efforts, I slid slowly down the wall, my aim quivering. A cry wrenched from my lips as I drew further back on my bow.

    Elsie ripped the arrow from my hand, wrenched the bow from my weakening grip, and slid into a perfectly controlled stance. It shouldn''t have surprised me because nearly every day for a decade I taught her how to shoot. But the shock silenced me as I watched her shoulders straighten, her body still, and her arrow fly.

    It snapped mid-air. Elsie nocked another but I shook my head for her to stop when I heard the familiar voice.

    "What''s happened to you?" Sloane approached with her disciples flanking her.

    I looked up at the Coastal Prophet, having no idea whether she was a friend or not. If she wanted to kill us, I couldn''t stop her. I couldn''t summon even a spark of power, and I barely kept my eyes open. While I didn''t believe she''d ever try to kill me before, I no longer felt that way. Not when this was her only chance.

    "My husband and I son," I said, trying to suck in enough breath to ask more.

    "Last I saw, Nash was fighting his way up the stairs. I saw Piercey take your baby when the attacks began." She knelt down and studied the growing blood spots on my bandages. "You poor thing. It appears Malach has begun his war against you."

    "So, what is it?" I struggled to form the words. "Will you fight with us? Or hope Malach stops with my kingdom?"

    "It''s unexpected to see you injured and helpless like this. I didn''t prepare for this scenario. If I don''t help, you very well may die." She sat back on her heels, sounding like she spoke to herself more than me. "Helping means going to war today and facing an enemy who can do this to you. Defeat may be certain."

    "Sloane¨C"

    "I appreciate you inviting me here, Eclipse. I appreciate your reasonableness. If you live I hope you can understand why it''s not possible for me to help you today."

    "What?" Elsie lunged forward and caught the woman''s pant leg. "Wait, please. You can''t leave her like this. She''s dying."

    "I do feel for you, Eclipse." She looked down on me with pity. "You''ve never done anything to deserve this. It''s clear you''re genuine. You''re just not the political kind. Still, they can''t let you and your kingdom remain in peace. I wish I could help. I honestly do. But I''m not getting involved. It wouldn''t be good for my people."

    "Take my daughter." I forced strength into my voice, speaking forcibly and not as if I was begging. "She''s just a kid."

    "I''m not leaving you," Elsie said, voice hitching.

    "Quiet," I said.

    The prophet''s gaze shifted between us. "If I interfere, then I''m picking sides. My kingdom needs more time to prepare."

    "She''s a child. Think of your daughters."

    "I am." She stood back up, looking down on me sadly. "Do you really think I should place them in danger? I brought them here with me."

    "Don''t do this," Elsie whispered.

    "I''m sorry, Eclipse," Sloane said. "I really am. Elsie, I am very sorry to you as well. I need to return to my daughters and make sure I give no one a reason to hurt them."

    "You''re helping them to kill us," I said.

    "See it however you must." She turned and began to walk away from me.

    "I won''t forget this," I said in a low rumble.

    She paused but did not look back at me. "I can''t imagine you will. But you have many enemies and I also know you will not bring more ruin upon your people. I will not help your people, but I won''t help anyone hurt you either."

    "Don''t assume you know what I''ll do because you think you know me."

    "Best of luck, Eclipse. I really do hope you survive."

    I squeezed my eyes shut. "I fucking hate politics."

    With Sloane halfway down the hall, Elsie spoke out in a threatening voice. "I won''t forget this either."

    Reaching for her, I took her hand and squeezed her tight. "It''s time to hide."

    "We''ll hide together."

    "I don''t think¡­ I can walk anymore¡­"

    "I''ll try to drag you."

    "Just go, Elsie." My eyes slid shut. "Please¡­" Everything started to fade.

    I tried to jolt up, realizing I''d drifted off, but lacked the energy to even do that.

    Elsie pressed against my shoulders. "It''s okay, Ma." She sounded strong and calm even though I saw tears sprinkling her cheeks. "I know what to do. You can let go for now. Rest."

    No. Never. I could never pass out and abandon her. I reached within myself for my power, not even feeling the slightest embers burning. Darkness crept over my view of her. My hand fell limp. Elsie pressed against my wound now, burying her hands in my blood. Pain tore through my heart to see the darkness staining her hands. I never wanted her to experience anything like this.

    "I''ve got you. Dad will be here soon. It''s okay."

    It wasn''t okay. I''d failed her so badly she felt like she needed to console me. I wanted to hate myself for it, but I''d been through enough to understand the inevitability of imperfection. Despite doing my best, loving her my best, I couldn''t save her from this.

    I at least wanted to stay awake with her.

    "Elsie¡­"

    Her forehead pressed against mine.

    Hide. I tried to say the words. My lips moved. Nothing came out though. Elsie needed to hide.

 138. Fading

    Consciousness erupted back into me, fooling me into thinking for a moment I''d found my strength. I opened my eyes and tried to rise, only to find myself completely limp. I couldn''t move.

    Elsie knelt in front of where I lay on the ground with her bow drawn, prepared to shoot.

    The room shook and the sound of explosions erupted from the right. Several seconds passed and then the wall not far from us exploded with a crash. Two forms barreled through the wall and slammed onto the ground.

    "Max!" Nash''s booming voice knocked me into like a fist, making me dizzy. "Elsie!"

    I caught sight of Nash''s curls first, quickly seeing the lethal carved into his hard expression. He landed on top of a man and with black energy burning around his hand, he slammed his fist into the man''s temple. The skull crushed beneath the power of his hit, caving in the warrior''s face in a smattering of blood and bones. Beside me, Elsie squeezed me and gasped, her body stiffening.

    "Don''t look," I commanded, trying to draw her closer to me.

    Nash ripped his head up, looking at Elsie, and then finding me. His stare lingered, terror gripping him first and then quickly sharpening into deadly rage. He whipped around and unleashed a scream as he sent a wave of energy flying through the wall. Cries erupted from the other room.

    My vision waned and darkened as I watched Nash twist just in time to catch a flaming ball of energy with his bare hands. He extinguished it immediately, not even reacting to the pain as the fire sizzled against his skin.

    Nash drew his twin blades and flew so fast through the hole in the wall, I barely saw him move.

    Sleep captured me in wakes and starts, trying to hold me down beneath its waters as I struggled to break free of the surface. I came to with panic throbbing hot in my chest and watched Nash through the shield surrounding us. I needed to warn him about the arrows that stole my power, but I couldn''t speak. My lips moved and nothing escaped.

    Elsie clutched me tightly with a sword drawn over me, my poor girl resorting to defending me.

    Bodies littered the hall. Blood rushed like a river and pooled at the shield protecting us. That wasn''t right. I knew it. I wasn''t thinking right, but with my life draining, my world breaking into pieces, Nash''s battle against our enemies looked more like the grandiose stories painted in powder across the sky during the festival. Elsie didn''t close her eyes like I instructed. She watched her father''s swords unleash against those trying to kill us, exposed for the first time to how swiftly they stole life.

    Darkness consumed my view of Nash and then I lost feel of Elsie beside me. Only pain remained, relentless and without mercy, battering my body, cutting me to shreds.

    Strong arms lifted me, breaking beneath the icy waters that drowned me. The feeling of being in Nash''s arms was so familiar and so comforting, peace prickled the pain consuming me. The slightest buzz of energy warmed my skin, but it didn''t enter me and give me strength. It felt like it bounced off me. Nash was trying to connect with me, but I couldn''t.

    My eyes fluttered open as Nash shifted and jostled me. I barely made out the image of Elsie climbing onto his back. She clasped her arms around his neck while he held me tenderly and then lifted us into the air. We flew over dozens of dead warriors and puddles of blood that once looked like a rushing river to me.

    "Can you hold on?" he asked Elsie.

    "Yes. Just get Ma out of here."

    I tried to reach for Nash''s chest. My fingers twitched. He used his power to break the windows and then swept us out of the tower into the freezing air.

    As he flew through the air, so fast the pain hooked into my wounds, he looked down at me. Tears coated his furious, terrified eyes. "Hang on, baby."

    "Finn¡­"

    "Piercey and Wren have him. They already portalled to King Tyroin''s land."

    My heavy eyes closed. I needed to ask about everyone else. What about Leif and Markus? Their families? What about all our people? I couldn''t hold on anymore, though. I barely heard Nash''s soothing voice flowing over me like honey. His warmth burning through the cold.

    I couldn''t leave my people.

    I couldn''t leave my family.

    <hr>

    Deep, throbbing pain dragged me to consciousness.

    I tried to speak but only a moan slipped out. Nash carefully brushed my hair back with one hand and held my face with the other. "Easy," he said. "Don''t try to move."

    My eyes fluttered open. The bright sun pouring through the windows seared my vision. Winter approached. There shouldn''t be this much daylight.

    "We''re here. Elsie, Finn, Piercey, Wren, and Leif. All the kids."

    "Markus?"

    "He''s with Gael strategizing."

    I let my head fall into Nash''s hands. "Is¡­ Is anyone hurt?"

    "No." His soft lips pressed against my forehead. "You need to rest. Try not to worry."

    Tears pinched my eyes. "How many?"

    He quieted, surely knowing what I asked.

    "Nash."

    "We don''t know yet. The attacks happened all over the valley. Their weapons stripped away the power of some of our best warriors. Any enemies we didn''t kill or capture escaped. The war parties were small, probably only as large as they could manage without giving themselves away. But the hits seemed targeted."

    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    "We''re in Gael''s kingdom, aren''t we?"

    "Yes."

    I tested my strength to try to sit but I barely budged.

    "I told you not to move," Nash said. "Power isn''t working on you. They couldn''t heal you." Pleading filled his tone. "Please, Max. You have to rest."

    He caught the tears that broke free. "They need me. I can''t stay here."

    Nash carefully shifted to lie down beside me. I accepted the pain, desperate for his nearness. He held me against himself and stroked his thumb along my jaw. "They need you alive. Markus and Piercey have been traveling between here and the villages. The people know you''re alive."

    "They''ll be terrified¡­"

    "You can''t change that, Max. What happened was terrifying. We''re all suffering right now. You cannot save us from that. Just lie here with me and let your body rest."

    How could I? "Have they seen you?"

    "Yes. Now, stop. We are taking care of everyone. Trust us."

    It hurt so bad. I nodded, not because I actually accepted the situation, but because I truly could do nothing else. Nash kissed the side of my face and whispered to me as I lost my hold on the world once again.

    The next time I awoke, I refused to remain here while my people were waiting for me. I almost passed out when Nash lifted me into a sitting position on the edge of the bed.

    "This is crazy." Piercey rarely raised his voice, but he did so now. "You''re in no condition to be out of bed, much less traveling."

    "It''s been too long already. The people need to see me." I froze on the edge of the bed to catch my breath. Sweat gathered along my hairline. Nash slid an arm under my leg and carefully lifted me. The movement hurt more than I wanted the others to see. I settled my head against Nash''s chest, hoping to hide how badly it hurt.

    "He''s right," Nash said gently as he held me. "This is too much on you."

    "We''re too reliant on our healers. I can manage."

    Nash closed his eyes for a moment and then nodded. "I''ll help you do what you want but be reasonable once we get there."

    Piercey huffed and ran his hands through his hair. "Okay, we need to keep it short. I''m not backing down on that and you''re in no shape to fight anyone on this, Max."

    I let him continue, too exhausted to argue with him. It only mattered that I saw my people.

    Nash carried me to the other room where Gael talked with Markus. "She''s ready."

    Gael looked uncertain. "She doesn''t look ready."

    "Well, I am." I snapped more harshly than I intended.

    They all looked at one another before Wren spoke. "This is what Max needs, so don''t waste any time while she''s up. Let''s get her before the people. There''s a gathering at the tower. Gael, will you please take her there. Your skills with the portal will make for the safest travel."

    I bit my cheek, so thankful for Wren always supporting me, even when maybe she shouldn''t. It didn''t matter. I could count on her not to fight me.

    Gael opened a portal as my advisors talked in hushed tones.

    Nash held me securely. "You ready?" he asked.

    "I am. I want to sit up when we get there."

    "Of course."

    He carried me through the portal. While ordinarily I didn''t feel anything unusual when traveling, I felt a heaviness this time that bore down on my wounds. When we walked through the other side, fatigue weighed me down even more than before.

    "At least¡­ I can travel through a portal¡­" Whatever poison ran through my system had its limitations then.

    I could tell by Nash''s tone that he was worried about me. "You don''t remember traveling to Gael''s kingdom."

    "No. I know I did, I just didn''t think about it until now."

    Nash settled me down in my usual chair at the table. "Piercey, can you ask someone to bring her pillows?" The back of his hand came to my forehead. "Blankets too."

    "I don''t need¨C"

    He cut me off. "We need water, and I want medical supplies ready. Let''s try more medication for the pain." Nash used the sleeve of his tunic to dab my temples and then took my face in both hands. "Max."

    "Yes?"

    "Please don''t waste your energy fighting me."

    I swallowed hard. "Sorry."

    They all worked quickly to get me set up and to bring in a gathering of our top advisors, all the chiefs currently in the village, and as many villagers and warriors as could fit in the room. Seeing everyone brought a rush of comfort and emotion to my chest. A knot caught in my throat.

    "I told you," a little boy said. He tugged a woman''s sleeve. "She''s alive."

    "I''m sorry it took me some time to see you," I said.

    Fear etched lines into the face of everyone here. Fear and loss. It reminded me of the days after I killed Eskel when I raced from village to village trying to save the innocent from demon attacks.

    "Nothing can ease the suffering of all the people we lost." The thought of their pain helped me to ignore my own, but the weakness was more difficult to overlook. Even my lips felt heavy as I spoke. "The attack on our kingdom will not go unpunished. I will hunt down every person who stepped foot in our homes and in this tower personally. They may have surprised us with this new poison, but we will not be caught off guard again."

    "I fear we underestimated their abilities and perhaps our own. If they want war, it feels like we are starting off behind." One of the older chiefs spoke boldly. "Prophet, we need to think of how to avoid war, not how to seek retribution."

    "These were not the actions of someone open to peace. They attacked us without honor."

    "They almost killed you," she said. "You''re by far our strongest warrior. So how can we hope to beat them?"

    I came to see them, but they only saw me as wounded. I gripped the edge of the table and forced myself to stand even though it caused my body to tremble. Nash shifted, but Markus subtly caught his wrist.

    Pain wracked my body. I knew I couldn''t speak or even breathe, so I used the seconds I needed to recover in order to look from one person to the next. It wasn''t possible to hide my pain. I let them see it. Let them see the exhaustion and dizziness trying to drag me to the ground and the stabbing pain carving through my wounds. A drop of sweat fell from my chin and landed on the table.

    "For how long have I told you all that I''m human?" Gasping from the pain, I straightened and walked away from the table toward them. The sling helped carry the weight of my arm, but the movement cut into me. The room spun slowly. This was war, though, and I couldn''t lie down. "I''m not invincible. Do you understand that? I can bleed. I can fall. I can get wounded."

    "Eclipse," another chief said as he reached out a hand for me. "Please, sit down."

    "If I die, it doesn''t mean there''s no hope. And do I look dead to you?" I raised my voice and slashed my arm through the air despite how badly it hurt. That only hardened my voice. "Do I look like someone who is ready to give up?"

    The first chief who spoke lowered her head. "No."

    I limped forward another step. "We''re a kingdom of warriors. Even if I die, you will fight without me. That''s an order."

    "Yes, Prophet," one of the warriors shouted. He raised his forearm in the air. Others followed.

    My world slowly spun. "I know you''re scared. We''re all scared. What you don''t know is I''ve been scared my entire life." The weakness won out and I sank to my knees, unable to stand any longer. This time, no one would stop Nash from coming to me. He bounded over the table and drew me back against him as he knelt beside me.

    "It''s enough," he whispered.

    "We fight through the fear. We don''t surrender to it. Every drop of my blood and ounce of my power is yours." I bowed forward, voice stifled by a wave of pain. "I¡­" Darkness hugged the edges of my vision. "I''m yours¡­"

    "Okay." Nash drew me back into his arms even though I shook my head.

    "We''re fighting them," I said. "The alternative is death."

    Once Nash rose with me, he cast his gaze over the people gathered. "Chiefs and warriors," he said. "You will control yourselves. You will show strength. Your Prophet needs you to show some courage."

    It wasn''t their fault. The myth of my power grew to unsustainable levels so that this one fall demolished all of their hope and faith. Yesterday, they believed they were safe. That I would protect them no matter what. Today, I was human again. They were human again.

    My consciousness faded and I didn''t have the ability to cling to it.

 139. Next Steps

    "I should be back home." I closed my eyes against the comfort of the cold cloth Wren dabbed my forehead with.

    "No," Nash said. "Nothing hurts our people more than you dying. You''re staying here while we figure out exactly what happened."

    I looked away at the wall, even though I knew he was right.

    Piercey, Leif, and Markus returned to the tower to continue meeting with village chiefs and to measure the extent of the damage done. We shared an open neural connection with him through using a speaker system he developed years ago with the phone system at the Sacred School.

    "Gael''s warriors helped us to visit the villages where none of the warriors with power responded to our messages." Markus''s voice hummed from the speaker. "It appears they chose one target in each village they attacked to focus on. In ours, it was Eclipse."

    Wren placed her hand on my shoulder and wiped away the sweat gathered along the side of my face.

    "They wanted to kill some of our best warriors." Pain gripped my stomach from tightening it in anger. "We should have struck last week. Who did we lose?"

    "Twenty-five war parties struck our largest villages, all of a similar size to the one that hit the tower. Some enemy warriors possessed power, but many didn''t. They all used weapons like the arrows that poisoned Eclipse." He paused for a moment, his voice quieter. "Of the twenty-five targets, we lost fourteen."

    The weight of his words dug down into my chest, shattering my ribs, flattening me in an instant. Fourteen of our most powerful warriors fell in battle? "I need their names," I said in a choked voice.

    "Yes, Prophet. All the surviving targets are suffering from the same affliction as you. They cannot use their power, nor is any healing energy working on them. As for the others who fought, so far, one hundred thirty-seven warriors succumbed to the injuries sustained in the attack."

    The heaviness only grew. I could see it bearing down on all of us. It felt even as if Wren''s hand on my shoulder threatened to rip through my body. Nash placed a hand against the wall, all the fine muscles in his face wrung tight.

    "The civilians¡­" Markus cleared his throat, his voice thick. "The casualties are still being tallied. Some are missing."

    "How many?" My voice ripped out of my throat, stripped of emotion.

    "Over three hundred. Many¨C" He cleared his throat again. "Damn it. Many of them were children and the elderly. We believe they targeted them."

    The greatest moments of my life flooded my heart and my mind in images of Elsie''s smile and Finn''s tiny hands, in rushes of love too deep for words, and the incomprehensible depth of all the children meant to us. I remembered when the Prophet of the Valley, Eskel the Ruthless, held little Rune captive and how the terror of losing him almost destroyed Leif.

    All over the valley, my kingdom, innocent people mourned lives ripped away before they could be lived.

    I needed to let out the cry building in my chest, but it was too big to ever unleash.

    A crash filled the air, and I looked over to see Nash''s entire arm sticking through the stone wall up to his shoulder. I longed for the strength to do the same.

    "What is so important about our valley that Malach would slaughter children?" Wren lowered to her knees and, still holding my shoulder, settled her head against the bed. "Not even Eskel the Ruthless tried to slaughter children."

    "He wants to break our spirit." My tongue felt numb as I spoke. "He stole my power and murdered our most vulnerable. It''s a war against our hearts, so we feel hopeless, or so enraged that we turn into fools."

    Speckles of blood marred Nash''s shoulder where the stone cut through his shirt. His fists shook as he tightened them at his side. "They almost killed my wife." His head lowered and his nostrils flared. "They tried to kill my daughter." His voice deepened to a shaking roar that hit me deep in my chest. "Imagine those who actually lost their families. They killed our people and now we will slaughter them."

    The horror filling me had nowhere to go. I tried to rise up to find a way to expel it only for the pain to paralyze me. I wanted to scream with Nash and break holes in the wall. I wanted to travel to Malach now and rip him limb from limb.

    "I let him kill our people." I tightened my body to let the pain sweep over me because it was the only thing I could do. "We let him kill our people. Never again."

    "What about our planned strikes?" Piercey asked. "Are we still capable of carrying those out, or do we think Malach knows?"

    "He attacked the day before we did," Leif said. "Is it a coincidence or a message? I don''t want to take a chance on the answer. I say we abandon those plans and start over."

    My mind reeled from the enormity of our loss and the cruelty of waging war against the innocent in our homes. Malach didn''t simply target a specific, powerful warrior in each village in order to make killing that person the sole target of his war party. He understood an attack like that endangered civilians while giving him the flimsy cover of saying he intended to kill dangerous military leaders. In one night, he ripped away every semblance of security my people possessed, from their faith in their best warriors¨Cin me¨Cto sacrificing families for the entire kingdom to see all we faced to lose.

    Malach terrorized our children to break us and to destroy the next generation, those most likely to rise against him if we fell to him. He stole our futures from us, the future of our innocent and the future of our kingdom.

    All the grief made it impossible for me to track the conversation, especially given the difficulty of staying awake in the first place.

    I hated how weak and pained I sounded when I spoke. "We''re marching to meet their army and attacking them head on." My fingers dug into the bed. "I will stand in the front lines and send my message to their warriors."

    The conversation abruptly silenced by my interruption.

    "What?" Nash gave voice to what I knew everyone thought with that one incredulous word. Anger edged his voice. "You can''t act like this, Max. It''s not helping anyone for you to pretend you''re invincible."

    "I''m not invincible." I tore my eyes off the ceiling and met his. "I''m hurt and for the first time in an incredibly long time completely vulnerable."

    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    "Exactly why you need to stay in bed," Wren said.

    "That''s the point. Our warriors can fight without me. They can win battles even if I''m hurt. Everyone needs to see that our people are not only strong enough to fight this war but to defend me in this state while I mock our enemy to their face." I twisted the bed sheets in my grip and shouted as if I stood on the battlefield, ignoring how badly it hurt. "We will lose this war today if we leave them as vulnerable as my body is now. I will put my full faith in them, and they will see that they are the ones to be feared."

    Nash''s mouth remained open slightly as he stared at me.

    "We''ll create a better plan for more effective actions," I said. "Covert operations, targeted attacks, a plan to use their poisoned weapons against them. This battle, though, must happen immediately. We will open a hundred portals if we must to charge into their own lands."

    "You can''t even stand," Nash said in a steely voice, the challenge clear.

    "So, someone fucking hold me up." My lips curled in a snarl. "I am going to war."

    <hr>

    In all our years together, I never angered Nash enough to not speak with me, until now. As we worked through our war plans and I fought to remain awake and engaged, he arranged wooden pieces on a map on the floor, not even looking at me.

    Nash and I needed to discuss my plan in private before I decreed it as an order, to give him time to accept the necessity of risking my life like this. My anger had taken hold of me, though, and I didn''t feel like apologizing for my passion. I only felt sorry for how it made him feel.

    "I will guard you in the way I once guarded Nash," Piercey said. "That way the others can focus on defending you by fighting."

    Wren glanced over at Nash, maybe expecting him to speak about his strategy for keeping me alive in a battle when they barely did so with me in bed. His eyes remained trained on the map.

    Damn it.

    "Nash and the commanders will discuss more in the war room," I said. "I want an update on what we''re learning about the attacks."

    Over the past hour, the need for sleep overcame me and I closed my eyes for a few seconds of reprieve. Constant pain stabbed into my gut, shoulder, and leg without relief. I wanted to lie beside Nash and sleep in his arms, but the kingdom needed us to act. And I''d infuriated my husband. To everyone else, I could be the Prophet Eclipse, but to him I''d always be Max first. His wife, his best friend, the mother of his baby, and Ma to his precious girl.

    I squeezed my eyes shut against the waves of pain and struggled to swallow down a moan.

    "We should take a break," Wren said quietly.

    For the first time since my announcement, Nash''s look shifted my way, concern etched upon his weary and saddened expression.

    "After the update." I only agreed to it as a show of mercy for Nash because I knew if we reversed roles, his pain would torture me. "Theus refused to meet with us that night. I assumed it was only because of our feud. What if he knew?"

    "It''s going to take time to uncover that," Markus said over the speaker.

    "If Theus did this¡­" I breathed out slowly to calm myself down before I made myself pass out from rage. "I will kill him."

    "We''ll kill him anyway," Nash said, continuing to work on his map. "Malach can''t know as much about our kingdom or warriors as Theus. He''s involved."

    I paused, not just because Nash''s confidence in Theus''s part in this hit me like a punch, but because hearing him speak after I angered him twisted my heart. "He must know I''d kill him."

    "He''s an idiot." Nash sighed and looked at me for the first time in almost an hour. "Markus was right before. He''s more dangerous than we want to accept because he''s foolish and weaker than us. I don''t need evidence or time to think. If you don''t kill him, I will."

    "Wait," Markus said over the speaker while Piercey also started to complain.

    Nash didn''t seem to be listening to them, though. He watched me, talking to me, as if it was only the two of us. "You need to stand on the battlefield while you''re half dead and I need to kill him because he almost murdered my wife."

    I bit the inside of my cheek.

    "If you want to help me, we''ll push the blade through his throat together just like we did to Eskel the Ruthless. If not, I will do this on my own."

    "You can''t just decide to kill another Prophet," Markus said. "You''re our War chief. Anything you do will be seen as our kingdom doing it."

    "Nash will kill whoever he needs to kill," I said, eyes not leaving his. "Our War Chief decides when our enemies die."

    "Just as our Prophet decides when she will enter battle." The anger didn''t fade despite what he said. "Even if her husband and children need her to heal."

    A tear slinked down my cheek and the rest grew in my chest as sobs that would hurt too badly to release.

    No one dared to speak.

    I barely held back my tears when I spoke. "I''m s¨C"

    "Don''t." Nash returned his attention to his work. "As much as our children need their mother, today they need their Prophet even more, because their futures will not exist otherwise. Just give me time."

    I nodded, truly unable to speak now. Once I regained my composure, I said. "Bring Theus to me. Let me kill him with you."

    Rage burned in Nash''s amber eyes as he looked up, so they appeared to burn with the sun''s golden rays. "His blood is ours." Nash moved to my side then and Wren sat back, giving us our space. My hand weakly slid across the bed for him, and he caught it, drawing it to his lips.

    "I promise," he whispered against my palm. "We''ll kill him together before the sun sets."

    "I can''t believe you two," Piercey said. "We just signed a treaty with Theus, and we have no evidence he took part in this."

    "To hell with the treaty." Nash clasped my hand with both of his to squeeze it and then placed it gently on the bed. "Leif, Wren, are you coming?"

    "Of course," Leif''s voice said over the speaker.

    Wren nodded, her fingernails digging into my shoulder.

    "Piercey is right. We don''t know if Theus did this," Markus said.

    "I thought you wanted him dead," Nash said.

    Markus groaned. "I do, but if we kill him and he wasn''t involved, it will shake the other Prophet''s trust in us during a time when we really cannot afford that. I''m just saying maybe we should wait a day or two while we continue investigating."

    The arguments swirled through my mind, lost in my dizziness and the haze of pain. Lost in the grief sucking what life remained from me.

    If only I moved a second faster, then I wouldn''t have lost my power when I needed it most. What if never returned?

    "We should bring this before the other Prophets," Markus said. "Your determination is admirable, but we all invested in Piercey''s summit. We all signed a treaty."

    "I''m not opposed to meeting with Prophets and honoring a treaty," Nash said. "But I will not sleep while he is still alive. So, I suggest you hurry and arrange the meeting."

    I broke the quiet that followed. "You heard your War Chief."

    "Yes, Prophet," Markus said.

    "We''ve never run this kingdom off whims and unilateral orders," Piercey said. "I will not say ''yes, Prophet'' to you ever. I will not say ''yes, War Chief''. If you need me to do that, then you should discharge me as the second to the Prophet Eclipse."

    A grin slinked onto Nash''s face despite the heaviness still there. "That''s not the kind of second we need, Piercey."

    "Then keep that in mind and listen to what I have to say." Piercey spoke forcefully. "You were once a spy in the Flatlands, Nash. You understand the value of outmaneuvering your enemy. Do this the right way."

    Nash lost the grin, looking only impatient. "Wait to kill him until we gather information."

    "Yes, because if he''s involved, the conspirators will hide as soon as we kill him."

    Normally, Nash urged me to wait because I never wanted to, even when I knew I should. This time, he seemed to need me.

    "If we kill him today or in a week, he will still be dead," I said. "Let''s think about what Piercey said. We may learn a lot by watching him. Just because we regret not killing him sooner doesn''t mean today is the right day to do it."

    "I''ll consider it," Nash said and kissed my temple. The raw emotion still festered between us, the confusing mix of agreement, respect, anger, fear. But he kissed me through it and the pain slipped away as I allowed myself to sleep.

 140. Ageless

    I slept more than half the day while Nash led the others in making war plans for our battle and woke up so stiff and heavy. Nash returned to me from the tower once he received word that I came to again and entered the room carrying our son.

    The deep joy of seeing Finn cut through sorrow and fear thicker than stone to loosen my chest and draw a smile upon my lips. I lifted my good arm for him, barely keeping myself lying on the bed. "Finn."

    Nash carefully placed the baby against me and sat down beside us on the bed. Tiny, soft fingers brushed my cheeks. The little coo and the great, toothless smile ripped me from a world where my kingdom broke overnight and narrowed everything down to this one life. Nash brushed tears from my cheeks that I didn''t realize I shed.

    "I missed you." It hurt to not be able to lift my other arm over to him and run my finger along his plush cheek. I breathed him in and remembered the first time I ever held him. "I''m so sorry, Finn. I thought we''d have more time before we lived through something like this."

    Nash placed his hand against the baby''s back, his palm taking up so much of Finn''s body. "We never know when war will come."

    "I wanted peace for him. I waited for peace."

    "Me too."

    "Where''s Elsie?"

    "Sleeping. She stayed up late sitting by you. I made her go to bed."

    Darkness coated the window. "She must be terrified."

    "She only wants to know you''ll be okay."

    I kissed the top of Finn''s head. "I still need to go, Nash. This is important."

    "I didn''t tell you not to."

    Already, sleep pulled at me again, but I resisted. "Are you mad at me?"

    He eased down alongside Finn and me and nestled his face against mine. That one simple gesture melted away all the hurt inside me for this one moment.

    "No." His fingers ran down my arm. "I was never mad at you. I just didn''t want you to do it, and I couldn''t stop you."

    "If you tried, you might be able to."

    "I know not to try."

    Here I was again, trying to balance my family and my people, never able to fully reconcile the two halves of my life. At least now an entire kingdom fought with me. "We can do this."

    "Yes, we can. Quiet now. We''ll go to war in a few hours. Lie with us and rest."

    I needed to stay like this longer than a few hours and shut out everything else to recover here with my family. Some sacrifices needed to be made though.

    My mind wandered to the glimpses I''d caught of blood streaking our streets and battle raging in the heart of my village when I believed it would never happen again. In the past, those images would have consumed me, and I wouldn''t have rested for a moment. Today, I put them away for a short time to rest before I entered war.

    Holding Finn with Nash close to me, I slept again until Piercey''s voice drew me back to consciousness.

    "Max," my friend said gently.

    "Piercey¡­"

    Emptiness filled me. Finn no longer slept against me. I searched the room for my baby, only to see Nash, Leif, and Wren standing at the door with their weapons drawn.

    "What''s wrong?" I groaned and started to reach my hand for the pain, except it ran through too many places in my body to touch.

    "There''s a girl here." Piercey looked over his shoulder at Nash and then back to me. "She wants to see you. She says she can help."

    "It''s her, Max," Nash said. "The girl we''ve been looking for. The one who arrived after we killed Lote and ran away before the stranger killed his warriors with the flick of his fingers."

    "The cult¡­" Fear crept into my heart. "We never picked up a single trail since. Where is she?"

    "Gael and his warriors are holding her," Piercey said. "We don''t know where she came from or how she got here. She arrived at the gates claiming to know how to help heal you. They called me and I recognized her."

    "This is twice she found us during a crisis," Nash said. "Twice she''s possessed special knowledge."

    "Eight years ago, she looked like hardly more than a child and claimed she wanted to help us. So why is she still with them?" Piercey shook his head. "We cannot trust her."

    "I still want to see her." I eased my hand over the wound in my side and winced. "Help me sit, please."

    Nash came to me while he and Piercey helped me to rise up to sit against the backrest. Leif and Wren left to escort our visitor to me.

    "You okay?" Nash asked.

    I held my side and nodded. "Fine. Just bewildered."

    I didn''t know what to expect. Not only did this girl know about my injuries and know where to find me, but she made it halfway around the world, unless she lived here now. Which seemed incredibly odd.

    The door opened and Gael led entered, followed by a small form shrouded by a hooded cloak, with Wren and Leif following behind.

    Nash remained beside me, his weapons already prepared. "Cloak off."

    The woman looked up at me as she drew her hood down. "It''s good to see you again." Her voice sounded so young still. How old was she when I first met her? "They already checked me for weapons."

    When Nash continued to wait silently, she swallowed loud enough to hear and drew the cloak overhead. A long yellow dress fell to her feet. She wore her dark blond hair short with the fine wisps barely touching her ears. A tattoo of a crown of violet and pink flowers wrapped around the edge of her hairline. If not for meeting her eight years ago, I might have assumed she was only a teenager, but she must have been older than that, because she looked the same now as she did then.

    "Thank you for seeing me, Eclipse," she said. "I''m so sorry to learn about your injuries."

    "I don''t want to play pretend." I steeled myself against the pain as I breathed in deeply to talk. "Tell me who you are and don''t act like some scared kid again."

    "It was never an act."

    I narrowed my eyes.

    She shifted and wrapped her arms around herself. "My name is Cleo, and I was born into our holy order. I''m bound to my elders and to my leader." Her arms lifted so her sleeves fell enough to reveal more flowers twisting around her wrists. "I fear for my soul in the next life just by being here."

    "Then why are you here?" I offered no hint of compassion or concern for this girl¨Cthis woman, likely¨Cwho looked far too innocent for someone who managed to approach me in another kingdom.

    "I didn''t know they wanted to kill you. They planned to take your power, or at least, that''s what they always said. If I''d known, I could have warned you."

    "So, you were content to watch them steal my power and my kingdom, but not kill me?"

    "Content is not the word I''d choose, Prophet. You know what it is to be bound."

    Nash looked at me over his shoulder before speaking to Cleo. "I''m skeptical that your so-called leaders don''t know you''re here."

    "I''m supposed to spy and report back, not make contact. Normally, I wouldn''t be here alone, but I''m sure it''s no surprise to you that we''re all very busy."

    "They must trust you to send you alone," Nash said.

    "They trust the fear they put in me. Maybe they know I''ll offer help. I don''t think they care, because they do want your power."

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    I thought back to the arrows and shook my head. "They weren''t trying to kill me, were they? The warriors were meant to capture me, but it scared them when I retained some of my power at first. In their fear, they attacked too viciously."

    "Maybe. You nearly didn''t survive. If they did intend to only capture you, this might be considered a catastrophic failure considering you went free and you''re terribly wounded." She gestured to Gael, and I noticed he held a container of what looked like broth. "Here. Give this to Eclipse. This will help you heal faster. I infused it with herbs that will clear the poison from your system more quickly."

    "We''re not giving this to her," Gael said.

    "Let Piercey study it," Cleo said. "I''ve written down what I did as well. He can recreate it."

    "How do we know it won''t actually make her worse?" Piercey took the medicine and lifted it into the light. "If you want to help, tell us everything you know about the weapons and how they can counteract power in the way they do."

    "We learned how to neutralize power and to forge poisoned weapons that spread through your system, negating your power for as long as it¡¯s in you. That''s why it''s important to flush it out, or you may be like this for weeks, especially in your weakened state."

    "Weeks?" At least it wasn''t permanent, if I could even believe Cleo about that. But weeks? I needed to fight as soon as possible.

    "This can help. Study it, at least."

    "Tell us how this poison works," I said. "How is it created?"

    Cleo scratched her nails against her arms. "I can''t tell you that. They may not notice your people recovering a little faster with this broth, but they won''t miss that you''re recreating our weapons."

    Nash swung his blade to rest inches from her face. "Choose who kills you. Your cult when if they find out or me, right now."

    "I have power too. Just because I don''t look strong like you doesn''t mean I''m not."

    "I already defeated you long ago," I said. "Talk, Cleo." Fear oozed from her. She didn''t just look weak. She felt weak.

    "I-I can''t."

    "Did the gods give it to you?" I asked.

    "No. Of course not." She shifted nervously. "We learned from that man with no name, the one who fights for the order of the gods. His powers are unique. It inspired my leaders. That''s all I can say. Anymore and you''ll know too much." The muscles in her jaw bunched. She met Nash''s eyes. "You''ll just have to kill me."

    "Wait, Nash. I want to hear more. Can you at least tell us about Theus? I know he helped you."

    Even though I didn''t actually know that I hoped that she''d believe me.

    "I''m not privy to information on Theus.

    Lies. I didn''t believe that for an instant even though she said it convincingly enough.

    "Your cult worked with him eight years ago. You at least know that."

    "Yes."

    "So, what else do you know?"

    "They''ll kill me."

    Nash stepped closer so the tip of his sword gently dug into her chin. "I will kill you."

    "Look, they are being very secretive. The story is that we broke with Theus after seeing your power. We retreated to grow stronger. I don''t believe it though. We never let go of assets."

    "Is that really all you know?" I asked.

    "Yes. That''s all I know. I''ve told you everything I can. If you kill me, then you kill me. At least I won''t be damned in the next life."

    "I will fight for you in the next life if you support us," I said.

    "You don''t know what they''re capable of doing. Look at this poison. How can you protect me? They never let any of their children go."

    "Is that the reason for the markings?" Piercey worked closer to her, eyeing the tattoos peeking out from her sleeves. "Your people seem to have many interesting uses for power. I sense energy emanating from those markings. What are those?"

    Her fingers circled one wrist as her nervous expression tightened. "Insurance. We''re truly bound. I can never escape them."

    My mind drifted back to her insistence that she''d never escape the cult. "Cleo, I''m not sure of your intentions, but if you think you can stay loyal to them while offering crumbs to us, you''re wrong. We can''t trust you. There''s only so much you can do for us unless you''re willing to prove you want to help."

    "I can''t hurt them."

    "Then you shouldn''t have come here."

    "I told you that I cannot risk betraying my leaders. You sent me to the cabin, and you let me flee when I was afraid the night you killed the world shifter. They''ll show no mercy."

    "I''ve shown mercy to you twice. You showed your face to me a third time and sealed your fate. You''re not leaving here alive."

    She stepped back, trembling from head to toe. "Please, I''m sorry for not coming to you sooner. It wasn''t safe. I only came this time because I worried you may die if I didn''t."

    "Why do you care?"

    "I told you I like you."

    "So come to our side," Nash said. "Piercey is the most advanced healer I know. If anyone can break the bond, it''s him. Let him try."

    "You don''t understand." Her wide eyes even seemed to tremble. "I''m not just afraid of death or what they may do to me in this world. You''ve died, Eclipse. You know its pain, but you know it''s swift." She pressed her fist against her stomach. "I fear what doesn''t end. I fear what they will do to me in the next life."

    "The cult?" I asked breathlessly. "Or the gods?"

    "Is there a difference when one becomes the other?"

    What did she mean?

    "Cleo, please." I leaned forward and cried out from the wave of pain. "You¡­ You need to tell us the truth."

    "I already said too much. You beat Dr. Henderson before. I don''t think anyone can beat them, but you''re the only one I can hope in. You can''t die, Eclipse. "She bit her lip and then looked away as she ripped her sleeve up. Tears poured down her cheeks. "Don''t tell them I showed you," Cleo pleaded. "This brand will follow me into the next life."

    My heart seemed to stop.

    Etched upon her arm, perfect in every terrible detail, was an image of Dr. Henderson.

    My breath escaped my lungs and refused to return. "That''s¡­"

    "There is no defying her," Cleo said.

    "I killed her. She''s not in this world anymore. The gods took everything from her."

    "This isn''t Dr. Henderson." Cleo lowered her sleeve. "Not any more than you''re the person whose consciousness they uploaded. She''s just like us, Max. She''s a seed planted in the world like the rest of us."

    They''d placed Dr. Henderson''s consciousness in our world? We were all supposed to have died as babies in the natural world, not have lived full lives and essentially become gods. Did the supervisor of every world also plant their consciousness in our worlds?

    Cleo''s voice turned gravelly. "She''s always been here, born into our world, and she''ll be in the next life. We''ll never escape her."

    "The gods will never give her power in the next life again."

    "Don''t be a fool." Cleo took in a struggling breath. "You''ve always been too trusting."

    I spoke to Nash through our neural connection. "Don''t let her leave."

    He reached forward then to grab her when she fell out to her knees with an ear piercing shriek.

    "It''s happening¡­ again¡­" A scream tore through the air.

    Nash stared, standing over her with his hand extended.

    Her image flickered¨Cthere and not¨Cdozens of times before my eyes before she just vanished.

    "What the hell?" Nash knelt down and touched the spot where she''d fallen.

    "I don''t like this." I let my head fall back. "This isn''t just war. She''s involved with that security system and now Dr. Henderson is tattooed on her body. How does she even know about her and our seeds of consciousness? No one except for us should know anything about that."

    When Nash turned around, he helped me to lie down. My body seized at the sharp stabs of pain from shifting.

    "We can''t trust her," Nash said. "Who knows what her motivations really are."

    "Dr. Drake would tell me if a version of Dr. Henderson was in the world." I slowly curled in on myself, struggling with my wounds. "She wouldn''t do that to me. She wouldn''t lie to me."

    "It may not be true," Piercey said. "She knows things she shouldn''t. The cult may worship Dr. Henderson, and this is some tactic of psychological warfare against you."

    "Why would they send a scared girl here?" Leif asked. "None of this feels right to me."

    "Who knows if she''s really scared." Gael watched the place where she''d been standing. "We can''t know anything for certain."

    "I know one thing," I said, my voice tense. "I''m confident the cult never stopped working with Theus, even when we defeated him in war. Instead, they went north and created a partnership with more powerful Prophets. All these years they worked together to conspire against our kingdom, and we missed it. Cleo said they never let assets go. That was confirmation."

    "This is why we cannot wait to kill him," Nash said.

    "What if Malach wants us to kill Theus?" Piercey asked. "What if Cleo is leading us into a trap or manipulating us to do Malach''s will for him?"

    I blinked. "Why would Malach want to kill Theus when the partnership of the Flatlanders gives him an ally in Skia Hellig?"

    "I don''t know," Piercey said. "It doesn''t make sense."

    "I''m not sure what this girl''s motives are," I said. "We can''t be so afraid to take action, though. I hesitated to kill Theus because it seemed like the sound decision and look how it turned out."

    "It just worries me how easy it can be to steer our decisions." Piercey inspected the broth again. "If she is trying to help us that''s one thing. If she came to drop breadcrumbs for us to follow, then where is she wanting us to go, and why? We can''t allow Theus to attack us but now is a terrible time to destabilize his kingdom. Perhaps that is all part of Malach''s plan, to use Theus, and then to blow up his kingdom when he knows you won''t want to abandon their people."

    "No matter what Malach wants or intends, we will write our own destiny," Nash said. "Maybe he knows we''ll do this and he''s right that it will create problems for us, but we can face the challenge."

    "Okay." Piercey''s concession shocked me. "If Theus continued to partner with the cult, then I vote in support of killing him. I''ll strategize on how to address his fall. I still think we need to address the other Prophets because of the treaty."

    "I also want to know if Jakob will be on our side," Nash said. "You know a man about you duel him. I served Eskel even as I plotted to kill him. Jakob is unhappy with Theus. We need him as an ally if we can win him over."

    "How do we know if we can trust him?" I asked.

    "We give him a test." Nash leaned back against the wall. "If he helps us kill Theus, then we know his true feelings."

    "He could warn Theus," Piercey said.

    "Let him. It''ll be much harder if he does, but we will still kill him. The risk is worth testing a potential ally."

    "It''s very risky," I said. "Especially while I''m injured."

    "Trust me, Sharpshooter. I''ve fought him already. I don''t think I''m wrong about him and if I am, I will deal with the consequences."

    "Okay. Before we do anything else, though, I need to know if some version of Dr. Henderson is here." I nodded at Piercey. "Take me to the white room. I need to see the gods."

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 141. Encounters

    Here with the gods, I didn''t feel any of the pain or weakness of my injuries. The relief only opened up more of me to feel the wild suspicion swelling into a difficult to control paranoia.

    "Max."

    The clear waters of the Collective once amazed me but now only angered me. I''d watched the water ripple with their voice too many times over the years.

    I breathed out slowly. "I need to see the council."

    "It''s not time. Request an appointment and¨C"

    "Now," I shouted.

    After a brief pause, the Collective spoke in a voice quiet enough to send chills through my body. "You''re not a Prophet here, Eclipse."

    "I don''t care."

    "They agree to see you, but we remind you to watch how you speak to us."

    My eyes snapped up. "I said I don''t care."

    I sensed the unease of the Collective through the subtle fluctuations of the waters and the pauses that they didn''t actually need. Without saying anything else to me, their water began to swirl and shrink, until a woman stood before me. They always chose a different form.

    "Come with me," she said in a smooth voice.

    I walked through the space left empty by the transformation of the Collective and over the barrier that opened up to the council. Everyone gathered already, watching me.

    "Hello, Max," one of the council members said to me. His name was Treyone, and I thought I liked him, though I couldn''t be sure.

    The greeting did not soften my composure. "For too long, you''ve dropped world-shattering levels of fuckery bombs on me, and I''m done. I''m not doing it anymore." With my injuries faded from my body in this place, the devastation and unrelenting rage of what happened to my people coursed through me. I was strong enough to command its flames. "You will tell me the truth today."

    "Or what?" The woman embodying the Collective asked in a gentle voice. "That sounds as if you intend to follow it with a threat."

    "Do you need me to threaten you?"

    "We understand your anger. Watching the recent events through your eyes devastated us. You need someone to fight. If you want that to be us, then so be it. We want to help, though. So why don''t we make this productive."

    "I''m so tired of that. I''m tired of pretending that I don''t deserve your respect because you''re so powerful and ancient. Supposedly so wise. I gave you my life. We''re in this together. So, tell me the truth about my world." Betrayal stung my heart. I didn''t even know I could feel betrayed by them. I thought I expected nothing at this point. "Is Dr. Henderson in my world?"

    Council members looked to one another while the Collective stared at me through pale green eyes. The sadness there looked like too perfect of an imitation of compassion, or maybe I simply couldn''t bring myself to believe what I saw. They didn''t care about us.

    "Dr. Henderson is being rehabilitated," the Collective said. "There is a copy of her consciousness in your world."

    The words ripped the ground out from beneath me. I felt thrust back into every bad dream I''d ever had, doomed to repeat them forever and find they were never simply nightmares at all. "Why?" I covered my mouth. "Why did you put her there? Why didn''t you tell me?"

    "That woman is a part of the experiment just like the rest of you. We didn''t give her special knowledge or treatment. There was no reason to expose you to her."

    "No reason? Some cultist has her face tattooed on her body. The girl said they want to suck my power out of me and become gods."

    "Dr. Henderson''s counterpart did this on her own. We aren''t a part of it, and we were not going to be responsible for your paths crossing. We hoped for you to remain separate."

    "Well, we didn''t. Is she alive?"

    "We don''t believe our meddling will help you."

    "Answer me." I looked at the individual members of the collective. "Dr. Henderson killed me. She ended my world twice. Do you know how it feels to have the love of your life ripped away and destroyed? We lost everything and I remember." I bit my lip. "That''s right, I''m fucking traveling to my past lives, assholes. Without you knowing."

    Several people in the council sighed. Others looked concerned. "How did we miss this?" a woman asked the Collective.

    "She never spoke about it or if she did, she took advantage of the privacy we offer."

    "Will you send your security system to kill me now?" I asked. "Because he taught that cult how to poison us. You might as well finish the job and send him to kill me."

    "You''re lashing out," the collective said. "Don''t you think these are dangerous words?"

    "No, because you''ll never give up your precious camera into my world. You don''t want me dead, or the security system would have killed me when I shifted worlds, or when I gave my friends power. You allowed me to defy your nature without consequence in this life when you didn''t in others."

    "It''s troublesome how much you know," the collective said.

    "And endlessly fascinating for you." I levied it like an accusation.

    "You seem to think of us as evil murderers and scheming psychopaths," the collective said. "So why are you challenging us? Don''t you feel you''re risking your life or the lives of your loved ones?"

    "Does it upset you that I''m not afraid to talk to you?"

    "It upsets us that you feel this way about us."

    I walked closer to the council when usually I kept my distance. "Either you''re going to kill me or you''re not. I don''t believe my words change that. You see me the way I see my thirteen-year-old when she''s mad at me."

    "An apt comparison."

    "What would actually kill me is a true threat, like that I''ll make a mess for you when I join the afterlife. You might do something to me over that."

    The collective did not hesitate. "Then are you threatening us?"

    "No. I wouldn''t waste my life. I''m merely proving a point."

    "Collective," Treyone said. "It doesn''t hurt to address what is troubling her. It''s time to share more about the one she calls a security system." He sat forward, focusing on me now. "We wanted to test a failsafe program so that if the absolute worst happens in the physical world, there is someone who can put a stop to the madness. His order is to only intervene if someone is breaking the world or defying the natural order. We don''t want to create a system that takes too much power."

    "How considerate," I said.

    "Please." The Collective raised a hand to me. "He''s being kind to you."

    "Well, thanks to you and your security system, innocent children are dead. That cult wouldn''t have these poisonous weapons otherwise."

    "I''m sorry," Treyone said. "This is further evidence of how good intentions can create such horrible tragedies."

    The Collective continued for him. "These are the unforeseen consequences that are so important for us to analyze. This is why we needed to test the security system."

    "So do something," I said. "We''re suffering because of you."

    "What can we do?" the Collective asked. "Interfere by introducing more technology to your world that we didn''t intend for you to have?"

    "Isn''t this unnatural?" I asked. "Why isn''t your security system killing his precious cult?"

    The Collective steepled her fingers. "It''s totally within the realm of possibility to create this weapon. It just shouldn''t have come about because of our system."

    "Once again the people with all the power somehow are powerless. You just don''t want to help. Maybe I should threaten you after all. I can''t trust anything you say to me. How many more surprises are you going to throw at me?"

    "There was no reason to tell you about Dr. Henderson''s consciousness," the Collective said. "We are not compelled to share with you things you don''t need to know."

    "You know what," I said. "You explain it to me or I''m revoking the access I give you to my life."

    "Can she do that?" a council member asked.

    "Of course, I can."

    "She makes her own rules now," a man said in an amused voice.

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    "Rights are not given. They are owed." I leveled my look at the Collective. "Take the question to those higher than you. What does the rest of your society say? I was supposed to have the right to privacy, and I waived it to help you. Should I have the right to take that away?"

    "You waived it in exchange for an avatar. It only seems fair that you would lose the avatar if you renege on your part of the agreement."

    "So, you''ll kill me."

    The Collective paused for a moment. "We remember this feeling from our previous lives. This is not a worthwhile fight, is it? We must take the higher road. If you want your right to privacy back, then we will grant it, but we will remember what your word means in the future."

    "Just tell me the fucking truth for once." I ripped my arms to the side in a gesture of frustration. "Not everything needs to be a battle. I only want to know the truth. It hurt. Do you understand that? It hurt to find out."

    Treyone looked down with his eyes closing. "Tell her."

    The council fell entirely silent, so quiet that I knew from experience they spoke to each other where I couldn''t hear or see, like they''d hit pause on this conversation and walked away.

    I ran my hands over my face.

    "Max," the Collective now said. "Go home. Tend to your people. We''re going to discuss and reflect. When you return, we''ll talk."

    "I don''t want to go home without answers."

    The woman smiled. "It''s time to go home."

    <hr>

    Rain pattered against the window and distorted the full leaves of green dancing outside the window in the wind.

    "Can we open it?" I asked.

    "What?" Nash followed my line of sight and then nodded.

    The healer dabbed the melted skin at my side with alcohol while Nash opened the window to the spring rain and the scent of thriving growth that nothing could dampen. Another healer placed a blanket on the ground to catch the water the breeze cast into the room. A thousand knives sawed at my wound with every press of the gauze against my broken skin.

    Nash ran his thumb along the back of my hand and drew my hair back from my shoulders. "Maybe we should try making broth with Cleo''s recipe," he said.

    "No." I dug my nails into his hand as the healer began to wrap the bandage around my midsection. "We don''t understand this poison or what might worsen it. It''s too risky." The fresh air opened my lungs and eased the hurt in my heart like a cooling cloth. "I''m okay."

    "You''re not." The anger etched into Nash''s expression mirrored the way he looked in battle¨Cfocused, determined, and ready to kill. "I can''t stand to see you hurt."

    "Let that strengthen you in battle¡­" I gasped from the pain of the healer separating the gauze on my shoulder from the dried blood clinging to it. "You need to fight for us both today."

    "If anything happens to you¨C"

    "Gael can portal faster than anyone. He''ll be right there, ready to take me away."

    Nash muttered a growl of frustration and turned his sharp stare to the window.

    He''d said he needed time, so even though I opened my mouth to try to soothe the way he felt, I stopped myself.

    After several minutes passed, he spoke quietly. "You don''t have to stay the whole time."

    "Okay."

    "If I ask you to return, will you?"

    I looked up into his eyes, seeing as much pain filling them as gripped my body from my wounds. He really couldn''t stand to see me suffer. "I will."

    "Thank you." Warm lips pressed against my temple. Nash looked over his shoulder at one of the healers who packed my medical supplies. "Extra, please. I want to have plenty in case any of the supplies get ruined."

    If Nash wanted to enter battle so badly wounded, I''d think he was crazy. I knew how much stress I placed on him by doing this. We both needed to be in battle today even if I only watched after the horrific assault on our kingdom. I hoped that he found a way to cope with the anxiety of me joining in my condition.

    Once I endured the painful process of the healers giving me fresh bandages, I rested for an hour to regain my strength. Over the past few hours, Gael helped the poisoned warriors travel here to his kingdom for protection and so that their healers could continue to study them.

    Nash carried me to one of the medical rooms that housed a half dozen of these warriors.

    "Prophet." One of the women whose injuries didn''t appear as severe as many of the others sat up in bed when she saw me. "Please don''t spend your energy on us. We heard of your wounds."

    "I won''t go to every room today," I said from the chair that Nash helped me to ease into. Sitting up hurt so badly. "How are you recovering?"

    "I''m doing well." She looked to several of her comrades, several of whom were not conscious. "Better than most."

    "We will¡­ recover just fine¡­" The commander who spoke did not open his eyes.

    "I''m sorry this happened to you," I said.

    "You too." The woman adjusted the sling on her arm. "We heard there may be a potion."

    "Something like that," Nash said. "It came from an enemy source, so we need to investigate it more before we give it to any of you."

    "Eclipse needs this," the commander who closed his eyes said. "I will try this for her¡­" Though his voice trembled with weakness and pain, the resolve in his hard brow erased any hint of vulnerability. "If I cannot battle, I can do this at least¡­"

    I swallowed down a hard knot of worry. "We don''t know how this could interact with the poison yet."

    "Then we''ll know¡­ won''t we?" His eyes slid open. "This is my duty¡­"

    "I will take it too," the woman said. "Be well in battle, Prophet."

    I detected an admonition in her voice that she didn''t actually speak, because she surely didn''t consider it wise to go in my state.

    "I will. I don''t want you testing anything on yourselves, though. We''ve suffered enough losses."

    "We have said nothing¡­ about you going to battle¡­ So, say nothing of us doing this."

    The commander looked moments away from drifting off. Nash clasped my shoulder and shook his head when I started to speak again. While I knew these warriors, he fought alongside them many times as their War Chief and knew them much better than I did. He likely didn''t want me to dishonor them, but I refused to allow them to hurt themselves. If I took what Cleo offered, then they didn''t need to test it on themselves.

    "You will support our people in battle, and they will support us here by taking the potion." Nash didn''t leave any room for discussion and while I felt tempted to argue with him anyway, I realized that I was doing what I asked him not to do. I didn''t want him to stop me from joining them for battle, so what right did I have to tell our warriors not to help in the only way they felt they could?

    I snapped my mouth shut and shoved the distress down hard.

    "Rest and heal safely," I said. "Thank you for being willing to serve our kingdom while you''re recovering."

    Nash helped me up and started to lift me, but I pressed my hand against his chest to stop him. "I need to try walking."

    "You aren''t ready. Save that for when you really need to."

    I tested my weight on my good leg, shocked by how much the weight of my body pressured my wounds. It''d been a long time since I was hurt so badly, and even longer since I went this long without healing treatments. With my good arm around his waist, I tried to take a step forward, but the slightest weight on my left leg nearly sent me to my knees.

    "I told you," Nash said and scooped me up despite my protests.

    "I need to walk."

    "Quiet." He carried me into the hallway. "You need to be in bed."

    "Nash¨C" My voice died when I saw Elsie walking swiftly toward us.

    "You''re going to battle?" Her voice quivered with anxiety. Reddened eyes stared back at me, a sign that she either cried too much or slept too little. The strength she showed during the attack filled my memory and I weakly reached a hand to her, desperate to hold her close.

    "You''re awake," I said. "Are you okay? We haven''t been able to talk."

    "Am I okay?" She looked up Nash. "Daddy, I don''t want her to go. I don''t want either of you to go."

    Shit.

    "Let''s go back to the room," I said.

    In the greatest act of self-control, I hid the awful pain of Nash lowering me into bed, and I patted the spot beside me. Elsie hesitated before climbing up, looking as angry as she was scared. I pulled her down to lie beside me like she used when she was little. To my surprise, she didn''t protest.

    Nash sat beside her, hand on her arm.

    "You never should have gone through what you did," I said.

    Her father took her hand now. "What happened is not something that happens every day. I know you''re young, so you don''t have much to look back on to compare it to, but this is not something that is going to happen again.

    "You don''t know that." Elsie didn''t look at either of us. She laid against me with her eyes closed and her cheeks damp against me. "I know you and Ma need to fight, but it''s too soon. Can''t we just stay together for a few more days?"

    Her little voice broke my heart. Her legs reached further than they did a few years ago, but she was not long removed from that little girl who used to get scared during storms and climb between us at night, claiming she wanted to protect us, when she just didn''t want to be alone.

    "You''re the bravest girl I''ve ever met," I whispered. "I don''t want to make you be brave again."

    "It''s all different now, isn''t it?" Elsie sniffled. "Things aren''t going back to how they were."

    "This isn''t for you to worry about yet," Nash said. "Your Ma and I have been fighting in wars since before you were born. We know how to do this. We survived all of those battles, and we''ll survive the ones that are coming. Believe in us and don''t be afraid."

    Elsie lifted her face and looked at me. "Ma was dying. I saw all that blood just pouring out of her." Sobs shook her thin shoulders now. "Don''t leave me. I''m not ready."

    Nash drew the girl up and held her in a firm embrace. If I spoke, I didn''t trust my voice not to crack, but he somehow always kept his sounding strong, even when I knew his heart was breaking. "We will never leave you, Elsie." He clasped her head and rocked her gently. "We''re alive today because we''re strong together. We all survived together. I won''t let anyone hurt my baby girl."

    "What about you?" She cried hard against him. "Who will keep you from getting hurt?"

    "You''re too little to remember," he said firmly. "But your Ma and I have faced much worse than this before. You watch our history every year at the ceremony, so you know. Our enemies surprised us, but we won''t be caught off guard again." Nash pulled her face back and wiped her cheeks. "Don''t you know who your Ma and Dad are?"

    Elsie nodded.

    "Then you know not to be afraid."

    "I thought I was a warrior, but I''m just scared." Elsie squeezed her eyes shut. "I was so scared and I''m even more scared now."

    "Warriors are always scared," I said. "I get so scared sometimes, my powers go crazy, and I get sucked away to the past. I''ve been scared my whole life, Elsie. Does that mean I''m not a warrior?"

    "No."

    I scratched her back while her dad continued to hug her. "Warriors don''t surrender to fear, but that doesn''t mean we can''t take a break either." My kingdom needed me in battle so desperately that I subjected Nash to the suffering of seeing me go in this condition. I knew he could handle it. Elsie was still so young, though. And she''d just been through something horrible. "If you need me to take a break and stay home with you, I will."

    Elsie ripped away from Nash and twisted to look at me with wide eyes. "Really?"

    It killed me to say the words because this would hurt our warriors. "Yes. You''re my girl."

    Desperation danced in her eyes. She needed me and she needed time with me after having to stand up to defend us both from death. Slowly, her head lowered and though her cries quieted, they sounded much more guttural than before.

    "Go," Elsie said. Her hands came over her face. "Go protect us like you always have."

    I pushed myself up on my elbows, unable to silence the gasp from the terrible pain stabbing into my body. I didn''t let it stop me though. Nash reached to help me as I forced myself to sit up. I took Elsie into my arms, my weight falling against her, pushing us both against Nash. I needed to hold our daughter and this was the best I could do.

    "I love you." I struggled in a ragged breath and rested my head against hers. "I promise I''m coming home."

    "Me too," Nash said. "I''ll get us home."

    We held Elsie as she cried.

 COVER REVEAL & Pre-Order Announcement

    Ahh!! Friends, we have a cover! I hope you love it as much as I do!

    AND you can pre-order the first book of this series now! Time Thief is available for purchase on Kindle, Audible, and Barnes & Noble. On Friday, it will be available through my favorite indie shop, The Crafty Bookstore.

    It will release on April 29th, so we still have a wait until we can enjoy the edited version and the audiobook. But pre-ordering helps so much with the algorithm and with helping others discover the series.

    The audiobook for Time Thief, the first book of this series, completely blew my mind. I really hope you all check it out. It is available on Audible Plus, so you can listen for FREE if you have that! Woo! I have always dreamed of audiobook, but really thought it would not ever happen. Thank you for helping to make my dreams come true! If you are not able to purchase the audiobook or if you don''t enjoy audiobooks, I hope you will still listen to the preview! I will forever hear Max''s voice in my head as she sounds in the book because the performance is that mind-blowing. It just popped up on Audible today, so I don''t think the preview is up yet, but it will be. You can hear a snippet in the video I linked above the cover too.

    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    I am not revealing the cover or sharing the pre-order link anywhere else until Friday. But because you have spent the last year reading this series and supporting me, I want to share it here early! PLEASE SIGN UP FOR THE GIVEAWAY IF YOU PREORDER. I''m using an honor''s system so no one has to prove they purchased. That seems obnoxious to me. So if you pre-order, just fill out the form to enter for the chance to win a prize. Please only sign up if you did pre-order though.

    If you have not tried Audible Plus yet, you can get a free trial and listen to Time Thief for free!

    Again, thank you to everyone who supported me. And thank you to Podium for producing Time Thief and to Tess Irondale for the incredible performance! Any money that I am able to make from the publication of the Eclipse series will help me to finally get cover art and to have the time to write more series. I really appreciate everyone''s support!

    Remember, the first book stubs on March 15th!

    I will share the cover and pre-order links on reddit and my socials on Friday. I hope you enjoy the early sneak peek!