Stolen Destiny
Author: Jamie Davis
Date: 2017-10-02 04:00:00+00:00
Description: An evil far greater than man has returned, and there's only one person who can heal the world and repair its failing magic. After facing impossible odds and reclaiming Excalibur, Winnie Durham seeks the Lady of the Lake to return the talisman. But the Lady has other plans. “Rise, Guinevere, Queen of Avalon, and take back your blade,” the Lady said. “The time has not yet come for you to return Excalibur. There is more to be done, more for you to do.” Only a descendent of Merlin can answer Excalibur’s call, so Winnie’s quest continues. And the entire world's survival depends on her.
Publisher: Sterling & Stone

Table of Contents

- Stolen Destiny
- Copyright
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Chapter 43
- Chapter 44
- Want to Know What Happens Next?
- About the Author

Table of Contents

Stolen Destiny

Copyright

Stolen Destiny

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Chapter 42

Chapter 43

Chapter 44

Want to Know What Happens Next?

About the Author

Stolen Destiny

by Jamie Davis

Copyright © 2017 by Sterling & Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited.

The authors greatly appreciate you taking the time to read our work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it, to help us spread the word.

Thank you for supporting our work.

CHAPTER 1

Winnie Durham stood at the lake’s edge, looking out over the mist-covered waters. Shores to the left and right were lined with tall trees, bushy with deep, green leaves. She glanced down at her hand, surprised to see the subtle sheen from Excalibur.

Like everything here in this strange bridge between worlds, the sword seemed rooted more in the magical realm than in reality. Looking back over her shoulder in the direction she’d come, Winnie saw a broad field of rolling green hills covered in lush grass and wildflowers. She couldn’t see the crater’s edge, nor the steel mill through which she’d entered this realm.

A whisper of sound drew her attention back to the lake.

Brigid, the Lady of the Lake, was crossing the water towards her, skimming the surface and emerging from the mist as if from yet another unseen place beyond this one.

Winnie waited for Brigid to reach her before she knelt and bowed her head, holding out the sword in offering.

“Rise, Guinevere, Queen of Avalon, and take back your blade,” the Lady said. “The time has not yet come for you to return Excalibur. There is more to be done, more for you to do.”

Winnie stood and lowered the blade to her side again. It was strange. In this place, the blade of steel and gold had almost no weight. She looked down at the blade and back up to Brigid.

“What would you have me do? I retrieved the talisman as you asked. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Brigid smiled at Winnie.

Winnie was warm with a sudden and infinite peace.

“My child, you have done well in the face of impossible odds, but the quest is not complete until the world is set right again. There are still forces of great evil afoot in the realm of man. That evil can undo all that you have accomplished.”

“We can stop Kane. We can expose him, prove that he’s a chanter himself.”

“There is more at play here than one man,” Brigid said. “Kane is a conduit for a far greater evil—an evil that almost consumed the world once before when it toppled the Roman Empire. The world was plunged into darkness. Stare into the mist and I will show you.”

Winnie looked past the Lady to the mist swirling behind her over the glassy water. She thought it odd how the mist swirled and twisted over the water as if winds she couldn’t see or feel pushed it across the lake.

Before she could stop herself, Winnie’s vision shifted and she felt as if she were falling forward into the mist.

She called out, but her cries of alarm faded to nothing when she found herself standing in a marble-walled room full of angry people in strange robes and tunics. Most were armed with swords.

Winnie started to back away from one angry group, shouting at a man sitting on a raised dais in the room’s center.

She stopped when she realized that the people couldn’t see her.

Raising her hand, Winnie realized she was transparent, ethereal in this setting, an observer only.

She listened to the voices calling out to the man on the platform.

“We need more troops from the garrison patrolling the lands to the west.”

“No, I need protection from the Saxons to the north.”

“The lands to the east will fall if we do not turn away the sea raiders landing there.”

The man on the platform called out to calm the people.

“I understand your concerns,” the man said as the group of rioters quieted. “You must understand—Emperor Honorius can send us no help. Rome itself is besieged by the Visigoths. There will be no return of the legions as was foretold. Londinium and the other provincial cities are on our own and must rely on the forces remaining here for our defense.”

The crowd erupted in protests and shouts.

The man on the dais fruitlessly called for quiet again.

A whispered voice behind Winnie caused her to turn and look.

A small group of men and women stood apart from the others, robed in shades of brown and green.

“It is as I feared,” said the balding old man at their center. “The Romans have forsaken our island. If the Britons are to survive this time, we must turn to the old ways for help.”

“Will the Fae answer our call, Merlin?” An ancient, gray-haired woman pushed her way to the front of the crowd. “You said yourself a long time ago that they were loath to offer more than the small magics they entrusted to us already.”

“I believe there is a greater evil afoot here than we knew of before,” Merlin warned. “The Visigoths serve the Fell and they have besieged Rome itself. If the Fell seeks to turn the world to his own ends, perhaps I can convince the Lady to lend us some aid.”

Winnie wanted to hear more of the quiet discussion, but the mist swirled about her again and she found herself in a new place. This place was like the rolling hills at the crater’s center, but somehow, seemed even brighter still, with colors more vivid than she’d ever seen.

Winnie had been standing on the Lady’s shore before, but now she stood on the opposite side, in the land of the Fae.

Brigid stood nearby, speaking in whispers with a small group of three other Fae. Winnie didn’t understand how she knew who the Fae were, but when she looked at them, their identities and connection to the magical realm became clear in her mind.

There was Culann, a smith of great renown among the Fae, the warrior Lugh, and the king-father, Dagda. Winnie arrived mid-argument and stepped closer to hear it.

“You’ve always been soft for that human wizard, Merlin, sister,” Lugh said to Brigid. “He calls and you travel across your Lake to answer his questions.”

“This time, he has concerns that may affect all of us, my brother.” Brigid turned to her father, Dagda. “He says the Fell has attacked the lands governed by our Roman brethren. Their barbarians, the Visigoths, surround the capital as we speak. I sought Diana before I called you both here. She would not or could not answer me. They must be besieged along with their followers in the city. I fear the seven hills will fall and the darkness will cover the lands to the east.”

“But what you ask is dangerous, my daughter. To hand our greatest talisman over to the lands of men … that means releasing our hold over the magic supporting the natural world. What assurances have you that Merlin will return it?”

“I trust him, father,” Brigid said. “He has shown me the scrying himself. He is not lying. If he cannot find a source of great magic to unify the Britons, there will be no way for him to withstand the Fell when he comes for their lands.”

“Bah,” Lugh spat. “If we give Merlin this talisman, he will control our magic, and our best weapon against the Fell and all he can bring to bear against us in the world. If our Roman brethren to the east cannot withstand them, we will stand no chance without it.”

“I will not tell Merlin of that power, nor trust such folly to any human,” Brigid said. “Without the word of command, the talisman summons nothing. It will only serve as a bridge to bring magic to the mundane world. Merlin assures me he will contain the magic to his inner circle, including Morgana and his own son, Fenris. They will not betray us.”

Culann finally spoke. His deep voice perfectly matched his giant arms and colossal shoulders.

“To take the talisman and forge it into a form that the world of men would respect and understand will take considerable work, Brigid. It is difficult to work both the magic and the metal at the same time.”

“I know this, brother, but I fear for the island and for the Fae. If the Fell gains a foothold, then all will be lost no matter what we do later. I will come with you and lend my magic to aid in your forging.”

Again the mist swirled, wrapping the Fae gods until they disappeared.

The air cleared and Winnie found herself in a cave, the heat of a smoldering forge washing over her.

Culann worked the bellows, hunched over the fire, pumping air into the forge with a surge of sparks amid the blazing white coals.

The smith pulled a long, glowing rod from the coals then laid it across the anvil.

Brigid stepped forward and waved her arms over the anvil, invoking the magic to infuse the metal, while her brother hammered the rod into a flat blade with heavy, measured strokes. His titan’s arm delivered ungodly blows. Sweat beaded on Winnie’s brow as she watched the two work.

The newly formed blade was returned to the coals, again and again, then back to the anvil for more pounding and magic.

After many long hours, the two stepped back and Culann dunked the naked blade in a barrel. Steam spewed from the waters.

Both Fae were exhausted but Winnie saw the gleam in Brigid’s eyes when the freshly made blade was drawn from the barrel.

Excalibur’s birth, the great blade, to be given as a gift to the Britons so they might hold back the forces of darkness sweeping the land.

“Take it to Lugh, sister,” Culann said. “He is best at fine metal work. He should fit the hilt and grip to the blade.”

He wrapped the blade in a cloth bundle for Lugh, but hesitated before handing the sword to her.

“What happens if they fail to return the talisman, Brigid? They may succeed in defeating the Fell, but without the magic we cannot sustain the earth as we’re meant to. We are placing the planet’s trust in your man, Merlin.”

“I know, brother. He will not fail us.”

The mist swirled, carrying Winnie away from the pair in the forge

When it cleared, she was back on the Lakeshore.

She looked over to Brigid, standing atop the still waters.

Winnie raised the blade. “Why can’t you take it back from me now?”

“When Merlin’s son, Fenris, overthrew his father and seized control of the power for himself and his followers, the talisman Excalibur passed into his hands. His line must complete the task for which it was made. You must continue your quest, young Guinevere. Defeat the coming evil before the talisman is returned.”

“But I don’t even know what it can do. You have to tell me something.”

“When the time is right, you will know what to ask me,” Brigid said. “Only the right question can lead to Excalibur’s true purpose. Until then, trust in those closest to you. Your friends and companions are strong. And don’t discount your staunchest supporter and ally; she has much to show you if you’ll let her.”

“Who?” Winnie asked. “Cait is gone. Tris is strong, but what can she teach me?”

“You mistake me, my child. Look within yourself. Who has been with you, supporting you from the beginning of your time in this world? Her gentle hand has been guiding you since birth. She is the one to help you see forward.”

Winnie wanted to ask more, but the Lady of the Lake retreated into the mists and back across the water. Considering the Fae’s final words, Winnie thought of her mother and made her way back to the world above.

CHAPTER 2

Elaine watched her daughter climb over the crater’s rim and walk back towards the small group standing on the catwalk in the center of the abandoned steel mill.

She was surprised to see Winnie still holding the sword. That had been the purpose of this visit: it had to be returned to the strange magical creatures dwelling here. Winnie said it would heal the world, repair the failing natural magic.

Something must have gone wrong.

Elaine searched her daughter’s face when she drew near, hoping to glean some clue about what had happened down in the crater.

Winnie stepped from the grassy mound leading up to the catwalk and onto the metal steps. She smiled at her mother and waiting friends.

“The Lady of the Lake told me the sword has a purpose yet to be accomplished. It seems that I have to keep it a bit longer.”

“But we defeated Kane,” Danny said. “We took the talisman, and we have the evidence needed to expose him. He can’t stay in power much longer.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, boy,” Artos said. “I had hoped the Fae would take back the blade and use their considerable power to make things right. But apparently Winnie has been given other instructions.”

“The Lady said greater evil is coming,” Winnie said, nodding. “And we are needed to fight it, with Excalibur.”

“What evil?” Victor asked. “Surely Kane is the one she was talking about.”

“I’m not sure. But I don’t think it’s him, or at least, not just him. She seemed to be talking about something bigger, something we haven’t yet seen.”

“Well, that’s not ominous,” Morgan said.

“There’s nothing more to do here,” Winnie said. “We should head back to the safe house and make plans to ensure Kane is taken down once and for all.”

The group started moving and Elaine wondered where the daughter she’d raised to be a shopkeeper had disappeared to. That girl was now this woman, some said a queen, a leader respected by her followers and feared by her enemies.

Winnie had amassed powers and skills with magic unheard of in modern times, and it all had happened in just eighteen months.

The small group returned to the Baltimore safe house. They’d stay for the night then return to the Pike—the abandoned amusement park near Philly—in the morning. The rest of their central team was still there awaiting their return.

Once the van was parked in the garage, everyone went inside. Winnie lingered and Elaine waited with her. She saw her daughter picking up the cloth-wrapped Excalibur and when she lifted it, it seemed to Elaine as if the world’s weight fell right on Winnie.

“Let me carry that for you,,” Elaine said, stepping forward. “It’s not that heavy and it will give me something to do.”

“I can’t, Mom.”

“What did the Lady of the Lake say to you, exactly?” Elaine looked into Winnie’s eyes, wondering if her daughter could see how she longed to connect.

“She told me the job wasn’t finished.” Winnie hugged the bundle to her chest and tears filled her eyes. “I thought that getting the talisman, this sword, and having the information to expose Kane would be enough. I thought I’d be done with this, Mom.”

Elaine reached out and pulled her daughter into an embrace.

They held each other for a long while, and Elaine wondered what she could say or do that might lift her daughter’s spirits.

Sure, she was this movement’s leader, and a powerful one at that, but in this moment, Winnie was her baby girl, same as always. Elaine held her tighter, squeezed her hard before leaning back, holding her at arm’s length and examining her tear-streaked face.

“You’re not alone in this, Winnie. I’m here and you have all your other friends and followers behind you. This is something we can do together.”

“But we barely escaped Kane the last time. I don’t want anyone else to be hurt or die following my orders. I can’t take that again.”

“Cait died trying to do something she believed in. She followed you because you were the leader, but she really followed your cause. She died doing the right thing.”

Elaine paused searching for words to soothe her daughter’s wounded soul. Then she swallowed and went right on doing what she’d always done.

“So many people have died because of Kane. Most of them died for his greed and pride. You have given people something better to risk their lives for. You’ve given them hope for a better tomorrow, and for a better planet to spend it on. I’m so proud of you for that.”

“But you’ve never liked the things I’ve done since the shop was shut down. You made it clear I was doing the wrong thing. On several occasions.”

“And I was wrong.” Elaine surprised herself. “Wrong, Winnie. I see that now. Everything you did for the past year and a half, you did it to help me and others you care about. There is nothing wrong with doing what must be done to help others.”

“It’s never been enough, though. There’s always one more thing I have to do. I’m so tired of it all.”

“I know. But now, more than ever before, you have people who will stand behind and beside you. Especially me.”

Elaine smiled. Winnie almost looked like a mirror to her past.

“That’s better,” Elaine said.

“Why are you here?”

“Maybe it’s because I see you working towards something bigger than either of us. I’ve also been feeling better than I have in years, ever since I started helping with the twins. You know I haven’t been taking my medicine for a few weeks now?”

“I didn’t know that. Did we run out? I’m sure I can get Cricket or one of the others to find a supply. Your rheumatoid is crippling without it.”

“Maybe not,” Elaine said. “I’ve been able to help some of the others learn what the twins are doing. Some of what they’re doing with their flows … I think I can replicate some of it. My hands are too twisted for the most intricate work, but I can definitely handle much of it.”

“That’s wonderful, Mom! It’s been years since you’ve been able to do more than the simplest magic.”

“I agree. And it feels right, like I’m  finally working in the right direction, if that makes any sense.”

Winnie reached out and took her mother’s gnarled hands.

She let her look, though Elaine was normally self-conscious about them. She enjoyed feeling her daughter’s gentle touch as she turned them over, pressing them between her warm palms.

“They look different. Have you noticed that your fingers have straightened some?”

“Maybe a little.” Elaine had thought it might be a result of her exercises.

“We should look into this. Maybe there are some healing properties to the twins’ magic. And if that’s true, perhaps that magic can heal the world.”

Winnie’s earlier sorrow was swapped by her sudden enthusiasm at possibly discovering something new. Her eyes seemed to get ten times brighter.

Elaine waited for Winnie’s wheels to finish turning. This was the inquisitive daughter she remembered. The one who always tried new things, and experimented with new ways to use her magic in and around the shop.

It was wonderful to see that sparkle back in her eyes.

“Winnie, I’ll show you some of what I’ve been working on with Jacob and Fiona. Those kids are remarkable. They don’t know what they can’t do, so they assume they can just do anything.” Elaine smiled, reached up to brush a stray stand of hair from Winnie’s face. “Reminds me of you when you were younger. You never took no for an answer, and if I told you that something couldn’t be done, you usually found a way to prove me wrong.”

“I can’t wait to get back to the Pike and see what you’ve learned and what they can do. I’ve been so preoccupied with planning.” Winnie took her mother’s hand and smiled at her. “I’m so glad we had some time to talk. It’s the first thing that’s felt normal in a long time.”

Elaine smiled and nodded. She started to pull her daughter into a hug, but Winnie stopped her.

“I have to know one thing more, Mom. Something Kane told me in his office. I’ve tried to find a way to bring it up, but the words don’t come.”

“Just ask me, Winnie.”

“Kane called me his daughter. I thought maybe he was trying to get into my head and stall me with another lie. But it isn’t a trick, is it?”

Elaine froze.

She’d wanted to tell Winnie about her father for so long.

But every time she considered it, Kane would crack down on chanters with another resolution from the Assembly, or say something awful about chanters in the news.

She’d never had the courage to tell Winnie that her father was a monster.

“I knew him a long time ago when he wasn’t as—driven as he is now. By the time I realized how twisted he really was, it was too late. I was already pregnant, even though I didn’t know it. Then he disappeared. I met Morgan’s father and it made sense to let you think that he was your father, too.”

Elaine paused, looked at her daughter, eyes pleading. “Do you hate me for not telling you?”

“I should. And I’m angry that I had to find out the way I did.” Winnie turned her eyes to the sunset.

Elaine gently took her arm and pulled her back around. “I did the best I could do with the little I knew. For years, I thought your father was dead. By the time he showed up on the national scene, as an assistant director at the Department of Magical Containment, you already thought of Morgan’s dad as your own. It was too late to go back. I never expected any of this to happen, or for you to directly confront Kane.”

“You should have found a way to tell me. I deserved better.”

“If I had it to do over, of course I would do it differently. Better,” Elaine said. “But right now all I can say is I’m sorry.”

Before Winnie could answer, a voice from the house interrupted.

“Dinner!” Danny yelled into the garage. “You two should eat.”

“Be right there.” Winnie looked at Elaine. “We should eat, then rest. We’re leaving for the Pike before sunrise.”

“Lead the way,” Elaine said.

Despite the awkward moment, it felt right to say those words to Winnie.

Elaine was behind her now, in a way she’d never been.

This young woman had taken on the world and won every hard fight so far.

She was worthy of being followed.

CHAPTER 3

Maria DeSantos raised her glass before taking a sip.

“Here’s to being out from under that bastard Kane’s thumb,” she said. “I swear Artos, you have no idea what it was like working for a monster like that every day for a decade.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, my dear. I knew or suspected who and what he was capable of the entire time. That’s why I trained you for the job.”

“You should have let me put a bullet in his brain years ago.”

“We would have created a martyr. Then someone else would have claimed his cause and adopted his secrets. I couldn’t risk an unknown person discovering what Kane knew and using that knowledge against us.”

“You know best, I suppose.” Maria sat in a comfortable leather-bound chair. “Unfortunately, there’s no way to know what he’s up to now. We’re moving blind.”

“Which is why we must work quickly to expose him: undermine his authority as soon as possible.”

“You have a plan for that, too, I’m sure.”

“Nothing that has my full confidence.” Artos sighed. “Nils Kane has stayed a step ahead of us, despite the information you managed to slip to me. He knows we’ll do something to expose him. I want to move quickly to discredit him but—”

“You’re afraid we’ll release something that he’ll be ready to counter. He has people everywhere in the media. If we put out a random video somewhere, or leak some of what we have to sources in the news, he’ll assert his control to either discredit or crush it.”

“Exactly,” Artos said.

“I don’t suppose your Winnie Durham can work some sort of magical solution, so that the information appears everywhere at once?”

“Magic like that would take more power that any one individual has ever possessed. Not even Winnie could ever hope to do something like that.”

“That sword has power. Can’t that be used in some way?” Maria asked.

“It’s a powerful talisman, but even I don’t know its full powers or purpose. I thought Winnie was supposed to return it to the Fae, and that they would take it from there. But apparently the Fae have other plans.”

“I could assemble a strike team and raid the State Media’s central broadcast headquarters. We’d have a limited window, but we could use the nation’s emergency broadcast systems to distribute the video evidence all at once.”

“I imagine that Kane would expect something like that,” Artos said. “You might be able to fight your way in, but you’d never get yourself or your team back out again. It would be suicide. Your face is plastered in every police station around the country right now. You’re public enemy number two, right behind Winnie.”

“You’re right.” Maria sipped her bourbon and considered the problem.

Artos was a devious character, but he didn’t hold a candle to what she was capable of. He was too old school. Set in his ways.

It was time to start over.

“Maybe we’re going about this in the wrong way.”

“What do you mean?” Artos asked. “If we don’t expose Kane quickly he’ll surely counterattack with everything he’s got. We have to discredit him.”

“Let’s start over. Look at this from a fresh perspective.”

“I’m listening,” Artos said.

Maria stood, went to the bar, and poured herself some more bourbon. She sipped, organizing the problem in her mind.

“We have video proof that Kane is a powerful chanter.”

“Agreed … ” Artos said.

“We have him admitting his deception in his own words.” Maria paced, ticking off points. “We need to show Kane doing the very thing he’s blamed chanters of over and over; expose him as the hypocrite he is. We need to show how his actions hurt everyone—not just chanters, but everyone.”

“Go on … ”

“I think I know what we can do, but it’s going to be expensive. We can’t trust that this will go viral on its own. We have to push it ourselves. And that won’t be cheap.”

“With the right message, I can get Winnie to lean on the other bosses, get them to pitch in.”

“This is the right message,” Maria said, smiling. “The one that will change everything.”

“Then let’s get to work.” It had been a while, but Artos finally smiled. “Tell me what you need and I’ll gather the resources for you.”

Maria smirked, knowing exactly how much Kane was going to hate this.

———

Nils Kane slapped a palm on his desk.

The Red Leg security captain and the senior chief inspector jumped in their chairs.

“How can the woman just slip through your fingers like that?” Kane let his fury wash over them. “You not only let Winnie Durham escape the building with illegal video surveillance footage from within my office and a very valuable artifact from my personal collection, but you failed to find out that my secretary was plotting against me.”

“Sir,” the security captain said, “I assure you, I’ve gone back over every aspect of Maria DeSantos’s background and security checks over the last ten years since she started working for you. There are no red flags. It’s like she decided to stage this coup at the last minute.”

“Except she didn’t stage this at the last minute, did she, Captain? She had security teams of her own in place within the building’s forces. That doesn’t happen overnight. How did they pass your security oversight?”

“There’s no excuse for the lapse, sir. I can only tell you that we’ve been unable to find any evidence that would’ve flagged any of these individuals beforehand.”

Kane paused, letting the men squirm before fixing his gaze on the inspector.

“And you … you’re supposed to be the one person who can lock down this capital so that no one gets in or out without your say-so. And yet Durham and her entire band left as though it was nothing, with all of the traitors marching behind her.”

“It seems, sir, that they compromised the internal systems to escape the building. Knowledge of our search patterns and resources probably let them slip past any dragnet we put in place to catch them.”

“Maybe they’re still inside the city, sir,” the security captain suggested. “If they never left then that could explain why we haven’t caught them.”

“We know they got out of the city,” the inspector said, countering his colleague’s suggestion. “My team has video of Durham and several others leaving a train in Baltimore just after midnight the day after the raid.”

“Were you able to follow up on the Baltimore lead, inspector?”

“We didn’t know about it immediately, sir,” the chief inspector replied. “It took us 48 hours to hack into the Baltimore field office after we discovered Victor Holmes’s part in all of this. It seems that officer Morgan Bennett was part of the ploy to infiltrate the capital as well. She created a lockout program from her workstation in Baltimore that foiled the facial recognition programs. By the time we managed to run them, all the evidence and trace of their passage was too cold for a follow-up.”

“So we have nothing to show for the enemy’s assault on our headquarters.” Kane said. “Nothing at all?”

“We know they have the video footage you told us about,” the chief inspector continued. “And we’ve implemented an ongoing search on the Internet to purge viral sharing of anything with your face or name. We’ve also contacted producers and publishers in all the major outlets to be on the lookout for anonymous submissions, and to pull them from rotation should they appear.”

“So you’re confident there’s no way for them to release this footage in the normal media or Internet channels.”

“That’s correct, sir. It’s all locked down.”

CHAPTER 4

Winnie sat eating breakfast with Danny, listening intently to the conversations all around her. They were back at the Pike, the entire team still reveling in last week’s success. Two of Garraldi’s security team members—a man and a woman—sat one table over, oblivious to Winnie.

“I’m telling you, the boss knew all along what was going to happen,” said the man. “That’s why she had the backup security team in place.”

“Then why didn’t she tell us about the trap if she knew all along?” the woman countered. “She could’ve told us there was a backup.”

“Then she would have exposed her forces on the inside,” the man insisted.

“It was a closer call then we needed. We almost got caught, and then where would we be? In those camps with everyone else, or worse.”

“Well I’d rather be on the boss’s side than against her. I’m telling you, there’s more to her than meets the eye.”

“You’re sweet on her,” said the woman. “She’s a cute girl and so you’ll follow her like a dog.”

“What’s your excuse? You’re still here. And I’ve heard you telling everyone how you’d follow her through Hell and back.”

“That’s because I judge her based on ability, grit, and determination. Winnie gets the job done and respects all of us enough to let us do our jobs, too. That’s why. Come on; we’re finished here. It’s time to work. Garraldi will have our hides if the weapons locker goes unchecked this morning.”

The woman picked up her tray and the man joined her, both of them taking their trays to the kitchen. Winnie watched them go.

She shook her head and Danny laughed.

“Don’t get upset, Win. They’d do anything you asked. That’s a good thing.”

“It makes me uncomfortable. Everyone is relying on me to know what to do next, believing that I’ll just manage to keep us all safe. I wonder what they’d say if I told them I’ve been making it all up as I go along.”

“They’d probably be impressed with your instincts,” Danny said. “Seriously, Winnie, accept the accolades. You’re this team’s leader and we need to believe in you. For this to work, you need to believe in you, too.”

“We don’t have time for that. We have to take Kane down. I’ve been waiting for Artos to send me word on his big plan to discredit Kane. But it’s been five days since the raid and I haven’t heard a thing.”

“Patience, Winnie. He’s never let us down before. He’ll be in touch soon.”

Garraldi and Tris entered the large garage bay they used as a cafeteria and meeting room.

“Hey, guys,” Winnie said. “Have you already eaten?”

“We ate earlier,” Tris said. “We came to tell you that someone just passed the park’s outer gates. She knew the passcode, but the guard didn’t recognize her.”

“Is she headed this way?” Danny asked. “Should we be worried?”

Garraldi shook his head. “I don’t think so. It’s probably a messenger.”

Winnie pushed her empty plate back and stood from the table. “Let’s go and see our visitor. It will be nice to have a new face to look at.”

Danny jumped up to join her and they both headed toward the exit. Garraldi and Tris fell in behind them. Garraldi motioned for a few of his security members to follow.

By the time Winnie and the others were standing in the lot outside the park’s maintenance building, she had a full security detail around her.

A blue sports car circled the lot on the far side then pulled up to the group waiting outside the building. The windows were tinted so Winnie couldn’t make out the driver’s face until the door opened.

Winnie didn’t recognize the woman at first. She climbed out of the car dressed in a full-body black jumpsuit and twin shoulder holsters in plain view. The woman crossed the lot toward them with a warrior’s gait.

Recognition dawned on Winnie: Maria DeSantos, the woman who’d rescued them in Kane’s office back at the capital. But then she’d been dressed in a secretary’s business suit and skirt at the time with her long hair up in a bun.

“Hello, Maria.” Winnie stepped forward and shook the woman’s hand. “I haven’t had a chance to properly thank you for aiding our escape.”

“I’m glad I was able to get there in time,” Maria said. “It’s been a long decade working for that bastard. I’m happy to be out from under his thumb.”

“We weren’t expecting you,” Danny said. “I wish Artos had called to tell us you were coming.”

“It was a last minute decision,” Maria replied. “I finished the Kane video we’re releasing and wanted to show you all in person rather than risk putting it out on the net just yet.”

“We’ve been wondering what was happening with the footage you got of Kane and his powers,” Winnie said. “I’m dying to see what you and Artos have come up with.”

With the video released, Kane would be forced to step down and admit his deception to the world. It all might be over soon. Then she and Danny could return to their normal lives, if they could even remember what that was.

Maria produced a small data chip drive from her pocket. “Shall we all have a look?”

“Come with us,” Winnie said. “Let’s get you a laptop.”

The group went back inside the central maintenance building and then to their temporary office and operations center.

Tris held out her hand and Maria filled it with the data chip.

Tris plugged the chip into her computer and Winnie sat in front of the large monitor. Maria pulled up a chair and sat beside her. Danny sat on the other side and Garraldi leaned against the wall.

Tris sat on the desk’s corner, finger poised over the spacebar.

She tapped her finger once, then the screen went black.

A series of images began to play.

A man spoke in a French accent.

“It was devastation on a scale we had never seen. Everything fell apart. We had no food, no water, no electricity. When the magic stopped working, everything stopped working.”

The images continued, depicting the desolation of the European collapse nearly thirty years before. Winnie saw familiar scenes of bodies stacked in the street for the disposal trucks to gather as disease and famine swept the continent.

Another voice, this time a British female.

“We had to fight our way through the riots and dust storms. We had to fight each other just to survive. I had a singular thought: getting my children to the coast and onto one of the ships carrying refugees to the Americas. We barely made it. I lost my parents, my husband, and my youngest child. In the end, only three of us made it to safety.”

The next set of images displayed the faces of children lined up for processing to board one of the refugee ships leaving Europe. Vacant stares and gaunt features filled with fear and desperation.

A new voice, deep and American.

“The magic failed when they abused its power, using too much until it was gone. European leaders sent this message to the United American government: Shepherd your magic resources carefully and find a way to use less. But those leaders failed us. And the abuse of power continued.”

The images of Europe were replaced with video footage of Nils Kane calling for the round-up of all Chanters as enemies of the people who couldn’t be trusted.

Then the video cut to the scene of Kane in his office laughing with a prominent Assembly Senator.

“Once we have all the magic for ourselves,” he said, “no one will be able to stop us.”

Another cut—Kane facing off against Winnie just five days earlier, clearly wielding powerful magic, directing a series of flows to grab Cricket and slam him to his office floor.

“Are there any more traitors in there, my dear?” Kane called. He brushed aside her magical assault then spoke again. “My dear, you can never best me at battle. I’m much more accomplished at my use of magic than you.”

Winnie watched the screen, amazed to see the battle in Kane’s office from a new angle. Kane hit her repeatedly, with powerful strikes she barely shielded herself from.

The screen froze on a close up of Kane, his face twisted with rage as magic streamed from his outstretched hands towards Winnie.

The American voiceover started again, now over the still of Kane.

“Our leaders have led us to believe that chanter neighbors are to blame for the power failures and storms. But Nils Kane never told us it was him all along, creating the devastation so he could keep all of the magic for himself. Stop this man before it’s too late. Contact your senators in the Assembly today and tell them you want Kane removed.

A single graphic appeared over Kane’s image. It read, Stop Kane.

Maria leaned forward and tapped the space bar.

The screen went black then returned to the home screen.

“Well, what do you think?”

“You made your own news story,” Winnie observed. “Won’t the media balk at playing a story you wrote for them?”

“We’re not putting this on the news,” Maria said. “Kane controls all the outlets anyway. They’d bury the story or turn it against us. We have a different release model in mind to navigate around Kane’s expectations.

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at, Maria,” Danny said. “If you don’t put it on the news, you’ll never reach enough people. You can’t just put it out there and expect everyone to share it. You can’t plan for a video to go viral when Kane controls the Internet, same as the news stations.”

Maria smiled. “That’s why we release it as an ad for a new documentary.”

“A what?” Winnie said, not understanding.

“A commercial,” Maria said. “We buy a full ad blitz on every channel and station out there. Saturate the market before Kane knows what hit him.”

“But that’s … ” Winnie started.

“That’s what?” Maria said, sounding defensive.

Winnie looked at the computer and thought about what she’d just watched. A broad smile found her lips. “That’s pure genius,” she said. “It’s perfect.”

CHAPTER 5

The biggest trick to getting their anti-Kane commercial to play everywhere was to gather the funds to buy out all the advertising time on every station in the country.

It was absurdly expensive, more even than Winnie had expected.

She spent the better part of the next three days on the phone and in video conferences with the nation’s network of Sable bosses, starting with those who’d already sworn their allegiance.

Cleaver Yorke understood the stakes immediately. He pledged all the funds he could lay his hands on to support the campaign.

Next came Colten Sico. He was more reticent to part with his hard-earned reserves. She met with him in his warehouse hideout in South Philly.

“Winnie, I need that money to pay off the local Red Legs so they stop looking for me and what little crew I have left. If I’m not careful, they’ll round us up and throw us all in a camp. They’ll catch you, too. I’ve been paying the Red Legs who patrol the Pike area to ignore the activity there.”

“If you don’t pay for this now, you’ll end up pissing all your money away in dribs and drabs until you can’t pay them off anymore,” Winnie said. “Then they’ll pick you up anyway. This is the only plan that has a chance of succeeding. We have the goods on Kane and we have to use it now before he has a chance to recover. Spend the money now or lose it all later.”

“Are you making this argument to all of the bosses?” Colten asked.

“Yes. Cleaver and Artos are in. You’re next, then I call Izzy in Chicago and Tyson Bizzell in Atlanta. Once I have them, the rest of the country’s bosses will follow.” Winnie pointed to the laptop. “That video is our best chance of getting rid of Kane, but only if everyone goes in at once. We need the people outraged and calling their senators.”

“People have tried to get rid of Kane before, Winnie,” said the elderly Sable boss. “You’re young. You haven’t watched his rise to power. Twenty years ago, he was just a local Red Leg here in Philly. Incorruptible. Always turning in his fellow officers on the take. I tried more than once to pay him off. It never worked.”

“That’s because he had his eyes on end, right from the beginning,” Winnie said. “He always aspired to be Director of the Department of Magical Containment. But that’s what makes him vulnerable. He’s surely made enemies on his way up. If they smell blood in the water, the sharks will circle to pull him under. We only have to show the resolve and commitment to get it started.”

Sico tilted back in his desk chair, staring at the ceiling before finally turning to Winnie.  “Alright. I’m in. Let’s finish this monster once and for all.”

Once Winnie had Artos, Cleaver, and Colten in her corner, the rest of the bosses fell in line with few objections. They were all set to release the videos nationwide, hitting all the networks during primetime so they’d capture the attention of biggest population at once. The ads would run on every channel during every break throughout the next evening from eight to ten o’clock.

The next day, everyone at the Pike was waiting, anticipating national reaction. Some thought that the commercials would work as planned, others were afraid that they’d be received as fake video and people would deny the evidence against Kane. Winnie had concerns but she kept them to herself.

They watched the evening prime-time dramas on multiple televisions set up in the makeshift cafeteria. The assembled crew clustered around the various screens, discussing the video segments every time one came on. The question was always the same: What would the public reaction ultimately be?

By the time the eleven o’clock news rolled around, they had their answer.

The lead story was the accusations against Kane. Despite his control over the news media, they had to run the story.

Switchboards were blowing up in the senator’s offices across the country and the Assembly president had called a special session for the following day.

Winnie switched channels, trying to watch much of the coverage at once. Hers was the largest cluster in the room since she had the largest screen. Danny, Victor and Morgan, Elaine, Tris, Maria, and Garraldi all stood around her, watching coverage of the public reaction unfold.

Every anchor was calling for Kane to respond to the accusations, answer the allegations that he was a chanter himself as shown in the video. Winnie’s crew cheered whenever a portion of the video was played, each time showing Kane casting spells against Winnie and her friends.

For the most part, the videos worked exactly as Maria had planned when putting the footage together. Interviews with angry citizens who’d taken to the streets after the ads started playing showed how that anger was directed right at Kane himself. One man in the Philly interviews said that Kane should be arrested immediately and put on trial for treason for the destruction of Boston and for the dust storms still plaguing the cities daily.

Winnie reached out and put a hand on Maria’s shoulder. “You did it. Everything worked just like you said.”

Maria shrugged, smiling. “I hoped for some level of outrage, but I’ll admit that I never expected this kind of coverage. The news channels are all in Kane’s pocket. It must be the Assembly members calling for a special session and the president agreeing that’s emboldened them to turn against him.”

“There are still plenty of citizens supporting the status quo,” Danny said. “I’ve seen several interviews with people on the street who are siding with Kane despite the evidence. I don’t understand how.”

“You can’t expect everyone to believe it based on a single night’s push,” Maria explained. “Kane’s been in power too long for an overnight defeat. And he’ll always have supporters among those distrust chanters no matter what, just because they’re different. They’ll look at the video and conclude that it’s all faked, created with special effects.”

“As long as it makes people question Kane’s moves and motives, that’s all I care about,” Winnie said. “The rest will come soon enough. The Assembly will have to carefully consider the evidence against him. The truth will come out.”

Tris shook her head. “I hope you’re right, Winnie. But we’ve all seen Kane stay one step ahead of us one too many times to—”

Maria laughed aloud and everyone turned.

“What’s so funny?” Tris asked.

“I wish I still had that hidden camera in Kane’s office,” Maria said. “I ‘d give anything to see the look on his face right now.”

“You think he’s watching all of this live?” Garraldi asked. “If I was him, and I saw all my dreams crashing down around me, I’d be headed out of town.”

“But Kane has nowhere to go,” Maria said. “He’s arguably the most recognizable face in the country. These commercial segments and the news coverage are all over the place. Where could he hide if he wanted to?”

“So we’ve got him,” Winnie said. “He can’t fight back. His only choice is to face the music.”

“He’s cornered,” Elaine said. “Not defeated.”

“But he must know he can’t keep going. Not in the face of this!” Winnie pointed to the screen, now showing demonstrators taking to the streets across the country.

“Look carefully,” Elaine said. “Danny said it earlier. There are counter demonstrations, too. There are still people who support Kane. I know this man, or at least his younger self. He’s always been driven to succeed at all costs.”

Winnie’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out, looked at the screen, and saw an unfamiliar number. She answered anyway.

“Hello? May I ask who’s calling?”

“Hello, this is Vickie Verdana from KUA-TV. Is this Winnie Durham?”

“How did you get this number?” Winnie asked.

“Artos Merrilyn was kind enough to share it with me. I’m a friend of Maria DeSantos.”

Winnie muted her phone and looked at Maria. “Do you know a Vickie Verdana? She said that Artos gave her my number.”

“She’s a reporter friend of mine,” Maria nodded. “We grew up together in the capital. She’s trustworthy. Vickie helped me come up with the idea of buying commercial time rather than going through the standard channels.”

“What do I say to her? I don’t want to talk to the news.”

“Just answer her questions,” Maria replied. “Vickie’s one of the good ones. She’s probably calling because she thinks interviewing you will help our cause.”

Winnie’s finger trembled as she tapped her phone and reconnected with Vickie. “Hello. Uh, yes, this is Winnie Durham.”

“Winnie, I’m so glad to talk with you in person. I’m going to connect you live to our studio so our viewers can hear you directly. Is that alright?”

“I guess so,” Winnie said.

This was all happening so fast.

There was a click on the other end of the line and the sound changed.

Winnie heard a man’s voice—the deep baritone voice of a seasoned newscaster. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place the name.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, our own Vickie Verdana has connected us with the remarkable woman seen on the video we’ve been playing over and over tonight. Winnie Durham, this is Hal Henderson here a KUA-TV in the nation’s capital. Can you verify that Director Kane attacked you? Is Nils Kane a chanter?”

“Uh, yes, Hal. Director Kane attacked me and my friends with magic just a few days ago. And yes, he’s always been a chanter. My friends and I were in his office trying to find evidence to expose him and his genocidal plans for all chanters when he unleashed his assault on us.”

“Genocidal plans?” Hal repeated. “Those are alarming claims, Ms. Durham. Do you have anything to back them up?”

“I do. You and your audience have all seen the video. I also plan to release the full plans for the so-called ‘safety camps’ which are, in fact, death camps intended to slowly drain all magic from every chanter, killing them all.”

Winnie’s anxiety drained away as she continued the interview. The reporter asked an endless battery of questions about her evidence.

Winnie answered them all. By the time she was done, Maria had emailed copies of all their evidence against Kane to her Vickie. The anchorman, Hal Henderson, promised to continue investigating the story.

She killed the call and looked at her friends. Some in the room had been watching the interview live on their televisions.

A few of her followers cheered.

Winnie looked around at her closest friends and smiled. “Let’s see Nils Kane weasel out from under that avalanche.”

CHAPTER 6

“That bitch. That conniving little bitch and her friends have gone too far!”

Kane picked up a small crystal award he’d received from some civic organization and hurled it at the large flat-screen monitor mounted on the wall of his office.

The screen cracked under the blow but that backstabbing cretin Hal Henderson kept talking.

“Nils, you have to calm down. This isn’t the end of the world,” said Jane Margolis, Director of the Bureau of Magical Research.

“You have no idea how the public will respond. These demonstrations are only the beginning.”

Nils had dinner plans with Jane earlier in the evening when the video commercials first started airing. A reporter approached him for a comment.

Nils said that he had nothing to say, then he and Jane left the restaurant to watch the news from his office.

“I should have killed that girl when I had the chance a year and half ago.”

“You tried,” Jane reminded him. “Remember? She destroyed version one of the Harvester. You’ve underestimated this young lady and she’s made you pay for it along the way.”

“Thank you for your insightful analysis, my dear,” Kane sneered. If he didn’t need Jane and her department’s research into magical fields and storage, he’d have kicked her to the curb a long time ago.

The door at the far end of his office opened and his new assistant entered.

The new secretary’s arrival reminded him of Maria’s betrayal and stoked the fires inside him. The new assistant was wearing the uniform of a Red Leg clerk. She’d been a mailroom orderly a few days before.

“Director Kane,” she said, bowing as she approached his desk. “I have received another call from the Assembly president. He’d like you to return his call immediately. He wants to know what to do.”

“Bah,” Kane waved a careless hand. “Put him through.”

“Be careful what you say, Nils,” Jane cautioned. “The president will be under tremendous pressure from his constituents and the rest of the senators.”

“I don’t care, Jane. He wanted his job and my support when he ran for the position. Now it’s time to pay up. He can stand by me or I’ll have his head. I know where the bodies are buried around here, and exactly what’s in everyone’s closet. The president is no exception.”

The secretary left to re-route the call. A moment later, the phone rang on his desk.

“Hello, Mr. President,” Kane answered. “How may I help you?”

“Have you been watching the news? Have you seen what they’re saying?”

“Of course,” Kane replied. “I assure you, it’s all manufactured. I am starting an investigation into chanter sympathizers within the networks. There is no other explanation for the irresponsible nature of the videos.”

Kane’s key Red Legs were responding to the demonstrations with local police, and most weren’t returning his calls. That could be because they were busy heading off riots, or because they believed the video and were disassociating themselves. Right now Nils had no way to know which it was.

“Director, I have no choice. I must order the Assembly to return from their recess for a special hearing. People are clamoring for answers, and the senators want them, too. They want to know what you’ve been up to.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit, Mr. President. You have a choice. Control your people. Make them step up and do the right thing. This is a ploy to get you all to turn against me.”

“Nils, you know how this works. People are up in arms. If we don’t respond, we’re out of office.”

“You forget who put you in that office to begin with, Daniel.” Nils was tired of playing games. “I got you into your first senatorial position because you knew how to listen and follow instructions. If you can no longer do that, I’ll have to put my backing behind someone else. Perhaps a no-confidence vote might be due.”

“Threaten all you want, Nils. It doesn’t change the facts. People want an explanation. I want an explanation. You can’t explain all of what I saw in that video away with some sort of special-effects story line. You’ve been hiding your true nature from me and the voters.” The President’s voice bordered a low grows. “It’s time we had a full accounting.”

Nils hung up without an answer, then threw the phone across the room.

He wished he was face-to-face with the man.

He’d show the president what an accounting could look like.

Jane cleared her throat, reminding Nils that he wasn’t alone.

He turned his glare on her and she flinched.

Good. She should be afraid.

They all should be.

He’d been holding back, playing by the rules for the most part.

Not anymore.

It was time to move things along.

“Give me your phone,” Nils ordered.

Jane fished inside her purse and pulled out her smartphone. “Who are you calling? Maybe you should wait until you’re … ”

“I’m what?” Nils snapped. “Under control? Not on the verge of losing my temper? It’s too late for that. If they want to turn on me as soon as things get a difficult, so be it. I don’t need them. Give me your phone.”

Kane held out his hand, waiting.

Jane unlocked the screen and handed it over.

Nils dialed a number he’d committed to memory a long time ago, then waited while the phone rang several times. He was about to hang up when someone finally answered.

“Hello,” said a man’s voice from the other side of the line. “Who is this?”

“General Couch,” Nils said. “It’s Director Kane.”

“I wondered if I would be hearing from you tonight, or if you’d wait and call me in the morning.”

General Philip Couch was a smart man with an intuitive grasp of power struggles and politics. Nils had met him when the young captain commanded Nils’s European expedition to retrieve the stone throne sculpture along with a few other important artifacts and records from his family’s secret archive in England.

Couch had shown remarkable bravery and leadership, as well as a loyalty and discretion during that foray into the wilds that used to be Europe. Since then, Kane had fostered the captain’s career. Now he headed the small standing army that stayed in place despite budget cuts over the years. He and Couch had a plan in place for a time like this.

It was time to put that plan into motion.

“General, you recognize the situation for the crisis it is, yes?”

“I see that this is a pivotal moment for you, Director,” the General replied. “You are in a position where you have some hard choices to make. I assume, since you contacted me, you have decided on your next course of action?”

“I have. It is time. Start activating your loyalists and prepare for my signal. It should come in the next few days. I just spoke with the president and he’s no longer the loyal follower I believed him to be.”

“I feel obligated to inform you, Director, that once you start me down this road, there’s no going back. We must proceed to the end, no matter what happens.”

“Don’t lecture me on the necessities of the plan, General. I know all too well what implementing this means going forward. You may commence with Operation Clean Sweep. Let me know when you have all your forces in position. I have a few things to get in place on my end. I’ll give the final command then.”

“Very well, Director Kane. I will place the necessary calls.”

“How long will it take you to get your forces in place?” Kane asked.

“Things have changed a bit since we first discussed this option. The military is a shadow of its former self. As the only world power with an organized government, our leaders decided we no longer had to protect from threats from outside our borders. The current army is mostly a national militia. Still, I have retained my most loyal followers and the forces they control on active duty. It will be enough to do the job, but I’ll need a few days to put everything in place.”

“Very well, General. I’ll expect you to be ready in seventy-two hours. Expect my call any time after that. Understood?”

“I understand, Director. Good luck, sir. We’ll be ready.”

Kane disconnected the call and handed the phone to Jane.

He looked at her, wondering if she was as loyal as he thought.

No time to play it safe. He drew in a surge of magic and, before Jane could react or so much as utter a word, he grabbed her head in both his hands and sent his flows into her mind.

She opened her mouth to scream but Nils gained control before she could.

He knew she’d be of little use to him after such a brute force attack on her psyche but Kane didn’t care. He needed to vent his frustration on something and she was the victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Jane gurgled a few nonsense syllables as he tore into her mind with abandon, finding her deepest secrets and fears, forcing her to see them coming in a vivid virtual reality of his design.

Kane had wanted to bed her after dinner, but this option offered him much more fun. And she’d still be a receptive plaything if he still had the energy or desire for sex once he was finished forcing himself onto her mind.

For the time being, Kane forgot about his own fears and insecurities. He enjoyed his new toy.

There would be ample time for other concerns in the morning.

CHAPTER 7

Winnie got out of the car and looked around the deserted street in the center of Baltimore’s Enclave—her first time back since the chanters were all shipped off to the camps over a month before.

It was eerie to stand there in a place that should be bustling with life. The silence unsettled her. Everything had been left as it was when people were snatched from their daily routines to be carried off by the invading Red Legs.

Cars sat with open doors beside baby strollers lying on their sides in the street. The world had been paralyzed.

Elaine got out of the car behind Winnie, followed by Danny and Garraldi. The four of them had made the trip to retrieve more of Elaine’s medicine. They had also returned to Baltimore to appear on a newscast condemning Director Kane’s hypocrisy, but that would come later in the day. For now they were here to see what was left of their former lives.

“At least no one looted the homes in this part of the neighborhood,” Elaine said, looking around at the deserted buildings on either side.

“Not so far as we can tell, Mom,” Winnie said. “But there was widespread looting in the section of the Enclave closer to the commercial district. And we know the police and Red Legs did little to stop the looting. I’m sure some of the middling looters ventured this far into the Enclave at some point.”

“Which one is your building, Elaine?” Garraldi asked. “We should finish our business instead of standing out here in the street. I don’t care if the chanter ban has been temporarily lifted, I don’t trust the more zealous Red Legs.”

“We’ve been granted safe passage by the Mayor of Baltimore and the Chief of Police, Garraldi. It’ll be fine,” Danny assured him.

“So you say. But you’re not the one being hunted for what you can do.”

“No, I’m being hunted because of what I decided to do,” Danny replied.

“That’s enough,” Winnie said. “I know we’re all uneasy about this trip and the assurances we’ve received from the authorities. But I think we need to trust them right now. It’s been days since the release of our evidence against Kane. There have been public hearings in the Assembly and it looks like a full repeal of the chanter ban is coming. Public opinion is in our favor.”

Garraldi snorted a laugh. “It doesn’t bother you that we’ve seen no response from Kane? He refused a summons to appear before the oversight committee, and there are reports that he hasn’t left his office since we exposed him. I don’t know about you, but I was never one to think Kane would roll over like this.”

“He’s defeated,” Danny said. “And he knows it. If he’s accepted it, why can’t you?”

“Because,” Garraldi said, “I don’t believe that he’s given up and neither should any of you.”

“Right now, none of that matters,” Winnie said. “Mom’s building is right over there. Let’s go upstairs and get her meds, then we’ll head to the station for our interview. Everything else can come after that.”

They entered Elaine’s apartment building and rode the elevator upstairs. As they stood in the box, Winnie watched her mother, who looked better than she had in years. Winnie wasn’t sure she even needed her meds, now. Her magic work with the twins was certainly having a positive effect.

She had to make time to investigate what they were doing once they returned to the Pike. It was hard to schedule anything right now. There were so many changes happening that she was hard pressed to break away from the incoming reports.

The elevator stopped and the doors yawned open.

Winnie led the others down the hallway, fishing for her keys as they walked.

She stopped several feet shy of her old apartment door.

Like many others along the hallway, it was ajar, as it had been left over a month before.

She slowly approached, then started to enter, but Garraldi pushed her to one side and went in before her, taking his appointed position as head of her personal security detail seriously.

He waved Winnie in and she stepped through the door.

She looked around. There were signs of a brief struggle from when her mother had been taken. But it didn’t look like the apartment had been ransacked by looters afterward.

“Mom, are your meds stored in the same place,” Winnie called over her shoulder, walking down the hallway towards the bathroom.

“Yes, they’re in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom,” Elaine answered. “There should be a ninety-tablet box from the last time I filled the prescription.”

Winnie paused in the bathroom threshold when she heard a noise from farther down the hallway, coming from one of the bedrooms.

It sounded like something fell over. She considered telling Garraldi but decided she could investigate it on her own.

He’d already checked the apartment, after all.

Winnie turned from the bathroom then continued down the hallway toward her mother’s room. She looked inside.

There was a lamp next to the bed lying on its side on the nightstand, still wobbling from where it had fallen.

Strange.

Winnie crossed to the nightstand and picked up the lamp to stand it back up.

A blade pressed into her flesh.

A drop of blood dripped down her neck.

A strong arm encircled her shoulders, pulling her backward.

“Don’t make a sound, middling scum,” a man’s voice hissed in her ear. “I’m tired of you looters coming down here like it’s some sort of sight-seeing tour. These used to be our homes.”

Winnie froze and fought her urge to cry out.

Clearly this man was a chanter.

Winnie raised her hands to show that she wasn’t resisting and, channeling a small bit of magic, she caused a light to appear above her extended palms.

She changed the color of the small globe from white to a spinning spectrum of every color of the rainbow, all of them blinding.

“How did you …?” The man relaxed his grip. The knife fell from her throat. “You’re a chanter like me.”

Winnie stepped away then turned to face him.

But he wasn’t a man at all. Her would-be captor was a boy of fourteen or fifteen.

Garraldi slowly crept up behind the boy, his hands outstretched, prepared to launch himself at her attacker.

Winnie shook her head to her security chief. He stopped but didn’t relax.

“I’m a chanter like you,” Winnie said. “And this is my apartment.  What are you doing here?”

The boy’s shoulder’s sagged. “I’m sorry. I was looking for food when I heard you come in the door. I couldn’t get out past you so I grabbed a kitchen knife and ran back here.”

Winnie smiled. “My name is Winnie, what’s yours?”

“I’m Kripke.” He stopped and looked at her in alarm before slapping his hand to his head. “Oh my God. You’re her, Winnie Durham! You’re the one who exposed Kane. I didn’t know this was your apartment; I’m sorry. I’ve been watching the news feeds from wherever I can see them. You’re awesome.”

“Hello, Kripke. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Winnie said. “Do me a favor. You’re still holding that knife. Why don’t you turn around and hand it to my friend so he can finally relax.”

Kripke turned and saw Garraldi’s hulking form standing behind him. Color drained from his face and he shifted his grip on the knife to a forefinger and thumb pinch, offering the knife, handle first.

Garraldi gave the boy a toothy grin and took the knife from Kripke.

“I’m really sorry, Ms. Durham,” Kripke said, turning back to face her. “I didn’t know this place was yours. I never would’ve come in here if I’d known.”

“That’s fine, and please—call me Winnie. Ms. Durham is my mother.” She punctuated the last with another smile. The boy grinned.

Danny and Elaine were peeking down the hallway past Garraldi, trying to see what was happening. She’d succeeded in disarming the boy. Now it was time to find out what he was doing here, and how he’d escaped the sweeps.

“Kripke, why don’t you come out into the living room. We can talk some more out there, and I’ll introduce you to the rest of my friends.”

The boy nodded and turned to follow Garraldi to the living room.

Once they were all seated on the sofa and chairs around the coffee table, Winnie asked Kripke how he’d escaped getting rounded up by the Red Legs.

“I saw the soldiers coming down the street first,” he said. “Then I watched them start herding people on the sidewalks into groups and pulling them from their cars. I knew they’d catch us all, so I ducked into an alley when the group of soldiers passed, then used a trick I’d learned to make them not see me.”

“What do you mean?” Winnie asked. “How did you do that?”

“It’s something I learned when I was younger. It helped when my dad came home drunk, angry, and looking for someone to hit. I was tired of being his punching bag so I learned how to sort of disappear.”

“Disappear, as in becoming invisible?” Garraldi asked.

“I don’t know. I can still see me,” Kripke said. “I sort of thought about making it so he couldn’t see my while I called on the magic to help me out. It just worked. I never figured out how.”

“Can you show me how you do it, Kripke, right now?” Winnie shifted her vision into the magical spectrum and prepared to watch him.

“Sure, I guess,” he said.

His brow furrowed, then he blurred and became sort of transparent.

A variation of what Winnie had done to hide the vans on their run to the chanter camp. It bent the light around the surface of whatever it was cast on and hid the object, or in this case, the person from view.

Kripke wasn’t invisible. She could still see the child’s outline if she looked close and focused, but it was close.

“That’s a neat trick, Kripke. I knew how to do that to objects but never thought about applying it to myself or another person. Thank you.”

The boy let the magic dissipate and his outline solidified back in to view. “You’re welcome, uh, Winnie.”

“Are there other people like you hiding out here in the Enclave?” Winnie asked.

“A few. We mostly keep to ourselves so we can’t give each other away. I know of three or four right around here.”

Winnie looked up at Danny and Garraldi. “We need to find them. They could all have tricks to show us. At the very least, they might want to join our ranks.”

“That’s fine, Winnie.” Danny glanced at his watch. “But we can’t start searching today. We have to be at the TV station soon for the interview.”

“Damn, that’s right.” Winnie looked at Kripke. “Why don’t you come with us? You can help later, when we come back to search for the others who got away from the sweeps.”

“I’d like that,” Kripke said.

“Good. Let me go get what we came for, then we’ll get on our way.”

Winnie  didn’t want to forget her mom’s meds in the excitement.

“I’ll get them,” Elaine said, heading back to the bathroom.

“Where are we going now?” Kripke asked.

“To a TV station. I’ve been asked to do an interview there to talk more about Kane’s deception and plans to harm chanters. Then we’ll take you back to a place where you can be safe and meet the rest of our friends.”

Elaine returned with her pills, then they all left the apartment.

This time, Winnie closed the door. But she couldn’t lock it. The Red Legs had shattered the lock when they broke into the apartment. Still, at least it was closed.

Winnie followed the others back to the elevator then back to the street.

Her mind turned to the upcoming interview.

Things were finally turning around for the better.

CHAPTER 8

Winnie looked at herself in the mirror while the makeup artist—a woman in her fifties named Madge—swept back her hair with a styling brush and emptied a can of hairspray onto her scalp. Winnie held her breath. The foul-tasting mist didn’t stop the running commentary at all.

“I think you and your friends are so brave,” said the rotund brunette. “You know, I’d never have had the guts to go up against Director Kane like that, let alone get away and release all that video exposing him as a fraud. Who knew such a thing could be true? It boggles the mind.”

Winnie started to answer her but the woman wouldn’t let her.

“Of course, I always thought something was fishy about the whole series of resolutions the Assembly passed. I’ve got some great friends who are chanters. Why, this very styling brush was enchanted by one of them to never leave a hair out place. It’s one of the reasons why I got this job! Yep, I’ve been saying the chanters should all be allowed to come home since the beginning. There are some trouble makers amidst them but once you weed them out, I’m sure most chanters are harmless. Am I right, honey?”

Madge spun the chair around, leaning forward and started to apply the make up around Winnie’s eyes. She tried to hold still as the woman came at her with an eyeliner pencil. She didn’t dare to move her mouth. That was fine by Madge.

“I think they should lock up Director Kane and his cronies in one of those camps and see how they like it. Of course, I heard from one of the investigative reporters that most of the people in the camps have it better than they had it in the Enclaves. They have plenty of food, full net access, and even get to work on important government jobs. If you ask me, they should be thankful. I know a lot of middlings that would literally die for a steady government check.”

Winnie shifted her eyes and stared hard at Madge after that last exchange.

This woman was an idiot. For God’s sake, she actually thought the chanters in the camps had all that stuff and got paid to be there.

Winnie opened her mouth, but Madge shushed her.

“Quiet, dear. I’m almost finished. We don’t want to do anything to mess up your face. Oh, this is so exciting.” Madge applied mascara to Winnie’s lashes then patted powder onto her face. “I can’t wait to tell all my friends how I met the Winnie Durham in person. You’re about the most famous person to come through these doors in a while. I did have Bill Hadley, the Oscar-winning actor just last week. Hmmm.” She tapped the side of her glasses. “Well, definitely the most famous since him.”

Madge spun the chair around so Winnie faced the mirror again.

“My God, that’s me?” Winnie whispered under her breath.

“It’s all about seeing the potential we all have inside,” Madge said. “Then bringing out that potential with my brushes and makeup. You know, some have said I must be at least a little bit magic to do what I do. Maybe my grandmother slept with a chanter in some sordid affair.”

The woman threw her head back and imitated a braying donkey, waving a hand in front of her face until she regained her composure.

“Sorry, honey. You’d have to have known my grandmother to get the joke. She’d never have been caught dead so much as letting a chanter into her house. Still, times change. Look how far we’ve come now.”

Winnie started to tell her how nothing’s changed at all but was interrupted by a small blonde wearing a headset before she could say a word.

“I’m getting her right now. Tell him to keep his pants on. We’ll be right there. Madge just finished up.” The woman looked at Winnie. “Come with me, Ms. Durham. I’m Carol, the stage manager. The network decided to run your interview on the twenty-four hour news channel live as soon as you are able to get seated. The control room wants you in there in two minutes.”

Winnie muttered a thank-you to Madge as Carol grabbed her by the arm and hustled her out of the makeup chair and down the hallway towards the studio.

Winnie stumbled along behind her until they were in the central studio.

There were two chairs in front of a set constructed to look like a living room with a fireplace and a broad picture window that looked out into a green backdrop, probably to be replaced by a city skyline onscreen.

Hal Henderson sat in one of the two chairs, looking over a stack of papers while a technician clipped a mic to his lapel.

He looked up and smiled at Winnie as Carol led her to the empty chair. The stage manager sat her down, clipped a mic to her collar, then fiddled with something at the back of her blazer. Winnie flinched when Carol started to insert the earpiece running up her back and over her ear.

“Sorry,” Carol apologized. “Just press that into your ear so you can hear anything on the monitors. And so the control room can talk to you.”

Winnie pressed the soft earbud into her ear canal then she heard a voice.

“Test one, two, three. Winnie, this is the producer, Fred. Can you hear me?” Winnie nodded. “Excellent. Now count to ten for our sound guy to dial in your levels if you would.”

Winnie complied and started counting to ten.

“Good, that’s perfect,” he said at Seven. “You’re all set. She’s all yours Hal.”

“Thanks, Fred.” Hal looked up and smiled. “Winnie, it’s a pleasure to meet you in person. I feel like we’ve already gotten to know each other a bit after our brief call the other night.”

Winnie looked around,  overwhelmed. She’d been in the makeup chair just moments before.

“Relax. Don’t pay attention to all the lights and cameras.  Just talk to me. We’ll start in a moment. Carol will count us down from five then she’ll point to me and I’ll start the interview. Just take a deep breath and relax; you’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.” Winnie tried to smile, but felt certain that she had failed.

Carol stepped next to one of the cameras and called out, “Ready to go live in five, four, three.”

She finished the count with her fingers showing two, then one, and finishing with a gesture to Hal.

He smiled at the camera and started his introduction.

“Welcome to all our viewers across the United Americas with our special prime-time episode of Exposé. You are in for a treat today, as we have an exclusive interview with Winnie Durham herself, live from our studios in Baltimore. Winnie, welcome to Exposé.”

“Thank you Hal.” Winnie felt self-conscious but tried to keep her eyes on the host, ignoring the many cameras and lights.

“Winnie, you exposed perhaps the biggest corruption scandal to hit our nation in recent memory. Why did you believe it was so important to take on the most powerful man in the country?”

“I suppose it was because I—uh—we had no choice. Kane had rounded up all our friends and relatives then threw them in concentration camps where he planned on leeching their magic and life force until they were dead. He wanted to control all of the magic. It wasn’t just a matter of life and death for my friends, it affected the entire world.”

“Weren’t you frightened to face him in his own center of power like that? We’ve all seen the spectacular video. You all barely escaped with your lives.”

“Of course we were afraid, but we had never intended to face Kane so directly. We only wanted to get the evidence of his true nature and expose it to the world. The confrontation and getting the video evidence was the result of a plan that didn’t work out as we expected.”

Hal opened his mouth to ask a question but was interrupted by a rumbling explosion somewhere in the building.

Winnie’s head jerked toward the sound and vibration.

She was searching for the source when a voice in her ear became a flurry of words. “Oh, my God, soldiers just blew up the transmitter tower outside the building. We’re off the air and they’re heading into the building!”

Hal stood and looked at Winnie. “Don’t worry, my dear. We’ll stop this.”

The reporter unclipped his mic and earpiece then walked off-set towards the control room.

Winnie looked around for her friends, shielding her eyes from the bright lights. She saw them standing behind the row of cameras.

“Winnie what’s happening?” Danny asked.

Of course, Winnie thought, they hadn’t heard the voice from the control room. “The station is under attack by soldiers or Red Legs or something.”

“Then we need to get out of here.” Garraldi stepped into the pool of lights surrounding the set. “Come on Winnie, we need to hurry. It might already be too late, but we have to try and get of here.”

Winnie pulled off the mic and earpiece, crossed to where her mother stood with the others, then looked around.

“We didn’t check to see where the back door is but they must have one.”

“There is one,” Carol said from nearby. “Come with me; hurry. They’re coming in the front door now and arresting everyone here.”

Carol was still wearing her headset and was obviously in communication with other parts of the building.

The five of them followed the stage manager out of the large studio room and down a back stairway. They reached the first floor of the building where the stairs crashed into a door.

Garraldi stopped Carol from opening it. He pulled a pair of guns from under his jacket and looked at Danny, who grabbed the door’s handle.

With a signaling nod from Garraldi, Danny opened the door and Garraldi stepped through into the hallway beyond.

He swept the pistols in both directions, scanning for threats.

The big man grunted. “All clear, boss.”

“Let’s go,” Winnie said. “Carol, lead the way. Where’s the exit?”

“It’s to the right. Down the hallway until you reach the loading dock.”

“You should come with us, at least until we get clear. Stay here and you’ll get arrested like the others,” Winnie said. “This has Kane’s fingerprints all over it. He will cover up this entire affair and make every witness disappear.”

“I have to go back upstairs,” Carol said, shaking her head. “My husband is in the control room. I can’t leave without him.”

Winnie looked at her kindly. “Thank you for bringing us this far. Be careful.”

“I will,” Carol said. “You, too.” She turned around and started talking into her headset in hushed tones while climbing the stairs.

“We need to get out of here,” Danny said.

“Agreed. Let’s go.” She pushed past the others and turned right, leading the way down the hallway towards the loading dock.

They arrived in a large open area stacked with equipment cases. There was a large bay door open to the outside, and a news van backed up to the bay, its back doors open.

The crews must have been loading it when the assault began.

“Danny, check and see if the keys are in that van,” Winnie said. “We can’t go back around front for our car and there’s no way we’ll get far on foot.”

Danny ran over to the van while the others started towards the open door.

Winnie heard a triumphant Yes! from Danny when he opened the door.

“Get everyone inside,” Winnie ordered.

She had one more thing to do.

Winnie closed her eyes, drew in the magic, and directed her flows at the van’s exterior. Soon it was shielded from view. While not completely invisible, the van was unnoticeable to casual inspection. Enough to safely flee the parking lot.

She jumped in the back and Garraldi pulled the double doors shut behind her. There were no windows in the back, or seats, so Winnie, her mother, Garraldi, and Kripke all settled on the floor as the van lurched into motion.

A metal cage separated the van’s rear cargo compartment from the front seats. Winnie could barely see Danny’s outline as he left the lot.

“There are military vehicles everywhere, Win,” Danny called back to them. “They all seem focused on the front of the building. I think I can make it past them and onto the street. Hold on.”

Winnie grabbed the metal shelf bolted to the van’s walls as Danny gunned the engine. The blindness was infuriating. She should have gotten in the front seat with Danny.

“We’re out,” Danny announced. “I’m heading for the highway. We need to get back to the Pike and figure out what’s going on. That was the Army back there, not the Red Legs.”

“That can’t be good news, boss,” Garraldi said. “Kane used the Army once before to help with the Enclave round ups. If he’s using them again, he must still have considerable control over some substantial resources, despite the Assembly’s investigation.”

“Danny,” Elaine said. “Put on the radio. See if they’re saying anything about what’s going on.”

Danny reached over and turned on the radio. They were greeted with the sound of static through the van’s front speakers. He kept fiddling with the controls as he drove.

“I’ve scanned up and down the dial. There’s nothing on the air. Just static.”

“This isn’t good,” Elaine said.

“We’ll just have to see what’s happening when we get back to the Pike,” Winnie said. “Danny, drive faster. The police won’t be able to see us.”

CHAPTER 9

General Philip Couch followed the Red Leg orderly through the broad hallways of Kane’s headquarters building. He had expected to go up to Kane’s offices on the top floor. Instead, he was led to the lower levels underground and assumed it was to go to some sort of command center. He cared not. The General had a job to do. He could report his progress to Kane as easily in the basement as on the top floor.

The orderly led Couch to a set of steel doors with two armed Red Legs stationed outside. They both saluted. He returned the gesture even though they weren’t technically in his chain of command as civilian officers.

One of the guards turned and grasped the handle, pulling backward with effort, dragging the thick, bank-vault style doors out toward Couch. The reinforced armored panels gleamed beneath the overheads.

Kane was clearly expecting some resistance.

The orderly continued onward once the vault door was opened. Couch followed down the concrete-lined hallway, doors set into the walls on both sides.

This part of the subbasement had all the hallmarks of a bunker or fallout shelter. There was a turn in the corridor and the hallway opened into a broad room with computer workstations and monitors lining the walls.

Kane was in the center of the room talking to a Red Leg inspector. Couch approached and Kane dismissed the inspector with a wave of his hand.

“Ah, General Couch. Thank you for coming in person. I want to know how things are progressing. Sit. Fill me in on your operation’s success.”

“Yes, Director.” Couch sat at the table. “The takeover of all three national networks has been successful. We now control the national network feed to all the local stations. There were some hiccups in the local station takeovers. We were only able to mobilize the resources in about half the national city centers.”

“How is it you were unable to complete the operation elsewhere? I thought you told me you were in a position to proceed. Only controlling half of the cities is unacceptable.”

“Director, with all due respect, I told you when we drew this plan that there would be resistance from certain circles. The tradition of civilian control over the military is strong. There were always going to be commanders and civilian leaders who refused to blindly follow our lead. We have a small standing army, here in the capital. We had to rely on local militia to implement martial law. Many have rebelled against those orders and placed themselves under civilian command.”

“But we still control the central military forces in the capital, correct?”

“Yes, Director. As the commanding general of all active-duty personnel, I control the several thousand remaining members of the standing army. They will back you one hundred percent; that I can assure you.”

“Good. If we control the capital, the rest of the country will have to fall in line eventually. I also understand that you failed to pick up Ms. Durham during your sweep, despite her being in the building during a broadcast.”

“Yes. That unit’s commander was unaware of her presence until after he claimed the building. He had been tasked with shutting down the transmitter and taking control of the broadcast facility. The unit commander didn’t know that Ms. Durham was in the building until he questioning the staff. It seems that someone saw Durham and her four companions leave by way of the rear loading dock.”

“How did she escape the property if your units had the building surrounded?”

“A news van is missing from the facility. We suspect she used some sort of enchantment to conceal it. There are no reports of any vehicle leaving the property after their arrival.”

Kane quietly digested the information.

Couch didn’t like to make excuses, but he wouldn’t let the Director hold his men responsible for something they had no way of knowing ahead of time.

Finally, Kane nodded.

“There are ways magic could be used to conceal something as large as a van from middling eyes.” He looked over at Couch. “Very well, what’s done is done. Now we consolidate our power where we can.”

“Agreed,” Couch said. “We hold the capital, obviously. We also hold power in most of Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the central portion of New Amsterdam. I recommend we fortify the central portions of each city so that it’s easier to control the populace and halt attacks by insurgents like Durham and her runners.”

“That makes it look like we’re on the defensive,” Kane objected. “We must show them all we have no intention of backing down. Holing up in cities that we control doesn’t project the right image.”

“We’re not erecting defensive positions, sir. We are creating safe staging areas from which we can strike back at any forces arrayed against us. Think about it. We’ll hold all the central locations of power in each area. Electricity, water, public transportation centers and the media—all of it in our control in those cities. It’s how you control the populace, sir, by governing the things they need to live and thrive. No one will oppose us after we make a few examples of the agitators.”

“That makes sense,” Kane said. “And you’re certain you can use these safe staging areas to hunt Durham and her people? To bring them to justice?”

“It’s only a matter of time. If we control all the power and resources, public support for her little revolution will fade. Someone will turn her in, then we’ll finish her once and for all.”

“I certainly hope so, General. Durham has proven much more resilient than I’ve given her credit for. She’s managed to find a way out and thwart me, dead to rights, every time.”

The Director sighed. “We’ll try your fortified city plan. See if it smokes the girl and her crew out of hiding. If nothing else, it will discourage others.”

Couch stood from the table and nodded. “I’ll have daily reports on our progress sent to you, Director.” He started to leave and turned back with a thought. “What do you want me to do with the Assembly, sir? As part of our fortification plans, we’ll be occupying capital buildings.”

Kane laughed, waved a hand in the air. “Lock them up. They’ve served their purpose. Now that they’ve all turned on me, let’s not let them live under the pretense of being in charge. You can lock up the senators and their aides with the general population in the federal prison building downtown. I’ll sort through the survivors when I get a chance, see if there’s anyone of use.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll implement the arrests back at HQ.” General Couch turned away and marched back to the long hallway and double vault doors of Kane’s bunker.

There was a lot of work to do for his limited supply of soldiers. He still had a few officers whose loyalty he couldn’t be sure of. Maybe he’d assign a few to the Assembly arrests. He could have them all watched for anyone who might question their orders, then have anyone mutinous arrested on the spot.

There was so much still to be done.

CHAPTER 10

Winnie’s return to the Pike a day later was anything but the triumphant arrival she’d planned after her interview aired. They hid in an abandoned building on the outskirts of Baltimore for a dozen hours to avoid detection, waiting for military traffic to finally die.

The cell towers were disabled, so Winnie and the others had been unable to call ahead and tell her followers at the Pike that she was safe. By the time they got there it had been a full twenty-four hours since their departure.

Tris came rushing out when Winnie stepped out of the van. “Winnie! We didn’t know what happened to you.”

“We’re all fine,” Winnie said. “It was close but we got away.”

“Everyone back at the abandoned amusement park was watching the interview live when the screen went blank,” Tris said. “There were reports of armed soldiers storming broadcast centers that came in over the next hour or so. Then all the stations went dark. The Internet went next. And we couldn’t get you on the phone. We—”

“I’m sorry, all we could do was drive back here and tell you what happened once we got here.”

“It’ll be better once everyone sees you and realizes you’re here and safe, especially Garraldi’s team.” Tris pointed to the heavily armed guards filing out of the doorway and clustering around their leader. “They’ve all been going over possible rescue plans since the broadcasts went dark. I tried to tell them we didn’t even know where to send a rescue party, let alone if one was even needed.”

“Garraldi will deal with them,” Winnie said. “But I’ll say a few words, thank them for being so worried. How is everyone else? The Twins?”

“Better now that we know you’re safe. I told the others to keep the twins in the dark. I didn’t see any reason to worry them with what we didn’t know. Turns out I didn’t have to worry about them at all.”

“What do you mean?” Winnie asked.

“I went to check on them a few hours ago. Fiona looked up at me and said, ‘Winnie’s fine, Tris. She’s on her way here. They didn’t get her.’ Then the kid went back to reading as if predictions were like hiccups.” Tris shrugged. “I didn’t think anything at the time. I figured it was wishful thinking on her part and that they’d overheard us talking after you disappeared. Now that you’ve showed up safe and sound, I’m starting to wonder what else she knows but isn’t telling us.”

“It’s probably a matter of us not asking either of them the right questions. We don’t know everything they can do, and they don’t know all the things we can’t do.” Winnie shook her head. “I need to work with them directly. I can’t help thinking that we’ve been missing something important. If we can teach others to do what they can do … well imagine what some additional powers could do to help us defeat Kane.”

“It’s worse than you think, Winnie,” Garraldi said coming over with a member of his security team. “This is Benny. When we went off-grid and all the info sources died, he was smart enough to send messengers to Colten in Philly and Artos in Baltimore. They got back just before we arrived. Things are bad in the city centers, boss. The Army’s in control of everything. They’re fortifying locations around the power plants, communication hubs, and water pumping stations. No one’s allowed in or out of the central parts of the cities at all.”

“It’s a coup by the military,” Winnie said. “They’ve got to be working with Kane. Somehow he gained control and is making an end run around the Assembly.”

Danny stood there shaking his head. “The military has a long tradition of following civilian authority in this country. There aren’t coups in the United Americas.”

Tris said, “I don’t know what else you’d call it. Kane is a civilian authority, though not the lawful one. Maybe he’s using them against their will. Could this be more of his mind control tricks? You know, like he did to Danny before?”

“Maybe. More likely he’s formed an alliance with some general who’s taken control of troops around the capital. It’s not like the Army’s all that large anymore. We haven’t needed to worry about foreign incursions since the trans-continental fall of Europe. We need to know what’s happening everywhere else.” Winnie turned to Tris. “Is there a way we can reach out and contact other parts of the country without using the phone lines? I need to know if this is a regional thing or if other cities have been seized by the military, too.”

“If we had a shortwave radio set up, I might be able to reach other independent operators. Let me think on it.”

“Why don’t you just open a window and talk to the people you want to reach?” said a tiny voice behind them.

Winnie turned around, then crouched down in front of the twins. “What do you mean by ‘open a window’ Fiona?”

“Like this.”

Fiona drew a rectangle in the air between them. The outline stayed visible as thin silver thread trailed her finger. She tapped the center of the rectangle.

Suddenly, Winnie wasn’t looking at the girl’s face through the rectangle, but down a narrow alleyway between two buildings.

“Fiona, what am I looking at right now?” Winnie asked.

“That’s the alley outside of our hideout in Baltimore. We used this window to make sure the coast was clear before we came out each night. I’m sure it could be used to look other places, too. So I asked Jacob and he said that I was right.”

Winnie smiled. She looked at Tris, wanting to wink. “I really need to spend more time with these kids.”

“I think we all do,” Tris said.

“Fiona,” Winnie said. “Close the window and show me again how you do it. I want to watch with my magic eyes.”

“Sure.” The girl tapped the window in the center again with one finger. It faded to nothing like fog in the sun. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

Winnie shifted her vision to the magical spectrum and nodded.

She watched Fiona draw ribbons then channel them through her fingertips, tracing the outline in the air. Her movement was complex and yet strangely simple.

Fiona tapped the rectangle and Winnie saw something she recognized.

The small room where the twins lived, here at the Pike.

“That’s amazing, Fiona. Do you know if you can talk to someone through the hole?”

“I think so. We can hear things from the other side when we open it.”

“Let me try something.” Winnie held up one hand, forefinger extended and started scribing a rectangle in the air to one side.

She concentrated and tapped on the center when she finished.

The window opened into a familiar office. Winnie spoke.

“Hello, Cleaver. Can you hear me?”

The man behind the desk jolted in alarm then looked around his office.

His eyes found the window.

His jaw dropped. He stood, almost too fast.

Then he scrambled around his desk and up to the window, staring at Winnie, who was smiling from the other side. He smiled back. “Girl, you never cease to amaze me.”

“It’s a trick a new friend showed me.” Winnie winked at Fiona.

Cleaver looked down at the little girl. “That one of the twins I’ve been hearing so much about?”

“Yes, this is Fiona. Fiona, this is Cleaver Yorke, a friend of ours from New Amsterdam.”

“Hello,” the little girl said.

“Hello, Fiona. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Cleaver looked up at Winnie. “So, Winnie, all communications are down. We’re back to writing notes and sending them by messenger. I assume that’s not just local.”

“We’re pretty sure it’s a national blackout. Kane has implemented some sort of military coup. We’re trying to figure out how far it extends: who’s been caught up in it and who’s still free.”

“There was a bit of a scuffle between the local NAPD and some uniformed militia units. Soldiers managed to capture some portions of the financial districts, but the mayor cut them off. He’s been on local radio and TV telling everyone to stay calm, but most people are still freaking out. How are things down there?”

“We think Kane’s goons are in full control of the capital and have some forces in Philadelphia and Baltimore. I’m going to use this trick to check in with the other Sable bosses around the country to see how they’re faring. My guess is that with the standing army being so small and based in this part of the country, the farther we get from the capital, the less control Kane has.”

“That’s a safe bet.” Cleaver scratched his stubble, thinking. “Have you thought about moving? I’m sure the mayor would offer you sanctuary.”

Winnie shook her head. “I need to head off Kane. We’re not strong enough to confront him directly yet, but I’m hopeful we can gather forces from local police and ex-army types, among the middlings who don’t want him running the government any more than we do.”

“It’s risky to stay that close to his center of power,” Cleaver said. “But you’re the boss. I’ll put together some more of the guys from up here to send you. Maybe the mayor will lend us some resources, too.”

“That would be great.” Winnie smiled.

Cleaver was her strongest ally among the other Sable bosses. If he did this, others would be inclined to swell her ranks. She’d need all the help she could get to pull this off.

“Let me show you how to open one of these windows. It’s complex but once you know the trick, I think most chanters of moderate ability will be able to pull it off. Then you can contact the other bosses for me and coordinate, sending some support my way.”

“Good idea. I’ll check in with them and get back to you.”

Winnie nodded. She took a few minutes showing Cleaver how to draw and direct the flows to form a window. It took tremendous power to open the small hole but when Cleaver created one on his end his smile could have swallowed them all.

“I’ll coordinate with Garraldi once I know how many people I can send your way.”

“Thanks, Cleaver,” Winnie said. “Just let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Have you considered what we should be doing to help the chanters in camps? Maybe once you have enough people, you could stage another raid.”

“I don’t know. They’re safe enough there for now. We destroyed the Harvester antenna at the closest camp. The others don’t have theirs built yet, so as long as they’re getting fed, it’s probably better to have them out of the cities until we can gain control and defeat Kane.”

“Makes sense. I know a lot of my guys have family and friends in those camps. None of them are sleeping.”

“Same here. I’ll check around, see if we can get some surveillance back up around the camp. But as long as they’re safe, it’s probably best to leave them where they are.”

“Agreed,” Cleaver said. “I’ll get back in touch when I know something.”

“Sounds good. Let me know.”

Winnie closed the window then turned and looked down at the twins, both still standing at her side.

“Thank you both for showing me your trick.”

“We like helping you, Winnie,” Fiona said.

Jacob nodded beside her.

“Have either of you ever tried to open a window like that … ” Winnie’s voice fell to a whisper. “That you could pass through, from one side to the other?”

The children shook their heads.

Winnie shrugged. “No big deal. I’ll think on it. It might be helpful.”

Tris laughed. “Helpful? You could send supplies and people instantly. We could jump to Kane’s location and kill him.”

“It might not be safe to randomly open a window to somewhere you don’t know,” Winnie said. “But we could use it to check on the closest camp. You’ve been there so it should be easy enough. Do you think you can open a window?”

“If Cleaver can do it, so can I.”

“Good. Now if only we had a window to Kane.”

CHAPTER 11

Kane circled the bed, leaving the listless and naked Jane Margolis, former director of Magical Research, lying there spent.

He slipped on a robe and eyed the woman he considered his toy.

Something had snapped inside him the night the Durham girl released her video. Attacking Jane in his office, Kane’s anger surged his power to new levels and helped him delve into areas of the woman’s mind he’d never touched before.

Every time he opened himself to the power, Kane found that he could draw in even more magic. Go deeper.

He’d also sensed a presence nearby when using this new power.

It wasn’t a person; it was something else.

Nils felt its every time he used his new-found powers to control Jane.

It always dissipated after he finished toying with her.

This time it lingered.

Kane crossed his underground apartment, deep inside his hidden bunker beneath the Red Leg headquarters in the capital. He’d kept control of the Sable magic he’d been using on Jane, not letting it go like he usually did.

It must be drawn to the magic.

This time Kane opened himself up as wide as he could go, drawing in more energy, then pouring that energy into his apartment.

At first nothing happened.

Then, a black dot appeared in the air, slowly widening into a spinning black sphere about the size of a basketball.

The surface was polished smooth. It looked like a glass ball filled with ink spinning in the air.

Kane could see his face reflected in the dark surface as he approached it.

He looked into the darkness, felt that presence, this time closer.

After a moment the face looking back morphed and shifted.

It was no longer his reflection.

Now it was a face surrounded by a nimbus of faint purple light.

The visage was hideous, it’s skin pocked and lined with scars, the mouth crammed with needle sharp teeth.

A pair of goat horns sprouted from the forehead.

Kane wanted to step back but he was frozen. Fascinated. He’d never seen such a creature before and could feel the power emanating from the being on the other side of the spinning globe’s surface.

“Greetings, Nilrem,” the rumbling, bass voice sounded deep inside his brain. “I’ve been waiting for you to access this part of your inner being. It’s been a long time coming.”

“Who are you?” Kane sounded small next to the presence in his mind.

“I am known by many names. Most among men have simply called me the Fell because they lack the capacity for more.”

“I’ve heard something of the Fell … ”

“You were told about me by your mother when you were very young. Your family and mine have long been linked, Nilrem. Long ago it was I who showed Merlin’s son, Fenris, how he could hold onto the magic and never have to give it back. It has been quite a while since one of your line has contacted me. I was beginning to believe you’re family had forgotten about my presence and the vow Fenris made in exchange for the gift of knowledge I gave him.”

“I know nothing of any vow. I remember now my mother telling me of a family legend. She said, ‘the Fell gave us power over all men, and the power to grant the Fell its boon in return.’ I never knew what it meant.”

The vicious chuckle inside his mind might have destroyed a lesser man.

“Nilrem, you are the conduit through which I will finally return to the world that is rightfully mine. I have been waiting a long, long time for this and I will not be denied. You have done well so far in your quest for power, but there is more power awaiting you when you are ready.”

“Nothing comes for free,” Nils told the Fell through the globe. “What would you have me do in return for such power?”

“Complete obedience.” The voice rumbled: “I seek revenge on the brethren who cast me out long ago. In exchange for your help in seeking that revenge, I’ll give you power you never imagined possible.”

Kane thought. This creature in the glass was limited somehow. He was able to communicate with it, on whatever plane it used to exist, but it wasn’t able to fully manifest here.

That meant that Kane could exploit it.

“Complete obedience is not something I’m prepared to offer,” Kane said. “Perhaps if you gave me a taste of this power you mentioned, I might be able to understand what I’m trading my allegiance for.”

The Fell scowled. Then it nodded and showed him all of its teeth.

“Very well, Nilrem.”

A surge of black energy coursed out of the floating ball of darkness like an onyx lightning bolt. It struck Kane in the chest and flowed through every fiber of his being.

Death would have been better.

Until that pain puddled into unimaginable pleasure.

Pure delight. A billion bolts of wonder at once.

The two sensations, pleasure and pain, dancing as one.

Every muscle tensed.

His every fiber was fully alive.

The energy stopped flowing.

Kane collapsed to the floor.

The black sphere began to dissipate.

Before it winked out, the Fell’s voice sounded one final time.

“You know where to find me when you are ready for more. I will be waiting.”

Kane lay on the floor forever, feeling the cold concrete against his face.

He was drained, but power grew inside him.

Whatever the Fell had done to him, it would take time to develop.

Nils wanted to explore the limits of his power but was unable to lift a finger. He fell asleep on the floor, imagining himself on the stone throne, holding the sword of his birthright.

He woke in the same position, the hard concrete punishing his body. Someone was stroking his hair. He rolled over and looked up into the eyes of Jane Margolis.

Her vacant loving gaze reflected his control. He’d commanded her to love him. She gave him a vapid smile and he grunted in disgust.

Sitting up, Kane looked around the room trying to make sense of whether he’d dreamed the events of the previous night with the Fell. Nothing looked different. His eyes fell on the clock and he cursed under his breath.

General Couch was due for his daily briefing in fifteen minutes.

Kane padded across the floor to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and donning a fresh uniform, he felt much more like himself. Enough to smile when Jane brought his coffee.

“Get dressed, Jane. Wear your red cocktail dress. I want to show you off.”

She nodded and went to the closet.

Watching her, Kane wondered if he should try out some of his new powers, see if they really existed. He reached out with his mind, sending a hard slap across the retreating woman’s naked ass.

A red welt bloomed as Jane yelped, jumping up and scampering faster towards the closet.

A bolt of pleasure crackled through his brain.

And for the thinnest sliver of a second, part of him wanted to die.

It hadn’t been a dream.

A few minutes later, Kane was entering the bunker’s command center, his concubine three steps behind him in her short red dress.

General Couch stood as he entered the room, raising a questioning eyebrow at Jane.

“Do you think it’s wise to include someone else in this briefing?”

“You must recognize her, General. Look closely.”

The General scrutinized his companion. Kane smiled when recognition dawned in his eyes.

“That’s Director Margolis,” Couch said. “There’s a missing persons report out for her. She disappeared days ago. You’ve had her here all this time?”

“Yes. It became necessary to make certain, uh, alterations to her so she wouldn’t betray our plans to the Assembly before they were put in place. She’s harmless now.”

General Couch examined the woman, surely noticing her vacant stare and matching smile. “I was unaware that you possessed this type of power. It’s always been my understanding that directly using magic on a person has debilitating effects on the user.”

“You needn’t worry about me, General. I’m quite well. Feeling better than I have in years. There are powers I’m only now realizing I have. Keep that in mind, in case you ever have reservations or thoughts about betraying me.”

“We both know that there’s no going back. I was merely expressing concern about experimenting with more of this type of magic when we’re in need of your complete faculties.”

“This isn’t dabbling in simple Sable magic, Couch. I’m not turning into some junkie. What I’ve discovered is far more powerful. Something that may well turn the tide in our favor forever.”

“In that case, advise me of the capabilities of this new magic so I might fully prepare and plan for our operations.”

“In due time, General. For now, just know that I’m growing more powerful by the day. Now, give me the update you came here for. In a few days or maybe a week, I’ll show you exactly what I can do.”

Couch couldn’t know that he was still figuring it out. Such an admission was a sign of weakness in the eyes of a man like the General.

The General opened his briefing folder without breaking eye contact.

“We control roughly half the nation’s cities outright. Among the others, we’ve identified sympathizers willing to cooperate in one way or another. Things have settled down with no sign of organized resistance. Yet. I emphasize that last point. In time, our opponents will attempt to wrest control back from us. I have units in each city creating a fortified defensive perimeter around their positions. They should be able to withstand even magical assaults from outside. Troops have settled into their garrison barracks in each city.”

“Is there a reason you’re not initiating offensive operations against Durham and her followers?”

“We had to consolidate our positions first. There has been resistance from the middling authorities in each of the occupied cities. We’ve had to make examples of a few mayors or city council members in each city to establish authority. Things have settled down now that a few days have passed. People don’t like change. Give them the chance to get back to their daily routine and most of the sheeple will take it.

“Very well, General. Carry on. And start drawing up plans for offensive operations against any resistance we might encounter, especially directed at finding Durham and her crew. They must be operating somewhere close to Baltimore. Find her.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll make it my primary intelligence task.”

The men stood. With a brief salute, the General turned and strode from the control center. Kane watched him go, then motioned to Jane.

It was time to see what else his new powers could do.

Perhaps he could have a few prisoners brought in from the federal prison here in the capital. Yes, he thought with a smile, that would do nicely.

Kane pulled out his phone and tapped a text to his aide upstairs.

She would select a few prospects from the prison population and have them brought to the bunker later that day.

It was time to see just what the Fell had given him.

CHAPTER 12

Private Jerry Lennox had the night shift guard duty at the checkpoint marking the edge of the militarized zone in Baltimore. Only people with special passes could cross through the gate in the barrier that now surrounded the city’s timidly beating heart.

During the day, the checkpoint was busy, with workers from downtown businesses deemed essential to city operations passed through on their way to and from work. But after the eight o’clock curfew, no one was to pass. Anyone with special permission to be out after curfew had to go to the main gate on Charles Street to access the city’s central district.

That was one reason this particular checkpoint had only one guard at night. No one should be out and if trouble should arise, the rest of the guard’s squad was sleeping in the house trailer erected on the nearby sidewalk.

Private Lennox was glad there was no one else on duty with him, even though he groused about it as much as the others. Nobody liked being up all night, but for Jerry Lennox, it allowed him to engage in his secondary occupation within the army. He had become the best scrounger in the regiment, developing the ability to get just about anything for anyone who wanted it and was willing to pay or swap for the desired item.

Being a scrounger often required one to be creative with their acquisition of fresh inventory. Since their regiment’s deployment to the center of Baltimore last week, the normal channels for life’s little luxuries had been disrupted.

Everyone was clamoring for this or that and turning to Jerry when normal requisition procedures didn’t work. This whole deployment had happened so fast, no one had the time to arrange the usual supply lines.

It was a pain for most people. For Jerry it was an unexpected windfall.

Tonight’s shift on guard duty at this particular gate was the culmination of two days’ hard work. While he fulfilled all his other duties, Jerry also managed to contact the local black market and nab everything from booze to magically charmed objects useful to the everyday soldier on deployment.

Yesterday, his contact had met him for a small drop of gear that included a never-ending bottle of hot sauce to spice up MREs and even a pair of graphic novels that allowed the reader to virtually dream themselves into the stories if they started reading right before falling asleep. They had been well received by his enlisted customer base.

But tonight it was a much bigger drop of charmed items, enough for his whole company’s needs if he played it right.

Jerry checked his watch for the time then patted the bulging wad of bills in his tunic pocket to make sure he still had the money he needed to purchase his gear.

His contact, a hulking man named Garraldi, was supposed to bring a small van load of charmed items, perfect for the everyday soldier on deployment.

Jerry wasn’t sure where this guy had come from. He thought that all of the chanters were locked up in camps. Still, the lady at the coffee shop vouched for him when she put him in touch with Jerry. She said he was a local runner who could hook a guy up. If he delivered as promised, Jerry would be set for the month.

An engine rumbled and Jerry stood at attention. Headlights lit a vehicle’s approach. The turned off then on again twice while the van idled a block away.

Jerry pulled his flashlight from his belt and sent an identical signal back, on-off, on-off. The white panel van pulled forward, stopping on the curb next to the checkpoint.

Garraldi got out of the driver’s seat. A thin figure in a ski mask got out of the passenger side.

“Hey, Garraldi, I thought you were coming alone,” Jerry said. “Who’s this?”

“It’s my associate, Vinnie. This is a lot of gear to haul on my own. Don’t worry, he’s kosher.”

“If you say so,” Jerry said, eyeing the other person nervously. “I don’t like surprises, you know?”

“Don’t worry, Jerry, neither does Vinnie. That’s why he wears the mask.”

Jerry shrugged. “Whatever. Let’s see what you brought. Did you get everything I asked for?”

“It was a challenge, but I managed,” Garraldi said. “There are a few extras, free since you placed such a large order. Hopefully you can place another one soon.”

“If all of this works out the way like I think it will, that won’t be a problem.”

Garraldi opened the rear doors and Jerry shined his light inside.

There were about twenty medium-sized cardboard boxes stacked in the back. They all had numbers on the side.

“Here,” Garraldi said. “It’s the manifest list for each box. This way you can keep everything out of sight while you dispose of the gear. I’ll leave the van for you to park somewhere safe inside the militarized zone. Just park it back here outside the zone when you’re finished and put the keys under the seat. We’ll come pick it up.”

“That works.” Jerry took the manifest and flipped through a few pages to select a random box. “Let’s check number twelve. If that checks out, I’ll assume everything else is in order.”

Vinnie climbed into the van and pulled number twelve from the stack.

He pulled a box cutter from nowhere and slit the tape holding the lid closed.

Vinnie opened the box, tilting it so Jerry could shine his flashlight inside it.

The box was full of shoe shine brushes and polish. He checked the manifest and saw that the count looked right.

“Do these things even work?” Jerry asked.

“Like a charm, no pun intended. Put a little of the special polish on the boots, brush three times across the surface in each direction until you’ve covered the boot one time, and BAM! You’ve got a perfectly polished boot every time. And guaranteed to last a week.”

“No kidding?”

“No kidding.” Garraldi assured him. “You can use the same brush on brass with the metal polish in box number eleven. You’ve never seen such a shine.”

“This is gonna make me the most famous scrounger in the army,” Jerry said, mentally counting all of his sure-to-come money.

“Just as long as you keep your fame to yourself. Me and Vinnie don’t wanna be known for nothing.”

Jerry fished in his pocket and pulled out the wad of hundred dollar bills.

He handed the money to Garraldi.

The big guy fanned through the bills but didn’t count them. Then he shoved the money in his pocket.

“Aren’t you going to count it?” Jerry asked.

“You didn’t stiff me, did you?” Garraldi said, his eyes narrowing.

“No, no, not at all. I’m not used to someone having that kind of trust in me, that’s all.”

“I figure we’ve got a long future ahead of us, Jerry. No sense starting if off not trusting each other. Vinnie here will count it when we get back to our place. If it’s not all there, well, we know where you live.”

“Fair enough,” Jerry said.

“Here are the keys. Remember when you’ve moved all the gear and want more, park the van out here with the keys under the front seat. We’ll pick it up and refill it with whatever you need.”

“Sounds good,” Jerry replied with a smile. “Hey, how are you two getting home?”

Garraldi pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and flashed it down the street. A suddenly visible car turned on its lights and drove up the block.

A brown-haired kid about twenty years old was driving the sedan. Garraldi opened the back door and Vinnie got in the front.

“We’ll see you as soon as you need more, Jerry.”

Garraldi got in the car and it sped away.

Jerry watched the car leave and then returned to his post, looking around to make sure that he was still alone.

He reached over and pressed the button to raise the gate across the road, then got in the van and drove through it while imagining the prices he could charge for the things he’d seen on the manifest.

This was going to be a banner month.

———

Winnie pulled off the ski mask and shook out her long brown hair.

“Well that was fun,” she said.

“You didn’t have to come, boss,” Garraldi said. “I still think it was an unnecessary risk.”

Winnie laughed. “I used to do this on my own all the time. Besides, you weren’t going to let anything happen to me.”

“Are you sure the charms are all going to work like you planned?” Danny asked.

“Sure,” Winnie said. “The magic was all easy. Most of the items are innocuous and will work exactly as the manifest claims. That’s the beauty of this plan. They’ll have no way of knowing what’s safe to use and what isn’t. Plus there are a few items in the batch that will dispel enchantments on any special weapons or surveillance equipment. It’s going to set them back a big step when it comes to keeping us out. We can start hitting them where it counts. Disrupting their operations.”

“I wish I could be watching when the shit hits the fan,” Garraldi said. “There are going to be a lot of unhappy soldiers.”

“Yep,” Winnie said. “I can’t wait to get back to the Pike and check in with the other cities. See how their deliveries went. Within a few days, we’ll have seriously hampered the Army’s ability. Then we’ll see what Kane does next.”

CHAPTER 13

It took exactly three days for the Army and Couch to figure out that something was wrong with their soldiers. It started with a widespread outbreak of food poisoning hitting about thirty percent of the barracks in twenty different cities. Then the stasis bombs struck.

Boot brushes activated in a trio of cities — a supplemental charm on their fiftieth stroke locked every person within one hundred yards of the user in a stasis sphere, keeping them frozen while still fully aware of their surroundings. The effect lasted for eight hours and caused numerous nervous breakdowns among the affected men and women. The others were severely demoralized and had to stand down from their duties for days afterward.

General Philip Couch toured the barracks in the capital where one such stasis bomb detonated his intelligence adjutant, Major Dirk Seifert.

“My investigation is still in its preliminary stages, General. But the primary culprit for this attack appears to be this item over here.” Major Seifert led the General to a bunk in the center of the line of beds. He was a tall, intelligent graduate of the National Military Academy, inherently competent and trustworthy.

“That boot brush caused all the trouble here?” Couch was doubtful.

“Yes, sir,” Seifert said. “That’s the challenge when it comes to rooting out all these charmed items. They men won’t turn the items over on their own and we don’t know which might be sabotaged, and which are just normally charmed.”

“Explain what happened here, exactly,” Couch ordered.

The major took out a note pad and consulted it before continuing. Couch approved of his attention to detail.

“It apparently started with one Private Sam Jenkins. He purchased a charmed boot brush because he’d been on report three times in the last month for dirty boots. He bought his item from a street vendor selling hot dogs near the base. We’ve checked for the vendor. He was new and hasn’t been back since the two days before the stasis bomb went off. Jenkins was using the brush according to the vendor’s instructions, brushing the leather, then shouted a warning to his fellow soldiers. They looked his way and described a spreading field that looked like the room was filling with clear gelatin. As the stasis field spread outward, it captured more and more soldiers until it reached its full expansion of approximately one hundred meters in every direction.”

Seifert bent over and picked up the brush.

“Good God, man, don’t touch that thing.”

“It’s harmless now, sir. We had our experts inspect it and everything else in this room. Whatever magic charm was placed upon it is gone now.”

“Was anything else found when the survey team scanned the room?”

“Nothing malevolent,” said the major. “But nearly every soldier had at least one charmed item in their possession. Some of them had bought from the same vendor. Others used the normal black market channels. We’re following up on that as well. It seems the charm runners were targeting individual soldiers, but also sold in bulk to the scroungers in the various units on-base.”

“As long as armies have existed, there’s been a black market for contraband,” Couch observed. “We can stop the individuals, but eventually someone else will take their place.”

“Agreed, sir. Still, I’ve taken the liberty of having the military police pick up the scroungers involved. We got lucky in Baltimore and found a scrounger who might have been in contact with known associates of Durham. I’m following up  personally. We might be able to trace the contact back to her hiding place.”

“Excellent work, Major,” Couch said. “I want that pipeline locked down. Have the MPs go through every barrack—including the officer’s quarters—and confiscate every magical item they find. Don’t punish the owners unless they cause trouble; just collect everything and have it sent to Kane’s adjutant. He’ll make sure they’re properly disposed of. I also want to make an example of some runners. Have our city patrols gather all suspected sympathizers. Hold public trials and then have them executed by firing squad in front of the cameras. Perhaps we can impress upon people that we’re not fooling around here.”

“Yes, sir,” Major Seifert said, swallowing hard. “Anything else?”

“Keep me personally apprised of the situation regarding the potential link in Baltimore to Durham. She’s public enemy number one. Locate her and we nip this rebellion in the bud.”

“Yes sir.” Seifert saluted, turned, and left the briefing room, collecting his assistants as he left the room.

Couch watched the capable young officer leave then turned to review another pile of reports on his desk. The top one suggested closing traffic routes between the cities on the interstates to kill communication lines between the rebel groups. Problem was, even with the nationwide cell towers down and the network dead, rebels were still somehow coordinating their efforts.

He considered the possibility of a magical solution being used by the rebels, and again wished that he’d resisted Kane’s demand to disband the Army’s own chanter corps three years before. He’d have his own resources now to answer questions like these. Now he always had to talk with Kane, and Couch had become reticent about visiting the Director too frequently.

There was something dark happening there, and he wanted no part of it.

Couch shook his head and set aside that report folder.

He had more important things to worry about, like where he was going to get the food and ammunition his troops would need if this turned into a prolonged campaign. The rebels were turning a two-week operation into a quagmire.

Couch wondered if Durham was having similar headaches growing her rebellion. The General certainly hoped so.

CHAPTER 14

Winnie sighed, looking around the table in the room she used as a temporary office at the Pike. It had been two months since the military coup had turned into a standoff between General Couch’s loyal army forces and the rag-tag collection of rebel militia units, charm runners, and raw recruits from around country. They were all looking to Winnie to break the stalemate in some way.

But right now she was stuck trying to find a way to accommodate the growing band of followers at the amusement park. Cleaver had sent another group down from New Amsterdam. He and the Mayor had the remaining loyalist forces surrounded in the city’s financial district and the Sable boss said that they weren’t going anywhere soon, unless Couch managed to free up some forces.

That group of nearly fifty runners and middling militia trainees was almost enough to break the delicate system of resources and supply at the amusement park and Winnie wasn’t sure how she was going to solve the problem.

She shuffled through the disorganized pile of papers, looking for a list of remaining food supplies in their stores.

She stopped looking when she heard the knock on the door, glanced up and saw Garraldi. She tried to keep the fatigue from her voice, but barely managed.

“What now?”

“Sorry, boss. I know you’re juggling. You asked me to come by this afternoon and take you on a tour of the newest recruits so they could meet you personally. It means a lot to morale but I can come back later if you want.”

Winnie smiled at the big man, pushed the pile of papers away from her, and stood. “A break to talk to new arrivals sounds perfect. Please, lead the way.”

He smiled and she smiled back. After their first few successes against Kane, the current stalemate was straining everyone. It was good to see an occasional smile. Necessary.

“How are things going on your end?” Winnie asked. “Do you have what you need to train the new recruits?”

Garraldi shrugged. “I’m doing the best that I can, boss. I had that one stint in the Army, but that doesn’t make me an expert on training and operations. I’m not as good at this as … ”

“As Cait would have been?” Winnie said with a sad smile.

She felt the fresh pangs of loss every time she mentioned her best friend, the woman who had died ensuring their escape from the camp raid months before.

Garraldi nodded. “Sorry, boss. She had a way with this kind of thing that would’ve made things much easier.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.” Winnie put a hand on Garraldi’s shoulder as they walked outside and headed to the nearby park offices, now turned into makeshift barracks. “Just ask yourself What would Cait do?”

“That’s what I’m doing. And so far it’s working. It’s taking me time, but I’m learning the ropes.”

“Good,” Winnie said.

They’d arrived at the small two-story structure the park had used as its administrative offices. The rooms had been emptied of office furniture and filled with bunks for the recruits, now arriving almost daily.

Garraldi opened the door and entered the first floor hallway.

There were two new recruits inside. They wore white strips of cloth tied about their right arms above the elbow. They recruits both snapped to attention—a boy of about twenty and a woman who looked to be in her early thirties—as Winnie and Garraldi passed.

Garraldi pointed at the woman’s white armband. “Something new I’m trying. Everyone has to rotate in as the Officer of the Day. There are two at any given time, one chanter and one middling recruit. That way if there’s a problem with one group or another, they have one of their own to deal with it. We’re integrating housing. The ODs are responsible for discipline in the barracks for now, though I hope to identify the best from among them, then eventually turn the best into squad leaders and sergeants.”

“I like what you’re doing,” Winnie said. “They’ll need to trust each other once things get really tough.”

“That’s the plan, ma’am.”

They walked past several makeshift bunk rooms. Recruits all stood to some approximation of attention whenever they saw them. Winnie smiled, offering words of encouragement to the occasional troops, struck by the wide range of ages, and the number of middlings who’d volunteered to join their side.

Garraldi led Winnie to a room where everyone was wrapped in various bandages and splints.

“Artos sent a group of menders to teach magical and mundane first aid to some of the recruits. We’ll need medics eventually. The menders will act in that role to start, but we’re hoping to identify some talented recruits to apprentice with them as well.”

“I shall have to thank him for the loan,” Winnie said.

They arrived at the far side of the building. Garraldi led her outside and across a broad courtyard. Gunfire POPPED in the distance. He and his master-at-arms Maria DeSantos had set up a firing range. He must be taking her there.

They walked for a handful of minutes then turned the corner near a merry-go-round and found Maria drilling a line of recruits firing downrange at a set of hillside targets. The rifles had been liberated from the New Amsterdam armory and had arrived the previous week.

Maria stepped back from the recruit firing line to greet Winnie.  “They’re coming along, though I wish we had more ammo to practice with.”

Garraldi shook his head. “We only have what Cleaver sent down from New Amsterdam. Tris is working on getting more, but it’s taking time. And we need to preserve our stores in case of attack.”

Maria glanced at Winnie. “Have you told her yet?”

“Told me what?”

“I didn’t have a chance to bring it up yet, boss,” Garraldi said, his eyes on Winnie.

“He doesn’t agree with me,” Maria said.

“That’s not it,” Garraldi said. “I didn’t want to add to the stuff she needs to worry about.”

“Stop arguing about whatever it is and tell me,” Winnie said.

“We can’t stay here,” Maria said. “It’s not safe and we’re too exposed.”

“What do you mean?”

The Pike felt plenty safe to Winnie.

“There’s no way we can defend this place against an organized assault.” Maria gestured around them. “There are multiple approaches to the park and the whole place is flat and open with no cover from incoming fire. If General Couch finds out where we are and mounts an attack, he’ll roll right over us. We won’t last an hour.”

Winnie looked from Maria to Garraldi, shaking her head. “You two have discussed this, so you must have tried to think of a solution. Any suggestions?”

“No,” Maria shook her head. “Garraldi and I have a list of things to look for in a new location. Defensibility is, of course, our primary need.”

“Well, we’ll bring this up at the next council meeting,” Winnie said, referring to the regular dinner with her core of leaders. “You and Garraldi will present a joint report on what we should look for in a new location. And we’ll want to start with a few recommendations. Then we’ll see what the rest of the crew can come up with.”

They nodded, both smiling at Winnie.

She said, “See what we can accomplish when we all work together?”  Then she turned and left them discussing the problem behind her.

They were capable leaders; they just needed to trust each other.

Winnie hoped this little exercise would help them get to know each other a bit better. And get along. Everyone at the Pike needed the two of them working together; they were her primary training resources to teach military tactics and operations.

After dinner, Winnie opened the floor to Garraldi and Maria. The group also included, Tris, Winnie, Danny, Cricket, and Elaine, who was now instrumental in helping the twins develop their talents and passing any learned knowledge onto Winnie.

Garraldi started the presentation with a look at the growing numbers and the strain it was placing on their available space at the Pike. Maria followed, outlining the many limitations of their current location. Then they finished with a list of necessary features for any new location, in order of importance, both of them stressing defensibility.

Cricket, who’d become Winnie’s intelligence chief, raised a hand.

“Everything I find says that Couch is having a hard enough time holding on to the cities. What makes you think that he’ll attack our base, if he can even find it?”

“Because it’s what I would do in his place,” Maria said. “The General doesn’t have unlimited resources. The standing army is small and you’re right: he’s stretched pretty thin. That said, he must know that he’s leaving himself open to attack by staying pinned in the city. We know where he and his forces are all the time. It’s easy for us to plan small attacks, like hitting the black market pipeline.”

Garraldi stepped up. “Couch has to know that in order to win, he’ll have to bring the fight to us. The more settled into his defenses he becomes, the more resources he’ll free up to come looking for us. It wouldn’t take much to overrun us here. Maria and I agree one hundred percent on that.”

Danny started to say something but stopped. He was looking at the features they needed in a new location, listed on the monitor.

“Danny, what is it?” Winnie asked.

“I’m not sure. I’m thinking of a place, but I need to do some checking, talk it out with these two first.”

“Tell us,” Winnie said. “We might as well discuss it while everyone’s here.”

“I’m not even sure it still exists. It might be a good fit, but I want to be sure. Something better might come along in the meantime.”

Winnie was a little annoyed at him for not being more open with his idea but it wasn’t worth arguing about, at least not here in front of everyone.

She adjourned and everyone left. Then Winnie waited until she and Danny were back in their room later that evening before asking again.

“Be patient, Win. I’m not keeping secrets. I just don’t want to get everyone’s hopes up. But don’t worry, you’ll be the first to know if this works out.”

Winnie wondered about the big mystery as she settled into bed, worrying if they’d find a new location soon enough to avoid the war that Garraldi and Maria seemed certain was coming their way.

CHAPTER 15

Nils sat staring, looking directly at the area where, over a month earlier, he’d first met the entity that called itself the Fell.

He’d expanded his magic since then, but always in limited ways.

He could detect a threshold in the power but Kane was still loathe to cross it, knowing that despite the unimaginable strength that lay on the other side, crossing over meant that he could never return.

He’d been dabbling in mind control with nearly every person with whom he came in contact, making them do things they’d never do on their own.

The affected individual always remained under his spell, becoming a darker version of themselves. In one instance, a Red Leg officer went home and burned his house to ashes with his family still inside, after Kane planted the suggestion to give in to his darker, interior urges. He returned to work the next morning and bragged proudly about setting the blaze because he had to purge all chanter sympathizers like his wife from the world.

While Kane felt the power to change and force his will on others’ minds intensify, he believed with the additional power promised by the Fell, he’d be able to change their bodies as well.

This was the line he was most reluctant to cross.

The voice of his tiny, shrinking conscience told him that it was what the Fell wanted him to do. It cautioned him to beware of the entity’s motives.

They certainly weren’t the same as Kane’s own goals.

The tiny voice was all that kept him from calling the Fell again.

“This is ridiculous,” Kane shouted at no one. “What am I afraid of? I have nothing to fear from a disembodied voice.”

Kane had made a career of bold choices and standing by his decisions, no matter what. It had led him to control a nation, set him up for an ultimate victory over the world.

“No,” Kane said to that tiny voice. “It is time to see what else the Fell can teach me.”

He channeled the dark energy.

The ebony ball of force began to form again.

This time it had been easier. Kane was much more attuned to the power across the barrier on the other side.

The hideous face of the Fell appeared inside the floating sphere.

“Ah, Nilrem,” the ugly voice echoed inside his mind. “I’ve been watching your progress. Have you come back for more?”

“I sense that this power can do more than the shifting of minds and psyches.”

“There is more to learn, if you are willing.”

“Tell me more,” Kane said. “What might I be able to do?”

“Reach out. Touch the orb. I will show you.”

Kane hedged, but then he extended his hand until his fingertips were brushing the smooth surface of the orb.

The moment he made contact, Kane felt himself falling forward.

A part of his being was sucked into the orb.

He tried to pull back, to climb in reverse against the rushing flow that pulled him in and downward.

The ground firmed beneath his feet.

Opening his eyes, Kane looked around and realized he was standing amid a group of heavily armed soldiers in a mist-filled street.

He was about to ask where he was when it dawned on him.

This was the expedition. The mission to Europe where he first met Couch and recovered his family’s fortune.

Then he remembered what happened on this mist covered street.

Dread wracked his body.

“We have to go back,” he heard himself mutter.

The soldier directly in front of him raised a fist in the air.

The group of advancing soldiers stopped, crouching to the ground, all of them facing outward, guarding a sector of their perimeter.

The leader turned to face him: Captain Couch. “Why do we need to stop? According to your map, we’re almost there.”

Nils shook his head. This was all wrong, he was reliving something he’d already been through, something he never wanted to live through again.

“Trust me, Captain. We have to turn around and find another way.” A distant howl sliced through the night. Nils looked around. “We might be too late.”

“Too late for what, Chief Inspector?” Couch asked.

A ripple of shots was followed by a hideous scream.

Couch looked to the rear and called out. “Report. Who fired? What was the target?”

A rolling mist was coming to swallow the rear edges of the company.

Nils said, “We might be able to outrun some of them. But we have to go now.”

“Some of what?” Couch asked.

More shots sounded from the mists to the rear.

A human scream of pain.

Snarls from some sort of unimaginable demon preceded more shouts and screams from the men.

Then the first of the creatures bounded over those soldiers nearest to Nils, leaping out of the mist so fast that none could get a shot off.

The beast landed and Nils got his first look at the creature: humanoid, but with tufts of coarse fur covering its body interspersed with scaly skin like a snake. Its hands and feet ended in claws that could surely cleave right through body armor.

But the worst was its head and face. It looked a massive fang-filled maw had erupted from a once-human face. Crimson eyes bored into Nils.

Everyone froze; no one had ever seen anything like this before.

Tribesmen on the coast had told them that they’d never get past the Garbarians. And now Kane and the men in his expedition saw these demons for the first time.

The creature spun in place, swinging its clawed hands at the armored backs of soldiers still struggling to turn and face it.

Claws ripped flesh to the bone.

The first soldier cried out. A half second and then he was reduced to a husk of meat now missing its soul.

Couch was the first to react. He swung his rifle around on its sling and fired a series of rounds into the creature’s head until it exploded in bits of bone and gore.

He stopped firing, heard even more gunfire behind them.

Screams multiplied.

“Move,” he shouted. “We’re almost to the sanctuary on our maps. Go, go, go! Cover your sectors!”

The special forces soldiers around Kane started forward at a trot, two of them dragging their fallen comrade behind them.

The rear column appeared from the mist, running at full speed, some occasionally turning to fire, but most only trying to escape the Garbarians.

The lead soldiers reached a stone wall jutting upward from the street. They moved along it until they reached a heavy steel gate. The first soldier to reach it tried pushing it open, then turned and called back to the rest. “It’s locked. We need breaching charges.”

“No,” Nils heard himself call back. “We need that door intact or we’ll never be able to secure the keep. Let me open it.”

He ran up while the soldiers fanned out around the gate, guns out and scanning the mist.

Several fired at movement in the mist. A few were rewarded with pained howls from their pursuers.

Nils pulled in some of the limited magic he could access in this barren land and directed it into the locking mechanism on the heavy steel gate.

Several seconds later, he was able to operate the locking mechanism from his side. Kane reached up and shoved against the cold, damp metal.

The gate started to swing inward, allowing the expedition access to the keep.

“We’re in,” Couch called. “First two squads inside and search for defensive positions on the walls. Give us covering fire while the company comes up behind us. The rest of you form up here. Cover the perimeter until everyone’s inside.”

Nils stood by Couch at the entrance, though he wanted to run inside and hide from the creatures attacking their column.

Soldiers jogged past, a few of them bloody, mostly from the dying sprays of their fallen comrades. Once the remainder of the company was in sight and most of them inside the keep, Kane caught sight of the horde of attacking Garbarians.

They surged forward when they realized their quarry was escaping.

The final security team members around the gate fired into the charging mass of creatures, barely holding them back.

Gunfire rained from the walls above, pushing the charge back long enough for Couch to call the remainder of the force inside, then slam the gate shut behind them.

Nils felt a tugging on his being again.

This time he was pulled backward, drifting up and away from the scene in the courtyard.

Then he was back in his apartment, hand outstretched and stroking the orb.

His eye’s widened and he pulled his hand away.

“Those creatures, the Garbarians, they’re yours. You created them,” Nils said to the visage floating inside the spinning sphere.

“They and others similar to them are beings I have created to serve my followers on your plane. The Garbarians are particularly useful, as you remembered. They can track anything, anyone, despite magical enhancements and shields against detection.”

“They could find the Durham girl.”

“Yes, Nilrem. You see the purpose behind what I showed you.”

“So you will create them for me, with nothing in return?”

Nils was suspicious, knowing that there was always a price.

“No, Nilrem, you will create them. I have given you the power. You need only to make the leap.”

Nils considered, seeing the creatures again in his memories.

He remembered the eyes of the Garbarian he’d been face-to-face with in Britain. The eyes were his own. The Garbarians didn’t only look humanoid in shape, their eyes gave them away.

They were humans, twisted and shaped by magic until they took the form of the beasts who had hunted his expedition from that keep to the coast.

“I know what I have to do,” Kane said without hesitation.

The creation of the Garbarians for him to command was merely another step along the path he had to take to succeed.

This new power wasn’t something to be feared.

It was a tool to crush his enemies.

Again, his nagging  conscience tried to surface. But this time he pushed it away from his thoughts with such force it was as if he’d snuffed out a candle with his boot heel.

He would create the Garbarians for use against Durham and her comrades, and he’d do it no matter the cost to his soul.

The tiny voice died.

Nilrem Kane knew that it would never bother him again.

CHAPTER 16

Winnie sat in the front passenger seat of the van, glancing over at Danny.

He’d been secretive for a week. Disappearing once for an entire day, leaving in the morning and returning late at night after she’d gone to bed.

She asked him about where he’d gone, but he merely urged her to ‘trust him.’

“I’m almost finished,” he said. “I think I’ve got it worked out.”

Now they were riding down a long lane, overgrowth from the nearby woods encroaching on all sides, pushing up from between the broken, cracked pavement. Elaine, Tris, Victor, and Morgan sat in the rear seats, all looking out at the vegetation, trying to get a glimpse of where they were going. Garraldi and Maria followed with their primary security team in another van behind them.

“I hope this mystery is worth the four-hour drive into the middle of nowhere,” Winnie said.

“It will be,” Danny replied. “I’ve got it all worked out. We’re almost there.”

Winnie looked forward, trying to see where ‘there’ was, exactly. There were tall trees on either side, thick branches and foliage swallowing the lane.

Then the lane turned to the right and space opened ahead.

Danny drove through an open gate in a tall, overgrown brick wall and continued driving through an open area with fewer, but larger trees.

A large brick building loomed ahead. It looked abandoned and run down. A battery of broken windows looked like missing teeth in it its three-story facade. Twisting vines climbed the exterior walls.

He pulled the van outside the broad steps leading up to the entry doors.

A sign stood nearby. Winnie could barely make out the word Hospital along the bottom. Thick vines ate the rest.

Danny turned to Winnie and smiled. “We’re here.”

“Where exactly is this, Danny?” she asked, climbing out.

Winnie walked around to stand in front of the steps. Danny joined her. The others all got out behind them.

“It’s owned by my mother’s family,” Danny said. “We’ve had it for years. I wanted to check and make sure it was still in our family’s hands, and that no one was living here. It’s remote, there’s a wall around the grounds so we should be able to fortify it. The buildings are all made of concrete and brick. Close together. There are hundreds of rooms here, so we should have enough for all of us.”

Winnie looked around, seeing three other buildings close by, including an interesting A-frame structure across the courtyard from where they were parked. The interior of the brick and stone wall surrounding the grounds stretched out of sight in either direction.

There was a shriek of alarm to her right.

Her mother was standing next to the sign. She’d pulled the vines out of the way and was stepping backward, pointing at the words in accusation:

Waverly Chanter’s Hospital.

Winnie spun around on Danny, confronting him. “Your mother’s a Waverly? THOSE Waverlies? I can’t believe you did this. How could you bring us here and think this would be a good place to hide out?”

“I don’t understand.” Danny raised his hands, palms out. “What’s wrong with this place? It’s been abandoned my entire life. What’s the big deal? You can’t possibly believe all those old stories.”

“All those old stories are true,” Elaine said. “This place tried to cure mentally ill chanters of something that wasn’t a disease. Something that couldn’t be cured. Terrible things were done to those chanters here in the name of science.”

“Danny, you can’t tell me you didn’t know what this place stood for,” Winnie said. “The Harvester Kane used to kill so many chanters while siphoning their magical energy likely has roots in the experiments conducted on mentally ill chanters here.”

“All this has ever been to me is an abandoned property that’s been in my family forever. I didn’t know. I’d heard stories, sure, but I never believed them.”

Winnie glared at Danny, not sure how he could be so dense.

Maria came over and stepped between them. “Winnie, we should at least look around. At first glance, this place seems like exactly what we need.”

“Maria, you’re a middling. You don’t understand,” Garraldi said. “This place gives me the creeps just standing here.”

“The history here makes it a perfect hideout. Who would expect you or any group of chanter rebels to hide out in a place like this?” Maria explained. “Let’s look around.”

Winnie wanted to say something about Maria being as clueless as Danny.

But what if she was right? It wasn’t like she believed in ghosts. Sure there were things that couldn’t be explained in places like the crater, but that didn’t mean she and the others had anything to fear from this place beyond its ugly history. It was abandoned now.

“Okay,” Winnie agreed. “Keep your eyes open and look at this place as if we’ll have to defend it against attacks both magical and mundane. Eventually, we probably will.”

As the others spread out and started walking around the grounds, Elaine pulled her daughter aside. “You’re not seriously thinking about using this place as a base, are you?”

“Maria’s right. No one who knows the history would ever think of us hiding here. Besides, if there is some sort of lingering negative energy, it’s going to be chanter life force. It will be on our side in this fight, not the other way around. Maybe we can cleanse this place, make it stand for something positive.”

“I don’t know, Winnie.” Elaine shook her head. “I knew people who were sent here. They never came back. It closed just after you were born, when Dr. Waverly’s work was finally exposed. He was probably Danny’s great grandfather.”

“Danny’s not like his family, Mom. He’s proven himself plenty of times. He’s been there even when you haven’t been. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

Danny came over and cleared his throat. Winnie and Elaine both gave him the same withering glare. He shrank back as he spoke.

“Look, Winnie, Ms. Durham, I’m sorry for bringing you here. I would never have considered it if I’d known what it meant to you both. I get that I can’t understand what it means to be a chanter. We can look for something else. I’m sure we’ll find a better location somewhere else.”

“No.” Winnie looked around at the wall that surrounded the grounds, thinking about the defensive spells she and the others could create to shield them from attack here. Maria was right—this place was nearly perfect in its layout and size. They desperately needed a new location and they had little hope that something better would just come along.

“Let’s look around. Get a feel for this place.”

Elaine nodded, looking unconvinced. Danny gave her a meek smile, took her hand, then led her up the stairs and into the main building.

Elaine, Victor, and Morgan followed them inside.

“My mom brought me here once when I was about five. I remember thinking it was kind of awesome,” Danny led Winnie and Elaine into the main entry hallway and gestured around. “There are a bunch of small rooms, so everyone will have a roommate or two rather than the whole bunk room to share. There are underground tunnels between the basement levels connecting the three main buildings to each other. That could be key if we’re attacked. We wouldn’t have to expose ourselves when moving from one place to another.”

Winnie looked around, trying to clear her mind of previous reservations.

The whole place looked run down from the outside, but the interior wasn’t too bad. It was dusty, but she didn’t smell any mildew or rot. That meant the structure was still sound. If the other buildings were still as solid, they could clean up the inside and make it livable with just a little work.

They continued down the hallway, checking some of the first-floor rooms. Most of them still had random desks and other furniture here and there. It seemed that no one from the Waverly family had bothered to auction the facility’s contents.

She exited out the back. Garraldi and a few members of his security team were exiting from one of the other two buildings. Cricket and Tris were leaving the second one. Winnie motioned for them to meet in the courtyard between the three central buildings.

“So, give me your thoughts. If we were to ignore its history, what are the pros and cons of this place?”

Tris hooked a thumb over her shoulder at the building she’d just left with Cricket. “The structure’s in good shape. I didn’t see signs of problems other than some broken windows.”

Cricket nodded. “Most of the rooms in that one have bed frames still in them. The mattresses are musty, but it could be cleaned up with some work.”

“The whole place is on a well system. And the generator behind the building can probably be fixed.” Garraldi looked at Tris. “We’ll need you and your techs to give the systems a once over, but I think we could have limited electricity and water without too much trouble.”

“I’ll have to take a look,” Tris said. “But we should be able to get the electrical, water, and sewer systems working again.”

“The wall is unbroken and extends around the property,” Maria said, appearing from between the two rear buildings. “It would take some work to make it defensible against modern weapons, but we could do it if we have enough manpower. I know some of you have reservations, but this is nearly perfect so far as I can tell.”

Victor and Morgan moved up to join the group. “I know the Red Legs joke about this place being the big boogie man to all chanters,” he said. “I’m not proud of it, but we used to try and scare chanter prisoners by telling them we’d opened this place up again and we were going to ship them here.” He stopped and seemed to be ashamed for a moment. “I agree with the assessment that the authorities won’t consider this a viable location for any sort of chanter base.”

Winnie turned and scanned the grounds again, taking in what she’d heard from her friends and trying to see the potential for the facility for their purposes. She tried to separate the reality from the myths that haunted this place. They needed a new base and this fit the bill. In the end, it was that simple.

Winnie turned back to her team, who was awaiting her decision.

“This is the place.” Winnie raised a hand to stave her mother’s objection. “We’ll turn the history around. We will use this place to overthrow Director Kane once and for all. We’ll make it a place of strength for chanters to be proud of, despite whatever happened here before.”

She looked from person to person, held each gaze before moving on, and ended with her mother. Elaine seemed to be searching Winnie’s eyes for something.

She found it and smiled.

Finally, they’d found a new home.

CHAPTER 17

It took them the better part of a week to start moving everyone from the Pike down to the abandoned hospital. They started with Tris and her Sable techs to get the building systems up and running again. Maria and Garraldi accompanied them with a detachment of the security team to set up defenses as they ferried in the new recruits.

Victor and Morgan took over providing immediate security for Winnie and the inner circle while still at the Pike. It was a great deal of work to shut down operations there before migrating everything to the hospital.

Winnie took the opportunity to get everyone together and organized by opening a communications window between the Pike and the hospital. She had Victor, Morgan, and her mother by her side at the Pike, and she could see Garraldi, Cricket, Maria, and Tris on the other side of the window at the hospital.

“Thanks for getting together everyone,” Winnie said. “I don’t want to forget anything or leave any traces behind that could be used to trace us from the Pike to our new location. We’ll be finished the move in another few days. What else do we need to do?”

“I’ve made sure that we are leaving no data traces behind,” Victor said. “The national network is still mostly down and I don’t trust what’s available. I’m sure that Kane and Couch are monitoring it for any trace of communication between us and our other allies. Fortunately, the hospital was never brought into the national network because it was closed before the net was up and running. And now that we have these windows, we don’t need it much anyway. I’m still bringing all the computers we’ve been using for security. We’ll have them there and if we do need to use the net, we can try tapping in from a node that’s about a mile away the facility.”

“Good,” Winnie said. “What about the systems down there? Tris, I assume you have everything up and running?”

“The generator’s fixed, though it took longer than expected. We spent the first few nights roughing it. We were able to hand pump enough water for everyone’s basic needs, but we’re in much better shape now that the electric pumps are up and working again. My team also managed to enhance the generator’s output with a few magical tweaks. That’s given us a big enough boost to light all the buildings.”

“Excellent.” Winnie turned to Garraldi. “How are the buildings themselves coming along?”

“The recruits were put to work cleaning their prospective living spaces upon arrival. We’ve been able to use some basic spells to clean and freshen most of the old mattresses. They’re ready for as many people as we can take.”

“What about defenses, Maria?”

“I’ve had the recruits dismantle sections of the walls to create small bunkers for perimeter defense. They’re tired of the work, but it’s coming along.” She chuckled. “They’ve taken to calling the place ‘Fort Brick’ after all the bricks they’re taking down and resetting in the bunkers.”

“It’s a better name than the old one,” Winnie laughed. “Let’s all start using it.”

“That works,” Morgan said. “From an operational security perspective, if word gets out about our new location’s name, it won’t tell Kane’s forces anything about the actual spot.”

“Good point, Morgan,” Winnie said. “Which brings us to our remaining fortifications. We have to shield this location from mundane detection, but also from magical searches. Any—”

“I’ve used your distraction spell to mask the main road entrance,” Garraldi said. With all the traffic we’ve been bringing in down here, the lane no longer looks deserted. Now, I’m sure most middlings will either forget it existed entirely or simply not notice it when driving by.” He laughed and pointed to Maria. “She got lost the first time she left after I’d set the spell up.”

“He’s right. I knew the lane existed, but couldn’t locate the entrance despite driving right by it several times. It will serve to put off any patrols that come by, provided they don’t see any of our own vehicles entering the lane.”

“What about magic shielding around the grounds?” Winnie asked.

Victor cleared his throat. Winnie looked toward him with  surprise in her eyes. “Victor?”

“I’ve been spending some time with the twins among my other duties over the last few weeks. I’ve been intrigued by their power and wondered what my powers could do if I applied some of the things they can do to my own ability. I can already pull apart the weaves of most spells. That helps me dispel the magic.” Victor paused and looked nervously around. “Well, in light of what you all were trying to do with Fort Brick, I thought I could try and create a sort of anti-magic shield. I managed to fashion some sort of bubble around Morgan then I had Fiona and Jacob cast some simple charms. We were all surprised when the charms bounced right off her.”

“That’s amazing, Victor,” Winnie said. “How hard will it be to make it permanent?”

“I think I can create a dome over the fort that covers the grounds if I could work with a group of chanters familiar with larger castings like this.” Victor looked around at the group and shrugged. “I don’t have a lot of experience with how that would work, but that’s my idea.”

“Working in groups on magical projects sounds like a job for my team,” Tris said. “I’ll have to look at exactly what you do, Victor. But we should be able to amplify your shield enough to cover the place.”

“If we can do that, and we put distraction spells in place all the way around the perimeter,” Garraldi said, “then we should be able to avoid both middling and magical detection. Kane and his pet general will never be able to find us.”

“I agree,” Maria said. “If Victor can really do this, then we should be in great shape from a security perspective. I’ll still prepare for the worst, but this will give us more time to get the defenses in place.”

“I have a question,” Elaine said.

“Go ahead, Mom. You’re part of this council, too.”

“When are we going to free the rest of the chanters from the camps?” Elaine was met with dead silence. She added, “We have to try and do something. We have to free them.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Victor said.

“Why not?” Tris snapped.

“Look,” Victor said, still uncomfortable. “I know things are rough there. But where do we put them once we free them? Look around. We’re scrounging to take care of ourselves. What will we do with tens of thousands of chanters if we liberate the camps? They can’t go home to the Enclaves, and we don’t have the resources to absorb them all.”

“So we leave them where they are?” Elaine said. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am,” Victor countered. “We know that Kane wants their power, but we’ve knocked out his ability to get that power for now. He’s bottled up in the capital and the bulk of his forces are tied up. He’ll do what he must to keep them alive for the time being. That means they’re safe for now.”

Winnie could see his logic, but she’d been considering a larger rescue of the chanters in the closest camp for a while.

“I’m not talking about never going and rescuing them,” Victor explained. “I’m advocating for us to hold off for a while longer to consolidate our strength and start taking the fight to Kane for a change. Once we claim a few more cities, we’ll be able to free some of the camps. Until then, we’d be creating refugees that we’re not prepared to feed or house.”

“Victor’s right,” Winnie said. “We need to focus on defeating Kane now while we have him holed up. The Fae can begin healing the world’s magical breaches once he’s defeated. Then we can free everyone. Wastelands around the cities will cease to be deserts. People can expand outward again. But we can’t do that without defeating Kane. That must remain our primary concern.”

Winnie turned to her mother. “I know you have friends there. Most of us do. But if we don’t defeat Kane while we have the chance, freeing them will postpone the inevitable.”

Elaine stared back at Winnie. Then looked away.

“I understand. I don’t want us to forget them, that’s all.”

“We won’t forget them,” Winnie said. “They’re the reason we’re fighting.”

She looked from face to face, on both sides of the communication window, until she finally saw agreement on them all.

Winnie needed a consensus on their primary goals. Their forces were so small compared to what they faced, being of one mind and purpose was critical to their success.

“Alright,” Winnie went on. “We should be finished moving down to Fort Brick within a few days. Then we can start planning what to do next. I look forward to seeing you in person soon.”

Winnie let the magical window close, her mind lost to the countless details wrestling in her head. It was time to start bringing more resources into their new hideout. She had some thoughts about how to do exactly that.

And she looked forward to sharing them with the team, once they were all together again.

CHAPTER 18

The move to Fort Brick concluded later that week.

Winnie rode in the last convoy to leave the Pike in a van with her mom, the twins, and Danny. The rest of the van was packed to the ceiling with anything they thought could use at the new location. Victor followed in another van with Morgan and the security team. Three more vans full of supplies fell in line behind Victor.

The drive took them past the outskirts of Baltimore. Winnie and the other chanters had again magically masked the vans so their passing wasn’t noticed by curious drivers or Red Leg patrols. She was glad to see the other chanters were learning some of the methods she and the twins used to manipulate magic. No one was as accomplished as they were, though Kripke showed promise.

And Winnie still felt certain that there were others who could do what she and the twins could do.

After about an hour on the highway, Winnie began to feel a magical pull.

At first she couldn’t put her finger on what it was, a gentle tugging at her center, the part of her that helped her control and cast spells with the magic around her.

She turned in her seat and looked towards the city, her hand resting on her chest, feeling the tugging sensation there.

“See, Jacob, Winnie feels it, too,” Fiona said from her seat in the back.

Winnie turned around and glanced at the girl. Did she and her brother feel the same tugging? Did her mother, the only other chanter in the van, feel it, too?

“What is it, Fiona?” Winnie asked. “Do you and Jacob feel something pulling at you?”

Elaine looked at Winnie, then at the children seated beside her. “What is it? Is something wrong?”

“I don’t think so, Mom. I feel a magical pull towards the city. And I think the children feel it, too.”

Jacob leaned over and whispered in his sister’s ear.

Fiona grinned. “Jacob says the others are scared and all alone in the city.”

“What others, Fiona?”

Jacob leaned over and spoke to his sister in secret again.

“The other chanters,” she said. “Jacob says they’re trapped, and can’t get out on their own.”

It took Winnie a few moments of concentration, but then she managed to isolate the distinct strings connecting her to individuals in the city.

She could sense their fear and desperation.

They seemed just like Kripke before she found him in her mother’s apartment, scared and alone.

Those connections must be to others who somehow avoided detection by the Red Legs as they swept the Enclave for chanters.

“I feel them, too, Jacob,” Winnie said. “You’re right: they’re frightened.”

“Winnie,” Danny said. “What are you talking about?”

Elaine put a hand on Winnie’s shoulder. “I don’t feel anything, dear.”

“There’s some sort of magical connection to individuals in the city. I think it’s the others like me and Fiona and Jacob.  The ones I’ve been searching for.”

“Jacob wants to know if you will go and get them,” Fiona said.

“I think I have to,” Winnie said. “But I can’t go now. We don’t have any room. We need to drop you all off at the hospital. Then we can return to the city and look for these missing chanters.”

“You can’t go in there, Winnie. Not right now,” Danny said. “It’s way too dangerous for any of us to enter the city, even with masked vehicles. The army and the Red Legs have become much more adept at searching for us. Ever since our runs to the soldiers were shut down, getting into the city has become nearly impossible.”

“That’s all the more reason to get those people out of there, Danny,” Winnie said. “We have to do it now, before it gets even harder. We can’t leave them there.”

“We need to talk to Garraldi, Victor, and Maria,” Danny said. “Maybe we can make a push into the city with a larger force. That way if there’s trouble, we can get you out again.”

I don’t think that’s the right answer,” Winnie said, shaking her head. “It should be either me alone or me and a couple of others.”

“We need to get this last shipment to the hospital. Once we’re all there and settled in, we can look at ways to get any remaining chanters inside the city out.”

Winnie wanted to do more and faster but Danny was right.

It wasn’t the best idea right now.

She turned forward in her seat and stared at the road as Danny drove, thinking  of ways she could maybe get in and out of the city without alerting the soldiers or Red Legs patrols.

Winnie hadn’t been to the hospital in a week, and she was impressed with the changes she saw on their approach. Armed guards stood behind brick and sandbag structures built into the wall surrounding the grounds in both directions.

The grounds themselves had been cleaned. The buildings looked spruced up, too. There were people everywhere, all of them busy. There hadn’t been much to do at the old amusement park. Here, there were ample activities to keep new recruits busy, and it was clear that her leaders were making excellent use of their workforce.

The convoy pulled up in front of the main building and a group of recruits appeared, led by Tris and Maria. They unloaded the vehicles, carrying the last load of supplies and equipment from the Pike into Fort Brick.

Winnie was pleased with what she saw. “Tris, this is impressive. This place is already much further along than I expected, based on what you were saying during the nightly conferences.”

“We’ve been hard at work pulling things together. The first few nights were a bit more rustic than I like, I’ll admit. But once we got the generator up and running, I was able to make everyone more comfortable.”

Winnie looked at Maria. “How are the security arrangements going? I saw the new guard posts along the wall.”

“The perimeter is nearly finished,” Maria said. “Garraldi had some ideas about how we can magically enhance things to make it even more secure against detection and attack. Even now, we could withstand a significant assault for an extended period of time. The basements are reinforced concrete. They’re like bunkers already, it didn’t take much to create fallback positions in each of the buildings should we have to abandon our spots along the walls.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Winnie said. “Our best defense is still secrecy.”

“Agreed,” Maria said. “It never hurts to plan for the worst, though. This place is ready to withstand a lot.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Winnie said looking around. “We should have a meeting of the core leaders this afternoon. There’s a new development I’d like to discuss.”

“I’ll pass the word,” Tris said. “We’ve been holding a daily meeting in the evening at dinner. Can it wait until then?”

“I think so. It will take me a while to get situated, and I want to tour the grounds to see everything before the meeting anyway.”

“Do you want Maria or I to show you around?” Tris asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Winnie said. “I’ll see you both at the dinner meeting. Can you pass the word?”

“Sure. I’ll let everyone know.” Tris looked around at her surroundings. “I didn’t think this would work out at first, given its history, but Danny was right. This place is perfect.”

Winnie went to gather her things, but the van was already empty.

“It’s all upstairs,” Danny said. “Perk of being the boss.”

“Well then,” Winnie said. “Want to survey the grounds?”

“That would be great. You should see inside; it looks brand-new in there.”

“I can’t wait,” Winnie said, taking his hand. “We’ll check out the buildings after we look over the perimeter defenses.”

“Lead the way,” Danny said with a bow.

Winnie smiled, then the two of them started walking the grounds.

But Winnie couldn’t stop thinking about the lost chanters, likely hiding deep in the city, just a few hours away.

There were things that had to be done.

And soon.

CHAPTER 19

Nils stormed into the bunker command center beneath the department headquarters searching for General Couch. He found the General at the conference table, seated beside a major with the Intelligence Service insignia on his shoulder.

Good, Nils thought, stalking towards them.

“I see you got my message and brought along your chief of intelligence. I have questions for both of you.”

“Good evening, Director,” the General said. “This is Major Dirk Seifert, my S2 officer.”

Seifert stood and greeted the director with a bow. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, sir. I hope I can serve you as well as I’ve served the General.”

“That remains to be seen, Major.” Kane sat. “General, you assured me that  you had a line on how to reach Durham directly.”

“Yes, Director.”

“Then please explain how it is that you still haven’t managed to locate her?”

“It appears we made a mistake when we cut off all contact with the charm runners supplying the scroungers. I ordered the pipeline shut down completely. It served its primary purpose of protecting the soldiers from further sabotage, but it also drove the runners back underground.”

“So we have no leads on her whereabouts at all?” Kane growled.

“Not exactly, sir,” said Seifert. “I have several resources in every city. A few of the local resources here in the capital and in Baltimore reference a brick fort of some sort when discussing Durham’s location.”

“A brick fort?” Kane said. “What the hell does that mean?”

“We’re looking into it, sir,” Seifert replied. “It could relate to any of the region’s abandoned military installations, or perhaps a historical site from when they fortified with brick and mortar.”

“So in other words, you have no idea. Not much of an intelligence officer, are you?”

Seifert started to say something but General Couch stepped in.

“Director Kane, it is extremely difficult to find any connections to Durham. Most chanters are locked away in your camps, hours from the city, severed from any communication, so we can’t turn to them for information. Any remaining chanters are either part of the underground, or isolated individuals who’ve managed to elude our sweeps and patrols.”

“We were hoping, sir,” Seifert spoke up again, “that you would have some sort of magical means by which we could locate Durham and her associates. She has to stay close to the cities for supply reasons. Our limited intelligence has estimated that she might have upwards of five hundred recruits. She should be easy enough to track, but we’ve turned up nothing, despite extensive searches.”

Kane was ready to kill someone.

“So why haven’t you found her, then?”

“We suspect it’s because she’s using magic to mask or conceal her position,” Seifert said. “That is why I was hoping you might have a more arcane solution to the problem.”

“You want me to use magic to find her. It that what you’re saying? Doesn’t the prospect of me or others within my control using magic frighten you, Major?”

“Sir, I’m here to serve you and the General. I try not to have opinions that limit the operational resources we have at our disposal. If magic can locate Durham where I cannot, I’d be a fool to refuse.”

Kane looked at the General. “You’ve chosen well with this one, Couch. He’s got enough brains to be useful.”

“The Major is right. If magic will reveal Durham’s location, we can end this thing sooner rather than later.”

Nils stood and circled the table. “I’ve tried a few things on my own, but it might be time to enlist another form of magical aid, though I imagine that you might not like my decision to bring these particular forces into play, General.”

“We’re at a stalemate right now, sir. I don’t see how it could get worse.”

“That’s because you’re not using your imagination.” Kane gave the General his grimmest smile. “There are magical trackers in this world, General. Trackers who can find the girl no matter where she’s hiding. Surely you remember … ”

Finally, the bulb went bright in the General’s mind.

Something ugly claimed his face.

“Sir, you’re not suggesting that we try to capture and train some of those creatures we saw in Europe all those years ago?” The General swallowed. “We lost a lot of good men just getting away.”

“We don’t have to capture them,” Kane said, enjoying the terror that Couch was trying to keep from his face. “I have learned to create them.”

“Sir, I remember you describing those creatures as the darkest magic in existence. Are you sure about this?”

The Director smiled like a serpent. “The time has come for extraordinary measures.”

Kane considered the consequences of doing this one final time, then dispelled the doubts from his mind. He was tired of Durham and her meddling. It was time that he finished her once and for all.

But who should he use to convert?

Garbarians were created from human subjects.

He considered his options while pacing the table. Then he smiled as the solution found him.

“General, are the members of the Assembly still under house arrest?”

“Yes, Director. They’ve been held at your orders, pending the trials you were going to order against them.”

“Trials are messy affairs. We all know they’re guilty. Why give them the chance to garner popular sympathy? I’ve found the perfect way they can continue to serve despite their current reservations. Have them brought here in small groups every morning for the next five days. Make sure you use men you trust for their mental fortitude, General. This isn’t  for the faint at heart.”

The General stared back at Kane, unsuccessfully hiding his horror.

“Come, General, I did tell you that this campaign would require your complete loyalty. Don’t lose heart just when things are getting interesting. Prove that you’re still with me.”

The General gulped. Then he nodded as Kane’s smile erupted into laughter.

It felt good to finally surrender to what he’d fought for so long. The Fell said that he’d have to make a decision soon. But now that decision had been made and Kane’s laughter caromed off the bunker walls.

In Kane’s apartment, the visage of the Fell inside the now-permanent orb turned into a twisted grimace of feral amusement.

It had begun.

CHAPTER 20

Winnie sat back at dinner with her friends and smiled.

Everything was going well at the former Waverly Chanter’s Hospital.

Every one of her leaders reported that their plans were either completed or almost finished. Now she was free to discuss what she really wanted to talk about.

“Sounds like everything is going according to plan,” she said. “So now it’s time to gather the chanters I detected in the city. We need to—“

“I thought we put that to rest,” Danny interrupted.

“—Get there before Kane’s men find them,” Winnie finished.

Danny sighed. “Have you talked to Victor or Tris?”

Victor shook his head. “This is the first I’ve heard about it.”

“Me, too,” Tris said.

Winnie described the sensation she’d felt when skirting the city on their way to the base. Then she told them what the twins said that it meant.

“I have to find them. If they’ve eluded capture this long, then they have something we need. If we can bring them here, we can work together, grow their powers, help them become strong like me and the twins. Or stronger.”

“It’s too much risk, Winnie,” Victor said. “Surely Danny told you that.”

“He tried. But I’m not changing my mind. This has to be done. I can feel it.”

Garraldi shook his head. “You can want to do something all you want, boss, but that doesn’t make it possible. The city perimeter is locked. No one gets in or out without them knowing. You’d be caught before you got a mile inside the city. Last time we tried, we had to fight our way out.” He looked at Maria and she nodded.

“Unless you have a way to magically teleport inside the city, there’s no safe way to get inside,” Maria said.

Winnie started to reply, but stopped and thought.

“Uh-oh,” Danny said. “I don’t like that look on your face.”

“It’s what Maria said,” Winnie explained. “We can’t cross into the city the normal way anymore because they’ve set all their forces at the perimeter to keep us out and the people in. Fine, we won’t go in that way at all.”

Tris shook her head. “You’re not making any sense, Winnie. There’s no magical way in there and there’s no secret entrance to the city that I know of.”

“What if we make our own entrance? A door into the city?” Winnie looked around the room — no one was getting it.

She picked up a cloth napkin from the table and balled it in her fist.

Turning to one side, she raised her free hand and pointed.

She’d never tried this, but it made sense. It was amazing they’d never thought of it before. A tweak in the magic, complex, but small.

Winnie pulled in the magic around her, traced the air with her pointer, and dragged a golden trail behind her finger until a rectangle glowed before her.

She looked to the other end of the long table, smiled at the second window, glowing from Maria’s end of the room.

Someone gasped, finally getting it.

“Winnie, we know you can communicate through the windows,” Tris said. “But it’s a screen, like a video. You can’t pass through it.”

“What if we can?”

Winnie looked at the window, and through the napkin at Maria.

It sailed through the window and Maria caught it.

She looked down at the napkin, stunned.

The room was silent, the ramifications settling in.

Winnie reached out, flinching just once before her hand broke through the window. Her bare skin tingled. Her hairs stood on end.

Her arm passed through the window and the universe blinked.

“Hand me the napkin, Maria,” Winnie said.

A disembodied hand extended from thin air, then Winnie’s open hand was filled with the napkin.

She withdrew her hand and the magic disappeared.

Winnie beamed. “Well, that worked.”

“That’s extraordinary,” Morgan said. It was almost a whisper. “I had no idea you could do something like that.”

“Neither did I … ”

“This changes everything,” Danny said. “It means we can go anywhere. It means they can’t stop us. It means we can attack Kane in his office right now.”

Winnie shook her head. “I’ve only been able to open a communications window to a location within my sight, an area I know well, or to someone I’ve met in person. I’m sure this works the same way.”

“So you’re thinking of using this to look for chanters?” Garraldi asked. “You can’t go alone. Without you, we’re on the final round.”

“I’m going,” Winnie said. “I’m the only one who knows how to do this, and teaching could take days. I hear you, and I will take one person with me. But any more than that puts at risks of getting picked up by patrols. Remember, if we’re successful then we’ll be bringing more back.”

“I’ll go,” Victor said, standing. “I’m your protector, or so says the Lady of the Lake. If you’re taking one person, it must be me.”

“I don’t like it,” Garraldi said. “But I know you’re going, anyway. Victor makes sense. His sympathizers might be able to help if you get into trouble.”

“Are you going tonight?” Maria asked.

Winnie nodded. “Something tells me this has to happen soon. If it should be done by tomorrow, then why not do it tonight?”

“Let me grab a few things from my room,” Victor said. “I’ll be ready to meet you here in five minutes.”

Victor kissed Morgan on the cheek, nodded to the room, then left.

Winnie eyed her team’s concern. Everyone stared back. Disapproval wrinkled every face. She didn’t flinch.

“You all say that you trust me, that you need me, that this can’t happen without me. Then this is your chance to prove it. I believe that this is the right thing to do. And I believe that Victor will protect me. And I believe that while we are gone making this happen, you will continue to prepare here. Thank you for your faith. I’ll be back before dawn.”

“How are you going to get back out?” Danny asked, almost like he was afraid to. “You said you don’t think you can go somewhere you don’t know well. How will you return? You’ve only been here a few times.”

“I’ll zero in on you,” Winnie said. “I can open a window to someone I know. I should be able to connect directly to your location.”

“You just said ‘should,’” Garraldi said.

“It will work. It’s not a new spell. It’s an adaptation of something I already know. It will work.” Winnie stood and nodded. “I need to change into something dark. Please excuse me.”

She left and walked the short distance to the room she and Danny were sharing down the hall. She changed into dark jeans and a black turtleneck, then pulled on a black leather jacket.

She bit her bottom lip. Tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Swallowed.

Victor was waiting when she got there, dressed in all black, wearing tactical gear with a pair of pistols, one per hip.

Winnie smiled. “Ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Victor said.

Danny was waiting. She turned to him, smiling wider.

Winnie turned to Danny. “We’ll only be a few hours. Stay here and clear the room. I don’t want to open a window in the middle of someone.”

“I’ll be here, Win.” Danny leaned in and she quickly kissed him, determined not to let it linger.

Then she outlined her largest window ever—a doorway—shimmering gold rather than silver. On the other side, her mother’s apartment.

Winnie turned to Victor and smiled. “It’s time.”

“Don’t step through until I make sure it’s clear.”

He took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway.

Victor visibly shivered, and then he was standing inside the apartment. He turned and smiled then started walking around the room, checking the hallway and the entrance before returning to the window with a nod.

“It’s clear, Winnie. Come on through.”

Winnie stepped through.

The tingling from before was back. She trembled as crossed through, then she was on the other side. Turning back she saw Danny and the others staring back at her. She gave them a final reassuring nod then waved and let the doorway dissipate.

“Let’s go, Victor. I feel like time is the enemy.”

CHAPTER 21

Winnie and Victor took the stairs to the street instead of the elevator. If anyone was in the supposedly abandoned building, hearing the elevator running between floors would definitely alert them that they weren’t alone.

Outside, Victor checked the street to make sure that the coast was clear, then waved her out once he was sure. She joined him at the bottom of the steps, the two of them crouching in shadows.

“We’re here, Winnie. Where to first?”

She looked around, tugging at the atmosphere for any thread that might take her to the missing chanters. A pregnant moment, then she pointed down the street to her left.

“That way. I think there’s a group of them together.”

“Let’s hope so. Several together means we get out of here faster. I don’t want to be in the city a second longer than we need to be.”

They started walking, avoiding street lights, staying low to the shadows.

From what Winnie could see, the entire area was still deserted. They traveled a handful of city blocks, using alleys to skirt open intersections and stopping to listen for any signs that they were being followed. A scream split the air as they paused in front of a wide and open intersection.

“Well, that doesn’t sound good.” Victor craned his head around the corner. “I see flashing blue lights reflected ahead. Police or Red Legs. We should go around.”

Winnie crept past Victor and looked around the corner for herself. She couldn’t see the cars, but the flashing lights said that they were probably around the next corner. Same for the chanters.

“We’ve got a problem,” she said. “I think the chanters are in the same place as that patrol.”

Victor sighed. “Then we have to go back. There’s nothing we can do.”

“No way. We can’t leave without at least taking a look. It could be a coincidence. Or maybe it’s just one car of Red Legs, and we can catch them by surprise.”

“No, Winnie. We didn’t plan on running into trouble. This was a mission to escort the chanters in hiding out of the city. If they’ve been caught then our mission is over.”

She couldn’t let these people be taken in by the Red Legs, not while she was this close. “I can mask us,” she said, snapping her fingers with the dawning idea. “I can make it so the Red Legs don’t notice us. I learned the trick from Kripke after we picked him up. Then we can sneak up and at least see what’s happening up ahead.”

“I don’t know, Winnie. Are you sure it will work?”

“Absolutely,” she lied. “It will be like concealing the vans when we drove from the Pike to Fort Brick.”

“Fine. But we’re only going to look. Then we pull back and make the best possible decision.”

Winnie nodded then pulled in the magic, wrapping the flows around them until she felt covered. The spell reflected the light from what was behind to the front, so a person would look somewhat transparent to the naked eye.

It was dark and if they didn’t step out into the street lights, they should be nearly invisible.

Winnie could see Victor perfectly in the magical spectrum, but switching to visible light, she could barely make out his outline.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s go.”

Winnie emerged from the shadows and jogged across the street to the other side. She slowly approached the corner.

Voices grew louder. She crouched at the corner and looked around it.

A hundred yards away there was a pair of Red Leg cruisers and a small police van with its back doors open. Benches on either side faced the center. A metal grate covered the windows. Light could come in, but nothing could leave.

Two Red Legs walked up from a basement apartment dragging a man and woman behind them, both of them cuffed.

Behind that group, another two officers emerged with a hulking man, kicking and thrashing between them. He’d been cuffed and shackled, forcing him to take tiny, angry, shuffling steps.

Two final officers came up behind the big man, helping the other pair to wrestle him along. The trio in custody were the ones she’d been waiting for.

She could practically taste her connection.

“We can’t let them get captured,” Winnie whispered.

“There are six officers that we can see. Who knows how many others are nearby. We can’t do anything right now.”

The first man was shoved into the van. Then one of the Red Legs grappled with the woman to hoist her into the back.

This couldn’t happen.

Victor would be furious, but Winnie had no choice.

“Cover me,” she said, then stepped out around the corner and sprinted toward the group, pulling in every possible molecule of magic as she ran.

Footsteps pounded behind her, Victor at her heels.

The Red Legs had yet to see them. The cloaking spell was still working, but it would be simple enough to spot them now that they were running right for the brightly lit area under the street lights near the van.

The shackled chanter saw Winnie first.

He grinned, then doubled his struggle, thrashing even harder against his bonds as Winnie closed the distance between them.

The Red Legs pulled out their stun batons and began raining blows down on the man until he was twitching on the concrete.

Winnie growled, and then she was on them.

The cloaking spell slipped away as she attacked.

The nearest Red Leg must have seen something out of the corner of his eye—he turned and raised a hand to block her first spinning kick at his head.

Winnie blocked the attack then dropped to one knee.

She extended a hand, palm outward, and with an exhalation of air sent a magical punch right at the man’s midsection.

The officer doubled over, flew backward, and crashed into the van.

He crumpled to the street.

Winnie continued her attacks, aiming magical blows on the two Red Legs beating the big man on the ground.

They fell over backward. One of them struck his head on the van’s rear bumper with a terrible CRACK! and fell limp to the ground. The second man started to stand, drawing his sidearm as he did.

Winnie tried to pull in another spell to counter his attack, but a pair of gunshots ripped through the air behind her.

The Red Leg toppled over backwards and lay still, the gun still in his hand.

Winnie turned around and gave a grateful smile to Victor.

Three down, three to go.

Winnie stood, then launched herself at the nearest Red Leg.

The woman turned to face Winnie, drawing her sidearm.

But she was too late.

Winnie slammed into the Red Leg, chest to shoulder.

The blow sent them both to the street with all of Winnie’s weight coming down on top of the officer.

Winnie grabbed her wrist and smashed it down on the ground.

The woman lost her grip on the gun and it skittered across the pavement.

A flurry of additional shots tore through the air: Victor using his twin pistols to drive the other two Red Legs behind one of their vehicles.

Winnie brought her elbow down on the woman’s face.

There was a terrible crunch and a fountain of blood.

The officer looked up at Winnie, her eyes rolled up in her head, broken nose gushing, and lost consciousness.

Sitting up and taking advantage of her cover, Winnie searched the woman for keys. She found them attached to a clip on her belt.

Victor twisted back behind the van as a flurry of shots pinged its armored body.

“We need to get out of here, Winnie! If you’re going to do something, now’s the time. I heard one of them calling for help on the radio. We’ll never make it back to your mom’s apartment now.”

“I’ve got it.”

Winnie stood and invited the magic.

Fatigue threatened to fell her.

But she pushed the exhaustion away and fought to regain control long enough to trace a golden trail of magic in the air.

Danny’s startled face stared out from the other side of Winnie’s window.

I’m finished, Victor. Pull back. Help me get these people through. Time to split.”

Winnie pulled the female chanter from where she lay in the back of the van and pushed her towards Danny.

The woman stumbled forward and then she was through.

The other chanter in the van scrambled to his feet, his hands still cuffed behind him. “I don’t know who you are, lady, but I’m glad to see you.”

“Go through the window.” Winnie pointed.

The man looked confused, but darted through the opening anyway.

Victor fired off a flurry of final shots. Then he leaned over and started to pull the big chanter to his feet. Winnie helped and together they barely managed to get him back to his feet and shuffling towards the window.

Two Red Leg cruisers tore around the corner, accelerating towards them.

With a final frantic effort, they shoved him through then ran in behind him.

Winnie turned and waved her hands over the opening in the air, using a counter spell to snap it shut rather than letting it dissipate slowly.

Then Winnie collapsed.

She looked up and saw Victor glowering down, concern and fury clouding his face. Darkness claimed her before she could smile.

CHAPTER 22

Winnie woke up disoriented, confused by her unfamiliar surroundings. She expected the storeroom she shared with Danny.

But this was the hospital.

Winnie rolled over and looked out the window.

Sunlight poured through it and brought last night to mind.

Danny and the others must be letting her sleep off the casting that had emptied her body.

And man, was she famished.

Winnie got out of bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and a tank top, and slipped on her sneakers. She was about to leave in search of a kitchen or better when the door opened and Danny came in holding a tray of food and pot of coffee.

He smiled then he set the tray on a small desk in the corner. “Rested?”

“Yeah, I feel great. Thanks.”

Winnie sat at the desk and grabbed a slice of buttered toast. She shoved half of it into her mouth with a smile. She looked down at the mug and filled it with coffee then added sugar and cream. Three stirs and a sip.

“So, last night was exciting,” Danny said, his tone maybe too accusing.

“Already, Danny?” Winnie sighed, deeper than she should have. “We did what we went there to do. We found the missing chanters. Exactly like I promised.”

“They seem like nice people, Win. And I’m glad they’re safe. But we’re still not agreeing on the level of acceptable risk. Victor’s pissed. I’ve never seen him so mad.”

“He’ll get over it.” Winnie said.

“Victor isn’t going to flinch with your safety, Win. He threatened to tie you up and leave you in your room until you came to your senses. He’ll swear he was kidding. I’m not so sure.”

“Oh, he did, did he?”

Danny pulled up a chair and sat.

Then he started right in. “Who can blame him, Winnie? You put us all at risk last night. You can’t be selfish and call it something else. You did what you wanted. What would have happened if—”

“Nothing happened.”

“But what if it had?”

Had was a slap.

Winnie thought. She stopped.

She listened.

“Dumb luck got you through that fight, Win. You can’t tell me you had some master plan. We all deserve more than that. Fail that and you fail us. Fail us and Kane wins. Kane wins and the earth is done for.”

Winnie moved her food with the fork.

Danny had delivered the food, but he had also taken her appetite.

He was right. She should apologize.

She dropped her fork. “Danny, I—”

“You need to come outside! Both of you,” Tris shouted, running into the room. “Something wonderful is happening!”

The air was pregnant. And Tris was practically glowing.

Once she had their attention, Tris turned around led them out of the room.

The walked in silence to the hospital’s primary building.

And there she gasped.

Wildflowers had colored the world. Every hue, and all of them in a race across a sprawling lawn, then up the hospital walls.

This couldn’t happen overnight, even if the flowers were in season.

Nothing so impossible had ever been this beautiful.

Winnie whispered, “When did this happen?”

“Overnight. One of my techs brought a vase with fresh flowers into my room while I was working on a project. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen fresh flowers? So I asked where they came from. She said ‘they’re everywhere.’ So I came out here and saw this.”

“What’s it mean?” Danny asked.

Winnie took in the view, inhaling the fragrant air.

Then she looked up and wanted to cry, because the orange was finally gone.

“It’s like the crater,” Winnie said. “The land is healing itself. Nature has found its balance here.”

“It’s because of the magic we’re using,” chimed Victor behind her.

Winnie turned.

Victor was standing with Morgan, the two of them holding hands.

He smiled and continued. “The Fae created a hidden island of natural balance within our world at the crater. Perhaps the magic you and some of the others are using here is powerful enough to produce a similar effect. The place is surrounded by cloaking and a defensive magic that is more powerful than anything the world has seen in a very long time. It would make sense that this place would turn into a second sanctuary.”

“Makes sense.” Tris nodded. “We’ve done things here in collaboration with each other that others haven’t done before, at least not in recent memory.”

The small group stood atop the steps at the hospital’s entrance. They took in the view. Listened to the breeze. Enjoyed the silence.

“I should fetch your mother and the twins,” Morgan said. “She’s inside working with Fiona and Jacob. They should see this. They helped to make it.”

“That would be great,” Winnie said. “I’m sure they could use a break from my mom.”

Morgan left and Victor’s gaze strayed from her to Winnie.

“About last night,” she started to say.

“It’s fine, Winnie.” He raised a hand. “You did what you thought you needed to do. It worked out.”

“But we could have done it differently,” Winnie said. “I’m sorry. We rushed in because of me. And we didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, apology accepted. And no, I wasn’t happy. But now … you might be right. We wouldn’t have ever saved them if we hadn’t acted when we did. And the Red Legs were caught totally off guard.” He laughed. “The never saw a chanter warrior like you coming.”

“Chanter warrior?” Danny rolled his eyes. “You know you’re encouraging her?”

“Magic on instinct is scary to watch,” Victor said. “Winnie is a chanter warrior.”

“I never would have made it home without you. So thanks.” She turned from Victor to the group. “I should greet the new arrivals.”

Tris hooked a thumb over her shoulder. “They’re all still resting. We fed them and they crashed. Only thing you’re going to hear from them right now is snoring.”

“Get me when they’re up. Something comes alive inside me around them. Same thing I feel around Fiona and Jacob. I—”

A shout in the distance.

A gunshot.

Gunshots.

First one and then dozens. The way they spattered the dirt and concrete, and sent billows of pollen flying, hundreds were coming.

An alarm screeched.

Bullets multiplied.

Winnie ducked and everyone scrambled.

Another scream curdled from over by the main gate.

Winnie looked over and swallowed her scream.

Demons. A dozen or so. Gnashing and snarling, scraping their paws on the ground, readying themselves to charge.

They were vaguely humanoid. Their scaly, gray skin had patches of course, dark fur randomly covering them. They wore shreds of cloth wrapped around their midsections. Their faces were a nightmare.

Large gaping mouths held four rows of needle-sharp teeth.

Low moaning howls sounded from their throats as they rumbled forward, now sprinting the distance, leaping the walls and fortifications, ignoring the bullets slapping their bodies as they charged toward them.

An armed recruit emptied an entire clip from his rifle right at one of the charging creatures. But the beast barely slowed as it bowled the man over, tearing the screaming man to ribbons with teeth that weren’t even trying.

A second recruit ran up next to the beast and fired three point-blank pistol rounds right into its head. The thing went down, but not in time to save the dying man beneath it.

Winnie tried to shout a warning as one of the other creatures spun around and bounded towards the central building on the way to end a man who’d just killed one of its pack mates.

The recruit turned his gun on the demon, but didn’t have time to pull the trigger before the creature had his head opened like a melon.

“Get back! Everyone inside! Now!” Victor pulled out his pistols and started firing at the nearest charging creatures.

Well-aimed shots claimed two a leap or so from the steps.

Victor backed up towards the door, still firing at the onrushing monsters, forcing the others to crowd through the doors behind him.

Once everyone was inside, Danny and Tris pushed the double metal doors closed. They lifted a heavy iron bar across them and sealed the entrance closed.

A heavy weight slammed into the doors.

Something snarled from the other side.

More gunfire. Three times louder.

Creatures were probably crawling over the wall across the grounds.

Winnie looked around, trying to catch her breath.

“What are those things?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” Victor slid fresh clips into his pistols. “But they’re damned hard to kill. It took several head shots to drop one.” He looked around. “We need cover. There are other entrances to this building. They’ll find their way inside soon enough.”

“What makes you think they’re coming in when there are people to attack outside?” Tris asked.

“Because they were running right for us, ignoring anything that wasn’t in their way. I think they’re here to attack Winnie. We need to get her to safety immediately. Then we can hunt those things down and kill every last one of them.”

Glass shattered somewhere to the right.

Victor turned then cursed the three charging creatures.

He picked one of them off with his reloaded pistols but the others were too fast. They leapt at Winnie, knocking her down.

A barrier of solidified air appeared between her and the claws and the teeth, but it had happened before she could try.

Danny picked up a metal chair and crashed it down on one of the beasts attacking Winnie.

It rolled off of her, then shook off the blow and turned on him.

Tris shouted. More breaking to their left. Snarling roars.

More were inside.

Gunfire threatened her shield. A bullet hit the edge and it looked like a finger through JELL-O.

Another two others joined the first.

Pure hell shoved its tons against her.

A scream followed a shout across the room.

Winnie turned. The twins and her mother were running, strafing gunfire. The children looked strangely angry.

Amid the gunfire, Winnie heard Fiona yelling, “Dispel them, Victor. It’s the only way!” Then she and her brother rushed into the fray.

Winnie lost sight of them.

Lost sight of everything.

She was being buried alive, still struggling against the demons atop her.

Then the children appeared, their hands glowing.

They touched the beasts.

A golden nimbus of light blinked the earth into the sun, then their forms collapsed into dust.

Winnie rolled over coughing, searching the room for Danny.

She found him on the floor, nursing his scratches, beaten but alive.

The gunfire had died.

She looked up, her smile grim. “We need to go outside and make sure none of these creatures escaped. Kane’s found our hideout.”

CHAPTER 23

The next two hours were spent helping the wounded and burying the dead.

Thirty-one of Winnie’s fighters along the perimeter or on the grounds died during the attack. They counted twenty-four creatures. The attack had been centered on the main gate with scattered groups of two or three waging assaults on other places along the wall.

Some had been killed by gunfire, most had been destroyed by the twins and Victor. Without him constantly dispelling magic, they would have been lost. But now he was empty, barely able to stand.

Winnie stood on the steps with her core command team, watching a group of recruits slinging one of the demons into a freshly dug pit.

“Is that all of them?” Winnie asked Garraldi. He hadn’t left her side since the attack. He had six heavily armed runners standing in close proximity, ready for a second attack or anything else.

“We think so. I was with Maria at the far end of the compound when the first one came over the wall. We were drilling a fast response team so we hit that one immediately.”

“Is Maria safe?”

“Yes, she’s outside the wall now, scouting for more of those … things. She should be back soon, after she’s swept the perimeter.”

“Good.” Winnie shivered. “What were they? Has anyone ever heard of anything like them before?”

Danny shrugged. Tris, too.

“I think they’re what the Europeans called Garbarians,” Elaine said. “I used to do a lot of reading about the fall when I was younger. Some rumors suggest that these “demons” are actually the remnants of people who had been turned into monsters by way of dark magic. I always thought they were myths told by scared people watching life as they knew it come to an end. Guess I was wrong.”

“Garbarians,” Winnie said, tasting the word. “And dark magic creates them?”

“According to the stories.”

“I think we all know where the dark magic came from,” Winnie said.

“Kane’s getting desperate,” Tris said. “He’s holed up in the capital while we have the freedom to move around at will.”

Winnie nodded. “And now he knows where we are.”

“Should we consider moving again?” Danny asked, clearly hating the idea.

“Where would we go?” Cricket asked. “ As the chief quartermaster in charge of supplies, moving anywhere isn’t going to be easy.”

“We stay here.” Winnie scanned the wall and surrounding woodlands. “This place was chosen because we could defend it against Kane. So now we need to create a stronger magical defense against whatever else might be coming.”

Tris said, “We don’t know what abilities Kane has, or what kind of creatures he can create. What if he has something that can burrow underground and come up in the basement without us knowing it. How could we possibly defend ourselves?”

“So we raise our defenses here, and then we take the fight to him.” Winnie gauged the shock all around her. Only Garraldi was nodding.

Victor spoke. “Kane is building a fortress in the capital. What makes you think we can possibly take the fight there and win?”

“What choice do we have?” Winnie said. “Look around; Tris is right. Whatever we do, Kane will eventually find a way around it. Fighting the war is the only way that we’re ever going to win it.”

“It’s suicide,” Cricket said.

“So is staying here,” Garraldi said. “Taking the fight to Kane in the capital will cost us, but it will cost us more to stay here waiting for him to smoke us out.”

Garraldi paused. Winnie kept going.

“Sure, Kane has a few new tricks. But so do we. He doesn’t know that we can communicate over long distances, or that we can make portals. Just wait until we make a doorway right into his inner sanctum.”

“But you can’t open a window to somewhere you’ve never been,” Morgan said. “I don’t pretend to know how magic works but I’ve been trying to follow the rules as you’ve explained them.”

“You’re right, for now,” Winnie said. “But between myself and the twins we’ve already come up with some amazing maneuvers for our strongest chanters. I haven’t spoken to the new arrivals yet but can imagine that they have plenty to offer and at least a few surprises. Something amazing is happening with magic right now. With the Fae’s return, long forgotten abilities are coming back, too. Mom’s done an excellent job training the twins. No reason she can’t keep doing that for anyone else that we find.”

“I’ll see what I can find out,” Elaine said. “It might make sense for you to come and help, Winnie. Your abilities seem to magnify when you’re around them. We’ve seen it happen several times. It’s like putting two batteries together for a stronger current. So—”

“What if we could somehow combine our powers,” Winnie interrupted. “Magnify what we can do by working together?”

Tris perked up. “That isn’t all that different from what the techs do when working on repairing a major flaw. I never thought about applying it to something like our defenses here, or an offensive spell. It might work.”

“So, what’s the plan, Winnie?” Victor said. “Give us our orders and we’ll all start marching.”

Winnie surveyed the grounds then looked back at her friends.

“We stay. Strengthen the defenses as best we can. And plan for a strike at Kane, make him and everyone standing with him sorry that they ever heard the word chanter.”

CHAPTER 24

Flames were already licking the bunker walls, but Kane threw another ball of fire at the concrete barrier in front of him, anyway.

The Garbarian alpha cringed in fear, whining at his master.

“Don’t whimper at me,” Kane shouted at the creature. “You and your brethren failed me. How could dozens of you fail to bring that bitch down?”

The Garbarian ducked its head several times, its whining more pathetic. Though created from humans, the transformation stripped the creature’s ability to speak. It could only cower in the face of Kane’s power.

General Couch watched the display from a safe distance across the room. The Director’s ability to create the Garbarians using normal humans was an alarming discovery. These creatures were the enemy of humanity, not the allies that Kane believed them to be.

But it was an elegant way to deal with former adversaries. Kane had used his most vociferous opponents in the disbanded Assembly, at least those he’d been able to capture before their escape from the capital, to create the first group of Garbarians. Now, most of that first pack was presumably dead at the hands of Durham and her rebel forces.

Kane turned his gaze on Couch. The General didn’t flinch, but he did straighten to attention. It was as if Kane had almost forgotten he was there. But now that the cowering pack leader was simpering at his feet, the Director’s tirade had ended, or was at least about to be aimed in a different direction.

“And you, General,” Kane said. “Why didn’t you warn me that Durham’s forces might be strong enough to ward off the initial attack?”

Couch had to proceed carefully. Kane wasn’t thinking clearly, searching for someone to blame for his failure.

“No plan survives contact with the enemy, Director. I might have counseled you differently after I got the report regarding Durham’s raid and capture of three chanters hiding in the Baltimore Enclave. She almost single-handedly overcame a six-man Red Leg patrol, rescued the prisoners, then vanished from the scene. She’s not just more powerful, Durham is more flexible from an operational perspective.”

“Why wasn’t this brought to my attention? I could have waited.” He pointed an accusing finger at Couch. “You should have told me!”

“Sir, you had already dispatched the Garbarians with their orders to track and kill Durham before her raid in Baltimore happened. I was only briefed this morning, and am now telling you.”

Kane seemed to ponder this explanation, but his accusing finger never left couch. The General wondered if he was about to be incinerated in a fit of rage. His tensed muscles relaxed when Kane lowered his hand, then clasped it with the other behind his back and started to pace.

“I must send a larger Garbarian force. We should send everything we have. Her forces can’t be that large or organized. They’re refugees. Petty criminals. Inconsequential.”

“I think it would be a mistake to underestimate her abilities or the capabilities of her allies. She’s surprised you on more than one occasion. If I might offer an alternative solution, sir: consolidate your power base in the cities we already control and start a coordinated campaign against her. Turning public support against Durham will only box her in.”

“We don’t have time for that, General,” Kane snapped. “Every day she remains alive and in possession of my family’s greatest treasure, we run the risk that she’ll discover what is possible with that sword.”

“And what of the sword, sir? You’ve told me it’s a talisman of great power but not what it can do.”

“Nothing you need to worry about right now,” Kane said.

“Very well, sir … but knowing the full capabilities of your adversary is invaluable when designing our defenses and preparing for future attacks.”

“We have spent too much time creating defenses, General. It is time we attack Durham and her ridiculous rebel army with everything we have. They must all be killed, every one. I must demonstrate to the world what awaits anyone who defies me.”

“With all due respect, that is a dangerous course of action.”

“And why is that, General? Is it because you and your forces are afraid to face a little magic?”

“Not at all, Director,” Couch replied. “It’s risky because the nation is watching, both the cities you control and those you don’t. Everyone knows the allegations against you. And they already have reason to think you plan on killing chanters to garner more power for yourself. Offering the rebels some sort of terms in exchange for their peaceful disbandment is — I feel — a much better course.

“You want us to make some sort of deal? Are you a coward, General?”

“No, sir. I am, however, very aware of how much this stalemate has stretched my forces. Any new attack against Durham’s base of operations requires me to call in our reserves and leave the city dangerously undermanned.”

Couch kept his eyes on Kane. The man seemed more unstable than ever. There was a change in him. He used to be a cold, calculating leader willing to make and execute the most careful of plans. But in the past week, he’d become increasingly erratic. And ever since his dalliance with the Garbarians, Kane’s behavior had become even more volatile. The General expected an explosive, violent response to his rationale for not attacking.

“I don’t think you fully appreciate what is at stake here.” Kane voice was softer, almost instructional in its tone. “This is a battle for the very future of mankind. The world is dying, General. Magic is draining the planet’s natural energy. Rings of devastation surrounding our city centers are only growing wider. The magic required to maintain our great public works is leeching life from the land.”

Kane turned and crossed to the wall map of the eastern seaboard and pointed to their spot in the capital.

“I’ve found a source of power stronger than that magic. But, in order to wield it—and save us all—I must control the world’s remaining magic. The clock is ticking for the end of the world, Philip. We don’t have the luxury of waiting until it’s convenient to strike. We must pull every last soldier, Red Leg, and our other, unconventional resources … ” Kane waved a hand at the still cowering Garbarian alpha “and take the fight to them.”

“I will do as you ask, sir,” the General said. “It is my duty to inform you of my recommendations and our available options. You, as always, have final say.”

Kane smiled and clasped his hands together behind his back again.

His smile was so … unnerving.

Something behind his eyes terrified the General, despite the countless horrors he’d seen.

“Very well, General. You have your orders,” Kane said, finally breaking his gaze. “Gather your troops and prepare to attack. I will supplement your forces.”

The General shivered, and hoped it wasn’t obvious to Kane.

He was used to taking orders, but this was something else.

His men wouldn’t even know what to make of the Garbarians. And how could he possibly explain them?

“I’ll have a plan of action and a list of the available forces by this time tomorrow,” Couch promised. “We can launch an assault within the week.”

“Perfect,” Kane said. “That gives us both time to prepare.”

The General saluted then turned to leave.

He stared at the Garbarian crouched low on the concrete floor on his way out, wondering what other nightmares Kane might summon.

CHAPTER 25

Winnie spent several days after the Garbarian attack working with her mother, the twins, Kripke, and the three chanters she’d freed from the Red Legs in Baltimore. The rescued chanters included a married couple, Frannie and Parnell Steele, and a strange hulking silent man who said his name was Bullock.

With the whole group seated in a circle, the three new recruits were shown some magic that they’d never seen before. Kripke demonstrated his ability to mask himself against detection.

Frannie poked her husband with an elbow, wide-eyed as the boy disappeared. “That trick would have come in handy,” she said. “The Red Legs would never have found us.”

“We did fine,” Parnell said. “We just got caught off guard by the patrol while trading for food with Bullock.”

“Don’t blame him,” Frannie said. “They were bound to catch us eventually.”

“I’m glad I was there,” Winnie chimed in. “I swear, your magic was calling me.”

“We’d love to show you we’re grateful,” Parnell said. “Tell us how we can help.”

“I want to learn how the three of you avoided getting picked up for so long,” Winnie said.

“It’s a trick my mother taught me,” Frannie said. It seemed as though she was forcing herself not to look away. “She had a lot of male friends over while I was growing up. She showed me how to create a hard, circular shell around me. Just in case anyone decided that their girlfriend’s teenaged daughter was fair game.”

“I’m sorry,” Winnie said, putting a hand on Frannie’s shoulder. “That sounds awful. But how did you use that to keep the Red Legs from finding you?”

“I taught the trick to Parnell a while ago. He figured out how to expand the exterior, turn it opaque.”

“I also discovered that I could disguise the shell’s exterior,” Parnell added. “Make it look like anything I wanted. Camouflage.  So when the Red Legs came to clear out the Enclave, Frannie and I were walking the street near our building. We tried to get back but were cut off, so we ran to a nearby park. She made the bubble around us, and I made it look like stone.”

“So,” Winnie said, “the Red Legs just saw a giant rock in the park?”

“We spent that first day as landscaping,” Parnell was clearly proud. “And we’ve practically lived in the trick ever since. Once, they chased us into a building. We hid at the end of a hallway that looked like a wall. Took a good two hours with us barely able to breathe before the Red Legs finally moved on.

Winnie turned to Bullock. The big man had light brown skin and full sleeves of colorful tattoos with intricate designs and unfamiliar symbols. “What about you?”

The big man said nothing, just shook his head and stared at the floor.

“Bullock doesn’t talk much,” Frannie said. “He’s been a friend of ours forever. He’s always been like that.”

“How did he escape the sweeps?” Winnie asked. “Do you know?”

Frannie nodded, looked at her friend. “What do you say Bullock? Can I tell her? She’s our friend, too, now.”

Bullock nodded, never moving his eyes from the floor.

“Bullock’s always been teased about being so quiet,” Frannie explained. “He got bullied a lot when we were growing up. One day a bully tried to shove him, and Bullock just disappeared. He wasn’t invisible like Kripke, he was gone. So that became the way he coped. I asked him where he went. He said, ‘To a quiet place where no one can hurt me.’ He was usually gone for hours.”

“Do you know where you go?” Winnie asked.

The big man shook his head. “Somewhere safe.”

“Can you show me?” Winnie asked. “Maybe I can figure it out.”

Bullock seemed to consider. Winnie gave him time. After a minute or so, he finally nodded.

Winnie watched him draw in the energy around him.

She felt almost bowled over by Bullock’s brute force magic. It was as if his giant size and muscles reflected his magical strength.

He pulled in what felt like several chanters’ shares of magic, then pushed outward with a series of flows, twisting themselves in to some sort of portal, not all that different from the one she and a few others had drawn already.

Bullock’s window was irregularly shaped and rimmed in a pulsing blue outline. He sort of leaned forward as the portal drifted towards him.

And then he was gone.

The portal appeared again a few moments later, Bullock leaning backward in his chair, the blue-lined window now closed.

Fiona clapped and laughed. Jacob leaned over and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and clapped louder. “Jacob says he wished he’d thought of that. Making a wrinkle in the world and hiding inside it would be fun.”

“Making a wrinkle?” Winnie repeated. “What does that mean?”

“Bullock takes the world, stretches it, and then he folds it,” Fiona explained. “The fold is outside of the world, so that means he can hide inside it. No one in this world would even know he’s there, unless they made a wrinkle in the same spot.”

“It’s a momentary opening in the world’s reality,” said Elaine. “I suspect this is how the Fae are able to drift between our worlds. Bullock doesn’t open a hole, so much as he hides between worlds. Am I right?”

Bullock nodded, his eyes still on the ground.

Winnie leaned forward and patted him on the knee.

“Thank you for sharing that. You are amazing.” She turned to the group. “Thank you all for sharing and showing me about what you can do. It’s an important part of why you’re all here. I think we can teach others to harness magic like we do. And more importantly, I think we can defend ourselves here as we prepare for our assault on Kane’s stronghold.”

“Do you really think we can fight him directly?” Frannie asked. “He has all the soldiers and Red Legs working for him. And now he has those monsters!”

“It won’t be easy, but we can’t let him capture us either,” Winnie said. “He’ll kill us all eventually. Our best chance of defeating him is to find a way to harmonize our talents in a way that keeps his army at bay.”

She paused to let it sink in.

This next part was where things got interesting.

Winnie wanted them to help her come up with ideas based on what they had all just seen. But Elaine spoke before the brainstorming could start.

“I think the key is in finding ways to fuse our magic. I’m already stronger than I used to be, just from what Fiona and Jacob have showed me. My arthritis is almost gone and I haven’t had this much energy since I was Winnie’s age. We could all benefit from pooling our magic, and seeing what sorts of adaptations naturally occur.”

“Any idea who should try first?” Winnie asked.

“I was thinking Frannie. If we can meld enough power to create shields around Fort Brick, then Kane wouldn’t be able to get in for another attack”

Winnie looked at Frannie. “Wanna try first? We can start with this room.”

“I’m game.” Frannie grinned. “Just tell me what to do.”

“We’ll all draw our magic. But instead of weaving the flows yourselves, direct the energy towards Frannie. Let her control it.”

Bullock finally looked up from the floor. He almost smiled.

Winnie nodded, opened herself, pulled in the magic around her.

The room followed.

With a flow coursing through her, Winnie nudged the magic, coaxing it towards Frannie. The others saw and tried to match her.

Thick flows surrounded Frannie.

She smiled, eyes closed, waving her arms around her head.

Then she opened her eyes and burst out laughing.

“I did it!” Frannie exclaimed. “Go try the door.”

Winnie stood then crossed the room to the door.

She reached out, only half-surprised but fully delighted to find resistance in the opening against her palm. It felt like she was pushing on a warm metal door or wall. No matter how hard she pushed, it wouldn’t budge.

“That’s impressive, Frannie,” Winnie said, returning to her seat. “Could you expand it further, or was that as far as you could go?”

“I think I could have pushed it to just outside the building,” Frannie said.

“It’s better than I thought,” Elaine said. “The magic isn’t just willing to blend. It wants to.”

“That would make sense based on what we’ve seen at the crater. And in my brief interactions with the Fae. Combining our power compounds our efforts.” Winnie turned to Frannie. “You can drop the shield. It’s time to try something different.”

Elaine took over, having the twins display some of the skills they’d developed while living on the streets. The group was particularly impressed with their ability to fashion matter from magic. Fiona and Jacob made a pile of marbles on the floor, then the two of them played while everyone watched.

Winnie pointed at the game. “We need to stop believing in constraints. Stop buying into what everyone else has told us is possible. We’ve proven that magic is only limited by our minds, so it’s time to push our minds harder.”

Everyone shared until dinner. Getting faster, stronger, better.

Their progress was incredible.

Winnie was most pleased with her mother. Elaine’s energy and abilities had both blossomed since she’d been caring for the twins. She no longer needed her medicine. And with her arthritis in remission, she could fully explore her magic for the first time in years.

They weren’t quite ready, but they were more prepared than they’d been so far. If the shield could be expanded, and with enough chanters pooling their magic, the tables could finally turn.

CHAPTER 26

Maria closed her door, desperate to collapse.

She was exhausted down to the marrow.

Ever since the demon attack, security forces and recruits had suffered an endless parade of drills. They practiced rapid deployment to different parts of the perimeter based on signals sent from the sentries. Teams practiced in small and large groups, in daylight and darkness. She and Garraldi had to keep the recruits going through the exercises until they could do them blindly.

They wouldn’t be caught unprepared again.

On top of the daily exercises, Maria also had to attend the nightly command dinners where she received updates from the other leaders. She gave her own reports and by the third day after the attack, Maria could say that most of the perimeter teams boasted satisfactory response times. But she had to keep working, had to keep training. The worst was surely yet to come.

Winnie would either move forward with her plans to attack Kane, or, more likely, Kane was going to attack first. Both possibilities meant that Maria’s troops would be facing combat soon.

She slipped off her twin shoulder holsters and stretched her arms up over her head. She began to unbutton her pants when someone cleared their throat behind her.

Maria dove for her pistols and spun around to face her attacker.

But there was no one there.

Just a rectangular window lined with silver light. And in its center she saw Artos Merrilyn staring back, a wry grin on his weathered face.

“Too bad these windows don’t ring. You really can catch someone with their pants down.” Artos chuckled. “You look like hell. Everything all right?”

Maria lowered her pistol then shoved it back into the holster. “I’ve been pulling twenty hour shifts for four of the last seven days. Garraldi and I have had to do all the readiness training for all the forces we’ve gathered here. How do you want me to look?”

“What about Victor, or Garraldi’s enforcers? Surely they could lend a hand.”

Maria shook her head. “Victor’s focused on protecting Winnie. He’s never more than a room away. Garraldi has his guys helping, but you know how it is. If you want something done right, you do it yourself.”

“A universal truth, I’m afraid,” he agreed. “How is Winnie doing with the chanters? Last we chatted, you said that she’d created a teleportation window.”

Maria nodded. “She’s perfected it. Now most of the more powerful chanters can do it, too. She’s also created a force shield that covers the perimeter. It’s like a giant dome over the whole place. I saw a bird fly into it this morning. Fell to the ground on the far side. Either dead or unconscious.”

“That’s impressive. Will it hold?”

“I’ve fired a few rounds to test it and so far the shield has absorbed the bullets like wind. They all fall to the ground like the bird. I’m planning on testing some explosives tomorrow — grenades and mortar rounds. I want to know how much punishment it can take before it fails.”

“Has Winnie been working with the sword?”

Maria shook her head. “She usually leaves it in her room. I don’t think she knows what to do with it. She talks about the Fae telling her it still has a purpose, but I’m sure that she doesn’t know what that means.”

“That’s a good thing, believe me. That sword could spell our salvation or deliver our doom. I pray that this conflict can be won without heading down that path.”

“What aren’t you telling me? All of our lives are on the line. I deserve more than your usual need to know bullshit.”

“Not this one, Maria. Not this time. This isn’t a secret you want to know.”

“Secrets get people killed in my line of work, Artos.”

“Regardless, this is one secret I’m keeping to myself. Right now two of us know and that’s more than enough.”

“You and who else?”

“Kane, of course. It’s why he’s obsessed with getting Excalibur back. Now that the sword is free of the stone, he wants it and its power all for himself. That can never happen. It must be kept from him at all costs. It’s why I hoped the Fae would take it back.”

“Doesn’t that mean that the Fae think it will need to be used?”

“Exactly what I’m afraid of,” Artos said. “They can see what we cannot. There is an escalation of power here. Kane attacks with the Garbarians and boasts his new allies and power. That prompts Winnie to search for a  counter attack. I fear that they will volley themselves into the inevitable and bring about the end. Kane will throw everything he has at recovering that sword. She’ll resist. They’ll reach a standoff. And then it will happen: Nils will have no choice but to damn his soul and call on Him.”

Maria couldn’t fathom what Artos was talking about, but his eyes were wild. Maybe insane.

“If Kane calls on Him, then we’ll have no choice. Winnie will have to use Excalibur to call on Them.”

“Artos, you aren’t making sense. Who are the Him and Them you’re talking about?”

“Don’t worry about all that, my dear,” he said, his smile sad. “It’s unlikely things will go that far. In the end, it will probably fall to you and your soldiers versus General Couch and his.”

“That wasn’t what you just said, Artos. You talked like the end of the world was coming and there was nothing we could do.”

“Don’t listen to the ravings of a frightened old man. I’m safe and sound here in my underground hideaway, just me and Mr. Gunderson. I don’t have all the friends and help that you do out there.”

“Winnie could open up a portal,” Maria offered. “You could come here.”

“That wouldn’t be a good idea. There is too much past between us. I would only stand in her way were I around.”

“From what I’ve heard, she never listened to you anyway.”

“Nevertheless, there’s too much good wine in my cellar here.”

Artos smiled at Maria, she had no choice but to return it.

“I do what I can here,” he said. “And I’ll update you soon. Until then, try to keep your charge safe.”

The window closed and Maria was again standing alone in her room.

“I’ll do my best, old man,” she muttered to herself.

And It was true. She was doing her best, especially considering that her charge liked to risk life and limb at every opportunity. But keeping Winnie alive and well was essential to everything they’d taken a decade to achieve.

Maria had been working with Artos to topple Kane since she was a teenager herself—she didn’t plan on giving up now. If Winnie was the key to the Director’s downfall, she would do everything possible to keep her alive.

She finished undressing and got into bed.

In four hours she would be back up for a spot check on the early morning sentries. She sighed, rolled over, and prayed for sleep.

She could rest when this had ended.

CHAPTER 27

“I need more creatures like the Garbarians,” Nils said. “No, I take that back; I need creatures better than the Garbarians. They failed. You promised me power unlike any other. But the job isn’t finished. Durham still has Excalibur.”

The visage in the dark orb smiled back.

That angered Kane further.

“What is there to smile about? You’re supposedly the Great and Powerful Fell. And yet things are getting worse.”

“Sometimes things must progress a certain way before success can be realized,” the voice rumbled in his mind. “You must be patient. The Garbarians are the world’s best magical trackers. They did succeed. They found Winnie when you were otherwise unable. Now it is time to enlist the aid of others who can finish her off before she gets too strong.”

“That’s exactly what I want!” Nils snapped, wondering what sort of hideous monsters the Fell had at his command.

“But are you prepared to accept the risk? I can introduce you to what you cannot yet imagine, but you must impress upon the creatures I send that you are the leader they seek to bring pain to their enemies.”

Nils wanted mercenaries, not followers.

What was the Fell trying to say?

The Fell continued.

“Promise them a fight to the end. Swear that you will defeat all the Fae and every supporter still stupid enough to stand behind them. The minions I speak of were imprisoned by their Fae cousins eons ago. They have had millennia to craft their revenge.”

“I will agree to their terms,” Nils said.

“Excellent. Then come and meet your allies so that you may build your army.”

Again Nils leaned forward and touched the ebony orb.

He felt himself fall forward, as if being drawn inside.

The plummeting ended and Kane’s feet touched the ground.

He opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings.

Kane was standing on a blasted landscape of scorched earth and stone. Twisted tree trunks jutted up from the charred ground. The air glowed, deep red, as if the horizon was on fire. The air was thick and smoky and the ground was hard-packed and still hot, as if cooling from centuries of scalding.

Footsteps crunched the ground to his left.

Kane turned as a black-robed figure approached.

“Greetings, Nilrem Kane. Long have we awaited your arrival.”

“Who are you?” Kane asked the gravelly voice.

“I am Gorim. My people—some call us the Bringers—are followers of the Fell. Our goals are similar to yours. The Fell knows well how long we have waited to be rid of this place, to find a new home.”

“This is your home now?” Nils asked.

“This is the last place that we battled the Fae. We won the final conflict, but at a great cost to our species. We claimed victory, but the Fae have forbidden us access to your world ever since.”

“It doesn’t look like much of a victory,” Nils gestured toward the scorched earth.

“We are a powerful race. Our need for the energy of living things is strong. We may occupy a world for only a short while before we bleed its resources. Then we must find an ally to help us reach another.”

“Why should I let you desolate my world and leave me with nothing?”

“We are not charlatans wishing to trick you, Nilrem. We will show you how we draw unlimited power from any world. You will be a lord among my kind, invited to join our conquest.”

Nils reached out with his mind to get a sense of Gorim’s power.

He got only a glimpse before he fell back as if shoved by the wind.

Gorim laughed—a dry coughing that clanged for too long.  Then: “Always testing, Nilrem. The Fell said you were ambitious, seeking unlimited power for yourself. Did you find what you were looking for when probing my mind?”

“I felt great power and boundless energy.”

“This is what you seek, is it not?”

“I seek powerful allies to aid in my quest to return what was stolen from me,” Nils spat. He hated Durham and her friends and craved their destruction, but he wanted Excalibur returned to its rightful owner most of all. “My family’s destiny was stolen from me. I want it back. Can you help?”

“My kind can offer that and more. Come with me and I will let you select the magical beasts we’ve gathered throughout our travels. These creatures now serve us. Join our cause and you may control them, too.”

“They’re like the Garbarians of my world? I must create them from the hearts and bodies of men?” Nils asked.

“No, the Garbarians are creatures we and the Fell have made from the men and women of your world. We have been unable to travel there, so we loaned the power of their creation.”

“If you cannot travel to my world, or send your minions there,” Nils said, “then you will not be of much use to me.”

“Once you have selected your forces, we will assemble them here. The Fell will show you how to summon them by opening a gate between worlds. It is limited to travel only by those you allow through the portal.”

“How do I know you won’t betray me?”

“We serve the Fell as do you. Our purposes are aligned. We would no sooner betray you than we would betray ourselves. Soon you will be a peer in service to the Fell, with unlimited access to all the power you could ever desire. As long as you help us achieve our ends in your world.”

“The defeat of the Fae,” Nils answered.

“Exactly. It is the Fae who have enlisted Winnie in their quest to gain control of your world. She is their champion. So the question, Nilrem: Will you be ours?”

Gorim and Nils walked in silence across the barren landscape.

Nils had a choice to make, a step forward in his quest for power, and another tie to the Fell. He wanted Excalibur and to utterly destroy the girl who stole it, but the weight of this decision had the heft of forever.

But did he really have a choice?

He craved the power he could almost taste.

This was everything he’d wanted for all of his life.

He turned to Gorim. “I’ll be your champion against the Fae. I will serve the Fell and help you exact your revenge.”

Gorim smiled and gave Kane a dry, raspy chuckle. “The Fell has chosen well in you, Nilrem. We shall both succeed in our quests. Now come. Meet the creatures you now have at your disposal to supplement your army on Earth.”

Nils followed Gorim to a stone stairway ahead, descending into a deep chasm. At the bottom, they took a broad passage into the chasm’s wall.

Gorim raised his hand and a pale yellow light bloomed before Kane to show him the way, deep beneath the world.

Kane looked up. The dim light of Gorim’s magical glow highlighted stalactites hanging from the roof far above. The cavern floor was rocky, so Kane had to pick his way carefully along behind his guide.

They eventually reached the far wall, where a series of caves were carved into the stone. Most had thick iron bars blocking the entrances.

“Here you will choose your army,” Gorim said. “These represent the strongest of our creatures. We saved them from extinction when we left the vanquished behind, because they were suited to serve us. Now they shall serve you.”

Nils stepped forward, walked along the wall, peering into each of the caves and forcing himself not to flinch at every fresh nightmare.

There were horned devils, fire-breathing demons, scaled and taloned hunters, and hairy beasts who could take the form of normal men for a time.

At each opening, Gorim introduced the creature inside and described its abilities and limitations. Nils lost count. Some were sea monsters living in pools within their caves. But he couldn’t imagine their purpose in his upcoming battles. Others had wings and could probably fly, but surely they would be susceptible to modern weapons.

Nils had already collected a list of creatures that he believed would give him everything needed to conquer the world. And now they stood at a cave opening much larger than the others. He bristled for more.

Movement inside. Something squirming in the inky blackness. He could sense a malevolence behind the curtain of darkness that repelled even him.

He turned to Gorim, but the man was several feet away, as if afraid to approach the larger cave.

“What lives in here, Gorim? I sense its power. It far exceeds anything else.”

“That is the Chimera, Nilrem. The greatest of our beasts. It possesses nearly limitless power but also holds an equivalent power to destroy. Once unleashed, it must bring an end to everything it sees. It is the one creature I beg you not to take.”

“Can I not control it, same as the others?”

“No,” Gorim said. “You cannot. The Chimera can be summoned, but never controlled. It is a creature of such destructive power that only the Fell can exert any control at ll. Come, let us walk back and you may finish choosing from among the others.”

Nils looked back over his shoulder at the gloaming. He still couldn’t see the creature within, but he sensed it trying to communicate. Infecting him with an unfathomable thirst for destruction and death.

Kane shuddered and walked closer to Gorim.

“We’ll leave that one where it is,” Nils said.

Nils named off creatures as they walked back to the cavern entrance.

Gorim muttered his occasional approval. Once finished, Kane looked back at the cavern and then to his companion, whose face was still hidden in the shadows of his hooded robe.

“I am ready to unleash this army on my enemies, Gorim. Tell me the next steps.”

“When you return to your world, you will open a gateway between this world and yours. We will send the army through to you. Once there, they will fall under your command for as long as you need them.”

Nils smiled, picturing the beasts tearing through Durham’s band of rebels. There would be nothing left of them by the time his new army was finished with them—

A sudden, familiar pull on his mind and Kane was falling backward.

Then he was standing in his apartment, his hand on the orb.

“You found what you were looking for, Nilrem?” asked the Fell in his mind.

“I did, master. I am ready to bring final destruction to my enemies.”

“Good, then stand back and I will bestow upon you the power to open a portal between worlds, so that you can bring your chosen army here.”

Nils stepped backwards.

Again the black forked lightning reached out from the ebony globe and struck him in the chest. His  back arched, body blazing with power.

Then everything went black.

CHAPTER 28

Winnie got up and stretched.

She looked around the room searching for Danny, and smiled when she saw him outside. He’d been up before her every day this week, helping wherever he could at Fort Brick. Maria told her yesterday during one of her breaks that Danny had attached himself to the small company of middlings who’d signed up with their rebel army. He trained alongside them whenever possible, and even took guard shifts when they were assigned to the wall.

He would be heading to the dining hall soon.

Winnie walked to the window, looking out over the grounds below. Switching to the magical spectrum like always, she saw the faint blue glow of the force field that lived in a dome over the hospital.

She looked into the distance, trying to see where it hit the woods, past the sandbag-reinforced brick wall. Their first line of defense, stopping any mundane or magical creature who might try to access Fort Brick.

A trio of magic techs maintained the field at all times. Others could be added to reinforce it if they ever came under attack.

Winnie pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, thinking about the day.

The chanters had been practicing using magic with hand-to-hand combat to enhance the effectiveness of both. Garraldi and Maria told Winnie that they were impressed with everyone’s progress. They were making plans, and Winnie had to approve them.

She also had to talk to a small group of menders—the magical healers who had joined them as medics—and go over the day-to-day routines, versus emergency procedures.

Winnie put on a smile before she opened the door. She couldn’t afford to let anyone see the doubt that wanted to creep behind her eyes.

Her people needed a victory.

Winnie stepped into the hallway. A pair of sentries smiled as they came to attention outside her room. They followed her throughout the day—another security measure put in place for her ever since the Garbarian attack a week before. “Good morning Don. Janice. Ready for today?”

Winnie started walking down the hallway and the guards fell in behind her.

“We were born ready,” said Janice. “What’s the plan?”

The guards had been with the team since the initial assault on the camp. They’d been part of Cait’s original team. Since then, they’d become a trusted part of the group Garraldi called the Ring—his circle of security around Winnie and any others in need of twenty-four-hour protection.

“Today we see if our little army is ready for action.”

“I like the sound of that, Winnie,” Don said.

And she did. They needed to depose Kane from his self-appointed throne. Put the people back in charge of their destiny. Winnie had called a breakfast meeting to announce her plans to the command team. She was nervous, but also eager to get started. They’d been cooped up for too long.

When Winnie arrived in the dining room, everyone was already waiting.

Conversation stopped.

The room felt thick with anticipation.

Her stomach was already rumbling from the smell by the time she spotted the bacon and eggs. The constant use of magic kept her drained, and it was hard to stay fueled.

Winnie smiled at the room then piled food onto her plate.

She took a seat between Danny and Elaine.

Victor, Morgan, Tris, Garraldi, Cricket, and Maria were also at the table. These were her closest friends and confidants. They trusted her, but Winnie wanted them to be as excited about her plans as she was.

It was time to reclaim their country.

There was only one thing to be sure of first.

“Maria, how are the recruits? You and Garraldi have been drilling them nonstop off and on for almost a month now. Are they ready?”

“About as close as we can get them given our constraints”

Garraldi nodded. “The most promising thing we’ve been able to do is integrate the new chanter spells that you and the others have developed with a few tricks of our own. The recruits are going to give some big surprises to any conventional army force they encounter. But honestly, I don’t know if that will be enough to overcome a force of professional soldiers.”

“What about the middling recruits? Have there been issues between the groups? They’re going to have to fight together in what is to come.”

Maria said, “Danny would know better than us.”

“I think you all should stop thinking of them as separate units,” Danny said. “They can’t use magic while they fight, but they’re all highly motivated to make up for it. They came here to side with us because they didn’t believe in what Kane was doing to the chanters. They deserve credit for that. They’ll fight when it’s time.”

“Good to hear,” Winnie said. “Because we’re taking the fight to Kane tomorrow morning.”

A moment of silence as the room drew her in.

Victor finally spoke. “Where’s the target? What are we attacking?”

“The Baltimore Armory. Maria and Garraldi need more hardware. Plus, we’re sure to continue to gather recruits, so it makes sense to resupply. If we can weaken the forces holding the city closest to us, it’ll send a message to Kane that we’re coming for him. Maybe it will make him negotiate a peaceful way out.”

Elaine shook her head. “You’re fooling yourself if you think Kane will back down. He’s always been driven by something … some sense of purpose that pushes him to do what he does. He won’t change now.”

“Your mother’s right, Winnie,” Cricket said. “He’s unleashed magical monsters. It’s obvious  that we’ll have to root him out of his sanctuary by force. He’ll never willingly surrender.”

“Then we’ll have to crush him,” Winnie said. “Morgan, you were working on a hack to access the city’s defense network. How’s it coming?”

“I’m in.” Morgan grabbed a small laptop from the floor and lifted the lid. “There’s an old direct data line running underground from here to the city. Our access is in the basement. Once I tapped into that, getting into the city’s Red Leg systems was easy. I can turn perimeter cameras on and off, set them to loop the video, whatever you need.”

“Have you given any thought to what we should call ourselves?” Tris asked. “We need a name for our army, something that people can believe in, and talk about when they can’t get away from the news. You know it will happen.”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Winnie said. “What do the rest of you think?”

Maria said, “We need something to tell the recruits they’re special. That all the work they’re doing—getting knocked into the dust and getting back up—it’s paying off and being recognized.”

“Dusters.” Winnie smiled. “We should call ourselves Dusters. It’s perfect.”

She looked around at all the smiles and nods.

“I like it,” Cricket said. “Makes us sound scrappy. It’s definitely something we should put out on our daily communications with the other cities. They can start discussing us in their local areas, especially in those places where we control the news. A name will give the people something concrete, a unifying thought and concept to hold when they think about what we’re doing.”

“The troops will like it, too.” Garraldi grinned. “Too bad we can’t have patches made.”

“Yeah, we don’t have much in the way of uniforms,” Maria said. “Everybody’s wearing whatever they brought, which for some isn’t much.”

“I’ll see what I can come up with,” Cricket said. “Let me talk to some of my contacts up in New Amsterdam. Maybe we can work something out.”

“It will help with morale,” Maria said.

“Is morale low?” Winnie asked.

“Everyone’s spirits are high, but that will change over time as we take casualties. Little things will hold us together.”

Winnie looked at Cricket. “Maybe we can have a treat for the troops by the time we get back from the Baltimore raid.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Winnie. You know I’ll get it done if I can.”

“I know you will, Cricket.” She scanned the group. “Well that’s it then. We’re the Dusters. Pass the word  and we’ll move out early tomorrow.”

“I think you should address them before we go, Winnie,” Elaine said.

“I’m not much for speeches.”

“Your mother’s right, Winnie,” Garraldi said. “It doesn’t have to be much of a speech. But everyone deserves some words of encouragement and a reminder of why we’re fighting. They’ll hang on every word, whether you think it’s worthy or not.”

Other people made speeches. She was Winnie, a teenager, not the leader of an army. Except that she wasn’t just Winnie. Not anymore.

She’d taken over the operations of Sable bosses across the country, then turned her charm running forces into a rebel army that was now the only opposition to a pure evil that wanted to kill them all.

“I’ll come up with something.”

“Good,” Victor said. “The Dusters deserve to hear from their warrior queen before they march off to battle.”

CHAPTER 29

The sun was still deciding to rise when Winnie found herself standing on the steps of the main building at Fort Brick, open mouthed, heart pounding, seconds away from addressing the troops.

Companies were fanned in front of her, vehicles nearby ready to take them all into the city. She grazed the faces, all of them waiting.

Word had spread that she was planning to speak to everyone before their big assault on Baltimore’s defenses. Danny said that everyone was excited to hear what she had to say.

That didn’t make her any more comfortable, or slow her heart.

Her hand drifted to the pocket of her leather jacket. She’d taken the time to jot some notes. Just enough to keep her from floundering, or looking foolish.

She looked out at the troops in the early morning light, knowing the paper was useless. She bit her lip and took a step forward.

“I guess the word has spread. You know we’re all Dusters.”

Winnie waited for the cheers to die down, then continued.

“We’ve been knocked down by the bullies running this government one too many times. Now we’re dusting ourselves off and taking the fight to them.”

The cheering grew louder. This time her mouth teased a smile.

“Today Nils Kane will taste our retribution. We’ll raid his stronghold and take everything we can grab that isn’t nailed down from his armory.”

Winnie descended a single step.

“We’re all feeling the same things: worry, excitement, fear … the fear of letting others down. All of that is natural and none of us are different. But let’s turn that worry and fear into the weapons that will bring the Director down. Then maybe we can get this planet breathing again.”

Another step.

And then another. And as she took that third step, Winnie reached back over her shoulder and pulled Excalibur from its scabbard.

“I took this from under Kane’s nose while he stood and watched me. He thinks I stole this from him, but the truth is that it always belonged to me. Now it’s the Duster’s symbol: proof that we can reclaim what is ours. We can take back our cities, our homes, and our lives. There is nothing he can do to stop us.”

A final step.

“Dusters … Are. You. With. Me?”

Dus-ter, Duster, Duster …

The chanting filled her.

She smiled, waving the sword overhead until her arm was on fire.

Still, the people cheered louder.

She turned to Danny, standing with the group of leaders behind her.

“How was that?”

“Perfect, Win. You did it. They were with you before, but they’re fully behind you now. Listen to the cheering.”

Winnie glanced out at the troops, still chanting while their officers herded and loaded them into trucks and cars.

“It’s certainly loud.” Winnie looked down at her sword. “Can you put this thing away for me? I can never get the damned sword back in the sheath after I draw it.”

Danny laughed, then took the sword from Winnie and carefully slid the blade back into its sheath.

She turned to face him. “You know why you have to stay.”

“I know you said that someone needs to hold down the fort. But I still think Cricket and your mother can do just fine.”

“It’s different for them. You’ve been training with the troops. They respect you. You’ll be in charge of the company we leave behind to guard things while we’re gone. There will be a full complement of Tris’ techs. If we maintain the shield, we can hold off an army.”

Danny looked away, took a breath, looked back. “I just don’t like you going out to fight without me; that’s all.”

“Garraldi and Victor have my back, and I’ll have all the adult chanter elites. And with Kripke, Bullock, Frannie, and Parnell, there’s not going to be much in the way of magic or mundane forces I need to be afraid of.”

“There will be bullets flying at some point. People will get hurt, maybe killed. I don’t want one of those people to be you.”

“Kane has tried to kill me plenty. He found out the hard way, it isn’t easy.”

Danny laughed, but it sounded dark.

He leaned forward, hugged her for less than she would’ve liked, then let her go. “Be careful. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“I will.”

Winnie waited three seconds, one too long, then turned and trotted down the steps to join Garraldi, the chanter elites, and her security team in one of the two vans that would lead the convoy from the grounds.

She looked over at Garraldi in the driver’s seat. “Everyone loaded and ready?”

“Looks that way. Maria’s getting the last company loaded now.”

“Then let’s get moving.” Winnie said.

The van started forward, leading the convoy of vans, cars, panel trucks, and two tractor-trailers. They drove through the entrance then down the lane a short distance to the edge of their force field.

Garraldi stopped until an opening appeared in the blue-tinted field across their path, then accelerated through it.

The other vehicles followed.

This was the first time Winnie had been outside the fort in days. The new world slapped her at first. But then she was tickled.

Plants had been green and growing inside the force field. Flowers bloomed. Sun shined hard from a clear blue sky. Here, a few hundred yards outside camp, orange dust boiled the air. Plants and trees were the color of mud.

But that only meant that the world was hers to repair.

The first explosion BOOMED behind them.

Winnie whipped around, looked back down the lane to the fort.

A ball of fire erupted from a van in the convoy’s belly.

People leaped from the burning vehicle, many on fire.

A missile streaked by and slammed into the two tractor trailers.

“We have to turn around,” Winnie shouted. “We have to go back.”

Garraldi shook his head. “We can’t. There’s no room on this road to turn around. We have to get out. We’re sitting ducks in these vans. Get out. Now!”

People were fleeing. Garraldi was already halfway out his door.

Winnie looked forward.

Scads of army vehicles were racing towards them.

The tank in the lead had a large gun barrel, its turret aimed right at their van.

She clutched the handle, shoved herself against the door, and dove from the van, hitting brush as the world whistled behind her.

The van exploded behind her.

Plumes of greasy blue and red raked the ugly orange sky.

Winnie looked around. It looked like everyone made it out in time on this side. She hoped Garraldi was clear on the other.

She started to stand, but someone tackled her.

“Stay down. Cast a masking spell to hide yourself,” Kripke shouted over the gunfire. She tried to see where it was coming from.

Some of the Dusters were returning fire on advancing forces.

“We’ve got to get everyone back to the Fort,” Winnie shouted, struggling to stand. “And get off me. I promise to stay down, but I have to see what’s happening.”

“Cast your mask first,” Kripke said.

Winnie did, but bullets were kicking up dirt all around them.

One flew past her ear with the sound of buzzing hornet.

She turned and looked back down the lane. The line of vehicles had stopped about a hundred yards away. Soldiers were leaping from the vehicles by the dozen, then advancing in a line on their position.

Garraldi dashed beside Victor, through the incoming fire.

They crouched beside her in the brush.

“We have to get out of here and back to the fort!” Garraldi shouted. “We’re getting slaughtered.”

Winnie looked at Garraldi. “You go to the other side of the column with Fannie and Parnell to help you. I’ll start down here with Victor, Bullock, and Kripke. Tell the troops to run for the force field. Hopefully Danny hears the noise and realizes that we need to get back in before they pin us against it.”

“Got it, boss,” Garraldi said. “You stay safe.”

Winnie watched Garraldi grab Fannie and Parnell, then darted between the second van and the next truck. Then she turned to Kripke and Bullock.

“We’ve got to get back to the fort. Let’s collect everyone and … ”

Still in a crouch, Winnie dodged from her covered position back toward the rear column of vehicles. Most of the ones she could see were burning from being hit by incoming fire from the advancing soldiers.

She hoped most of her Dusters got out before those missiles hit.

Winnie was about to reach the first group of cowering recruits when something smacked into her back and slammed her to the ground.

She screamed, her eyes stinging and ears ringing.

“Boss, are you alright?” Kripke said, kneeling beside her.

“I think I’ve been shot in the back,” she gasped, chocked, gasped again.

“There’s no blood or any sign of a wound,” Kripke called out over the increasing noise of the incoming gunfire. “You have to stand. They’re getting closer.”

Victor came running back. “What happened?”

Kripke explained. “Something knocked her down, but I didn’t see it what it was. She’s winded and maybe injured, but I don’t know how.”

Winnie ached everywhere, but managed to get on her hands and knees.

“Shoot back at the bastards and hold them back. Winnie’s injured!” Victor called to Kripke and the surrounding troops. “Bullock, pick her up. Get her out of here. I’m right behind you!”

More gunfire erupted and the Dusters returned fire.

Strong arms were suddenly around her.

And then she was flying down the road, wincing with every step pounded beneath her.

“Thank you, Bullock,” she whispered.

Victor ran right behind them, shouting orders as he went.

They were about halfway down the column of burning vehicles when a ripping snarl to her left in the brush preceded a series of roars and howls.

Winnie turned. Her blood froze.

A horde of demons bounded from the brush. Worse followed.

Some of the nightmares had horns on their heads, and others spikes. Their filthy bodies were covered with the same patchwork of scales and coarse matted fur.

Before anyone could warn them, a horde of the creatures was charging through a group of Dusters. They reduced them to ribbons without even slowing.

Bullock dropped Winnie as one of the larger beasts charged on all fours toward them. He stepped between Winnie and the creature.

It was a rhinoceros crocodile, covered in scales, a horn protruding from its serpentine snout. Bullock didn’t flinch as he pulled in magic and hurled a spell at the charging monstrosity.

Fire sprouted from his fingers in a stream, thick as his arm. It punched into the beast’s chest and burned a hole right through it.

The creature stumbled a few feet closer then collapsed into the dirt at Bullock’s feet.

Victor shouted, shoving his hands palm at a pair of demons approaching from the side. They screamed in almost human voices before they were dust in front of his spell.

Winnie stumbled to her feet and pulled at the two men.

They needed to flee. There was no way to hold off these things without getting back inside the force field.

Despite the agony, Winnie ran back towards the fort with Victor and Bullock, gathering refugees along the way.

Winnie spared a glance back, looking for Kripke and the rest of her security team. But she only saw a horde of charging monsters swarming over and through the convoy.

Any Dusters still in the brush were surely already dead.

With the charging beasts at their backs, Winnie, Victor, and the retreating Dusters cleared the back of the column of trucks and vans.

Everything was on fire. The wafting heat scorched one side of Winnie’s face as she ran past. A hundred yards to the force field. She wanted to call Danny, tell him to open it, but she would have had to stop and open a window.

So she could only pray that he heard the explosions and came to investigate.

The remaining Dusters clustered in small groups as they ran through the brush on either side of the lane, working to reach the fort.

There was no coordination, no chance to organize any sort of defense once they got there. They would either make it back inside or get slaughtered first.

The first group reached the field.

An opening appeared and a group of Duster troops spilled out in a firing line.

Danny stood in back of the line, calling out orders.

The troops knelt and took positions, pouring coordinated gunfire into the advancing line of soldiers and Red Legs on one side of the column, and the charging creatures on the other.

Danny’s rear guard was having an effect. Demons and beasts hit the ground as bullets turned them to carcass. They were so close behind, it was a miracle none of her Dusters were hit.

Winnie turned. Garraldi was bringing up the rear of the other side.

A grim smile: at least he’d made it back.

The retreating Duster force ran back through a gap in the two lines of firing troops under Danny’s command. Winnie skidded to a stop by his side then watched the last stragglers struggle to get back ahead of the charging monsters.

The soldiers and Red Legs had ceased their advance, content to let the nightmares finish them off.

Looking around for a way to get the rest of their forces back inside the force field, Winnie saw Bullock, Fannie, and Parnell.

“Come on,” she called out to the chanter elites. “We need to meld our power, create a moving force wall that will hold those monsters back until we’re all inside the main field. Concentrate. Feed your power through me.”

Winnie gathered force as the chanter elites sent streams her way.

Directing the flows outward, she formed a wall of force two hundred yards wide, angled so it anchored on one side against the fort’s primary force field. If she worked things right, Winnie could swing it closed like a door behind them. Seal the entrance before the beasts could work their way around its edges.

She felt a dull thud of pain every time a creature hurled itself against her wall. Some stopped, then started throwing magic of their own, darker ribbons of power than hers.

The magic wall was beginning to weaken.

She poured more of herself into it.

Danny tapped her on the shoulder. “Everyone is inside. We need to pull back.”

“Good,” she said through gritted teeth. “Let’s step back nice and slow.”

It took an eternity.

By the time they were all safely back, dark magic had turned the wall to cheese. But back inside, Danny’s group of techs closed the gap in the force field and immediately began to repair it.

Winnie collapsed.

She heard plenty of words all around her, but had no idea what anyone was saying.

“Danny,” she finally said. “Have Tris get the techs on rotating shifts to reinforce the force field. Those creatures have dark magic of some kind. They will eventually break through. Give her whatever she needs.”

She looked around for Garraldi and the others. She could see Bullock and Frannie and Parnell crouched nearby, all of them spent. Garraldi stepped out from behind a group of milling Dusters, speaking with Maria.

“Garraldi, Maria,” Winnie called. “I need help. Get me back to the main building. I have to eat something. We need to be ready. They’re coming.”

She looked back at the edge of the force field, and the demons and nightmares milling on the other side.

The Dusters could only hold it so long.

The wall would eventually fall.

CHAPTER 30

Two hours later, the command team met in the war planning room.

Attacks on the force field had intensified. The army’s armored vehicles pelted the barrier with shells, smashing it from the outside.

It was deafening inside the dome. Everyone had to shout amid the constant bombardment. Fortunately, it also mostly drowned the screeches and howls.

Winnie stared out the window, watching the defensive preparations of the remaining Dusters outside. She turned that stare to her core group. They’d been with her a while, if not from the start.

Her mother, Tris, Danny. Garraldi, and Maria DeSantos stood to one side. Garraldi had a bandaged arm. Victor, Morgan, and Cricket were there as well.

Everyone looked worried or frightened.

She got right to the point anyway. “So, what have we lost?”

Garraldi cleared his throat. Twice. “The convoy had a force of almost eight hundred troops loaded on the various vehicles. We’ve counted everyone who made it back to the fort. A bit over three hundred. Nearly half of them are wounded. The menders will get us report. But good news isn’t coming. I expect that most of them won’t be returning to the lines any time soon. All told, we have maybe two-hundred and fifty troops to watch the perimeter and hold the wall.”

Winnie winced. “Status on the force field?”

Tris shrugged. “It’s holding. But don’t ask how long. One of our techs passed out from the strain of maintaining and reinforcing the barrier. We’ll need more shared magic from other chanters if we hope to hold them off for more than a few hours.”

Winnie nodded. “Talk with Garraldi and Mom. Between the chanter elites and the chanters among the surviving troops, we should have enough people to make something happen.”

“Great,” Tris said. “I can rotate them in.”

“Did anyone see Kripke after we closed the barrier?” Winnie asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

Victor laid a hand on her shoulder. “Kripke fought to make sure you got away safely. Honor his sacrifice. He wouldn’t want you to cry for him now. There will be time for that later. Now we’ve a fight to get through.”

“Have we tried talking to them?” Everyone turned toward Elaine. She continued. “I’m not suggesting that we surrender, only that we try and stall them we can get help from outside.”

“That’s a great idea, Elaine,” Cricket said. “Problem is, all the help is hours away. Cleaver’s already checked in. He’s gathering every warm body he can find, but he’ll never make it in time based on what Tris is saying about the shield.”

“Then we have to come up with something else.”

Winnie paced away from the group and went back to the window.

Outside, a female Duster leaned down to pick a clump of wildflowers. She carried it over to lay on the shrouded form of a body on the ground, and then she did it again. And again.

A tear fell down her cheek.

The girl would have plenty of flowers to choose from. The flowers were …

Something hit her hard.

Winnie turned around and looked at her friends. “The Fae.”

“What about them?” Danny said.

“We have to call on them to help us. They’re the only ones close enough to do anything. The crater is only a few hours away.”

“How do we know they can even help us?” Victor asked.

“We don’t know they can’t,” Winnie argued. “And I don’t understand the magic these creatures are using to try and get inside. The Lady of the Lake might be able to help me.”

“So, you’ll just open a comm window and hope that she hears you?” Tris asked.

“No. I need to go there and bring help back. I have to talk to her in person, holding Excalibur. There’s something they wouldn’t tell me about this sword. But now I’m going to make them tell me.”

Garraldi shook his head. “I’m not sure we can muster enough troops to break you out of the perimeter and still hold the fort when we’re finished.”

“I won’t go through the perimeter. I can open a portal, remember. I’ll go to Artos first since I don’t think the magic will let me reach the crater directly. I’ll ask Brigid for help from the Fae.”

“Do you think it will work?” Morgan asked. “The Fae have never seemed interested in getting involved.”

“They’ve never been at risk of losing everything,” Winnie said. “The time for them to stand by while humans fight their battles is over. We need answers. And the Fae will know about those creatures.”

“You’re not going alone,” Victor said.

“You can come, but no one else. We can’t afford any attention. Artos can have Mr. Gunderson drive us. Besides, have you seen the number of soldiers and Red Legs surrounding this place? Kane must’ve stripped every spare soldier and Red Leg he had in order to bring that many people here. There can’t be more than a token force holding Baltimore. And we’ll be on the fringes.”

“I don’t suppose you’d consider just one or two others?” Garraldi asked.

“No,” Winnie said. “You need every person here to defend the fort. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll bring the Fae back with me.”

“When are you leaving?” Elaine asked.

“The sooner I go, the sooner I come back with help.” Winnie looked at Victor. “Are you ready?”

Victor nodded.

Winnie sketched a glowing blue rectangle and opened a portal into Artos’s study. She touched Excalibur, then motioned for Victor to join her.

Then they stepped through without a pause.

CHAPTER 31

Winnie and Victor stepped from the portal onto the plush carpet of Artos’s bunker hideout. A man cleared his throat behind her and she turned to see an amused Artos sitting in a padded leather chair with an open book in his lap.

“Well, hello Winnie. So I see that you’ve learned to turn your communications windows into teleportation doorways.”

Winnie looked at the old man, annoyed. Why wasn’t he more shocked to see her appear out of thin air in this office. Why did he always get under her skin?

“There’s trouble at the hospital,” she said. “It’s under attack. Kane has the Army, Red Legs, and some sort of creatures I’ve never seen. Demons and worse. And their magic is dark, Artos. Darker than Sable. I can sense it for sure, but I know if it touches me, it might just take me, too.”

Artos leaned back in his chair and sighed. He closed his book.

“I was afraid of this,” he said. “Ever since Kane started dabbling with Sable, he began seeking more power and fewer restrictions.”

“So you’ve seen these things before?” Victor asked.

“I believe that you speak of Garbarians—creatures that serve the Fell, an ancient enemy of the Fae. The two have been in battle since before humans occupied this world. I’m afraid this is grave; it means that Kane has made some sort of deal with the Fell.”

“What does that mean?” Winnie asked.

“The Fell is the basis for the Devil in human mythology. And now Kane’s made a deal with the Devil himself. From what little I know of the Garbarians, they are extremely powerful and difficult to destroy. This has escalated quickly, Winnie. And now you’re here with Excalibur and too many questions.”

He gave her a tired smile, feigning as though he was fatigued more than frightened. But Winnie could see right through it.

“We need to reach the crater,” she said. “See the Fae. I need their help. I want to know more about this sword, what it can do, and maybe how it can help.”

“If you open this door you can never go back.”

“So I’m not supposed to fight?” Tears filled her eyes. “We lost, Artos. Hundreds of people dead. Just today. I can’t bring them back, but I can try to preserve the survivors, and turn the tide before things get even worse.”

“There is always a price to be paid when enlisting the Fae. And it is usually much greater than one can afford.”

“You clearly know more than I do,” Winnie challenged. “How about you save me a trip?”

Artos shook his head. Another sigh. “It is not my place to reveal this. The Fae will tell you what you must know. Mr. Gunderson can take you to the steel mill. I’ll fetch him now.”

Artos stood and left. Winnie called out behind him.

“Thanks for all the info, Artie!” She turned to Victor. “Why does he have to be so cryptic?”

Victor shrugged. “He’s warning us, Winnie. He’s not telling us no, but he’s saying that we shouldn’t take yes as a given. Both he and the Lady are reluctant to share what they know. Why? What are they so afraid of?”

“We’re about to find out, Victor. I’ll do whatever I can to stop Kane. I’ll do it to save the people we love, and because he has to be stopped. The things he’s bringing into this world will destroy it if we don’t—”

Mr. Gunderson stepped into the room alone.

“Where’s Artos?” Winnie said.

“Mr. Merrilyn has left the facility on some pressing errands. But I am at your disposal for the remainder of the day. I believe we are going to the old Beth Steel Mill. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Winnie said, glancing at Victor.

“Then please, follow me.”

They followed the butler, or whatever he was, to Artos’s underground garage. Then they drove through the city in silence. Entire blocks were fully blacked out and the fine, orange dust had settled over the world like freshly fallen snow.

But closer to the steel mill, the city’s  moldered nature finally changed. Bright green growth and patches of flowers started a few blocks from the mill. Patches of purple and red glowed from open cracks in the road, and all along the winding drive up into the mill’s parking lot, or at least what was left of it.

“Well that’s new,” Victor said, getting out of the limo.

Winnie took in the changes. Buildings were covered in fresh green ivy and other vines. The pavement was now an open grassy meadow and the mill itself almost looked like a massive mound of earth covered with fresh grass, vines, and wildflowers. It was almost a wonderland.

“I hope we can find the entrance,” Winnie whispered.

“It’s still there,” Victor said, pointing. “See? The opening that looks like a cave mouth covered with vines?”

“I can’t tell if this place is beautiful or creepy,” Winnie said.

“It’s both.” Victor took a step toward the entrance. “Shall we?”

Winnie nodded and followed, picking her way along the shattered pavement jutting up from where plants had pushed it through the earth.

They reached the opening—the steel door leading inside the mill.

Winnie turned around to check on the limo and saw it still parked on the grass, with Mr. Gunderson inside waiting for their return.

She nodded at Victor. He opened the door and they both went inside.

The interior was as different as the outside.

There was still evidence that this was a place built by men, but it was barely an echo. Most of the short journey into the mill’s heart wound through earthen tunnels with patches of glowing fungus lining the walls and lighting their way.

The passages smelled of fresh earth and wildflowers. The rare sections of concrete and steel felt like a hand at her throat by comparison.

Winnie and Victor arrived at the crater, but the catwalk was no longer there.

Instead, they found a broad open bowl of grass and small cliffs of rock surrounding the crater. A gentle slope led down from where they emerged into the building’s beating heart.

Winnie looked to a clear, moonlit sky full of stars.

Moonlight shone down on the grass, lighting their way to the crater’s center.

Bouncing lights illuminated the grass. Occasionally one of those flitting lights would venture close enough to Winnie that she could see the tiny figure with whirring butterfly wings inside the ball of light.

This place now belonged to the Fae.

“Do you need me by the pool?” Victor asked.

“Yes,” Winnie said. “The lady may have instructions for us both.”

They walked a bit farther. One of the fairy lights bobbed over until a tiny figure only a few inches tall fluttered in front of them.

“Hi Victor, Hi Winnie,” Seelie said. “I am so glad you came back to visit.”

“Hello, Seelie,” Victor said. “We have a mission of urgency. Do you think the Lady will see us?”

Seelie turned in midair and pointed to the pool. “She told us to expect visitors. I suspect she is waiting for you now.”

Seeing Seelie was like a blade in her flesh.

She’d lost so much that night, during her first confrontation with Kane.

And Seelie was the worst reminder.

But the fairy didn’t seem bothered by Winnie’s demeanor. She laughed and waved goodbye as Winnie and Victor continued on towards the pool.

The surface shifted with every step. The pool widened and trees appeared on the shores to either side. A thick mist hid the distant shores.

By the time they arrived at the Lake’s grassy edge, they were among the Fae. Winnie stared into the mist and watched a figure emerge, walking across the water towards them: Brigid, the Lady of the Lake and leader of the Fae.

Her smile was filled with sorrow, and never reached her eyes.

“Welcome Guinevere, bearer of Excalibur,” she said, nodding at Winnie before turning to Victor. “Greetings to you as well, son of Lancelot. You have done well guarding your queen.”

“Thank you, my Lady,” Victor said, with an awkward half bow.

“You were expecting us, Brigid,” Winnie said, rather than asked.

“There are changes in your world, child. I knew you would come seeking counsel, hoping we can lend you aid.”

“Can you give us what we seek?”

“It is not a question of what you seek,” Brigid said. “So much as what you need.”

“I have to know what this sword can do. What I can do. People are dying. The world is dying. You have to help us.”

Brigid gave her another sad smile.

Winnie felt only fury. “Don’t pity me, Brigid. Tell me what I have to do to save my friends.” She reached behind her back, drew Excalibur, and held the sword before her. “Please. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Brigid eyed her forever, saying nothing. Then she spoke with a voice like the breeze. “My child, I know you seek the power of that sword. But the power  is something you cannot completely comprehend through words alone. It is something I must show you. Come, enter the mist and you can see for yourself.”

The mist surrounded Winnie.

And then she tumbled forward, into a different time and place as the world fell into darkness around her.

CHAPTER 32

Elaine ducked as a ball of flaming energy blasted past her, launched by the latest of the magical creatures who’d been able to bore through the shrinking barrier surrounding the rebel fort.

A bolt of white-hot magic flew from her fingers to the creature.

The scaly figure froze as it lumbered towards her, outlined in a bright halo of light that illuminated the night all around it.

Then the creature collapsed into a pile of dust.

Elaine ran towards the gap, shouting at Dusters to plug it, and stem the surge of creatures while techs repaired the force field. No time to pause, or consider that much of the magic she was now casting should have been impossible.

Fiona had showed her the light energy weapon when one of the beasts made it all the way to the main steps during an earlier breach. Elaine and the twins had been standing outside the entrance when the snarling creature charged. She put herself between the monster and the children, but Fiona stepped around her and used magic to burn the creature out of existence.

Elaine had helped to fight off every subsequent attack ever since.

Rebel soldiers rushed in to fill the gap, some firing weapons, others using magic to shove the charging beasts back.

And finally … they did it.

The assault had ended.

The gap had been repaired, and not a moment too soon.

Stopping them would have been impossible if they had managed to worm their way inside. But for now they were safe. A few scattered gunshots rang in the distance—Dusters finishing off the few remaining creatures still roaming the grounds. But mostly, things were finally quiet.

Elaine ran toward the gap, exhausted, but her arthritis was only a memory.

Her body continued to heal itself with every moment she worked with the twins. Her mind, body, and magic were all stronger than they’d been in years.

Good thing considering what was still coming.

Elaine found Bullock and Maria among a cluster of recovering rebels.

“They’re getting through the barrier more often,’ Maria said. “Is there any way to reinforce the shield?”

Elaine shook her head. “Tris has every chanter who can lend power to the shield taking shifts with the techs. The only way to make it stronger again is to shrink the size.”

“We do that and we’d have to pull everyone off the wall. Take defensive positions within the buildings themselves.” Maria paused, surveying their remaining forces. “Let me talk with Garraldi. It might be our only chance. I don’t know how many more of those attacks we can hold off. Bullock, you stay here in case they break through again.”

Maria jogged off in search of her chanter counterpart.

The big man nodded and continued his vigilant watch.

Elaine placed a hand on Bullock’s arm, then turned to help the menders.

While tending to the gash on one middling boy’s leg, he looked up at her, his face twisted in pain.

“You’re Winnie’s mom, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am Elaine. What’s your name?”

“Zach. Where is she? We haven’t seen her for hours.”

“She’ll be back soon, Zach,” Elaine assured him. “She went to get help. It won’t be long.”

She finished wrapping the bandage around his legs, stemming the flow of blood from the wound. Then with a final smile, she stood and looked around.

The moon was lower in the sky; it was near dawn.

Winnie had been gone for hours now.

Maria was back, this time with Garraldi. They pulled her aside, away from the Dusters.

“We’re going to pull back to the buildings, shrink the shield,” Maria said. “That should allow us to strengthen it significantly.”

“It will buy us more time until Winnie gets back,” Garraldi added.

“I’ll tell Tris to get ready,” Elaine said. “You two can pull Dusters off the line.”

“Ten minutes,” Maria said. “That will give us time to get the wounded to safety in case there’s a breach during the retreat. If that happens, we’ll have to leave the fallen behind and we can’t do that.”

“Agreed,” Elaine said.

Elaine practically ran to tell Tris about the change in plans.

Explosions boomed overhead as Kane’s shells fell atop the shield.

“I don’t know what you’re doing out there, Winnie,” Elaine whispered to no one, “but we could use your help.”

CHAPTER 33

The darkness cleared from Winnie’s eyes and she found herself standing inside a great forest looking out over a broad plain of rolling hills. Great smoking craters stood among the blackened grass—a battlefield, littered with the corpses of creatures like those Kane had sent to kill her, amid the bodies and parts of bodies of men and women who’d fought them.

At first Winnie wondered if this was a look at Fort Brick. Then she spotted one of the nearest bodies—the torso of a man in some sort of leather shirt with scales of dark metal sewn into it. The battlefield was ancient.

Winnie left the woods and walked among the destruction.

She squeezed Excalibur’s grip, the leather hilt creaking beneath her fingers. She examined one of the scaly creatures lying nearby in the grass. A broken lance or spear shaft stuck from its side and pinned the thing to the ground.

“These beasts have been fought by men before.”

Winnie spun around, startled by the voice.

Brigid looked different from before. No longer in shimmering white, now she was clad in armor like the dead scattered around her. She held a spear topped by a pointed, leaf-shaped bronze tip. She had a short sword belted at her waist and a round shield in one hand.

“You’ve fought them before, too, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Brigid nodded, bouncing her bronze helmet, topped by a crest of red-dyed horse hair. “In this place, I was known as Artemis. My brethren and I have struggled against creatures such as these many times over the millennia.”

Winnie prodded the creature with her foot. A massive thing, covered in scales and clumps of coarse fur. The talons on its front paws were as long as her foot. “What are they? Where do they come from?”

“Creatures from other worlds defeated by a being called the Fell,” Brigid said as they walked. “We have struggled for a long time against the Fell, both of us wrestling for control of this world. But it was different here. The minds of men were suited to magic, allowing both sides to enlist men in search of power. That helped us stop the Fell, but it also held the Fell’s interest in this world. Usually, when it was repelled by a stronger force, the Fell would attempt to conquer another place. But the minds of men intrigued it, so the Fell decided to stay and fight for control of this world.”

“And Kane is drawing his power from the Fell now. He summoned these monsters from other worlds to fight us, because he wants all the power for himself.”

“Correct,” Brigid said. “Kane has sold his soul to the Fell. We felt its presence during the continental fall, but there was no leader to claim its cause. Now the Fell has an avatar on earth.”

Winnie stayed silent, walking beside the goddess, stepping over and around the bodies of men, horses, and Fell beasts as she did.

The battle she and her friends were engaged in now was a continuation of this battle and dozens like it. She glanced at the goddess, wanting to ask something, but not sure if she should dare.

“Yes?” Brigid said.

“You said Kane was the Fell’s avatar on earth. Does that make me … ”

“Avatar of the Fae?” Brigid finished. “Yes. We must fight through surrogates like you and Kane. If we were to confront the Fell directly, it would destroy the world and leave the winner without a prize.”

Winnie didn’t like earth being a prize in some sort of divine conflict. It made her feel small and insignificant. Would another avatar, centuries from now, walk across the Fort Brick battlefield, engaged in this same conversation?

She had to make sure that this was the final showdown between Fell and Fae.

“How do I end it? How do I stop this cycle of battles and suffering?”

“You win,” Brigid said, stopping on a rocky outcrop jutting up from the battlefield.

“I don’t just mean the battle right now with Kane and his followers. I want to stop the Fell and end the cycle for good.”

“That would take much, much more power than we’ve ever unleashed into the world,” Brigid cautioned. “You’re asking us to put a great deal of trust in you. That kind of power could surely destroy Kane and the Fell, but it could very well take the world with it.”

“What’s the alternative? You and the Fell will keep fighting forever otherwise, with neither side winning, on and on until the end of time.” Winnie wave around at the battlefield. “Look at all these bodies. Fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters—they all deserve better than to have their futures burned by a conflict between gods.”

Winnie waited while the goddess looked out over the battlefield, saying nothing. Then she finally turned back to Winnie.

“Before I give what you ask, Guinevere, you must know the origin of that which you seek.”

Brigid took Winnie by the hand.

Again she fell forward as a dark mist closed around her.

CHAPTER 34

Garraldi threw the snarling creature on its back, leveled his pistol at its head, and emptied the clip. The beast ceased its thrashing.

Elaine’s plan seemed to be working, but a swelling number of the fearsome beasts were still punching into the now-brittle shield. Despite the smaller size, the endless onslaught caused enormous strain against the magical barrier.

It was practically a miracle that the thing was still holding at all. Tris and her techs definitely deserved a round or ten when this was all done.

But so did everyone.

“Sergeant,” Garraldi called out to a nearby Duster.

“Yes, sir?” The woman asked, wiping sweat from her brow.

“Keep pulling back slowly. Don’t rush it. Stay inside the retreating barrier and for God’s sake, make sure you get any wounded back to the aid station hospital basement.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll hold out. Should we still pull back to Building Two?”

“Correct. What’s left of your company will take position once the barrier stops moving. Barricade the doors and first floor windows as best you can then position your best shots in the second-floor windows to pick off any of these things that break through.”

“If we barricade the doors and windows, how will you get back inside?”

Garraldi glanced at the chaos then turned back to the recruit. “If I don’t join you before the shield reaches the building perimeter, I’ll get there through the basement tunnels. I need to check on my counterparts, see if the other building defenses are ready.”

The sergeant snapped a rough salute then turned to organize the Dusters in this section of the shrinking perimeter.

A flurry of gunfire erupted behind Garraldi—another breach that he couldn’t worry about right now. He had to find Maria and the others. Make sure everyone had enough reinforcements to hold their buildings.

The battle was deafening. Between the howls and snarling from the hordes of creatures surrounding the besieged fort, and the ever present barrage of artillery, Garraldi could barely hear himself think.

Some of the troops were so rattled from the constant assault that he’d sent a few to rear positions where they could prepare the defenses early.

He’d been through a lot in his life, but nothing like this.

He checked his watch. Winnie and Victor had only been gone a few hours.

They had to buy them more time.

A pair of stretcher bearers trotted by, a wounded soldier carried between them. “Have you seen Captain DeSantos or Elaine Durham?” Garraldi called out.

Without stopping, one of the men gestured toward the main building.

“Onside the main lobby, organizing the first floor barricade.”

“Thanks,” Garraldi said, then followed the pair to the primary building. The three-story brick and stone structure seemed solid enough when they found it, but he didn’t think it was up to the pounding that was would be coming down on it soon.

He jogged up the steps to the front doors and saw the command group clustered inside. Maria looked up as he came through the big double doors.

“I just sent someone to look for you. The retreating shield is working. Tris can maintain the intensity while she pulls it back.” Maria pointed to the others.” Danny and Morgan are manning the upstairs windows with snipers. And they have a solid start on barricading the first floor windows and doors. Well, except for this one.”

Garraldi looked at Cricket. “What about Building Three?”

“It’s the smallest of the three, so fortunately there isn’t much to defend. The forces I pulled back are doing everything possible to barricade it against an assault. But it’s not made of brick and stone, so we’ll see how it goes.”

“We don’t have to hold it,” Garraldi said. “We can pull back to the Building One and Two. We just have to collapse the tunnels connecting the basements.”

“No,” Cricket said, shaking his head. “Our supplies are stored there. There’s no time to pull everything out. We have to hold it. Besides, I figure they’re going to aim for the bigger targets.”

Cricket had a way of finding the silver lining inside any situation. Garraldi hoped the guy was right. If the attackers concentrated their force against Building Three, it would likely crumble in minutes.

Maria clapped a hand on Cricket’s shoulder. “Just make sure that everyone inside is prepared to book it to the other two buildings via the tunnels if it looks like you’re going to get overrun. I don’t want to tell Winnie that she’ll never hear your little quips again.”

“I ‘m not leaving this world any time soon,” Cricket said. “I’ll be the first one to yell retreat! if things start looking dire.”

“What’s the progress on rigging the tunnel charges?” Danny asked.

“Tris took a few techs to check it out. It shouldn’t be a problem with the remaining explosives in our supply. She’ll rig it so they can be blown and caved from either direction.” Elaine shrugged. “We don’t know which building will fail first, so we’ll have to maintain guards down there with instructions to blow the tunnels the minute they see any creatures coming.”

“It seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it?” Morgan asked. “The shield will hold. It only has to last until Victor and Winnie return with help.”

“In theory, the shield should be stronger once we shrink it,” Garraldi said. “but that magic is blacker than black. The techs are barely keeping it patched. And every time we slap a new a patch on it, the structure itself gets weaker.”

“Think of how it works when you sew a tear in your favorite jeans,” Elaine said. “Eventually, you have to get a new pair or they’re nothing but patches. The same thing is true with the shield. We can’t drop it and form a new one. They’d be all over us before we could erect a new one. We can only repair the holes in the one we have. Eventually it will fail completely if we don’t get help.”

“Which is why we have to do everything we can to hold out until Winnie gets back,” Garraldi said.

The others nodded. It was their only hope and they knew it.

“Let’s get back to our positions and finish preparations,” Maria said. “The shield should be walked back to the perimeter in half an hour from now. Check in here in the lobby by messenger if you need any help. I have a reaction force assembled from my remaining security team. We can deploy them to the other two buildings via the tunnels if needed.”

Cricket laughed. “If my little building is in that much trouble, don’t bother. There won’t be much left by the time you get there. Keep them stationed here to back up Winnie when she returns.”

“I’m serious,” Maria said. “Call for help when you see trouble coming.”

Cricket nodded, but Garraldi could read his eyes.

CHAPTER 35

Winnie’s vision cleared. She scanned her surroundings to gather her bearings. She walked a rocky beach covered in sun-bleached twigs. Brigid walked by her side, this time in a shiny steel breastplate over a chain mail shirt that went to her knees. A round, wooden shield, ringed in iron and embossed with a large stylized griffon hung at her back. She managed to make the battle axe look light in her hand.

Something crunched underfoot. Winnie looked down.

The stones weren’t part of a rocky coastline, they were an endless shore of countless skulls. The bleached sticks were bones, not driftwood.

She turned around in shock.

The killing fields went as far as she could see in both directions.

“Another battlefield,” Winnie whispered. “Like the other one, but worse.”

“Yes, Guinevere. The people of this land were driven to this shore. And there they fought and died in the name of their freedom. It was here we first realized the lengths to which the Fell would go. Nothing will ever stop its quest to conquer a world. Here we witnessed the Fell’s ultimate weapon.”

Winnie swallowed. She looked at Brigid. “What did this?”

“A creature the Fell has only used once. Against a people whose control of magic rivaled its own. They were exterminated to eradicate magic from this planet’s memory.

But the people of this land cast one final spell, spending their lives to hurl their most powerful magic directly at the Fell. They imprisoned it in a place of fire and stone, along with its beasts. Only a powerful user of magic can free the creatures from their prison, and only at a great personal price.”

“Kane,” Winnie said.

“Yes. Nilrem Kane found and freed the creatures of the Fell, though others had already found a way to freedom in Europe after the fall. Its greatest creation is still imprisoned, but there is no way to know for how long.”

Winnie stopped and looked out over the waves crashing on this beach of bones. Excalibur felt suddenly heavy. She held it higher anyway.

“What about this? Why is this sword so important?”

“The wizard Merlin came to me after the fall of Rome. He asked for a talisman to thwart the evil sweeping the land. So I went to my brothers and I asked for their help in forging a talisman powerful enough to stand against the Fell and its minions. They were reluctant. It surrendered control of our greatest resource in our fight against the Fell. But I trusted Merlin to use the talisman we created for only as long as he needed it, then return the talisman when his work was complete and the land was light.

“But Merlin’s children betrayed him. They kept the sword for themselves, though they couldn’t use it because he’d imprisoned it within the stone throne, waiting for the one who would wield it someday against the Fell.”

“Me. How did he know?”

“Seasons come and go. Life is born and later dies, only to be born again in a new form. If the one he expected would not appear during his lifetime, the time would come again when another could draw the sword from the stone. In its time of greatest need, the land would birth a champion worthy of Excalibur’s power. When his children’s betrayal forced his hand, Merlin sent his brightest pupil forward in time to find to shepherd that champion until they claimed their birthright.”

Winnie started to ask Who, but said “Artos?” instead.

Brigid nodded. “He was the champion of Merlin’s choosing.”

“So I have the sword. What do I do?”

“Speak the words engraved on the blade as you channel your magic through it. Excalibur will magnify and tune your magic so that it may fulfill its calling and summon the Fae’s ultimate power to wage against your foes.”

Brigid placed a hand on Winnie arm. “You must be careful, though. The blade’s power is beyond anything you’ve ever known. And it isn’t stable. Use it only if everything else has failed. It must truly be an act of last resort.”

She gestured around herself at the endless shore of skulls and bones.

“Or else, Guinevere. This is your destiny.”

CHAPTER 36

A bolt of white-hot energy crackled from Elaine’s fingers.

It hit the creature gnashing through the window, singeing the fur between its gnarled brows.

It screamed like a train trying to stop then popped like a balloon.

Ash and dust rained to the floor.

Elaine turned. No more creatures coming. They had six seconds at least.

“Get those filing cabinets back up against that window!” Maria yelled. “They’re coming faster!”

Dusters replaced the toppled barricade.

Elaine looked around to see if anyone had been hurt.

“So far, we’ve been able to hold them,” she said to Maria, after deciding that everyone seemed good enough. “Have you checked on Tris and the techs?”

“I sent Morgan to check. And runners to look in on Garraldi and Cricket.” Maria holstered her pistols and walked over to one of the windows to check outside, peering between the cracks at a stack of wooden desks.

She turned around and headed for the stairs. Halfway there, she turned and said, “I’m going to check on the wounded. We could use some help up here. I’ll be right back.”

Elaine surveyed the lobby. Occasional gunfire crackled upstairs — snipers were still picking off creatures breaching the force field. But how much longer would their bullets last?

A demon would occasionally get through below, but there were enough people on the first floor checking the rooms that none got far. Elaine shuddered thinking of one of those creatures making it down into the basement where wounded were waiting like dinner.

“Sergeant, grab some Dusters and come with me. We’re sweeping the first floor,” Elaine said.

“Uh, yes, ma’am. You think one might have slipped past the patrols?”

Elaine said, “I want to be sure. So let’s get going.”

The sergeant nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

He darted upstairs to collect a few snipers. Elaine wasn’t a military commander and hadn’t an hour of training, but she tried to think like their enemy. A smarter one of those creatures might wait for the chance to spring a trap.

The sergeant was back in minutes. A team of five marched behind him.

“This will have to do, ma’am. I didn’t want to strip the perimeter. There a quite few of them damned things out there. They keep on knocking. Won’t take no for an answer.”

He tried to laugh. It didn’t work.

“It will be fine, sergeant,” Elaine said. “Come with me and keep your eyes open. We’re going to check every door and broom closet for anything that might be hiding.”

The new crew nodded. They were barely kids.

Elaine started to go, but the sergeant barred her way.

“We’ll lead the way, Miss Durham. I’m not telling Winnie that I didn’t keep her mother safe.”

Elaine wanted to be annoyed but she smiled. The man was being kind. Besides, if she stood back, she’d have a better chance at picking off anything that got by the team.

She nodded to the sergeant. He pointed to a pair from the sweep team and they took the lead and started down the hallway, checking each closed and open door along the way. Elaine and stopped in the first room. The door was partly ajar.

She looked inside—a Duster was leaning against the window frame, his rifle peeking through the crack between boards.

Clear.

Elaine followed the sergeant and the others down the hallway.

The first floor sweep took a mostly quiet half-hour. The occasional CRACK still raged amid the Army’s artillery. And the mortars never let up, crashing and exploding on impact, covering the dome in fire and smoke.

The sergeant looked at Elaine and shrugged. The rooms were all empty. Guards at the window waved when they passed. Everything seemed clear.

“Looks like it was just an old woman’s worrying, Sergeant. Back to the lobby.”

“Better to be safe than sorry, ma’am.” He flinched. “My mama never stopped saying that.”

“Where’s your mom now? Is she here?”

“Locked up in one of them Midwest camps. I came in with a group of recruits from Chicago. We’ll get her out of there once we know it’s safe to come home.”

“Yes, we will.” They passed back through the hallway nearest the lobby. Elaine glanced over her shoulder at the partially ajar door. The sentry was still leaning against the window, his rifle out the window, still like a statue.

Still like a statue …

Winnie froze. She involuntarily leaned forward, staring at the man.

“Something wrong?” the sergeant asked.

“Take a look, Sergeant.” Elaine hadn’t seen so much as a twitch from the sentry since she’d been staring. “He hasn’t moved from that spot since we passed him at the start of our sweep. Seems odd.”

“He’s probably asleep.”

The sergeant started to push through the doorway, shouting for the Duster recruit to wake up. Elaine couldn’t stop him. She opened her mouth but the clawed hand reached out and dragged him screaming into the room.

Seven demons charged around the door and into the narrow hallway.

Elaine fell back, summoning her magic, inhaling the power around her despite the exhaustion.

Five Dusters emptied their weapons into the beasts.

Before they could reload, the beasts were atop them.

Elaine sent a sweeping jet of flames from her fingers. The creature yelped then fell backward, writhing on the floor, its body on fire.

The sweep team wasn’t so lucky.

Every one of the Dusters in Elaine’s group was underneath a creatures, gnashing and snarling atop them. One demon ripped out a kid’s throat with a swipe of its talon. Then bounded it off of him, rushing past Elaine into the lobby.

Maria was still downstairs. There was no one else to stop it.

What if they get to the basement?

Elaine leveled a pointing finger and fired a bolt at the creature’s back.

Cursing at her miss, Elaine turned and left the struggling Dusters, chasing the one that got away.

She chased the demon toward the stairs, shouting for Maria — or anyone — to help her. She was still shouting when a weight landed on her from behind.

Elaine crashed hard to the tiled floor.

Claws scraped her back then bounded off of her body and rushed forward the double doors, barred with a thick iron pipe.

They’re not headed for the basement at all!

The first was past the basement door already, now at the double doors, trying to lift the heavy iron pipe.

Her wounds were painful but thankfully not too deep. Elaine managed to stand and chase the second beast as it started to help its companion with the pipe.

She shouted again and heard calls from upstairs.

But it was already too late.

A flurry of gunfire upstairs turned steady.

Elaine cursed under her breath as the creatures opened the doors.

They turned to face her.

There was a rush of the creatures outside, headed for the now-open entryway.

She raised her hands at the beasts and filled them with everything she had.

Her blast of magic smacked them both in the chest then slapped them both against the wall. And then they were ash.

Elaine stepped into the doorway, firing from both hands, clearing the world of demons with every shot.

But it wasn’t enough.

There were too many.

She steeled herself to stand against them.

They were inches away when a pair of shots flew past her. Bits of brain flew into the air. Then Maria was at her side, twin pistols blazing, bolts of magic and fire flying right behind the bullets.

A wounded Duster limped up beside her and assumed a firing position, pouring bullets into the charging mass. They were barely holding the attack back, even as more and more Dusters filled the hospital steps.

Techs in the basement were doing their job. The dome bucked and glowed, then the force field seemed to burp, leaving it somehow stronger.

The creatures fell back.

But even inside, there was no escape.

Elaine walked to the room where the creatures had hidden. Three of her five-man sweep team were dead. The other two were dying.

She called for help, heading deeper into the room.

The sentry by the window was obviously dead. A pool of blood stained the floor at his feet. His throat looked like an open envelope. Demons had propped him up against the window to fool anyone looking into the partially open doorway.

It almost worked. But the sergeant lay dead on the floor, just inside the door. His face had been chewed off by one of the beasts.

Elaine flinched, then looked away.

She tried not to vomit, tried to forget that she’d see that forever.

She shook her head and turned around, on her way back towards the open entrance. There would be time to mourn the dead later.

CHAPTER 37

Elaine stared outward at the roiling mass of bodies just beyond the hospital steps. Blue-tinted air marked the edge of the weakening force field. Beasts on the other side climbed over one another to try and breach the barrier.

A BOOM from above made her flinch—another shell from the Army’s guns exploded against the shield. It flickered. Two demons managed to break through and scramble up the steps. A flurry of bullets ripped them to pieces.

As it had gone for hours, the force field always shrinking, the resistance getting shoved back into the hospital.

“You need to come inside,” Maria said, tugging on Elaine’s arm. “You’ll be swarmed if you stay out here.”

Elaine had been waiting for her daughter’s return. But now she wanted her to stay away. If Winnie returned, no matter the help by her side, she would surely die along with the others.

“Don’t come back,” Elaine murmured to no one. “Save yourself.”

Then she backed into the hospital, watching as a dozen Dusters rushed forward, stacking heavy furniture against the door.

Another explosion ripped through the building. Plaster and dust rained into the lobby. Overheads flickered and died. A Duster sergeant came up from downstairs, saw Elaine and Maria, then crossed the room saluting.

“We just lost the second building. Morgan set off the charges in the basement passage between here and there. That’s it. We only have the few who made it back.”

Elaine nodded. She swallowed. Then, to Maria: “Who was holding Building Two?”

“Cricket. It was where we had most of our stores. It’s where he wanted to make a stand.”

So matter-of-fact. Another friend lost with barely a flinch.

The destruction had numbed them.

But Elaine could only allow herself to feel a little, because otherwise she’d have to feel it all.

Garraldi had almost been lost when the first building fell, and was only saved by an injury that had him back in the main hospital with the last of the wounded before they blew the tunnel. Bullock stayed back with the rear guard and was presumed lost. Garraldi was probably gone. Supplies would be soon. And the injured were cargo to store down below.

“We need more time on the force field,” Maria said. “Tris needs our help.”

“Who’s left?” Elaine said. “She’s reinforcing it herself right now, with two  techs. The rest are burned out. Maybe for good.” She looked around the depressively empty room. “Not that it matters much anyway.”

Maria grabbed Elaine’s arm and spun her around. “Stop it. Winnie will get here. She’ll bring help. We have to hold on a little longer.”

Elaine lowered her voice. “What could she possibly do? She needs to stay away. Gather her forces elsewhere. Cleaver can take her in up in New Amsterdam. But this place is lost.”

“I’m not giving up without a fight, Elaine! And neither are you. So let’s get down to the basement and do whatever we can to buy ourselves time.”

Maria tugged Elaine to the stairs and then to the basement below to where the wounded were lined along the floors. A few menders moved from patient to patient, doing what little they could.

Elaine and Maria picked their way carefully across the floor, avoiding bodies. They reached the central room where Tris and the techs had set up the force field spell. The three of them were standing around a glowing ball of energy, holding hands, staring into the swirling mass of magic, pouring every last drop of their power into the field.

Tris looked away from the center with a grim smile. Her eyes were sunken. She looked half dead. Pushing as she had, she had redefined what it meant to be human.

Elaine rushed over and stood in the circle.

“In theory, with the field constantly shrinking, it should take less energy to maintain,” Tris said. “But it’s overloading, anyway. We just don’t know how to fight what’s attacking.”

“The chanters we have left are spent. There’s no one left.”

“Can we help?” asked a voice behind Elaine.

Elaine turned. Fiona and Jacob were standing with Frannie and Parnell.

They looked beaten, just like everyone else.

“Fiona, you and Jacob should go back to the room where you were hiding. I’ll be there soon,” Elaine said, trying not to frighten them.

“You need power to hold the dome in place. I just heard you talking about it. No one has asked Jacob and I to do anything. We aren’t tired at all.”

Elaine looked at Tris.

Was it right to use children in this way?

The strain was incredible. She was already feeling her scant magical energy leeching away from her control. She could never ask the children to do this.

“Don’t give up Elaine,” Jacob said. “She’s coming soon.”

Elaine blinked. The boy hardly ever spoke, preferring to let his sister do it for him.

“What do you mean, Jacob?” Elaine asked.

“Winnie,” the boy smiled. “She’s learning how to save the world. Once the Lady is finished telling her, Winnie will come back and help us.”

“How can you know that?” Maria asked.

“I’ve been watching her.” The boy averted his eyes, embarrassed. “Everyone kept talking about where she was and when she’d come back. So I decided to find her. I closed my eyes and thought about her really hard and there she was with the Lady of the Lake. They’re talking about something far away from here.”

“Can she see you, Jacob?” Elaine asked.

“No, she’s in the land of the Fae right now. That’s how the Lady can show her all the times—the past, the present, and future. She’ll be here when they’re done.”

Fiona nodded. “That’s why we want to help with the shield. We have to keep the monsters out until Winnie gets back.”

Danny and Morgan rushed in. Something crashed upstairs.

“They’re battering at the doors upstairs and trying to climb in the windows. We don’t have long.” Danny was holding a rifle. He had a bandage tied across his head and a seeming river of blood oozed from an open gash.

“I’m not sure if there’s anything else to do up there, so we ordered everyone to retreat to the basement levels,” Morgan said. “Tris, can you pull in the shield after everyone gets down here, so it just covers the basement ceiling?”

“I’m running out of power.” Tris looked around. “We all are.”

“Let us help,” Fiona insisted.

The twins broke into the circle. And then they were all holding hands.

Elaine had seen these two do many things over the last few weeks, but it seemed they still had some tricks up their sleeves. Their bodies were practically glowing.

Tris and the other two techs were now glowing, too.

The children were refilling the others, like a charger refreshing a battery.

Elaine felt rejuvenated, energy than she’d felt since the fighting began flooded through her body.

“The Fae magic is the hope and life and renewal,” Fiona said, sounding far older than she was. “It is harder to hold the magic without hope. You have to believe.”

“Do you believe now?” Jacob asked the circle.

The circle nodded.

“We do.” Tris looked at Elaine, then Maria, Danny, and Morgan. “We can hold this basement for a while. Pull everyone back here. We’ll be safe until Winnie comes.”

Elaine detached from the circle along with the twins.

Tris and her techs were practically crackling.

“Come on,” Elaine said. “Let’s get everyone down here. We’ll blockade the steps with everything we can find, then let the field do its work. Frannie and Parnell, join the circle with Tris and the techs.”

The couple nodded and wearily joined the circle

Danny looked at Elaine then grabbed Morgan’s hand. “I’ll head up and spread the word. Maria is any of your security team still around?”

“A few of them are here somewhere.”

“We need to hold the stairs long enough for the two of us to get everyone out from the upper floors,” Danny said. “Then we’ll all pull back down here and block the way behind us.”

“That works,” Maria said. “I’ll round up my remaining team and meet you in the lobby.”

The three of them left. She felt a tug on her sleeve and turned to Fiona standing at her side.

“Don’t give up, Elaine. It’s going to be alright. Winnie is coming. We have to be ready to help her.”

Elaine nodded. “I won’t,” she said.

CHAPTER 38

Winnie stood then froze, awed as the mists swirled around her.

Darkness wrapped its arms around her. She blinked, and then was standing back on the shores of the mist-shrouded lake with Victor and the Lady of the Lake. The sun was peeking over the horizon just beyond the lake.

How long was I there?

Brigid was back in her white robes, hovering above the water.

Winnie tried to speak but words wouldn’t come. “Brigid,” she said, finally finding her voice. “You have an unreasonable faith in me.” Winnie raised Excalibur. “This sword is too great to rest in my hands.”

“That is not your choice to make,” Brigid said. “We had faith in Merlin’s blood line. Our faith is in you.”

“There must be some other way to help my friends.” Winnie blinked, losing a tear. “This is too much.”

“We will not return you to battle unaided, Guinevere. The time may never come to draw Excalibur.”

Winnie shivered. “What else can we do?”

“I have sent a call to my lesser Fae brethren.” Brigid waved an arm behind her. Mists over the lake twisted and spun, gusts of wind kissing surface. “The call was answered. Now aid is on the way.”

Winnie and Victor turned toward the mists as trumpets brayed and drums boomed from somewhere far away.

The mist parted and the first armor-clad Fae stepped through. Then he marched across the lake towards the trio on the shore. He was followed by dozens of others. The ranks quickly swelled and they kept marching until they lined the shores to either side of Winnie and Victor.

There were at least three hundred Fae warriors, all of them armed. Most carried swords or axes, though some held short recurve bows. All were clad in shining breastplates and chain mail shirts that hung to their knees.

Brigid gestured to the host of Fae on either side of Winnie and Victor as she drifted backward across the lake and into the mists. “These are those of my kind who would stand side by side with the holder of Excalibur and her champion. They will obey your orders, Guinevere and Victor. All are experienced at fighting the Fell and its hordes. They await your command.”

And then she was gone, leaving them standing on the shore with the small army of Fae. Large eyes, pointed ears jutting out from beneath their helmets, tiny, shapely noses—all of them staring.

Winnie cleared her throat. “Army of the Fae, we need you. My friends are under attack by the Fell. There are men with modern weapons. And creatures of unspeakable evil. Without you, we’re finished. Can you help us?”

They whooped and hollered.

They raised their weapons high.

They turned the darkness inside her lighter.

Winnie almost wanted to laugh—an unexpected, welcome response.

Victor put a hand on her shoulder. She turned and was surprised to find him smiling. “Time to get back, Winnie. I want to know what you saw, but right now our friends are waiting.”

“Right, but first we need to see what’s happening at the Fort.” Winnie sketched a thin silver line and drew a window in the air, opening to Brick Fort.

She looked through and her blood froze.

She’d expected to see Duster forces behind the walls, still battling the Fell’s beasts outside the brick fortifications. Instead, there was only destruction.

Bodies—human and beast—littered the ground inside the walls.

Winnie turned the window as if panning a camera across the landscape, until she reached the area around the hospital’s three central buildings. The two outer structures were on fire and mostly destroyed. The larger, main building was surrounded by a roiling mass of the Fell’s creatures, scraping and clawing to get inside, fighting to climb over each other and gain access to the structure.

She wanted to cry, scream, fight—do something.

Winnie turned, feeling helpless only for a moment.

The she tried something that might be impossible.

The Fae magic was so strong, richer than anywhere else. And Winnie filled herself to the brim. She walked several paces to her left with her hand raised, sketching a large, thick glowing blue outline, curved beside the lake.

She’d only fashioned small, temporary portals that opened from place to place, able to transport a limited number of people. But with the power she had access to now, so close to the Fae homeland, she could maybe make a larger portal a gateway to Fort Brick where she and the Fae could catch the creatures attacking the fort from the rear.

Winnie tapped the center of the glowing blue outline with a fingertip.

Nothing happened.

But then the air between the thick blue lines shimmered and changed.

Winnie found herself staring at the main hospital building, behind the creatures surrounding it.

A feral grin found her face. She raised Excalibur high and swept it forward with a guttural cry that could have only come from her depths.

The Fae army shouted their war cries behind her, and then they rushed forward, following Winnie and Victor through the portal.

The creatures never knew what hit them.

A few of the beasts heard them coming and turned to face the wave of warriors. Winnie thought of her friends. They must be trapped inside that building. Her mother, sister, boyfriend, and her best friend were a hundred yards away on the other side of this horde. Worry turned to anger at the Fell, and at Kane for sending monsters to savage the innocent.

A hundred feet away, Winnie stretched out her free hand and channeled some of the stored up magic she’d gathered by the lake.

A blazing white bar of light shot out from her hand, expanding until it was six feet wide. The blazing light hopped from body to body, striking demons in the back, and sending them into blue flames and raining ash.

The magical attack cut through the beasts until it was spent.

Then Winnie, Victor, and the charging Fae reached the battle up close.

The armored Fae warriors on the opposing force broke like a tidal wave over the unsuspecting enemy. The rear ranks were swarmed under by the angry Fae ripping through them.

Winnie led the way, swinging Excalibur with a vengeance, fueled by the magic coursing through her veins. She spun and slashed with all of her might, destroying her enemies by blade and by magic.

The Fae rallied and  followed Winnie’s freshly cut channels, through the horde of snarling creatures, their blades falling against the scaled bodies on either side.

Winnie lost sight of Victor as she held her ferocity and rampaged through the swarm of bodies. Nothing was more important than reaching the steps, getting inside and aiding her besieged friends.

What if I’m too late?

Just feet from the doors, the charge finally slowed.

Ancestral hate coursed through the demons and creatures.

Winnie had carved a wedge into their forces, but now the mass of beasts were pressing in on them, more and more creatures turning to face their ancient enemies.

Winnie snarled. She wouldn’t be denied.

Her reserves were tickling empty, but she still had what would have to be enough.

Winnie inhaled, then released a semicircular, waist-high blast in front of her, nearly knocking her down from the kick.

It tore through everything in its path, to the open doors and into the lobby beyond. The spell created a twenty-foot-wide cone extending outward from Winnie that left every summoned creature cut in half and left dead or dying on the steps.

Winnie charged until she reached an awkward barricade of furniture in a crescent around the basement entrance. On the other side, her mother, Danny, Maria, and others poked their heads up from beyond the barrier to see what had happened to their attackers.

She shouted, overcome with relief, smiling as tears coursed down her cheeks. Danny climbed over the barrier and jumped down and ran into her arms.

Winnie had finally made it.

CHAPTER 39

Victor lost sight of Winnie just moments into the battle.

He tried to keep up, but she was carving away two and three of the beasts with every one he managed to kill with either his pistol, or more often his touch, calling upon his ability to dispel magic and the summoned creatures.

A Fae knight—a woman with silver hair and exotic features visible under his helm—was fighting by his side. He blanched at the savage grin warping her elegant features into a rictus of death-dealing fury. She too was killing two of the creatures for every one he put down.

It didn’t take long for their momentum to stall and Victor found himself in a desperate series of hand-to-hand combat encounters with every sort of nightmare and monster. Fortunately, Victor was usually able to dust the creatures with a single strike or two, but he was still taking too much damage from the constant attacks.

To his right, the Fae Knight was yanked to the ground by a pair of demons, their claws rending her armor asunder as she screamed. Victor tried to fight his way to her, dispelling creature after creature to reach her.

But he was too late. The knight disappeared under a mass of demons pushing in from all sides. Her screams grew muffled, until they died.

Anger raged through Victor.

He’d just lost his temporary companion and Winnie was up ahead somewhere, fighting alone.

He doubled his efforts, dug deep enough to keep pushing forward, hacking and slashing, and killing his way to the entrance.

Victor didn’t draw on his magic like Winnie. His power was inherent to him and was borne from his will, and right now that will was stronger than it had ever been.

He looked up from his fight and saw Winnie standing just below the entrance steps, unmoving.

Victor wondered if Winnie was injured, but then the beasts exploded in gore, cut in half at the waist. The halves fell away to the ground on either side of Winnie, leaving a broad opening just ten feet away.

Victor yelled for Winnie to stop, to wait for him, but she bounded up the cleared steps and disappeared inside.

Victor kept going, killing the trio of demons between himself and the steps. It wasn’t hard. They were dazed and covered in the death of their brethren, destroyed by Winnie’s spell.

He reached the open steps ahead of some Fae warriors, running up behind him to search the open lobby. He saw Winnie hugging Danny, tears streaming down her cheeks.

He wanted to find out if Morgan was alright, but needed to secure this entrance first. Victor turned and called out to one of the nearby warriors, directing others on the steps. “You there, what’s your name?”

“I am Percival, son of Lancelot. How may I aid you?”

“Call your comrades and form a shield wall at the base of these steps. Hold back the creatures while I get help from inside. Then we’ll counterattack and try pushing them back.”

“An excellent plan, son of … ”

“I’m Victor.”

“Victor,” Percival repeated. “An apt moniker. I shall rally the warriors, and we will hold the Fell beasts here.”

“Thank you,” Victor said. “I’ll be back.”

Then Victor stalked back up the steps, ejecting the empty magazine from his pistol and sliding a fresh clip into place.

He dropped the gun in its holster, then entered the hospital. Blood and bodies were everywhere. Elaine, Maria, and a few of the Dusters climbed out from behind a makeshift barricade of office desks and filing cabinets atop the basement stairs. Winnie was still clinging to Danny, whispering something, apparently unaware of her surroundings.

Maria said, “We wondered if you were going to make it back to the party.”

Victor looked around. “Is she … ?” He couldn’t finish.

Maria smiled. “Morgan is downstairs helping the wounded. We were about to join her, use our remaining power to hold the basement. Now it looks like we won’t have to.”

“We’ll see,” Victor said. “We’ve brought a small army of the Fae with us, and have managed to stall the attack on this building. Anyone else downstairs who can still fight?”

“Not many, but some.” Maria turned to one of the nearby Dusters, checking his rifle’s chamber. “Sergeant, go downstairs and bring me anyone still able to hold a gun. Tell them help is here.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The sergeant’s voice held a note of hope that seemed to surprise even him. He turned and climbed around the barricade to head downstairs.

“How many Fae did you bring? And will it be enough?”

“We’ll see.” Victor considered the question before answering. “There are certainly fewer now than when we started, but they’re fierce fighters. The beasts are no match one-on-one. So I say we just keep chipping away.”

“Good,” Maria said, her eyes exhausted and voice filled with sorrow. “We could use a victory.”

“How bad has it been?” Victor asked.

“Bad wouldn’t do the fighting justice.” Maria pointed towards Elaine, pulling Winnie tightly against her. “Honestly, if not for Elaine, we’d probably all be dead.”

“Everything changed when she started working with the twins,” Victor said. “Not that I know all that much about magic.”

Maria smiled. A middling like himself. A rarity among the rebels.

The sergeant returned, leading a group of a hundred or so armed Duster recruits. More than half were wounded in some way and seemed skittish to be going back outside. They needed to hear more about the help that was going to help them win this battle.

“Dusters!” Victor cried out. “Winnie and I have returned with a small Fae army. They are here to help us. But they are sorely pressed outside. We must go and join them, to lend our bullets and bayonets to their swords, axes, and bows!”

Cheers erupted, so much stronger than fatigue should have allowed.

He had more to say, but no one wanted to hear it.

The rebels were ready for battle.

CHAPTER 40

Winnie listened as Victor — her Lancelot — rallied the remaining Dusters.

She held Excalibur, it’s shining blade unmarred despite the numerous creatures it had already cut through. There was a cheer from the Fae outside as the Dusters came to join them.

“I have to go back out there,” Winnie said.

“I’ll be at your side,” Elaine squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll do this together.”

“Me, too,” Danny added. He carried a rifle and wore a battle harness with ammo clips attached. His eyes were weary.

“Right behind you, Winnie,” Maria said.

Winnie nodded and turned towards the doorway, stepping back out into the sunlight. The sky was still clear and blue, though she could see the few clouds floating by at the edge, still all orange and dusty.

Victor had assumed position to the right of the depleted Fae army with his Dusters. The Fae allies were down to barely a hundred warriors now, and more were getting cut down by the creatures battling to reach their ancient enemies, ignoring humans in their path to the hated Fae. She had to help before they perished.

Her inner warrior returned and Winnie bellowed a guttural cry, charging forward and leading the four of them into the fray.

Winnie leapt down the steps, her sword raised, landing atop a demon savaging a Fae trapped on the ground beneath her shield trying to scrabble away on her back.

The creature never saw her coming.

Excalibur swept down, cleaving its scaled head from its shoulders.

Blood gushed from the beast’s neck, now dangling by a thin thread of flesh. Winnie sent a streaking bolt of blinding white magic towards a cluster of Kane’s summoned beasts nearby, bursting three into dust.

Another bolt of bright white flew past her and hit a pair of demons charging Winnie from the side. They might have ended her, if Elaine hadn’t seen them first. She punched her fist, several feet from the demons, and yet they fell to the ground, anyway.

Winnie looked at her mother in awe.

Elaine smiled, pleased despite the battle.

Gunfire chattered from every side.

Danny and Maria were watching her left.

Winnie stepped forward, toward a mammoth, muscled beast. It looked like a cross between a mountain gorilla and a T-rex. She swung Excalibur but it ducked under the slash, then dove forward.

Its talons barely missed her head. She dodged backward, avoiding the attack, but lost her balance.

She toppled backward, trying to draw more magic on her way to the ground.

Then Danny was standing over her, shouting at the attacking beast. He shoved the barrel of his rifle into the monster’s snapping jaws and pulled the trigger.

The back of the thing’s head was a fountain of brain matter and horror.

The dead body fell to one side. Danny leaned down, reaching out to pull Winnie back to her feet.

She looked around. The Fae and Dusters had pushed the attacking creatures back from the entrance and were driving them away for a change.

She gripped Excalibur and charged back towards the center of their side’s expanding crescent, Dusters on the right, remaining Fae on the left.

———

Danny pulled Winnie to her feet, but only got a half-smile before she charged off to join the battle line.

Their forces had pushed the creatures back from the hospital entrance, a hundred feet or more—the first time they’d gained any ground.

Danny slapped a fresh magazine into his rifle and raced after Winnie.

Maria was with her, twin pistols firing. Elaine was there, too, keeping the creatures away from her daughter with spells that seemed almost effortless. The three women had become a unified killing machine, protecting their center.

Danny caught up and added his rifle to the fight, watching his own front while keeping the beasts away from Winnie.

The enemy’s numbers were quickly thinning and for the first time hope didn’t seem so far away. They might actually—

Gunfire to the right.

Danny turned.

The Fae had killed most of the demons and their brethren to their front, but now there was a new threat behind them. A line of armored carriers were advancing on their position.

They were horribly exposed, and despite standing against the dark army, they could do nothing to hold out against modern weapons of war.

Kane’s Army was coming to finish them off.

They had to get everyone into the main building before their entire force was cut down. Maria shouted, “We have to get back. They’ll slaughter us out here like this.”

“I know!” Danny yelled. “Tell Victor to pull the Dusters. I’ll get Winnie to withdraw the Fae. We’ll man the first floor windows and try to hold them off.”

Fortunately, the bulk of Kane’s summoned creatures had been killed or driven back enough that they could retreat without having to fight their way back to the hospital. Danny ran to Winnie, pulling her sword from a demon’s heaving chest.

“Winnie, we have to pull back, get to the hospital.”

She spun around and turned her savage eyes upon him.

“Winnie!”

Her eyes lost their strange expression. Recognition dawned.

Danny pointed toward the approaching convoy. “We have to pull back.”

“No … ” Winnie whispered, looking at the long line of armored vehicles. “What are they doing?”

Danny followed her gaze and gasped.

The Fae, having defeated the demons and other attacking creatures, were now charging the new threat, screaming battle cries, waving their swords and axes, running headlong at the approaching vehicles.

Something caught in his throat. “Oh, my God … ” was all he could say.

The convoy stopped.

The upper hatches opened on the armored vehicles.

Gunners popped up to man the machine guns mounted atop them.

The rear doors opened and troops spilled out, taking position between the vehicles. Then, when the charging Fae were barely one hundred yards away, the Army opened fire.

The smoke cleared thirty seconds later.

The entire Fae force lay on the ground, their bodies, armored only against blades and arrows, torn to skin and bone by a tsunami of bullets.

Danny stood dazed, but he couldn’t stay that way long.

Soldiers and vehicles resumed their advance, turning their guns on the Dusters. Bullets kicked the dirt at his feet. He spun around and pulled Winnie away from the carnage, pushing her toward the hospital.

He ran behind her, turning to fire off a few rounds at the advancing soldiers.

———

Victor heard the firing from his left as he finished off another of the beasts.

The snarling creature froze, but only for a moment before crumbling to dust.

He turned to see the last of the charging Fae cut down by the advancing troops. A sickening sight. Their glorious army, destroyed in a single battle. While they had managed to fight off and kill the remaining beasts from the Fell, the loss of so many allies was a blow to their souls.

Maria came running over. “If we don’t get to cover, those guns will do the same thing to us.”

Victor yelled, “Pull back! Take positions in the hospital!”

He kept shouting, in some cases grabbing a Duster by the shoulders and dragging them back towards the hospital. The few remaining sergeants recognized the danger and were doing the same.

Then there were no more troops to shout at—Victor was at the rear of the retreating Dusters. He picked up his pace, bullets flying by his head, looking around for any sign of Winnie.

Then he saw Danny and Elaine pulling her into the building ahead.

At least she was safe.

Victor was among the final Dusters to reach the hospital’s double doors.

He raced inside, then when the last man dashed through, he pointed to the doors and two troopers pushed them closed and set the iron pipe into the bracket. He looked around the lobby.

“Everyone, take position by a window. Return fire. If they get close enough to place any charges, we’re dead.”

Dusters darted down the hallways to either side of the lobby and into rooms.

The gunfire outside was getting louder.

There was a booming crash from overhead—the bigger guns on the ridge  were probably shooting over the heads of their advancing troops and striking the structure’s upper floors.

Winnie was standing with Elaine, Danny, and Maria. Victor walked toward them, holstering his pistol. He pointed toward a crashing explosion upstairs. “Any chance we can raise the shield again?”

Winnie started to answer but Elaine cut her off.

“The short answer is no. The longer answer is that Tris and the others are spent. We’ve got a contingency to throw up a last ditch barrier to reinforce the central basement rooms under this structure, but it will take every chanter we have.”

“What about Bullock, or Frannie and Parnell?” Winnie asked.

“The other elites have all been killed or wounded. Or they just don’t have anything left.” Elaine said.

Another explosion thundered overhead.

Dust and plaster rained.

A recruit stumbled downstairs, followed soon by dozens of others.

“What happened up there?” Victor asked, grabbing the first recruit by her arm.

“The third floor collapsed,” she said.

There was another massive explosion; this one seemed to rip the drums from Victor’s ears.

“We can’t stay up here,” he said. “We have to take cover before they send this whole place crashing down on top of us.”

“Agreed,” Danny said. “I’ll pull everyone from the first floor defenses and meet you all downstairs.”

“I’ll come with you,” Maria said. “We’ll get the word out faster if we work from both sides of the building.”

They darted off in opposite directions.

Another booming crash from upstairs. More dust and plaster rain.

“Let’s get downstairs,” Winnie said.

Victor was dying to check on Morgan.

But right now he had to stop Kane from killing the rest of his world.

CHAPTER 41

Nils stood on the slight rise about a half mile from the besieged hospital complex, or what was left of it. He crouched and peered through the large binoculars set on a tripod in front of him.

It was satisfying to see each of the shells from their biggest artillery pieces crash down on the central structure. Entire sections of the upper floors were blown apart with every explosion, then cleaved to the ground like a glacier at sea.

He smiled. This was only the beginning.

A loud and unexpected burst of gleeful laughter puffed from his mouth as the second floor collapsed.

“I see you’re pleased with our progress,” said General Couch beside him.

Nils swallowed an angry response, loathing the interruption. So much was going well; he wouldn’t spoil it with a dressing down of the General in front of his officers.

“It’s a shame we don’t have more than four. Those cannons are … breathtaking.”

“We prefer to call them field pieces, Director.”

Nils waved off Couch’s impertinent correction. The things looked like cannons to him. Another fired and sent a massive shell crashing into the hospital.

“What’s their range, General?”

“Several miles, sir.”

“Really … ” An idea was forming, but Nils needed to chew on it.

“They have an effective range of up to seven miles.”

“Tell me something, General.” The binoculars were back in front of his eyes. Part of the first floor was visible as flesh was ripped from the one above. “What will it take for your remaining troops to dig those rebels out of their base?”

“The fighting will be costly, I’m afraid,” Couch said. “Even with the bombardment, they’ll have dug in to their remaining positions. And they’ve shown a resilience and determination I wouldn’t expect from green troops.”

“They’re not troops.” Nils fixed the general with a level stare. “They’re traitors and rebels. Nothing better, and certainly not deserving of your respect.”

“Yes, sir,” the general said.

Durham had to be crushed, as did anyone standing by her side.

And the general would pay for his soft belly.

He twirled his finger: get on with it.

The general cleared his throat. “As I was saying, sir, they will be difficult to dig out. They’ll fight to the death. I believe that they’ll see that as preferable to surrender.” A beat, then, “It’s what I would do.”

“So we’ll lose significant numbers of your soldiers and my Red Legs if we have to go in there and root them out with conventional weapons and tactics?”

“Yes, sir. I can’t give you hard numbers or percentages, of course. It would all be speculation, but in my professional opinion, an attack like that will be costly. But it will eventually have to get done. The artillery can soften them up.”

Nils bent to look in his binoculars, considering what Couch had said. They didn’t have many troops. If a significant number were wasted here, there would be fewer available to attack holdouts elsewhere.

He could call upon more of the Fell’s creatures, but they had proven unreliable and were still susceptible to standard gunfire, in addition to the new offensive spells that the rebels had apparently learned to use.

No. He would need every man, every soldier, Red Leg, and conscript to reclaim any rebellious cities. Two things here would finish the fight. He had to conserve his troops so they could die for him elsewhere, and he needed to make an example of Durham and her remaining forces.

“General Couch,” Nils said. “Set up remote recording cameras on this ridge then pull your troops and half your big guns back to say … let’s say two miles. Then continue your barrage as you send your troops into their new positions.”

“What do you have in mind, Director?”

“You’ll know when you need to. Now pull back.”

Four hours later, the artillery and command staff had relocated to a hill just over two miles away. The guns were all firing again, raining destruction on the rebels in their holes.

Nils found the officer in charge of the largest artillery pieces and pulled him aside. “Captain, where do you keep your supplemental ammunition for these guns?”

“Director Kane,” the man saluted, “the reserve ammunition is kept in those trucks over there. So men can bring replenish our supply here should we run dry.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Captain. That will be all.”

Nils shivered.

He was about to use a new spell, one of the Fell’s darkest. One he’d been waiting to use. It needed the proper time, place, and vehicle for its deployment.

And now that time had come.

It was another point of no return, but Nils didn’t care. His hatred for Durham was a ball of fury in the center of his chest. She’d stolen his destiny and so she must suffer the ultimate fate.

Nils calmly walked to one of the trucks. He looked at the ammo crates stacked inside. Then climbing into the back, and drawing in the power of the Fell, along with a substantial amount of standard magic, he set to work.

An hour later, he emerged. Kane pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and mopped his brow. It had been hot in the trucks and his spells required significant physical exertion. His knees were wobbly as he trudged over to where Couch stood with his officers, surveying the valley below.

The General turned to Nils as he approached. “Director. My artillery officer told me you were doing something inside one of the ammunition trucks. I told him not to disturb you.”

“A wise choice, General.”

“Are you alright, sir? You look pale. Can I get you a chair?”

“I’ll be alright soon enough. I believe that we’re going to require additional troops.”

“Really, sir?”

“No need to thank me, General. I have altered some of your ammunition, giving the shells a rather special effect. You will spread this ammo among your four field guns then prepare to fire everything we have into the valley below.”

Nils turned, looked at the hospital’s smoking remains, then turned back to Couch.

“Finish these rebels once and for all. Then you may return to the capital where we will draw our plans for this nation’s recovery. Do you understand?”

“What should I expect from the altered weapons? Will they—”

“Fire the shells and finish this.”

“Yes, sir.”

Nils turned and took one last look at the valley. Without looking back he said, “Let’s see Durham escape this.”

And then he allowed himself a serpent’s smile, with something worse than murder in his eyes.

CHAPTER 42

Winnie ducked again.

Another crashing explosion overhead.

It had been over five hours since the barrage started falling above them. They’d gotten most of the remaining Dusters safely to the subbasement where they’d set up an aid station then barricaded the stairs back to the basement and surface above.

“How much longer can they keep this up?” Danny had taken to pacing the small room they were back to using as a command center.

He’d grown increasingly rattled with every explosion, roaring through the last hour and slowly peeling his nerves back to raw wires.

Winnie had checked on Tris numerous times; she was in an adjacent room with the few remaining chanters still able to channel magic. They’d erected a force field to support the lower basement ceiling. It seemed to be holding well so far.

Winnie walked over to where Danny was pacing and placed a hand on his shoulder. “We’re all terrified. It’s okay to show it.” She gestured around the room.

Morgan and Victor sat together nearby, fingers braided and white knuckled. Her mom was across the room,  twins in her lap. She was rocking back and forth, softly crooning as they rested their heads on her chest. Only Maria seemed unaffected, though maybe not. She’d disassembled and reassembled her pistols at least twenty times in the last few hours.

“The good news,” Winnie raised her voice so the others could hear, “is that it can’t get any worse than this or Kane would have unleashed it already.”

“How do you know?” Danny asked. “And this is bad enough. How long can they keep this up? They have to run out of ammo eventually.”

A massive explosion—even larger and louder than usual—knocked everyone from their feet. Then a crashing sounded in the passageway outside.

Winnie leapt to her feet, then skidded to a stop just outside their room.

The stairway up, which they had barricaded with boxes and furniture, had collapsed inward. The room next to the stairs had caved in as well. She could hear cries for help among the groaning wounded inside.

“Hold on!” she shouted, running up to the rubble that had spilled out of the caved in room. “We’ll get you out of there!”

Another massive explosion sent Winnie back to her feet.

She opened her eyes in time to see a part of the concrete ceiling cleave above her. She had less than a second to roll, avoiding the slab of concrete slamming down from above.

Danny and the others came running out of the central room.

“Winnie!” Danny’s voice was ripe with terror. “Winnie, where are you?”

“I’m here,” she called out, raising her hand in the dim light from their battery operated lanterns.

“Thank God,” Danny said running over. “I thought you’d been crushed.”

“The people in that room need help.” Winnie pointed toward the caved-in room. She blinked away the dust and stared at what was left of a stairway and a door. The rest of the ceiling had collapsed. And now there was nothing but a continuous pile of rubble where the room had once been.

And that little part of the world was entirely silent.

Tears stung her eyes. She clutched Danny close. Then another explosion shook the subbasement.

Winnie scrambled to her feet and stumbled into the next room. Tris sat on the floor in the center of the room with Frannie, Parnell, and a cluster of ten or so chanter recruits seated around her. Her brow was furrowed in concentration but Winnie could see Tris’s haunted eyes.

Winnie said, “A few more of those and the hospital is our headstone.”

Tris shook her head. “That isn’t a conventional weapon. I sense some sort of magic with each explosion, but it’s unlike any magic I’ve ever felt. The black magic seems sticky. It’s tearing apart the force field a bit with each blast. Residue attaches to the shield and sort of melts it away, and always faster than I can repair it.”

“It’s the Fell,” Winnie said.

Another explosion almost knocked Winnie from her feet.

Cracks in the concrete were like webs in the ceiling.

This was going to end soon. She had to do something.

She drew Excalibur and …

Winnie stopped herself.

Is this the right time?

She moved to the center of the circle next to Tris, then sat and raised the sword upright before her, its pommel resting on the concrete floor, the blade pointing toward the drooping ceiling.

She closed her eyes, tried to draw directly on the Fae magic, just as she’d done by the Lake. She held her focus even as another explosion roared through the room. More shouts. More cries. More agony from subbasement.

Then she felt it.

The Fae, sending a trickle of power her way.

She pushed at the tiny portal. It yawned and the flow of magic grew thicker.

Power poured into her and she pushed it to Tris.

Her friend gasped, consumed. “Oh, my,” she muttered.

“I don’t know how long I can hold this flow, Tris. Do something with it quick before it runs out.”

Tris nodded and closed her eyes.

Another explosion rocked the room. A chunk of concrete fell on one of the chanter recruits and knocked her unconscious, unless she was dead.

She worried about the weakened field. Winnie probed outward, checking on Tris. She was lacing the Fae’s magic through the spell to support the force field, helping it to fight back against the Fell’s sticky black residue filtering down through the rubble above.

The next explosion still shook the room but there were no more cracks.

It was working.

But fatigue was tearing through Winnie. She was a car that was already out of gas and only coasting from momentum.

She couldn’t hold out much longer.

One way or another, this would all be over soon.

“Tris,” Winnie murmured. “Can you hold it?”

Tris didn’t answer. Winnie struggled to hold.

“That’s it,” Tris finally said. “I’ve done it! You can let go—I think we can hold it.”

The world closed around her before Winnie could whisper her thanks.

CHAPTER 43

Another blast shook the valley floor.

General Couch watched, steeling his face to a mask of dispassion as he surveyed the barrage. The explosions were like nothing he’d ever seen, causing his soldiers on this hill two miles away to lose their footing.

He steadied himself, looking into the valley through his binoculars. It was hard to see through the smoke and haze. The earth itself burned for two miles in every direction. Every plant, tree, and blade of yellowed grass had been burned to ash. Fire licked the world.

The buildings below were now rubble. This was true devastation.

Even in Europe, Couch had never seen anything like it.

“That was the last of the special rounds, General,” said  someone behind him.

Couch turned and saw the artillery captain standing behind him. He flinched, turning his eyes from the valley as if burned by the view.

“Well done, Captain. You can stand down. Get your crews something to eat.”

“Will we be firing more?” An unusual question from a junior officer to a senior, but Couch let it pass.

“I don’t think so, son. We’ve done enough for today. Nothing could have survived that last barrage.” He looked back down at the valley. “We’re packing up and going home. There’s nothing here.”

The captain’s shoulders sagged in relief. He turned and walked back towards his guns. Couch had been ordered to fire until the shells were all gone. And now they were.

“Major,” Couch called out, spotting his chief of staff nearby.

The major saluted. “Yes, sir?”

“Tell your troops to stand down. Prepare to pack up and pull back.”

“We’re finished?” The major said. “Shouldn’t we check for survivors or something?”

“Do you think anything survived that?” Couch gestured to the still-burning valley. “There’s nothing left, Major. Not even bodies. Get us loaded up and back to the capital. The Director will have plenty more for us to do.”

Couch took another long look at the devastation then turned away. “Make sure the troops get some rest. We all deserve a break from this.”

Except for me.

Couch climbed inside his command truck. It was time to leave this place.

And good riddance.

But the general knew that although this was the first time he’d witnessed such complete devastation, it probably wouldn’t be the last.

This civil war was far from over.

CHAPTER 44

Winnie couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

Her foggy waking mind was filled with confusion.

Am I blind?

“Is anyone there? Danny, Mom, Tris?”

Movement to her right. She turned and blinked. Still nothing.

Then a light flickered to life in the darkness. She flinched back from it, the brightness of the battery-operated lantern too much for her widened pupils.

She squinted into the light, trying to get her bearings.

Then Winnie remembered.

She pulled her scabbard close and scanned the room.

People were sprawled across the floor, asleep on the concrete.

A few sat up when the light came on, surprised by the brightness.

“Good,” rasped a voice nearby. “You’re awake.”

Turning towards the light, she saw someone unfamiliar. His face and hair were caked with dust and blood: Danny, leaning against the concrete wall, holding the lantern.

He smiled. “You should see how you look.”

She rolled to her hands and knees then crawled to him. She reached up, touched the blood on his face.

“You’re hurt.”

“Most of the blood isn’t mine,” he said. “We spent yesterday clearing rooms. They caved in despite the shield. There were a few survivors, but they probably won’t make it. A lot of time—”

“Wait,” Winnie said, confused. “Yesterday? How long have I been asleep?”

“More than twenty-four hours, though it’s hard to tell down here. Most watches and electronics stopped working during that last shelling. Tris said it was the shockwaves or something. We’ve only had a few working lanterns and are conserving our batteries.”

“Why doesn’t Tris or someone charm them?” Winnie asked.

“Because,” said another voice. “Magic doesn’t work here anymore. No one can touch or sense it. It’s as if it never existed.”

Winnie looked into the corner shadows and saw Tris, sitting up from where she’d been lying. She looked haggard, covered in fine white dust.

Winnie tried to reach out and grasp for the magic.

But like Tris said, there was nothing there.

No flows. No ribbons. Not a single thread to tug on.

Nothing had ever felt so empty.

She pulled Excalibur from its scabbard. Gripping the hilt, she closed her eyes and reached for the Fae. In her mind’s eye, Winnie saw blackness all around her. There was a hint of something in the distance, too far for her.

After spending several seconds trying to pull the distant sensation closer, she relaxed her mind and opened her eyes.

“Magic isn’t gone everywhere. I can sense it, far away. Whatever Kane did at the end of the battle during that final barrage somehow blocked our access to it somehow.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that we’re all trapped down here,” Tris said.

“Isn’t someone trying to dig us out?” Winnie asked.

“Victor organized a team to try and dig us out via the stairwell,” Danny said. “It’s clogged with rubble and debris, but he says he can feel fresh air flowing down the shaft. They’re taking a break but will be back at it soon.”

“Good.” Winnie needed to give her friends something positive to focus on now that she was awake. Magic wasn’t gone and they had a way to get out.

“Once we’re free of this place, we can get back on our feet and find help.” Winnie locked eyes with each of her friends until they returned her smile. “Let’s get everyone together and bust the hell out of here.”

Soon everyone was up and gathered around Winnie. There were fewer than fifty survivors. It had been a brutal battle for everyone, but she still had one more dog in this fight.

She scanned the crowd. She saw Danny, Victor, Tris, Morgan, her mother, and Maria all standing nearby. She saw Fiona and Jacob, both of them smiling—almost beaming—at her. Frannie and Parnell stood beside them. Garraldi was resting nearby, still alive despite the severity of his wounds.

“It’s good to sort of see you all,” she finally said. Laughter rippled through the darkness. “We’ve all lost. So many friends and comrades, gone. It is in their memory that I speak to you all. We cannot allow their sacrifice to be in vain, or their deaths and all that they’ve fought for get lost to the world. The Battle of Fort Brick must become a rallying cry in the continuing fight against Kane and all that he stands for.”

Winnie paused and studied the crowd, giving them all a moment for her words to sink in before she continued.

“This fight is far from over. There are chanters and middlings out there ready to join our cause in cities around the United Americas, waiting for us to send word of our survival so that they can raise their weapons alongside us. But first we must leave here. First we must escape this prison Kane has left us in.”

She took a step forward, her voice more commanding.

“It’s been two days since we came down here. We’ve been left for dead. Let us rise up and show the world that our revolution will not die, no matter what they throw at us. Let’s show Kane that we will always come back to stand against him and his tyranny until he’s answered for all that he’s done.”

Still staring out at the crowd, Winnie saw something she hadn’t seen before. Glimmers of hope. A few grim smiles breaking through the gloom.

She pointed to Victor, standing beside her.

“Victor says we can dig our way out. We don’t need magic—just our bare hands and the determination to be free. So that’s what we’ll do, around the clock, until we’re free of this place.”

Victor stepped forward. “Those of you who feel up to helping me, meet me by the stairwell entrance. I’ll organize you all into shifts. Everyone else, find another way to help. Whether that means making the wounded more comfortable, or helping to gather the remaining supplies and distribute what little food and water we have left to those who need it most. Let’s work together to get out of here.”

The crowd dispersed. Most of the Dusters started towards the work parties forming in the hallway. Others started asking Tris and Elaine how they could help with the wounded or distributing supplies.

Winnie smiled at everyone who came up to thank her.

They had no working clocks or watches, but Winnie estimated it took another twenty four hours of round-the-clock work to clear all the rubble from the stairwell and move the debris that covered the entrance above. Victor came to get her when they finally broke through to the outside.

“Winnie,” Victor said, entering the room where she sat talking with Tris and her mother. “Danny just sent word from the top of the shaft. They’ve reached the top. They’re outside. He says you need to come and see.”

Winnie followed Victor to the newly cleared stairwell, or what was left of it, without asking what Danny wanted, climbing the precarious hand and footholds cut into the walls by the excavation team. She reached the surface after about ten minutes of climbing.

And then she saw what Danny wanted her to see.

The valley was a wasteland extending for several miles in every direction.

There were no buildings, ruins of buildings, trees, or anything at all. Just a massive hole in the earth where their fort and its surroundings had been days before. Soot covered the world, from Winnie’s foot to the farthest horizon.

And that wasn’t all.

She reached out to draw magic from the land, but Winnie found nothing.

Kane had unleashed something new and horrible, and it had ripped this spot’s connection to magic right from its spine.

The emptiness extended to her own connection. Instead of magic inside her, she felt only despair. It took her several minutes to recognize what was happening inside her, and how this might impact other chanters climbing up from their shelter below.

This was what Kane had wrought and what would spread like a virus through the world until the land was devastated and emptied of magic: his way of denying his opponents their strongest resource and best defense.

Only the sword’s connection to the Fae had granted their survival. Barely.

Danny came over to Winnie. “We made it out. We can still do this.”

She shook her head. “No, we can’t. Not alone. Not anymore.”

She heard others climbing from the opening into the scarred earthen ruin behind her. She looked back and saw Victor and Morgan emerge ahead of her mother and Tris. They scanned the horizon together, trying to find the desert’s edge. Others surfaced as her friends clustered around her.

Winnie knew what she had to do.

“Kane has forced my hand. If he’s willing to do this … ” She looked around at her friends and mother beside her. “If Kane has the will to unleash such destruction, then I have no choice. This is what Brigid meant when she said that I’d know when the time came.”

“What are you talking about, Winnie?” Victor asked.

“It was always a terrible option. She told me I could summon a power to stand by our side, to give us the ultimate solution.”

Winnie turned to her closest supporters.

She needed them close, before she changed the world.

They looked at her, curious but trusting.

If there were still birds, they could have heard every one.

Finally, and only after inhaling a nearly bottomless breath, Winnie reached behind her back and drew the gleaming Excalibur from her scabbard.

She raised the glowing sword high in the air.

Then she repeated the words that Brigid had given her.

“Power for power, might for might, the blade unites us in our fight. Come destruction, come dismay, let them in, come what may.”

Something tugging at Winnie. The sword glowed brighter and brighter, until she had to turn away.

It finally faded and Winnie started to cry.

She’d done it.

She really had, no going back, actually done it.

“Winnie, what’s wrong?” Danny asked. “Why are you crying? Didn’t it work?”

“I did it, Danny,” Winnie whispered. “I’m crying because I did it … ”

“What did you do?”

“I called the dragons,” she said. “The dragons are our only hope.”

WANT TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS?

Three months have passed since the battle with Nils Kane. Winnie and her friends extricated themselves from the Fort Brick ruins, retreating to a mountain stronghold to the west.

Kane’s willingness to unleash such utter destruction left Winnie with no choice but to use the ultimate power of the talisman and summon the dragons.

Now they are everywhere in the mountains, hundreds of the beasts, all awaiting Winnie’s command to attack.

Once Kane discovers that Winnie is still alive, he moves forward with a plan to flush Winnie and her rebels out of hiding by attacking her city.

Baltimore becomes a target for Kane’s armed forces and Fell beasts, who will stop at nothing to empty Earth of every living thing.

Winnie, her Dusters, and the dragons, are this planet’s only hope.

THE BROKEN THRONE SERIES CONCLUDES:

Click here to get MENDED THRONE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jamie Davis, RN, NRP, B.A., A.S., is a nationally recognized medical educator who began educating new emergency responders as a training officer for his local EMS program.  As a media producer, he has been recognized for the MedicCast Podcast (MedicCast.com/blog), a weekly program for emergency medical providers like EMTs and paramedics, and the Nursing Show, a similar program for nurses and nursing students. His programs and resources have been downloaded over 6 million times by listeners and viewers.

Jamie lives and writes at his home in Maryland. He lives in the woods with his wife, three children, and a dog.

Jamie’s other books include the Extreme Medical Services series, The Eldara Sister series and the upcoming Accidental Traveler series.  You can check them out at http://jamiedavisbooks.com.  His Broken Throne series is published by Sterling & Stone LLC.