One thing he knew for sure... this was only just the beginning.

These disasters would not stop. Not until the runaways were recaptured and put back to sleep.

He would need the mask to do this, but he still had no clue where to find it. Jack Arnett was staying under the radar.

What was the man planning to do with it?

He had not tried to use it—that would have set off an alarm—but if that was not his intention, then what?

Was he working with someone?

Who else could want the mask?

It would be of little use to anyone who wasn’t a Rissl.

Still, many myths had sprung after the artifact was discovered. And though all of them were nonsense, many were those who believed in them. Any of these beliefs could have prompted the theft.

He still did not understand how Paul had managed to pull the mask off... it should not have responded to him—or to anyone.

Sitting in the circular room of his ship, Xian scanned through hundreds of dataflows. Most of them were displaying geographical and topographical information, following seismic activity or weather patterns. He was on the lookout for any warning of the next impending disaster.

The fire, he had barely caught in time. It had made a lot of damage, costing many lives, but he’d been able to put out the flames before it burned the entire forest down. It was getting harder to intervene in time, though.

He needed help.

But who could he ask?

He had tried with Thyria... much good that had done him.

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She would have done anything for him, once upon a time.

He had changed her. Made her a better person.

But she had obviously gone back to her old ways.

It was a disappointment. A failure.

Would he fail with Cora, too?

She was different, though.

She was human.

How could she possibly help?

To be fair, he wasn’t sure even Thyria could have helped.

The only reason he had caught the renegades last time, was because of the mask. And he no longer had that.

There were three of them and only one of him.

And his only possible ally was a human.

In some ways, that would be better than a Zendaar, though... The humans had no powers, but his kin could not hurt them—not directly, at least. That was something.

There had to be some way Cora could help.

And if she could, then perhaps other humans could as well?

But how?

That fundamental question kept nagging at him, over and over, as he continued to scan through the dataflow.

***

She still mourned her fiancé. It was difficult to think that he was gone, that she’d never see him again. He had been a sweet man. The only ray of sunshine in her miserable life...

Until she’d met Ed—Xian, rather.

Cora wasn’t sure what to think about that.

It was difficult to process so much information.

She looked through the window at her parents. They sat in the living room, as apathetic as ever.

After a moment of hesitation, she turned and walked away. Why would she go in there? It was not like they ever had anything interesting to tell her. Nor did they ever show any interest in her. Not that she’d have had much to tell them.

She kicked a rock that was in her way, a bit more angrily than intended. It flew against a nearby wall, barely missing hitting a young boy’s leg as he ran by.

With a grimace, she pushed her hands deeper into her pockets and quickened her pace.

Could Ed be right? Were there no gods?

Was it all just an illusion?

All her life she had been raised to believe deities walked among men. That the Zendaar were untouchable—which they were. But maybe it had more to do with fear, or even corruption, than godhood.

Why did everyone think they were gods?

Well, they did have long lives...

But so did Xian, and he said in his case it was due to science. But what about them? Was it science, too? Or something else? Like what?

Magic, maybe...

After all, if science could lengthen a person’s life, shouldn’t a spell be able to as well?

It made sense to her.

But...

If the Zendaar were not gods, what were they?

She frowned as her pace quickened further.

Resolve grew in her heart.

Her life had been so unfair.

But now, Ed had shaken something deep inside of her.

She was starting to see things differently.

A thought formed in her mind, then... a seed that sprouted and grew.