Eli found the sight of the Henge far different from what he felt with his spatial field. All the surrounding buildings had been razed and stripped away for material. It was clear where it went as he stared at the monolithic wall of the Henge. He found the sight of it far different from what he sensed with his spatial field.

The wall had been cobbled together with rough hewed stone, plates of pitted iron and steel, and cars blocked off the street. Moats and trenches crisscrossed up the street. A maze of barricades blocked off the trenches, cordoned off the still standing alleys and fences.

Essence stirred, hidden under enchantments inscribed along the path. Under the enchantments were ragtag clumps of defenders hidden by influxes of Dream and other powers.

“Watch out we aren’t alone,” Eli whispered to Roman with a cautious twist of space directly to his ear.

“I don’t feel good about this, Eli. It seems like they’re secure. Should we check on the other group?”

“Maybe, I don’t know.”

“We aren’t all bad, like those fucking Peacebringer cowards,” Debra spat as she pushed past them. “All they care about is hiding in their mall and suppressing everyone’s powers.”

“Could you imagine choosing to live like that?” Isaac scoffed. “I get that we all missed how things used to be, but I don’t need another government telling me how to live.”

“What? You’re all free behind your walls?” Eli chuckled.

“Relatively.” Isaac shrugged as they drew nearer to the Henge. “We all have a rank based on our contribution and ability.”

“That’s surprising. I thought it’d be based on how good of a fighter you are?” Eli asked.

“Or how many sp—, monsters you kill?” Roman asked.

“We are the Henge’s Warriors. We contribute by killing monsters and keeping our squad safe. Is it really so different in Farbrook?” Sarah said.

“Josef’s son isn’t a fighter, but no one cares. He’s the one that built the Henge’s walls, all our buildings, and the barricades. Our society is built on merit, and nothing else,” Debra said proudly.

“What about those that can’t contribute?” Roman asked.

“Even children can help out,” Sarah said.

“I’m not sure you going out to kill monsters is as inspiring as you think,” Eli said as they got close enough the walls loomed over them and blocked out all sunlight.

“I’m not a kid.” Sarah crossed her arms. “Children don’t have powers.”

“Everyone can help, but anyone that won’t is kicked out.” Isaac said as he pushed his way to the front of the group right next to the wall without a gate. Enchantments activated once he placed his hand on the rough metal.

A second later, he phased through the wall as the enchantments dragged him through.

Sarah stepped inside next.

“You two aren’t citizens, but I can let you both inside this one time.” Debra waited to place her hand on the wall.

“What happens if we try to enter ourselves?” Eli asked while he focused his spatial field behind the walls.

“You’ll be killed for trespassing,” Debra smirked.

Eli frowned as he let the details come in.

Hundreds of tents packed by people with weak powers occupied the space closest to the wall. After that long lodges cordoned off the human sardines. Were they meant to exist as fodder in case enemies broke through? A ring of cottages were next, then a crop of squat houses. At the center of the Henge was a towering mansion.

“Let us in.” Eli marched boldly through once she slapped her hand against the wall. Roman followed on his heels.

Illusions fell, revealing barbed wire chain-link fences glittering with malice. Holes in the chain bristled with gun barrels, crossbows, spearheads, or latent spheres of powers. Their wielders were little more than malnourished men, women, and children with cracked lips and gaunt faces.

The fences continued to the gate set in another, lower wall melded to the sides of the long lodges he suspected were barracks. Small towers stood on either side of the gate with manned artillery and other guns he bet were taken from the military bases.

“Keep moving,” Debra said as she moved forward.

“This is inhumane. Is this how you make sure everyone contributes?” Roman pointed at the people crowded in around them. At their shoddy tents and worse.

“Tell them, beggars.” Debra scoffed as they walked closer to the gate.

Multiple voices bellowed in a rough, broken chant as the press-ganged guards responded to her command. “We are weak and lazy! We are less than human, less than the monsters! We are at fault and must earn better.”

Eli clenched his fists at his side.

“There’s your answer.” Debra shrugged. “These assholes have had powers for over a year and can barely do anything with them. At this point, it’s not lack of ability or anything else, it’s their choice. Why should we stoop to their level by giving away what we’ve earned?”

“That’s just—“ Eli started to say before the soldiers or Warriors at the gate interrupted them. Sarah and Isaac stood waiting for them.

“Warriors Isaac, Sarah, Debra returning with two unknowns! State your kill counts for authorization.” A man shouted from the top of one of the towers, his rotary gun trained on them.

“Twenty-seven,” Isaac said.

“Forty-one,” Sarah said.

“Eighty,” Debra crossed her arms.

“And you two? Are you two combatants or more refugees seeking sanctuary?”

“We’re passing through checking on things.” Roman stared up at the towers like they were cashiers at a supermarket and not a checkpoint guarded by fanatics.

“Four hundred seven,” Eli said after reading out his total slain since they came to the city.

Everyone turned to stare at him incredulously.

“Lying is an extremely punishable offe—“ said the man in the tower before another man bounded over the wall in a leap.

“He’s not lying.” He grinned, showing off far too many teeth as he landed on a summoned shield. “Who are you, little spitfire?”

“Eli.”

“My name is Josef and we have room for someone like you and your friend.” He stuck his hand out. Eli tentatively shook it.

“Not that I was lying, but how could you tell?”

“My mental stat is Mind of Candor.” Josef’s smile was unchanging. “I can sense all truths and lies in my vicinity, presumed or otherwise. Everyone disbelieved you, so I had to check it out.”

“That seems like a risky power to slot.” Eli raised his eyebrows.

“Maybe, but I find it worth it. Want to take the awesome, grand tour?” Josef waved at the pretend soldiers who opened the gates.

“Let’s do it.” Eli easily agreed even as he shoved down a wave of unease from Profound Erudition.

“As you can tell, this is the entrance,” Josef chuckled as he led Eli and Roman through the gate. Cottages ringed the next layer of the Henge, dotted with controlled park spaces, basketball courts, soccer fields, and garages. “We have a lot of nice public spaces for those who are worthy, like I suspect you two are.”

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Josef led them deeper through packs of hard-eyed children crowded in the middle of a soccer field. They were getting closer to the rows of actual houses.

“Are those kids beating up someone?” Roman pointed at the rambunctious soccer players. Eli blinked as he refocused and realized that they were. How had he missed that?

“I see. Wait while I handle this.”

Shields sprang up in bubbles around each individual leaving a bloodied girl lying on the ground. She curled up with her arms cradling her head.

“What’s going on here?”

“Francie cheated!” screamed a little blond boy who appeared to be around ten or eleven years old. He kicked the shield in front of him.

“You all seem to think that but she doesn’t.” Josef’s fingers twitched as his shield lifted the girl up to her feet. She cried out. “It’s okay, you aren’t hurt. Why do you think they’re lying?”

Francie straightened instantly as she stood up without any sign of pain despite her torn up face. Blood pooled out of her nose, her teeth had shredded her lips, and one of her feet twisted at an awkward angle. But she stood like she was fine.

“I came into my powers last night so I used it to score a goal.”

“Ah.” Josef shook his head gently. “You’re right, that’s not cheating. But why did you let yourself get hurt?”

“Mommy always said we should treat others with kindness, especially when we’re stronger than them.”

“She’s right.” Josef nodded with the faux seriousness of an adult confronting children. “Yet, how could you be hurt by them if you’re stronger?”

Francie frowned with a gush of fresh blood. She ignored it.

“What’s your power?”

“Telekinesis.”

“Show me.”

Francie pointed her shaking hand at the forgotten ball which promptly flew toward her. It lurched to a sudden stop against her hand with a violent smack.

“That’s incredible!” Josef’s smile persisted even as the blond boy’s shield vanished. “Now use your power on the boy who hurt you.”

The boy tried to run, but a shield appeared behind him. Trapping him.

Eli’s eyes widened in alarm. Stardust spun beneath his skin as he prepared to step in with starspace and more.

“But mommy said—“ She protested.

“I’m the leader of the Henge and I said it’s okay.” Josef chided her. Francie nodded as her frown disappeared without a trace. Eli shook his head. Why was he upset if it was alright?

“We aren’t supposed to hurt those weaker than us, but we also must respect ourselves and them. You acted lesser than you were by letting them hurt you. Show him your strength.”

Francie guided the ball with her hand as she aimed it at the sweating boy.

Roman pressed his hand against his forehead as if something was wrong. How could it be when everything was fine?

“Do it.”

“Okay.” Francie thrust her hand forward spiking the ball into the boy’s face with a crunch of broken cartilage. His head flopped back into Josef’s shield with a bang.

Eli’s stomach twisted while he listened to him howl in agony. Josef said it was okay. That it was right. Everything in the Henge was awesome. But this didn’t feel alright. He opened his mouth to speak out even as the building pile of contradictions kept him silent.

“You’re fine,” Josef said over the child’s screams. He scooped the soccer ball up so he could push it into Francie’s small hands. “Congratulations! That’s a wonderful power. I bet you’d make a fantastic Warrior one day.”

“I don’t want to be a Warrior…” Francie’s eyes were wide in the washed out gray of her flushed face. She hyperventilated with heaving breaths.

“Why not? Warriors keep everyone safe. They protect us from the monsters. Everyone’s contributions are valuable, but the Warriors are all that stands between us and oblivion,” Josef explained as he turned to look at Eli and Roman. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“It’s not that bad,” Eli frowned. He could speak again

“What are you doing to us?” Roman stomped closer to Josef as mechanical plating slid over his hands.

“I’m not doing anything.” Josef chuckled as if it was a silly question.

“Yes you are!” Roman insisted as nozzles on his palms sparked. “I won’t let you control our minds or anyone else’s.”

Eli’s mouth gaped wide open in shock and confusion as Roman reared back. He slammed his fist into Josef’s shields with a resonant clang as propulsive jets across his armor flared.

Children screamed.

Josef’s smug expression twisted as his shield shattered like glass. He stumbled back under Roman’s furious onslaught of blows.

“Roman, what are you doing?” Eli pressed his hands against his forehead while he swayed. Nothing made sense.

Shields like jagged glass appeared then broke over and over. Broken shields slammed ineffectively against Roman’s armor. Roman’s metal fingers wrapped around Josef’s throat. He lifted the Henge’s leader as his feet kicked fruitlessly for purchase off the ground.

“Let him go!” Francie’s soccer ball spun as it floated.

“No. He’s controlling all of you.” Roman squeezed as he shook him. Purple splotches darkened his complexion. Josef’s nails splintered as he clawed at Roman’s metallic hands. “I will not be used or manipulated by anyone ever again.”

“What are you even talking about?” Eli felt conflicted about whether or not he should he stop the ragtag collection of the Henge’s Warriors from punishing his friend from breaking the peace?

“You can’t tell?” Roman snarled. “He’s using Dream to somehow twist everything he says into the truth.”

“What?” Eli teleported next to them with a flash of starlightning and a burst of stardust. Fury at the violation boiled the blood in his veins.

“He would never!” Francie protested as she launched her soccer ball at Roman’s head with a loud pop. It bounced into the grass with a hiss of leaking air.

Gunshots pinged around them as Isaac led some of the other Warriors against them. Eli bent starspace so it avoided the four of them.

“What should we do?” Roman asked coldly with his fingers still wrapped around Josef’s throat. The man’s eyes were a red mess flooded with tears. Each of the veins in his face bulged.

Ragged shields battered harmlessly against them.

“I killed the last dreamer who fucked with my mind.” Eli scowled. Memories played through his mind of lying at Daniels feet as agonizing orange lightning withered his nerves.

“Guess we ruined any chance of peace, didn’t we?” Roman sighed.

“Not at all,” Eli snorted while he continued warping starspace to protect them from bullets, arrows, and bolts of powers that whistled past. “They tried to manipulate us. Pretend everything about them was perfect and we were the ones who were weak and wrong.”

“We are better than you,” Francie said with all the certainty of a young child. She used her Telekinesis to recall her nearly flattened soccer ball. “You hurt Leader Josef.”

“No. He hurt us by trying to control and trick us.” Roman scoffed. “He forced you to assault someone, how is that okay?”

“It’s a Warrior’s job to stand up to bullies.” Francie tilted her chin up as she hurled the ball at them again. Planes of warped starspace grated against it as it punched its way out the other side. Scraps littered the field around them.

Bullies. Eli winced as that one world echoed in his mind. He sighed. “Let’s go.”

“What? Why?”

“We only came to make sure everyone was fine and clearly they are. They don’t want us here.”

“So what? Leave him here so he can mount a strike against our home and our family? How could we trust any of them after their leader fucked us over?”

“Language,” Francie huffed as she dug furrows in the ground to throw clods of dirt at them with her power.

“I don’t want to be like Tom, Rome. Drop him.”

“Fine.” Roman let go. “I agree that these people aren’t a threat or priority to us. But what about people back home? They know where we come from.”

Josef flopped bonelessly in a heap. His breath whistled as he wheezed with his hands on his mottled throat.

“Cyrus already told them about us so it’s not like anything changed. They know we mean business now.” Eli chuckled harshly. “Do you really want to leave bodies everywhere we go because it’s convenient?”

“This isn’t the place. We’ll wrap this up later.” Roman hovered as he funneled power through the propulsive system in his suit.

“I…I’m… not… hurt…” Josef slurred with heaving gasps through his mangled throat. He stood up easily as his wounds faded into tattered lies dragged into the light. “You two aren’t going anywhere. Whoever is in charge of Farbrook must be idiots for letting you two run free.”

“Speak again and I’ll put you down myself,” Roman spat.

“You won’t be able to hurt me again,” Josef said as a high caliber round blasted out one of Roman’s mounted guns straight through his gut. Gouts of dirt and grass kicked up as the bullet barreled into the ground.

Dream blurred the wounds out of existence as if he’d never been shot.

“It’s rude to shoot—“ Pop, pop. “—when someone’s talking.” Two more bullets ripped through him leaving non-existent wounds. “It looks like you two are a lost cause. We’ll march into your city and burn it to—“

“Enough.” Eli loosed a lance of stardust into his forehead. His jaw face slacked as he used his stardust to sever motor functions in Josef’s brain.

It ignited with a flare of emerald aurora that consumed his body in an instant.

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Class Power: Alternative Truth [Not Available to Select]

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“It’s over. Let’s go.” Eli created a portal out of the Henge back to Farbrook. “I’m done with this place.”

“Right behind you.” Roman followed behind him as they left behind the sound of a frantic Francie and a screaming crowd.