We hit the dark, dusty ground and roll over, the wormhole still clutched in my fist.

My head strains fit to burst, my heart pounding furious beats against my rib-cage. I rest my cheek on the cool earth, feeling the tickle as dust flutters up my nose. Rai lies quite still beside me. His eyes clenched shut.

'Rai?'

He doesn't reply. With a sigh, I wrench myself to my knees and claw my way towards him. The air stinks; I've never been to the Mist Archipelago before. It never exactly came highly recommended. But turns out it's achingly similar to Quillin, to home, more than anywhere else we've been so far. There's a familiar loneliness about the place. These hills could easily be the hills I wandered, alone, acrid wind and spots of rain peppering my cheeks and mud-stained boots.

But of course, we're nowhere near home. The open sky stretches its arms above cliffs that yawn over acres of lifeless trees and barren rock. Caves nuzzle into the cliff face like holes in cheese. The mists here are thicker than I've ever seen; lying down, I'm completely submerged in them. But despite their density, they seem clean somehow, like a cloud someone's teased apart.

And yet for a place called the Living Caves. . . I can't see any signs of life. Anywhere.

'Sit up.' I struggle to lift Rai, but he's having none of it; he dead-weights against me and I drop him with a huff. His hair falls into his eyes, and I have the sudden urge to smooth it back.

What the hell am I thinking?!

'Get up! What the hell are you doing? You can't just go to pieces like this.'

'OH YEAH? Said by you.'

'Wow. Okay, I deserve that, but seriously, come on. Fina and Hayden can't be far away.'

'I don't care anymore.'

I watch Rai's tears speckle the ground, darkening the already damp soil.

'Yes, you do. Snap out of it. I need you.'

'You don't need me. I'm poison, everything I touch goes to shit.'

'You're wrong.' With another grunt of effort, I heave Rai upright. My shoulder screams, and I can't help wincing.

'See?' Rai wriggles out of my arms. 'I'm hurting you.'

'Uugh.' I can't help rolling my eyes. 'Really?'

Rai frowns, rubbing the back of his neck. 'My filters are blocked,' he mutters.

'So, unblock them! Jeez.'

His beautiful almond eyes swim, the bluest things I've ever seen in my whole goddamn life. Then he pokes his finger into the gap between the pads – I try hard not to pull a face – and shakes his head, swift and violently. A dog shaking away fleas. Colour floods back to his face.

'Better?'

He shoots me a small, sheepish smile. 'Yeah. Shall we find her?'

I hesitate. All I want is to find Fina and get back to Jinaka. The thought of Sammi left with those people. . . And nagging doubts are twisting like a dagger in my spine: why the hell are they attacking civilians in Singavere?

'In a minute. Don't you need to send a message, first?'

Rai blinks. 'A message?'

'Can't you do that? With your reti-chip thing?'

'But who. . .'

'You're worrying about your family. So, call them.'

'I don't have a family.'

'Yes, you do. The kids you grew up with, Dove and Buffalo, Kareen. . . Right?'

Rai, for a moment, looks stunned. Then, his face lights up. He closes his eyes, mumbling under his breath: 'Chip, send a message to Dove. Are you safe?'

We wait in silence. I have no idea how long these things usually take. But then, Rai grins – he grabs my hand, his cheeks flushing pink.

'They're okay! Kass, they're okay, Dove replied!'

'What did she say?'

'That they're fine, the Futurists are evacuating. They're being taken to a bunker under the Great Hall, they're waiting to go in now.' He gives a shaky laugh and runs a hand through his hair. 'I can't believe I didn't think of that. Kass, thank you. . .'

'Don't mention it.' I scrunch up my nose, suddenly feeling awkward. 'Can we go find Fina now?'

Rai nods. 'Yeah. I'm ready.'

*

We clamber up a rocky ledge, our fingers slipping, then peer back over the side. You can see for miles; a storm is coming. Dark, billowing clouds tumble from the west, staining the purple-orange sunset, smearing darkness across the sky. A flash of lightening slices through, and the rains pour with earnest. It seems oddly appropriate that somewhere, beneath this blazing sky, the final Elementalist is hiding.

'Where do you suppose she is?' Rai shuffles back from the ledge into a puddle; he groans, shaking a sodden foot. The mist is so impenetrable, it's impossible to see where to tread.

'She can't be far, or the wormhole wouldn't have dropped us here. Hey, FINA? Come out and show yourself, will you?'

'Shh! What are you playing at?'

'Oh, who's going to hear me? That rock? That clump of dead trees? It's deserted. The only people here are us and them. OI!' I bellow, shivering as mist wraps itself around my shoulders. I think longingly of my mohair cloak. . . the only thing from home I've got left. 'COME OUT, WHEREVER YOU ARE, FINA.'

'I mean.' Rai scuffs the ground with his foot. 'If some random dude started screaming my name, I wouldn't come out.'

'Good thing they're not you.' I point across the cliff face. A head pokes out from one of the caves furthest away from us – it's pure luck that I spot it. The figure must see me pointing because it disappears instantly, with a cry of shock whipped away by the wind.

We run towards the cave, leaping over uneven terrain, climbing over the boulders blocking our path. It's like nature itself is trying to protect the entrance to the caves; the closer we get, the more jagged and difficult it becomes. We come to a stop outside the cave, me panting with my hands on my knees. I need a moment. To catch my breath.

A light, far brighter than a normal camp-fire, flickers from inside.

We communicate silently, no words needed. A short, sharp nod, and it's decided. Ducking our heads, we creep inside.

The ceiling is so low, I have to crouch; liquid drips down into murky-pink puddles on the ground. It's eerily quiet. Then, the cave opens out into a wide chamber, and I gasp.

The cave is no simple, concave hollow. Columns run from floor to ceiling, thick as tree-trunks, where stalagmites and stalactites have fused together, and mist swirls between and around them in a shimmering haze. A fire crackles in the centre, but that's not what illuminates the cave so brightly. Buried inside the cave walls and columns, inside the very rocks themselves, are a thousand twinkling gold lights.

'Woah,' Rai breathes, his hand hovering close to the wall. The lights are completely embedded into the rocks as though someone's carved neat grooves for them. His fingers brush one of the golden lights, and he yelps, springing his hand back. 'It burnt me!'

'Well, of course it did.' A voice, with the soft, melodic lilt of a lullaby, floats from behind us. We spin around.

There's no one there. I glance at Rai with unease, and turn from the lights to the mess around the fire. A rucksack lies on its side, leaking bread and a few apples into the mist; two flasks are propped up on a rock; and a blue cloak, emblazoned with a golden 'F', adorns the floor like a rug.

'Stop where you are.'

A second voice; harsher, deeper. I've stooped to inspect the bag; I straighten up sharply and smack my head on a jagged stalactite, causing a hailstorm of stones.

A young man, dark-skinned with a neat, trimmed goatee and a row of piercings down his chin steps out from behind a column. A gun in his hand. Pointed at us.

'Captain Locke?' I rub my head with a grimace. 'Is that you?'

'How did you find me?' The man steps closer. Beads of sweat glisten on his brow and his hand is shaking so much, I doubt he'll be able to shoot us even if he wants to.

'Your reti-chip.' Rai says. 'We used Jinaka's Ultimate Wormhole to track you.'

The man curses, his free hand clutching his hair. 'This can't be happening.' There's a manic gleam in his eyes. 'This can't be happening.'

'Where's Fina?' I say, my voice stronger this time. 'Tell us where she is.'

'Are you from Jinaka? Or from him?' The man suddenly darts around us, waving his gun in the air and yelling at the cave entrance: 'I'LL KILL YOU, ARES. I'LL KILL YOU!'

The man's clearly mad.

'We're not going to hurt her.' Rai holds his hands up in a passive gesture. 'My name's Rai, and this is Kass. We're Elementalists too.'

'I don't believe you.' Locke spins back round, his eyes flicking, skittish, from side to side. 'You're one of them, aren't you. You can't have her! I won't let you do this to her!'

'We don't want to do anything.' I force myself to stay calm and measured; I've dealt with goats like this in the past. One wrong move and you get a kick in the head. 'But if you don't come back to Jinaka with us, he's going to hurt our friend. Please. You have to come back.'

'Never!' Locke lunges at us, brandishing his gun at us like he's forgotten how it works. We jump out of the way. I want to shout back, my patience starting to crack, but Rai pokes me in the arm, nodding at a point behind Locke.

'Look.'

A pair of hazel eyes peep around a column. They blink, and it almost looks like the golden lights blink in unison with them. Then they shoot back behind the pillar. Locke cries out in dismay.

'Fina? What are you doing? I told you to stay hidden!'

The sing-song voice returns. 'But they said they're Elementalists. What if they're like me?'

'It's a trick, Fina, you have to run. I'll hold them off –,'

I run forwards, rushing at the column before Locke can react. Without thinking, I push – it blows apart in an explosion of rocks.

'FINA?' Locke bellows, charging at the girl, but she shielded herself with her arms just in time.

'You are an Elementalist.' Fina pushes Locke out of the way, and takes a careful step through the rubble towards me. 'Physical?'

'Mainly rocks,' I mutter. 'Earth.'

'Solids,' she nods. 'Natural and artificial?'

'I don't know. I find natural easier, maybe.'

'Hmm.'

Fina is tall and lithe, a willow-branch waving in the wind. She's painfully thin, her bones jutting from skin so transparent, her veins cast a sickly blue hue over her body. My first thought is that she must be ill. But then I'm not so sure. It's more like all her colour and volume has been funnelled into her hair. It's a creature alive; great cascading waves of amber, molten lava, that crashes over her shoulders, tendrils flying like a flock of birds in each and every direction, trying to escape.

She chuckles shyly, tipping her head down so her face is almost completely masked by a sheet of hair. 'I'm ethereal.'

'Like Sammi.' Rai inches forwards. 'We heard you control plasma.'

She nods again. 'Plasma is freedom beyond power. Power beyond a god.'

'Fina,' Hayden hisses.

I glance at Rai. Neither of us know what to say to that.

'How did you find us?' she whispers.

'Captain Locke's reti-chip.'

Stolen story; please report.

'Ahh!' She sighs, almost a moan, turning to Locke. 'Hayden, how could we be so stupid?'

'I'm sorry.' His face crumples. 'It's all my fault. But don't worry, I won't let them take you.'

'Why?' I ask, with increasing urgency. 'What did FUTURE do to you?'

'Oh.' Fina says. 'FUTURE? Nothing. Futurists have always been perfectly lovely to me.' She throws Locke a soft, sweet smile. 'Especially Hayden. He's looked after me ever since I was captured. It's funny,' she giggles. 'Most of the time, I forget I'm even a captive. It's like being in a hotel where people experiment on you.'

'Experiment on you?' Rai looks incredulous. 'And that's your idea of perfectly lovely?'

Fina smiles. 'The Futurists never did anything bad. In fact, that's probably why Jinaka sent you to find me – he knew I'd have nothing bad to say about them.' She tips her head back and closes her eyes, spreading her arms towards the golden lights. 'I love it here. It's so beautiful, don't you think?' She spins slowly on the spot, with a laugh like a tinkling bell. 'It reminds me of Zhal'n. Oh, Zhal. I miss him already.'

'The scientist?' I watch her, warily.

'Yes. He's a native Vestian, you know, the people who invented wormhole travel. He's helped me so much, sweet Zhal'n; you see, on Vesta, plasma is more common than water. And he was the one who helped us escape, suggesting that we hide here. These lights –,' She spins around again. 'They're not lights. They're living eyes. The life-spirits of ancient Vestians who died fleeing their world –,'

'Um,' I interrupt. I'm not interested in a history lesson. 'So if you're not scared of FUTURE, who are you scared of?'

'Who am I scared of?' Her eyes grow wide, as though she can't believe what a stupid question I've asked. 'The Ra, of course.'

Rai and I turn to each other. Then back to Fina.

'The Ra?'

'Yes.' Fina's lips are white. 'They're the reason we ran away. We had to escape the Ra.'

*

It's like sitting in space. Black and golden stars. We huddle around the roaring fire: Rai, Fina, Hayden and me. Fina and Hayden insist on sharing what little food they have with us, but we aren't hungry. I toss an apple between my hands, listening to Fina's story as sickness churns my stomach.

'I grew up in Outris, a small town at the tip of North Amariland. My adoptive parents were poor, and we never had enough food. Most people in the area either died out or left; there was nothing there except darkness, dust, and snow. When I was eight, weird things started to happen. I went out in a storm one night. My parents thought I was crazy, but I loved the feel of the rain. The more it stung me, the more I'd laugh. And that night – as the rain poured and the thunder roared – I caught my first bolt of lightning.'

Her pale eyes flash in the firelight, and I shiver.

'I kept it in a jar by my bed. And when I dreamed, it came alive. I'd wake up surrounded by flames, my poor mother and father desperately shovelling buckets of snow over me to try and put them out.

'In the end, when I was thirteen, FUTURE found me. They explained that I was an Elementalist, one of four RESIST weapons created to stop us leaving this world and being relocated to another. Scared, my parents handed me over, and in return, they were relocated. . . To Ra, I believe.' Fina looks down, and Hayden puts a hand on her knee. Is it cautionary? I wonder. To control her? But then I see. When he looks at her, there are so many emotions. Fear, pity, sorrow. But mostly, I just see love.

'At first, I thought FUTURE were going to kill me. But instead, they took me to Zhal'n. He taught me how to use my powers, deliberately and controlled, rather than by accident. He taught me to ionise gases into plasma, to coax them from flames and form electrical sparks. To burst neon lights, to recreate stars, to grow lightening in the palm of my hand.

'And Jinaka would come and watch. Together, we discovered many things about how we elementalists were born, and he promised that one day, he'd help me find my real family.'

'Real family?' Rai interrupts. 'What do you mean?'

'Our parents,' Fina says. 'The people who gave us life.'

My scars, barely healed, burn inside. 'My real family are dead.'

There's an awkward pause where Fina meets my eyes. There's something oddly cold in them. She carries on as though I haven't said a word.

'Life was the best it had ever been. Until, when I was fifteen, he came.'

The casual way she continues her story irks me. 'Who?'

'Him.' She exchanges a dark look with Hayden. 'The Lord Protector Ares of Ra. He governs the northern colonies of Ra and is one of the most important members of their council. He'd been dealing with Jinaka for decades, so when he told Jinaka he'd heard rumours of Elementalists, and asked to see me. . . Jinaka said yes.'

She shudders, hands balling into fists. Her slender fingers look as though they might snap. 'At first, all he did was ask questions. But then, the experiments began. I ended up learning all about him and his precious visinium.'

'Visinium. . . The element that capsules are made from?' Rai asks.

'It's not an element. It might look like metal, but it's actually a living creature: thousands of microscopic parasites that thrive inside human cells. No one knows how they evolved, but what they do is amazing. Horrible, but amazing. They trap huge amounts of energy, from the sun, seismic movements in the ground, anything – then release it, slowly or quickly, when triggered. At first, the parasites give multiple benefits to their hosts, like resistance to diseases and heightened immune systems. Hosts become stronger and healthier. But eventually, the parasites completely take over, turning their hosts into stiff, statue-like beings trapped immobile in a cage of parasites who are inadvertently still keeping their hosts alive.'

'Oh my god. . .' I say in a hushed voice. 'Is that. . . what the capsules are?'

Fina nods, her face grave. 'Yes. The Ra saw the huge potential in these parasites, but obviously didn't want to condemn their own people to such horrible fates. They noticed the atrocities happening on Tellus and infiltrated the wars, capturing who they considered to be the four most dangerous human beings alive. Once the captives were fully contaminated, they were gifted back to Tellus as capsules, putting us completely in the Ra's debt.

'The Ra took complete care of installation, and the only Futurists involved were infiltrated Ra. No one on Tellus ever realised what, or who, the capsules really were.

'The capsules release a burst of energy that triggers all its connected hotspots – volcanoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, whatever – and the capsules then soak all the energy generated back up again. It's an uneven exchange: it's like, they give away one apple, to receive ten back. Most of the energy goes back to Ra, some is kept for Singavere, and the rest used to ship the Tellus people to safer planets. . .' Fina takes a deep breath, then continues, bitterness dripping off her tongue. 'Ra is, funnily enough, the most generous at taking in Tellun refugees. They also happen to provide us with the vaccines people need to survive.'

Something shifts in my brain. Oh god. . .

'What are the vaccines made from?' I whisper.

'Visinium,' Fina whispers back. 'It helps its hosts to survive. It's a tiny dose, but that's all it takes to contaminate. The hosts then get shipped off to Ra. . .

'Creating an enormous, human, capsule farm.'

*

'No.'

My brain can't handle it. Nothing makes sense. I don't want it to make sense.

Rai shakes his head, hard. 'So, all the people that have been relocated. . . turn into capsules? For Ra?'

'Not all of them.' Fina hangs her head. 'Some are sent elsewhere, otherwise Jinaka would have got suspicious. But relations with other planets aren't great – Vesta refuse refugees, and Lares only take a handful a year. Other planets take so long to get to, who knows how many survive. We're fed stories of our refugees' wealth and prosperity on Ra – but in reality, I doubt any of them last a year. Ra's atmosphere amplifies contamination; they probably don't even realise what's happening.'

'I don't believe you.' Rai's digging his nails into the back of his hand so hard , he's drawn blood. 'Jinaka wouldn't – be so stupid – surely someone – and anyway, how do you even know all this? Surely this Ares wouldn't have just told you all his secrets.'

'Denial won't help you,' Hayden frowns. 'Fina's telling the truth.'

'It's okay.' Fina puts a conciliatory hand on Hayden's arm. 'It's a lot to take in.' She sighs, hugging her knees to her chest. 'It was Hayden who first got suspicious. When Ares began to experiment on me – he told Jinaka it was just diagnostics, routine checks etc. – Hayden got nervous. He knew enough from Zhal'n to recognise a diagnostic, and he could tell what Ares was doing was different.'

'What was Ares doing?' Although I ask, I'm not sure I want to know.

Fina screws up her face. 'Do you know how we were made?'

'Who?'

'Us. The Elementalists.'

'No. Why?'

''Cause it's relevant. It's a rather sad story. It all started when a Ra scientist and his wife took in a young refugee from Tellus, giving the boy one of the first vaccines to survive. The boy grew up in the world of visinium, and soon realised he was destined for a fate worse than death. The scientist had begun experimenting to see what would happen if parasitic DNA was inserted into a human embryo. I don't know any more details but I know the facts: the boy stole the embryos. He escaped from Ra. He came back to Tellus and sold them to RESIST.

'Or rather, sold us to RESIST.'

Rai stands sharply, his blood-smeared hands pressed to his cheeks. I stay still, too stunned to even think.

'So, we're contaminated too?'

'No.' Fina purses her lips. 'The visinium is incorporated into our DNA. We're not corrupted, we're immune. That's why the vaccine doesn't affect us. It's not foreign to our systems. Instead we got abilities, our physical or ethereal powers. We use energy to manipulate the matter around us.

'But the scientist did his job too well. Ares needs to reverse a job too well done. When he realised that we can't now be contaminated. . . that left him with a problem. If we're immune, how does he control us?'

Bile rises. I fight the urge to retch. 'And he wants to control us. . ?'

'Of course.' Fina makes a noise of disgust. 'We belong to him. He wants us back. He believes, with some tweaks, he can turn us into gods.'

Liquid drips from the ceiling. Each plop, a second ticking. And each second that ticks hammers her words home.

'Both Hayden and I did a lot of digging. But in the end, when I confronted him, Ares was quite open about the whole thing. Told me I was one of them, and that soon, he'd bring me home.

'Obviously, I told Hayden. He didn't know what to do. He tried telling his superiors, but when Ares found out, he threatened us. He said if I told anyone else, then he would kill Hayden. And if Hayden told anyone, he'd kill his entire family – his entire village, even.'

His entire village, even.

Something – in my mind – jars.

'He said – he'd kill – Hayden's village?' Something is nagging at me, twitching at the back of my mind. I don't know why, but white heat is spreading through my body. My fingers shiver. They want to break. My arms trembles with the effort of maintaining control.

Rai looks at me, bewildered. Places his hand on mine.

'Kass?'

'Yeah,' Fina's brow crinkles at me. Hayden, by now, is on his feet, pacing behind her. 'We didn't know what to do –,'

'– and you were getting sicker and sicker,' Hayden murmurs.

'– so, in the confusion of the attack, we escaped. Zhal'n smuggled us out in a fighter drone. We flew to the nearest wormhole and spent the rest of the day travelling. And now, here we are.' Fina hangs her head, a mass of curls falling over her face. 'Fugitives. And who knows what Ares will do to Hayden's family.'

'You're my family too.' Hayden stops pacing, and comes to sit behind her. He wraps her in his arms with such tenderness, and kisses the back of her head. 'Fina. . .'

'I know.' She cups his hands in hers, and raises them to her lips. 'I know.'

We lapse into silence, watching the campfire spit flames into the air.

'So, what do we do now?' Rai says. He keeps shaking his head, and by now, I know him well enough to know that this is him struggling. 'We can't take her back to FUTURE. Not now, Kass.'

Hayden snorts. 'Like I'd let you.'

'I know,' I mumble, biting my lip. But what about Sammi? The thought of abandoning her to the Futurists. . . We can't. But, then again, are FUTURE even the real enemy. . ?

Words tumble from my mouth before I even have a chance to consider them. 'We need to call Eldred. He'll know what to do.'

For as much as it pains me to admit. . .

When my life fell apart and I was all alone – Eldred was there.

When Sammi turned her back on everything she'd ever known – Eldred was there.

When Rai was abandoned by the one person he thought loved him – Eldred was there.

He took us all in. He cared for us. He saved us all. And, okay, I'll admit – I don't know what else to do.

'We need him.' I whisper, wiping my eyes on the back of my hand. '"Puffin", he'll say. "What the heck have you gone and done now?"'

'Who's Eldred?' Hayden narrows his eyes.

'The closest thing the Resisters have to an Elementalist expert,' I say. 'He's the one who hid us when we were babies, and found us again when we turned sixteen. He's – he's the closest thing we've got to someone looking out for us. I don't know what else to do, Hayden. Let me call him.'

'But how?' Rai shuffles his feet, strangely nervous. 'Maybe the best thing for them to do is to keep running. . .'

'Not with me.' Hayden buries his head in his arms, his chest heaving; Fina strokes his hair as she stares into the distance. 'Fina, you have to go without me. If they catch you because of me –,'

'I'll never leave you,' Fina says simply. She turns to me. 'Do you think RESIST can protect us?'

'That's kind of Eldred's job.' I dig inside my boot and, with difficulty, prise out the button Eldred gave me so long ago. It's hot, and sticky.

'Are you ready?' I ask. Fina and Hayden exchange a weary, tired glance.

'I just want Fina to be safe,' Hayden says. 'If this Eldred can help. . . Then I guess it's worth a try.'

'Okay.' In one hand, I clutch the button tight; I catch Rai's eye, and on instinct, offer him my other hand. 'Are you with me?'

Rai stares at my hand. 'Try getting rid of me.' He takes it and squeezes – I close my eyes, and press the button.

Then, we sit around the campfire. All we can do now is wait.

*

I expect it to be only moments before he arrives. But minutes pass, and no one comes.

We wait. And wait.

'He'll come,' I say through gritted teeth, answering the question nobody's yet put into words. 'He always does.'

'Kass.' Rai tugs on my sleeve, and with a questioning frown, I let him pull me to my feet. 'Let's go outside. I need some air.'

'Sure. . .' I shrug, turning back to Fina and Hayden. 'Is that okay? We won't go far.'

'Whatever.' Hayden throws an apple core into the fire. 'But if he doesn't show in the next ten minutes. . .'

Rai drags me outside before I can hear the rest of Hayden's sentence. He drops my arm the moment we emerge from the cave, walking to stand by the cliff face, staring into the distance. I feel oddly disorientated; I didn't realise how claustrophobic it was in there. The heat from the fire and the lights enough on their own. But when you added in Fina's intensity. . . I slap my cheeks, grateful now for the crisp night air. It feels like I'm waking from a dream.

I walk to stand beside Rai, listening to the rumble of the storm, watching the clouds gallop across the sky. The rain falls thick and fast, and I hold out my hand, wincing as the drops prick my fingers.

'I'm sending a message to Sammi,' Rai says quietly. It's a struggle to hear him over the rain. 'She deserves to know.' He gives the cave behind us an anxious glance. 'This feels too important. She might be in danger.'

'I agree, but how?'

'I sent out messages through my reti-chip to Jinaka, Charlie, Zhal'n, all the Futurists whose names I could remember. Surely one of them will reply. . .'

'What did you say?'

'I just said I had an urgent message for Sammi.'

'It's worth a try. Do you think Eldred's coming?'

'He'll come. When has he ever not?' Rai reaches out again and takes my hand. The first time, it was so spontaneous, I never had a chance to think about it. This time, I'm acutely aware of everything. The warmth of his palm, the softness of his skin, the thin scar on his thumb. The tingle that spreads up my arm. I want so badly to pull away, whilst at the same time, never let go.

He glances up, reacting to something I can't see. 'Charlie replied.' Then, he begins to mutter: 'Send message to Charlie: Sammi, everything we knew was a lie. The Resisters, the Futurists, they're all just pawns. The Ra are the real enemy, it's too confusing to explain now. Just trust us – it's the Ra who are going to kill us all. Stay safe – we'll come back for you.'

'You Futurists sure love to be dramatic.' I raise my eyebrow at him as he ends the message. Rai looks at me oddly.

'You think I was too dramatic?'

Hmm. 'I guess not.'

He takes a sharp intake of breath, lifting his head to the wind. 'Do you hear something?'

I listen. After the quietness of the cave, noises outside seems amplified; I can hardly hear Rai over the thundering winds. 'I'm not sure.'

'I dunno. . .' Rai stiffens. Withdrawing his hand from mine, he grabs my arm instead and pulls me over to the side of the cave, crouching down beside it. He places his ear to the rocky wall and presses a finger to his lips.

'Something's wrong. Something's in there.'

Now I'm closer, I can hear it too. A whooshing noise over the crackling of flames, like air swishing through trees, or a wormhole materialising from thin air. I'm about to mouth something when I hear Hayden:

'Hey, Fina. Can you hear something?'

Then, another whoosh. This time louder than all the rain, wind and fire put together, and then – footsteps.

'YOU.'

Hayden's voice echoes through the caves and back out to us. You, you, you. . .

Rai's grip on my elbow tightens. Together, we peer around the edge of the cave.

Hayden and Fina are on their feet. A strange figure, half-stooped, hidden in shadow, stands opposite them on the other side of the fire.

Then the figure shifts and the firelight sweeps across his features.

I almost cry out.

'E–!'

But Rai clamps a hand over my mouth, his eyes wide and terrified. His chest presses against my back, and I can feel his heart drumming a frantic thud, thud, thud.

'Well, well, well.' Eldred raises an eyebrow, his typical wry expression. He's twirling his hat on one finger, a grin on his face. 'What do we have here – have I really found the last Elementalist?'

'Get away – get away from us –' Hayden is struggling, trying to pull Fina behind him, both of their faces stricken with panic.

'But why? I've come to bring you home.' Eldred reaches out a hand, his eyes crinkling with the same kindness he showed me the day my family died.

'You'll never take us anywhere again –,'

'Oh.' Eldred blinks in surprise. 'My apologies, you misunderstand. I was talking to Fina. Not you. I have no desire to take you anywhere.'

And Eldred drops his hat, revealing a gun that he raises high into the air –

And shoots Hayden square between the eyes.