Cinza sat next to Ruby at the head of the group and looked around at those gathered on the picnic blanket. She loved each of them as true friends and comrades, as the best family she had ever known. Cinza couldn't dream of leaving them with just a note on the table and a whisper in the night.

  She was a different person now, as were they, and they believed in a different higher power—one that they could see and feel clearly. Their faith was in a calling, not a book of rules and revelations from ancient times that had been translated and interpreted endlessly over millenia. Perhaps it was unfair to judge the two as equals, when her new faith was so fresh and indistinct, but Cinza felt a truthfulness and confidence in it that she'd never sensed in her old life.

  As for their text, she was about to see its power and authority demonstrated first hand. After they'd been given a chance to rest from the exertion of the ritual dance, Ruby had accepted their nomination to read the new Scrap first. With a delicate, nervous grip, she took the scroll tube from Cinza and stepped into the center of the blanket. Cinza noticed she'd painted her toenails dark red, the same color as her hair, and smiled. Ruby was always so thorough with her appearance, while Cinza abused her ability to be lazy and change her appearance on a whim by manipulating the light surrounding her.

  Ruby opened the tube and pulled the Scrap forth. She unrolled it eagerly. "I thank you, Grey-eyes, for offering such knowledge to us," she intoned.

  Cinza looked up surprised, but with the confidence in Ruby's expression, she didn't interrupt. Ruby was apparently feeling a bit ceremonial. Cinza wasn't about to stop her, though she wondered if it would become a regular occurrence in the future.

  "I hope I am worthy enough to use this for the good of us all."

  "For the good of us all," Rufus echoed, and the rest of the group murmured the words.

  Ruby dropped her gaze to the tattered parchment. Her pupils dilated, and her irises were moving rapidly across the sentences contained within. A moment later, her beautiful blue eyes rolled back inside her skull, prompting an involuntary shudder from Cinza. Though she knew Ruby was in no danger, and in fact was experiencing exquisite revelatory emotions, Cinza felt a spike of panic.

  She wanted to leap in and protect her, but there was nothing to protect her from. Her instincts were born of an animalistic world she'd long since left behind. She forced herself to be calm and remain seated on the blanket while Ruby finished reading the parchment.

  Her eyes returned to her face. Her mouth burst into a smile. She handed the parchment back to Cinza, brimming with excitement. "It's exactly what you thought," she said breathlessly. "It's all about the golems."

  Cinza nodded with satisfaction. "So we may have a weapon. Or at least, a start on countering his own."

  Ruby sat down again, a bit winded from the rush of the magic pouring into her mind. "It'll take a bit while I try out a few things. I don't even know where to start. Or if I'm strong enough to handle it."

  "We'll figure it out," Cinza replied. "That's why you have all of us."

  "After that light show, dear, I'm sure you could do anything you put your mind to," Brittany said encouragingly. Ruby looked embarrassed but pleased by the compliment.

  Cinza smiled. "Now, before we continue, there is the other matter of Nicole. Since we have the Scrap in our possession, if she so chooses, she could awaken tonight."

  "Couldn't have asked before the ritual?" Nicole grumbled good-naturedly.

  Aaron laughed. "Trust me, you don't want that being the first thing you try to do after awakening. Didn't you see Nate out there? Looked like a flopping fish out of water. And the light was practically cut in half."

  Nate lifted his head up and grinned, taking it in stride. "I'm just here to make you all look better. Gotta have someone at the bottom of the totem pole."

  Cinza laughed with the rest, but returned to Nicole in short order. "As Aaron said, we would never want to actually try to draw energy from you on the very night you awaken. You'll still be learning how to grasp your own magical strength. It takes time to master even the simple things."

  "Nate's only been awakened for like three days though," Morton pointed out. "Did he join because of the money he put in?"

  "Hardly," Cinza replied, a touch annoyed at the implication. "I'm not saying Nicole couldn't participate if she didn't want to. I just wouldn't recommend it. I advised Nate against it too, but he's a stubborn fool who doesn't know what's good for him."

  "Case in point, I'm going to be laying here for the next few hours and not moving," Nate added.

  "Back to the point," Cinza continued, "Nicole, if you feel ready, you're welcome to be the next to read the Scrap."

  She looked uncertain. "I... I want to, but let me go last, okay? You guys can all read it first."

  Cinza shrugged. It didn't make much difference to her. "As you prefer."

  Without another moment wasted, she took the offered page from Ruby and unfurled it. It was started to feel more cracked and aged with every hand that touched it, but Cinza didn't believe the Scraps would ever truly break apart. The magic they contained would surely preserve them somehow against natural decay. She lowered her eyes to the first line of unintelligible text and opened the river of power in her mind, letting it flow swift and furious.

  She'd only experienced this feeling once before, when she'd found the Scrap that had taught her how to manipulate photons of light by her will. That Scrap was long lost to her, destroyed through her own negligence. She'd misunderstood the danger the tattered parchment was in—and by the time she'd moved to protect it, it had been destroyed along with so many others. Ruby was the only other person to have read it, and thus the only person in all the world thus far who shared in her spells of light and illusion.

  It was akin to awakening, but instead of the ultimate secrets of the fathomless universe, Cinza instead felt her mind drawn to a particular line. It was like she were focusing down on a single galaxy of the cosmos, then a single star and onward until her mind reached a portal. Through the portal lay secrets untold, and she eagerly pressed her mind through the gateway. Her vision faded into darkness and the knowledge flooded into the river flowing in her mind, like a tributary joining the rushing stream and adding itself to her.

  She saw the golems, the very same ones that Omega had sent after them. In an instant, she understood how he created them, how he shaped them from the earth and the materials in the air and sky. She saw how he lined them in oils and guarded them from the flame, and how he maintained control over them from afar. Cinza understood how they moved, how they operated.

  To her dismay, she did not see any real weaknesses, any simple vital points of attack. The golems would take energy well beyond what any one of them could maintain over a length of time. She saw potential, but no easy answers. There was research yet to be done. As her mind cascaded back to earth and her eyes flooded with color once again, she let out the deep breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding.

  "You okay?" Ruby asked, watching her intently.

  "Of course," she answered, not unkindly. "Thank you." She rolled the scroll back up. "Ruby is right. We'll have to experiment before we can be sure this is a useful and viable weapon." Cinza started to hand the scroll over to Makoto, who was on her other side in the circle, but she saw he was looking out into the woods. "Makoto?"

  He gave a high pitched whistle, like a bird call. They all knew exactly what that call meant.

  Someone was approaching.

  Cinza dropped the scroll into the tube and quickly sealed it in her bag. Ruby and Makoto had already taken defensive stances in the front of the group. Rufus had dropped back into the treeline, watching over them from a covered position. The rest of the group was packing up anything valuable they had brought, mainly gemstones and robes. If Omega or his lieutenant had returned, Ruby and Cinza would only have moments to try and handle the golems. She doubted he would give them so much time to react in a second encounter, after Rachel had dealt with the first.

  Whomever it was, whether they had to fight or flee, they would be ready.

  As it happened, they did neither. It was Joe McKinney, son of Oscar the town handyman. He looked frightened, but he was alone. As he emerged into the clearing, he spotted the group and started to approach. Ruby lit up a small ball of flame in her hand. Joe stopped halfway across, eyeing them warily.

  "Hello," Cinza called. "What brings you here tonight?"

  "It's bad," Joe called back. "They're coming for you."

  Cinza felt her heart drop in her chest. Those four words were what she'd dreaded since the moment the others had begun to follow her. She put a hand on Ruby's arm, who put out the flame. Joe approached them, panting and slick with sweat. He'd obviously just sprinted through the forest to reach them in time.

  "Please, explain," she asked gently, trying to reduce her usual imperious tone that she fell into when talking to outsiders.

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  "There's a mob forming. I don't know why exactly. I heard a lot of shouting like 'death to the greycloaks', and 'justice for Jenny'," Joe answered, gratefully accepting a bottle of water from Nicole. "They seemed to know where you guys were too, and they're a lot angrier than last time. They're already headed this way."

  Cinza felt adrenaline already beginning to pump through her blood. "How long do we have?"

  "I dunno. Minutes?" Joe looked like he'd seen a ghost. "I had to really book it to beat them here."

  "Thank you," Cinza replied. She turned to Makoto and Rufus, who both looked grim. "We need to get out of here. If we can get home, they won't be able to find us. We can wait out the storm there."

  Makoto nodded. He glanced at Joe. "Same direction you came from?" Joe nodded. "We'll have to take a longer way around." He pointed north, where they could circle around both the approaching force and the town to return to their secluded cabins and tents. "Should be safe, but they have hunters. They could still track us."

  "Not if I throw them off," Rufus said.

  "Rufus, no," Cinza replied sharply. "None of us get left behind. If they catch up, we will defend ourselves, but we're not leaving behind a decoy to get lynched."

  He looked like he might argue, but Makoto nudged him, and he fell silent. They all knew there was no time to debate. Cinza was taking command, as they'd decided long ago.

  "Joe, you're probably safer splitting up with us. You're not one of us, you could probably get back to town okay."

  Joe shook his head. "My dad and I talked about it. We don't think you guys did anything. And I'm awakened too. I've got a stake in this fight. I'm not the strongest guy, but Ryan, Seth and I learned a few tricks. I can help you."

  Cinza nodded. She wasn't about to turn down offered assistance.

  Matthew announced they were ready to go. Rufus led them out of the clearing and into the forest, which was suddenly far more foreboding and ominous. They were spaced out and watching the trees carefully for any sign of movement. Already, the joyful sprint Cinza and Ruby had taken seemed like a distant memory. Behind them, slowly growing in size, was flickering torchlight.

  Cinza felt a grim smile touch her lips. At least they're committing to the full cliché. Her sardonic mirth was cut short a moment later.

  A dull click and thump of metal from behind her. An ear-splitting, blood-curdling shriek followed. The group dove for cover, landing behind trees or in shallow ditches—anything they could find.

  Cinza peeled back through the group, trying to find the source of the sound. It had come from their left flank, which would have been covered by Brittany. It only took a moment for Cinza to find her in their formation. Makoto, the other roaming piece of the group, was already there.

  She howled in pain, but they couldn't make anything out from the scant moonlight filtering through the canopy. Cinza reluctantly summoned a small light to hover over the young woman.

  Brittany's leg was oozing blood at a horrible rate. She was on the ground groaning in pain, trying desperately to keep her voice down—but the damage was already done. The sounds of the hunters grew louder. Brittany couldn't possibly outrun them. Her right leg from the shin down was hidden behind cold, sharp iron jaws.

  Cinza fell to the ground and delved into her bag for a bandage. Makoto had already torn off one of his own and was tying off her leg in a tourniquet. They worked desperately in silence, while Brittany bit down on the hood of her robe to suppress her pain.

  Rufus emerged from the forest nearby. "Cinza, they're comin' up fast. They def'nitly heard that," he murmured.

  Cinza nodded. "We need to free her."

  Makoto stopped her as she reached for the trap release. "You can't open that. It's too strong, and even if you could, she'd die from the blood loss."

  Cinza shot him an angry glower. "We can't just leave her here."

  Ruby had entered the clearing as well. "I think we could open it. Together, maybe."

  "If you could get it open, and we can hold off the blood loss, we could get her home," Rufus added.

  Ruby took Cinza's hand. Cinza understood immediately what she intended to do. She began to push out energy for Ruby to use, and Ruby began to summon up a magnetic pull—far stronger than she had managed before, thanks to the very specific small target—on the metal jaws of the trap. They began to inch apart. Brittany let out another muffled shriek into the folds of her robe. Makoto tried to hold her steady as she started thrashing from the pain.

  "Just cut the thing off," she growled between gasps of pain. Ruby was trying her best, but the trap was too strong.

  As Ruby's field began to slip, Cinza answered her grimly, "You're getting your wish."

  Another sharp crack echoed through the forest. The force of the initial trap had utterly shattered her bone, and the lower part of her leg hung limp from a few splinters and patches of skin. With the second slam, it was practically severed. Cinza nodded to Makoto. He reached down, and with a sharp tug pulled Brittany free of the trap.

  The remainder of her leg stayed behind.

  As Brittany did her best to muffle her pain, Cinza turned back to Rufus and Makoto. "There's no chance of escape now."

  Rufus nodded. "Someone was waitin' for us, set out these traps." He leaned down to examine it. "Disgustin'. I'd never use somethin' like this."

  "We need to take a defensive position," Cinza said, rising to her feet. Matthew had rushed to his wife's side by then, and was holding her tight while Rufus helped Makoto continue bandaging her leg. "Moving Brittany while trying to fight this off would be too difficult." Makoto made a sharp bird call, and the group converged on them.

  Cinza began laying out her strategy. "Rufus and Matthew will keep going and protect Brittany. If they have an opportunity to get out, they can take it. Makoto will back them up as long as they need it. Rufus, you call the shots." He nodded. She trusted the older man to not make any reckless decisions, while Matthew might have taken a terrible chance for the sake of his wife. "The rest of us are going to meet them head on. If we can scare them enough, we might get them to back off before they get close enough."

  Heads nodded around the group. Nicole looked particularly nervous. Joe was anxious and obviously standing out, dressed in normal clothes rather than one of the grey robes like the rest.

  Cinza turned to them in particular. "Nicole, stay at the center. Help anyone who gets in trouble get out if they have to. You're fast enough to outrun anyone we might be up against. Joe, I know you aren't one of us, but would you please keep her safe for me?" Joe looked surprised at being included. He nodded, and a touch of confidence returned to his expression. Cinza smiled weakly. "We all knew this day would come eventually, and it won't be the last. We can make it through this. For the good of us all."

  "For the good of us all," Ruby echoed, and nods and murmurs circled the group. Cinza still wasn't sure it was the best saying to adopt, and she wished they'd come up with something a bit more striking and eloquent, but it wasn't the time. Anything to build up their confidence and unity was important.

  Cinza turned and led their way into the trees. Morton Pollock and Ruby were close behind her, Aaron and Nate Price a few steps behind them. Yusuf, despite his still-bandaged arm, was confidently taking the rear, just behind Nicole and Joe. He held a gemstone in each hand and looked ready to fight. Makoto met her eyes and gave her a firm, assured nod before they vanished into the thick underbrush entirely.

  As they moved—quietly as they could manage in the underbrush—toward the oncoming torchlight, Cinza began to pray. It was the first time she had done so in nearly six years. She wasn't praying to God this time, though. She'd long since given up on ever getting a response there. She prayed instead to the real goddess, the one she'd put her trust and faith in. The goddess who had brought them all through the darkness, who had protected them from danger and misfortune several times over out in the wilderness. A silent goddess who cared for her people and did her best to aid them, with the overwhelming and unfathomable power she commanded.

  As she rushed forward ahead of her family, fire burning in her heart, Cinza prayed that the goddess would emerge once more. Bring this to a halt, please, before blood paints the forest red.

  No response came. Instead, she emerged around the edge of a trunk to find herself face-to-face with Robert Harrison himself. More accurately, she was face-to-chest, as he towered over her by several feet. Still, she refused to give him an inch. She stared him down with a fury she had never known.

  His mob was still a ways behind him, as her own group was several dozen feet away. For the moment, it was just Cinza and Robert—and Cinza was vehement.

  With a thought, her arms lit up like burning torches. The flames licked off her skin, just past the edges of her robe sleeves. She held up one blazing, immolated hand and pointed at his heart.

  "You coward."

  "Murdering witch. You killed Henry," he spat in return. On his back was a rifle, and in his hands was a gleaming axe. The firelight she'd summoned flickered off its sharp blade.

  Cinza shook her head, quickly processing the information. There had been another murder… the Reverend. She amplified her voice, calling both her people—and the approaching mob—to their location.

  "There was no murder by my hands this night. You have led a crusade of lies and laid cruel torturous traps in the night like a snivelling wretch. You are a worthless coward."

  Rather than respond to her accusations, Robert did exactly as she expected—he swung the axe at her head.

  Cinza had been in fights before. She'd been attacked time and again since she was so young she couldn't even remember them all. There had been a time of safety as she'd lived with her last family, but even that had eventually given way to another life spent in a dangerous, hostile world. She had learned her strengths, and where she had weaknesses to make up for.

  Robert had to lean down awkwardly just to aim for her. Cinza ducked it easily with almost no effort.

  She dropped low. Her own fist flew out and rammed into his stomach. It wasn't strong enough to have much effect on its own, given the massive different in weight between them, but the flames licking off her knuckles singed his chest. They vanished as they made contact, due to the peculiarities of Mason's Law, but the fire still caught on his shirt.

  He backed away howling and swinging wildly. She immolated her fists once more.

  "All of you, return to your town and your homes!" Cinza shouted at the oncoming mob. "We did you no wrong, but we are prepared to defend ourselves! If you wish violence, know that you bring it upon your own heads!"

  It was a final desperate gambit. Cinza didn't expect it to work. She was in the heightened emotion of the moment, and her choice of words was too dramatic. All she succeeded in was fanning the flames. A roar erupted from somewhere in the back of the crowd. "Justice for Jenny!"

  Cinza shook her head in dismay. Somehow, they'd been linked to the death of the poor girl on top of the doctor. It was too late for negotiation.

  The crowd began to surround them, while Cinza's group gathered up behind her. They were in a small clearing, much smaller than their ritual site, and a few trees dotted the area. The largest was the one they'd happened to stop under, a thick old trunk that had stood for centuries. The stars and moon shone down bright, adding to the torchlight cast by the mob of men and women of Rallsburg that had come for blood.

  The crowd was watching them carefully, building up into a louder frenzy—but none dared yet to approach the small gathering of cloaks under the tall pine. Ruby grabbed Cinza's hand and squeezed tight. She was afraid.

  Cinza stared down the mob, trying to think of anything she could do. Could she stall? Would Grey-eyes eventually come, or maybe Rachel would find out and intervene somehow? Was there even anything Rachel could do to stop this? This was a threat that had been boiling for days as the body count rose and the town was pressed up against the wall. They were the scapegoat, caught in the crossfire for crimes they hadn't committed.

  Her people were standing by, each holding a gemstone of some kind. They'd trained for this fight. They were ready for it. If nothing else, Cinza could be sure they wouldn't go down easily.

  She let out a deep breath. Her mind took hold of the multi-faceted emblem on her necklace. She circled through the eight gems laid into it, briefly drawing on the contents of each one to remind herself of their potency. From her hand, she felt Ruby's own magical presence brushing against her, strong and fierce and ready.

  She reached to her belt and pulled out a handle wrapped in black tape. With a click of a button, the blade flipped open. Its edge caught the moonlight and burst into brilliant white flames, engulfing an edge as sharp as the day she'd found it, fifteen years before.

  Her oldest friend.

  "Come on, then," she growled, clutching the grip tight. "Let's go."