He was reliving a memory. He was unable to move, like in the deepest dreams, but he felt as if he could float outside his body if he only willed it so. He just couldn't bother.

Around him, it was that long night of the rebellion, or so it seemed. It didn't add up, somehow. Had it really been dark? It had to have been during daylight. That's what he was remembering vividly now.

The voice that had filled the air –seconds? hours?– before spoke again.

'WHERE IS HE?'

That person had to be very mad. Maybe he didn't like all this rebellion. He must hate me, then.

He focused his blurring sight on the scene ahead of him. There were people there, three of them. Were they there during the night? He couldn't be sure. The woman was still kneeling, wrapped in rags and dirt, face between her hands. What is she doing? What good will that do to anyone?

He heard a shrill cry from above. A child's cry, or a goat's? He couldn't turn or raise his head anyway. He heard a flapping sound, like that of a tent with a loose end blown by the wind. He saw the kneeling woman look just over his shoulder.

"Who are you?" she asked.

Who is she? Why is she talking to me?

His curiosity didn't go further. But he still heard that flapping sound. Then he felt a kind hand on his cheek, but he couldn't see it. Whoever it was, it was behind him.

"What do you want with him?" asked the woman. She was no longer kneeling. Senn realized she wasn't talking to him, but to the warm hand's owner. She would drive that hand away with her rudeness.

The hand caressed him and ruffled his hair. He smiled and closed his eyes.

* * *

Naial saw Senn's head slump. She ran to his side and grabbed his arm. He still had a pulse.

"I didn't ask for this," she said.

The winged, ragged figure behind Senn didn't reply. It just looked at her. When it spoke, her words came to her without stirring the air between them.

You did ask for this. You were praying all night for this. I came to do you this kindness. Why do you doubt me now?

Naial bit her lips. The sounds of mayhem were still far from them, but she feared what further punishment awaited Senn.

''Who are you? What will you do to him?" she asked the winged figure.

You know me. We've met recently. I wasn't strong enough to come to you like this. You knew me in rags. Your prayers gave me the strength to break through.

Naial froze, her mind racing through her recent past.

"You're the stranger that came to my hovel that time. You asked me why I was being kind to the old man. But no, that can't be. You were a man."

The lips of the winged female parted in a slight smile. Seeing it moved Naial to tears. She realized the stranger's wings were flapping slowly now, almost imperceptibly so.

Men or women, that's just an illusion. I'm what you expect me to be. You asked for this kindness. Will you deny it to him now?

"What will you do to him? Answer me."

The winged stranger put his cheek against Senn's. He was still asleep or fading, so he didn't react.

I love him. I want to spare him the suffering. I want to spare everyone.

"By killing him?"

He's already closer to it than you think. This is the only kindness that is possible in this world.

Naial turned pale, but then the blood returned to her face and made her veins bulge with anger.

"You're wrong. I was wrong. I may have asked for this during the night, but I was desperate. I was without hope. But now here's a miracle, something I asked for actually happened. If you can give him a peaceful death, if you –whatever you are and however you came to be– can do that small miracle, that small kindness, then there's nothing stopping you from a greater kindness. Return him to me as he was."

The stranger did something she didn't expect. She started crying, weeping without shame or attempt to stem its tide. The world around them was still, the sounds coming to them distorted. When the tears finally stopped, the winged woman shot a hateful look at Naial.

Why would you ask that? You of all people. You would let this man go on suffering, spreading suffering? His whole life has been a struggle. Yours too. How can you be so selfish? I want to give him peace.

"Peace in death is not true peace. Peace has to be earned in life, fighting for it."

Do you really think so? To fight for peace? You're very wrong, Naial. I fear for you. I fear you may never learn and in trying to do good, you'll break this world even further. I should give you the same gift I'm giving him. You would be together again, beyond...

Naial's heart skipped a beat. She couldn't help flinching, but she didn't want the stranger to notice it. She had learned long ago not to show fear to predators. She had to keep it talking.

"What do you mean, beyond?"

Through the Veil. Back where I came from. There are all kinds of things there. Some of them lived once and wait but for a chance to live again. Not in the same way, no. But live again they may, some time, in some way. Maybe in another world. Maybe in a better one.

"Do you know that for sure? Have you seen them? Or those other worlds?"

Aye, I've seen them. I've seen them break through the Veil where I couldn't follow. I believe they found better worlds.

"So you are capable of belief, without proof."

The stranger seemed thoughtful, looking at her without seeing.

It seems I can.

"Then you could believe in me, if you willed it. You could believe in what I believe, too. That there is a better kindness than death. That this world can offer something other than suffering."

I could. But you're much more foolish or stronger than me to believe so.

"Wouldn't it be worth it to learn who's right, then? You could do that by sparing him. I'll show you another way. I'll prove it to you."

But why would I believe in you?

"Because I was strong enough to believe in you."

I can't do anything for him. I can't heal him.

Naial sighed.

"Then I'll find a way. And if I can't, I'll care for him for as long or as little as his life stretches."

You are strange, woman.

The winged figure flapped her wings suddenly, bringing down a gust of wind and making the world around her spin and speed up. Dust and grit flew at Naial. She averted her eyes and wiped her face with her sleeve. When she looked up, the winged stranger wasn't there anymore. But she was surrounded.

A throng of men had burst into the street and covered all the adjacent roads. She had to look twice to realize they weren't Chainkeepers. They looked strong and sweaty and weary. They were looking at the man before her.

They are his men. They've come to rescue him.

She smiled, unable to believe her eyes. You've done it, stranger. There is kindness still out there.

Then she heard the boom.

A giant figure burst into the street, towering over the hovels. A mass of Chainkeepers was attempting to subdue him by entangling him with their chains, but they had to fight the rebels at the same time, which gave the giant the wiggle room to destabilize them. He grabbed one of the chains and swung the man on the other end again and again over his shoulder. He then let go of it, sending the man flying over the Hub. He flew so far Naial couldn't see where he landed.

The outlandish scene brought her out of her shock. Where does this end? Freaks and giants... what's going on?

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She looked around. She had forgotten about Marsh and poor Talid. They had been there all night beside her, though she couldn't fathom what Marsh was feeling. She had seen him stumbling away blindly. How had he gotten himself and Talid away from the chaos?

A dead Chainkeeper fell from the sky just an arm span away from her. He was tangled in his chains and his head was almost severed from his neck. It was hanging from just a thread of bloody flesh. If nothing else, that spurred her into action. She ran back to Senn's side and reached up to disentangle him from the chains that bound him to the pole. She glanced around, but the rebels around her were focusing on clearing a path free of Chainkeepers and keeping the Leashed inside their hovels. So they're not here to kill and ransack. Did they come just for him? Did he come out here knowing they would follow?

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Chainkeepers swarming around the giant. She thought she had seen a great battle when Senn had fought them the night before, but this was something way beyond that. The giant flailed, feinted, kicked, and dodged, while the Chainkeepers ran around him, jumped from the tops of hovels unto his back, threw each other at him, and stabbed his ankles. Still, the giant battled, with no sign of getting tired.

"YOU CAN'T KEEP HIM FROM ME!" he shouted.

That's when Naial realized the giant was coming for Senn all along. And his words could be betraying another intention. She couldn't be sure he wasn't coming to finish him, or that the behemoth's rage would subside and he would distinguish Senn from another Chainkeeper. She looked away from the fight and focused on the knots in front of her. She wasn't strong enough to unchain Senn. She was too tired and her hands kept fumbling, flailing at the tangled chain. She couldn't do it. And there was no one around to help her. Except...

"You!" she shouted at one of the rebels, the only one who glanced her way. "Help me!"

The man seemed shocked to be spoken to, but she didn't let that deter her. She ran to him and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him back to Senn's side. The man resisted her. She looked over her shoulder at him with fire-fueled eyes.

"Help me, you idiot! He's your leader, isn't he?"

The man hesitated a moment and that was all it took for Naial to drag him next to Senn and put his arms on the chain knots. The man didn't hesitate again, he just looked at the task ahead.

You must hate seeing him chained, don't you? Seeing anyone in that position, I'd bet.

With his help, they managed to slip Senn's arms from the chains. It helped that the arms had been pulled from their sockets. She tried not to think of the damage he had sustained. He still didn't open his eyes, and his breathing was shallow. The man grabbed him as he slipped down from the post and set him on the ground.

"He's hardly alive," he said.

"He's a tough bastard," she replied.

"He was weak. Or he wouldn't have fled. Wouldn't have been caught. Wouldn't be like this."

"You don't know shit," she said. "This is the strongest man I know."

"It would be a mercy to kill him," said the man, slipping a knife from his belt.

"Mercy is for the weak. He doesn't need it nor has he asked for it. He's strong. He'll live."

The man looked at her for a moment, then shrugged and sheathed the knife.

"It won't be long until we know for sure, anyway," he said.

"Help me get him away from the fighting."

The man lifted Senn carefully, with a quizzical look on his face.

You're pondering my words, aren't you? You're starting to think there may be other forms of strength.

Something big landed in front of them, raising a wall of dust. Naial coughed and clutched the rebel's arm.

"What..."

A chain flew out of the dust cloud and ripped through the rebel's arm. He staggered back and nearly dropped Senn. Naial held them both. The chain had a spike on one end and it had punched right through the man's forearm. She looked at the blood pouring out. He looked at her.

"Shit," he said, grunting. "I hope he..."

The man disappeared from her sight. It took her a second to realize he had been pulled back impossibly fast with a yank of that chain, into the dust cloud that was finally settling down. Inside it she saw a Chainkeeper with taut muscles, holding the chain with the rebel on one end. His arm was dangling and covered in blood, exposing the muscle and bone within. It was tied to his torso by a thin slice of muscle. He was dead, or very nearly so.

She held on to Senn, but something new filled her. She hated the Chainkeeper. She wanted to kill him. She would die attempting it, probably. But she didn't feel the fear anymore. Only the rage.

She dropped Senn carefully to the ground and heard the rebel's neck snap. She wasn't even looking, but she recognized the sound. She had heard it enough times to be sure. She stood and faced the Chainkeeper. She still felt the rage, but she looked at him with pity. I will not show him fear. Not with my last breath.

Other rebels appeared and attacked the Chainkeeper, but he just shoved them aside like reeds under a scythe. He flung his chain at them and they fell. He kept spinning the chain over his head and now focused his gaze on Naial. She wouldn't even realize it when the chain struck her head.

The blur of the chain was obscured by another blur, this one human-sized. It enveloped the Chainkeeper for one, two, three heartbeats. Then the chain fell back to the ground, the arm that lent it speed now stilled. The dust that had risen settled again and she saw the Chainkeeper covered in stab wounds, kneeling. Still breathing but losing blood at a fatal rate. Behind him, another man, a rebel by the looks of him, held a knife to his neck. He mumbled something she couldn't understand, and then the blood sprayed from the Chainkeeper's neck. She felt the pity again. The hate had seeped out of her.

"He had a god's Gift. My god must be greater," said the rebel, looking at her and then at Senn, lying on his side next to her.

She followed his gaze and stepped between him and Senn.

"I don't mean him harm," he said. "Not seeing him like this. It would make me just as weak as him."

"How did you do... that?" she asked.

"I was chosen," he said. "Just like them." He nodded toward Senn and the dead Chainkeeper.

"It's not even the strangest thing I've seen this day," she said.

"You seem unsurprised. I'd like to know what else you've seen that overshadows my display. But I have to retrieve him now."

"No, you won't."

"I will. Or my god will. And he's unpredictable. He may step on you just because you stand in his way."

"Then he's just as bad as the Chainkeepers."

"You don't know what you're saying, woman. Give him to me. If there's a chance for him to live, I'll do my best."

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Lord of Greed's Herald. This one's son, you could say."

Her heart skipped once, twice, thrice. No, he's not... not my son. He's too old.

"I'll come with you. I won't leave his side."

"I can't carry you both. I need to get him away from here using my speed. I'm sorry."

Mirai lifted Senn slowly. Naial couldn't tell if it was due to the weight or him just being careful. If she hadn't seen the look on the boy's face she would have tried to stop him. But she didn't believe he would hurt Senn.

"Run away, woman. If you manage to get out of the carnage, meet us at the Fork."

Mirai started to run, but something was wrong and he realized it immediately. He was running like a man carrying another. Slowly and with difficulty.

"Shit."

"What's wrong?" asked Naial.

"It seems my God has realized I'm not a perfect Herald of his."

Naial turned around to look at the giant now wading through the hovels toward them. He had finally found his former Herald.

"He has taken my gift away, just like he did to Senn. We can't escape from him."

Naial looked back at Mirai. He wasn't scared, just… helpless.

"AHA! HERE HE IS. AND WITH ANOTHER FAILED HERALD AT HIS SIDE. WHAT IS IT WITH YOU PEOPLE, REJECTING MY GIFTS?"

"We didn't reject anything!" shouted Mirai with a mix of fury and fear. "You took it from us."

The Lord of Greed looked at his former followers but fixated on Naial.

"I KNOW THIS ONE. HE WANTED HER FOR SOME TIME. THEN HE JUST WANTED POWER."

The thing's words hurt Naial, but just for a heartbeat. She was too angry.

"You are the one who took him from me," she said. "If not for you, he would have come back for me a long time ago."

The Lord of Greed just stood there, scratching his chin. He absentmindedly kicked a Chainkeeper who had strayed too close to Senn's group. He finally seemed to make up his mind, because he squatted his massive frame in front of them.

"I DIDN'T COME TO TALK. I CAME TO TAKE."

He reached his hand toward Senn and Mirai, but Naial put herself in front of them, arms steady and straight down her sides.

"No."

The giant shifted his fingers. She recognized the gesture. He's going to flick me away like an ant.

She closed her eyes.

"MMMM…WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

Naial opened her eyes and saw the winged woman standing right in front of her, facing the Lord of Greed. She turned toward Naial.

I found another way, she said wordlessly.

Naial just stared at the woman, but then felt something stirring within her.

I will handle him. We've been sparring for ages. I can distract him. Go to him.

Naial ran to Senn's side without looking back. The winged death was protecting her, and much more than that. She didn't know how it would play out, but it was as if something that had always been contained within her, like a dam holding a flood, was being lifted.

She put her hand on Senn's forehead and smiled.

He opened his eyes.

He stood up.

He faced his god.

* * *

"You came here just for me?" shouted Senn.

"I ALWAYS GET WHAT I WANT" was the god's reply.

Senn smiled, wiping some grit from his mouth.

"I'm touched you still want me. After all, I stopped believing in you."

"I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU. I BELIEVE YOU STILL HUNGER FOR THINGS. THINGS I CAN GIVE YOU."

Senn turned his back on the Lord of Greed. He looked at Naial and then at Mirai. Mirai stood straighter as his gaze fell on him. Naial stared at Senn with tears in her eyes, her arms hanging at her sides, her palms turned upward as if they were soiled or blood-soaked. Or as if she was afraid of what her own hands could do.

"I think I have all the things I need. Thanks for everything, for what it's worth. You helped me survive long ago. But I'm not interested in surviving anymore. I have things to do instead."

"I CAN GIVE YOU VICTORY. REVENGE."

Senn looked deep inside himself, but he couldn't find the hunger anymore. He looked around, at his Unleashed standing at a respectful distance, at the Leashed huddling as far as they could from the giant and his rebels, but still close enough to benefit from their protection if the Chainkeepers returned. For now, at least, everything seemed quiet. The pockets of fighting were few and far away. The Lord of Greed appeared to be on the verge of his big victory. His. Not Senn's, not anymore.

"You can have it for yourself. I'm leaving. You can find another Herald and new places to conquer."

"I ALWAYS GET WHAT I WANT."

"But do you still want me? I'm not of any use to you. Why would you want a useless thing?"

"Let him go," said Mirai, taking a step toward them, "and I'll be your Herald again. This time I won't fail you."

"No, Mirai, don't…"

"YOU'RE VERY TIRING. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR WHINING ANYMORE. I HAVE THINGS TO CONQUER."

And with that, the Lord of Greed left them. He stopped to whisper something to the air, or a ghost, as if continuing an argument with an old partner or spouse. He then shrugged and walked away, shaking his head as if he could swat away annoying thoughts.

As the God left the area, the Unleashed left with him, looking for the last pockets of resistance. Senn couldn't believe it could be over so fast. So many years of tyranny and all it took was a surprise attack to defeat the Chainkeepers. A surprise attack and a God, that is. But that raised the question. Where were the Forever King's Sparked? Were they all there and being defeated? Or was there a reserve force somewhere?

"Senn. Are you… all right?" asked Naial.

Senn blinked and looked at her.

"I am, but I shouldn't. Did you do this?"

"I think so. With some help."

"You'll tell me all about it later. But now, let's slip away from this place. Chaos will reign for a while and some greedy asshole could decide to slit our throats just for the reputation."

"We just burned our fields and shat on our waterholes," said Mirai. "Where do we go?"

"I hope you will come with me," said Naial. "Senn, there's something I haven't told you. Somewhere I promised I'd go to if we were ever free."

Senn smiled and then burst into laughter.

Naial looked hurt. Senn shook his head.

"It's just that all this time since I left the Hub I thought I was free. And now it really dawned on me. I never was. But right now, this is it, isn't it? I can feel it. I'm completely free."

Mirai and Naial looked at each other.

"It's terrifying," said Mirai.

"I won't feel free until I find him," said Naial.

"Who?" asked Senn.

"Our son."