“Just be honest with them and be open to their questions. It should go how you want. What then?” Kale responds.
Rob hesitates, then turns back to me. “Can I trust him?”
He’s asking me that question? I look back to Kale and, whether I wanted it to or not, the side of my mouth lifts up. “I trust him with my life.”
Rob looks back and forth between the two of us, then laughs. “Good for you, Zazi!” Turning back to Kale, he continues. “I don’t know the details, but the plan is to overthrow Rockwall. They lied to their people in order to commit genocide against ours. Nobody in Trinity should trust them enough to give them the chance to do that again.”
Valid point, I realize and wonder how I ever wondered whose side I was on. The answer comes easily; I never considered the talist viewpoint, only the facts of what being one did to my life. I didn’t consider that it was wrong for those things to have happened to me to begin with, just that they did because I was a talist.
“How can I help?” I ask.
Rob motions to my arm. “You don’t have your element anymore. Can you fight?”
Kale laughs, exaggerating each burst, and images of how we met flood my mind. “Not particularly well,” I admit.
Rob smiles. “Then advocate for us here. Help sway public opinion.”
When he leaves, we lock up and walk back to the apartment. Kale moves to kiss me, but I put my hand on his chest to stop him.
“Are you worried about your dad?” I ask, remembering he was Guardia.
He shakes his head and looks away, but doesn’t move away from me. “He’ll make his choices,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugs. “Maybe he’ll be brash and fight and they’ll kill him, like you’re thinking. Maybe he doesn’t and lives, resenting them for impacting his job. I could go and try to stop it, but it won’t change anything. He won’t listen to me.”
He looks to me again. “He’s my father and I will be sad if he chooses poorly, but I know that he needs to make those choices and face his consequences himself.”
I nod, accepting his answer, then lower my hand and kiss him.
27
Anza
Eli wakes me before sunrise, the morning after teams took control of Brook, Spring Creek, and Stewart.
“A company of Guardia are almost here; we need to move!” he says and the haze of sleep fades instantly. By the time I’m on my feet, he’s already raced off. I follow, joining him at the bottom level underneath the intersecting arch lines. He’s shouting orders and handing out every weapon we have.
He hands me multiple knives, two guns, and a pack of bullets. I’m not the only one. Even happy-go-lucky Pyne, who’s been helping out with meals and never even thought to go on a mission since he got here, looks like a trained assassin.
“The soldiers are coming from the east,” he shouts, pointing. “If you don’t want to fight, follow the arch line north! Anza will guide you to Haven!”
What? “No, I won’t,” I snap.
He meets my eyes. “We don’t have time for you to question me; they need you.”
I respond loud enough for everyone to hear, without looking away from him. “I will make sure that Barley sends someone to meet you where the arch line next intersects. I am going to stay and fight!”
Eli shakes his head and looks away.
Pyne rests a hand on my shoulder, but addresses the crowd. “Let’s go, everyone. We need to leave before the fighting starts.”
—Thank you, I tell him as he walks out of earshot. He raises a hand in acknowledgment, but doesn’t turn.
“What’s the plan?” I ask Eli. He looks up after sliding the last dagger into his boot, assessing our army. About twenty-five remain and I know he’s questioning their ability; most of our best are securing towns right now.
“Our goal here,” he begins as they move in closer, “is to eliminate as much of our enemy as possible and slow down whoever is left so that the rest of our people can get to safety. It does not matter if we save this camp; they know about it, so it’s useless now.”
He looks to me and lowers his voice. “If you won’t go, reach out to Barley while you’re still able.” I realize that he doesn’t think we’re going to make it out of here. He wanted me to leave so that, if he dies, we still had someone to lead.
I study the forms to the north, barely visible and wonder if I should go join them. No, I can’t run. We need every willing body to fight and that includes me.
“Destroy them, then get out if you can,” he repeats, then turns to Barley’s emissaries. “Lyciri, take the melee fighters with you. If you hide under the bottom of this crossing, you should be able to surprise them when they approach. Haro, take the ranged fighters with you up the overpass. You’ll be above them and can use the edges as a barrier. Stella and I will head up the opposite side. Any questions?”
Everyone cheers and splits. I follow Haro to the west. As we climb the overpass, we stay to the left and crouch down to remain undetected. I can see the mass of the approaching Guardia when I peek. They have at least ten times our number.
When we reach the top, I close my eyes and reach out, letting my message flow with the chilled winds.
—Barley, Trinity sent Guardia to attack us. Most of our numbers are headed north along the arch line and I need you to send someone to meet them and bring them to you. Eli and I are staying; if we don’t make it out, our fight is in your hands.
A tear slides down my cheek as I realize this could be my last battle.
—You have the strength inside you, Anza. Do not be scared of them. Do not let them make you small. We are all stronger than they fear.
I nod, pushing my worries away and letting the adrenaline course through my body. I turn and look over the edge at the soldiers. Haro directs the others to spread evenly across the overpass, but leaves me where I am. I can barely see Lyciri, multiple crossings in the way, but I watch his movements to try to gauge their plans.
When the first few lines of soldiers move onto the pass, I alter the path of the wind. I shift it to the west before it reaches me, guiding it to move lower, then gather it up into a gale and hurtle it forward into their ranks.
As they hurry to right themselves, Lyciri sends the Terra and Ignis in to attack. The first few rows go down easily, but the next move forward and draw their swords. Skin thickened and hardened, the Terra deflect and the Ignis cauterize what they cannot dodge. The fighting soldiers begin to slow and stop moving and I realize that Haro is freezing the water in their bodies. They’re easily cut down and ours move forward.
The middle ranks move to the sides and shoot who they’re able. Maia and Ari mimic my tactic and work to push them off balance, but the gunsmen still take down Vynda, Kerreck, and Clandis. Above the melee, Stella throws grenades into the back ranks while Eli aims to shoot soldiers resisting the wind’s strength.
A group of soldiers dart off behind a stand of trees and I wonder if they’re running, but bullets soon fire up at our perch. We duck down, using the concrete edges to deflect. Nearby, Maia groans in pain and Haro moves to her side. She waves her hand, motioning for him to leave her for the fight. I peek back over the edge and see the soldiers gaining ground now that they’re able to move again. Lyciri goes down in their advance.
“She’s right,” I shout to Haro. “They’re pressing forward!”
Pushing our safety aside, Ari and I gather the wind again as Haro begins freezing the front soldiers again. He’s only able to paralyze a few at a time, though, and more of ours are overwhelmed. Out of ammunition, Eli and Stella drop down onto the ground below and charge into the melee.
A shot takes Ari down and Haro sets his jaw, continuing his efforts in the battle. I shift my efforts to the soldiers hiding within the trees, propelling the wind so hard that it whistles as the brown leaves are carried away. I grab the shotgun Ari had thrown to the side and pick them off as they try to crawl away from the violent winds, grateful I listened
when Eli insisted I let Stella teach me.
When all of the soldiers have fallen, I count who remains. Eli kneels over Stella, blood-soaked. Haro runs down the ramp towards them, abandoning the dead fallen around me. I let it all hit me, accepting. Our base is gone, over twenty of my people dead. I turn, leaning back against the cement, and I sob.
Haro comes back to get me once my tears have gone, though I still haven’t moved. “I was able to mend Stella, but the rest are gone. Just us four survived.”
I nod and force myself to stand as Eli and Stella join us. “What should we do with all the dead?” Stella asks.
“None of us are Ignis, so we can’t burn them and it would take too much for Eli to pull them into the earth,” Haro responds.
“We could collect the bodies of ours and bury them together; Eli should be able to handle that,” I offer. A shared grave is better than leaving them to the scavengers.
“Sure, a mass grave just like at The Compound,” Eli responds, sarcastic.
“Do you have a better idea?” I respond.
“All of our emotions are high,” Haro cuts in. “There’s no need to fight each other.”
The closest town to us is Meander and the ones that fled are probably farther away than that by now. I reach out to Mae and she agrees to send Solar back to us; they haven’t had any issues in the small, quiet town that would require him to stay.
“What next?” Stella asks after I tell them about Solar and we settle in to wait.
“Trinity won’t stop,” Haro responds. “When nobody returns, they’ll see that we’re a bigger threat than they expected and send more or try a different tactic. They’ll try to retake the towns.”
“We have to move on them before they can do more harm to us,” Eli states. “Have you updated Barley yet?”
I shake my head. “Just Mae.”
“Check with Estok and see how Spring Creek stands. If they’re solid, tell Barley that we’re marching on Rockwall and ask her to meet us there. Let all the Aer in our six towns know and have them send anyone they can spare. Hell, if the townspeople support us as much as you hoped, have them come too.”
“And we attack Rockwall, just like that?” Stella asks.
Eli nods, no doubt or fear in his features. “Just like that.”
When Solar arrives, the five of us collect our dead and lay them together in the middle of what was our camp. We stand together under the protection of the arch lines and watch as the bodies burn, the scent conjuring memories from The Compound. When they’re gone, I call on the wind to spread their ashes across Trinity.
May their ashes be the seeds of our freedom.
28
Peony
When Iris goes down I pull back into a crouch, letting my senses and reflex take over. I know in a beat that it was Sage that pushed the wind hard enough towards Iris to knock her off of her feet. Luckily, she was focused on the flame in her hands and it did not blow out. My attention moves next to Gray, stepping out from the shadows to attack Iris—to bring her down or distract her long enough for Sage to extinguish the flame?
The answer makes no difference because I have him writhing on the ground before he can attack. I don’t know where we stand since we returned to Haven, but it wouldn’t matter anyways. Sage kneels to help Gray and Iris rises without hesitation, both of us racing through the clearing to the opposite end and our torch stands.
“When I was a kid, we used to play this game annually as a part of our Midsummer celebrations,” Barley told us when she began explaining her plan. “It is basically Capture the Flag with a talist twist. There are two teams of four—one of each element—and they compete to see who can carry three flame torches from the opposing team’s campfire back to their camp first. It is a test of your elemental abilities as well as your strategy.”
“There’s only one ahead at our camp but Olivija and Hettie are still there defending,” I tell Iris, running at her side. She nods in acknowledgment. I stop in my tracks when Elerion comes into sight, trapped in roots that Hettie called from the earth. He stands there, glaring at her and I can’t help but giggle at the scene. Fragments of charred roots encircle him from where he has attempted to free himself, but he cannot do much against Hettie, let alone Olivija who leans against a tree behind her.
“Where are the others?” Olivija asks, noting that our entire team is here at our camp. I close my eyes and reach, working to feel out all of the human-sized collections of water within the range of our play field. I find the other three grouped together, moving swiftly towards us.
“They are on their way here. It won’t be long,” I answer and Olivija stands up.
“What is our play?” Hettie asks.
“We could stay here and be ready for them or we could continue pushing for the flames. We have one and they have zero,” Olivija counters, nodding to Elerion, their Ignis flame runner.
“We shouldn’t spend too much time off-task,” Iris responds. “Pointless fighting is redundant; our goal is to capture flames. Peony, stay here with Hettie. Olivija, come with me this time.” We do not pause to debate and Olivija follows her to the right, making sure to miss the others. Strands of my hair flutter around me as the wind shifts, pushing against their backs.
“Get ready,” I tell Hettie and watch as she fades into the shadows of dusk. I duck behind a tree, hoping for some sort of advantage even though I know Xeth is feeling for us the same way I did for them.
When Gray and I returned to Haven, Barley wrapped him in a hug that mothers give, though he has almost a foot on her. Both thought the other dead for far too long. I wonder if I have anybody left from before.
I have people now. I told Anza that I lose everything I care about, but I’ve been learning to work past that feeling. Everybody loses people they love, both by choice and involuntarily. I think back to Solar and shake my head. I’ve realized that I was so scared of losing someone else that I couldn’t let him go, even though it was hurting me. Was it hurting him too?
As my mind returns to this training game, I realize that Gray, Sage, and Xeth never arrived at our base and that I had allowed my thoughts to wander rather than tracking them. I search and find five grouped together on the far side of the clearing, most likely near the other camp. My guess is the other three saw and followed Iris and Olivija, hoping to keep them from taking the second flame.
—We need your help, Peony. Come fast if everything is good there.
“They followed Iris,” I tell Hettie, coming out from my hiding place. Smirking at Elerion, I continue, “It looks like you have this covered so I’m going to go help.” She nods her assent before walking closer to the Ignis boy. His feet are no longer visible beneath the charred vines that hold him in place.
I run without attempting to conceal myself because I know that I am out of their range unless Xeth thinks to check my location; I am hoping that he is too busy fighting. When I near the sounds of their battle—shouts, cries of pain, the impact of attacks—I slow and crouch behind a bush where I can see what is what before joining.
Iris fights but her attempts are half-hearted, the bulk of her energy working to maintain our flame. Xeth and Sage don’t look away from her, gaining ground at every chance. I glance around to find Gray but he’s not within sight. I close my eyes, searching, and find him in the shadows to my right. Before I can concentrate on him further, I notice that Hettie and Elerion have moved. One, I assume Elerion, is racing in this direction with Hettie at his heels. I hesitate, deciding where to focus, when Xeth charges Iris.
“Sorry,” I hear Olivija call, regret lacing her voice, one moment before she pulls the breeze towards her, pushing it out in Xeth’s direction. As the focused air hits him he is thrown back onto the hard ground, his breath knocked out of him. She turns to Sage who pauses, unsure what action to take in the moment.
Hettie charges from the shadows at Sage. She calls out a battle cry and, in the split second that follows, changes completely. Her raspy voice morphs into a growl an
d she stops in her tracks, stunned. Her body lowers and her hands—paws?—land on the ground. Brown fur covers the whole of her body, now multiple feet longer and much wider. I find myself walking closer, curious at this transformation. Hettie has changed into a wolf in front of our eyes.
Someone rests their hand on the top of my back between my shoulder blades and I glance back to find Gray. To his left, Iris tosses her flame into the air and it sparks out. I turn back to Hettie and see Barley and Jax racing to us.
Jax places a hand on Hettie’s back and Hettie turns to him, a growl rumbling out. Jax takes a step backwards, responding with a snarl as he shifts into a panther. Hettie’s wolf eyes turn from anger to submission and Jax shifts back.
“Take a breath and calm it, Hettie,” Jax tells her. “Focus on your core and envision it morphing back into your human form, then make it happen just like you make anything else happen. This is the same as everything else.”
Hettie’s head lowers in what I consider a nod and she closes her eyes. Slower than before, she begins to change: size, shape, posture, features, and then hair. When she is back to normal Jax leads her back towards Haven.
Barley turns to the rest of us. “I’ll consider this a win for the girls’ team even though we didn’t finish. They got the only fire capture.” She pauses then continues. “We can try another full game another time.”
“You should throw some traps in there, Barley. Liven things up a bit,” Iris adds as we walk away. I chuckle at the absurdity of her statement.
“Traps? Like animal traps?” Sage asks, playing along.
“Or do you mean stuff like poisoned berries and hives of deadly bees?” Elerion asks.
“I think that was enough action on its own, thanks,” Xeth says, throwing a glance towards Olivija.
“I said I was sorry,” she counters with a laugh.
“She did,” I tell him. “I heard her.”
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