Their escorts led them through an old department store in the Western Docks District. Kalden walked in silence with the others, still stunned by the memories that flooded his mind.

They didn’t all come at once—that would be like trying to see every star in the sky. Instead, they hit him in waves, all triggered by his surroundings. A row of palm trees grew on the curb, and he remembered vacationing with his family in Vaslana. The store itself reminded him of a hundred others he’d visited all over the world, from Koreldon City to the rural towns of North Shoken.

Sometimes, even a simple smell was enough to trigger a memory. They passed a crate of rubber mana balls, and the scent brought back images of school recess in Last Haven, then shaping exercises in a Shokenese dojo. It even conjured a memory of training with Akari in his basement on Arkala.

His mind didn’t even bother to separate the two lives anymore. It was all one life now, from his early childhood until this moment. Just thinking about that fact made him lightheaded. His childhood had been a blur until now, but he’d never questioned it. Why would he? He’d never known anything different. No one on Arkala had. They’d all had their lives stolen, but no one knew or cared. Kalden had thought he understood that before, but knowing it wasn’t the same as feeling an entire lifetime behind him.

Their escorts ushered them up a staircase at the back of the store, and Kalden followed in a daze. At least Relia’s pill had given him a goal to focus on before. Now, his fate was entirely in someone else’s hands. These guards were all Apprentice level. And even if they could fight their way out, they couldn’t afford to make enemies of the Unmarked.

They climbed three flights of stairs, stopping when they reached the top level. A door hung open at the end of the corridor and two Artisans stood in a corner conference room with windows that overlooked the river.

They already knew Kyar. He was a dragon Artisan who led the Unmarked in all but name. Tall and straight-backed, he wore a white linen shirt that hung open to reveal his scale-covered chest.

Valdez was the public face of the Unmarked. He looked like a war veteran with his weathered skin, silver hair, and muscular arms. Only his goatee ruined the image—the edges were perfectly crisp, as if he’d just trimmed them five minutes ago.

Relia was the first through the doorway, and the grizzled man turned his gaze on her. “This is Dawnfire?”

“That’s me,” Relia said with a half-hearted wave.

Kyzar nodded his confirmation too, but it hardly seemed necessary. Relia’s face appeared on multiple monitors throughout the room. One showed a paused video of her fight in the hotel bathroom. The next had a recording of the bridge fight.

Finally, a third screen showed hundreds of Grevandi gathering around that same bridge. Unlike the other screens, this one looked like live footage.

Kyzar introduced Kalden and Akari, but Valdez waved a dismissive hand.

“Just Dawnfire,” he said. “You two wait outside.”

Akari didn’t budge. “We go wherever she—”

Valdez flicked his finger at Akari, and a burst of air mana threw her out the doorway. Kalden winced as she slammed into the drywall across the hall, hard enough to leave a dent.

The Artisan pointed a finger at Kalden. “I don’t repeat myself, shoko.”

“Just leaving.” Kalden threw up his hands as he retreated into the hallway. He didn’t close the door behind him, but no one objected.

Akari glared back into the room as she found her footing again. For a second, she looked ready to charge back inside with mana blazing. Instead, she stuck her hands inside her hoodie pockets, muttering obscenities under her breath.

Kalden leaned against the wall, and she joined him there, close enough that their shoulders touched.

“Alright,” Valdez said in Cadrian. “Let’s stick her in a van and send her back.”

Kalden froze. He’d gotten better with the local dialect these past few months, but Relia just spoke basic phrases. She’d have no idea what they were saying.

“We’ll release a statement,” he continued. “Explain how she’s a foreigner. Maybe we can stop this before it gets worse.”

“No,” Kyzar answered in Espirian. “I sent them across the river. This is on me.”

Valdez let out a breath and continued in the same language. “I don’t give a shit whose fault this is. You can’t fix this.”

“I brought them into the Unmarked,” Kyzar continued. “And they did their jobs. We don’t—”

The other man slammed a fist on the table. “Dawnfire’s not one of us. She’s a cultist.”

Kyzar turned to face her. “Are you a cultist, young lady?”

“No!” Relia said at once.

The dragon nodded as if that settled the matter. “I already knew about her aspect. She uses it to manage a medical condition. She has no ties to the Cult of Trelian.”

They’d told him about Relia’s condition, but not the part about her aspect. Was he bluffing about that? Then again, Artisans had a stronger sense for mana. Maybe Kyzar really had seen her aspect in their first meeting?

“I don’t care if she heals kittens with cancer,” Valdez replied. “People think she’s a cultist. We can save lives if we give her up.”

“Have you forgotten our name?” Kyzar said. “Liberta fights for freedom, not for peace.”

“Who cares about freedom if we all die?”

“There are worse things than dying.” Kyzar said. “Like spineless leaders who flee from battle.”

“I like him,” Akari muttered from beside Kalden.

No surprise there. At least they had one friend on this side of the river.

“We get it.” Valdez spread his palms in a wide gesture. “Dragons are reckless and bloodthirsty. But some of us have families over here.”

Kyzar ignored that. “I left Unida because of bullshit like this. Because the Dragonlord would sacrifice anyone to win.”

“This is different. We’re a democracy, and the others agree with me.”

“They’re scared and stupid,” Kyzar said. “This goes against everything we stand for.”

Valdez shook his head. “Look, I get it. I even agree with you. But it’s not practical. Our own soldiers will switch sides if we keep her.”

“This is bullshit.” Akari clenched her hand into a fist, and he could practically feel the mana cycling through her channels “I’d take real enemies over this guy.”

Kalden bobbed his head in vague agreement. But this was out of their hands now. Fortunately, Kyzar was the stronger of the two leaders, and he seemed intent on keeping their deal.

Akari craned her neck to meet his eyes. “You gonna do something?”

“What?” Kalden blinked down at her.

“Say something to them,” Akari said.

“Valdez won’t listen to me..”

“Then make him listen. Say something smart.”

“They’re Artisans. It’s not a fight we can win.”

Akari glared up at him. “You’re not the Kalden I know.”

He recoiled, putting several inches between them. “That’s not fair. I did my part—I made Relia’s pill.”

She stared into his eyes. “You look like you did before. In Last Haven. All that mana’s messing with your head.”

“I’m still me,” Kalden said. “I’m just picking my battles.”

But then, what if she was right? Was this him in control, or was it his past self? Was there even a difference anymore?

He already knew the answer to that. He thought he’d left those feelings of apathy behind him, but helplessness was a learned trait, and Kalden had spent more than a decade following his parents’ orders, never standing up for himself.

But that didn’t make him wrong today. Every good general knew when to retreat.

But how did he know that choice was right?

Kalden thought back to the moment before he’d merged his two selves. Apathy had been his worst fear, but he’d pushed through it, trusting Akari to pull him back if he fell too far. She was reckless and impatient, but she always took action. That was the quality he’d admired most about her. She’d been stomped on by an entire society, but she’d still taken control of her own life.

Kalden must have been thinking too long because Akari punched him in the chest. It wasn’t a friendly punch, either. She punched him as if she meant to release a Missile, channeling energy all the way from the floor. She twisted her upper body and exhaled a full breath, sending him stumbling back into the wall.

“Snap out of it!” Akari told him. She raised her fist again but seemed to think better of it. “What if we were in charge?”

“In charge of what?”

“The Unmarked.” She waved a hand at the conference room. “What would we do?”

His heart raced at the thought. “I guess I would—”

“Good.” Akari grabbed his arm and shoved him toward the conference room. “Tell them that.”

Kalden stepped toward the doorway before he could stop himself, his mind still racing for a solution. Kyzar had tried appealing to the other man’s sense of honor, but that wasn’t working. Either Kyzar would have to overpower Valdez to get his way, or he’d have to concede. The former seemed more likely, but that was still bad news for Kalden and his friends. Valdez was the second-strongest Mana Artist on this side of the river. They didn’t want him as an enemy.

Kalden stepped into the conference room beside Relia, and Akari followed close behind.

“Permission to speak?” he asked the Artisans.

“Denied,” Valdez snapped.

“Granted,” Kyzar said at the same time

Good enough. Kalden drew in another deep breath as he turned to face the human. “You can’t appease an angry mob. Give in to their demands, and they’ll sense weakness. They’ll know they can push harder next time, and they will.”

The older man stepped forward. He was shorter than Kalden by several inches, but he still seemed to tower over him. “There’s room for two in that van, shoko.”

Kalden raised his hands in a conciliatory gesture. “But you won’t lose support if you stand your ground. The people already picked their sides. They’ll double down when the fighting starts.”

Valdez gave a bitter laugh. “You haven’t been in Creta long, have you? Antano makes us look like crazy extremists on the news. We lose support every time he does.”

I’d take real enemies over this. Akari’s words echoed in his mind from a moment before. Then he remembered the fight she’d started on the ferry, turning a complicated situation into a simple one.

“Exactly.” Kalden gestured to the screen on the wall. “The Dragonlord’s using Relia to make you look bad. But he’s not attacking you. The Grevandi are. That’s the best-case scenario for us.”

“He’s right,” Kyzar said. “Everyone will focus on the battle, and we’ll be the defenders.”

“This lets you show your strength, “Kalden continued with a nod. “Most rebellions never get that chance.”

Valdez considered that. “Our strength might not be enough.”

Kalden furrowed his brow. “How many Artisans do the Grevandi have?”

“Not worried about the Grevandi.” He turned to Relia. “You killed dozens of Claws, and they’ve got the footage to prove it. They’ll send the Fangs after you for that. And the Wings are always a looming threat. Not to mention the Dragonlord himself.”

Literally. They’d all seen Antano flying over the city in his dragon form, casting a dark shadow over the streets. People claimed a single Missile from him could level city blocks. Other nations might get involved if that happened, but that was no comfort to the thousands who might die.

“Then let us go through with our plan,” Relia spoke up for the first time. “The Dragonlord’s holding my master. We can call his wife for help, and the Espirian military, too. We just need access to that computer.”

Kyzar tapped his claws together and nodded. “That can be arranged. How long would it take Irina Darklight to get here?”

Relia gave an apologetic shrug. “I’m more worried about the message reaching her in the first place. Best case scenario? By morning.”

Valdez remained silent for several long seconds. His eyes darted to the various screens, and he looked like he might object again.

Finally, he turned back to Kalden’s group, settling his eyes on Relia. “We know the Fangs are coming. Might as well set a trap for them.”