Lightning crashed through the woods. The trees lit up, outlined in white. Somewhere, Natalie heard the rush of wind and a shout of anger, a voice she knew all too well by now.

"Why was it out here?"

She knew it was those two fighting again, though who they were, she had no idea. She just wanted to get to her fort, because Scrappy said something was wrong. He couldn't tell her anything more specific—they couldn't really talk, no matter what Natalie tried—but he'd seemed afraid, and that was more than enough to get Natalie moving.

The young man shouted something less intelligible, something about recklessness and irresponsibility which Natalie couldn't understand.

Another lightning bolt. Something was crackling. Natalie felt heat rising all around her, even in the cool May air. She pulled her pink raincoat tighter, and stumbled over the tree roots as she tried to keep up with Scrappy. He kept stopping and looking back at her. She felt his distress as clearly as her own fear. Her skin crawled with the sense of discomfort, like something was horribly wrong.

Around the next tree, Natalie's heart burst.

Her castle was on fire.

Immediately, she ran forward, throwing her magic into the inferno. She'd learned how to fight fire after accidentally setting one herself. Memories of the stern Sheriff Jackie flashed through her head. With nearly a year of magic now, she'd learned a lot, and fire was easy for her now. She didn't like using it, but she wasn't afraid of it anymore.

Piece by piece, Natalie smothered it down. The fire diminished, and to her relief, her little place was mostly intact. The place had black smudges everywhere now, and she might have to replace a couple of the smaller pieces of wood, plus the door was completely shattered, but her castle remained strong. She breathed a sigh of relief. In the distance, another lightning bolt echoed, much further away than before.

They were going away. She could relax.

Natalie wondered if they'd ever stop fighting. She'd first heard them fight in July the previous year, when she'd first found the little page of magic in her castle, but she hadn't known what it was at the time. This was the fourth time they'd fought now, the two young men, and every time, Natalie grew a little more fearful.

What if they burn the whole forest down? Jackie always said that was possible. I like the forest. It's where Scrappy lives, and all my other friends. It's where I found magic.

She hurried into her castle, Scrappy on her heels. Her heart sank.

The piece of paper, the most precious thing out here, had been burned to a cinder. Only a tiny blackened piece of ash remained. Natalie sat down next to it on her folding chair, miraculously untouched by the fire. She picked up the little crumbling paper, which broke apart in her palm, and began to cry. Scrappy pawed over and nudged his head against her shoulder, and Natalie collapsed onto him. He mewled and squirmed a little, but Natalie refused to move, and he gave up.

What if… what if I can't learn any more magic? I wanted to keep reading it. Maybe there was something I missed. Now I'll… I'll never know.

Natalie asked, coughing through tears.

Scrappy rubbed his head against her, as much an answer as she could want.

Natalie felt herself coming back together. She'd lost the piece of paper, and maybe the ability for Jenny or her dad to use magic, but she still had it. It wasn't going anywhere. She'd still have Scrappy and her other friends.

"...Hello?"

She spun around, hands up and ready to throw fire. Scrappy growled. He dropped into a hunting stance, ready to pounce.

Someone was outside.

"Is someone in there?"

Who is that? I don't recognize their voice. Maybe they'll just go away if I stay quiet…

"Are you okay? I heard crying..."

"...I'm okay," said Natalie finally, giving up. Scrappy still looked ready to fight, but Natalie lowered her hands.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

Someone walked in front of the half-demolished door. Natalie squinted and rubbed the leftover moisture out of her eyes, but it wasn't just her. The young woman outside was too tall to be seen—her head was higher than the doorway. So that means it's… uhh… Rachel.

Sure enough, Rachel's face appeared a moment later, ducking into the fort. The inside was tall enough for Rachel, but the door had been made by Natalie's dad to fit his daughter, not other people. Rachel looked around and took a seat on the spare chair in the corner, the one Natalie had always meant for Jenny someday.

"Hi… umm…" Rachel trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"...Natalie," she filled in, though she knew she'd told Rachel her name more than once before.

"Yeah." Rachel winced. She glanced around, and seemed to suddenly notice the huge cat still glaring at her from Natalie's side. "Natalie, that's a mountain lion!"

"His name is Scrappy," said Natalie indignantly. "He's my friend."

"They're really dangerous. Are you sure he's—"

"He'd never hurt anyone."

"Oh." Rachel looked at the burned up paper in Natalie's hands. "Wait… did you… are you able to do magic?"

Natalie's eyes widened. "You can too?"

Rachel nodded. She held up a hand, and a tiny candlelight flickered above her palm. "I found mine back in February. How about you?"

"...Last July," said Natalie, feeling guilty for some reason. Something about Rachel having magic—the Rachel everybody made fun of, airhead Rachel, forgetful Rachel—seemed great to Natalie, like she'd finally be able to get them all to shut up. Maybe I should have let her read it too, after Jenny and Dad. Guess I don't have to now. Not that I could anymore…

"And you can control animals now. That's incredible."

"I don't control them!" said Natalie. "They're my friends."

"Oh. Okay." Rachel nodded. "Sorry. I didn't think that through. You're right."

"This is my castle," Natalie added, looking at the stairs up to the second floor and the table nearby. "It's where I practice."

"I was out here practicing too," said Rachel. "But then… those people started fighting. And now… well… I'm lost."

"You're lost?" asked Natalie, not surprised in the slightest. Rachel nodded, looking miserable. "I know the way back. I was gonna go home soon anyway." Since my castle's okay and the page is already destroyed… I wish I'd taken it home. I was so scared of anybody finding it, and now I can never share it. "Want me to show you the way?"

Rachel nodded again. Natalie gathered up her things and said goodbye to Scrappy. She was confident of the way, and she didn't want Scrappy to get noticed, or for Rachel to ask more questions about him. Natalie led the way with Rachel close behind, still stumbling over tree roots and getting her dress caught on branches.

"You know, a dress isn't very good for the forest," Natalie pointed out. "You should wear jeans. They're more comfortable anyway."

"When I wear jeans, people act as if I'm a stupid girl from the country," said Rachel with a hint of frustration. "I try to wear nicer clothes so they treat me with some respect."

"Does that really work?"

"...No, not really," she sighed.

"All the other college girls I've met wear jeans," said Natalie doubtfully. "I don't think it has to do with clothes."

"You might be right."

"I like your dress," Natalie added truthfully. She felt like she was being mean, and she didn't want to be mean to Rachel. "I think it's really pretty."

"Thanks, Natalie." Rachel squinted forward, where the town was slowly coming into view. "You know, there's actually a meeting coming up tomorrow for people who can do magic. We're trying to figure out the best way to handle everything, and stop people from fighting over things. We started doing them in March, and this is our fifth one now. You should come."

"I dunno…" said Natalie doubtfully. I kinda liked the idea of it being just me and my friends, plus Dad… but I guess that was never really gonna happen since those two guys keep fighting out here. "Is it all college kids?"

"Not all. There's a few of us, like Josh and Rika, but there's also… uhh…" Rachel screwed up her eyes, struggling to remember. "Mabel Walsh—"

"I don't like her. She yelled at me when I took an apple from one of her trees."

"And Hector. The grocery store owner."

"Hector's gonna be there?" Natalie asked, suddenly excited. Hector was one of her few close friends, along with Jenny and Scrappy. They'd formed a fast bond. His store was probably her second most frequent hangout after her castle. "Okay. I'll go."

"I bring cookies every week too," Rachel added. "You can have first pick."

Natalie smiled. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.

Return fire blasted from the camp, much more organized and dedicated than before. Above them, helicopters swooped with spotlights blazing, men hanging out and ready to engage. Brian's men were increasingly outnumbered, and many were already fleeing.

"Time to go, sir," said his lieutenant.

Brian nodded. They couldn't fight the national guard. Beyond being obviously outmatched, these men weren't awakened. They were following orders, and Brian couldn't entirely fault them for it. The blame lay with the corrupt officials at the head of the government, with their Governor and their President who openly welcomed the awakened into their lives.

"Pull back everyone we can," said Brian firmly. "Use the hideout map I gave you."

"And you?"

"I've got somewhere else to go. Watch for messages and we'll regroup soon. Go."

Brian turned and left, with his oldest and most trusted men at his back. Further into the forest, Felix scrambled to his feet. He'd been taking pictures and recording as much footage as he could for later propaganda. Brian didn't bother trying to pretend otherwise—they were making propaganda, using techniques from the most terrible regimes of human history, but their message was too important. He could stomach using the tools of evil to further his message of good, just as he did with the golem rod.

The hideouts were another such tool—places established by Jackson in the forest, nearly impossible to find unless one knew where to look. They'd used those places many times, to hide from unwanted eyes while preparing to destroy the town, and now Brian would use them to further the crusade.

A few of his men would undoubtedly be caught. If they were, Brian had instructed them to surrender and cooperate peacefully. The national guard was not their enemy. Showing a measure of peace and reasonable cooperation would go a long way toward convincing the greater government of the truth to their mission.

They trooped through the woods, while helicopters continued to swoop past overhead. The spotlights crossed them a few times, but none stopped to track them. The forest was thick and dark, and Brian's men were well-trained at avoiding being spotted. Felix, from a year embedded with an insurgency on the other side of the world, had learned many techniques to avoid the very same American forces they now fled, and he'd proved an invaluable asset once more. Brian thanked God every day for sending Felix to assist them.

"Did we do enough, though?" asked Felix as they hurried through the woods toward their own chosen hiding ground, one Brian had not shared with his lieutenants. "Did we disrupt enough for one night's mission?"

"Every strike we survive is enough," said Brian. "We keep fear in their minds and hope in the hearts of the rest of the world. We can't hope to win yet. Our movement is not strong enough."

"And this will make it grow?"

"The government played their hand, and now the military's involved here. They'll try to control magic. Cinza won't accept it. She's a revolutionary. They'll build up their own conflict, and we'll have the time we need to gather our strength and convince more people of the danger."

Felix smiled. "You're much more forward-thinking than I ever expected, my friend."

Brian didn't respond. Felix's phrasing reminded him of another man, a spectre out of the dark pit of his memories. I wasn't always, Felix... Once, I made an irrational, reckless decision about someone I considered a friend, and set in motion events far beyond my control. I regret that death every day.

As they ran, north to the wreckage of Rallsburg, where the guards who had been posted there were now missing—pulled away to help with the carnage in the encampment—Brian thought back to the clearing nearby, where he'd made a terrible mistake, and condemned an innocent man to death.