One of the soldiers tripped over a tree root. The nearest of his squad laughed. One arm quickly pulled him back to his feet. This was the fifth time somebody had stumbled now, and after the first few, the sergeant had stopped reminding them to stay quiet.

Natalie, a few steps ahead of the group, wished they would stay quiet. The forest was still full of danger—she could feel it around every corner. The animals were still quiet. They smelled the blood and violence in the air, same as her, and they knew the battle wasn't really over. Natalie had to keep her focus, and this group of soldiers she led wasn't making it easy.

"...Kid patrol..."

"...Goddamn joke…"

Ignore them. They are not worth our time.

But… We need them. We can't arrest people or anything like that. I'm just a kid.

In this forest, we are the queen. We have more authority than anyone.

So I should just ditch them?

We will use them as we must, but do not concern yourself with their opinions. Focus on your task.

Natalie nodded. She did another scan of the surrounding area—as always, she'd been blanketing the whole area with her magic, feeling every animal scurrying through the night in the deep forest. She'd been trying every minute or so, but while the animals were certainly unsettled by the combat in their normally peaceful home, nothing stood out yet.

"Yo, we lost?" asked a soldier, raising his voice.

"Keep it down, Deeks," said the sergeant—Alparad.

"Cap'n sent us on a goddamn babysitting mission in the middle of a combat zone," Deeks muttered, assuming Natalie couldn't hear him. "Kid looks like retarded street trash. I got called up for this shit?"

His buddy snickered.

Natalie opened her mouth to respond, starting to get angry, but a flicker of energy caught her attention. It was so subtle and faint, she might have missed it were she not blanketing the area so thoroughly. Natalie immediately turned toward it, startling the soldiers.

"...The hell is she doin'..." Deeks muttered.

"Probably followin' a squirrel or somethin'."

She was certain now as she got closer—something was concealed ahead. The magic had a distinct feel to it, too. It wasn't anything like the spells surrounding the Greywood, or Kendra and Lily's own aura. Natalie had begun to notice some consistency in the sensation, something Nikki called a person's essence. The magic she'd found felt like something… angrier.

Like the golems… We might be near something important. They gotta be quiet.

Agreed.

Natalie cast a spell on her voice, spreading it across the whole group while remaining at a whisper—the first words she'd spoken to them since meeting back at the camp.

"There's something ahead."

"...Jesus…" muttered one of the soldiers, tapping his ear in confusion.

Deeks slapped him on the back wordlessly. The men gripped their rifles tight while Natalie crept forward. She saw nothing ahead, not even a clearing or anything like it. The forest was still thick, the floor strewn with fallen leaves. An owl hooted nearby—a warning. Something's definitely here. That owl is scared.

Natalie hurriedly directed the men to surround the large tree located right where she felt the magic most concentrated. To her relief, they did as she ordered, though some needed a stern look from the sergeant. Natalie leapt up into the nearest tree, crawling forward on the branch until she could see the space clearly.

The men had surrounded the old oak. Skeptical looks were stamped on the faces she could still see, but they were in position. All they needed was her instruction to move, but Natalie hadn't shown them where to move yet. She needed to break down the protection first.

Natalie took a short breath, then hurled her mind forward, like a sharp spear of mental force against the barrier of magic.

It held.

Natalie frowned, then hurled herself forward again, to no avail. It was like a solid wall, completely unbreakable. She'd put a lot of effort into her two strikes, but Omega's magic hadn't budged an inch.

He's dead. How can this still be so hard? What are we doing wrong?

Is he using the tree to supply the spell, as Cinza's people have begun to do?

No, it doesn't feel like that…

Natalie probed at the wall again, taking a more gentle approach than before. She pushed at it, pressed her mind against every inch little by little. Natalie didn't really understand how permanent magic worked. The only spells she'd ever done in a persistent form were the alterations to her own body and mind, straightforward rituals modifying something which already existed.

So how does somebody create magic in mid-air and make it stay?

"How long 'til Sarge stops humorin' the cap'n and gets us back on a real mission?"

"Is that girl even around anymore? Don't see her anywhere."

It has to be powered by something. I just gotta trace it back… connections! Rachel talked about connections. I saw them when I did my rituals. If I can just…

Natalie let her mind drift into that state again. Her eyes seemed to lose focus, even though everything stayed sharp. She was using a branch of magic she'd never touched before, but already she felt results. It felt different, but not exactly unfamiliar—like she were moving a limb she'd never known was there, buried deep inside her brain, but was suddenly as natural as her usual arms.

Mental magic. Huh. So this is Rachel's affinity.

As her eyes shifted, hazy lines in the air appeared. Natalie saw the connections between the soldiers, camaraderie built up from the training and previous missions, little flowing rivers in the air forming a web of relationships. She saw a half-dozen lines from herself stretched off in every direction, and a thunderous stream which she could only conclude was her dad. It wasn't clear where it was going, so she couldn't get a direction from it—but she touched it with her mind nonetheless, hoping somehow her father would feel her presence and be comforted.

Natalie focused back on the tree. There was a solid line of energy—many of them, in fact, webbed through the trunk. As Natalie sent her mind through the branches and into the trunk, she found the source. Omega had hidden dozens of gemstones within the tree, embedded inside and with the bark closed up again so it appeared totally natural. There was a deep well of power available inside, and it kept the concealing spell strong.

She took another deep breath, then shot her mind forward like a slicing blade.

The connections fell away.

Instantly, like a curtain torn from a window, a small cave appeared within the huge roots of the tree. A half-dozen people were crouched inside, huddled around a small portable heater with food… and with rifles.

They didn't even notice their protection was gone.

"Son of a bitch," murmured Deeks.

Natalie grinned to herself up in her tree out of sight, proud she'd beaten Omega's trick. After a count of five, the sergeant and his men all emerged simultaneously from the underbrush. Their rifles each pointed at one of the suddenly-exposed group. It took a few seconds for anyone even to notice.

They froze. One dropped his bowl of soup. It spilled all over the forest floor.

"Hands in the air, motherfuckers," growled the sergeant.

One of the men scrambled for his rifle. Natalie tore the whole stack of them away, sending them flying out to land next to Deeks in a neat pile. He jumped as the rifles lined themselves neatly right next to him.

"Son of a bitch!"

Deeks glanced up toward the trees, but of course, he had no idea where Natalie actually was. She sat back and watched while the men cuffed and organized the group, getting them ready to march back into the camp.

Behind the group, the sergeant was examining a wooden box with a confused expression. Reluctantly, Natalie dropped down out of her tree—not coincidentally landing next to Deeks.

"...Kid, you're something else," he muttered, clearly impressed.

Natalie ignored him, though she did feel another burst of pride. She hurried up to join the sergeant, looking down at the box they'd been guarding.

It was full of stones. Small, smooth stones, each with a little carving in the surface.

"You know what these are?" asked the sergeant, mystified.

She slowly shook her head.

"Why would they be protectin' a bunch of damn rocks?"

Natalie hesitated, then reached out again. She felt at each rock, and there was magic embedded in them, but for what, she couldn't be sure.

"We should take them back with us," she said, as confidently as she could manage.

The sergeant nodded. "Yeah." He glanced over his shoulder. "Deeks! Harris! Get over here!"

Deeks' friend kept up his grumbling as they hurried back, but Deeks himself was still in vague awe of Natalie. She felt a little embarrassed, but her reluctance was cast aside an instant later. An owl hooted nearby—a cry of alarm.

They left an ambush!

Natalie didn't hesitate. She threw up a huge wall of force blocking that direction, as strong as she could manage.

A rifle shot echoed through the forest, followed by a strange hollow thump.

The bullet slammed into her wall of force and flattened, falling to the dirt with a tiny plink. Natalie immediately pushed the wall around to surround herself.

A wolf howled. Gwen was moving fast. They heard a thump and a shriek.

Natalie sprinted forward, still keeping up the thick wall of force to protect herself, though she was already having difficulty breathing. The bullet took a lot out of her. She found Gwen and the young man pinned underneath. Natalie threw his rifle back to the pile with the sergeant.

"Holy shit," breathed Deeks, who'd rushed after her. "Guy had you fuckin' dead, Linny. How'd you do that?"

"Dumbass, it's magic," said Harris, a few steps behind. He took one hesitant step toward Gwen, who'd bared her fangs and growled. "Easy, wolfy."

"Her name is Gwen," said Natalie quietly.

Gwen backed up a little, still keeping her forepaws on the young man's shoulders. He cursed and struggled some more, but Gwen weighed more than enough to keep him firmly pressed into the dirt. As soon as there was an opening, Deeks rushed forward and pinned the guy's arms while Harris produced another wire cuff to restrain him.

"Did you call me Linny?" asked Natalie, while Harris roughly manhandled the guy back to the rest of the group.

"Uhh… yeah," said Deeks, scratching his head. He looked embarrassed. Natalie suddenly realized he wasn't that old, probably just college age like the other guys she used to know in Rallsburg. "Sorry."

Natalie tried to ignore it. She just wanted to get out of there already. Gwen padded back off into the trees, ready to follow them again. "We gotta get moving before more of them show up." The sergeant walked over to join them as she spoke, nodding his agreement.

"Wait." Deeks was looking at her with some kind of awe. She really didn't know how to feel about it. "How'd you know? That there was gonna be another guy in the woods?"

Natalie shrugged. "It makes sense."

"Huh?"

"To leave a guy outside the main group. If we come in, find them and show ourselves, then they can ambush us." Natalie hesitated. She wasn't sure if she should keep going.

They should know I'm not invincible. We're allies, I don't want them to rely on something I can't do.

You should not reveal weaknesses to those you have only just met.

I don't trust them, but I gotta work with them.

"I got lucky," Natalie added, against the voice's protests. "There was an owl nearby who warned me where he was. I couldn't have kept the shield up much longer. It's really hard to stop bullets."

"...Holy shit…" He winced. "Sorry."

Natalie shrugged. "You can cuss, it's okay. I'm not that little."

"Kay. I'm still sorry though. I was a jerk earlier." Deeks smiled. "You need anything, you let me know." He started off, but he threw one last glance over his shoulder. "Thanks for savin' my life, Linn."