The dream felt real. Corec walked in the endless mists, trying to peer through them and wondering why he knew it was a dream.

Finally, the mists cleared. A man stood in front of him, nearly as tall as Corec himself. He had brown skin and long black hair tied back behind his head, and a jagged scar on one cheek. He carried a spear in one hand and wore a vest. There were four runes along each of his upper arms. One of the runes on his right arm and three on his left glowed with a white light. The other four looked like dull gray scars burned into the skin.

“Well?” the man said with a heavy accent as he came toward Corec. “What do you have to say for yourself?” He looked young, but he moved and spoke as if he was elderly.

“What do you mean? Who are you? Where are we?”

The man harrumphed. “Six told me there was a new one. There shouldn’t be. Not this soon.”

He waved his hand between them, and Corec found himself suddenly garbed in the same type of clothing the man wore, leaving his arms bare.

“Who’s Six? What are you talking about?”

“Four bonds?” the man said in a disapproving tone as he stared at Corec’s runes. “How long ago were you chosen? How old are you?”

Corec glanced down at his left arm. Ellerie’s rune hadn’t appeared yet in the real world, but in this place, it shone brightly, three quarter-circle arcs of different sizes, facing different directions, none of them touching each other.

He shook his head to clear it, hoping to bring some semblance of normality. When nothing changed, he said, “I’ll answer your questions if you answer mine. Who are you?”

The man glared at him. “I’m the First. Not the first First, of course. She’s dead. So’s the second. The second First, I mean. I suppose he was the Second before that, but I didn’t meet him until he was First. Now you. How old are you? When were you chosen?”

“I’m twenty-two. I don’t know what you mean by chosen, and I want your next answer to make some sort of sense. Where are we?”

“We all have our own gifts, don’t we? This is mine. You’re too young. Why did you bond four so quickly? You must take time and choose carefully, or you’ll regret it.” The man rubbed one of the scars on his right arm.

“You know what the runes are?”

“You didn’t answer my questions,” the First said.

“I don’t know the answers! I don’t know what’s going on!”

The man leaned back and squinted at Corec. “We always know. We have to know, or we can’t form the bond. When did you learn how?”

“I’m telling you, I have no idea what you’re talking about! The runes just appeared. I thought I felt something last time, but I don’t know what it is. I never learned how to do it…or not to do it.”

“You must have. You created them!”

Even after feeling the spell in his mind when it happened with Ellerie, Corec had held out hope that he somehow wasn’t responsible for it. If the crazy man was right, that hope was gone now.

“I didn’t do anything,” he insisted. “Sometimes I meet someone and my arm starts itching, and then later, the rune appears. Like I said, I think I noticed something last time, but I didn’t know what it was until it was done.”

“Itching? Why…” The man shook his head and changed the subject. “You’re just bonding random people? Without asking first? You’re worse than Seven.”

“Who’s Seven?”

“He was chosen before you. Too soon before you. You, Seven, and Six, all too soon. She’s not even three hundred yet. And Seven was only chosen a few years ago. It’s not supposed to happen that way. Someone’s messing with things.”

“What’s not supposed to happen? What do the runes do?”

“The runes? They link you. But it’s the bond that matters. It enhances magic, yours and theirs.”

“Why?”

The man pursed his lips. “That knowledge doesn’t come with the choosing. The last First said we were chosen to protect the people, but the people we were meant to protect no longer exist. They scattered after the Burning.”

Corec felt more lost than he’d been before the conversation began. “The Burning?”

The First shook his head. “That’s all he said, and that’s all I know. I decided to protect my people, instead. The others make their own choices. I’ll tell Six she can kill you.”

“Wait! What?”

“You can’t bond people without their permission.”

“I’m not trying to! I don’t know how to stop it!”

“Then learn,” the man said. “Quickly. Maybe she won’t kill you—she doesn’t listen to me. None of them do anymore.”

“Can I get rid of the runes? End the bond?”

The man peered at him curiously. “Three did it once. Ask her. Or ask Six when she comes to kill you—she knows all sorts of things.”

“Where can I find Three?” Corec figured it would be better to talk to the one who wasn’t planning to kill him.

“How should I know?” the First said. “I’ve only met the others here, in this place.” He waved his arm again, and the dream ended.

Corec woke in his tent, Katrin still asleep beside him.

#

Fox sniffed the sea air. There’d been too many people in Circle Bay for him to sneak around comfortably, but he’d caught the scents he was looking for outside the city, heading south. Reassured that everything was in place, he’d decided to go exploring. Outside a tiny fishing hamlet, he saw a familiar sight perched on a fallen log.

Raven, is that you? he asked.

The raven cocked its head in a curious fashion, before replying in a voice that creaked with disuse. Yes, Fox, it is I. What brings you here?

I was checking up to make sure things are going according to our plan.

Plan? Raven asked.

Fox sat back on his haunches, dismayed. How could Raven have forgotten?

The plan, Fox said gently. The one that you, Bear, and I made. Do you remember?

I saw Bear, some moons ago, Raven said, ignoring the question.

Is he well?

He can no longer speak. I left him on his mountain, the one with all the berries. He’ll be happy there.

Fox felt a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. How is that possible? The people still remember him! Enough of them, at least.

Perhaps not the right ones? Raven suggested, almost sounding like his old self for a moment. Those who seek Bravery follow Pallisur now. As if Bravery and War are the same thing.

Then only two of us remain, Fox said. He wondered whether, when the plan came to fruition, he would remember enough of it to know whether it had worked or not. He hadn’t felt his mind slipping…but then, how would he know if it did?

Three. Snake still lives.

That was even more of a shock than Bear. Snake had been forgotten with the others long ago. How had he retained his mind?

Snake? You’ve seen him?

If Snake was still alive, how had he remained hidden all this time? Why? Was he part of the game? There were too many players and too many schemes for Fox to track them all. He hadn’t seen any sign of his most vexing brother—but then, he’d thought Snake had been dead for three thousand years, so he hadn’t been looking. Fox wished, not for the first time, that Owl was still around to guide them. Cunning was all well and good, but right now, he would have preferred Wisdom.

Snake? Raven said. I thought he was dead.

But you just said… Fox trailed off. Raven was no longer paying attention to him, and was obviously not in his right mind. Whether Snake lived or not, the plan had already been set in motion. It was too late to change it…and the idea that had made so much sense twenty-eight years ago might end up playing right into someone else’s hands.

Fox needed a new plan, one that could react to unexpected events. Perhaps he could learn something from the so-called new gods after all.