The Council has erected a wall to separate their perfect society from what they deem “Savages.” Those whose powers either upset their status quo or don’t meet their standards of beauty are expelled from Sanctuary and doomed to a life – or more likely death – Outside. If the Beasts don’t consume the unfortunate souls, starvation will get to them before help arrives. One day, this information will arrive inside the wall, and that will be the day of reckoning. These “Savages” are nothing but men and women deemed unworthy. Outcasts. –Sloan Finch, 401 Anno Imperi Ortu

Rubble surrounds my feet. Broken pieces of various sizes are scattered around the flat land. Overwhelming trepidation thickens the air as the four of us shakily stand at the precipice of a new world. The fear and awe extends to the crowd behind us as well. I hear frantic footsteps as the farmers flee in terror. The PeaceKeepers, though trying to appear powerful, refuse to take a single step beyond the crumpled wall.

Before me is a vast land covered in rolling hills the likes of which I’ve never imagined. Desolate, though far from barren, the daunting plain threatens to consume us. I cannot find a single building towering over the tall yellow grass, which sways in the light breeze. The endless blue sky stretches beyond the limitations of my eyes, disappearing behind a distant hill. Sparse trees decorate the field, but for the most part all I can see is a hilly wasteland. On the horizon I see amorphous dots – the beasts which call the Outside their home.

Broken from his trance, one of the PeaceKeepers steps forward in a foolish attempt to play the hero. Glancing over my shoulder, I can see his gun shaking in his hands.

“Surrender,” he pleads. Smirking, I shake my head and laugh at his pitiful attempt. The strongest the Council has to offer become PeaceKeepers, yet even they quake in terror. With a flick of my wrist, I knock the gun from his hand and send it clattering to the floor.

“Go cower in fear somewhere else,” I taunt, unwilling to offer any sympathy to the monsters who’d taken so much innocent life. If they act on the will of the Council, the corruption runs even deeper than I’d thought. My anger is overwhelming, and part of me wants to turn their weapons against them. I want to give them a taste of their own medicine. However, that would serve no purpose. Instead, I just turn from them and mutter, “It’s distracting.”

“You’re leading your people into death,” he stammered.

“Oh, now you want to save us?” I scoff. “Is that what this is about?”

Fire boiling my blood, I turn and step toward him. After everything his organization has done, he has the audacity to pretend to care if we die? Mere moments ago, he was threatening to shoot me.

“He’s not worth it, Powerless,” Jade sighs. Grabbing my shoulder, she pulls me back. If she’s the level-headed one in a situation, I know I have to calm down. Refusing to respond to him as he deserves, I turn and walk forward with her. Lukas and Wyatt tremble, but they follow close behind. None of us has any other choice at this point – we’ve gone too far. Clearly, the Council is willing to kill for our crimes. We have no home and no life inside these walls.

For at least an hour, we wander aimlessly into the emptiness. Even after going over a few hills, I’m able to see the daunting walls of the city in the distance. The hole which I’d opened – massive as it had seemed then – disappears as our distance increases. Cautiously looking for any sign of life, I search for a safe place to establish shelter for the night. A cave or a rock would suffice, but nothing like that seems to exist. All that surrounds us is a vast open plain.

“Carson, did you hear that?” Lukas asks. Stopping in my tracks, I hold a hand out and stop the others. I think his paranoia has taken over, but I don’t want to risk it. Suddenly, a small critter darts past. I stumble backward, but Wyatt pushes my back to keep me standing.

“It was nothing,” I laugh. As the sun begins to set, the plain is painted in a dim orange glow. Before long, my people will begin to grow weary. I can’t push them forever, but I have yet to find anything suitable for lodging. I could easily dig a hole, but I don’t know enough about construction to ensure structural integrity.

“Lukas, do you think you could build a house underground out of packed dirt?” I ask.

“Theoretically,” he shrugs.

“Okay, let’s rest here until the sun comes up. Then we can figure out our next course of action.”

“We’re going to need food,” Wyatt groans.

“Right. Jade, Wyatt, see if you can make traps for some of the small beasts like the one which ran by. Lukas, I want you to run in a circle of about a two-mile radius from here. Let me know if there is anything threatening. I’ll work on digging a hole out of the ground. It won’t be extravagant, but it will give us a place to sleep.”

The others nod, accepting my plan. As Jade and Wyatt begin searching for twigs to create traps, Lukas breaks off into a sprint. Telekinetically, I pull some dirt from the Earth. Removing large chunks, I create a small entrance and a large enough roof for the four of us to sleep. I try to pack the dirt together above us, worried it will collapse upon us in our sleep. When I’m satisfied, I crawl back out and look at the home from above. Without prior knowledge, I wouldn’t have expected anything to be concealed within the hill before me.

I see Jade kick a tree. As it falls, the ground itself seems to shake. She begins trying to pull pieces free to use them for her traps. While I could help her, I know her well enough to assume she’d react quite poorly to my interference. It does give me an idea, though, but there aren’t enough trees to go around.

“Can I use some of that tree?” I ask, approaching her and Wyatt. Sitting nearby, Wyatt carefully ties together long stalks of grass in attempt to make rope.

“Whatever, if you can take part of it,” Jade shrugs. I press one hand down over the center of the tree. Lifting the other, I pull the bottom part upward until the thick trunk begins to crack. Finally, I’m able to break half of the tree free. Playfully, I smirk at Jade. She scowls and drops her head as she continues breaking branches loose.

Lukas skids to a stop next to me as I reach the entrance to my manufactured cave. I split the tree down the middle and try to shave down the trunk to boards as best as I can. Catching his breath, Lukas sets his hands on his knees and bends forward.

“I think we’re clear,” he finally offers.

“That took you a while for what, 16, 17 miles?” I ask, quickly doing the math in my head.

“Well, I thought I saw evidence of a Beast so I tried to trace it. I was wrong, though.”

“That’s comforting,” I sigh, looking around the area.

“How can I help?” Lukas offers, nodding toward the cave.

“Can you help Wyatt make some rope out of this grass? They need it for the traps but I also need to bind these planks together to make a door.”

“I’m on it,” Lukas nods. For a moment, I can barely see him as he runs around gathering grass. His hands move more quickly than I can track as he ties bundles together. I can’t help but wonder if speed sacrifices quality, but he is the specialist here. Distracted by my own task, I watch him twist the two ends a bundle of grass. Bending the grass in on itself, he creates a double helix structure. I have trouble tracking his movements as he adds another bundle to one side, weaving it into the matrix. Within a few minutes, he has created a ten-foot rope. Tying off the ends, he pulls at it to verify strength before running to hand it to me.

“That was impressive,” I admit.

“I like working with my hands. We didn’t have to learn this but I couldn’t help but wonder how many ways we could build rope. I figured grass could work because it’s fibrous so I started playing with my grass when I’d cut the lawn,” he over-explained.

“That’s great. Can I get one more and then would you mind teaching Wyatt. I’m not sure what he’s doing over there, but I know it isn’t quite this efficient.”

“Awesome!” Lukas cheers before running off to gather more grass. With his speed, he’s able to cut through the grass with the blade of his hand as efficiently as I’d be able to with an actual blade. Telekinetically holding the planks together, I tie the rope around the top of them. By the time my knot is done, Lukas is already beside me tying the lower rope. Gently, I set this makeshift door over the entrance to the cave.

After we were so quickly able to fabricate a door, I wonder how much effort it would take us to build a house. The sun is setting now, though, so that will be a concern for tomorrow. Time is definitely not our limiting factor at this point. Trees, on the other hand, may be. Setting my big plans on the back burner, I join the others in their work. Lukas rambles about his process, providing excruciating detail on tensile strength, various types of rope, the definition of fiber, and moisture content of the grass. Tuning him out, I lean back on my elbows and stare into the sky. Somehow, the stars are brighter out here than they were back in the city.

“Do you think these will catch food tonight?” Wyatt groans.

“I doubt it,” I shrug, not offering him my full attention.

“I need to eat something,” he whines. With a groan, I sit up and see all of them eagerly watching the various traps they’d made.

“Well, first, let’s set these traps,” I laugh. All of them rested within a few feet of each other, and my three followers sat within a foot of one of the traps. I lift them all and reposition them distantly around us. I realize the people around me haven’t had to fight for their food. They haven’t had to try to catch the rare vermin or steal fruit to survive. Most likely, they haven’t gone a day without eating. My unenviable experiences have prepared me more than I realized. I assumed most of these things were common sense, but I guess I just picked them up along the way.

“I placed them around holes in the ground. If there’s a hole, something probably dug it. When it comes out, we’ll catch it. They won’t come out if we’re constantly watching though,” I explain. “Come on, let’s get some sleep. We can eat in the morning.”

“My stomach is killing me,” Wyatt complains.

“If you want to go looking for food in the darkness, be my guest, but we don’t know what’s out here. We need to take shelter,” I groan.

“Fine,” he mumbles. I lead the others into the cave I dug. Closing the door behind us, I plunge the room into complete darkness. I can sense the general discomfort from the team, but there isn’t much I can do to correct that. Though I may have become a survivalist, I can’t provide lighting in this tight space. Unfortunately, they’ll just have to learn to accept the struggle. – this is our new life now They’ll become stronger for it.

“What do you think you’re doing!” Jade yells.

“Ow! What are you talking about?” Wyatt complains.

“Who’s the perv?” She screams, swinging her arms wildly. I feel tiny feet scurry across my chest and stop the creature from moving. Silently, I crawl toward the door and push it open.

“Jade, it was a beast. I caught food,” I call through the tunnel. I’m barely able to get out of the way before Lukas comes barreling through. The others are close behind. A chubby beast with stubby legs floats in the air in front of me. Even the rats on the Outside have grown to gargantuan sizes. Looking at the beast fills me with terror. Though this particular one isn’t threatening, it means there may be something else out here.

“That’s cute,” Lukas sighs. “You want us to eat it?”

“I don’t care what you eat, but this or starvation are your current options,” I shrug. The rat squeaks and tries to escape, but its strength is no match for my telekinetic hold. Still, just to be safe, I snap its neck.

“Can we cook it?” Wyatt begs.

“Not now,” I tell him. Hunger pangs claw at my stomach as well, but I have to be smart about this. If this is what the rats look like out here, I am concerned about drawing a pack of dogs. “Fire would bring too much attention.”

“If there are other people out here, maybe a fire would help them find us,” Jade counters.

“Do we want them to?” I ask.

“Without backup, the four of us are just going to live out here forever until our resistance dies off. And I’m not going to be the only woman sleeping in a dark cave with you three.”

“You have nothing to worry about from me,” I laugh.

“I’m a gentleman,” Lukas defends. Offended, he crosses his arms and furrows his brow.

“I wouldn’t trust me either,” Wyatt shrugs.

“You want your own cave?” I sigh.

“No, I want to march back in there and take what’s ours. I want to tell the Council where they can shove it and pay them back for killing our friends. How are you so calm?” She demands, raising her voice as she talks.

“I want that too, Jade, but I’ve learned something. I tried to rush the rallies and it led us here. I won’t make that mistake again.”

“So what? We ‘play it smart’ but wandering around this wasteland until we die of starvation?”

“No, I caught us food,” I shrug. I see her face contorting so I gently nudge Wyatt and Lukas away. I am not going to try to stop Jade from experiencing her emotions – and for her that often means throwing a punch. I do, however, want to keep the others out of the crossfire.

“I never cared about this stupid rebellion and now I’m stuck Outside the wall and you just want me to be okay with it?” She screams. I fully expect an attack, but she is composing herself far better than anticipated. I like to think I’m having an effect on her.

“You want to be the strongest? True strength is found in adversity,” I tell her.

“I don’t need your philosophy, Powerless,” she growls.

“Look at my strength. Compare it to what I was before Recruitment. I’m not feeding you some lie to placate you. I’m teaching you what worked for me. I want you to be the best opponent when we finally have our rematch.”

Jade grunts, but she doesn’t say anything. Reaching toward the rat, she snatches it from the air. Rather than allowing her to tear our food to pieces, I release my hold on it and let her take it. Sulking, she wanders away and sits next to the pile of extra wood. With a sigh, I lead the others toward her.

Though I’m worried about beasts, I know morale is nearly as important to survival as food itself. We can cook the food and eat, but if the Beasts arrive I’ll simply have to hold them back while we flee. Besides, if I don’t start the fire, I know she will. Rubbing two sticks together, I ignite the flame. Silently, I take the meal back from Jade. Holding it above the flame, I allow it to cook for a while. Sitting silently, I grant Jade the opportunity to cool down on her own. The day has been stressful for all of us, but I know what escalating the situation would do. I can see the results of my own impulsive decisions. For now, I just have to keep my remaining followers fed and do my best to help them cope with their new circumstances.

“Carson,” Wyatt stammers. Slowly, he rises to his feet and backs away. Barely illuminated by the light of the fire, off to the left of me, is something I’ve never seen before. The Beast has found us. I want to be angry and blame the others for insisting on food. However, it was my decision to appease them. Anyway, laying blame is not useful.

Shakily, I rise to my feet and join Wyatt. I lose focus and drop the rat into the flame. The others join us too, moving slowly to avoid alerting the Beast. Even Lukas moves cautiously and intentionally.

The Beast stands on four feet and has thick hair covering its face. To some extent, it resembles a cow in shape. However, its coloring is completely off – being brown with dark hair. The skin on its snout looks almost like a dog. A large horn protrudes from either side of its face. The Beast huffs, clearly unhappy with our presence in his territory. Wyatt jumps and stumbles backward. Seemingly instinctively, he utilizes his power to turn his skin into steel. His sudden movement angers the Beast, which scrapes a hoof against the ground and leaves a trail of dead grass. Jade digs her heels into the ground and puffs her chest out.

“This is not a great day, Beast. I’m not letting you punctuate it by steeling my food,” she spits.

“Jade, I can catch another. We need to get away from this thing,” I whisper.

“I fear nothing, Powerless,” she growls. After scraping its hoof again, the Beast runs toward Jade, threatening to meet her with its horns. I hold the Beast in place, but I feel it violently struggling against my grasp. Its strength is unbelievable and it fights me with increasing vigor. I feel as if I’m physically going to be pushed back by its force. Just as it’s about to break me, Jade reaches the Beast. Pulling her fist back, she throws a powerful right hook, driving her knuckles into the side of the Beast’s face. As she does, I release it from my grasp. I don’t want to have to fight her strength combined with the Beast’s.

The Beast staggers backward before angrily turning toward her and stamping its feet. It charges at her, angling its horns toward her. I try to stop it, but my head aches and it easily breaks my grasp. Jade catches its horns and digs into the ground, struggling against it. Wyatt, apparently overcoming his fears, runs toward the Beast. He thrusts his steel fist into the Beast’s stomach, giving Jade an opportunity to control its energy, slamming it into the ground. It squirms against her, trying to break free from her grasp, but Wyatt lies on it to secure it.

It manages to shake its head enough to break Jade’s grasp and throw her a few feet back. Thrusting its powerful body, the Beast dislodges Wyatt as well. It climbs to its feet and charges at him, driving its horn into his body. The steel holds, but the impact is enough to drain Wyatt’s energy. Repeatedly, it rams its head into him.

Even the Beast has a heart. That’s my only hope. I picture my target, but I don’t know anything about its anatomy. Lukas runs in and grabs Wyatt, who shifts his skin back to flesh to allow Lukas to flee. Now, the Beast shifts its eyes toward me. Jade, limping on her left leg, runts toward it with a scream. She punches the side of its face and I hear bones cracking. That’s it! The brain. I hold my palm toward the Beast as it staggers away from Jade. She may be able to hold her own, but it isn’t a risk I’m willing to take. Clenching my fist, I picture the organ on the other side of its skull. As I do, Jade lands another punch to the Beast’s nose. Finally, it drops to the ground, shaking the Earth around us.

The four of us gather near the body of the Beast, breathing heavily. A smile spreads across my face. We have bested the Beast. The creature which was used to scare us as children – to explain the wall. If we can defeat this embodiment of evil, we can overcome any obstacle. The stress of the day gets to all of us, and an emotional outburst follows. Jade is the first to start laughing. As she does, she drops to her knees and clutches her stomach. Wyatt’s laughs are more coughs than anything else.

“We’re unbeatable!” Jade yells.

“It would appear that way,” I concur, controlling my emotion better than the others. With the fire crackling before us, I allow myself a moment to appreciate our victory. It’s been too long since we’ve had something to celebrate as a team.

The light of the fire doesn’t reach far, especially as the wood burns down and leaves only embers. Stars, while bright, aren’t enough to completely illuminate the area. I see movement from just beyond the light of the fire. While my paranoia may be getting the better of me, I still resolve to be cautious. Looking around, I search for any sign of another Beast.

Suddenly, I hear a crash from behind me. All of us turn to face the noise and I see a large creature trapped in the ground. Its weight appears to have been enough to collapse the small home I’d dug. I don’t think the structure was particularly weak, but I couldn’t have anticipated the Beasts. The Beast roars and grunts, struggling to break free from its prison of dirt. It appears there were two, but the second one is trapped. All I have to do is crush its brain.

“Carson!” Wyatt screams. Diving toward me, he pushes me to the ground. Lukas runs backward and Jade lunges to the side. I had let my guard down, and I hadn’t even heard the approaching footsteps. Right where I had been standing is yet another Beast.

Rising to my feet, I take in the scene. Terror fills my heart as I start to realize how direness of our situation. At least twenty pairs of eyes watch us through the dying light of the fire. Lukas turns and backs toward us as we huddle in the center of the group. This isn’t a fight we can win – but I don’t know how to get us out. If I can hold them long enough, maybe we can slip through the crowd. Unfortunately, I don’t know how quickly they can move, so I’m not sure Jade, Wyatt, and I can outrun them. Our cave is destroyed, so there’s no chance we can hide away until the Beasts leave.

“I’ll distract them,” Lukas offers. “I’ll give the rest of you a chance to get away, then I can catch up.”

I want to offer a better plan, but his logic is sound. We don’t have a better choice. Looking over my shoulder, I try to find an opening in the wall of Beasts, but they seem to have us surrounded.

“Perhaps I can hide us behind a wall of dirt,” I suggest. “If they can’t see us, they may leave.”

“Or they could tear down the walls,” Wyatt mumbles. Shaking my head, I silently admit the likelihood of his concern. Without waiting for an order, Lukas jogs toward one of the Beasts. Once he has its attention, he’s careful to stay a safe distance from it. A few of the herd follow after him, but he’s not able to bring them all. He has made an opening, but I’m not sure we will be able to run through it. If I use both hands, I should be able to fly away with Jade and Wyatt. Lukas can keep up with us on the ground. I’m exhausted, but I think that’s our best option. Before I have a chance to enact my strategy, though, one of the Beasts charges at us. I don’t have much time; I have to react quickly. It thrusts its horns toward Wyatt, who is still too exhausted to steel himself.

I jump, pulling Jade and Wyatt with me. I have to get Wyatt away from his attacker. Their weight shifts my own unexpectedly and I tumble forward. The Beast’s horn impales Wyatt’s abdomen. His blood drips to the ground and the only expression on his face is pain.

“No!” I scream. I won’t let the Council be responsible for the death of yet another person who put their trust in me. If they hadn’t forced us out here, we wouldn’t have had to face the Beasts. This is all their fault.

“Go, Carson,” Wyatt tells me. Patches of his skin turn to steel, including the gaping hole surrounding the horn. The Beast twists its head, trying to free itself, but Wyatt has trapped it. Every movement causes him clear agony. I can’t let him die for me. I can’t let anyone else die for me.

Trying to rush Wyatt to somewhere with help, I grab him telekinetically. I pull my hand backward to dislodge the horn, but another Beast rams its head into me. As it does, I push my arm upward, redirecting my energy to follow it. Wyatt moves with my arm, dragging the horn through his body. The pain leaves his face and emptiness fills his eyes.

“Let’s go, Powerless,” Jade demands, punching the Beast which had head-butted me. I feel overwhelmed and bogged down by the loss, but I know inaction will cause another. If we don’t move, Wyatt’s death means nothing. The number of times I’ve used that justification in my recent life is terrifying to me, but I try to block that thought out. Another Beast charges toward Jade from behind. Leaping into the air, I pull her up with me. I see Lukas darting around the ground, so I grab him as well.

“Don’t you dare drop me,” Jade screams, squirming in the air.

“Wow, this is so cool!” Lukas muses. His eyes light up as he enjoys his first flight. I can’t tell if he’s insane or just distracted, but his lack of concern for Wyatt’s life worries me. Beaming, Lukas looks around, admiring the stars. Suddenly, his expression shifts and he narrows his eyes. “Where’s Wyatt?”

The realization hits me like a punch to the gut. Lukas was nowhere near us when it had happened. He has no idea what happened. I try to find the words to answer him, but when I catch his gaze I can only shake my head silently. Looking toward the ground, I see the flickering light of the fire illuminate Wyatt’s body. Turning my head from it, I try to adopt a powerful tone. I can’t mourn. I have to lead the survivors.

“Neither of you move,” I command. The less motion I have to deal with, the easier it will be to balance the weight and account for aerodynamics. I try to move us forward, but I can’t quite get the proper balance. I try to position each of them a certain distance from me, but it’s too difficult to gauge exactly how much they weigh. My head starts pounding and I feel like we’re going to fall to the herd of Beasts below.

“Over here!” Someone calls. I see a figure flying a few feet from us. There appears to be a rope tied around his waist. The sight of another person invigorates me, and I channel that adrenaline rush into carefully balancing my two wards. I’m barely able to cover the distance to him, but when I do, I see that the herd is farther than I’d expected.

“What are you all doing out here?” The young man asks. “Usually, they don’t send fliers this way.”

“That’s a long story,” I sigh.

“Well, I can take you to my village. We can get you away from the Bison.”

“The what?” I stammer.

“Those animals which attacked you.”

“Animals? Those aren’t Beasts?”

“I guess technically,” he shrugs. My head hurts. I’m sure it’s partially from the novel information – although I shouldn’t be surprised that the Council lied to me once again – but it’s also from the weight I’m holding with my telekinesis.

“I’m Ravi,” he introduces. “Come on, lets get back there.”

Ravi grabs the rope and pulls himself down. Confused, I follow him and set Lukas and Jade on the ground. When he lands, Ravi picks up a few rocks and puts them in his pockets.

“What are you doing?” Lukas asks, intrigued. I appreciate his forward attitude, but I’m curious as well.

“Oh, I’m not a flier. I’m buoyant,” he shrugs. “Without weight in my pockets, I’ll float forever. I saw you all over here so I tied a rope and floated up.”

“I’ve never heard of a power like that,” Lukas replies.

“It seems almost detrimental,” Jade observes. “You must be a Class V.”

“We don’t really have Classes out here,” he laughs. “Think about it, though. Do you think every single power is as perfect as the Council makes it out to be?”

“I suppose not,” I stammer. “I never thought about it, but I know there are powers they don’t like to talk about.”

“Let’s catch up when we get back,” Ravi says. “We should put some more distance between us and the Bison.”

He breaks into a jog. I look at Lukas, who shrugs and walks after Ravi.

“We don’t have much choice,” Jade stammers. “But if he tries to hurt us, I’ll take those rocks and punch him so high into the sky he’ll never come down.”

“Thanks, Jade,” I laugh. We follow him for about a mile before I start to see the huts. This is it – this is my chance. People pour out of the huts to greet us. Each of these people was rejected by the Council; I’ve found a veritable goldmine of recruits.

I won’t make the same mistakes I did last time. I rushed things and it cost people their lives. I thought I could beat the Council peacefully with nothing more than words and numbers. I was naïve. This time, I’ll train not only my own powers, but those of my followers. This time, I’ll make sure we’re prepared. This time, I’ll bring an army.