Today I fight. For one—for all.

    chapter twenty-six

* * *

    “Do not be pressured. There is no right or wrong, only what is within a thousand shades of gray.”

    —Myriad

    I race through the first Gate, a Stairwell, then another Gate, exiting in the Capital of New—and finding utter chaos. Smoke billows around the buildings, thickening the air. The streets are congested with citizens running in a mad haze. I can’t see through the masses. Nearly everyone is covered in soot, their clothes ripped and stained, Lifeblood trickling from different wounds.

    “What happened?” I demand of the man slowly spinning in circles.

    He ignores me, his gaze unfocused.

    “Bombed,” a sobbing woman tells me. “We’ve been bombed.”

    “Thomas! Thomas! Have you seen my son? Where’s my son?”

    “Matilda!”

    Other cries ring out as I push my way through the crowd. Jeremy. I have to get to Jeremy. Myriadian spies have begun their attack, and even babies are fair game.

    Up ahead, an injured little girl trips and falls. No one else notices her. She is going to be trampled.

    I fight my way to her and, reaching her, sweep her into my arms. At the second of contact, my Troikan brand glows, the Grid ensuring my Light rushes into her. She gasps, the cuts on her face and chest beginning to knit together. All the while I continue moving forward.

    I’m as grateful as I am amazed. I understand now. A Conduit is a vessel used to protect and route a substance into another vessel.

    I carry her through the throng...but soon the masses part of their own volition, the people switching their focus to my Light. A chorus of frantic bellows suddenly quiets.

    “Matilda!” A woman with tears wetting her cheeks rushes over to pull the little girl into her arms. “You’re okay, you’re okay.”

    The two embrace, the girl sobbing, “Momma, Momma. I’m so scared.”

    I face the crowd, suspecting I have but a moment to fan the flames of calm before fear once again takes hold. My gaze finds Winifred, Rebel, Clementine and Nico. And there is Sawyer with Fatima in his arms. Relief helps ground me. I’m so glad they’re okay.

    “Myriadian armies are here,” I call. “They want us confused and panicked, so we’ll be easier to pick off. Not all of you consider yourselves warriors, I know. Some of you work in the gardens and manna fields. Some of you make our clothes and clean our cities. But the heart of Troika beats within us all. Together, we are strong. Stay calm, stay smart. Guard our children. Do not give Myriadians what they want: our fear. We will find the ones who did this. We will prevail!”

    I don’t know if I’ve reached them. I leap back into motion and rush through a Stairwell. When I exit, I choke on smoke, my throat on fire. My eyes water. Still I sprint down the streets...

    A dark haze opens, and I come upon General Tasanee and General John working alongside Hazel and Steven to dig through what’s left of the cathedral—rubble, only rubble. I cover my mouth with a trembling hand. Hazel spots me and cries out with joy. She nudges Steven, and the two rush over to hug me.

    A knot grows in the pit of my stomach. The spies must have struck the Laborers first to take out our best fighters.

    I try to concentrate on numbers to calm myself. The possible number of people inside versus the possible number of survivors.

    The odds are poor.

    No grief. Not here, not now. I’m needed.

    “Help us,” General Tasanee rasps. Her jet-black hair hangs in tangles around a soot-streaked face. Her leather catsuit is torn in multiple places.

    “I’ve got to find my brother, Jeremy.”

    She nods her consent. I’m about to race off when Hazel grabs my wrist.

    With tears in her eyes, she says, “We found Reed. He was...he... Kayla escorted him to the Sanatorium.”

    I tell myself Reed will heal. I tell myself we’ll all heal. But I’m trembling as I run, run, my surroundings whizzing at my sides. I enter another Stairwell, braced for the worst. Thank the Firstking! The houses are still intact.

    Boom!

    The ground shudders, a gust of wind knocking me back, every molecule of air abandoning my lungs. I lumber onto unsteady legs, dark smoke rising in the distance...where Levi’s house used to stand.

    No. No, no, no.

    I leap over an obstacle course of debris, my eyes burning, my chest boiling. When I reach the remains of Levi’s home, I search the wreckage...there! Millicent, Jeremy’s nanny. She’s cut and bleeding, barely conscious, but she’s alive.

    “Jeremy,” I rush out. “Where’s Jeremy?”

    “He w-wasn’t here,” she manages.

    “Where is he? Please! Tell me where he is!”

    “D-don’t know. Sorry. So sorry.” Her head lolls to the side, her eyes closing.

    Guided by the Grid, I flatten my hand over her heart, and a ray of Light rushes into her.

    Her eyelids flutter open, color quickly returning to her flesh. The Light...she’s charging like a battery.

    “Look out!” The warning comes from behind me.

    There’s no time to react. A hard weight slams into me, knocking me to the ground. I buck, and General Bahari rolls off me, an arrow lodged in her chest.

    She...saved me?

    She reaches for me, a silent plea for help...and then she begins to seize, her entire body shaking. Foam drips from the corner of her mouth. Poison?