Valerie hadn't slept in twenty-four hours, but she'd never been more awake. She carefully re-braided her hair and wrapped it around her head so it wouldn't get in her way while she was fighting. Her new sword was strapped to her side, so weightless that she kept checking to make sure her sheath wasn't empty.

"I thought a key part of the plan was for you to not be too recognizable so you don't get targeted," Thai said, startling her.

She whipped around to face him, and then looked down at her blue jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers. "What do you mean?"

Thai stepped closer. "You're beautiful. Anyone who sees you is going to recognize you. Why not get a glamour disguise from Roza?"

Valerie blushed. "My soldiers will want to see me, to know I'm fighting at their sides."

"Lucky soldiers," Thai said, and he stepped even closer. "I know we have things to discuss, but right now, I'm going to kiss you like it's the end of the world, because maybe it is."

Valerie knew there were about a million other things she should be doing, but the force drawing her to him was a kind of magic she couldn't resist.

As their lips met, the burden she carried dropped from her shoulders. In another universe, maybe they'd be kissing at prom or at the end of a date. For now, she'd pretend they were.

Henry's mind touched hers, and then recoiled. But it was too late. The weight of reality was back, and she pulled away.

"Not yet," Thai said, and his fingers were back in her hair. "What if this is the last one?"

Their lips connected again, and the kiss lost its sweetness and became desperate. When Valerie pulled away again, there were tears in both of their eyes.

She took his weapon out of the sheath at his side and checked to make sure it was sharpened and fully charged with light, and he tucked a lock of her hair that escaped her braid behind her ear.

With a breath that steadied the shuddering inside her, Valerie mentally reviewed her plan. She was ready to fight.

Valerie strode into The Horseshoe like she owned it, holding her blazing sword in her hand. Her army was striking here first not only to retake Silva, but also to divert Reaper's attention and forces from Earth. It was a distraction, so she had to make it a good one.

"Morning, Fractus! We've brought the fight to your doorstep this time. Who wants to come out and claim the title of the Fractus who slayed the vivicus leader of the Fist?"

Her words had the desired effect of drawing Fractus from the guilds and the winding streets of Silva. A crowd was gathering, but no one came within reach of Valerie's blade.

Kellen zoomed from the window of the crumbling Weapons Guild. His eyes were manic when he saw her.

"Is the vivicus finally ready to shed blood? We relish it!" he cried. "Kill her!"

There was a ripple in the crowd as a bear charged through. The Grand Master of the Illuminators' Guild roared as he approached. Over his giant paws was a pair of black mitts that exuded power.

As soon as the light from her sword touched his gloves, they disintegrated on his hands. The bear hid his surprise well, but he was off kilter. Valerie met his charge with a fist to his face, holding back her full force so she didn't kill him in a single blow.

She unleashed enough of her magic to knock him unconscious, and the crowd erupted. Kellen's screech of dismay was close enough that she knew he'd try to shower her with his dark dust soon. Before Kellen reached her side or the crowd of Fractus mobbed her, Valerie made eye contact with Mira, who pumped his fist in the air once.

"At last, Knights, our hour has come!"

"What's this?" Kellen asked, stopping midflight.

A shower of golden arrows of light shot into the crowd from the sky. Cyrus had made them more powerful than any that had been used before, and everywhere dark weapons turned back to metal.

In the resulting chaos, all of the Knights who had patiently remained embedded in the Fractus for months now unsheathed their blades of light, to the dismay of their ex-comrades. Cyrus had equipped all of the Knights with basic light weapons, and a few, including Mira, with weapons that had more complex light patterns woven into them.

"My Knights! What are you doing? Stop this now!" Kellen cried to no avail. His tiny hands were tearing at the hair on his head, reminding Valerie of Rastelli when he'd descended into madness.

Lyonesse reached up and swatted him out of the air.

He buzzed toward her face. "You are loyal to me, to the Fractus. I know you are!"

"Not anymore," Lyonesse said.

They were the last words Valerie could make out as screams of rage filled the air and weapons clashed. The fighting was fierce and bloody as Knights unleashed the rage they had kept on a tether for so long, and betrayed Fractus lashed out against those they had trusted.

Valerie reined in her own horror at the ferocity of the fighting, which she had not anticipated. The death toll would be immense. But she didn't have time to analyze her miscalculation as she dodged the blows of the multiple attackers who surrounded her. They were no match for her blade, which made short work of their black weapons.

The sound of a loud caw reached Valerie's ears over the fighting, and she saw Dasan's great red wings beating as he flew over the battle. From his wings drifted something that looked like snow. It fell on the fighters below. A bit landed on Valerie, and a measure of peace came over her.

Dasan was using his power to calm the crowd, and she was grateful. Maybe it would ease the intense bloodlust that was making this battle so bitter. He landed on the roof of the Empathy Collective, his signal to her that the Empaths were inside, using their power to confuse the Fractus. Valerie hoped that Elle would be safe.

Henry's mind touched hers. He'd spotted Reaper in one of the towers of the Weapons Guild, observing the mayhem. That was her cue.

Valerie gripped her vial of sand and was transported to the Atacama Desert. She raised her sword above her and sent a bolt of pure light into the air, her signal to Chisisi that she was on Earth. She soon made out Sanguina, Chisisi, and Cyrus on the horizon, in front of a crowd of human and Conjuror soldiers.

There was no way to sneak up on the Fractus on Earth, so all they could do was charge. The Fractus in the camp attacked before Valerie could even make out their forms in the distance, sending bolts of lightning into the rushing body of soldiers.

Most bounced off the shields that Leo had specially designed to deflect the lightning that the Fractus wielded, but a few met their mark, and the smell of blood and charred flesh was released into the air, choking Valerie.

By the time they reached the camp, Valerie could see that it was crawling with hundreds of Fractus, far more than when she'd been there last time. With the benefit of even a few minutes of preparation, the Fractus were more organized than those on the Globe had been.

But Valerie had placed her most skilled fighters in the contingent of the Fist on Earth, and the Fractus would be overpowered in under an hour, by her estimate, unless Reaper diverted forces from the Globe.

Sanguina moved through the Fractus with a grim, lethal grace, in spite of her leg. She disabled one, two, three Fractus, her muscles straining as her light weapon met dark. The fourth Fractus she encountered was gored by her sword when she narrowly dodged a dagger to her side. Valerie saw the ex-vampyre's face tighten at the sight of her kill, but she didn't pause.

Cyrus had maneuvered to the tent with the pool of black Carne, but before he could enter, a Fractus yanked him by his collar, sending him reeling. Cyrus fell, and he scrabbled in the sand before he was able to stand. He barely had time to raise his shield of light before the Fractus pounded it with a black club, which shattered on impact.

By then, Chisisi had come up behind the Fractus and hit him over the head with the flat of his blade.

The air crackled with the peculiar energy that surrounded Reaper when he was angry, and Valerie spotted him at the edge of the camp, snarling instructions to his soldiers.

He was red with rage, but not worried, and Valerie saw why. More Fractus were popping into the camp to defend it, eating away at the slight edge the Fist had gained when they first arrived.

A cool breeze kissed Valerie's cheek, and she recognized Kanti's signal. The Fist's reinforcements from Elsinore were close, with Kanti leading the soldiers.

After Cyrus went inside the tent, she gripped a piece of bark from a tree in Arden, and the world dissolved into the trees that surrounded Silva.

Skye was pawing the ground, as if he could barely contain himself to wait for her signal. Alex and Olwain were pacing nearby, but they stopped moving when they saw her.

Only Jack, who already has his blade unsheathed and held at the ready, spoke when he saw her. "Finally! Me and my boys were about to go ahead without waiting for your signal."

"I'm here now. And it's time to take back our home," she said.

She didn't speak loudly, but somehow her soldiers heard her. Their battle cries were joyful as they rushed into the streets of Silva. Soldiers pounded on the doors of known Fist sympathizers to see if more people could be rallied to join the fight.

Her people flooded the streets, pouring toward The Horseshoe, where the bitterest part of the battle still raged. The Fractus had spotted the Fist's reinforcements, and Valerie saw them all glancing up, toward a window of the History Guild.

Something was up there that they were waiting for, she knew with sudden clarity. Reaper had to know she might try to retake Silva, and he was ready.

She raced to the History Guild, touching Henry's mind to let him know what she'd seen. An image of Thai flashed from his mind to hers.

No! She couldn't let Thai get in the middle of this. He was meant to stay with the Healers. He and Cara were supposed to team up to deliver light treatments to those who were touched by the black blades. But Henry had already left the Globe to fight by Kanti's side, and her only chance to keep Thai out of the worst of the fighting had vanished.

Valerie barely saw the steps of the History Guild as she ascended them, and she nearly smacked into least ten Fractus with black eyes.

She'd never encountered so many, and even her sword of light seemed less bright in their presence. Valerie swept her blade around her, and inside the circle of its light, she was safe. But two sprung at once, and her weapon slipped from her grasp as she moved it so she didn't accidentally kill one of them.

"It's like I told you, she won't kill us. Attack without fear," the Fractus nearest her said. The black eyes threw her for an instant, but Valerie recognized Ani, even with her new power blazing.

This was not magic forced into existence by Henry's power. Valerie suspected that Reaper was testing his ability to manipulate the Carne from Plymouth in new ways, and Ani had been one of the first to benefit. The thought terrified her, but she didn't have time to consider all of the implications.

Valerie ducked and rolled, sweeping up her blade in the process. She parried the blows of her attackers and deliberately positioned herself so that she was closer to the stairwell that led to the top of the History Guild's tower.

She had one foot on the bottom step when she heard Thai's shouts. Ani and the other Fractus were divided now, as several turned to combat the new threat. She could tell that Thai hadn't come alone, and soon, she was only battling two Fractus by herself. She jabbed one in the neck with an elbow and sent the second one stumbling backward with a powerful kick to his shoulder.

The way up the stairs was clear, but she couldn't wrench her gaze from Thai, who was fighting a Fractus with two dark knives. Her self-control almost crumbled, when she remembered the look on the faces of the Fractus who were glancing up at the tower of the History Guild. Even Reaper's own soldiers were afraid of what was up there.

She hurried up the stairs and stopped at a large, heavy wooden door. Kicking her way in, even with her magic blasting through her veins, was no easy feat, but she managed it after a few tries. The shelves of the room were lined with books, and a giant desk was next to the window.

It could have been the ordinary office of the History Guild's Grand Master, if the Grand Master wasn't Reaper, and there wasn't an orb hovering in the air in the middle of the room.

The ball was made of glass. A hollow place inside held a gas that had a faint grayish color to it, like trapped cigarette smoke.

Valerie plucked it out of the air at the same moment that Reaper stepped through a portal that immediately collapsed behind him.

His motions were unhurried as he examined his scythe. "I thought my plans for Earth could not be achieved without your brother's power, and that killing you would destroy him. But last night, I fully harnessed the power of the Carne, and I have another option. You and Henry are now disposable, and now I can do what's best for everyone, for the greater good of two worlds."

Valerie was gripping her vial of sand from the Atacama Desert in her hand so that she could escape with the orb, but nothing happened.

There was a faint buzzing around her, and Valerie knew that Reaper was manipulating the rules of magic, not letting her leave. She tucked the orb under her left arm and raised her sword with the other.

"No more theatrics. You want what's contained in that orb? You can have it," he said, his tone vicious.

The orb dissolved, and the gas inside spread through the air. One breath was enough to know that it was more than smoke. The bitter taste of ashes filled her lungs, making her cough and her eyes water.

"These particles of Carne will eat away at your power, and then your life," Reaper said. "If you'd waited another day, I'd have perfected it to work quickly. But since you sought to surprise me, you will suffer for hours before the gas is finished with you."

Reaper threw open a window, and the rest of the particles flew through it, poisoning the world.

"You'll kill them all!" she said.

"Only those who do not bear one of my weapons. And a culling must take place so there is room for a new order."

Was it her imagination, or did her magic already have holes in it? Still, she packed enough power into her punch to crack Reaper's cheekbone when her fist connected with it.

Despite knowing that she had likely lost the war in this tower, the blow gave a deep, angry part of her complete satisfaction, even when Reaper retaliated with a burst of magic that singed her arms, dissolving the top layer of her skin.

Thai burst into the room with four soldiers of the Fist, including Mira and Claremont.

At the sight of the Knights who had betrayed him, Reaper's expression turned into a snarl. "Take a deep breath. Your punishment for your betrayal is already in place."

Reaper paused, as if he was listening to something that she couldn't hear. Then his eyes assessed the four soldiers of the Fist before him, as if he were gauging how much time he'd need to kill them. Valerie's heart beat fast, but steady, ready to fight him. She didn't have the chance. Reaper stepped through a portal back to the Atacama Desert.

"If he returned to the desert, then I need to follow," Valerie said, but Claremont yanked her by the arm so she was forced to stop.

"What'd he mean about us already being punished for betraying him?" Claremont demanded. She was a little pale, and her eyes were dilated.

Valerie knew she couldn't let her soldiers lose focus with panic. "He released a poison into the air made from that black sludge in Plymouth. If we survive this battle, we'll find a cure."

"Some part of me knew following you would kill me!" Claremont spat, though Valerie knew her former enemy had joined the Fist because she'd thought it would give her a better chance at survival.

"No one's dead yet," Thai said.

Mira nodded his agreement. "What's next?"

Valerie's mind worked fast, assessing her options. "Reaper considers his victory in Silva assured now, and maybe he's right. He'll send his forces to the Atacama Desert. I'll rally as many of our soldiers as I can to follow him, starting with the People of the Woods."

Claremont stuck out her lower lip, and Valerie was glad to see her fear transforming into her usual resentment. "So much for the element of surprise keeping us a step ahead."

Valerie met her gaze. "Now we'll have to rely on skill, passion, and knowing that right is on our side. Now get back down there and direct your rage where it belongs—at the Fractus."

Thai followed Valerie to Arbor Aurum as she snuck out of the History Guild and raced to the woods. In preparation for the battle, another entrance to the cities in the trees had been created closer to The Horseshoe, so they didn't have to run far. When they ascended the tree, Elden and his People were in their armor, awaiting her signal. A nervous Juniper was present, as well, screwing and unscrewing the canister with Valerie's poppy.

"Whither wander we?" Elden asked, his extra-formal speech the only sign of his own anxiety.

Valerie saw his daughter unsheathing her blade so that Leo could check it one last time. He ran his finger along its edge and nodded. How many more would fall today?

Valerie called Leo over and quickly explained Reaper's poison to him and Elden. They listened without changing expression, and she was grateful for their calmness, as her own heart beat in double time.

"Do you think this trick of Reaper's is as powerful as he says?" Thai asked.

Leo pricked Valerie and then Thai with a sharp needle and took some of their blood. "I cannot say. I will work with the lightweavers on an antidote, but you must send Cyrus as soon as he can get away. No one uses light magic as creatively as he does."

"Cara is in the People's hospital, and her lightweaver powers have grown since you saw her last," Elden said, and dispatched a messenger to find her. "What of the rest of the People's soldiers?"

"We all go to Earth," Valerie said. "We have to accept that Silva is lost. I don't know how far Reaper's poison will spread, but the People of the Woods are safer on Earth, and we must seize that victory if we still can."

Elden left to deliver Valerie's orders to the People, and Valerie shut her eyes, allowing herself a minute of escape.

"I'm not leaving your side," Thai said, gently gripping her arms. "I know you're thinking that I belong with Cara and the Healers, but I don't. If you're going to use your vivicus power, or Cyrus wants to blast people with fireballs, or Henry launches some kind of mental attack, you need me to amplify your powers."

"I'm not going to fight you on this. Selfish or not, I want you at my side. Even if we win, we might end up dead, anyway. Might as well be together."

Thailaced his fingers with hers, and she gripped her vial of sand.