I blink once, then twice, then thrice. I blink again, for good measure. If I keep blinking, maybe they'll reappear.

I finally tear my eyes away when Ava calls my name. I go to her and gather her in my arms again, moving on autopilot over the hill, where my friends are waiting for me.

Rae lunges, checking my injuries. "Are you okay?"

"What happened to Zoey?" Will asks, as if I know.

I wave my hands in vague gestures, then shrug, then wince.

He nods along, as if I'm making sense.

"Did you get 'she exploded' from that?" Alex asks, leaning closer to Erick.

Erick nods, silently.

I shrug again.

Rae swats my leg. "Stop. I'm trying to get this to not bleed until I can give you stitches."

"We need a plan," Will says, peering into the trees stretching in front of us. "We-."

Before he can continue, something metallic grinds through the air.

We all cry out and cover our ears until the booming noise dulls to a thudding.

"What was that!?" Ava shouts.

Will's eyes widen and he straightens. His head snaps up over the hill and he stands. "The walls! They're closing!" He clears the hill in one jump, sprinting for the closing dome.

"Will!" I shout, finally shaking my shock.

I follow him over the hill.

"Raven!" Rae shouts, but doesn't follow as I chase Will towards the dome.

The soldiers are all screaming, throwing themselves across the threshold as the walls come crashing down, sealing us out.

"NO!" Will screeches, slamming his hands into the metal. "Let me in! Let me in!!"

I grab him, but he smacks me away and I stumble to the ground.

He kicks the wall. "Open the door!"

A window opens at the guards' booth.

"As soon as we have the doors operational again, you will be shot for treason!"

"Will, we need to go," I snap, tugging at him.

Will sobs, slamming his palm against the door a few more times. "I promised," he hiccups.

"Promised who!?"

"My-my brother," he sniffles, giving the door another kick for good measure.

I blink. "You... have a brother?"

He sobers, as if he realizes he didn't mean to share that. He goes silent and looks up at the guards. "We need to go."

"What? Will! Talk to me!"

He begins marching back to the others.

"William Allen Woods, get back here!"

He waves me off as I approach. "I'll find him one way or another, Raven. Drop it."

"Why didn't you tell me!? I could've helped!"

He turns on me so fast I run into his chest. He jabs a finger into my face. "That's why I didn't! You always think you can fix everything Raven, but news flash, you can't! I didn't want you to. This is my fight, not yours, so stay out of it!"

I stand there, clearly in the soldiers' line of sight, as Will marches back to our friends.

Rae demands answers out of him, then comes to my side. "Are you okay? What did Will say?"

I look away. "He said we need to go," I growl. "C'mon."

"Raven," she sighs, following. "He was clearly upset about something. If he said something, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

I jab my tongue into my cheek. "He always means it."

She rubs my arm, but doesn't say anything more as we all trudge into the woods.

I don't know how long we walk. I don't know how long I expect to be walking before we reach the mountain. I hope it doesn't take a while. I may find the forest to be the most fascinating thing in the whole world, but it is full of my worst fear.

I haven't seen any yet, but I know they're there, lurking, watching me. They know I'm scared of them.

The sun is setting when Alex jerks to a stop.

My first thought is he's tripped and hurt his foot again, but his eyes are closed and his head is lifted.

The setting sun lights up his light brown skin.

He scents the air.

Will stops when he realizes we're all watching Alex. "Alex, what the hell are you doing?"

Alex puts a finger out. "Do you smell that?"

Ava furrows her brows. "I think Alex's lost it." She scratches her chin. "It happened sooner than I expected."

"Rude. You seriously don't smell that?"

"No one smells anything but the dirt and trees, Alex," Rae says.

"Follow."

"Alex!" Will shouts, but Alex is already marching off.

I walk beside him, making sure he doesn't fall on his face as he walks. I'll step away when he opens his eyes. It's best if I'm not close to him.

It hurts us both less.

He freezes and I look up from his feet.

I gasp, frozen.

We stand at the entrance to an old village.

I figured there'd be ruins out here, but ruins of an old city, not a village.

The ruins don't look that old, either. Maybe thirty or forty years, at the most. The architecture is too modern to be much older than that.

I grab Alex's arm, then flinch when his eyes snap to me, narrowed. "We don't know what's in there."

"Hello!"

We all jump at the cheery voice.

A woman with butterfly wings steps out of the shadows, smiling at us.

We all stare at her, eyes wide.

Will steps forward, taking one of my mom's daggers I'd grabbed from where she'd disappeared. The blood on it glints in the setting sun.

The woman doesn't seem bothered by it. "Welcome! Good job making it this far! We have food and beds if you would like to rest for the night, weary travelers."

"Aren't you trying to kill us?" Erick asks.

Ava elbows him in the ribs.

The woman chuckles, "yes! But there will plenty of chances for that now that you've entered Thomas's trials."

"Trials? We haven't entered any trials," Will snarls.

She spreads her arms. "But you have. We sealed your human dome. If you are out here, it means you seek to find Thomas and kill him."

"That's not true. You were attacking our city! We're out here because we're running from you," Rae snaps.

The woman shrugs. "Either way, you are walking the path that will take you to Thomas. If you wish to harm our king, you will have to prove yourself worthy. We will allow you to stay here, in our safety. If you choose to leave, however, you have chosen to walk to the path of hardship. Reaching our king will be no easy task. We will throw whatever we can at you to make sure you fail."

"You have food though, right?" Alex asks, peering past her.

The woman's smile brightens. "Keen sense of smell! Our finest cook has been preparing for visitors all day. There's a buffet."

"Buffet?" Alex asks, salivating.

"Alex, let's talk about this as a group," Will snarls.

Alex is already gone.

The woman smiles. "Well? Your friend has made his choice. Will you join him? Or face our trials?"

"Everyone, follow Alex."

"You're serious?" Ava asks, reaching for Will and missing.

"Just follow my orders," he growls, shoving her forward.

She stumbles and clenches her fists, marching past the woman.

We all load up our plates with food, then settle next to Alex.

"What were you thinking?" Rae scolds him. "This was a big risk."

"I was thinking I haven't had a good meal since before I almost got concussed and I'm starving," Alex groans.

I want to eat, but Ava doesn't, so I don't either. Even though my stomach is growling and I'm salivating.

I'm unable to touch any of the food. It looks and smells delicious, and every moan coming from my friends tells me it tastes divine. I know it will taste better than the manufactured food I'd eaten for years, but I hold back.

When I notice some winged folk watching me, I pretend to eat, then when they look away, I spit it into a napkin.

"Raven?" Erick asks. He touches my hand like he's actually concerned about me. I pull away and he clenches his fist. "Are you okay?" He asks, gritting his teeth.

"I'm fine," I lie.

"Why aren't you eating?" Rae asks. She furrows her brows. "We'll need our strength for whatever lies ahead. We are stuck out here now."

"Right, yeah, I know, but I'm... too upset about my mom to eat."

Rae looks surprised, but she nods. "That's... understandable."

I nod, rubbing my throat where my mom had dug a dagger into me. I get the bloody dagger back from Will and clean it. If I have to fight, it's best if it's ready.

Something about the green-gemmed dagger bothers me. The other has a blue-gem, but it has no vibes. The green one gives me only bad vibes. I have a history with this dagger, but I can't remember. It's like there's a gaping hole, slowly being filled in.

But if I reach for the spaces being filled, I get sucked into quick sand. Everything comes too fast and loud. I can't make sense of it.

I stand and pace around the courtyard we're in to distract myself. At one point, I find myself in front of a board with a map on it.

There's a cluster of little red pins near the dome, right where we are. Some of the pins in the cluster move on from the area and I blink.

"They're enchanted."

I turn and find the woman from the front gate standing beside me. She's watching the pins move.

"The blue ones are our forces, the red are humans," she explains.

"Why are you telling me that? I could use that information against you."

She sighs and glances around, as if checking that no one is listening. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Sure."

"Some of us don't want to do this."

"So? Why are you?"

She sighs and runs her finger around a cup full of something that smells like peach schnapps.

I'd only smelled peach schnapps once. I'd found a bottle hidden in my mom's closet. She'd been so angry when she found me in the bathroom that night, the empty bottle clutched to my chest.

I purse my lips.

The woman smiles, unamused. "Thomas... we're following his orders."

"You don't have to."

She laughs a little, shaking her head. "That is not the way it works for us, but I enjoy your simple way of thinking."

I frown. Is she insulting me? I shake it off. "You could stage a coup," I say. "If there's enough of you."

She glances at a woman with black wings. I can't tell the bird they belong to. "Believe me, some of us are trying. But it's hard. Especially here."

"Here?" I ask. "You mean this realm?"

She turns to me, surprised. "I did not think any humans knew of the other realms."

"Oh, I've talked with one of you before. He's got big-." I stop, my arms miming the size of the man's wings. "He tried to kill me," I say, "but we had a nice conversation first. Did you say realms? Plural?"

She laughs, "I do enjoy interacting with you creatures. Our people are taught these things from birth. It is quite amusing to meet those that believe they are alone in this world. Who think magic does not exist."

"I believe in magic," I say. I nod to her wings. "Hard not to."

She smiles. "Our wings are not magic. They are a part of us. Our species are born this way."

"So... all of you are one species?"

"We are called the Fae."

"Like Shakespeare?"

She frowns. "I do not know this Shakespeare you speak of. I am not well-versed in human cultures, I must admit. I was on the front lines before Thomas recalled part of the army to come here."

I frown with her. "Front lines? Are you at war?"

She nods, swishing the liquid in her cup. "It is why we are here. A great tragedy befell our kingdom many years ago. There are powerful creatures that belong to our realm. They are meant to be more powerful than any of our species. We call them elementals."

I save the Avatar joke for later.

She studies the map, her eyes cold. "Many years ago, someone stole away with those powerful creatures. Thomas believes they can win us the war, for good." She looks into her cup. "Our families are home, fighting the same war we've fought for hundreds of years. While our king has us here... chasing a fairytale."

"You don't believe the elementals exist?" I ask.

Her eyes find my face and she sighs, "I know they do. They are important in our realm. But they've been gone from a place of magic for a long time. They don't even know their species anymore. They don't know the magic they hold. They believe they're human." She shakes her head. "Thomas is placing a lot of hope on them to save us. But he's foolish. They're practically human now."

"Why don't you go home?" I ask. "If you don't want to be here."

She snorts and traces her finger up to a single blue pin at the top of the mountain. "He guards the portal. If I can find one that goes to my realm, I will leave. But for now, I am trapped here. If I try to escape... he will kill me."

"He's just one man," I argue.

She shakes her head. "Don't let the map fool you. It gives general locations of our troops. But Thomas is not truly alone up there. He has employed various creatures from outside our kingdom. They are here for money alone, but they are vicious and cruel. Even if the entire rebellion were in this realm, I would not be able to defeat him." She toasts her cup to the map. "Here's to going home."

"Yeah," I agree, turning to the map. "To going home," I murmur to myself.

I decide she's drunk, since she stumbles away and starts crying when she bumps into someone. But it doesn't mean she wasn't being honest.

If she's right, and not being influenced by a bad bottle of schnapps, then Thomas awaits challengers at the top of the mountain.

Not only has he disrupted all the lives of the citizens in the dome, but the people of his own home.

I cock my head. My mother may have lied about everything else... but if I want to fix things for everyone, Thomas needs to die.