The little boy touches my shoulder.

I hadn't realized he was still there, watching Margot and the general. I hadn't realized he'd seen.

I push forward onto my knees and pull him into my arms. I rub his back. "It's okay," I tell him. "It's okay, it's all over now."

He buries his face in my neck and sobs. He balls his little fists into the Daemon's jacket I have on again.

I struggle to my feet and stumble towards Alex.

Not for the first time, I wish Rae were here now. To tell me if Alex is going to be okay. Or maybe just to glare at me for being reckless. Maybe just to tell me I'm an idiot.

Maybe just to be here.

I can't leave Alex, but I refuse to put the boy down when he falls asleep in my arms. So, I stay there.

Someone will find us, eventually, I'm sure.

It's Winston who does.

He comes running at me, bleeding from his head, tears pouring down his face.

"Wally!" He stumbles to a stop and falls to his knees beside me. He holds his arms out for the sleeping boy.

Reluctantly, I open my arms and he takes the child.

He pushes the boy's curls back and kisses his forehead, leaking tears onto his face.

The ash on his face and the scrapes on his knees from crawling under the beam tell Winston all he needs to know.

He meets my gaze, cradling the child's head. "Thank you," he whispers. "Thank you for saving my son."

I reach for Alex. "It wasn't me," I tell him. "It's my fault the Daemon are here. Alex saved him. Not me."

Winston sniffles and kisses his son's head again. "What the Daemon have done is not your fault, Raven. You are a child too. You are hunted. That is not your fault. My son is alive. My people made it out of the village, which is more than the other villages can say. I am thankful you were here."

He grabs my shoulder, grazing the bullet wound.

I manage not to cry out.

"I will tell you what your friend told me about you, if you so wish."

I look to Alex and mull his offer over. "Why hasn't Charlie told me?"

Winston rocks Wally back and forth and sighs, "it is dangerous information. If you learn the truth... it could kill you. Or your friends."

My eyes snap to his. "My friends?"

Winston sighs and eases the sleeping Wally into his lap. "You're already being hunted just for your relation to your mother, Raven. But if you learn the truth, Thomas will do anything to stop you. He will come after your weaknesses. He will do anything to make sure you cannot defeat him."

I blink back tears and nod.

"Do you wish to learn the truth, Raven Black?"

I study Alex's peaceful face. "No," I whisper. I close my eyes.

I know what I'm giving up. A chance at answers. A chance to know if the obvious answer is true. I know what I'm losing. But I also know what I'm keeping.

Winston nods. "That is wise. Do you have the strength to carry your friend? We should get him to the medic."

I nod and slide my arm under Alex's knees and shoulders. Without a wooden beam on him, he's not very heavy. I can carry him without stumbling.

Winston guides me to where the injured have been taken.

Survivors gather there, or around the square. The ones who haven't been hurt set to restoring their village.

Wally and Alex are swept onto cots and given water.

Izzy's there too, a large welt on the side of her head. She gasps when she sees Alex and tries to stand.

A woman presses her back onto her cot and tells her not to move.

I go to her, my hands in my pockets. "Hey, you feeling alright?"

She touches the welt, gingerly. "Yeah. I took the butt of a spear to my head, but I don't think I have a concussion. What happened to you and Alex?"

"Story for another time," I murmur. "Do you know if everyone else is okay? Where are they?"

"I think Charlie found Nick outside the walls and everyone was gathering there."

"You mind if I run to check on them? I'll come sit with you once I know everyone is okay."

"Yeah. I'll see what the medic says about Alex."

I squeeze one of her hands. "Thank you."

As soon as I leave the gates, I can hear my friends.

They are all gathered around the dragon eggs, exclaiming in wonder.

Charlie seems the most excited, surprisingly.

I walk up as James snorts, "don't you have dragons back in Ebony?"

Charlie shrugs. "Sure, we have dragons. But these are Elder dragons. They're extremely rare."

"Why?" Ava asks, running her fingers over the eggs. Her fingers seem to glow gold and silver when running over the veins of them.

Charlie sighs, "my realm is not so different from here."

Cat frowns. "Don't you have a kingdom? We don't have kingdoms anymore."

Charlie waves her off. "All of the realms are branches of my realm. Creatures in Ebony created the separate realms. Some of the realms evolved differently after their creation. Since this realm had little magic and evolved into all humans, they could use different resources that we can't. Fae and Daemons can't touch iron. Werewolves are allergic to silver. It was better for us not to build cities."

"Wait, you said the other realms were created by your realm? How's that possible?" Danny asks. His eyebrows are furrowed, and he's rubbing his temples, as if he's trying to remember something he can't.

I know the feeling.

"The first realm was created as a prison. For creatures we call Pure Ones. They're dangerous beings and needed to be... handled. But they can only be killed by other Pure Ones. So, creatures, called Mages, used their powers to build new realms. Only mages can create new realms, and create portals to those realms."

"And you all killed the mages for it," Danny mumbles, eyes closed.

Charlie blinks. "Yes. How did you know that?"

Danny blinks his eyes open, realizing we're all staring at him. "Uh, I don't know. The story is... familiar."

Charlie frowns but nods. "Well, you're right. After creating the first realm, many mages believed Ebony could become better if there were places for each species. They created more realms. Eventually, people felt they'd grown hungry for power. They didn't agree with the mages anymore. Which began the mage purges. Very few families of mages survive to this day. Once Thomas took the throne, he even reinstated the ban on mages in Zorcath."

"And you work for this guy?" Cat growls.

Charlie puts his hands up. "No! It's why I joined the rebellion!"

"You think joining a rebellion just makes things better?" Nick grumbles.

I cross my arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Everyone jolts, turning to look at me, as if they hadn't noticed me walk up.

"Raven!" Ava says, cheerily, as if she did notice me. "Cool eggs."

"They're not mine."

"They're still cool," she says.

I kick some dirt up and nod. "I'm gonna go check on Izzy and Alex."

James frowns and steps forward. "I knew Izzy was being looked at. What happened to Alex?"

"I got trapped inside a burning building. He got me out, but he got hurt in the process."

Charlie reaches for me. "Are you okay?"

I shove his hand away. "I'm fine," I growl. "Regroup inside the walls where it's... safe."

Nick starts to gather one of the eggs without question.

I turn on my heel and march back towards the village.

Danny jogs up to me and catches my arm. "Hey, I wanted to make sure you're actually alright."

I shake him off, the jacket scraping the wound on my back. "I said I'm fine."

He glances back at the others, who are helping James hoist the other egg into his arms. "Yeah, that's what you said to them."

I cross my arms. "What's that supposed to mean?"

His eyes snap to mine. "N-nothing. But you're always like 'I have to be strong in front of them' yada yada. I wanted you to remember that you don't have to be strong for me. So, if you got hurt, or if you need to talk-." He reaches for my shoulder.

I catch his wrist and step towards him. "I don't need you to coddle me, Daniel. I said I'm fine. That means I'm fine. We clear?"

He narrows his eyes. He steps even closer and our noses brush. "Not clear, Raven. The more defensive you get, the more I think something's going on."

I sigh and duck my head away from him. "I probably breathed in some smoke, okay? I should get looked at by the medic."

He studies my face, eyes still narrowed. "That's all?"

I nod. "That's all." I offer a wracking cough. "Yep, should definitely see the medic. I'll catch up with you all later."

He doesn't follow, but I can tell he doesn't believe me.

I plop down onto Izzy's cot and she smiles.

"How are you feeling?"

I shrug. "I'm all good."

"Maybe you should have a medic look at your wounds," she says. "You're looking a little pale."

"I'm usually pale," I tell her. "I'm half-Korean."

She rolls her eyes. "You've been in the sun long enough to get a tan. But you're pale now. Let me get a medic." She starts to lift her hand to get someone's attention.

I grab her wrist and yank her arm back down.

"Ow! That was a little rough, jeez."

I look away. "Sorry."

"Why don't you want a medic to look at you? What if something's wrong?"

Something is wrong. But she doesn't need to know that.

I shake my head. "I'm fine."

"Well, I don't believe you can know that without a doctor's opinion."

"I don't like doctors," I snap.

She blinks at me. "You like Rae."

I rake a hand through my hair, wincing as it catches in the knots. "That's why she's the only doctor I've ever been to."

"Ever!?" Izzy cries.

I shush her when the villagers glance at us. "My mom never took me. When Rae got her doctorate, that was the first time I ever had a checkup."

"What about if you got sick?"

I half shrug. "I never got sick."

Izzy shakes her head. "Everybody gets sick. Even I've been sick before. Lily used to get colds all the time."

"Well, I never did. I only needed a doctor when I started running attacks with the rebellion. I started getting injured."

"What if you get injured out here? Rae's... There's no one else that knows how to fix the stuff you break."

I roll my shoulders. "I'll wait for her to fix me."

Izzy grabs my hand. "Raven, we don't know-."

"She's not dead," I snarl, harsher than I mean to.

She squeezes my hand. "I know," she whispers. "But we don't know how long we're going to be out here. What if something extreme happens to you before we find her? You have to let the medic look at you."

"No," I whisper.

She sighs, "you can't be stubborn about this."

"I said no!" I stand and scrape my sweaty palms on my jeans. "Look, I get the whole worried friend thing, but I can't. I only trust Rae. She's the only one."

Izzy's shoulders slump. "Raven," she pleads.

"Forget it," I mumble. I turn on my heel.

"Real mature!" Izzy shouts after me, but she lets me go.

I don't know where I'm going. I wanted to get away from Izzy for a minute, but I didn't have anywhere else to go.

Maybe I should find Winston and tell him we have to leave soon.

"Raven!"

I almost groan aloud. Great. I was hoping none of my strays would find me yet.

Cat grabs my arm and tugs me to a stop.

"This better not be about my argument with Izzy."

"No, I-. Why were you arguing with Izzy?"

"Nothing. Forget it. What's going on?"

Cat sighs and rubs her hands together. "I just... wanted to talk to you. But it's not exactly a comfortable question for me."

"Just ask," I groan.

"Okay, fine. Do you like Danny?"

I cough into my fist and raise my eyebrows at her. "What?"

She shifts and points towards the gates. "I saw you two talking. You were... really close."

"God, Cat. I met the guy a few weeks ago. Two good friends of mine are hurt and possibly dying. You think I have time to think about having a crush on someone right now?"

She wrings her hands. "I'm not trying to upset you! But I've known Danny since we were young! He's my best friend. Now that we're not separated by the dome anymore, I thought we could... be something."

Why does my heart ache like someone's twisting a knife in it at that?

It must be the poison.

I rub my temples. "He's a nice guy. But he's all yours."

She grins. "Great! I'm glad. I'd hate to do that typical girl fight over a guy thing. Especially when you have my face."

"You mean you have my face."

She waves me off.

I throw my arms up as she jogs off. Great talk.

I shake my head.

Once Alex and Izzy are cleared to go, I want to get out of the village.

Last thing I need is any more death on my conscience.

Which reminds me...

I slip out of the village without telling anyone. I want to be alone. I find a quiet spot nearby, where a small stream feeds into a pond.

Koi poke their faces out of the water, grabbing at bugs on the surface.

I slip the Daemon's jacket off and toss it aside. I find a couple sturdy sticks and kneel beside the pond. I use Rae's hair tie to bind the sticks into a cross and stick it into the ground.

Then, I find some smooth, pretty rocks, and place them in a circle around the sticks.

I bow my head, clenching my fists on my knees.

"I haven't prayed in a long time," I murmur. "I'm still not sure I believe anyone's listening. But Rae believed." I bite my lip. "Rae believes. So, if you are... out there. Listening. Can you make sure Margot is at peace? Can you make sure Will and Rae make it through this?" I lift my head to look at the clear blue sky through the treetops. "It's a lot to ask, but I also pray we all make it through this."

I reach for my back and sigh, "I pray my friends make it through this."

I push to my feet and swipe my knees off. I give the cross one last look, then grab the Daemon's jacket. I start back towards the village, not pulling it on just yet.

"That's a bad wound you've got there."

My head snaps up.

Winston leans against a tree, watching me.

I jab my tongue into my cheek and shake my head. "You can't tell my friends."

He raises his eyebrows. "You know it's poison, right? It's only going to get worse. It'll kill you."

"Do you know any magic in this realm that can fix it?" I ask, crossing my arms.

Winston looks away. "No. Only a healer could fix that. There's none in Ivory."

I nod. "So, my only hope for getting this fixed is making it through that portal. Which Thomas guards. He'll kill me on sight."

"I thought your mission was to kill him. How can you do that if you're dying? Or dead?"

"My mission stopped being about Thomas the second my friend disappeared to that realm. Now, it's about finding Will and Rae. It's about reuniting my friends with those we've lost. If I can't kill Thomas, the least I can do is get my friends through the portal."

He doesn't say anything about Ebony being lethal to humans.

Maybe he doesn't know. Maybe none of them are... Maybe he doesn't know.

He sighs, "so, what? I'm just supposed to let you leave? Knowing it's a death sentence?"

I slide the jacket on and step up beside him. "It was always a death sentence. Now, it's just a slower one."