For the second time in thirty years, the entire world has fallen asleep...
Thirty years after the Greymen caused the decimation of her people, high school drop out Rain Collins spends her days learning to pickpocket and hold her booze. Yet she long...
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Dr. Farrah hovered above the crowd, surrounded by a spinning circle of fire. She did not rain the fire down on the people below, but instead seemed to be sucking up the flames from around the square, willing it into some sort of gravitational field around herself. It whirled around her in a violent arc, narrowly missing her hair, her skin. Her face was red from the heat, the strain, and her mouth was wrenched open in a painful scream, which I couldn't hear over the roar of the fire and the screams of the crowd.
"Dr. Farrah," I shouted, waving my arms and jumping up and down on the stage. She couldn't hear me. I turned to Billy. "We have to help her."
He was already on his feet, staring up at his mother, face screwed up in panic. Without hesitation, he leaped off the stage toward the center of the square where the violence was thickest. Shouting wordlessly, he turned in midair and propelled himself upward, straight at the flames encircling his mother. He shot through, fire licking at his face and body as he erupted out the other side. Arms outstretched, he pulled Dr. Farrah into a tight hug as his mouth fell open in a scream that mirrored hers. The fire surrounded them both, whipping and swirling furiously.
"Rain!" Beth shouted from the other side of the square.
I whirled around to face my sister. Jacob and the cowgirl flanked her. They all stared at me, eyes hard, threatening. I didn't know how they had slipped Billy's bright shackles, but I was glad my father wasn't with them. Wherever he was, I hoped he was safe.
"It's over," Beth said, slowly walking toward the stage. "End this. Make them stop."
I laughed. "You think I can do that? You think anyone can? God, Beth. That was the whole point. This can't be stopped. We either take control of the Greymen or we get wiped out by the Masters. Is that what you want? To see our people destroyed just to see the Greymen die? Everyone is so damn clueless. You're right. It is over. There is no stopping this and it's not our fault. It's not the Greyman's fault. It's the Master's fault! You know what? I'm done with this."
As Beth reached the edge of the stage, I jumped over her outstretched arms, into the air, and spun, reaching toward Billy and Dr. Farrah in their flaming circle in the sky. It was huge now, the square nearly empty of fire. From this high, though, I could see that the rest of the Green City burned just as fiercely as the square had moments before. Most of the shining green towers had collapsed, and those that still stood were stained black from the smoke.
Our city was destroyed.
My view was obscured as I shot through the flaming wreath. I cried out in pain as the fire burned off my skin, then cried out louder, triumphant, as my new Dreamcaller powers reknit the skin on my face and arms in less than a second. I burst through the other side where I slammed into something hard. Billy. Dr. Farrah. I had hit their bodies. I reached out, grasping for them, and grabbed hold of one of their arms. Pulling myself in, I wrapped my arms around them and felt a knife slide into my spine.
