CHAPTER 21

  Seven Days Later

  “In thirty-one days, the souls of three hundred Cinders will make their way into the Soul Nexus,” Leace said, slapping her sword against a round shield. “And you are taking your time with a belt?”

  “Stand still, damn it,” Mel grunted, yanking the red leather strap across my chest tighter. I had just strapped the Ashsteel sword to my back, but tightening the new belt that the Criers gave me to hold the sword securely was giving me trouble.

  “I would be still if you weren’t so rough,” I said.

  “Why are you not just leaving it here?” Raine asked from across the armory. She was adjusting a red sash across her waist that held the curved blade she still had from the First Tier.

  “And leave the supposed ‘only weapon that can hurt a Sibling’ sitting in the racks for someone to take?” I said. “You think I’d make a rookie mistake like that?”

  Raine rolled her eyes and moved past me. Mel finished tightening the sword’s belt strap and patted me on the back.

  We stood in the Criers’ armory—an offshoot of their underground warren. Racks of weapons hung around the side of the room. Shelves held various sizes of black and red armor. Eight of us stood in matching black martial art gis with red sashes now, the unofficial uniform of Crier revolutionaries. It matched the black Cinder colors we wore so often, so well was familiar at least.

  “What is your weapon of choice, Nanda?” I asked.

  Nanda finished wrapping thick black leather around his knuckles and turned his hands over. “TitanCroc skin,” he said. “Light, and sturdy. I prefer to use my fists when I fight. It fits my infusion too.”

  He punched a practice dummy, and the whole thing exploded backward across the room, smashing into the wall next to Silas.

  “Hey!” Silas yelped, stumbling aside.

  “Ah. Sorry, brother,” Nanda said, bowing with his hands clasped.

  Silas stared at the shattered dummy, then crouched, picking up a ragged metal brace from the wreckage. “Actually…” He turned the piece in his hand. “This could be useful.”

  He stuffed it into an oversized duffel already bulging with metal scraps, crystals, and other tools, for gods knew what he had cooking up. He looked like a walking engineer’s toolshed.

  “What’s with all that?” I asked.

  Silas snagged a bundle of throwing knives and dropped them into the bag. “Lucius still has a few days of recovery,” he said. “Even with Jessa’s salves and the Criers’ Recovery Breath, he is not walking. So…”

  “You are going to build him new legs,” I said.

  Silas gave a small, crooked smile. “That’s the idea.”

  “Why bother?” Sora said from the opposite rack. She was slotting short arrows into loops sewn into her sash. “He knew the risks. He has been nothing but a jerk since we were kids. I say it serves him right.”

  “Oh, you don’t mean that,” Zenobia said, looping a thin silver string around her arm. She had been practicing with the Rope Dart ever since Hopsander died, in his honor. “He is still your childhood friend.”

  “He bosses Rinka around to this day,” Sora snapped. “Loses the ability to walk, and gets all the sympathy like hes suddenly a good guy? Why am I supposed to feel bad?”

  “You know, you’ve turned really bitter since losing that eye,” Mel said, sliding her metal claw over her fingers.

  “It is not all I lost,” Sora muttered, thinking of Luna I assumed.

  “I am surprised he even wants the help,” Ruriel said, sliding two short blades in sheathes at his hips. “If I lost my legs, I would ask someone to cut my throat.”

  A few of us stiffened.

  “Hey,” I said. “Just because he is disabled now, does not mean he should give up. There are more ways to be useful than swinging a sword.”

  “I do not see how,” Ruriel said, rolling his shoulders.

  “It does not matter if you see it,” I said. “Look at Silas.”

  “Huh?” Silas turned, hands full of yet another piece of metal.

  “You lost an arm,” I said. “Now, I am pretty sure you are more dangerous than half of us. Without your gadgets, we would all be dead on the First Floor.”

  Silas’s cheeks flushed. “I am just trying to help him keep moving forward.”

  I glanced over at Raine who widened here eyes as if to say, ‘see there it is again,’.

  “Exactly,” I said looking back at Silas. “Whatever happens, we keep moving forward. Like Spiderbane told us.”

  I looked around the room. A few nods. A few rolling eyes. Mel snorted.

  “Alright, nobody asked for a speech,” she said, smirking. That broke the tension enough for a few chuckles.

  “What is Sora’s deal lately?” Zenobia asked quietly as Sora walked away.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Tevin hefted a long metal rod with a spiked head. “Could be a lot of things,” he said. “But ever since Lunafreya disappeared, she has not been the same.”

  “The girl from House Any who vanished after the assault on the Academy?” Raine asked.

  Mel groaned. “Enough about that one. If I ever see Luna again, I am punching her in the throat for leaving without a word.”

  “She probably had her reasons,” I said.

  Truth was, I had no idea what Luna’s actual plan was. All I knew was she had lived through eight lifetimes, and feared Noah’s twin-soul, Astrifer.

  Metal slammed against metal at the doorway.

  Leace stood there, shield in one hand, sword in the other. “Times up,” she barked. “Move!”

  We grabbed the last of our gear and hurried past her before she decided to use us for target practice.

  ———

  We huddled inside the fishing hut that hid the entrance to the Criers’ hideout, waiting for orders. Dawn had not broken, and the air smelled like wet wood and dew on grass.

  We had spent the last seven days training our coherence now that our channels were open. We were able to run for miles while keeping our heart rate significantly low, we could hold our breath three times longer than usual, and we practiced hand-to-hand combat with the Criers while still in our base form. But today, we were going to learn the first Breath Technique, finally. An ability called Mask. We were to master it and use Mask to steal from the demigod Nerida’s home. All in one day.

  No pressure.

  I do not have a good feeling about this, Fern whispered.

  Me neither, I thought. But we don’t have the luxury to back out. We just have to trust in each other and everyone else.

  Silas, Jessa, Rinka, Lucius, and the Firebrands stayed below ground. Without their channels open and the ability to learn Breath Techniques, Leace told them they would only endanger themselves and the others.

  Leace stood by the front door, with Aer and six masked Criers. Aer scratched at his purple mohawk.

  The floor hatch behind us opened, and the two gurus climbed up—Kael with his usual bouncing energy, and Rasa trailing behind him like a tall, slinking shadow.

  “Hello, my children!” Kael said, spreading his arms. “Are you not excited for today?”

  Leace bowed her head slightly. “With respect, Guru,” she said, “excitement is not the emotion we are feeling. This plan of yours is risky. We could die.”

  Kael waved his hands. “No, no, not my plan. This is all Rasa’s idea.” He jabbed the taller Guru in the ribs. Rasa did not react.

  Rasa moved to the center of the hut and turned, surveying each of us. The room went quiet enough that I could hear my pulse

  “So,” he said. “First, I will teach Mask, then I will explain the mission to you Cinders. The Head Criers, and their troops already know what the plan is.”

  “Like all Breaths, it requires open gates, precise visualization, and coherence. No more. It’s simple in theory, and if you have all worked hard through your training, activating coherence should be second nature now yes?”

  We nodded our heads to him.

  “Good, now watch.” He had us stand in a loose circle around him as he walked us through the steps.

  “First, as before,” he said. “Breathe deep. Pull energy from the base of your spine to your Kutasha.”

  I exhaled, then inhaled slowly, drawing the familiar spark up my back and into the star between my eyebrows. The white point bloomed in the dark behind my eyelids. It was as simple as putting on socks. Routine now.

  “When the star appears,” Rasa said, “do not stop filling it with light. Instead, imagine stepping through it. Not with your body, but with your intention. Lean into it without moving, as if your body is about to, but you physically don’t.”

  I did as he said—let every part of me reach forward toward that star, even though my feet stayed planted.

  “From here, circulate your energy,” he continued. “Visualize it no longer filling the star, but moving in a clockwise path through three points: the crown of your head, your heart, and your waist. Let your Breath rise up through the spine, circulate each point, and then fall away from you with each exhale.”

  I followed his instructions. Crown. Heart. Waist. Exhale and repeat. I kept my breath steady and my heartbeat low.

  “If your visualization holds,” Rasa said, “a thin cloud will form at your neck. That is Mask.”

  A chill crept up around my throat. And as if on queue, a faint, cool pressure swirld around my skin givingme goose bumps. I opened my eyes and saw a white cloud manifesting around me, like a thick floating scarf. Around me, everyone had a thin cloud around their neck, we had all activated it easily.

  “When the cloud is formed, you will have ten minutes of camouflage until it fades,” he said. “Mask allows us Criers to slip into even the most heavily guarded Sibling’s home, and explore it freely.”

  “How long until we can use it again?” Raine asked.

  “Five minutes,” Rasa said. “In those five minutes, you will feel cold and slow. Your body will be less effective.”

  “So when that happens,” Kael added, “Speed up your breath. Raise your heartbeat to counteract the withdrawal from using Mask. If you don’t, you may pass out.”

  Leace looked around at us. “Questions?”

  I raised a hand. “This will sound dumb, but what exactly does camouflage mean to you? Are we fully hidden from sight?”

  Kael laughed. Leace rolled her eyes.

  “Simply put,” Kael said, “you become invisible to anyone who has not opened their own gates. The Siblings and their armies have never trained Breath, so we remain hidden. No matter how powerful they are, Mask hides you from their eyes.”

  Leace stepped forward. “Let me clarify,” she said. “Invisible does not mean silent. They can still hear, smell, and feel you. That is why we gave you these uniforms. That is why we told you to shower thoroughly and to strap your weapons down. That is why your shoes are padded, and why you must be extremely vigilant of bumping into your surroundings. Silence, always, when Mask is on.”

  Rasa nodded once. “Yes. Exactly.”

  Kael clapped his hands.

  “As for the mission,” he said, “I will explain. Rasa has taught enough for now.”

  Rasa folded his hands into his sleeves and watched us.

  “Two groups,” Kael said. “One with Leace, one with Aer. Destination: the Spire. Specifically, Nerida’s Hall at the base of Tier Two.”

  At Leace’s gesture, we split the room. Leace’s group: Raine, Nanda, Mel, and me, plus the three masked Criers, Sammi, Alexia, and Clover. Aer’s group: Sora, Tevin, Zenobia, Ruriel, and the other three masked Criers.

  “Leace’s team,” Kael said, turning to us. “You will infiltrate the eastern wing of Nerida’s Hall. Our intel, courtesy of Leace, says Nerida’s treasury lies there. Your goal is to locate and steal the Soul Glass shard Nerida keeps. If you do not find it, you withdraw. No heroics and no hasty decisions allowed. And as always, avoid all water, especially in her Hall.”

  His face hardened. “You have heard this before, but it bears repeating. Nerida is not like Igi-igi. He kills quickly and cleanly. She plays. She is faster and crueler. If she touches you in her pools, you will not die quickly.”

  Aer shifted next to him. A thin, pale scar ran along the side of his neck, disappearing beneath his collar. He touched it softly and shuddered.

  “She does not always finish what she starts, either,” Aer said. “Sometimes she lets the survivors crawl back home to tell others about her.”

  Kael looked to the other side. “Aer’s group. You will take the western wing. There, in that section of Nerida’s Hall, are Soul conduits connected to the soul network, leading all the way up to the Soul Nexus. If you can destroy even one, you buy us a day. Two, two days, and so on and so on. Each conduit you collapse slows the souls rising from Tier One to Tier Three, and gives us an advantage.”

  He clasped his hands together and looked over us.

  “Are we clear?” Leace asked.

  We nodded. A few of us swallowed hard.

  “Good. Go with blessings,” Rasa said.

  “Bring back victory!” Kael shouted.

  We filed out of the hut.

  After nearly twenty days underground, the air outside hit me like a wave. Cool, damp, and tinged with the smell of dew grass. I saw the citizens of the Second Tier leaving their homes to fish for the day. One family was close by. They paid us no mind, as if they didn’t want to get involved. I looked at their faces and saw nearly all of them had garish scars littered all over their body.

  It was clear to me that Nerida did indeed like to play with her food.