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Kera’s gone.

A hole has been punched through my heart, and I can’t take a deep enough breath. I can’t speak. I can only shake, as if I’m coming off a meth high, and I stare at the darkening sky.

Grandma and Grandpa rush to me, their footsteps crunching against the newly burned ground.

Reggie appears, breathless and sweaty. “Did you see that thing? It took the girl. I would’ve shot it down, but I was afraid I’d hit her.”

“We saw. You did right,” Grandpa says. Grandma whispers to Grandpa, wondering what’s happened to me. Grandpa doesn’t say. He bends over me, his face a mixture of shock and anger. “Get up.”

The command is clear, but I can’t. I’m all flesh. No bones. Without Kera, I feel all gray. Completely colorless. Joyless.

And then there’s the after-burn of my powers. I can’t stop shivering.

Grandpa squats and pulls me upright. I struggle to be free, yelling Kera’s name over and over as he hefts me over his shoulder. He squeezes my legs to still me and mutters, “Damn your hide, boy. I’m getting too old for this.”

“He’s burning up.” Grandma slips her hand over my heated skin and cups my cheek. “It looks like he’s sunburned.”

They carry me toward the house, their concern a comfort I need but can’t seem to take.

Leo appears at the gate and holds it open for them. He surveys what I’ve done. “Not again.”

“He’s done this before?” Grandma asks, her voice rough, as if she’s been yelling over a thousand other voices.

“He’s done worse,” Leo admits.

Grandma stifles her distress against her fingers. The sin that I wanted to keep secret is finally out. I begin to mumble. “People are dead…killed...by me. I’m sorry. The first in me…it’s not good…evil. I can’t control it. I thought I could, but I can’t.”

Leo briefly places his hand on top of my head. “You did good, bro. Everyone is still alive.”

“Kera’s gone.” I’m drowning in my own guilt. “I failed.”

“Giving up is failing,” Grandpa says as he takes the stairs two at a time. “We’re not giving up. We’ll find her.” Using his foot, he nudges and then shoulders his way around the kitchen door. Bodog’s moan of despair reaches my ears, yet he bolts out. No one bothers calling him back, mostly because we know he won’t go far.

Slumped over Grandpa’s shoulder, I’m easily dumped on the couch, and a cool, wet cloth is slapped on my forehead. I meet everyone’s stare. Everyone except Reggie. His interest lies more on what’s outside. Every time our eyes meet, they reflect the horror of what he’s seen. He’d like it if I disappeared and left them all alone. Who could blame him? Pop, Reggie’s dad and Leo’s grandfather, is dead because of me. So much bad has happened, I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror.

The room is silent. Everyone stares at me, waiting for I don’t know what. Grandma flips the cloth on my forehead. Minutes pass. My mind clears. I’m oddly calm. I fought the craziness that’s in me and won. I now have a purpose and a confidence I’ve never had before. I know exactly what I need to do. I tug the cloth off and ease myself into a sitting position. “I nearly killed all of you and for that I’m sorry. I’m a real keeper, aren’t I?”

“Well…,” Reggie drawls softly.

Leo slants his dad a warning, then puts on a cheesy smile and directs it at me. “No worries, bro. We needed to clear a few trees around there anyway. You actually helped us, right Dad?”

Reggie shrugs and turns away. “Sure.” He lifts the corner of the shade and peeks outside. Tension oozes from his every move. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want to get caught with my pants down again. If that thing comes back, I have every intention of blasting it out of the sky.”

Grandpa nods. “Okay. Reggie and I will go get the guns. The rest of you stay put. When we get back, we’ll figure out what to do about Kera.”

The look he gives me before he leaves says it all. I’ve been relegated to the group of women and children. Stay put. Don’t move. In other words, I’ve done enough damage.

Grandpa fails to understand this is my fight. I’ve made mistakes. My powers are unpredictable at best, but I’m the one who’s got to solve this mess. Not him. Not Reggie. Not anyone. Just me.

On their way out, Grandpa and Reggie pass Wyatt coming up the porch steps.

I stand, though Grandma fusses at me not to, and my gaze settles on Leo. “Where’s Bodog?”

The back door opens and Wyatt calls into the house, “Hey, do you all know there’s some ugly little guy outside slurping down burned worms?”

“It’s disgusting,” Grandma mutters, unconsciously balling the wet cloth in her hands.

“What happened?” he asks.

Leo waves at me. “Dylan happened.”

Wyatt slumps onto a nearby chair and tosses his feet onto the coffee table. “Why am I not surprised?”

Leo gives Wyatt a condensed version of events from the wriggling monster to the flying beast, throwing strained glances at me as if he expects me to go supernova on him again.

“He could’ve been hurt,” Grandma says. She moves near Wyatt and smacks his legs, and he drops them off the table.

Leave it to her to think of my welfare when I could have so easily crispified her and Grandpa. I don’t deserve her devotion. I hate causing her worry, but what other choice do I have? I nod Leo toward the door. “Go get Bodog.”

Leo takes off to do as I ask, and Grandma’s expression pinches with anxiety. “What’re you going to do?”

I don’t answer her. If she knew what I planned, she’d try to stop me.

“Dylan?” Her worry echoes in the sound of her voice.

Nothing can stop me now. I get why everyone’s on edge. I get that I’m not superhuman. But I’m more than human. I’ve got powers none of them know about. The explosive nature of my new gift races under my skin in a way that’s frightening…but I’m done being scared.

I’m going to let the first part of me take control. On purpose this time. It’s the only real weapon we’ve got. And for the first time, I can honestly say I’m not scared of what I am.

Part Two

The land burns.

The dark rises.

Only one can save what was once lost to a living grave.

Edge of the Unknown

The talons clenched around Kera’s shoulders dug into her muscles. She hadn’t thought this through. Her scream caught in her throat as the creature lifted her high above the treetops. Twisting and turning, she tried to reach her incordium dagger, but couldn’t. No amount of struggling helped.

She was roughly shifted, and the next moment they dove toward the earth. Their descent crashed them through the ends of branches that slapped and stung Kera’s cheeks. Her feet hit the ground, and she was dragged, ripping a long furrow into the dirt. The tri-top’s wings flapped in hard sweeping beats, creating a huge wind as it ripped a hole through the barrier. The mist surged around her, clung to her skin, pulled her forward, and all too soon they were in Teag.

The tri-top raced upward until the scope of Teag lay below them. The land was under attack. How could so much have changed in one day? Kera could see small skirmishes, feel the heat of fire and smoke as far-flung towns burned. Refugees clogged the roads as they fled. It was as if someone was creating a ring of fire, burning Teag from the outside in with the intent of driving the people toward a massive walled city under construction that Kera had never seen before. The city was as beautiful as it was frightening. Like unwary cattle on their way to the slaughter, none of them knew the danger they were running toward. Kera screamed for them to turn back, but her warnings were stolen by the wind.