“Stay put for now,” Loken said as he hopped out of the vehicle just outside a small city.
Rey’s transport idled just ahead. I was pleased our two teams hadn’t split up. Rey was turning out to be the one familiar and comfortable thing in the midst of this madness.
“Hey.” I tapped Yashor, our driver, on the shoulder. “Where did the others go?”
“There were other reports of Mage sightings besides this one.” He turned around to face me. “We don’t know which are legitimate, so we have to investigate all of them.”
“If we were all going to split up, shouldn’t we have separated the task forces, so that there’s an Ethereal, a Breather, a Flooder—and so forth—in each group?”
“I just do what I’m told.” Yashor shrugged and turned back to the front of the vehicle.
A heavyset man, with sweat dripping from his face and pooling around his collar, jogged over to Loken. They met several yards away from our vehicle.
The man dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief before puffing out, “It was definitely a Mage. So tall.” He raised a hand to indicate about a foot higher than the top of his head. “A woman! With hair down to her butt. And those eyes. As black as hell, I tell you. Those things aren’t human. I can’t believe they were ever human.” He bent over and clutched his knees. His breaths wheezed from his lungs.
“Where did she go?” Loken asked.
“Back the way you came,” the man said. “We lost her trail. Too fast. The way she moved, it was like the wind—”
Loken cut him off. “How did the city fare?”
“The joint temple is destroyed. Priests were lost.”
“Show me.”
The heavyset man scrambled into the vehicle, and Loken folded his long limbs inside after him. I scooted across the seat to make room. The man’s arms brushed against mine in the crowded space. I cringed as his sweat slicked my shoulder and forearm. Our new arrival directed the driver through the streets, pointing and shouting instructions. Yashor nodded and obeyed.
My face pressed against the glass. Although I’d heard of this place—Masgar, it was called—I’d never seen anything like it. Unlike most civilized cities on Earth-Two, this one mixed Believers and Nonbelievers. As a result, the city got little financial support from its neighbors. I’d heard that some nearby townspeople refused even to sell their wares or offer services to those living inside Masgar.
As we coasted through the city, I recognized some Believers by the red and yellow of their accessories. Wristbands, headbands, earrings, necklaces. I’d have been thrilled to see such different people living together, if it weren’t that so many of them wore faded and fraying clothing.
On the outskirts, the homes resembled those in Vallara, except with smaller yards and smaller structures. Mismatched and splintered, their external wooden walls looked unkempt. Color chipped from the few that were painted.
The city center was little better with its pitted dirt roads and undecorated stone buildings. People wore mostly drab clothing, except for the occasional flashes of red and yellow. They mingled together as they stopped and chatted.
I remembered what I’d wanted to ask Loken while he was outside. “Loken,” I said, “why didn’t we divide up the task forces?”
“We’ll do that for future outings. At this point, the task force members don’t have enough training to fly solo without the support of their teams and team leaders.” He jabbed a finger at my face. “And you, stay close to me. You would have stayed back at the Council if I’d had my way.”
I made a rude sign with my hand when he turned away.
After several minutes, we’d seen no sign that a Mage had been here. Although run down, the place seemed safe enough. As far as I could tell, the Mage hadn’t destroyed anything or killed anyone. No dead bodies spotted the ground. No destroyed buildings lined the road.
My anticipation rose as we drifted farther south, toward what the city was most known for. Once we made it over this last hill, we should see the joint temple. I craned my neck, searching for the famous Temple of Masgar.
This structure represented over a century of cooperation in Masgar to find commonality between its two peoples. The officials of Masgar had dedicated this temple to the people, to worship whichever gods they chose. According to my social studies books, it was a place to worship Ra, Solaris, and any other “god” the citizens chose to follow.
My mouth hung open as the tall structure came into view. Light glanced off the building, reflecting rays directly at us. Even through the tinted windows of the transport, I had to shield my eyes to get a better view—a shining beacon in the midst of an unkempt town.
Our transport and Rey’s slowed to a stop in front of the temple. I stepped out, filled with awe. Rey came over and stood beside me, also staring up at the magnificent structure, glistening red and gold in the dual sunlight. What remained of the crumbling walls consisted of reddish and gold-colored stones.
My gaze finally strayed from the top of the temple and swept the entire structure, or what was left of it anyway. The right side had collapsed into itself, the red and gold stones broken and scattered along the right side of the lawn. My stomach knotted in mourning for this beautiful thing that had been destroyed.
Mauryn stepped closer to the temple and pressed his palms to the red rock. “In the names of the gods,” he muttered as he slid his hands over the stone. “This temple is just the first step. Someday, we’re all going to live as one people, worshiping as we like, believing what we like. No more separation based on religion and over-reliance on technology.”
He pressed his face against the exterior. His eyes drifted shut as if he were listening for a heartbeat in the stone. He stayed there in silence long enough that I felt like an intruder for staring.
“Um, Mauryn. Are you okay?”
When he opened his eyes, tears glistened under his eyelids. “Wonderful. I don’t think the people in this city truly appreciate what this temple means to our world.” He fingered the red strip of cloth tied around his wrist. “It’s the beginning of so much more. If we can merge religion and science, we can be—”
“You’re rambling.” Elis’s voice was flat, bored.
I narrowed my eyes in his direction.
“What?” Elis said. “Mauryn said we should tell him when he gets carried away.” He shrugged and strode toward the remainder of our team, clustered with the group from the other transport.
“How was the ride?” I asked Rey, who like me, continued to examine the temple. “And what task force is that?” I waved toward the group of people I didn’t recognize, who had ridden with Rey.
“They’re from the Flooder task force. The transport—it was like flying! And so simple. Just a little propulsion from the bottom, and it’s just like I’m running inside the vehicle. When we’re done with this Mage thing, I have to get a job at the Council.”
“You do realize we may never be done with this?”
“You know, you can be pretty negative sometimes. All the time, really.”
I showed him the same hand gesture I’d given Loken in the transport.
“Ra’s calloused feet! What’s in there?” Loken’s shouts jerked me from our conversation.
Loken was leaning over the short, heavyset man who’d led us to the temple. The man cowered beneath him.
“Wh-what’s where?” the man stuttered.
“In the temple?” Loken jerked his arms toward the partially crushed red-and-gold structure. “There’s a reason it’s the only thing in the city that this Mage targeted.” Loken fisted a handful of the man’s shirtfront. “What in the bright sky is inside that temple?”
“Th-they were doing some experimentation inside. Some of the Nonbelieving p-practitioners.”
Loken pulled the man so close that their noses almost touched. “There are unregistered practitioners in this city?”
“Y-yes.”
Mauryn spoke up. “Not everyone believes what the Council believes. Not everyone was on board with your little registration program or believes that the end of the world is nigh.” I thought there might have been a drop of sarcasm in that last part. It was hard to tell.
Loken ignored Mauryn’s comment and continued to interrogate the man who’d led us here. “Do you also ignore our mandate that practitioners are not to gather together without notifying the Council in advance?” The words rumbled upward from Loken’s throat, more of a growl than typical speech.
“I-I don’t know. I don’t know!” the man shouted, tugging to escape Loken’s grasp.
Loken threw him to the ground and tossed him a disgusted look. He took in the Ethereals and Flooders staring at him. He fixed his face back into his normal, controlled expression.
“You.” Loken pointed to Krin, Jin, Elis, and several of the Flooders. “Go inside the temple and get a count of the bodies. And see if you can identify how many were practitioners.”
They nodded and scampered off. Elder Flooder—whom I’d seen briefly at the first meeting a couple days earlier—followed. The elder led the group through the front door of the temple.
Three priests, two in red robes and one in yellow, lay prostrate in front of the temple. At first I thought them all dead. But muffled chants rose from them. The others and I kept our distance from them.
Loken, on the other hand, strode forward and tapped the yellow-robed Solaris priest on the shoulder. The priest startled at his touch and sat up, frowning.
“What happened here?” Loken asked.
“Could this wait until I finish praying?” The priest’s forehead creased as his frown deepened.
“No.” Loken knelt in the grass, putting his face at the priest’s level.
After making a disapproving tsk-tsk sound, the priest said, “A Mage.” His voice trembled. Red, puffy lids rimmed his eyes.
Loken’s voice softened as he caught a good look at the priest’s face. “What did you see?”
“I was inside, leading a prayer—”
Loken cut him off. “You pray inside? I thought all you Believers prayed in sunlight.”
“The temple has . . . had a glass ceiling. On the side of the building that . . . that . . .” His voice caught in his throat.
Loken nodded and gestured for the man to continue.
“There was no warning. The temple shook. Paintings fell from the walls. The holy sculpture of the gods crashed to the floor. Some people ran for the doors. A few stayed; maybe they were in shock. I pushed as many as I could toward the doors.”
He inhaled a deep, shaky breath before continuing. “The ceiling cracked. I ran. As soon as I stepped outside, it was like I was caught in a tornado. The whole side collapsed.” His voice went low and solemn. “As the building fell, the rocks crushed some of the worshipers who’d made it outside. I should have made them move farther away.” Fresh tears dripped from his lashes and rolled down his cheeks.
“And the Mage? Did you see her?”
“When I came outside, yes. She was standing on the right side of the building. She was so . . . normal. Really tall, but normal.” His body trembled. He stared off into the distance but didn’t focus. “Except for those eyes. There’s no way I should have seen them clearly, as far away as I was. But I could see them, burning into my soul.” The priest faced Loken again. “Do you know what attracted her to the temple?”
Loken paused for too long before answering, and that telltale muscle in his jaw ticked. “How many fatalities?”
“We don’t have a full count from inside the building. We estimate around twenty-two dead outside.”
My chest tightened. So many. All for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Later, I’d have to grill Loken about what he knew and wasn’t saying.
“What about after the collapse?” Loken asked. “How many did the Mage kill directly?”
“I can’t say. She entered the temple through the collapsed side. We need to get inside to see.”
“What about outside? How many did she kill outside after the collapse?”
“None. She went inside, and then took off.”
Loken’s brow furrowed. “How many people were on the lawn?”
The priest’s eyes flitted about the space around them, as if trying to re-create the scene. “Thirty. Maybe forty.”
“Thank you, Father.” Loken pressed the man’s hand to his head, a common gesture of respect to Solaris priests. The priest nodded and went back to his prayers.
The two Ra priests in red robes had finished their prayers. Loken waited for them to rise to their feet, and then pressed each of their right hands to his chest, one at time, as a gesture of respect to Ra. He motioned for me to do the same. I did.
Loken left one of the priests to me. I asked him the same questions Loken had asked the Solaris priest. I learned nothing new.
As we finished up, the rest of the group filed out from the doors of the temple. Elder Flooder led the group, his long legs quickly eating up the space between us. The vials of water attached to his belt clinked together as he joined me, Loken, and the others who’d stayed outside.
Rey caught my eye, jerked his head toward Loken, and mouthed, You okay?
I ignored him.
“Let’s get out of here,” said Elder Flooder, already moving toward his transport. “The Mage is gone. There’s nothing to learn here, and nothing we can do.”
“Don’t we want to talk about what attracted her?” I called after the elder.
He slipped into his transport and didn’t offer a response. I looked around the group, silently pleading for someone to offer a logical explanation. The Flooders followed their leader back to their transport. With an apologetic shrug, Rey trailed after them.
My gaze landed on Mauryn, who seemed to know everything. He’d have an answer for me.
“That’s clear enough,” said Mauryn. “The Mage was attracted to the practitioners. Too many gathered in one place.”
“Why does it matter how many were together?”
“Mauryn.” Loken’s voice was tinged with warning.
Mauryn didn’t seem to notice, and forged ahead. “Practitioners attract Mages. More practitioners means greater attraction. That’s why the Council encourages all practitioners to notify them of any gatherings.”
Loken’s gaze was landing everywhere except on me.
“Loken?” I said.
That muscle in his jaw twitched. “We should head back to the Council.”
“Loken?” When he still didn’t answer, I directed my next question at Mauryn. “So each of us is a Mage magnet?”
“Pretty much, yes.”