The crater had erased a huge chunk of the skyline. Everyone and everything, gone.I headed
toward the edge in a fog. What the hell had happened? It looked like a tactical nuke had gone
off. But that didn't explain all the vegetation and overgrowth. What was going on? Golden flecks
glimmered in the air all around me as I crossed one intersecting street, then another, staring in
disbelief, forgetting to look down at the treacherous road, never diverting my gaze even when
my boots snagged on roots or my toes stubbed on raised ridges of cement. My soles scuffed
rough earth as I stopped a few paces from the ledge. I peered over the lip of the sunken street
into a hole that held almost the entire upper east side. Unreality washed over my head. The
buildings were a sea of gray rubble peeking out of green blankets, but a few skyscrapers were
still standing, and I could still make out the vague rectangular shapes of the buildings beneath
the entwined vegetation. Some looked like their tops had been lopped off by giant swords, and
others had partially crumbled, but they were there, not so much dust like I would have thought if
a nuclear—I recognized the clear shape of Lightbridge Towers jutting into the sky. What the…? I
reached for my goggles, pulling them up and adjusting the zoom lens. I shouldn't have needed a
zoom at all. It made no sense. Even accounting for the sunken street, the towers should have
been right in front of me, but they stood a couple of miles to the north. Through the goggles, the
windows looked dark, the silver sides of the structures now covered in green. There was heavy
damage to the top ten floors, gaping holes visible in their sides where they'd been split apart,
but their bases remained firmly planted on the ground far below, although Tower Two, a mecha
of raden strength and innovation, looked like it was leaning, resting against the far edge of the
crater.Could they really have survived a direct hit from a nuke? I switched off the zoom and
raised my fingers in front of my face, dancing between the flecks of gold in the atmosphere. Just
like in my dream—no, my memory—of Lyman. As a kid, I'd thought the flecks had looked like
dandelion fluff, but they didn't blow in the breeze. They sparkled like radiant sunbeams. I tried to
grab them, but I might as well have tried to catch air.I turned a circle, taking in more of my
surroundings on the street. The insurance building that stood at the edge of the drop-off had
been sheared in half and fallen inside it. Across the street from Lumen Station, the bank looked
crooked, its front no longer aligned with the dusty remnants of sidewalk. Every window of the
grand building had been busted out by leafy branches that raised blooming golden flowers to
the sun. I stumbled back down the street, heading toward a thicket of lavender shrubbery, like
I'd seen in the rift, that grew where the pizza place was supposed to be. I looked around for it
with my goggles and thought I saw a glimpse of its red brick front one block over, as if the
ground had expanded, disrupting the grid-straight lines of the decimated streets and pushing the
building several yards back from its original placement. A rift accident could explain that, just like
I'd thought back in the station. The Lightbridge Rift must have been way more unstable than
President Valera let on. It had burst, spilling pieces of its environment into the cityscape… along
with the creatures that made it their home.How long after we went inside the rift had this
happened? Had there been time to evacuate?Please, let Hanna have gotten out of there in
time.A movement in my peripherals spiked my pulse. I whipped my head toward it and let out an
involuntary cry. Lanky, malformed humanoids sprinted toward me on stretched, two-toed feet,
pumping overlong arms ending in spidery, claw-fingered hands, shoulders lowered into a charge
by hunched, protruding spines. Bright eyes sunken into dark sockets met mine as a horde of at least twenty of them surged down the side street where I stood. Though noseless and
mouthless, they let out a hellish symphony of shrieks. Primal fear reduced me to scampering
prey, and I turned and ran for my life.Fresh agony shot up my leg as I sprinted toward the bank
across from Lumen Station, heart hammering so hard I felt my pulse in my extremities. The
stampede tore down the side road, slavering breaths and thuds of charging footfalls hunted me
as I pounded along the pavement of the main thoroughfare. A hellish shriek whipped my head
around to see the first line of the horde skid around the corner of what was once a law firm and
sprint onto the main road right behind me. My cry caught in my constricting diaphragm, heat
tearing through my tendons as I pushed my bruised, bleeding legs faster. Desperate for shelter,
my darting eyes locked on the first dark hole I saw. I cut around the side of the nearest building
into an alley where a tree had climbed up the side of the ruined structure. The thick roots had
dug into the foundation and grown upward like long legs, finding footholds in the brick. They
created a small gap between the trunk and the wall where I squeezed my body, wriggling in with
no regard for the deep scratches the bark carved in my bruised face, the contortion of my joints,
or the crippling cramp in my innards when I compressed my stomach.The horrifically humanoid
parabeasts charged by a second later, careening down the cracked asphalt, leaping onto
abandoned cars, bumping into each other with animalistic growls and swipes of their long,
clawed fingers. I held my breath and pressed as far back in the cramped hiding place as I could
get, my head bent beneath the trunk, left arm pinned against the building, knees pulled into my
chest, butt going numb on a floor of hard roots and dirt.The creatures crossed the street in a
chaotic wave, swarming toward Lumen Station, shoving and snapping at each other. Smoke
curled up from the circular structure, the heat making the gold-flecked air ripple.The ear-piercing
roars of the hell beast disguised a low, gurgling growl nearby until the ghoul had already poked
a clammy, bald head around the corner of the alley, one burning white eye meeting mine
through the gaps in the tree roots. Icy panic sent spasms through my limbs, and I tried to shrink
into the darkness of my hole, my hands searching for a gap in the cramped space big enough
for me to squeeze out the other side.The creature's head cocked. An arm wrapped around the
corner, claws scraping brick as it limped into the alley. Besides those sunken, pinprick eyes, its
face was a blank porcelain mask. One of the toes was missing on its right foot. It was a
straggler, unable to keep up, relying on weak prey.Like me.It bent at the waist, inching forward,
trying to get a better look at me. Then its eyes slid sideways, its face parting straight down the
middle along an unseen seam, and I strangled a cry as the false face swung outward like
opening doors, stretched on sinuous flesh. A red, fleshy head within was nothing but mouth—a
gaping maw of yellow fangs dripping drool. A black tongue, long and thick as a boa, fell over the
teeth.My free arm at last shoved through a gap in the roots behind me, and I contorted myself
toward it, shoving my shoulder through, chest scraping the building foundation. I tried to crawl
through the low hole on my belly, but my head wouldn't fit. I bashed my swollen face against it,
hoping against hope, pushing with all my might, my one unstuck hand scraping at the bark until I
bloodied fingers and tore my nails. No use. With a garbled, despairing cry, I shifted onto my
side, watching the enemy approach with nowhere to run.The ghoul breathed deep, the sound
rattling in its shallow, sickly chest. It had no nostrils, but its wriggling tongue stretched out,
exploring, tentative, as if tasting the air.I ground my teeth shut for fear my heart might jump out
of my throat and repositioned myself to kick the repulsive thing in the face when it tried to bite
me.Instead, the wide maw snapped shut, and the creature let out an irritable chuffing sound.
Straightening, it turned toward its fellows and set off in a limping jog. I sagged inside my root
prison, letting out a gasp of relief and clutching a hand over my heart. I held a fistful of the
sweat-drenched shirt and tugged on it to fan myself as the adrenaline buzzing in my blood
began to leak away, heartbeat slowing fractionally.I needed to move, find a better hiding spot,
but I didn't think I could. My whole body quivered, and my limbs felt like jelly. Blood darkened my
tattered clothes. My muscles and synapses had been firing on all cylinders for way too long. So
I sat recovering my breath, hoping some strength would return. Across the way, the horde
gathered at the fallen station door. Many of them peered through the station opening, but rather
than going in, they began to spread out. Their movements had slowed. They placed their heels
on the ground and shambled about, long arms dangling, bodies swaying.When the hulking, titan
of a parabeast within let out another roar, they shifted uneasily, inching backward like hyenas
afraid to approach a feasting lion. I could hear Colter and the others shouting, and a bitter
thought slithered through my head, wishing the beast would finish them off.But that wasn't a
fitting end for Seth's murderers. Dying in the glory of battle, ridding the city of a deadly monster?
Hell no. I wanted them all torn off their pedestals. I wanted Colter in shackles, behind bars,
stripped of everything that mattered to him.Like he'd done to me. Like he'd done to Hanna. Now,
Hanna and I only had each other left. Orphans of the first rifts like us didn't have many people to
begin with. Sure, some made more friends than I ever had, but there was no replacing the
people who helped you through those early years of hell. The people who'd cried with you as
the world crumbled. The people whose strength you'd grown around, digging in roots that
helped you all stand back up. Jace, Seth, and I had been that for each other. Then Hanna had
entered our lives, added a little more light, and made Seth smile again just when I'd thought
he'd lost the ability completely. Colter's greed had taken our last two people, Jace and Seth.
He'd robbed me of a friend and a brother. He'd robbed Hanna of a husband, a partner. He'd
robbed Isla of a father.I had to get Hanna. But where is she? The city looked abandoned. The
evacuation protocols must have worked. Had to.She'd been at Lightbridge, which gave her one
of the cleanest routes out. Or had she been? How much time had passed since the rift had
burst? There could be time discrepancies of a few hours or even a day or two when passing
through an unstable rift, or so we'd been taught.What if the rift burst after she'd already gotten
home? What if—No. I couldn't think like that. Hanna knew the protocols. Whether at home or at
Lightbridge, she would've gotten out.Across the street, a body hurdled out of the open station
door. Or half a body, its viscera dangling where the legs should've been. I sat straighter, peeking
out between the roots, hands gripping the bark, but I didn't recognize the face. Another corpse,
no doubt tossed by Colter in an attempt to divert the powerful parabeast.My heart jumped into
my throat, and I leaned out of hiding to make sure the body wasn't wearing a tattered olive
cloak. The rampaging parabeast didn't take the bait, but the ghouls pounced in a snarling
cluster. Battling each other for the larger chunks, they tore apart sinew and cracked bones,
ripping until limbs came loose. White armor pieces and dark strips of leather flew, but no cloak.
It wasn't Seth. Not this time…The ghouls stripped the body to scraps in a matter of minutes. The
sight curdled my already sour stomach. The pain in my intestines had come and gone at first,
but now it was a constant, nauseating throb.I needed to get the hell away from here, much as I
hated the thought of leaving Seth. I couldn't do anything else for him right now, and I'd never get
back to him if that injured ghoul decided I might make a tasty snack after all, despite not
smelling like raden. And if it didn't get me, Colter still wanted to use me, or my corpse, as proof of his trumped-up story. On top of it all, I needed medical attention. The popped stitches in my
calf were the least of my worries with a rune dissolving in my stomach acid. Ingestion was an
unconventional and risky way to absorb a rune for anyone. Resin was hard, not readily
digestible, and depending on the etching and the runesmith's skill, could have sharp edges. The
broken one I'd swallowed could perforate my bowel, make me bleed out internally.Shuddering, I
tried to shove the thoughts down, but they kept battering me.Forget about the resin. What about
when the bloodrune inside the casing leaked out into my raden-incompatible system? No way
that would turn out well.Not to mention the rune had come from a parasite. That couldn't be
good either. From what I'd read, the few ardents who'd absorbed a similar rune had gone stark
raving mad. Even if I survived the absorption, I was probably screwed, unless I got help and
fast.I had to get in contact with the Conglomerate. The cutting-edge devices in the comms room
at Lightbridge would be my best bet for getting in touch with the right people. The burst rift
should have left enough ambient raden in the atmosphere to provide emergency power to the
building, and the comms had multiple failsafes.If Colter or his team survived, they'd have the
same plan as me. I needed to move while they were indisposed, get to Lightbridge first, and tell
my version of the story before Colter could start spewing his lies and discrediting me.Stretching
my legs out of my hiding place, I kept a careful watch on the station as I squirmed free of the
root cage. The ghouls stayed fixated on Lumen Central Station, but any second now the big
parabeast or Colter's team might charge into the street.Wishing I'd thought to grab a medic's
bag on my wild flight out of there, I limped around the back of the building, putting it between me
and the station. I followed the cattywampus wall to the side street where I'd encountered the
ghouls. A nervous look both ways gave me the courage to hobble across to the opposite
building. Hiding in its shade, I angled around the side that would keep me hidden from the
ghouls as I inched closer to the crater. Blood was seeping down my torn calf into my sock. My
left eye fuzzed as I scanned the terrain lying between me and Lightbridge, the skin swollen and
tight from Colter's blows.The crater curved like a bloated belly. It had swallowed nearly thirty
blocks, and even if I cut the quickest route, hugging the treacherous ledge, Lightbridge had
moved almost to the complete opposite side. It was maybe two miles all told, but at my current
speed, it was an hour's walk at least. Worse, a flowering steel and stratum jungle lay between
me and it. One sweeping glance at the misaligned streets and crumbling, indistinguishable
skyscrapers, overpasses, and vine-wrapped traffic lights made it evident that I no longer knew
the best route. Nothing looked quite the same. The angled streets were no longer a grid but
instead plush fields cut through with diagonal tracks of asphalt and scattered with rubble and
random structures. The pulsing ache in my stomach gave a nasty pang just to remind me how
screwed I was.A bone-shaking boom from down the street was the shove in the back I needed.
Casting wary glances at the slivers of the station I could see through the buildings and
overgrowth, I limped through the grassy open space that was once a parking lot, aiming for the
cover of the apartment complex ahead.I didn't breathe any easier once I reached its shade.I
walked the winding pathways through the structures, trying to keep the crater always on my left.
As I got further away from the station, the screeching of the ghouls was replaced with the eerie
sounds of an empty city. Loose balcony railings groaned in the strong breeze. The overturned
husk of a bicycle lay twisted within what must have once been a bike rack, its tire-free spoke
squealing as it turned like a windmill. A metal shutter hanging by a single bolt thudded
rhythmically against the wall of an apartment complex lobby. Every minute sound sparked my nerve endings and tensed my shoulders until the bunched muscles began to ache. Every time a
shadow passed by overhead, I ducked under a ruined awning or into a dilapidated storefront.
Wherever the windows weren't broken, they were smeared in a coating of grime. I imagined
malformed shadows behind every murky pane of glass, making every potential hiding place just
as dangerous as the open street.The city's constant hum had gone dead silent. No rumbling
engines or honks, no chatter or laughter, not a single soul on once-bustling streets. The
eeriness and the chill of the wind left me hugging myself as I rounded the last bend of the
complex.My boots squelched in mud as I pulled up short."You've got to be kidding me," I
muttered.A grimy gray-green pond stretched as far as I could see to my right and a handful of
blocks ahead. On my left, the water was dammed up by the remnants of an overpass bridge
that had fallen onto its side. It looked ready to slide into the crater at the slightest disturbance to
the rock and asphalt beneath it. If I tried going around it on that side, a strong gust of wind or a
loose pebble could send me tumbling to my death.Buildings, traffic lights, and cars sat in three
feet of water. Everything had a fine coating of algae and God knew what else. Either a water
main had burst or this was a drinking hole for parabeasts that the rift had spat into the city. I
wasn't keen on sloshing through it either way, but taking the long way around, when I could very
well bump into another unseen obstacle, seemed slightly worse.I looked down at my wounded
leg, thinking about infection, but wasn't I already risking that anyway?Figuring I was far enough
from the station to tend to myself now, I sat down against the base of a streetlight pole that had
broken in half. Sticking my fingers through the hole in my pants, I ripped a strip of fabric free,
revealing more of the torn parafiber long-johns beneath. The frayed fibers stuck to a mess of
both fresh and crusted blood. I didn't want to prod around too much, but it looked like at least
two of the seven stitches had popped. Wincing, I tied the fabric strip tight around the worst part
of the wound. It would have to do.Careful not to slip in the mud, I moved to the bank of the
pond, steeling myself.The wall of what looked like a bodega had toppled in large hunks of
cement brick that I could maybe use as stepping stones, but they ended only a third of the way
across. With a steadying breath, I got atop the nearest one, then stretched out my leg for the
next, taking care to put my sole on the highest, driest point to avoid the slippery algae growth.
Using the same method, I picked my way across the rubble until it ran out, then stood atop the
rough, man-made boulder and surveyed the length I had left to go. The wind made the algae
blooms move lazily across the surface, but nothing else stirred the water.Just to be sure, I
crouched and picked up a palm-sized hunk of broken cement from the ruins beneath me.
Hefting it back, I threw it as far as I could to my right. It hit with a deep plunk that spread ripples
over the still surface. Motionless, I watched for any disturbance, any answering splashes or
shifting shadows swimming toward the spot. Nothing chased after my bait. I looked down into
the murk directly ahead and let out a long exhale. I've survived worse already, right?I lowered
one leg, then the other into the water, getting a cold shock.My eyes darted in every direction,
and I was ready to hop back on my rock at a moment's notice.Nothing. No movement at all.The
water lapped around my waist as I trudged forward with cautious steps. Each slosh of my shins
through the bog seemed horribly loud. The algae clung to my pants and the muddy bottom
sucked on my shoes.Plop.I whirled toward the sound, making my own too-loud splash, my heart
jumping into my throat. A slender trail had been cut in the algae. Already it was floating back
together into a seamless blanket like it had never been there.Could there be normal fish in
here? I asked myself, already knowing the answer. I stood in the middle of an unnatural pond at the heart of the downtown ardent district. If there was anything alive in this pond, it would only
be because it had burst out of the rift.With my eyes locked on the three or so yards between me
and the disturbance, I quickened my steps, no longer trying to avoid splashing as I moved
through the water.Bubbles broke through the algae and popped on the surface.