Sweat beaded along Astrea's skin.
She still hadn't found Nero, who was her entire plan to defeat Sodom. She checked the forest first. Moved through the same trees where they'd trained, calling his name low enough that only he'd hear. Nothing. No sign of the fight either — just broken branches and a dark stain on the ground she didn't look at for long. So, she returned to Eddie's house hopefully to find Nero there.
She knocked on the door, her head downcast.
The door burst open as soon as she finished knocking. Eddie's wife stood out of breath and as soon as she recognised Astrea, she instantly grabbed her and pulled her inside. She shut the door and pressed Astrea against it bringing her face close to Astrea's, her eyes spoke a thousand words.
"Where is Eddie? Where is my Husband!" she shouted.
Astrea flinched at these words. She didn't say a word. Her face said it all.
Eddie's wife crumbled. She started to lose her grip on Astrea as she fell to the ground. Tears started to hit the floorboards.
"Nora, Nora…why…why is this happening…why did you let this happen," she muttered to herself.
Astrea couldn't bear to look at her.
"Eddie's still alive…We can still save him," she stumbled through her words.
"Don't fill my heart with false promises." Nora looked up her eyes red. "How are you, with no power going to save Eddie,"
Astrea fell silent for a moment.
"Nero. If I can find him, he could help us," she finally said.
"That boy. He's not moving anywhere, he's currently resting upstairs in terrible shape," said Nora.
On hearing this, Astrea ran upstairs blowing past Nora. She searched through the rooms until she found Nero. His body was wrinkled and cold to the touch. His pulse was weak, barely even noticeable.
"He's an avatar. I saw the mark on his back," Nora said.
"What is that? An avatar I mean?" Astrea asked.
"Avatars are miracles. They aren't just touched by God's but inhabited by them."
Astrea was shaken.
"There are only seven registered avatars in Dominica. Nero should be the eighth." Nora paused. "The registered ones were all taken to the Capitol when their marks appeared. Nobody sees them after that. Whatever Nero is — whatever he's been hiding from — it's bigger than anything in Froja."
She looked at him for a moment — this boy who'd appeared from nowhere, who'd helped her without explaining why, who was now barely breathing. Whatever he was carrying, it was heavier than she'd understood.
She left him to it.
She left the room and ran downstairs.
"Where are you going?" Nora shouted after her.
She didn't respond and ran out the house. She ran through streets she had come to know well until she reached the docks. She spotted the shrine, the one that only a few days ago that she had wanted to access.
It was time to try again.
Some chalk had been left at the shrine along with some matches. Astrea drew the ritual circle, lit the matches and started to chant.
Nothing happened.
She continued to chant. Harder and faster than before.
Still. Nothing.
Candles that once burned bright had long gone cold. Her voice that was once strong, burning with confidence, had shrivelled up.
She sat back on her heels. The chalk circle looked pathetic in the moonlight. All those weeks watching the sailors. All those days training. She pressed her palms flat against the dock boards and closed her eyes.
Nothing came.
She got up anyway.
"Hey." A man stepped out of the shadows near the shrine. He wore an eye-patch and a red bandana. He moved like someone who had never needed to hurry because things had always waited for him. "Do you have a sec."
Astrea turned instantly on guard.
"Who are you?" she asked.
"Oh, my bad, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Favian." He said. "Just a couple things." He tilted his head. "You know where Sodom is?"
"Not sure. Been looking myself." She replied.
He studied her for a moment. Long enough to be uncomfortable. "And you — are you Touched?"
Astrea flinched slightly but kept her guard.
"I'm Astrea and I'm one of the touched."
Favian looked at her for a long moment. Then he smiled. It wasn't a reassuring smile.
"Good," he said. "Then you can help me."