It is absolutely possible to travel between

  cities on foot. The mist is survivable.

  It is also absolutely possible to hold

  your breath for twenty minutes under water.

  To answer your question,

  betting your life on something because it

  is technically possible is a form of natural selection.

  —Virgil Clay, Lecture

  Violet walked through the mist, one of several who were unsatisfied in one way or another. Daniel, the boy in the hoodie, wanted to use clarity to call for help and defend the train if it was attacked. When Violet’s plan was chosen instead, he’d wanted Violet herself to stay behind. Supposedly because she was so wounded, but she wondered about that. In any case, everyone else agreed she should go. She was the group’s only scout, and she’d taken a green heart from a hedron that had outclassed her before. It was also her plan to raid the nearby nest. It would be foolish not to bring her. Still, he’d been oddly insistent about it. Enough for Violet’s focus to narrow on him even further.

  For Violet’s part, she’d gotten what she wanted. They were going to the nest and taking the heart. It was the fastest way to get home, and she suspected the safest way… at least for her. It was only her, Daniel, Aubrey, and Kiera on this trip. For the same reason Stephanie hadn’t wanted to bring everyone when she planned to flee. A large group would only draw more hedron in. Daniel and Violet had either talents or attributes which would make it easier to find the nest. Aubrey and Kiera had the most effective attacks against the bat hedron. Everyone else stayed behind to protect the train, in the meantime. This gave Violet an excellent opportunity to… run some tests. She needed to know if she’d genuinely been responsible for the hedron attacking Stephanie at the end. Was she simply safe from them, or could she influence them? What was the limit on that? Exploring a nest was the perfect way to find out before she made it to Chromatic. And two out of three of her companions wouldn’t exactly break her heart by dying.

  Still, she was unsatisfied. Because she’d wanted to burn Stephanie’s body. She’d had good reason for it, too. Not just her personal motivation—to hide the nature of her fatal injury. That would surely be discovered if the body were brought to the city and autopsied. But it was well known that a corpse shouldn’t be left to the mist. The crystal wasn’t discerning about any body it took. It just needed to be moveable, and lack the will to fight back. It could create a hedron from the dead as easily as the living. In the case of humanity, it was actually easier.

  Burning the corpse was the safe choice. But crystallization usually took at least a couple of weeks in the mist, even for a corpse. And Stephanie’s body wasn’t in the mist, at least not directly. The rest of the group, most notably the conductors, felt there was almost no real risk to taking the body back and giving her a proper burial. At least… no real risk to anyone but Violet. Of course, she could only push so hard for cremation before it became something people remembered. She didn’t want to be remembered for that, especially if the body was examined after all.

  In Aubrey’s case, the source of her distress was obvious. As the three of them walked along the tracks, Daniel hanging back and Violet in the lead, Violet stalled a bit so she could once again reassure the other girl. It wasn’t the most comforting environment. Abandoned buildings on either side of the tracks lent a hopelessness to the atmosphere, as the mauve mist flowed around them. Each new sign of a lost civilization that revealed itself made it harder to hope for better things. Still, Violet would try.

  “No one blames you, you know. You probably saved all of our lives,” Violet promised.

  “Well, they should,” Aubrey hissed. “She was trying to protect us, and I killed her.” The bleeding ears had been all the evidence anyone had needed to make up their mind. Stephanie had to be injured enough for a category red to kill her, or her death couldn’t be explained at all. Which meant she must have been vulnerable to Aubrey’s attack. No one condemned her. But everyone clearly believed she was responsible. And, funnily enough, by ordering her to use the attack, Violet had ensured Aubrey would loudly claim responsibility for it herself.

  That belief wouldn’t stand up to scrutiny. Once the body was more thoroughly examined, people might’ve revisited their memories of the fight. They might’ve compared Aubrey’s range to Stephanie’s position and realized the truth. But that wouldn’t happen. Violet would dispose of the body one way or another before they made it to the next station. So Aubrey would own the blame for the rest of her life, most likely.

  It was a thrilling thought. Stephanie had been a cruel coward, and she’d paid with her life. Aubrey had been immediately hostile, and she was paying with unearned guilt. Violet had been happy to pass the blame to the angry girl. It looked like an accident, and there wouldn’t be serious consequences. She didn’t expect to enjoy the feeling so much, however. Watching the water build on the corner of Aubrey’s eyes was like ambrosia, and Violet had to suppress a genuine grin as she noticed them.

  “I told you to. I thought it was a good idea, and I’d have done the same,” Violet assured.

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  “And I told you, I was going to do it anyway! It’s my fault!” Aubrey replied again. Violet was surprised by how ready to accept the blame Aubrey actually was. She’d expected her to backpedal and blame Violet for the idea after all. That would have undermined the girl pretty thoroughly, but this was better.

  “That doesn’t matter,” Kiera cut in. “Whoever’s idea it was, you made the call to try and save her. She might have died anyway, if someone hadn’t killed those hedron. And then you would have blamed yourself for not doing it.”

  “What matters is it’s not your fault. We couldn’t have known what poor shape she was in. We couldn’t have predicted the hedron swarming her like that. You tried to save her, and I would have done the same,” Violet added.

  “Well, you didn’t. And now we are stranded without a lancer, and with two clearly inexperienced conductors. If we all die here, it will be my fault. If any of us die here, it will be my fault,” Aubrey insisted.

  Violet wondered how true that was. To an extent, she supposed she might be responsible for any death that resulted from Stephanie’s loss. At the same time, Stephanie had planned to leave them to die anyway. It felt a bit unfair to lay the blame at Violet’s feet, just for killing the woman. Stephanie had deserved it, and she’d only fought to save as many as she had because she didn’t get the chance to run.

  Violet ultimately decided that it didn’t matter how willing Aubrey was to blame herself for any further death. Violet had tipped the scales enough in the opposite direction to be absolved of any serious guilt. She was retrieving the heart as well. Again. The idea of blaming her for the risk was absurd. Violet decided to act as if she wanted to deny Aubrey’s claim, but couldn’t quite justify it. She looked away and closed her mouth. She could feel the damage the reaction had done in the air. Aubrey had broken just a little more after the implicit agreement. It certainly helped that Kiera didn’t have a response, either. Again, a thrill ran down Violet’s spine like water down an icicle.

  “Um, we have to turn here,” the usually-quiet Daniel interrupted. Both girls turned and looked at him. Violet glanced at the train tracks, the easiest landmark to lead them back to the train. Even she was reluctant to leave it.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to get lost,” Violet asked. Daniel seemed to flinch under the mild interrogation, like an abused cat at too sudden a movement from an angry owner. Violet was certain she’d injected enough sugar into the question to remain disarming. Her suspicions began to simmer after the odd response.

  “My ‘Dowsing’ talent is very reliable,” he answered nervously. “If it is sending us that way to reach the nest, that’s where we need to move, I promise.”

  Violet shrugged. “Well, that is why we brought you! Lead the way!” she agreed. He eyed her nervously. Like he was reluctant to show her his back. She knew fear when she saw it, and for some reason, the boy was afraid of her. The only reason she could think of for that was if he’d seen her leaving the car after killing Stephanie. But if that was the case, it would be very strange that he told no one. She had to keep a close eye on him.

  “Well, no worries, we can go first,” Violet agreed. “This way?” Daniel nodded as she pointed. The three women gave one last reluctant look to the tracks before veering off in the direction Daniel had pointed them. “What is your calling, exactly? This seems like a talent I should have, but you said you aren’t a scout?” Daniel didn’t answer, and Violet had to look over her shoulder to see his nervous look down. She smiled encouragingly, and he flinched.

  “It… it doesn’t matter,” he replied. Violet tilted her head, then shrugged. She wasn’t going to let it go, but it was better if she acted like she was. Kiera wasn’t quite ready to drop it, however.

  “I know you were reluctant to share with everyone before we left, but we really do need to know what you can do before we get into a fight. If we’ve learned anything from our first, it’s that we need a good understanding of our abilities and limits before we use them, or someone could get hurt,” Kiera pressed. Aubrey flinched, but didn’t say anything. Violet glanced over her shoulder and eyed Daniel curiously. He was obviously conflicted, and she couldn’t understand why. She hid her actual abilities and calling as well, which made her more curious as to why the other student would do the same.

  “I… can’t do much in a fight, like I said. I’m here because I can guarantee we find the closest nest, but if we are attacked, I won’t be much help,” he answered. He then paused for a long moment, conspicuously avoiding eye contact with Violet, and took a deep breath. “But if you protect me, I can at least tell you how dangerous a hedron is. That’s my only other talent, at the moment.” Violet paused for only a second, taking another step forward before anyone could perceive her hesitation.

  “Oh?” she asked. “How does that work?” She was casual in her inquiry, but far more curious than she let on. Could he, for instance, tell how dangerous she was, or did it only work on hedron? Could it read intent, or only combat ability? Daniel could end up a dangerous man to be around, depending on the answers to those questions.

  “It’s just a feeling I get. It’s hard to describe, like a color that doesn’t exist or a sense that we don’t have. I can just tell how dangerous a hedron is,” he answered.

  “Oh, well, that could be useful. We’ll know where to focus our attention,” Kiera agreed.

  “Yeah, don’t sell yourself short!” Violet said. “Attack and defense aren’t the only useful tools in a fight, after all.” Her voice was sweet as honey and intended to encourage, even as she mentally raised an eyebrow at the description. Talents worked in a wide variety of ways. It was possible that Daniel had something of a “Spider-Sense,” but she couldn’t put her finger on exactly what calling might include the two talents he’d revealed. She didn’t like that at all. It was a factor she couldn’t control, and a potentially dangerous one. But she couldn’t push any further than that. Because after they’d walked down the quiet dirt road for only a couple of minutes, she saw it through the mist.

  It had formed around an old factory, it looked like. A large billboard revealed itself through the mist with the letters “TEL” still visible, if faded. Red crystal lined the walls, creating a rough surface. It looked like a weirdly flat cave, with stalactites of crystal hanging from some windows. Every opening was still there, if not surrounded by rough and sometimes sharp crystal. She could barely make out several doors, crusted with red but still visible.

  “Well, you were right about your dowsing at least,” Violet announced. No one else could see through the mist enough to realize it, and everyone shuddered as they realized what she meant. “We’ve found the nest.”