Storm of Ash. Michelle Kenney

the air before August shook his head. ‘From experience, and what I understand of how the Oceanids work – their therapies either work swiftly, or not at all. So … tempting though the thought is, it is better not to nurse unrealistic hope.’

      ‘Then I think we have our answer!’ Bereg roared from the back of the crowd, his affable face over-red and raw.

      Loud voices bayed their support, their faces leering as unbridled fury pierced my skin like barbs. And for a fleeting moment, I could almost believe I was back beneath the flashing screens and bloodthirsty crowds of Ludi. But how could I blame them? I’d breached village protocol by taking off with Eli and Max in the first place, and I’d breached it again by bringing back two Insiders, instead of two much-loved sons. And August’s defection and Unus’s efficiency with whatever he turned his hand to were no recompense for the biggest danger I’d carried right into the heart of our home. I was a Trojan horse of the worst kind.

      ‘There are others!’ August’s authoritative tone rose above the din, quieting it momentarily.

      ‘There are other Outsiders – communities like you – in isolated locations across Europa. The fate that befell Eli, Max and my own beloved blood sister, Aelia, was beyond our control. You must believe what Talia is saying – we did everything we could to save them.’

      I stared at the floor, acutely aware he was still doing it. Protecting me by trying to turn the tide, saving me when I least deserved saving. Didn’t he get it yet? There was no reprieve from this. I deserved it all. How could there be any light when the blood flowing through my veins was dark, like Cassius’s?

       Black to black, dust to dust.

      ‘Believe me, I understand …’ his voice faltered momentarily ‘… how you are feeling right now. But there is a darker day than this yet to come.

      ‘Max, Eli, Aelia … they are just the beginning. Cassius is coming for Arafel; he is coming for each and every one of you. And the reason I know this is because I was a Commander General of Isca Pantheon’s Equite forces, and a senior member of the scientific team for too long. Cassius will not rest until every last Outsider has been eliminated.’

      A muted gasp swept across the belligerent crowd.

      ‘You want revenge on your sons’ deaths, but you would do better to save your energy for those who are still alive. If you march on Pantheon as you are, you will join Max and Eli before the sun goes down. To stand even the remotest chance of bringing Cassius’s Civitas down once and for all, you need strength, speed and numbers. In truth, you need every last Outsider on this earth standing beside you.

      ‘And I know where they are.’

      For a second it was quiet enough to hear the faint call of a lemur outside. And then fresh pandemonium broke.

       ‘He must be lying … It can’t be true! Where are these other Outsiders? We would know of them. Do they look like him? It’s obviously a lie! How could an Insider know this? We would have known before now!’

      ‘Silence!’ This time it was Art’s command filling the space, and every pair of eyes levelled with the elderly man charged with making sense of it all.

      ‘If all of this is indeed true …’ he exhaled raggedly ‘… it is both a dark and wondrous day. We have lived with dreams of finding other communities like our own, but … how do we know they will be friendly or even receptive to helping Arafel?’

      ‘You don’t,’ August returned baldly. ‘We don’t … at least not yet. But I can tell you they are more like this community than they are different.’

      His tone grew gentler as the Ring hushed with new respect. ‘I’ve no idea how many individual communities there may be scattered across Europa. But my own Pantheon mission encountered one that had adapted to a similar climate, and where there is one there must be others. It’s vital to remember that while their Outsider DNA may be as original as any of yours, their culture will likely be very different … We would all need to tread cautiously.

      ‘Any community that stands beside Arafel will be unpredictable and a risk, until we know otherwise.’

      I scanned the faces in the crowd, which had morphed from hostility into something quieter, a grim unified determination. It was a real turnaround, and I knew if it wasn’t for his intervention we would be facing a very different scene now.

      My eyes flickered back to meet his. The lanterns were casting shadows across his tapered cheekbones, his dark eyes were hollowed, and the tiny muscle beside his mouth was twitching as though he wanted to say so much more. And yet, even though he’d saved me from clear ostracization, and provided my people with the most fragile of new hopes, I still couldn’t feel anything.

      I swallowed, trying to recall my father’s face. I could just see a hint of his smile, and his hunched back as he pored over the old-world maps in his treehouse study, ringing all the valleys in dark red. He would have been euphoric to know his belief and years of work weren’t in vain.

      August pulled his gaze away abruptly.

      ‘You need to gather a legatio, a deposition to locate new communities quickly and appeal for their help. There is no time to waste. I am willing and able to lead this legatio – in Arafel’s name.’

      There was a murmur across the crowd as Art nodded, visibly relieved. August already knew where to locate at least one other community, and that whoever travelled as embassy had the huge challenge of rallying them to our cause. He had a natural authority and had just demonstrated his powers of persuasion. There was no doubt he made the perfect choice.

      An Insider rallying feral communities to an Outsider army.

      It was a bittersweet outcome, and though it was clearly fraught with danger, there was no way back. I’d hurt them all, my own family included, and while August had provided some hope, it was merely a glimmer of light amid the gathering storm clouds.

      A war was coming, and my peace-loving people had eyes the colour of revenge.

       What, in the name of Arafel, had I started?

       Chapter 3

      The scar on his face glistened in the sun, while his eyes belied his words. Leaving words.

      ‘You know I have to do this. It gives the legatio a chance. I know where to go. I can lead them – it’s what I’m good at … Tal?’

      Hopelessness, then worse, hurt fleeted across his face as I gave him nothing back. But how could I when emotion was the cause of so much.

      ‘Feral means free, remember?’ he whispered. ‘That’s worth something even if you let go … of everything else.’

      I stared at the spring grass surrounding my leather-soled feet. It looked so fragile and swollen with monsoon rain. There were no dark veins or dust-choked roots. It had no idea of the shadows creeping closer every day. Unlike Augustus Aquila, standing less than a metre away, in my forest home, trying to save any part of us that was still salvageable.

      Why didn’t he understand? How could he stand there, alive, thinking of us when we’d watched so many others sink to the icy depths of the glass river … the icy depths.

       ‘For all Oceanid revivals there has to be a payment of sorts: either a trade of treasure or promise of recompense …’

      August’s words never felt more poignant.

       Was that it? Had August and I paid the ultimate price? Could our revival have cost us … us?

      I swallowed, trying to force thoughts past the rush of blood in my ears. Why would the Oceanids demand such a payment? Yet it would explain so much.

       ‘The Oceanids are loyal to no one but themselves.’

      That