In the morning, I got up and stepped outside to see Manny already back on his feet. He and Mai were laughing about something I couldn't hear. I just stood there watching them until they noticed me and waved me over. Both asked if I wanted to join them at the waterfall to wash up. After everything that had happened, I needed it badly. At the facility, all I'd been given were torn pants, and I was desperate for a clean change. I agreed, and together we headed toward the river.
As we walked, Mai peppered Manny with lighthearted questions—his age, his favorite color—simple things to get to know him. I figured it was normal, but the whole conversation felt awkward. Manny made it worse by pointing out that I was the same age as Mai, then smirking as he implied that we could probably be boyfriend and girlfriend. My face burned red, anger bubbling, and I punched him into a tree for the comment.
By the time we reached the river, the sun was pushing its way through the tall trees above. Mai told us she would head downstream to the women's section, while Manny and I stayed put. I sank into the water until only my nose poked above the surface, just wanting to feel the calm for a moment. Manny started washing himself, talking as he did.
He told me about his time with the E.T.U. "When they captured me, I was almost killed right away," he said, "but the leader wanted me executed properly." He explained he'd been locked in containment for a few days before the execution date was set. When the time finally came, a riot broke out in the facility, giving him just enough of a window to escape.
He didn't go into detail, but he mentioned that while locked up, he heard about Amoi —from another enhanced civilian. Manny promised he would make the people responsible pay for letting Amoi die. I couldn't find the words to respond; the weight of it all left me silent. Manny splashed water into my face, telling me to cheer up.
Under the surface, I clenched my fist, twisted my wrist, and a stream of water shot up, splashing down over his head. He laughed and slammed his fist into the water, creating a tidal wave that pulled me under. I spun my body and formed a small whirlpool, dragging both of us downstream until the waterfall dropped us into the lake below.
Eventually, the current calmed. Manny and I sat waist-deep in the water, talking more. He said he felt better than yesterday, full of renewed energy. To prove it, he leapt from the water and drove his fist into the backside of the waterfall, carving out a small crater and changing the way the water cascaded.
I laughed and raised my hand, stopping the falling water mid-air, then sent it spraying in every direction. Manny fell back into the lake, grinning, then climbed out and said it was time to head back.
We dressed and climbed to the top of the waterfall, where Mai was waiting. I realized we hadn't seen her brothers and asked about them. She explained they had fallen ill and were resting in a hut. Irritated, I asked why she hadn't told me sooner—I could have healed them. She said she hadn't known I could do that, that she didn't fully understand the extent of my abilities.
She led Manny and me back to the village and into the hut. Inside, Xain, the youngest, lay groaning with his eyes closed, while his older brothers lay drenched in sweat and unconscious. I asked how long they had been like this. Mai admitted it had been since the last time I left them.
I shrugged, lifted my hand, and began to heal them. Manny stood in the doorway beside Mai's father, watching as a white aura branched out from my arm into each of the brothers. I clenched my fist and drew their sickness out, then let it vanish into nothing.
Their bodies immediately relaxed, their breathing steadied, and their color returned. Mai sighed with relief and threw her arms around me. Her father thanked me, and Manny warned me not to overuse my prowess. I told them the brothers would be fine from now on.
We left them to rest and returned to the campfire. The conversation shifted back to the war. Mai's father explained what he knew about the state of Pansen—that the whole landmass was under siege for the sake of the Yin-Yang spirits. He said most people were fighting to strip away any barriers standing between them and that power. Mai added that she'd heard rumors: many already knew we were somewhere in this region.
Manny's only contribution was bitter. "Nothing will stop me from getting revenge on the E.T.U." His words left Mai and her father puzzled, so we clarified, explaining Amoi and what had happened. They gave the usual sympathetic replies, but it wasn't their fault. My emotions boiled over, so I stood up and wandered into the woods alone.
The deeper I walked, the heavier the forest felt, as though it carried the weight of the war itself. The air seemed to whisper, echoing the chaos sweeping across the land. I pressed my hand to my face and muttered, "What a world." Eventually, I turned back.
By the time I reemerged in the meadow, the sky had turned grey. Clouds above twisted into a spiral, unnatural and threatening. I hurried back to the campfire, where Mai, Manny, and her father still sat. I asked if they understood what was happening. They didn't, but Eqihr did.
He appeared from the shadows and said, "Someone has combined two scaled swords. The one responsible is armed and dangerous."
The thought was unbelievable—why would anyone steal the spirits?
Eqihr's face was grim. "This person isn't just dangerous," he said. "They can spread carnage across all of Pansen."
The campfire circle fell silent, the weight of his words pressing down on us all. Then, from above, came the echoing roar of a dragon and the rumble of a pangolin, rippling through the clouds.
"One of Nazo's allies," Eqihr muttered, lowering himself onto a log.
That ominous feeling hit me again. I realized what the plants had been trying to warn me of—someone was fighting a massive battle, slaughtering countless people. I told the others, and their faces darkened with worry.
Eqihr's voice was grave as he ended with, "The real war is now beginning."