Page 148 of Cage of Starlight

Tory is here, and Sena is alive, and this is where it starts. Maybe this is where it was always meant to start. One set of walls broken down and cities more to go, until every wall is dust and they stand in the home of a fearful man who turns his terror to violence and makes weapons of children and sons.

With Iri, with Hasra and Ariana Belmin, with any Seeds willing to stand behind them—they’ll tear this festering country out by the roots.

The others walk on ahead, until only Tory and Sena remain behind in the yard.

“You don’t have to do this,” Sena reminds him.

He’s right. There’s no deal between them to coerce him, no Core to trap him. The future they face could hurt him, break him, end him.

For the first time in a long time—in a lifetime, maybe—Tory doesn’t have to, but that’s why he chooses it. “Were you listening to a word I said? No way you’re getting rid of me that easy.”

Sena smiles, lopsided and dry. “I’d hoped not.”

Tory walks outside the crumbling walls into open air that smells of blood and ash. He aches all over. Sena, shoulders squared, walks a step ahead, into the darkness under trees that hum with life, and Tory follows close. They’ll shake the world, the two of them.

It feels like flying, like falling from a great height.

It feels right.