Page 336 of Scarlet Wars
The people were eager to restore order now they felt like I had proven myself worthy of them. Not only as a fighter, but as a Leader. One capable of protecting the largest Collective in the world, even against the world’s governing body if needed.
Cara’s Radicals moved like shadows around the square, their presence a strange contrast to the help they offered. Many of them had fought these same people not long ago, an Amplifier in their midst, rage in their veins. Now, they patched wounds, translated buildings back to whole, and stood shoulder to shoulder with those they had once tried to destroy.
It was...complicated.
But then again, so far everything in this war had been.
The Leaders of Sisu and Coastal had already reached out, messages sent to me, Caden, Vincent, and Petru. Not with congratulations, but with declarations.
Of war.
A clean, formal promise of retribution against those who had dared to oppose the hierarchy. Who had shattered the illusion ofstability. Who had taken a stand when the world wanted them silent.
In other words: Kanata C, Slava, Cyclos, Crown, and every Radical who had bled in that square would still be at war with at least two of the most influential Collectives on the planet.
At a time when unity was needed more than ever.
At a time when fracture was a death sentence.
So yes,congratulationsto the United Chiefs.
They had succeeded.
They’d done exactly what the world had feared they would.
They’d made us enemies of each other, when alliances were the only thing standing between survival and extinction.
And then there was Emma.
The girl who had fought harder than anyone. Who had shown the world what she was capable of, not just with strength, but with something far rarer. She’d revealed her powers without apology, hazesplural, burning bright and visibleinsidea Collective, where they should have been undetectable.
Two hazes instead of one.
A first cycler with less than two years of formal training under her belt…breaking bubbles andcreatingthem.
If she hadn’t been a target before, she sure as hell was now.
Whichever Collective she chose to stand with would have one hell of a job keeping her safe.
After the square was cleared, after the blood was washed from the stones and the wounded were carried off to the Healer’s wing, Emma disappeared.
She retreated to her room, alone.
No celebration. No victory lap. No triumphant speeches. Not even Caden Colt.
Only silence.
The kind that wrapped around you like armor when the weight of what you survived was heavier than the battle itself.
When I asked Colt about her, he simply shrugged, said whatever storm she was facing, she had earned the right to face it on her own terms. For now.
In the daysafter the Battle of Cyclos, holding off another magi war became a brutal, sleepless scramble.
Sisu’s Leader—Lova Vikander—and her First Offensive were already sharpening their knives, desperate to light the match and drag the world back into bloodshed, this time with themselves on the throne.
Colt and I fought tooth and nail to keep it all from slipping, burning through sleep, strength, and whatever scraps of diplomacy we had left.
Jackson was still recovering, and without his Orator talents, we weren’t exactly thriving.
