Morning came again, grey light through the windows, the sound of rain against the glass, the smell of something cooking somewhere in the estate. David had slept better than he expected, the exhaustion of the past few days finally catching up with him, pulling him under into darkness that had no dreams, no visions, no messages from the dead.
He lay in bed for a while, listening to the rain, feeling the crystal warm against his thigh, feeling the egg pulse somewhere in the shelter behind his eyes. Lucas had been right to make them rest. They'd been running for so long, running from the Vane family, running from Chen, running from the thing in the trees, that they'd forgotten what it felt like to just stop.
But stopping didn't last forever.
He got up, dressed, walked down to the main hall. The grandmother was there already, her walking stick in her hands, her eyes on the rain. Kaito was beside her, standing without his cane, his face still pale but his posture straighter than it had been in weeks.
"You're up early," the grandmother said, not looking at him.
"Couldn't sleep anymore."
She nodded slowly, her eyes still on the window. "That's the way of it. Rest when you can, because when you can't, you'll wish you had."
David stood beside her, looked out at the rain, at the gardens that were getting soaked, at the paths that were turning to mud. "What do you think it is? The thing in the trees."
The grandmother was quiet for a moment, her hands tight on her walking stick. "I think it's something old. Something that's been here longer than the system, longer than the portals, longer than anyone remembers. I think it's been waiting for something, and I think it's decided that something is you."
David thought about the way the alpha had stepped aside, the way the thing in the trees had watched and waited, the way the stone in the den had pulsed when he touched it. "Why me? What makes me different?"
The grandmother turned to look at him, her eyes sharp, her face unreadable. "Your mother believed the egg chose you. That it had been waiting for you since before you were born. Maybe the thing in the trees is waiting for the same thing. Maybe it's waiting for the egg to wake up."
David shook his head slowly. "I don't even know what's inside it. I don't know what it does. I don't know why anyone would kill for it."
The grandmother was quiet for a moment, her eyes on his face. "Sometimes we don't know what we're fighting for until we've already started fighting. Sometimes we just have to trust that there's a reason."
---
The training facility was empty when David got there, the lights dim, the equipment quiet. He stood in the center of the room, closed his eyes, reached for his fire. It came easily now, more easily than it had in the beginning, responding to his thoughts, his feelings, his will. He shaped it into a ball, a stream, a wall, moved it around the room, brought it back to his hands.
Becca found him an hour later, her hair wet from the rain, her shadows moving at her feet. "You're up early."
"Couldn't sleep."
She nodded, moved to the center of the room, pulled out her daggers. "Show me what you've been working on."
David looked at her, at the challenge in her eyes, at the shadows that were rising around her like they were waiting for something. "I thought we were resting today."
"We rested yesterday. Today we train." She moved into a stance, her daggers ready, her eyes fixed on his. "The thing in the trees isn't going to wait for us to be ready. The Vane family isn't going to wait for us to be ready. Chen isn't going to wait for us to be ready. So we need to be ready now."
David pulled fire into his hands, matched her stance, met her eyes. "Fine. But don't blame me if you get singed."
She smiled, a real smile, the kind she didn't show often. "I never do."
They moved.
Becca was faster than him, always had been, her shadows letting her slip through spaces that should have been too small, her daggers finding angles that shouldn't have existed. David was stronger, his fire pushing her back, forcing her to dodge, to weave, to find new ways to get close.
They fought for an hour, maybe two, until both of them were breathing hard and the training facility looked like something had exploded in it. Lucas found them there, his eyes wide, his voice bright.
"Did I miss something? Did something happen? Why does everything look like it's on fire?"
David let his fire die, let his hands cool, let himself breathe. "Training."
Lucas looked at Becca, at the shadows that were still moving around her, at the daggers that were still in her hands. "Training? This looks like you two were trying to kill each other."
Becca sheathed her daggers, her shadows retreating, her voice steady. "We were."
Lucas looked at David, something shifting in his expression. "Is everything okay? Did something happen? You seem... different."
David shook his head, moved to the bench, sat down heavily. "I'm fine. Just thinking."
Erica appeared in the doorway, her bow on her back, her eyes on the rain. "The storm's getting worse. We're not going anywhere today."
Lucas groaned, flopped onto the bench beside David. "Great. Stuck inside all day with nothing to do but train and think and stare at the walls. This is going to be fun."
Becca moved to the window, looked out at the rain, her voice quiet. "We could look at the journal. Your mother's journal. There might be something we missed, something about the stones, about the markers, about the thing in the trees."
David thought about his mother's words, the ones he'd read a hundred times, the ones he'd memorized without meaning to. "I've read it cover to cover. There's nothing about stones or markers or things in trees. She didn't know about any of that."
Elena came in while they were talking, her hair wet, her clothes damp, her face pale. "Sorry. I was in the garden. I didn't realize it was raining so hard."
Lucas looked at her, his expression shifting. "You were in the garden? In the rain?"
Elena shrugged, moved to the bench, sat down beside David. "I needed to think."
Becca turned from the window, her eyes on Elena's face. "Think about what?"
Elena was quiet for a moment, her hands in her lap, her eyes on the floor. "About my mother. About the stone she found. About what she said to David in the vision." She looked up, her eyes bright. "She said the egg chose him. That it's been waiting for him since before he was born. But she didn't say why. She didn't say what it was waiting for."
David put his hand on her arm, felt her trembling, felt the cold that was still in her from the rain. "We'll figure it out. We have time."
Elena shook her head slowly. "We don't have time. The Vane family is out there, Chen is out there, the Council is out there. They're not going to wait for us to figure things out. They're going to come for us, and when they do, we need to be ready."
Lucas stood up, his energy returning, his voice bright. "Then we train. We get stronger. We figure out what the egg does and why everyone wants it so badly." He looked at David. "We're not going to learn anything sitting here."
David stood, looked at his friends, at the people who had followed him into the Expanse, into the den, into the path of something that had been waiting for him his whole life. "Then let's train."
---
They spent the rest of the day in the training facility, pushing each other harder than they'd ever pushed before. Lucas worked on his density shifts, making himself heavier and lighter, faster and slower, learning to move in ways that shouldn't have been possible. Erica practiced her aim, hitting targets that moved, that dodged, that tried to hide. Becca taught Elena the basics of combat, how to hold a dagger, how to move, how to use her shadows.
David worked on his fire, shaping it, controlling it, learning to make it do things he'd never tried before. The crystal pulsed in his pocket, warm against his thigh, and the egg pulsed in his shelter, matching its rhythm, matching his heartbeat.
By the time the sun went down, they were all exhausted, sprawled on the floor of the training facility, staring at the ceiling.
Lucas was the first to speak, his voice hoarse. "I can't feel my arms."
Becca laughed, a real laugh, the kind she didn't show often. "You don't have arms. You have meat slabs attached to your shoulders."
Lucas looked at her, something shifting in his expression. "That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me."
"It wasn't a compliment."
"I'm taking it as one."
Erica sat up, her bow across her lap, her eyes on the door. "Someone's coming."
David sat up too, his fire ready, his heart pounding. But it was just Kaito, his steps careful, his face pale, his eyes bright.
"Dinner's ready," he said. "And the grandmother wants to talk about what comes next."
---
The main hall was crowded again, the same people as before, the same tension in the air. The grandmother sat at her usual place, her walking stick in her hands, her eyes moving from face to face. Kaito was beside her, standing without his cane, his posture straight. Becca was at the table, her shadows quiet, her face calm. Erica was by the window, her bow on her back, her eyes on the gardens. Lucas was beside David, his energy finally fading, his head nodding.
Elena sat between them, her face pale but her eyes bright, her hands wrapped around a cup of something that steamed in the evening light.
The grandmother spoke first, her voice carrying across the room. "We have a problem. The Vane family has been asking questions. About David, about Elena, about the Moon Clan. They know something's happening. They're not going to wait much longer."
David leaned forward, his voice low. "What kind of questions?"
Kaito answered, his voice steady. "About the vault. About the Expanse. About the thing in the trees. Someone's been talking, someone who knows what we found."
Becca's shadows rose, her voice sharp. "Who? Who would tell them?"
Kaito shook his head slowly. "We don't know. But we're going to find out."