“I can’t really believe we’re talking seriously about this…”

  The world around me was the blank perfection of winter. Snow had descended on the land in the last days. Everywhere was white, a landscape of unwritten stories. A ghostly silence hung over the world. It was the dull, echoless silence that clung to a land when smothered in snow.

  My boots crunched deep in the snow as I turned to look at the other two. Chowwick and Magneblade shared the privacy of this slope, far enough from the camp to afford real privacy.

  Magneblade said, “There’s never been a chance like this before. It’s time.”

  I shook my head slowly. I couldn’t believe I was the one being hesitant now. “I want to… I’ve been dreaming about it, but I’ve been certain that it’s a stupid dream as well. I don’t know what to think now, not when you two are saying it…”

  Weeks had passed since our victory over Indianapolis and our defeat at the hands of Denver. In those weeks we’d fought hard. I had truly learned the lessons of prudence. I wasted neither the powers of my Griidlords nor the lives of my soldiers when I felt the cost too high to pay for an Orb. And, just as importantly, I learned when to spend those efforts and sacrifice those lives as well. As the weeks had passed and the chill of winter deepened, we’d gained another Orb in a battle with the forces of Atlanta.

  My levels had ticked up as well. It was clear to me that the rate of increase was distinctly slowing now, but that didn’t change the bizarre reality that I stood at level 29 as my comrades and I surveyed the snow-crusted land below us. One more level and I would acquire yet another skill. My usefulness to our force was substantial now. I could match up with many a Griidlord. The significance of this, the realization of it, was hard for me to fully grasp. I had defied the expectations of everyone around me. I had stunned myself with this ascension.

  Chowwick said, “Lad… It’s been so long since Boston mattered a damn. And there’s not been a Falling like this in a long time. The doors are wide open for us.”

  I said, “You told me there was no need to change the city’s fortunes in just one season.”

  Chowwick said, “We all told you that. There wasn’t one of us that wasn’t worried about that hungry look you had in your eyes. We were afraid of what you’d do, how you might hurt yourself, or one of us, or the city, in pursuit of something so unrealistic.”

  I said, “Ah! So it is unrealistic!”

  Magneblade said, “It was… I struggle to hear myself say this, but it might not be so mad anymore. You’ve done much… It would have been madness to be thinking like this a few weeks ago. But you’ve learned to temper yourself, you lead well now, we fight well, your power has swollen.”

  Chowwick said, “And the environment is perfect. It’s wide open.”

  I said, “Because I killed the Axe out of Indianapolis?”

  I said it with regret. I ached that our fortunes were set to rise as a result of the slaying. When I spoke, I could hear the deep, bitter regret that colored my voice. Chowwick and Magneblade somehow seemed oblivious to my pain.

  Magneblade spoke, his voice hot and rough, excited, “Yes! Indy is weak, and it opens the field to new contenders. There’s no reason that can’t be us. A few weeks ago there could have been no discussion of taking the Griid-crown; it would have been pure folly. But Morningstar’s forces flounder. I understand they have little or no fragments to join the chase.”

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  Chowwick said, “And Baltimore has had poor luck with fragments as well. They’ve won plenty of fucking Orbs, like they usually do, but fragments have been scarcer.”

  I said, “So that’s the powers out East, but what about the others?”

  Chowwick said, “The Empire will make the same push it always makes. Some of her cities will score enough fragments to be able to make chase after the locked Orbs, but that’s always been the way, probably always will be the way. Fact is, we haven’t had a chance like this in a long fucking time, and we probably won’t again if we don’t seize it.”

  I stared down at the snow beneath me, my hand trembling slightly in wonder. “So… we’re going to push for the crown?”

  Chowwick said, “We’ve got the fragments, lad. We’ve already got a fair season’s worth of Flows.”

  I said, “But this would mean risking some of those Flows? It would mean spending them to hire troops, to take more men from their homes and put them in the field?”

  Chowwick said, “Aye! A mighty gamble, but think about the payoff, lad.”

  I said, “I just can’t believe it’s you two who are pushing for this…”

  Chowwick said, “We’ve got about 85% of the fragments we need to chase one of the first locked Orbs. If we can win one of those, it’ll contain the key for another. Competition is weak, and the prize is truly vast, lad. But it means a shift in how we do things.”

  I said, “More aggression…”

  He said, “Aye, you can’t make an omelette without breakin’ the eggs, and we won’t win a locked Orb if we’re not willing to get hurt in the process. Locked Orbs are huge prizes. If we have to contest one, we need to understand that it’s worth giving up more to gain it. And that’s where you need to be able to step back up. You need to understand that people will have to die to win an Orb like that. You need to be okay with sending men to die. And it’s more than that, lad.

  “We can go after a locked Orb, or even a few of them. You can do what you need to do—commit hard and send men to die. Some of us in suits might even get hurt. We might even get killed. And we might do all of that and still not win a locked Orb.

  “The locked Orbs come fast and go fast—it can be over mighty quick. There’s a chance you wind up standing on a battlefield full of the dead, full of the bodies of the men you sent in there to fight and die. You could be standing there, and it might all be over. We might have failed. You need to prepare yourself for how you’ll feel. You need to be okay with it. Because it might happen that way too, and you’re too valuable to Boston for us to lose you to melancholy. Do you understand what I’m trying to say, lad?”

  I didn’t meet his eyes, but I understood him very well. What was this reticence I felt? I had bubbled with the urge to go farther than anyone had expected. Now the reality of trying seemed too big, too ridiculous.

  I looked to Chowwick and could feel the fire burning behind his eyes. I said, “I understand. A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have, but I’ve seen enough to know what you mean.”

  Chowwick slapped me on the shoulder, the power and weight of his gauntlet staggering me. The intensity of his expression was almost disturbing. He’d always been a man of passions, but for all of that, there had been a strange kind of jadedness to his attitude about the Falling. He was happy to fight and expend his efforts, but there had been a resigned expectation that failure loomed. That underwhelming would probably be good enough. Now, that was gone. Now the bearded face was excited, the eyes wild and elated. I had done this to him. It was hard to imagine that a youth like I was could have inspired a powerful veteran like this, but there was no escaping that truth.

  Chowwick said, “Well, fuck it, lad! We don’t need to tell the ladies, not yet. They’ll have too many reservations about it. But for now, the three of us can know what we’re about. It doesn’t change that much, we’ll still go out tomorrow and try to chase down and win an Orb. The only real difference is that we make a priority out of Orbs that contain fragments over the Orbs that contain more Flows.”

  I said, “And we fight harder for Orbs with fragments.”

  Magneblade nodded solemnly. Chowwick grinned savagely. “Aye, lad, we fight harder for them. If there’re key fragments to be had, then we fight to the fucking end.”