Page 84 of Iridian

“That’s true, actually. While you’ve been up here, hiding away from the world, the Council has gotten busy. They’re accusing people of being Selem, people who’ve never even heard about us before, just to have an excuse to kill them. Anything counts as a crime against the Council now—a simple expression of disappointment in their leadership suffices,” said Radock, hands in the pockets of his black pants as he slowly began to pace forward and back.

My heart beat in rhythm with his footsteps. For a moment there, I couldn’t see any of their faces at all, too focused on the chaos inside my head. Until Taland squeezed my hand because he must have felt my muscles clenching, my whole body turning rigid. Not withshockexactly—this was the Council we were talking about, and from them I expected anything.

“But…why?” I whispered, shaking my head. “Why would they…why?”

“Fear, mostly,” Radock said. “They’ll pick any excuse, but it’s because of fear. Because they are no longer in complete control of the world, and they are no longer the most powerful people in the world, Rosabel—you two are.” He pointed two fingers toward me and Taland. “I imagine that doesn’t sit well with them.”

“They feel weak because they can’t get to you,” Aurelia said. “And weak people are the most dangerous kind out there—especially those with authority over trained soldiers, such as the Council.”

“They’re in panic and trying to convince themselves that they’re in control,” said Zachary. “IDD soldiers are raiding houses, communities, schools even, based on very little intel.”

“They’re killing first, asking questions later.” Seth was grinning ear to ear as he raised his hand toward me—a phone. He was offering me a phone.

I took it without really thinking about it, and found a video already playing on the screen, the sound off.

A video of IDD soldiers with machine guns in their hands, and wands and staffs and bones, too, walking into a neighborhood where more soldiers were already raiding the houses, kicking the residents out. Two of the houses were on fire, and men and women and children were out in the street, most wearing pajamas, looking around, confused. Afraid.

It was nighttime so I knew the video wasn’t live, but I almost felt like I was standing right there, as terrified as them to see the soldiers walking in and out of houses, setting things on fire, dragging out the people who had most likely refused to come out of their homes on their own.

I was repulsed by every little detail—of how they beat a man in front of his wife, who screamed and raised her wand at them, and then two other soldiers grabbed her and slammed her against the asphalt. Meanwhile her neighbors, two women holding two small dogs in their hands, watched and cried and didn’t dare get even close to help them.

Yes, I was disgusted, but I also couldn’t look away. I also couldn’t stop taking in every detail of how, whoever was recording, moved deeper into the wide street to show how soldiers were dragging another man and woman outside of a one-story house, while a magically enhanced drone flew over it, and another two soldiers were chanting furiously at it, one waving his staff, the other holding onto his necklace made out of bone pieces. Fire exploded from both their hands, orange flames mixed with green and white at first, before they shot for the door and front windows of the house, and it exploded.

The man and woman screamed, and even though I couldn’t hear the real sound, I could imagine it just fine in my head because I saw their faces. I saw how they tried to free themselves of the grips of the soldiers, until one of them waved his wand, and the Bluefire that erupted from it wrapped around their bodies and paralyzed them so that they couldn’t even moveanymore. They couldn’t move—they could only watch their house going down in flames slowly—and then Taland grabbed the phone from my hand.

“That’s enough,” he said and threw it back at Seth.

Only when I looked up did I realize that my eyes were full of tears. Only when I opened my mouth did I realize that I couldn’t produce enough voice to speak just yet.

“Tell me about it,” Aurelia said with a sigh, and she wasn’t smiling anymore. “I was the same the first time I saw something similar. They’ve…lost it. Completely lost it.”

“That’s…that’s…”barbaricI wanted to say, but I couldn’t spit the word out.

“They need to be stopped because they are not going to stop themselves,” Radock said, still pacing around the porch, looking at the trees, mostly the four soldiers right outside. “Not until they’ve either killed or imprisoned every single person that they feel slightly threatened by.”

“And we’re not talking just about mages who can do fourth-degree spells—but third-degree, too. Even second in some cases. They have all the records, anyway. They’ve been gathering data for the past few decades, so they’re having a fairly easy time finding everyone on their lists,” Zachary said.

“Most Mud have fled their houses and are in hiding, as well as any Iridian who can do third-degree spells, who got away in time. Fourth-degree casters were the first ones to get hit so most of them are either dead or in the Tomb,” Aurelia continued, and it was like they were repeatedly stabbing me in the same place at once.

“Simply put, they’re destroying anyone who poses a threat to them, no matter how little,” Radock said. “And again, they will not stop until they’ve figured out a way to destroy you and your soldiers, too, little brother. Then, their reign will be absolute.”

“Exactly like David Hill wanted to do,” Kaid said, and my stomach twisted violently. I let go of Taland’s hand and went to sit on the railing. I just needed a moment to rest my shaking legs.

Taland was right behind me, and the others came closer to us, too.

“That’s why we came here,” Zachary, who’d sat not two feet away from me, said. Taland stood behind me with both hands over my shoulders like hereallythought someone might attack me any second. “That’s why we had no choice but to ask for your help.”

“Alone, we can’t defeat them. Not even close with how paranoid they’ve become,” Aurelia said.

“Shoot first, ask questions later,” Seth repeated as he sat at the very end of the railing, resting his back against the pillar. “Remember that, Rora?”

I did. The Devil operated his entire neighborhood in Silver Spring by that philosophy, and I’d seen exactly what his community had looked like.

“But with yourtrata, Taland—” Zachary started.

“Don’t call them that,” Taland cut him off, his voice strained. His whole body had become so tense so suddenly. I could tell by how he squeezed my shoulders. “They’re notthings.”

I remembered what I’d read in that book in Madeline’s office about the Delaetus Army, how Titus had referred to the soldiers as histrata,which translated tothings.Taland was right—these soldiers weren’t that. On the contrary. If Zach could hear them and know their stories the way Taland did, he’d never dream of using that word to describe them.

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