Dawn came too quickly.
Tadano had barely slept, his mind churning with scenarios and strategies for the mission ahead. Beside him, Vivi had tossed and turned all night, occasionally sparking small flames in her sleep that she'd unconsciously extinguish moments later.
The resistance members were already moving when they woke—checking weapons, reviewing maps, speaking in the clipped, efficient tones of people preparing for combat. Nobody spoke to the twins. Nobody even acknowledged them.
Garrett appeared with breakfast—hard bread and dried meat. "Eat. You'll need your strength."
"When do we get the mission briefing?" Tadano asked.
"Now." Garrett gestured for them to follow.
Captain Reine stood at the map table, surrounded by half a dozen of her fighters. She looked up as the twins approached, her scarred face expressionless.
"The convoy moves along the eastern road at dusk," she said without preamble. "Three wagons, eight guards, standard Dark patrol formation. We'll hit them here—" she pointed to a section of road that curved through a small valley, "—where they can't maneuver easily. Fast strike, grab what we can, withdraw before reinforcements arrive."
She looked at the twins. "You two will be in the advance scout position. Your job is to confirm the convoy's approach and signal us when to attack. Think you can handle that?"
"Yes," Tadano said immediately.
"Good. We leave in two hours. Garrett will give you your equipment." She turned back to the map, dismissing them again.
Two hours later, they were on the road.
The resistance moved in small groups, taking different paths to avoid suspicion. Tadano and Vivi were paired with a grizzled veteran named Marcus—the same man who'd sent them to Sarah's inn back in Riverside. He led them east along game trails and through scattered woods, always staying out of sight of the main road.
"You're the ones who watched the Culling and didn't run," Marcus said as they walked. It wasn't a question.
"That's us," Vivi confirmed.
"Stupid or brave. Haven't decided which yet." Marcus stopped at the edge of a treeline, looking down at the road below. "There. That's where we set up. You two will wait in those rocks—" he pointed to an outcropping about fifty yards from the road, "—and watch for the convoy. When you spot it, Vivi sends up a flame signal. One burst, quick and bright. We see it, we know to get in position. Understand?"
"Understood," Tadano said.
"And if things go wrong?" Vivi asked.
Marcus smiled, but it wasn't comforting. "If things go wrong, you run. Don't try to be heroes. Don't try to help. Just run and hope they don't catch you." He checked the sun's position. "Convoy should pass in about three hours. Get comfortable. It's going to be a long wait."
He melted back into the forest, leaving them alone.
Tadano and Vivi made their way to the rocks, finding positions that gave them a clear view of the road while keeping them hidden. And then they waited.
The sun crawled across the sky. An hour passed. Then two. The road remained empty.
"This is boring," Vivi muttered.
"Boring is good. Boring means no one's trying to kill us."
"Yet."
Three hours came and went. No convoy. The sun was sinking toward the horizon now, painting the sky in shades of orange and red. Tadano felt unease building in his gut.
"They should be here by now," he said quietly.
"Maybe they're late?"
"Dark convoys run on precise schedules. That's the whole point of—"
A sound made him freeze. Not from the road. From behind them.
Footsteps. Multiple sets. Moving through the rocks.
Tadano's hand went to his sword. Beside him, Vivi's hands erupted in flames. They turned—
And found themselves facing five Dark soldiers.
Not the convoy. Not what they were watching for. A patrol, sweeping through the area, and they'd walked right into the twins' hiding spot.
For a heartbeat, nobody moved.
Then everything exploded into chaos.
The lead soldier lunged at Tadano, his dark-energy weapon crackling. Tadano drew his sword and parried, the impact sending shock waves up his arms. These weren't like the soldiers at the checkpoint—these were combat veterans, and they fought like it.
Vivi threw fire, forcing two soldiers to scatter. But the other three were already moving, flanking them, cutting off escape routes.
"Run!" Tadano shouted, deflecting another strike. "Vivi, run!"
"Not without you!"
A soldier grabbed for her. She incinerated his hand, and his scream echoed across the rocks. But two more were closing in, their weapons raised.
Tadano tried to reach her, but the lead soldier blocked his path, raining down strikes that drove him back. He was skilled—far more skilled than anyone Tadano had fought in the underground. And he wasn't alone.
They were going to die here. Sixteen years old, their first mission, and they were going to die in some nameless rocks on a nameless road because they'd been stupid enough to think they could be soldiers.
A soldier's weapon came down toward Vivi's head—
And stopped.
The soldier was floating. Actually floating, suspended two feet off the ground, his body rigid as stone. His companions froze, confusion replacing aggression.
Then the ground beneath them erupted.
Earth and rock exploded upward in spikes and pillars, throwing the soldiers in every direction. One was impaled through the leg. Another was sent flying into the road. The rest scattered, shouting in their harsh language.
And standing on top of the rock outcropping, green hair whipping in the wind, stood a boy—no older than they were—with a mischievous smile.
"Well," he said cheerfully. "This looks fun. Mind if I join in?"
He didn't wait for an answer. His hand moved in a complex gesture, and the earth responded. Massive stone fists erupted from the ground, smashing into the soldiers with devastating force. One tried to run—the ground beneath him turned to quicksand, swallowing him to his waist.
The remaining soldiers, faced with power they couldn't comprehend, made the smart choice. They retreated, dragging their wounded with them, disappearing into the gathering dusk.
Silence fell.
The green-haired boy dropped lightly from the rocks, landing beside the twins with casual grace. Up close, Tadano could see he was about their age—maybe sixteen, seventeen at most—with bright green eyes that sparkled with perpetual amusement.
"That was exciting," he said. "You two are either very brave or very stupid. I'm Dan, by the way."
"You just—" Vivi gestured at the devastated landscape, at the stone spikes and earth fists and general destruction. "How did you do that?"
"Trade secret." Dan looked around at his handiwork with satisfaction. "Pretty good, if I say so myself. Haven't had a proper fight in weeks."
"You saved us," Tadano said, still processing what had just happened.
"I did! You're welcome." Dan's smile widened. "Now, want to tell me why two kids were sitting in the rocks waiting to ambush a convoy that doesn't exist?"
Tadano and Vivi exchanged glances.
"What do you mean doesn't exist?" Vivi asked.
"I mean there's no Dark convoy scheduled on this road today. Or any day this week. I checked." Dan sat down on a rock, completely relaxed despite having just demolished five soldiers. "So either you got bad intelligence, or—" his eyes gleamed with understanding, "—someone sent you here knowing you'd fail."
The pieces clicked into place in Tadano's mind. The way Reine had barely looked at them. The way the other resistance members had ignored them. The way Garrett had told them to run if things went wrong.
"It was a test," he said slowly. "Not a real mission. A test to see if we'd... what? Die quietly?"
"Or run away," Vivi added, flames sparking angrily at her fingertips. "They wanted to get rid of us without actually rejecting us. Let the Darks do their dirty work."
"Probably," Dan agreed. "Resistance groups do that sometimes. Can't have dead weight, but also can't be seen as heartless. So they give recruits impossible tasks and let nature take its course." He stood, brushing dust from his clothes. "Question is—what are you going to do about it?"
"Go back and demand answers," Vivi said immediately.
"Bad idea. They'll just deny it, and you'll have no proof." Dan started walking toward the road. "Better idea—prove them wrong. Show them you're not dead weight."
"How?" Tadano asked, following.
"Well, for starters, you survived. That's something. And second—" Dan grinned over his shoulder, "—you've got me now. And I'm bored. I like interesting people. You two are interesting."
"You don't even know us," Vivi pointed out.
"I know you watched five Dark soldiers about to kill you and didn't beg for mercy. I know she—" he pointed at Vivi, "—was ready to burn them all down even if it meant dying, and he—" pointing at Tadano, "—was trying to protect her even while fighting for his life. That tells me plenty."
They reached the road. In the distance, Tadano could see figures emerging from the treeline—the resistance members, coming to check on their "scouts."
"Here's what's going to happen," Dan said, his voice losing some of its playful tone. "They're going to come over here, see the destroyed rocks and dead soldiers, and ask what happened. You're going to tell them exactly what happened—Dark patrol stumbled on your position, you fought them off. Don't mention me."
"Why not?" Tadano asked.
"Because I'm not supposed to be here. And because—" Dan's smile returned, "—I want to see their faces when they realize you survived without help. Well, with minimal help. Say Vivi got lucky with her fire, made the rocks explode or something."
Then he simply sank into the ground, the earth closing over him like water, leaving no trace he'd ever been there.
Tadano and Vivi stood alone on the road, surrounded by evidence of a battle that shouldn't have happened, waiting for a resistance that had sent them to fail.
"What just happened?" Vivi asked.
"I have no idea. But I think we just made a very strange friend."
Marcus arrived first, emerging from the forest with three other fighters. They stopped when they saw the destroyed landscape, the scattered weapons, the blood on the rocks.
"What—" Marcus stared. "What happened?"
"Dark patrol," Tadano said, keeping his voice steady. "They came through the rocks. Five of them. We fought."
"And won?" One of the other fighters looked incredulous. "You two killed five Dark soldiers?"
"We fought them off," Vivi corrected. "Don't know if they're dead. They retreated."
Marcus walked through the destruction, examining the stone spikes, the earth fists, the general devastation. His eyes were sharp, calculating.
"This doesn't look like fire magic," he said slowly. "This is something else."
"Is it?" Vivi shrugged with forced casualness. "I just threw fire at them and things exploded. Guess I got lucky with the terrain."
It was a terrible lie. Marcus clearly didn't believe it. But he also didn't call them on it.
"We need to move," he said instead. "If that patrol reports back, this area will be swarming with soldiers within the hour." He looked at the twins. "You two did good. Better than expected. Come on."
They followed him back into the forest, where the rest of the resistance was waiting. Captain Reine stood at the center, her expression unreadable as they approached.
"Report," she demanded.
"Dark patrol stumbled on their position," Marcus said. "They engaged and drove them off."
Reine's eyes narrowed. "They what?"
"Fought them. Won. There's weird damage all over the rocks. Not typical combat patterns." Marcus looked at Vivi. "What exactly did you do out there?"
"Fought for our lives. Used everything we had." Vivi met Reine's gaze steadily. "We survived. Isn't that what matters?"
The silence stretched. Reine studied them with those cold, analytical eyes.
"Get back to base," she finally said. "We'll debrief there."
The walk back to Millbrook was tense and quiet. Tadano could feel the resistance members watching them, whispering. Nobody quite believed the story. But nobody could prove otherwise.
When they reached the underground hideout, Reine led them to a private corner. Garrett was there too, his expression troubled.
"There was no convoy, was there?" Tadano said before either could speak.
Reine's eyebrow raised. "No. There wasn't."
"You sent us out there to fail."
"I sent you out there to see what you were made of." Reine leaned against a wall, arms crossed. "Most recruits run the moment real danger appears. Those who don't usually die quickly and stupidly. But you two..." She shook her head. "You fought five veteran soldiers and survived. That's not luck. That's skill. Or power. Or both."
"So we passed your test?" Vivi asked.
"You survived my test. That's not the same as passing." Reine pushed off the wall. "But it's enough to keep talking. You can stay. Train with us. Learn how we operate. And if you prove yourselves useful, maybe—maybe—you can join for real."
"That's it?" Tadano felt anger building. "You almost got us killed, and now you're offering us a trial membership?"
"That's how this works," Reine said flatly. "We can't afford dead weight. Can't afford liabilities. Every member of this resistance has earned their place through blood and survival. You two got a head start tonight. Be grateful."
She walked away, leaving them with Garrett.
"She's not wrong," Garrett said quietly. "This life isn't for everyone. Better to find out now than in the middle of a real operation when your death could compromise everyone." He put a hand on Tadano's shoulder. "You did well tonight. Both of you. Get some rest. Tomorrow, real training begins."
He left them alone in the underground space. Around them, resistance members were settling in for the night, but the twins remained standing, processing everything that had happened.
"We almost died," Vivi said quietly. "They sent us out there to die, and we almost did."
"But we didn't. We survived." Tadano looked at his sister. "Because of Dan."
"Who is he? Really?"
"I don't know. But he said he'd find us again." Tadano moved to their bedrolls. "For now, let's do what Garrett said. Rest. Train. Get stronger. And when Dan shows up again—"
"We ask for answers," Vivi finished.
They lay in the darkness, exhausted but alive. Their first mission—their first test—had been a setup. They'd nearly died. They'd been saved by a mysterious boy their own age who could control earth and stone like it was nothing.
And somehow, impossibly, they'd survived to fight another day.
Tadano closed his eyes and thought about Dan's mischievous smile, about how casually he'd destroyed five soldiers, about the way the earth had obeyed his commands like he was speaking its language.
Who was he? What was he? And why had he saved them?
Questions for another day. For now, survival was enough.
For now, they were still alive, still fighting, still moving toward their goal of making the Darks pay for every child they'd taken.
Tomorrow would bring new challenges. New tests. New dangers.
But they'd face them together, just as they always had.
And maybe, just maybe, with a strange green-haired boy who appeared and disappeared like magic.
Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.