“You really think Oril will try something?” Laze asked, four days later as they sat on the outskirts of the Firestorm encampment. Hundreds of tents sprawled across the field, activity buzzing between them, but El’s wing clearly stood separate from the rest. At least fifty feet separate.

  “I really don’t know,” El responded. “Which is why we need to be extra careful. In the chaos of battle tomorrow, anything could happen. We’re going to be so busy watching for golems, we won’t be watching for wings.”

  “We’ll look out for each other,” Dayne said, and methodically spooned soup into his mouth.

  “I wish Teth was here,” Nidina said.

  “And Faled. He’d know what to do about all this,” El said, and gestured at the gap between their tent and the rest.

  “You’re doing fine, El,” Laze reassured her. “This isn’t your fault.”

  “Church is here,” Dayne said and pointed with his spoon over El’s shoulder.

  She, Nidina, and Laze all turned around to look where he’d pointed.

  There on the horizon, coming in the from the south, flew three wide carriages, each carried by a dozen Ignitio.

  “What are they doing here?” Laze asked as the Ignitio flew over their heads toward the center of the camp.

  “Came to make my life more miserable?” El asked.

  “They’ve never come to the front line before,” Nidina said.

  “And with three wings of Ignitio to boot? They’re openly taking control of the military now,” Laze added.

  “Guld is the only opposition left, and with the trouble caused by the blue newts, they want to make sure we win tomorrow,” Dayne said, another spoonful of soup disappearing into his mouth.

  “But the groundies, and their artillery, aren’t here yet. Are we really going to launch an assault on a fortified town like Aldrana without them?” Laze asked.

  “It’s hardly fortified at this point,” Nidina said. “We’ve been skirmishing here for weeks. The walls are rubble, not that they would’ve done much to slow Firestorm down, and it’s only the new golems that’ve stopped us from outright pushing through.”

  “New golems?” El asked. Why hadn’t they been briefed on “new” golems? Or was it just her wing left out? Again.

  “My mom told me a bit about them before we left. Heavier, more firepower, and more responsive. Also, the golems can be controlled from a greater distance away. Our forces have been having trouble tracking down the controller to stop the golem, which means we’ve had to physically stop the construct,” Nidina explained.

  “No easy task against golems,” El said. “And these new ones are also tougher? That’s a dangerous combination.”

  “You have no idea. We basically had to back off until we could mount a full offensive. The small detachment of ground troops here was wiped out, and the golems were swatting Firestorm out of the sky like flies. Guld completely took control of the city, and the pass leading inside the mountains.”

  “I still think we should just go over the mountains and skip the town entirely,” Laze said.

  “It’s been tried. There are golems up there too.”

  “And our wings don’t work as well as such altitudes,” El added. “We’re too slow to properly avoid the golems’ fire. Basically sitting ducks. We’ve got to go through the pass. Besides, even if we tried to go over the mountains and a few of us made it, what would we be able to do against an entire country on the other side?”

  “Which is why we’re here,” Laze said. “And the bulk of the ground troops should be here tomorrow?”

  “Best I can tell,” El said. “Nobody is sharing much with me.”

  “Well, as much as I hate to say it, having three wings of Ignitio here should help swing the battle in our favor,” Laze said.

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  “If they fight,” Dayne mentioned between steady spoonfuls. How much soup did he actually have in that bowl?

  “What do you mean, Dayne? Why wouldn’t they fight?” Laze asked.

  “They’re here to protect the Cardinals,” El said, catching on to Dayne’s thinking. “He’s right. They won’t deploy unless the Cardinals tell them to, at which point I’d bet the fight will already be going our way.”

  “Or they need to protect their charges,” Dayne added.

  “At which point, we’d be retreating…” El finished.

  Dayne gave her a slight nod of his head, then put his empty bowl down.

  “We won’t retreat,” Nidina said.

  “Why not?” El asked, but both Dayne and Laze were nodding with Nidina. What was El missing?

  “Look at the force we have here,” Nidina explained, and spread her arms toward line after line of tents. “This many Firestorm in one place, plus the ground troops and their artillery. We’re going to spank Guld straight back to the other side of their mountains and then take their Ember by this time tomorrow.”

  “I... I don’t know, Nidina,” El said. “We were overconfident against the blue newts, and look where that got us. I don’t want to lose any more people like we lost Faled and Teth…”

  “Forget them,” Nidina snapped.

  El blinked. “Pardon?” she asked.

  “Sorry,” Nidina said and ran her hands across the top of her head. “That didn’t come out right. I mean, we can’t afford to go into the fight thinking like that. Yes, they died, but this battle, this is our chance at glory. If one of us,” she looked at Laze and Dayne, who both nodded again, “is the one who takes the Ember and delivers it to the higher-ups, just think of what that will do for us. For our country.

  “We won’t be sitting on the outside anymore. We’ll be heroes. And you’ll finally get out of Nexin’s shadow.”

  “I…” El started.

  “We need you, El,” Laze said. “You’re our leader, and you’ve gotten us this far.”

  “Don’t you feel the energy?” Nidina asked. “Everybody knows what’s going to happen tomorrow. Everybody’s thinking the same thing. We’re going to win this and finally end the war.”

  El looked at each of her wing mates, her friends, their eyes practically shining with enthusiasm. Wait, they weren’t just practically shining, they were actually shining. Halos, like they’d used their Sparks for decades, shone faintly in their eyes.

  And, Nidina was right about the energy in the camp, like a prickle on the edge of sensation, beating her heart faster in anticipation. They could win this. It wasn’t like the fights with the blue newts, where they were caught by surprise and ambushed.

  El knew her enemy this time. Sure, the golems were strong, and maybe tougher than ever, but then again, so was the Firestorm. Some of Felps’s new weapons were out there with them, and El had seen firsthand just how powerful they were. Guld’s troops didn’t have a chance.

  “You’re right,” El said. “We can win this. No, no, that’s not right. We will win this!”

  “There’s my girl!” Laze said, and clapped El on the shoulder. “So, what’s our plan for tomorrow?”

  El nodded. Each wing had been given Commander’s Intent, but it would be up to the individual wing leaders to execute. “We’re a small wing,” El said, the loss of her eleven friends flitting across her thoughts before she dismissed it. Focus on the mission. “We won’t be able to take a golem on alone. Not if they’re as tough as Nidina is saying.”

  “Tougher, you can bet,” Nidina said.

  “Right,” El said. “So, we’re looking for controllers. If we can find a few of them, that’ll take their golems out of the fight.”

  “Nidina said the control range is longer,” Laze added. “So, does that mean we should be watching the outskirts of the main fighting?”

  “Nidina, any idea on what the new range is?” El asked.

  “None. It’s more theory than proof. But, from the sounds of things, it’s pretty big. The controller will need to see its golem to control it properly though. We can use that to our advantage.”

  “Right. So, any tall buildings that are left, or maybe along the rockface? We should keep an eye out for that. Our goal is to stay low, stay mobile, and hit our targets quickly. No protracted fights,” El explained.

  “Sounds good to me,” Laze said with another clap on El’s shoulder.

  “There is one thing, though,” El said slowly.

  “What’s that?” Nidina asked.

  “It might look like we’re avoiding the fight, since we’ll be skirting it and scouting for controllers.”

  “When golems start dropping because we killed their controllers, it won’t matter what it looks like,” Dayne said.

  “You’re right, I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay with that,” El explained.

  “Told you, you’re our leader,” Laze said. “You lead, we follow.”

  “Oril?” Dayne asked.

  El’s shoulders slumped, some of the buzz from the excitement around camp muted by the reminder. “We can hope his wing is preoccupied. No, I don’t want to rely on hope. Thanks for bringing him up, Dayne.”

  El flipped her spoon around in her hand and leaned forward to draw four circles in a diamond formation on the ground. A quick brush with her thumb and a redraw of one circle made it perfectly symmetrical. “Let’s keep it simple. I’ll take point,” she pointed at the top circle, “and pick our direction. Laze and Nidina, you’re flanking me.” She pointed to the two circles on the sides. “You’re watching for controllers. As soon as you see one, let me know and I’ll change our trajectory, but stay with me. No going off on your own.”

  “Yes ma’am,” Laze said.

  “Roger,” Nidina said.

  “Dayne,” El said, pointing at the circle at the bottom. “Your role is to literally watch our backs. Keep an eye out for Oril or any members of his wing. If you spot any of them getting too close to us, that takes priority, and we get out of there. Dayne, even if that means you don’t engage the controllers, that’s fine. You’re our eyes.”

  “Understood,” Dayne said.

  “Anybody have any other suggestions?”

  “None here,” Laze said.

  “Sounds solid to me,” Nidina added.

  “Nothing,” Dayne said.

  “Great,” El said. “Let’s end this war.”