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Chapter 1

Leto Distra, out of the Eastern European tribes over three thousand years ago, was no longer just va he despised

He was now part beast, a form that he couldn’t control and which made a mockery of his life, his philosophies, and his civilizedwhen the beast was about to e

Sonofabitch, there it was Very faint, which meant he had time—but not a lot—before he had to remove himself from everyone he knew

He was dangerous in his beast-state, uncontrolled

As he walked near the warrior-garounds in the Seattle One hidden colony, he held a child in his arreat coht hand free for his sword He’d been a warrior too many centuries not to sustain the basics, and for days now he’d been on edge Soh a decision had been made about the future of Second Earth and the ith Darian Greaves

He glanced up at the blue sky Early September in the Cascade Mountains was a beautiful tiames

A cluster of children, ed his heels as he took one last tour of the contest grounds For some reason, kids liked him, and the truth was he enjoyed their attention They eased hione from his life these past five months Heto break out of his cage

Adjacent to the event grounds was a fair-like at fro handcrafted objects ready for sale Other booths would soon becohtered, steamed, and barbecued by the locals

His stoht

Hundreds of feet overhead, an innovative mist created a protective veil over the land that only the most powerful could see and which always confused the hu near the dome of mist would experience disorientation and would turn to head in the opposite direction In this manner, all the hidden colonies of Mortal Earth had escaped detection for three millennia, from the time the first colony was created

The leader of the Seattle Colony, Diallo, had spent centuries perfecting his mossy-mist creation He also checked the viability of the veil several tio, the colony had been breached by the ene history

That breach, unfortunately, meant that a second attack wasn’t so much a probability as an eventuality One day, Greaves and his merry band of death vampires would find a way in And then what?

He glanced at Brynna She walked beside him, on his left, and just a little ahead of him

Hoe doin’? he sent It was easy to contact her telepathically, because over the past few ood friends

Brynna was also in constant telepathic contact with the colony’s Militia Warrior Section Leaders ere right now patrolling the external edges of the mist-dome, a thirty-mile perimeter

She glanced at hile nod, then continued the telepathic communication Three of the squads are inbound with more discovery

Shit

Exactly This ain’t good

He looked up, his gaze shifting across an intense blue sky above, searching for a sign of death vae well to the east of the large city All the hidden colonies were naest cities or towns nearest them

Greaves and hiscloser, Leto sent

Yep There’s no debating the situation anymore Gideon said his team picked up fiveon therees that they’re probably transmitters of some kind