Raven's hands wouldn't stop bleeding gold. Not a lot. Just a slow welling at the palms where he'd torn the bark gauntlets off. The medics in Wakedah had wrapped them in living bandages that drank the sap and turned green, but every hour the cloth was soaked through. He sat at the council table with his hands held out in front of him like an offering, watching the gold bead and drip. Elara sat beside him, her voice hoarse from singing, a cup of tea she hadn't touched going cold. Across from them, Jara Well and the twelve Speakers of Mars looked tired. They had been up all night while the Bridge healed itself. Behind them, standing because there were no chairs big enough, were Ash and two older Keepers. Mira was supposed to be in school. She was under the table, asleep with her head on Raven's foot. "The Bridge is sealed," Ash was saying, its wind voice quieter than usual. The cuts on its arms were still open, weeping clear sap. "For now. The Mother Tree burned a year's worth of sto

The children didn't have time to run. The black bulge on the Bridge split with a sound like ice breaking on a lake. Not one tear. Twelve. One for each Garden, opening all at once along the arch. Black thorn-seeds poured out, not floating this time, but *falling*, like heavy rain. They hit the living wood of the Bridge and stuck, hissing, drilling down with roots of shadow. Ash moved first. The Keeper slammed both fists into the ground and the Bridge *bucked*, throwing a wave of silver-blue bark up like a shield. Three seeds hit it and shattered, spraying black sap. "Get the child to the Grove!" Ash bellowed at Elara. Elara didn't move. She was staring at Mira's hand. The seed Raven had grown — the pale gold cutting with his brown fleck — was no longer a seed. The tiny green shoot had grown in three seconds to the length of Mira's forearm. Its single leaf was wide open, glowing so bright it hurt to look at, and it was vibrating, pointing straight up at the biggest tear directly a

The sky broke. Not like glass. Like dry soil. A crack of black light ran from north to south, high above the Bridge. No sound at first. Then the air shook. Raven was still on his knees. His hands bled gold onto the dead wood. The small green shoot in front of him was growing fast. It was now as tall as his finger. It was half gold, half black. It pulsed like a heart. Elara held Mira tight. Mira's eyes were closed. She breathed, but it was fast and shallow. The two small marks on her wrist were red, not gold. Ash looked up. The Keeper's face was hard. "It is coming." More cracks opened in the sky. Five. Ten. Twenty. Through each crack, cold air fell down. It smelled like nothing. Like winter in a closed room. Then things came through. Not the small thorn seeds from before. These were big. Each one was as big as a house. Black, with red light inside. They did not fall. They floated down slow, like ash. One stopped right above the Bridge. Right above Raven. Raven stood u

The grey seeds kept falling. They fell slow, like ash after a fire. They did not make a sound when they hit the ground. They did not burn the white trees. They did not break windows. They landed on skin and went in. Raven watched from the Bridge, high above the city. He was on his knees. Elara held one arm. Mira held the other. His hand still held the half-black, half-gold shoot. It was warm and pulsed slow, like it was breathing. Down in Wakedah, people ran at first. Then they stopped running. A seed landed on a woman's shoulder and sank in. She touched the spot. No blood. No pain. She just looked up. Her eyes flashed grey-gold for one second. Then back to brown. A man on a delivery bike stopped in the street. A seed hit his hand. He stared at his hand. He smiled, but it was not his normal smile. It was too calm. Ash stood next to Raven. The Keeper's big body was shaking. Clear sap ran from the cuts on his arms. "What did I do?" Raven asked. His voice was dry. His throat hurt

The people fell.They did not fall like they were hurt. They did not drop hard. They just closed their eyes and went down slow, like they were tired after a long day of work.In Wakedah, on the streets, on the roofs, in the white tree houses, everyone who had a grey seed in their skin stopped walking. Their eyes flashed grey-gold one time. Then their eyes closed. Then their knees bent. Then they sat, or they lay down right where they stood.A woman who was carrying water let the jar fall. The jar broke. Water ran over the dust. She sat in the water and slept.A man on a bike stopped. His feet touched the ground. He lay down next to his bike and slept.A child who was playing with a toy ship lay down in the dirt and held the toy to his chest and slept.It was quiet in the city. No cars moved. No voices called. Only the wind moved the dust.On the Bridge, Raven saw it all. He was high up, but his eyes were good. He saw the streets go still.His heart beat fast. "What did it do?" he shou