Aeris POV"Has to be." Aeris tapped the notebook. "Think about it. The barriers of Grimfall are crumbling down by themselves, but is there somebody accelerating it? Breeding: What are these experiments doing to make things worse?The thoughts of Kaladin were whirling, joining dots. They are making weak points in the barrier by exposing people to Grimfall energy. Anything that fails, anyone who dies by being exposed, that is one more crack in Grimfall's favour."Exactly." Aeris was looking at him with a kind of disapproving look. It is not only unethical for your parents work. It is actually assisting Grimfall in breaking through."They are not aware that, right? They think they are studying it, getting it in hand. Most likely, they believe that they are doing something good.""Probably." Aeris's expression darkened.Which is even more dangerous to whoever is running this operation. Because they do know. They have to. You do not intend to design this kind of experiment without having

Aires POVRune's expression darkened. "Worse. The whispers are constant at this point. He can hardly hear anything else. I tried to talk to him an hour ago, and he just stared at me as though he didn't know who I was.""Keep somebody with him at all times. Don't let him be alone. If his eyes get completely black, you come get me immediately.""What if you're not here?"Then you lock the door and do not let him out until I get back." I despised uttering it, but we did not want to subject Wilder to the possibility of complete corruption and attacking the others. "I'm serious, Rune. This is important."He nodded, troubled and understanding. "Okay. I'll stay with him."After Rune left me, I closed and locked the door again. I thought about how tired Rune looked. Was it the training coupled with everything that's going on that is tiring him out, or was it Wilder's condition?I released a deep breath I didn't even know I was holding. Mentally, I gave myself a deadline to at least push all

Author's POVThe training hall was a different place that morning. The air was filled with anticipation as the four of them stood in the center of the platform: Rune, Zayan, Eilish, and Kaladin. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, casting harsh shadows across the concrete floor. Equipment was scattered around the periphery - sandbags, metal bars, wooden posts, and mixed objects of varying weight and size.Wilder's absence was a strong presence in the room. His spot, as usual, near the far wall, was left empty, a reminder of how bad things had gotten. Rune kept stealing glances at the stairs in the hope of seeing him come down, but knowing it was unlikely. The whispering had destroyed him. The darkness was winning.Aeris stood before them, his back more erect than it had been in days, although anyone looking carefully would see the tremor in his hands. He'd got his shirt all the way up today and had covered the growing darkness below, but the strain was visible around his eyes."We're

Author's POV Aeris had been watching them with something like pride in his eyes, despite the obvious pain he was in. He'd coughed blood twice more during the training, and both times he tried to hide it, both times he failed. But he hadn't stopped. Hadn't given them any reason to quit.They were all sitting down against the walls to draw their breath when they heard it.Footsteps on the stairs.Everyone looked up. The footsteps were slow, deliberate, but steady. Someone was coming down.Rune stood first; his heart jumped into his throat. It couldn't be. Wilder hadn't left his room in days, hadn't been in any position to concentrate on anything other than the whispers in his head.But then a figure appeared out of the stairwell, and Rune's breath caught.Wilder.He looked terrible. His skin was pale, almost gray, and there were dark circles under his eyes, which left him looking like he hadn't even slept in a week. His hair was wild, hung in his face, and his clothes hung off in their

Author's POVEilish stared at it, awed. She was creating the fire, Kaladin was controlling the shape of that fire, and together they'd created something neither could have made on their own."This is incredible," Kaladin breathed, his face lost in the orange glow.Eilish nodded, unable to say a word. For once in her life, her fire didn't seem like a curse. It felt like power. Real power. The type she could actually use.On the other side of the hall, Rune and Zayan were going in a different direction."You know I'm going to kick your ass, don't you?" Rolling his shoulders, Zayan said.Rune raised an eyebrow. "Confident much?""Did you see what I did earlier? I'm immensely stronger than I was last week. Why do they say, "You're still figuring out how not to pass out when you use your powers?"It was true, and Rune knew it. Zayan's growth had been staggering. The relationship he'd formed with his Earth element was on a completely different level. But back down, Rune wasn't about to back