"But you," Silas said. "You didn't pray. You bit back. You took their power and made it yours. You are the first 'wrong' thing that the Empire couldn't erase. To them, you are a monster. To us... you are a promise."Vane leaned in close to Drogo. "They’ve heard the stories. The Sink, the Vargus Estate, the mother who survived the slag. Word travels fast in the mud, Drogo. You’re a hero to them."Drogo looked at the faces around him. He saw a girl, no older than Tiana, who was missing an eye. She was looking at him as if he were made of gold."I can't help you," Drogo said. "I’m being hunted. If I stay here, the Inquisitor will find this place. He will burn all of you.""He is already burning us!" a man shouted from the back. He stood up, showing a chest covered in whip scars. "The Purge-Squads are in the Warren! They are killing anyone who doesn't have a High Spark! They say they are 'cleaning' the city! If we stay here, we die in the dark. If we follow you... maybe we die in the ligh

Drogo turned and ran. He didn't care where he was going. He just had to get away from the light. He crashed through the thick bushes, his cloak catching on thorns, his skin being torn by branches. He didn't feel the pain. He only felt the hunger.He ran until his legs gave out. He collapsed in a small clearing where the trees were so thick the moonlight couldn't reach the ground.He lay in the dirt, clawing at his own chest. "I won't do it!" he screamed at the Archive. "I'll die first! I'll turn to dust before I touch her!"“Then you will die,” the Archive answered coldly. “And when you are gone, who will protect her? The Inquisitor? The Sun-Guard? If you are weak, she is already dead. The only way she lives is if you eat.”Drogo curled into a ball. He was shaking so hard his teeth were clicking together.The Starvation was changing him. It was stripping away the boy and leaving only the machine. He felt his memories fading. He forgot the taste of the soup his mother used to make. H

The night was supposed to be a time of hiding. While Drogo was at the Mana Wells, becoming the storm that would shake Oakhaven, the rest of the Dregs were hidden. They were tucked away in a deep, wet cave at the edge of the Whisper-Woods.The cave was quiet. Only the sound of dripping water and the soft breathing of tired people filled the air. Silas, the old metal-mover, sat by the entrance. He was tired. His hands were wrapped in dirty bandages from the fight in the sewers. Near him sat Tiana.Tiana was holding her knees to her chest. She was staring at a small candle. The flame was tiny and yellow, but to her, it was the only thing that felt safe. She missed Drogo. She missed the way he used to look—the boy who worked for copper coins and smiled at her. She didn't like the new Drogo. The one with the black wings and the eyes that looked like holes in the world."Don't worry, little spark," Silas said. His voice was soft, trying to be kind. "Your brother is the strongest thing I’ve

The wind howling through the Gray Mountains was cold, but it was not as cold as the silence inside the cave.Drogo Payne stood at the edge of the stone opening. His black wings were folded tight against his back, looking like a heavy, dark cloak. He was no longer the boy who worked for copper coins. He was an Abyssal Revenant. His skin was the color of a starless night, and his eyes glowed with a steady, haunting violet light.Behind him, the cave was full of the people he had saved from the sewers. The Dregs. The Nulls. The "trash" of the Empire. They were huddling together for warmth, their eyes fixed on the back of their dark leader."The wind is changing," Vane said, walking up to Drogo’s side. She was holding a small, silver communication crystal. It was glowing a sickly, vibrating red. "News from the capital. It is bad, Drogo. Worse than we thought."Drogo did not turn around. "Tell me.""Governor Haze," Vane said, her voice shaking slightly. "The man the Emperor put in charge o

Drogo jumped into the air. He was surrounded by twenty monsters made of his own neighbors’ souls. He couldn't just destroy them; if he shattered the crystals, the souls would be lost forever."Tiana!" Drogo yelled. "Now!"From the roof of a nearby shack, a golden light erupted.Tiana stood tall, her silver hair shining like a beacon. She raised her hands to the sky."Dawn’s Mercy!" she cried.A wave of soft, pink-and-gold light washed over the square. It didn't hurt the golems. It didn't break the wood.The light touched the green crystals.The "Dawn Magic" was a restorative magic. It was the magic of new beginnings. As the light hit the crystals, the green glow turned into a pure, white sparkle. The souls inside were not being used as fuel anymore. They were being released.The golems stopped moving. The wood and metal began to fall apart, turning back into harmless piles of trash. The white sparks of the souls floated upward, disappearing into the dark sky like tiny stars."No! My p