?"Outside!"

  ?

  ?The gate opened before she finished.

  ?

  ?The children emerged without haste. They took their places in lines their feet already knew. No one spoke. Shoulders squared. Chins lifted.

  ?

  ?Jeanne's gaze passed along the ranks. One eyebrow rose. The scribe gave the smallest shake of her head. The nurse remained still.

  ?

  ?The yard received them.

  ?

  ?The bronze colossus stood where it had fallen. Its plates bore fresh rivets. The seams were darker, newly sealed.

  ?

  ?It was not alone.

  ?

  ?Beside it stood another figure.

  ?

  ?Shorter. Narrower. Shaped in the suggestion of a man. Its surface was the color of shaded clay. Not dry. Not wet. Fine fissures traced its limbs, then smoothed as though reconsidered.

  ?

  ?It did not breathe.

  ?

  ?"Begin!"

  ?

  ?The rack emptied.

  ?

  ?Metal rasped against wood. Leather tightened. Shields lifted.

  ?

  ?The bronze colossus shuddered awake. Steam bled from its joints. Heat shimmered above its shoulders.

  ?

  ?The clay figure did not move.

  ?

  ?The children dispersed, leaving space between themselves and the open ground—and between themselves and Aurora.

  ?

  ?The colossus bent and lifted a boulder. Stone scraped against bronze.

  ?

  ?Melissa raised her shield. Sara stepped behind her without being told.

  ?

  ?Damian watched the colossus. Then Aurora. Then back again.

  ?

  ?"It will choose her," a girl murmured.

  ?

  ?She stood close to Damian. Her hand rested on his back. It trembled.

  ?

  ?"Do not rely on that," he said.

  ?

  ?He glanced at her empty fingers. He said nothing.

  ?

  ?The boulder left the giant's hands.

  ?

  ?It struck.

  ?

  ?Melissa hit the ground. Her shield spun away. Her left arm bent where it should not bend.

  ?

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  ?Sara dropped beside her.

  ?

  ?The nurse did not move.

  ?

  ?The colossus reached for another stone.

  ?

  ?Its head turned.

  ?

  ?Not toward Aurora.

  ?

  ?Toward Sara.

  ?

  ?Sara froze.

  ?

  ?Aurora stepped forward.

  ?

  ?The clay figure's eyes opened.

  ?

  ?They did not glow. They cleared.

  ?

  ?It stepped after her. One pace. Then another.

  ?

  ?Jeanne's jaw tightened. She did not speak.

  ?

  ?"Stay back," Damian said, already running.

  ?

  ?Behind him, the girl's arms fell to her sides. Empty. She watched him go.

  ?

  ?The bronze giant's furnace roared. Steam vented in sharp bursts.

  ?

  ?Damian reached Sara. She knelt over Melissa. Her hand gripped Melissa's shoulder. She looked up as he approached.

  ?

  ?He bent and took Melissa's good arm. She gasped. He pulled. She did not rise.

  ?

  ?"Help me," he said.

  ?

  ?Sara moved to take Melissa's other side.

  ?

  ?The colossus threw.

  ?

  ?The boulder left its hands. It rose. It hung against the grey sky.

  ?

  ?Sara looked up.

  ?

  ?Damian looked up.

  ?

  ?The boulder began to descend.

  ?

  ?Aurora raised her right hand.

  ?

  ?Light rose from beneath her skin.

  ?

  ?It gathered first at her wrist, green and pale, then traveled upward along her arm. It did not break the surface. It moved under it, illuminating the veins, the bones, the shape of her. Her arm remained an arm. But it was no longer only that.

  ?

  ?The light reached her palm. It pooled there. Then it lifted.

  ?

  ?Points of green light appeared above her hand. They multiplied. They steadied. They took shape. Feathers of light. Northern light.

  ?

  ?She swept her arm forward. Once.

  ?

  ?The feathers crossed the yard. They gathered where Damian and Sara knelt over Melissa. They curved inward. They sealed.

  ?

  ?A dome formed.

  ?

  ?The boulder struck.

  ?

  ?Jeanne closed her eyes.

  ?

  ?The nurse did the same.

  ?

  ?The scribe did not.

  ?

  ?The yard filled with light.

  ?

  ?A crack tore through the air. Deep. Abrupt.

  ?

  ?When the light receded, the boulder was gone. White vapor drifted where it had been.

  ?

  ?Children screamed. Several fell, hands pressed to their eyes. The scribe dropped to one knee. Her glasses lay broken at her side. Blood ran from her nose.

  ?

  ?Inside the dome, Sara stared at the space where the boulder had been. Her hand still gripped Melissa's shoulder.

  ?

  ?Damian knelt beside her. His chest rose and fell. He did not speak.

  ?

  ?The clay golem held Aurora from behind. Its arms were wrapped around her. It did not release. Its arms pinned hers to her sides. She did not struggle.

  ?

  ?The bronze colossus turned from the dome toward her.

  ?

  ?Aurora lowered her hand. She drew it across her body.

  ?

  ?The dome dissolved.

  ?

  ?The feathers that had been green were white now. They left Sara and Damian kneeling in the open air. They crossed the yard. They struck the colossus.

  ?

  ?The first pierced bronze without sound. The second followed. Then many. They entered through plates and seams and joints. Where they passed, metal liquefied. Rivets split. Steam screamed from ruptured vents.

  ?

  ?The colossus staggered.

  ?

  ?Its furnace flared once, bright and unstable.

  ?

  ?The feathers converged at its center.

  ?

  ?The furnace burst.

  ?

  ?The sound was brief.

  ?

  ?The giant folded inward and collapsed in sections. Torso. Shoulders. Helm. Each struck the ground and broke.

  ?

  ?Molten metal spread across the stone.

  ?

  ?The feathers rose from the wreck. They hung above it, green and still.

  ?

  ?Jeanne opened her eyes.

  ?

  ?"Enough!"

  ?

  ?Her voice cut the air.

  ?

  ?The clay golem released Aurora. Its arms fell to its sides. Its eyes closed. It stood motionless, a statue again.

  ?

  ?The feathers did not move. They hung above the molten bronze, waiting.

  ?

  ?Aurora made a gesture. Small. A turn of her wrist. A pull.

  ?

  ?The feathers streamed back to her. They converged on her raised hand. Each one touched her palm and vanished—not into the air, but into her. The light sank beneath her skin. It traveled down her arm, fading as it went. Wrist. Forearm. Elbow. Gone.

  ?

  ?She lowered her hand to her side.

  ?

  ?Damian turned.

  ?

  ?"Laura!" he called.

  ?

  ?She lay on the ground where he had left her. Her hands were still pressed to her eyes. Blood had dried beneath her nose.

  ?

  ?He stood. He ran.

  ?

  ?He reached her and dropped to his knees. He took her shoulders. He said her name again. She did not answer.

  ?

  ?Behind him, Sara bore Melissa's weight alone.

  ?

  ?Melissa looked around her. At the wreck. At the molten metal. At the clay figure, still and blind. At Aurora.

  ?

  ?Sara looked at Aurora too.

  ?

  ?Aurora took a step toward them.

  ?

  ?Sara took a step back. Melissa did not move.

  ?

  ?Aurora stopped.

  ?

  ?Jeanne's voice came again, flat and final.

  ?

  ?"Dismissed!"

  ?

  ?The children moved. They helped each other rise. They walked toward the dormitory.

  ?

  ?Sara bore Melissa's weight. She did not look back.

  ?

  ?Damian lifted Laura. He carried her.

  ?

  ?Aurora did not move.

  ?

  ?She stood where she had stopped, apart from the children. The clay figure stood behind her. The molten bronze cooled near the wreck.

  ?

  ?The nurse walked to the scribe. She knelt. She reached out.

  ?

  ?The scribe pushed her hand away.

  ?

  ?She looked at the nurse. Her face was hard. Her glasses lay broken on the stones. Blood still marked her skin.

  ?

  ?She stood. She walked toward the gate. She did not look back.

  ?

  ?Jeanne watched her go. The nurse rose and stood beside her.

  ?

  ?They glanced at each other. One breath. Then they walked through.

  ?

  ?The gate closed behind them.

  ?

  ?Aurora stood alone.

  ?

  ?The wreck steamed. The clay figure did not move. The boulders near the wreck were dark with cooling metal.

  ?

  ?She did not follow.

  ?

  ?The gate opened.

  ?

  ?Sara's head peered through.

  ?

  ?Her face did something.

  ?

  ?"They're making chicken."

  ?

  ?Aurora did not move.

  ?

  ?Sara's fingers gripped the edge. Released. Gripped again.

  ?

  ?"Are you coming?"

  ?

  ?Aurora turned.

  ?

  ?Looked at her.

  ?

  ?Sara's hand tightened.

  ?

  ?Aurora took a step. Then another.

  ?

  ?Sara stepped back. Held the gate.

  ?

  ?Aurora passed through.

  ?

  ?The gate closed.

  ?

  ?The yard was still.

  ?