The first one to rush out was Kestra. She ran to Myra, who picked her up in her arms and held her close, whispering softly to her daughter. Jasper backed away, knowing not to intrude on the moment. He caught Nala's eye instead and walked towards her, uncertain of where they stood.

"You made it back," she said, still sounding disbelieving. "You survived."

"Couldn't have done it without Myra. The conduit—Hadlow—is dead." Nala gasped in surprise, her expression quickly morphing to glee.

"He was the conduit?" She exclaimed. "And he's dead now. Jasper, that's an amazing achievement—he's Medea's best general.We struck a real blow today."

Her excitement faded as she noticed the blood dripping down his shirt. "Are you alright?" Jasper suddenly noticed the gash.

"I'm fine. I think most of it isn't mine, anyway." Nala gave a shaky breath of relief, still looking at him with disbelief

"When you were there...you had me so worried, Jasp. Don't ever do it again." He gave something of a smile. Maybe it was wrong, but the fact his aunt feared for him meant that she cared about him again. That a part of her had forgiven him just a little bit. He opened his mouth, trying to figure out what to tell her, how to mend the rift still existing between them—

"Jasp?" Myra said incredulously. "Well, that's interesting."

"No." He said firmly. "I do not answer to Jasp." Nala shook her head at Myra, eyes glinting with a familiar and mischievous gleam.

"He does. He also answers to J and Jaspie." Jasper went red.

"No, I certainly do not." He looked at Myra with pleading eyes.

"Of course he doesn't," Myra smiled. "Don't be so mean to Jasp."

"Jasp?" Kestra inquired. He gave her a sour look.

————————————————

There was no time to lose. Medea could only replace a conduit through physical contact, but news would spread quickly and they had no idea what else she might have in store for them. Within two hours of Myra and Jasper's return and debriefing, the army were outfitted at the mouth of the tunnel, prepared to take on anything that came their way.

"The tunnels will take us to multiple places outskirts of the city," Myra declared, voice loud and commanding. "There will be hundreds of crossroads at different points in the tunnel systems. We split up and attack in different areas in the Kallian Quarter. Try to avoid detection. It will be hard as you're in groups of around twenty or so, but it won't be impossible."

"Everyone's band corresponds to a different group that takes a different path through the tunnels." Nala continued, voice echoing. "Those of you with numbers on your band will enter in the valkyrie quarter and are in charge of opening the gate. Our Kallians won't be able to enter until that happens." Jasper looked at his band. Blue with the number 5. "Those with letters will be in charge of beginning the assault in the Kallian Quarter. Your tunnels will lead you just outside, but still in valkyrie territory. Group leaders, put your hands up!" Dozens of soldiers wearing different coloured vests with different numbers or letters raised their hands in the air and separated from the mass of soldiers. Jasper navigated through the army to find Nala with a blue vest and the number five.He scanned the gathering ranks of his group. Maia was there, lightning already dancing on her skin in anticipation.Otherwise, he found no familiar faces. His aunt caught him searching for Myra's face amongst the crowd and gave him a small smile.

"She's letters." Nala explained. "You won't see her till the attack's over." Jasper nodded, slightly disappointed and more than a little worried. Would he see her again? He should have said goodbye.

"She'll be fine," Nala said. "She survived in the God-Born war for decades. Don't worry." Jasper nodded in agreement, still very much worried regardless.

The tunnels were an endless maze of twisting passageways. It was clear they were originally uniform and precise from the metal walls and floor that occasionally showed. But they were now taken over by dirt, a few collapses and even underground grass and vines supported by a few holes for sunlight. Jasper followed his aunt, half-blind, through the twisting dark passageways. Their group was mostly Tarua Teris, though a couple of valkyries and even an elfin StoneWarden accompanied them, who was clearly Veronian or Celestial by the way he had hastily bowed to Maia. It was easy to guess their roles. Tarua Teris and Maia to fight through the guards, the valkyries to defend the elf, and the elf himself to pry open the gates. And him to...

"You'll be scouting and watching our backs," Nala explained, as though he had read his thoughts. "It seemed a good option, given you're best with a bow." She paused, considering. "That's still your best, right?" It suddenly hit him how long they had been apart. She had left when he was thirteen and they had never really reconciled and slid back into their old habits again. They had changed so much in their time part, like broken jigsaw pieces that no longer fit together. A distance had grown up between them. Something they might bridge if not for the other thing between them...Jasper's betrayal and his uncle's death.

"Yeah, still my best," he said at last, trying to smile. "Still terrible with a sword." Nala forced a smile, probably thinking the same things he was. They continued the winding journey through Azul's tunnels. Whenever they reached a fork, they halved. Sometimes a small tunnel would diverge from the group and only one or two groups would go down it. Slowly the number of people with them grew steadily slower until only twenty remained. They took the tunnel with a five scratched on to it and faint blue paint. It became steeper from there as they moved on. Jasper tried to keep an internal navigation in his head, but it fell apart quickly as he second guessed himself or realised that his calculations gave impossible results. Nala, however, knew exactly where they were going, even if a sign or number had faded away or crumbled to dust. Jasper and the others followed her, lost and confused, blindly hoping that she was going in the right direction.

"We're about to reach the surface," Nala warned after an hour and a half in the tunnels. "Be ready." The twenty shared looks of anticipation as their leader took them through the last turn and opened it up to the edge of a hill.

Jasper looked at the door, amazed. It was pitch black outside so no one noticed twenty people open up a hill and walk out.

"They're all hidden like this," Nala explained. "Hills, walls...all disguised. The valkyries were brilliant."

"Viktoria?" Jasper asked in wonder. Nala shook her head.

"Close. Her predecessor, Celia, started them and made almost all of it. Viktoria did the finishing touches and the organisation system with Myra's help. Now be quiet. No one has noticed us yet and I hope to keep it that way." His eyes were slowly adjusting to the dim light and he now realised he was at the edge of the valkyrie quarter. The ramshackle houses and broken infrastructure sent a jolt of anger through Jasper's heart but he pushed it aside. He needed to be focused. Now he noticed several shadows darting through the streets and over buildings. He traced Nala's eyes to the high walls surrounding the city. Once an insurmountable challenge, they were now passed. Jasper felt a smile on his lips. He had done that. Not a coward anymore, he thought to himself. This—everything he was doing—maybe it could make up for everything he had done.

"Come on," Nala urged. "Security will know we're coming through the tunnels by now. We have to be quick." Jasper and the others followed her through the winding streets. Patrols walked through the streets in uniform lines and Nala led them swiftly away, using Lysandra's information to avoid them skilfully. His breath was still ragged from a particularly close call when they reached the gates.

Security had swarmed around every opening in the city, no doubt suspecting their plan to get the rest of their army through. Jasper aimed his shot as well as he could with his shaking hands and released at the same time as everyone else, sending a volley of twenty arrows. Maia's lightning crackled through the air, more dangerous than any bow. He drew again, aimed and shot. Soon a continuous flurry of arrows swept through the arm, finding dozens of panicking targets before they could raise the alarm. Whatever twinge of emotion he felt at the sight of the bells he pushed back down. Rebels suddenly stormed the gatehouse, now melee fighting the dozens of guards pouring out. The sharp, loud alarm screeched through the air and he silently cursed that they hadn't held it back long enough.

They overpowered the sentries and guards within minutes, rebels rushing to take up positions as they tried to open the gates. Soon a flood of officers would rush in and try to stop them. They had to move quickly

Jasper took up a position on the wall, knocking an arrow to his bow and watching for the inevitable soldiers following the harsh call of bells. He quickly glanced across the city. All around, gatehouses were in chaos as rebels stormed the places and tampered with the gate mechanism, trying to figure out the system and tear apart the locks. In the centre of the city, bloody, ruthless fighting had ensued. He swiftly looked back at the winding streets in front of him, preparing for an onslaught and carefully aiming his bow at the entrance.

Then a Kallian rushed through the streets. Armour askew, blood covering her body, helmet knocked to reveal her face. Not under the control of a friendly MindWeaver, he though to himself, panicking. She drew a sword, hands shaking, ready to alert the passing guard where the rebels' scouts were in the gatehouse...

Jasper drew an arrow with lightning speed, knocking to the bow. The world slowed. Sudden fear flooded his enemy's eyes, until she was no longer enemy at all. The same fear he had seen in the eyes of dozens of conscripted, people stolen from their homes and forced to fight.

"I didn't want to come here," she croaked. "I didn't want to hurt them. My family. They're waiting for me."

"Come with us," Jasper offered. "Come with us. We'll keep you safe."

"I can't," she said, shaking her head. "They'll hurt my sister Ellie if I do. I tried to run before and they hurt her. I can't." Jasper drew in a breath of horror as she drew her sword and prepared to draw the other Kallians in. He couldn't move. His hand was frozen on the bow. He couldn't kill her. He wouldn't.

An arrow whizzed through the air and hit the girl in the neck. She let out a choked cry and fell to the ground. Jasper felt like he'd fallen with her. "What are you doing?" Nala demanded. He turned to find the killing weapon-her bow-in her hand. "Jasper, you almost got us all killed!"

"She didn't want any of this! She had to go along. I couldn't-she was conscripted-we're meant to be fighting for her! I can't." He shrugged his hand helplessly at her. "I just can't, Nala." He wasn't like Myra or his aunt. He couldn't turn away. He couldn't be numb.

"They're all conscripted," his aunt hissed. "Are you going to let them kill us? This is exactly what Medea wants. To throw the bodies of our own at us so we stop fighting. And the truth is Jasper—we can't save them.We can only kill them. So nobody else ends up like they do."

"I can't do this anymore," he said. " I can't see them as faceless masses. can't turn away like you and Myra and Rose do. They have faces. They have family. She had a sister, Nala." He shook his head. "I refuse to go numb."

"Jasper," Nala said. "We have to go numb at some point. Else it consumes us all. Your girlfriend does just the same thing. Of course she fought it. I fought it too. But sometimes things have to be done for the greater good." Nala's expression hardened. "And you're no more innocent than I am. You support us. You turn your back as we do this. You're no different, Jasper Merson. There's no right choice. We just have to survive. To keep going." His aunt stared at him right in the eye, her gaze unflinching. "You have to turn away soon, Jasp. For your own good."