IN GREENHAVEN TOWER...

Tarik stood at the window to his tower. Three of the five had been summoned. Surely, Essix and Siku would be quick to follow. 

IN CONCORBA, AMAYA...

Miriam returned with a handful of potatoes and dried pork, stolen from a farmer. She was lucky she hadn't been caught. "Guys!" she called. Red, Smarty, Digger, and Rollan looked up from the game they were playing, something that involved broken glass and bottle tops. 

"Should I get the pot?" asked Digger. "Yeah." Miriam answered. "I'll start the fire!" volunteered Rollan. Miriam pulled out a knife and began to skin the potatoes. "Happy New Years." She said dryly. The joke was that they never celebrated New Years, except Miriam, the leader of the tiny gang, allowed them a little more food each and she put some spices in the food. 

Once the potatoes were skinned, she began to chop the skins into tiny pieces. She muffled a laugh when she saw that Rollan's mouth was already watering at the thought of the stew she'd make. "Hey, Miriam?" he asked. She knew what he'd ask, and had found a new, clever way of hiding the spice for their game. "Is it in your pocket this time? What'd you bring?" she smiled. "Nope. Rey!" The fox trotted up to her, and reveiled a hidden pouch. "Ground star anise." she informed them. "No way! Comes all the way from Zhong, don't it? How'd you get it?"

"It was really easy. I just drew their attention away with a rock, and took it." She told them, dumping the potato skins in the pot and chopping the pork. The boys' mouths were wide open as she put the pork in the pot, stirred it, and added star anise. "Pass the salt, would you?" silently, Red passed her the tiny pouch that contained the stolen salt. "Can we have leftover bread?" asked constantly hungry Smarty. "Fine," Miriam relented. "Dinner!" They sat at the small board propped up on logs that they called their table. They sat on the ground and told about their day. 

"I had to hide from another gang." Said Red, always the one to share first. "I stole the food and took a run." said Miriam. "I climbed on top of the orphanage roof and broke a window." said Smarty, who was constantly doing dangerous things. "I saw a fox." said Rollan simply. "I saw a falcon while doing guard duty." relayed Digger.  "Cool, ya'll." Miriam said, slightly distracted. 

Later, when the others were asleep, Miriam and Rollan sat on a rooftop, watching the fireworks. "Oh, I almost forgot-here." Rollan said, passing her a butterfly charm, the kind that you could tell had fallen off of a necklace. Miriam smiled and attached it to the chain on her neck. She passed him a carving of a stag. She was always making something, and Rollan already had a large collection of things she 'd carved. "You do know... soon it will be our 12th birthdays." Miriam said. "Yeah, so what?" said Rollan. Miriam facepalmed. "12! WE NEED NECTAR, ROLLAN!" Miriam yelled. "Oh, yeah! Tell you what, tomorrow we steal some?" Rollan suggested. Although she didn't like the idea, Miriam had to agree.

They climber down from the roof, curling under a thin, raggedy piece of cloth next to the others. "Night, Em." Rollan said, using her nickname. "Night, Ar." she said. 

The next day, Miriam decided she hated the plan to steal from the Greencloaks. Absoloutly hated it. She took a deep breath. "Guys," she said. "Me and Rollan...we're planning on stealing some Necter. We're almost 12, we should have had some like a year ago. So, listen. Something is happening, something bad. People are going to come for me and Rollan, but I don't know why. Go. Go far, far away. Don't talk about us, or mention our names or anything. Go find a nice family. Rey, take this note. Swim to the island. Find Kalani. Take Ben with you. All of you, go now! Take the food and your stuff and GO!" 

The others did as she said, and they said hushed goodbyes. She knelt down and stroked Rey's ginger fur. Tears ran down her face, and Rey licked them off. "I love you. You and Ben. Take good care of him, okay?" she told the fox. Then Ben came, and she embraced them both, whispering about how much she loved them. "Go." she said. They went, turning into rusty streaks on the horizon which she watched until they were out of sight.