Downtown was a mess. Sirens were running wild as paramedics, fire trucks, and police tried to settle the chaos. From what Cinder overheard from the people they passed, a grand total of fifteen buildings had been damaged. Five of those were toppled by the initial explosions, causing damage to the surrounding skyscrapers around them. The streets were littered with debris and smoke still rose from some areas. The death toll was steadily rising and it made Cinder sick just to hear the numbers as they were passed between authorities. 

Muttered accusations were flying from the people who were cowering behind the yellow tape that marked off dangerous areas. Buildings were still unstable, so said the authorities. Finding a way to the Capitol was becoming difficult. Cinder hoped that the Capitol wasn't a pile of rubble already. If the rebels were attacking the downtown area, then they were most likely going to go after the council next. 

"It's them."

The whispered voice filled with hatred pulled Cinder's attention as they hurried down the street. Looking off to the left, he spotted a man coated in dust from head to foot. He looked as if he'd climbed through a chimney and forgotten to wipe himself off. Blood smeared the side of his face and a bandage was wrapped around his head. He was talking to another man and three women. All of them were a mirror of the man coated in dirt. Bandages wrapped different parts of their bodies. Blood stained their faces and clothes. 

"Those with magic. They're the cause of this. Why can't they just leave us out of it! We have nothing to do with their little squabbles," the man sneered.

"They do nothing but cause harm! This is bullshit. And attacking the city like this? They don't care for those of us with no magic. We're just bugs to them!" Another added on.

"Expendable. That's what we are. Because we're not powerful enough to protect ourselves. If we die it's our own fault," one of the women said. Her voice was shaking and tears were streaming from her eyes as she sat there. 

Cinder had stopped walking and was staring at all of them, astonished at their thinking. It caught one woman's attention and she looked up at Cinder. Standing she walked right up to him and glared. "What? Think we're wrong? Do you side with those bastards?"

"W-what?" Cinder couldn't get his voice to work right. Clearing his throat he tried again. "That's not it. We're not all like that."

She gasped and stepped away from him. "You're one of them!"

"This is the problem! We don't know who has magic and who doesn't because you look exactly like us. There's nothing to mark you as different," the man with the bandage got up and swayed on his feet as he stumbled over. Cinder's automatic response was to reach out and help him stand but his hands were slapped away. "Don't touch me! You don't even know what kind of destruction you can cause! Don't pretend to want to help."

"I do want to help!" Cinder retorted, anger flooding him as he glared at the man.

"You should all just burn!" The woman in front of him screamed and before he could register it, her nails scraped across his face. It stung horribly. She came at him a second time, fueled by her own rage and anguish. Tears streamed down her face as she slapped at him. His cheek burned, and his teeth cut open his lip as she hit him again and again. Cinder was far too stunned to stop her. 

She let out a scream of rage as someone caught her hands and pulled her away from Cinder. The commotion had brought quite a few people to stand around and watch. Panting, Cinder put his hand up against his face and winced as the salt on his fingers burned the cuts she'd put along his jaw and cheek. Kydyn turned her around and sent her stumbling to the other four who she'd been talking to. Stepping away from her as she whirled around, he ran his fingers through his hair, brushing it out lazily.

She looked like she was going to attack him, but whatever was on Kydyn's face had her paling. She stopped in mid-step, staring in fear at him. Cinder moved then. He only moved to be right behind Kydyn before the warlock shot him a look over his shoulder. Cinder paused. Purple flashed through his eyes and he knew then the reason why the woman had stopped her initial attack. 

"We should all burn? How ironic. Is that what you tell every person that you don't understand a thing about? You just going to lump us all together because that's what makes you feel better? Doesn't matter that some of us weren't even here when this happened, or that some of us were killed in it as well, or that there are plenty of us who fought back to protect you as well as ourselves? Does that not matter to you? Your ignorance is what keeps killing everyone."

"You bastard, what the hell do you know?"

"I know enough," Kydyn snapped back and the air grew heavy. Cinder's heart flooded his throat, creating a massive lump that he couldn't swallow down. Taking Kydyn's shoulder in his hand, he squeezed tightly. 

"Come on, Kydyn."

The warlock gave a bitter laugh. His smile was cold and calculating. "And here you were the one who thought everyone could get along."

Cinder had nothing for that. Kydyn probably knew it too as his smirk grew a little larger before he tore out of Cinder's grip and shoved through the small circle of people who had been drawn in to the commotion. Cinder gave the group one last look before he followed after. The rise of voices didn't register to him. Cinder quickly caught up to the other three. His chest was too tight for comfort. He wanted to say something, anything to Kydyn, but nothing came to mind. Hell, he wasn't certain that Kydyn would even listen, so he fell silent. 

"You all right?" Lyn asked, leaning forward so that he could see the scratches on Cinder's face. 

"Yeah, it's nothing." Cinder ran his tongue along his lip and grimaced at the taste of metal. The cut stung, but it wasn't as bad as the burning that the woman had ignited in him with her words. Those were far worse. He hadn't realized that people didn't see things the way he did. They were afraid, and fear garnered accusations that weren't true. But those ideas were what helped to sate the terror of something they didn't understand. It was a poor excuse, but one that happened no less. 

Cinder wanted to explain. But what would he say? Their hearts and minds were closed off, especially so soon after an attack that most likely took loved ones from them. Reasoning wasn't within their capabilities, not immediately. Perhaps never. Cinder flicked a glance over to Kydyn who had walked ahead of them. The warlock would undoubtedly disagree with his thoughts. There would be no talking. No getting along. People aren't meant to get along.

Cinder didn't believe that for a second. 

The Capitol was, by some miracle, untouched. Kydyn slowed his approach, eyeing the building with scrutiny. Lyn looked around them while Jika hovered near the rear of their little entourage. Cinder stared up at the building with a sense of unease. He recalled once having felt like a hundred pairs of eyes were on him. The feeling was back again. 

"Something doesn't feel right," Cinder muttered to himself. 

Kydyn put out a hand, looking back at everyone as he motioned for them to stop where they were. Cinder felt his throat drying and swallowed to try to wet it. As he looked around at the white wash walls that rose up ahead of them, shock washed through Cinder as figures in black rippled into sight along the top of the Capitol. Several more appeared in the courtyard leading up to it. And one walked forward while the sheet of pitch black fell away from them. 

The hood of the stranger's robes was pulled back just enough to let the dim light that filtered through the gray clouds illuminate the lower portion of his face. His lips were pulled back in a smile that was neither comforting, nor amused. "I see you."

"Shit," Lyn's curse was lost to Cinder. 

He was far more occupied with the words that resonated with him. During the star gaze, he'd seen those dark figures, and the one that had spoken those same words to him. It stole his breath. Taking a step back, he bumped into someone and looked over his shoulder. Fear had him expecting the stranger to be right behind him, but instead he was up against Jika who gripped his shoulders tightly.

"Lyn, focus on Cinder."

"I'll try but I have a feeling he's seen all of us."

"I see you," the stranger cooed again. "No need to keep trying, enchanter. You'll just waste your energy."

"Yeah.... Figures," Lyn groaned. 

Cinder shuddered as Lyn's enchantment washed away. Jika had asked him to cover them after getting away from the center of downtown. Getting closer to the Capitol, things were quiet, almost too quiet and it had unsettled the group. Cinder pulled out of Jika's grip and steeled himself as he strode forward. The man draped in black robes stopped walking and watched him.

"Why?" Cinder snapped.

"Why what?"

"You destroyed half of downtown! Killed hundreds! Thousands even! What was the point of that?"

"To rile you up," the man answered, the smooth tone had no guilt or regret to it. Cinder paused, shocked by the simple answer. It was quickly replaced with anger.

"You bastard!"

"Cinder!" Jika shouted.

"To start you on your downward decent to being black. That's what I need you for. That's what I've always needed you for," the warlock continued as if he hadn't been interrupted. A gloved hand lifted and his fingers curled toward himself. Cinder blanched, and felt a hard pull against the core of his body. He stumbled forward, meeting the warlock halfway as he started walking again. Cold leather curled under his chin and lifted Cinder's head.

What he saw under the cowl made his stomach twist violently. It was impossible. It had to be. That face, the short brown locks of hair, the light sea green eyes. It was a lie. Had to be a lie. Cinder trembled in the warlock's grip. Hands that once lifted him high with a warm smile to go with it. Dull memories of a man who he called father dancing with his beautiful mother in the dining room. Spinning Cinder in circles on a chair to make him dizzy. Telling stories at night to put him to sleep. Sitting up late by the fireplace on Christmas. 

"You fell..." Cinder barely whispered the words. 

"Cinder!" Kydyn had shouted, but he didn't listen.

"You fell," he repeated. "Into fire."

"A child's mind is very easy to manipulate. Enchanters are great at it. Weaving lies into truth. Just small snippets. Not enough to be too outrageous as to pick up on it later. But enough to plant the seed, to make it seem real."

"That. Was a lie?"

"Of course it was a lie," he answered.

"W-why?" Cinder felt tears pinpricking at his eyes. His hands wrapped around the man's forearm, shaking as he held onto the warlock. Cinder wasn't sure he wanted to push his father away, or keep him close.

"Because. Your mother was getting a little too snoopy. She was poking her nose into things that should have been left alone. For her own good."

Cinder's eyes widened, his breath stolen from him. "Mother."

Don't trust them. Don't trust the Capitol, Cinder. 

What she'd said to him. Those words that had been so important but long gone from his memory slipped through. His father's smile grew wide as Cinder yanked back. The warlock released him, but Cinder didn't stumble far from him. He stared at the man in disgust. Hatred blinded him. It took several breaths before he could even speak, and even then the words were nothing but a growl of rage. 

"You killed her."

"I did."

"But you worked for the council! For the Capitol!"

"I do."

"Y-you.... The rebels. There are none. There are no rebels. That's—"

"Another lie. Odain was very specific in his instructions." Cinder's father stepped toward him and Cinder matched him by moving away. 

"Odain." 

"Cinder!" Kydyn shouted again, and there was fear mingling with his anger. Cinder looked over to him and it was that moment of breaking eye contact with his father that let the man make his move. Rocks showered from overhead, the resounding explosion as they went flying hurt Cinder's ears. He flinched and ducked down as if that would help protect him. Something thick and cold wrapped around his arms and waist and he shouted in response. 

The coiling pieces of stone tightened down and Cinder ground his teeth at the pinches of pain as his soft flesh was threatened to be shredded by the rocks. Dragged down to the ground, he twisted his body violently to try to get free. It didn't work, nor did it even loosen the tight hold. Instead he was pulled across the courtyard until he hit one of the pillars that lined the staircase going up to the huge double doors to the Capitol building. He hit it with enough force to knock the air out of his lung on a pained cry. 

Dazed, he went limp as the rope of rocks pinned him to the pillar. With his arms up over his head, his shoulders protesting to the position, Cinder found it difficult to move his body without feeling like he was going to dislocate something. In the courtyard, his blurry vision painted out the scene. Dark blobs weaved across the rocky area like snakes while the lighter colored figures danced out of their range. As his eyesight slowly returned, Cinder watched helplessly as his father threw aside every attack that Kydyn sent at him. 

Ripples of air like heat waves went flying in all directions as his father kept Kydyn from landing a single blow on him. Rocks built up into like whips next to Cinder's father. They lashed out at Kydyn and dark splotches of liquid were painting the gray stones. That wasn't Kydyn's only problem either. The other figures that had joined Cinder's father were attacking him too. Fending off four or five of what Cinder thought to be the rebels was taking its toll on Kydyn. 

Cinder strained against the power that tied him to the pillar. He couldn't just sit and watch as the man he called a father tear apart the three people who mattered to him. Even if Kydyn pissed him off on a daily basis, the idea that Cinder might lose him was agonizing. Kydyn backed away from several of the attackers, his knife flying as he threw it. A single black robed figure stumbled before crumpling into the courtyard. One down. Too many more to go. Next to him, a pool of red spread out over the rocks. Cinder knew that Kydyn had called the fiery dog that he was contracted with. The hell hound rose up and let out a thunderous bark.

The contracted demon rushed the next man who attempted to take on Kydyn. Mowed over by the huge dog, his screams were agonizing to hear, but Cinder realized he preferred that man over Kydyn. Cinder tore his gaze from Kydyn to watch the other two. His heart was pounding too hard. Breathing shallow and quick. He was being forced to watch. It would help tip him out of white magic. That was his father's plan. Swallowing dryly, he prayed that somehow, they would make it out of the horrible trap they'd walked into. 

Jika was wielding a staff, something Cinder hadn't thought the druid capable of. He was a healer, like Cinder. But apparently that didn't mean he wouldn't fight back. Jika was proficient with the staff, throwing the rebels around like rag dolls as he hooked it up under their knees and knocked them down. The end of it jabbed into their necks and whether or not that killed them, Cinder didn't know. All he could see was that once Jika had finished them off with the staff to their throats, they didn't move afterward. 

From Jika, Cinder found Lyn fighting not too far from the druid. His hands were spread open at either side of his body. If he were closer, Cinder was certain he'd see the pale light pulsing through his dark eyes telling that he was weaving enchantments. Illusions. The ones thoroughly affected by Lyn's magic stumbled around like idiots until they smacked into one another. Cinder watched as a pair of them slashed wildly at each other until one dropped to the dirt, creating a pool of blood under his body from his wounds. 

It felt as if they could win, but Cinder's nerves were too chaotic to think properly. If only he could do something other than just watch... Every time a rebel came too close to one of them, Cinder felt as if his heart was going to be wrenched right out of his chest. He tugged and pulled against the restraints but it was all in vain. Nothing was going to free him, not on his own anyway. He had nothing like the power that Kydyn wielded. Which made him seriously wonder why the hell he was considered to be the top power on the ladder. Why was a magus so powerful if all they could do was heal and star gaze? Wasn't there something he could do that was far more useful?

Cinder clenched his teeth as he stared at Kydyn who was backing away from the other warlock. Each time the animated rocks lashed out at him, Kydyn batted them aside with his magic. Ripples of air knocked the attacks away from him, but it seemed like that was all Kydyn was doing. He wasn't fighting back anymore and even his contracted demon looked less intimidating than usual. Cinder was worried. "Kydyn," he gasped the warlock's name. Kydyn was flung off his feet as the rocks under him rippled like small mountains were moving. 

Cinder lurched forward only to relax when his arms protested. A hand covered his mouth and he felt terror rise. Stiffening under their hold, he tried to turn his head. "Sit still, magus. We'll have you out of here in just a moment. Had to wait till that damned warlock was a little more preoccupied."

What? Cinder thought in confusion. The female voice was soft but with a hint of urgency to it. Footsteps across the stone made Cinder cringe again. Who was it that had come up behind him without him realizing it? The woman's hand never left his mouth as a second girl came around to his right side and crouched down next to him. She flashed him a smile, her long black hair tied up in a high pony tail that didn't help to keep the ends from reaching her waist. 

"We'll explain later, but right now. Just do as we say and we'll get all of you out of here. I'm sure you understand."

Cinder nodded. She grinned at him, a kind of look that reminded him of the Cheshire cat. The woman shuffled a little closer to him as the hand over his mouth slipped away. He watched her, wary of what she was going to do. She put her hands on his, pressing down on the rocks that wrapped his wrists and down his arms. She started chanting and Cinder looked up to see what she was doing. The bindings wavered, and he winced. Nibbling his lower lip as he felt the rocks tighten, he kept his discomfort to himself. 

"Once those break, we'll hit them with all we've got. Don't fight us," the first woman's voice said and Cinder finally got to see who it was. 

Her blood red hair matched the color of her long nails. That same color looked down at him and Cinder was at a loss for words. The receptionist was standing in front of him. The woman who glared at him from her seat at the front desk whenever he came to speak to Odain. Was it that he'd been taking her distaste for him the wrong way? The receptionist watched her companion work before turning to look at the fighting. 

Cinder dared a glance. Kydyn was still standing. Jika had moved to Lyn who was kneeling on the ground. Those that survived Lyn's illusions had turned to him, freed from the enchanter's spell. Jika was holding them off well enough, but it was easy to see that he was tiring. Cinder looked over to the red haired woman. "Hurry," he said, his voice cracking with fear. She spared him a quick look before she was back to surveying the fight in the courtyard.

"Syl, we can't take that warlock head on."

Cinder looked for the new voice and found a man standing just behind the woman who was working to undo his restraints. Syl looked over at him and nodded. "I know that."

"Almost done, Syl. Once this snaps, we're going to have his attention whether we want it or not," the woman kneeling next to him said.

Syl took a breath and positioned herself in a fighting stance. Her voice was soft as she muttered to herself. Cinder watched as she weaved her magic. Sparks of orange and red flickered, dancing across her hands as she continued building her power. Fire ignited a second later. It coiled around her arms until she looked like she was burning up to her shoulders. The moment Cinder's bonds snapped, Syl launched her fire. The fire streaked across the courtyard like an angry dog. Cinder's father had turned the second the bonds were loose. He dove out of the way of the incoming blast, leaving Kydyn the one to deal with it. 

"Kydyn!" Cinder lurched forward as the rocks fell away from him. He reached the edge of the courtyard before someone stopped him. Cinder didn't think anything could surprise the smart mouthed warlock, but the fire seemed to do it. The hell hound bounded over to him, but Cinder didn't think he'd make it in time. As the fire exploded against something, Cinder shouted wordless in horror. 

It wasn't until the smoke cleared that he stopped struggling with the man who held him tightly. Kydyn was picking himself up off the ground. Brushing off stray rocks and dirt, he stood and ran his hand under his nose, smearing dirt and blood. He looked livid. Shooting a glare at the staircase leading up to the Capitol, Cinder knew Kydyn was looking at Syl. 

"Time to go." The man holding Cinder turned him around and kept him steady as he smiled. "This might be a little different for you. But hold tight, don't let go, and hold your breath."

Cinder stared for a moment before looking over to Kydyn. His immediate reaction was to reach out for the warlock and just as he was going to do so, the man holding him tapped something against his chest. He was muttering, but it was what he held in his hand that had Cinder's attention. It was a simple wooden stick with a crystal embedded into its top. A wand.

The magician's spell flowed over him like water and it was much different than the usual transportation spell he and the others used. He wasn't pitched into darkness and the transition was slower. It was murky. He still couldn't see the man who held him, but he could feel his touch on his arm, keeping him connected to the spell that stemmed from the magician. A sharp, blinding pain exploded in his lower back and he jolted, nearly letting go of the magician. Cinder managed to keep holding his breath, though his lungs burned with the need to release the oxygen. 

When the spell faded, he crumpled forward and the magician fell with him. Cinder cried out as he hit the floor. Sprawled across the magician, he winced and slowly reached down to his hip where the pain was radiating from. His fingers came back wet and sticky. Panting, he forced himself up off of the man who had transported them somewhere else. 

"H-hey," he croaked, wincing as he tried to keep his weight off the side that had been run through by something. He looked down at the magician and felt his heart clench. Blood was staining the front of the man's shirt, right in the middle of his chest. Breathing was difficult as he stared, watching the red stain slowly grow larger. Hands on his shoulders pulled him away, and a rush of noise assaulted him. Cinder couldn't hear a word they said. Even the high pitched scream of a woman's anguish didn't tear through his horror.

The magician had been killed during his transportation spell. Cinder's stomach waged war. He was certain he was going to be sick. His vision went white as his body grew intolerably hot. Toppling backward, he lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling that grew white before getting dark. He was vaguely aware of faces hovering in the wash of light. A loud ringing drowned out words that were spoken to him. He was fairly sure someone smacked him, more than once too.

Cinder squinted, trying to focus on the pair of faces that hovered over him. It was a chore, one that he wasn't succeeding at. Dizzy, nauseated, and tired, Cinder gave in to the overwhelming drag of darkness.