Mysterious fires and relentless storms wear down an already dwindling population, but as the fires grow more focused and destructive, a young messenger is compelled to seek out answers that have been hidden from him for twenty years. When I saw the smoke rising again, I knew it was him. Because he always waited for the storm before setting another fire. He wanted us terrified and restless. But he didn’t account for our maxim, the three words that made us Galilieans. We endured because of those three words. It was the same reason Raindrop and I always followed the smoke. Despite Luminator Eloanne’s warnings, I couldn’t let it keep happening. She was still looking for survivors like me—anyone who would bite down on the world and never let go—who would scratch and crawl and dig and hold on, even as it all burned. They were out there. We only had to find them.
