Julia stood transfixed, her mind churning with the scene of chaos below, as well as Cass's words. She struggled to process everything that was happening, and it resulted in a near-paralysis of both body and mind. The noises and chaos began to feel far away, as if her mind drifted higher and higher into the sky.

"Peace—you are young. You needn't have answers to all of life's most challenging questions," Lumenfall whispered into Julia's mind.

She suddenly launched off Julia's shoulder into the sky, where a great cloud began to gather. Golden lightning crackled within, the bolts themselves hidden by the wispy vapor, but their glow permeated the space, along with their distinctive cracks.

The fighting below ground to a halt, as everyone looked to the sky. A great pair of reptilian eyes appeared, just visible within the cloud. They glowed with a golden light, as if the sun shone behind them, and they studied the crowd below with obvious derision.

"Disperse," Lumenfall commanded.

Everyone—elves, humans, and guards—started at the sudden intrusion into their minds. They looked around at each other before returning their attention to the glowing eyes above, realizing the voice must've come from there.

A guard in the middle of the line puffed himself up before sauntering forward, his demeanor full of righteous indignation.

"Who are you to command—" he started.

A bolt of golden lightning struck just a finger-length from his feet with a deafening blast. The man's face paled, and he stepped back quickly, as though to dodge the bolt that had already struck.

"Disperse—now," Lumenfall commanded again.

The dense cloud thinned just enough to reveal her majestic head—well, Julia thought it was majestic. Other opinions apparently varied, as members of all three groups collectively gasped and retreated.

Guards began an organized but quick retreat to wherever they'd come from, while the human crowd broke and ran toward the docks. Julia's thoughts began to settle, and she found the idea amusing. If Lumenfall was some dread monster in the sky, a small boat out on the Blue would be about the worst place one could face her.

Her thoughts returning, Julia finally caught sight of Ithshar, who seemed to be helping the elves return to their homes. She grabbed an old man's arm as he fell, stabilizing him so that he could continue. She darted in between two elves who were about to run into each other in their panic, separating them and sending them on their way.

Off in the distance, Sahira, Nadhem, and Talnîr barred the way of a few elves—Mahven's group, if Julia were to guess. It was a tense standoff; both sides had their hands on their weapons, though they weren't drawn. Clearly, the Thornalûn were preventing any from attacking the retreating civilians.

Even if Julia had no answers to the questions Cass posed, she approved of this. Attacking a retreating enemy was the height of dishonor—or that's what the books she'd read claimed.

She sat down on the roof—or fell, more like—hugging her legs in front of her. She hadn't felt so helpless in a long time, probably since she was first teleported to the swamp. All this power she'd fought, bled, and struggled for—and she still couldn't figure out how, where, or when to use it.

"As I said, you are too young to worry about such things," Lumenfall said as she returned to her position on Julia's shoulder.

The fuzzy ferret patted Julia's cheek with tiny paws.

"I'm like four times older than you," Julia joked.

"Indeed. But I possess the wisdom of countless ancestors before me. You are a child struggling through a world that insists on challenging you," Lumenfall responded, sitting down on Julia's shoulder to lick her paws.

Her words stung. She knew Lumenfall meant them as comfort—but she found only admonishment: after so much struggle, she was still just a child.

"You are catastrophizing. That is not what I meant, nor the way I said it. What I meant is that I am fortunate enough to have the wisdom of those who came before to lean on. You have to figure your way around in this world while relying only on yourself and those around you.

"You should lean more on the resources you do have. You have others around you to consult on such complicated issues. Your strength is not just what you can summon yourself, but also what your friends can lend you," Lumenfall lectured, the impact somewhat subdued by her cute appearance.

"What would dragons do in a situation like this?" Julia asked.

"Ha!" Lumenfall chuckled, a small ring of smoke blowing out the ferret's nose. "Depends on the species and culture, but most would simply fight until one proves its cause the more just."

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"Hmm, 'might makes right', then?" Julia asked.

"Power is about far more than just might," she answered cryptically.

Julia was about to ask for clarification when Ithshar suddenly appeared before her, offering a hand.

"Come. We must follow Mahven and his gang. Things are now in motion that cannot be stopped," she said.

"What exactly is in motion?" Julia asked, taking Ithshar's hand and rising to her feet.

"This was a trap. The guards were absent during the escalation so that they could intervene after violence had broken out. The city will likely use this violence as an excuse for military intervention," she explained as they jumped down from the building.

She stood straight and gave Julia a grave look.

"This Quarter is about to become a war zone."

"Yes, the water is important, but it is not all that matters," Mahven said, motioning over a map of the South Quarter.

Julia sat at a small table within one of the warehouses halfway between the wall and the Blue. The space was ostensibly unowned and abandoned, but Mahven's gang had clearly made it their own.

Julia sat with Ithshar and the Thornalûn, while across from them sat Mahven, Cass, and a man by the name of Taubin. He was middle-aged and already showed the beginnings of that perpetual hunch common among the Quarter's elders. He seemed to be some kind of community organizer, though there were obviously no official governments within the South Quarter.

A host of Mahven's other revolutionary forces occupied the remaining seats. They ran the gamut from stooped-over old elves to young, twenty-something humans. They sat with grave faces as they planned a resistance to the inevitable military occupation and violence.

"These will be forces from the military, not the guards. They will use passages inaccessible to others within the city. I have no doubt there are corridors and tunnels within the wall interior. They will likely send a token force across the water, while the main bulk hits us from the flank, taking advantage of the distraction.

"The problem is that I don't know exactly where they'll exit the wall. That Adamantine is solid and sheer all the way across. The door will likely be operated by some magic mechanism, which will make it undetectable while not in operation," Mahven explained, running his finger across the entire length of the wall on the map.

"They'll also open up the gates to the East and West Quarters, no doubt. They closed them years ago for 'fire concerns,' but we all know that was just a smokescreen to keep the elves quarantined," Cass reasoned, pointing to both the gates to the other Quarters.

"How do you plan on dealing with the city's leadership? I've seen the barrier surrounding The Stone, and I definitely couldn't overpower it," Julia asked as she studied the map.

Silence spread around the table, making Julia raise her head.

"Don't tell me you don't have any designs to take The Stone. What's the point of this resistance if you can't take the city's core? What could be gained otherwise? You may as well try to find a way out of the city," Julia said in bewilderment.

"Aye, I certainly couldn't blast my way in. That barrier is one thing, but it's probably got an unreasonably large amount of Etherium powering it. It would take an unbelievable amount of force over a sustained period to damage it. We're not getting in there," Cass declared.

Julia glanced around the table, seeing nods of affirmation, which only confused her further.

"This is all we can do, Julia: survive. Perhaps, if we can hold the military off long enough, we can convince citizens around the city to join our cause. Even now, our campaigns to spread the truth of the merchant attacks are ongoing in the other Quarters.

"We just have to hope that we can hold out long enough for the momentum to build…unless…you have another solution?" Mahven asked with a raised brow.

Julia nodded reluctantly. She'd been thinking about how to get up there for nearly the entire time she'd been in the city. Of course she'd come up with something by now.

"Yeah, there are a few problems, though. First, only myself and Lumenfall will be going—unless anyone else can convert their body into pure mana?" she asked mostly rhetorically.

When everyone else shook their heads, she continued.

"Right, the second problem is that I'm going to need to get to the Guild, which leads into the third problem. I need a big distraction. To that end, I have a proposition.

"Rather than hunkering down here, in the South Quarter, spread your forces throughout the city. Hit major targets: administrative centers, banks, and anything that would harm the government of this city.

"When I say 'hit', I mean damage the buildings, the documents—the infrastructure. Don't target and harm civilians that are just doing their jobs. Evacuate the workers, and then bring the buildings down. Draw out their forces and disperse them across the entire city," she said confidently.

The table was quiet as everyone exchanged looks. Some seemed confused, others seemed excited, as though they were thrilled with the opportunity to bring the fight elsewhere—or perhaps they liked the idea of drawing the fighting away from the South Quarter.

"Haha!" Cass bellowed, her sudden laughter startling everyone from their thoughts. "The barrier control mechanism at the Guild, huh? You're pretty clever, kid."

"What exactly is all this, Cass?" Mahven asked, not nearly as amused as she.

"Don't worry about the specifics. It's something only Julia could do anyway. She needs a distraction because she's going to The Stone alone. She needs it as empty as possible both to actually make it there, and to have a chance of confronting the city's leadership when they're not surrounded by guards," she said with obvious mirth.

"Not alone," Lumenfall snorted, a few sparks shooting out her nose.

Cass just smiled wider and nodded.

Mahven, his hand on his chin, looked up after thinking for a while.

"Very well, we'll put it to a vote. We'll be putting a lot of faith in you, Julia, so I won't move without approval from the majority," he said.

Julia nodded in understanding, and Mahven stood with his right hand raised.

"Right, all in favor?" he asked.

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