James hung there, feet dangling high above the ground, the sleeves of his coat digging into his armpits, and his mind racing. Max's head was downcast, and his shoulders rose and fell in silent tears. James reached for his power and found it free from whatever cage had been holding it. A silvery light weakly coalesced in his fingertips. Under the midday sun, his power was muted, for even the moon could not shine during the day. A small blade formed from the light, transparent all but the edges. He shook his head, frustrated with how insubstantial the dagger felt. James sliced the collar of his coat and dropped to the branch below. With a wobble, he caught his balance with arms out to either side. James let the blade vanish, reaching up to help Max get free.

  "No. Let me be, ya." Max lashed out at him, not hard, but enough to dislodge himself from where he hung. "I messed up, James. She ain't supposed to be let out."

  James tilted his head in confusion. Max had slipped back into the accent James had always known, but he knew this was an act. James wanted to see his friend, but he only saw a stranger. Max climbed out of the tree, jumping the last few feet to the ground with a thud. James thought there were just too many questions, none with easy answers.

  What is going on? Why does Max have so many names? Who even is he?

  James lowered himself to the ground, sore muscles protesting the familiar movement. Max crouched near the crater Sondia's departure had made, absentmindedly tossing bits of broken stone into it. The temple was destroyed. Not a single stone lay atop another, and the massive crater smoked—a thick black thing curling into a clear sky.

  "Max? What was all that?" James cautiously placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Who are you?"

  Max looked up at James, his normal eye red and a weary smile across his face. It looked to James, like a mask Max was desperately trying to hide behind. "I'm still me, nothin' gonna change dat."

  "Max, I saw it. Hells, I heard it. You spoke as if you knew high imperial." James squatted next to his friend, picking up bits of rubble and tossing them into the hole. He watched the swirling smoke, idly wondering what was burning in the stones below, while he waited for Max to respond.

  Max let out a long sigh, his body seeming to deflate as he fell back, resting his head on his hands and staring into the cloudless sky. "Longe natus sum. Imperium usque ad mortem. Be the creed of all born into da high nobility house of Sondius. Still, my mother was forced to marry my father, a son of Duranius. I was supposed to bring peace to the feud that had been going on for generations..."

  Stolen novel; please report.

  A long silence grew, Max closing his eyes, his mouth pressed into a hard line. James tossed more rocks into the hole, and the smoke started to lessen before Max spoke again.

  "But they ran away, out here to the far edge of the Imperium, after the second attempt on my life. Told me to be the country bumkin, to learn to speak like the other kids." Max stood and began to pace. "But the assassins didn't stop coming, not from the Duranius's but from my mother's family, and they were good, exceptional. Each time, they would get a little closer, and each time, my parents would get hurt a little more. Finally, my parents slipped up. Out in the Wylds, a small fishing village."

  Max's eyes went dark, and he turned away. He kicked at a rock, sending it tumbling down into the canyon below. James watched, frozen to the spot. He knew Max had come to the Master's house just before he had. He knew the Master had "Saved" Max, but no one ever discussed it. The moment stretched, Max stared at the sky, taking slow, deliberate breaths.

  "Max?" James said.

  "I found my father first. His throat had been slit on the porch of outside home. It was the first time I'd seen someone dead. Then, my mother, they had nailed her to the wall by her wrists. Like they had mounted a prized deer. I can still see her when I close my eyes, James. The unnatural grey skin and the clothes are torn and bloody. The words written in blood. We have your sister. I was twelve James. Twelve. The Master found me then, covered in blood, wandering the coast. My voice was gone from screaming. I did the only thing I thought I could. I became Max, not this high noble from the capital of the Imperium. Just Max, a country kid whose family had been killed by pirates from the Stillwater Sea. He took me in, and you know the rest."

  Max absentmindedly waved toward James, Oakwood, and the orchard around them. Before shoving his hands into his pockets and turning to face James, his eyes alight with a pleading, as if he were begging James to understand. James saw the pain and saw his friend praying for him to understand, so he tried something new and hoped it would work.

  "So you're like a prince then? Will I be rewarded if I return you to the Emperor of whatever?" James stood to face his friend, believing the joke had cut through the tension and brought Max back. A soft smile formed on James' face.

  "Probably, maybe not, though. Did you miss the part about them wanting me dead?" Max's gaze finally met James', and a matching grin tugged at his lips.

  "Never mind that. Wait—You said, sister." James grabbed his friend's shoulders.

  "I did, ya. Why?" Max looked confused.

  "So she's like a princess, and we should like go save her, right?" James could feel the genuine excitement building inside of him.

  "What in the high heavens are you getting at James?" Max clasped James' shoulders, searching his face for any clues.

  "Heroes, Max, we get to be heroes!" James nearly jumped for joy. "Like the ones from the stories. I can find Justicar Rholl, and he can train me with this magic shit. You can show you're not a deserter, and I..."

  "Can finally put to rest the rumors that you are the monster of Oakwood. A curse upon the town that has been stealing people in the night." Max leveled his eyes on James, his tone growing serious. "James you said you didn't want to hurt anyone anymore."

  "I did, and I don't, but sometimes the way forward is paved with doing things we don't want to do so we can truly do what we were made to do. Like Miss Silvia says, I-We were chosen for a reason, and that we should use our powers to help people, not just hide them away, scared of what could happen." James tried to give his most brutal stare towards Max, trying to channel his inner Ser Edwin, lowering his pitch and making his face as stern as he could. "We have a duty to the community, even if they don't like us for it."

  They both laughed, a genuine, full-hearted sound filled the air. Before James' face grew grave. "But I think you should tell Miss Silvia."

  "Me? Why? You're the God Seed or whatever." Max pulled away, face going pale.

  "Cause we are going to save your sister." James smiled, turning his back on the ruins, the orchard, and Max and beginning the walk back to the forge. A new sense of purpose washed over him, and he idly wondered what Nera was up to.