“I’m assuming they went back to Mars,” Hameel said.

  Lilly’s helmet lay still on their wooden table. Enyst ran his fingers over the reflective dome.

  “They were never going to stay,” Lizzak said. “The air was unsuitable.”

  “But it was suitable. Right before they left, their friend Edward showed them they could breathe without the globes.”

  “The boy with Solomon?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the boy was a Strength?”

  “Yes.”

  “I do not understand, Hammel. You believe these people are from Merrick, but they are not Merrick. You say they come from another world, but also from our world. You say they believe there is no Merrick in the future. Everything you say is upsetting.”

  “I know, I know," Hameel said, running his fingers through long strands of salt and pepper hair. They are from Earth. It is another world, so far from us that they must fly to get here. But they have no wings. They traveled on a ship, but their ships fly in the air, not on water. They are visiting Merrick in the future, and the future holds no signs of our people. They say our planet is desolate, without trees, water, or animals. We are not there, not even bones in the dirt.”

  “How is it possible that our bones are missing?”

  “It must be farther into the future than we can imagine."

  Maybe the wind blew us away,” Enyst said, as if eager to add something.

  “And why are we not there? I can’t imagine that not even fifty of us survived. Surely they are mistaken.”

  “I cannot understand it either, I agree. But it's connected to this battle between the factions. I feel that in my soul.”

  “The factions have fought before, Hameel. We would never annihilate each other.”

  “I miss them,” Hameel said, smiling, a tear running down his face. "I do not want to think we could annihilate each other. They said something came up from the ground and killed us? Perhaps the spirits?”

  “I cannot believe the spirits would ever harm us,” said Lizzak. “Perhaps The Orb kills us?”

  “Perhaps,” he said wearily.

  “You think the Orb will kill us, Hameel? If you think such a thought, it will surely kill us as we sleep tonight.”

  “Hush, hush, Lizzak. I am sorry to upset you. The Orb does not want to kill us. You understand it could do so easily each time we anger it. The Orb wants to guide us. The Orb wants us to prosper.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Why did it not guide us with the visitors? The Orb said nothing and did nothing to help while they were here.”

  “That is not true. It spoke to me tonight at the meeting.”

  “And said what?”

  “It showed me how to find Edward and told me to let them go peacefully.”

  “What happened tonight was not peaceful. Solomon carved an S on his chest.”

  Hameel grimaced, having been the one to find Solomon passed out from the shock of this self-inflicted injury.

  “It wasn't our best night. You are right. I wish Edward had not met Solomon, but what can I do?”

  “You will need to address Merrick again and soon.”

  “I need to wait for the Orb to speak to me?”

  "You cannot wait until the Strengths show up with torches and threaten to make us move from our home.”

  “They won't do that, Lizzak. We are not a warring type of people.”

  “But what if we are, Hameel? What if that is why we go extinct?”

  Hameel stared into Lizzak's golden eyes, full of worry and tears. Enyst was sitting in her lap. His eyes were closed, but even so, Hameel knew they were an exact copy of his mother’s. What could be done to save them? He’d do anything. Solomon was so angry, and the Strengths had rallied around him. Hameel’s father had been a much respected Strength. As a little boy, Hameel had hung on his father’s arms as he carried trees into the arena. The Strengths had always represented safety. But what if they began to represent something else?

  “Will you meet with Bartholomew and consider his view?”

  “I do think there is value in that. The Movers are probably quite confused about which side they should be on.”

  “Oh, I imagine the Movers have already chosen to side with Strengths.”

  “Why do you say this, Lizzak?”

  “They also feel oppressed, Hameel. This is no secret.”

  “I have failed, Merrick,” Hameel said, worn hands sliding down his legs.

  “You have failed no one!” Lizzak said sternly.

  “This is a quest for power born out of greed. Did you bring those evils into our world?”

  Hameel contemplated this. Who was responsible for greed and power? The Orb created everything as he understood it.

  “Greed and a longing for power grow inside everyone," he said. It's like the cancer the visitors say develops once they return to Earth. If they are to stay healthy, they must not leave Mars.”

  “Mars sounds awful,” Lizzak said.

  “I know, but it is Merrick, Lizzak. Our future.”

  “So it is,” she said, placing her fingers over Enyst’s ears, as if he hadn't heard everything.

  “What will you do?”

  “I will obey what the Orb tells me. I trust we were supposed to meet the visitors. Our paths crossed for a reason.”

  “And Solomon? I fear you cannot leave him to brew. He will continue to stir up trouble among our people.”

  “I plan to visit him today and check on his wound. I'll bring the balm that speeds up healing.”

  “And what will you say to him, Hameel?” Lizzak asked.

  “That he is greatly respected and could be instrumental in the factions getting along.”

  “That will not be enough for him, Hameel. He believes what he is doing is right.”

  “If you are right, I will not change his mind.”

  “But you have to change it,” she shouted, and Enyst sat up as though he was alarmed that his parents were fighting.

  “I do not have the power to change it, Lizzak. The Orb has given us free will, and Solomon will use his to do what he thinks is necessary.”

  “Then, you do not care for us, Hameel. I have misjudged you as a husband and a partner. I will take Enyst to my parents' home so my father can protect us.”

  Hammel was speechless. He had never seen Lizzak so afraid, her words a flimsy armor.

  "I don't want to go live with Grandpa," Enyst said, pulling Lizzak's face close to his. "He smells bad and sleeps all day."

  Hameel's eyes softened, and he offered up the smile reserved only for his wife and son.

  "No one is moving, Enyst," he said.

  Then he dropped to his knees and sang. The words were familiar, a song his parents had sung to him, a melody the spirits recognized, glowing and swaying outside their front door.

  And while Hameel's family was singing, Solomon, several miles away, wet a bloody towel and placed it on his chest, swollen from the tip of his own knife, determined that his pain and persistence were the only reasons Edward had been born at all, many, many years into the future,