We file into Level One and climb out onto the surface. It looks even worse-there's now little craters in the orange sand that's stained crimson in spots. We stand somewhat close to the glass dome, which has cracks all over it. The sky is a mixture of orange and blue. In the entire expanse of the desert, I only see a few plants-but that's no different than usual. The Training Base is under the largest desert on Azera, which takes up the majority of the continent. And considering there's only three continents- Tarak, Mesa, and Vezar (which translates into East, west, and north)- and the oceans are fairly small, it's pretty big.

I wander over to a plant and pick one of its purple flowers. Lavender. One of the few plants that grow both here and on Earth. I inhale its sweet scent. It reminds me of the last time I saw my grandparents-my mother's parents-on Vezar, where the plant grows abundantly. I pocket it and stare at the capital. I had been there once, and it was beautiful. To see the soaring architecture reduced to rubble is depressing.

James appears behind me and rests a hand on my shoulder. I jump. "It's horrifying, isn't it?" he asks quietly.

I nod and look behind me-some little kids are running around, but everyone else stands around, whispering to each other.

"There's no point in being here," I mutter. "No point at all."

I stare at the cracked glass, the only window to the outside world? How did we never notice until now, when we were basically told? How did we not notice the war above our heads?

James points my gaze to the sky. An airship flies overhead, wailing. Several little ones scream at the noise, but their Guardians calm them down quickly. We watch it pass, then I look at James. "I'm scared," I whisper.

"Of what?"

"What...what if an enemy ship sees us? What if a bomb is dropped here and destroys us? What if the fighting causes the Training Base to collapse? What if..." There are so many worst-case scenarios running through my head I can barely speak.

James looks at the lavender plant. "And what if we don't? What if we're like this plant, and at the end of it all, we still stand? Callie, don't dwell on the negative. Leave that to the adults."

I laugh a little. "What's the fighting like on the other continents?"

"How'd I know? I haven't left Tarak for as long as you have."

"Yeah, but you get the news," I point out.

"Yeah...south of Tarak isn't doing so great. I think, when you had that flashback, during the sermon, that was on the beach down there."

"So it was more recent flashback?"

"Probably. Mesa has the most collateral damage, but that's where most of the population is. Vezar....I don't know what's going on there. And Tierra is untouched, which is good." Tierra is an island in the middle of the ocean between all three continents. Though it's controlled by Vezar-each continent has its own small government, so as long as it didn't interfere with the world government- Tierra acts very independent. And it's home to the military capitol, Axedence.

"But the capitol took a beating," I say, pointing at it. "Who decided the capital should be in the desert, anyhow?"

James shrugs. "To be close to the Training Base, I suppose."

"I thought it was the other way around."

"The capital moved here because this was an ideal place to build an underground building, and they wanted to be close to their 'new army'," James explains.

"Oh. Okay." I sink to the ground, my robe puddling around me. James kneels next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I look at his face. His brown eyes shine with worry. "It's just..." I play with the gold pleats of the robe. Most robes are pretty uniform. Long, loose sleeves, high collar, and pleats on front. Everyone has a specific color robe for their status. Red and gold for Keepers-in-Training and Guardians, blue and silver for Keepers, green and brown for combat....you get the picture. Pants and tunics are usually worn for less formal occasion, like school or training.

"Just what?"

"The longer I stay on the surface, the more scared I feel," I say. "It's like...I can't shake off the feeling that something's going to happen."

"Callie?"

"Yeah?"

"Let me show you something," James pulls me to my feet and leads me to the glass dome. I can see the empty church two floors below. "We're not safe in the Training Base either." He pulls me to a crater. I see twisted pieces of metal inside of it.

"You told me not to dwell on the negative," I say, looking at him. "What happened to that?"

"Callie, you know as well as I do that I'm a realist. I'm sorry, but when I see stuff like this-" he gestures to the crater- "I can't stay optimistic for long."

"You were for a few moments," I point out.

"I hate keeping you in the dark, giving you false hope. It doesn't work when I try. The only reason why I didn't tell you about the war the second I heard about it because I would've lost my job and that would've meant leaving you behind."

I nod, still staring at the dark hole in the sand. "Can we go inside?"

"Maybe? I'll go check." James goes to talk to Matilda, leaving me alone. One of the little ones runs up to me and hits my arm. "You're it!" he shouts gleefully.

I tap his back. "Now you're it. No tag backs." He pouts and runs back to the peers. I watch him go.

James walks up to me. "Playing with the little ones?"

"They forced me into it. What's the deal?"

"Well, apparently we're suppose to stand around and boil away." I laugh. It is really warm out. James grins. "Yeah, funny, but that's not what she said."

"What'd she say?"

"She told me that they're doing something inside and that's why we're out here. She says that it'll only take thirty more minutes."

"So we have to stand around for another half hour?"

"Or you could play with the little ones," James suggests.

"How about you go play tag with them, and I'll watch you lose?"

"You're too sweet."

"You're rubbing off on me."

He tousles my hair and wanders over to the other Guardians. I manage to smooth it down just as Masan and Astrid come over to me. "So, what's going on?" Astrid asks.

"James tried optimism and found he preferred the flavor of pessimism more," I say, staring at the crater in the ground. Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howls.

Astrid cocks her head. "The fighting's fairly close. I can feel it."

"Feel what?" Masan asks, picking up a rock and absently molding it.

"Everyone dying," she says dully. "Not just Azerans. Euravic....humans...."

"Humans?" I repeat. "Humans haven't made it past their moon. They think they're the only species in the universe."

"Nah, they think there's other life-sustaining planets," Masan says, "but others have brushed them off as 'conspiracies'."

"Area 51," I say.

"They don't actually have aliens there," Astrid says. "At least, none that we know of."

"The humans think they do," Masan points out. He begins forming a human from the rock.

"Doesn't explain why they're here," I say.

"No, it doesn't. Humans are..."

"Stupid?" I supply.

"No, underdeveloped. They haven't been around as long as we have."

"Bull," Masan says. "They've been around for a very long while. But only recently have they been developing actual technology."

"And then they started really developing technology," I say. "They made it to the moon less than fifty years after developing movies and radio."

"Still. It's gonna take them a long, long while before they develop ships fast enough to make it to here," Astrid says stubbornly. Masan puts the last finishing touches on the rock figure and sticks it in the pocket of his pants.

"Have we even been to their planet before?" Masan argues.

"Yes, and we know it's very much like ours. One sun, one moon, same measurement of time, only their days and months are a bit longer," I say.

"We adapted ours to be like theirs," Masan says. "And it's not by much. They have 24 hours in a day, we have 20, they have thirty or thirty one days in a month, we have forty, they have 365 days with a bit extra, we have 360. Even."

"Even 20 hours in a day, too?" I ask. "Why is it even different?"

"Seconds, minutes, and hours are man-made. Days are determined by rotation, we follow the lunar cycle-and sometimes so do they-and years are determined by how long it takes for the planet to make it around the sun and how many rotations there are."

"That's way too confusing. Hey, I think we can go inside now," I say, gesturing at the people lining up at the trapdoor.

"Oh, goody. It was getting a little too hot out for me," Astrid says. We're close to the trapdoor when Astrid collapses.

"Astrid!" I shriek, bending down over here. Then I scream, "James! Isa!"

"What happened?" Masan asks.

"I don't know, she just collapse, I think it's from the heat..." I press my fingers into her throat, trying to find her pulse. 

"I don't think it's that," Masan says, pointing at the capitol. I look up in time to see a small explosion.

James and Isa rush over and push me away. I fall onto my back. James scoops her up and tells us, "Come on, we gotta get inside."

Masan and I follow him indoors as fast as possible. Everyone immediately filters throughout the building. We go to Astrid's dorm. James sets her on the couch and straightens up.

"I can take care of her," Isa says, shooing us out of the room.

"Is it just me, or is everything happening to me?" James asks.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, everything that's happened to the Keepers I've had to help deal with the problem. You with your flashbacks and the premonition...both times Astrid's passed out, I've had to carry her back to her room...and none of the other Guardians had to deal with this. It's exhausting and it's adding to my list of worries."

"I feel really bad for her. She's been having a rough time with this," I say.

"She's a sweet, happy girl. She shouldn't have to deal with that. Nobody should have to deal with Death constantly," James says.

"We were talking about the fighting when she collapsed," I say.

"Because of the capitol?"

"No, because she could feel it. She said that humans were being killed in the fight."

"Humans? Like, Earthlings?" he says absently.

"That's the only humans we know of. But James, it doesn't make sense. How could the humans get here? They don't even know we exist!"

James stops abruptly, my words finally sinking in. "Humans? Here? On Azera"

"That's what Astrid said, yeah."

"Oh, my Gods," James mutters. "I didn't believe it when he told me, but..."

"James?" I ask, but he ignores me. He instead turns on his heel and runs back down the hallway and disappears up the stairs.