“Mama! Mama!” shouted little Billy, beside himself with excitement. “Can fire float?”

  The question caught Grace completely off guard. She had no idea how to respond to her son’s boundless imagination. On a positive note, at least the little boy seemed blissfully unaware of the wave of destruction ravaging the city; he surely imagined this was just a new game of some kind. The downside was that she desperately needed her son not to cause problems or distractions—something that should not be required of a six-year-old—or they would all die.

  “Not now, Billy,” she answered, not even able to turn her head to see what he was looking at. She was doing her best to drag her husband’s unconscious body to safety, but it felt like it weighed at least a ton. She had to move him before the flames caught up with them. “Stay with Mommy, Billy. I don’t want you to get separated from me.”

  Her instinct to survive was the only thing keeping her from breaking down. Whatever else happened, she was going to save her family. She wasn’t even sure how they’d ended up in such a dangerous situation.

  Just a moment before she’d been with her brother, her son, and her husband, watching dumbfounded as thousands of people with black wings were marching toward the Fog when suddenly a crevice opened up in the ground, causing a nearby building to collapse. As a mountain of rubble was brought down on the street, Grace and her family had fallen into a hole.

  When she came to, she discovered that her son was still beside her, urging her to wake up. They were in a section of the subway, and a fire was coming dangerously close to them, depriving them of oxygen. Grace found her husband unconscious and started dragging him out of there. Little Billy told her his uncle had fallen into a hole nearby, but she knew she couldn’t take care of everyone by herself. The first thing she had to do was to save Larry.

  “I didn’t know fire could float, Mama. It’s really cool!” Billy said, his little voice full of excitement. Grace had no idea what he was talking about, and she continued dragging her husband.

  Then suddenly Billy’s voice changed drastically. He was now crying uncontrollably.

  With her heart racing faster than it should, Grace left Larry lying on the floor and instantly turned and ran through the only clear pathway back to her son.

  “Put me down!” cried Billy. “Put me down!”

  Grace dodged around a large pile of debris and almost ran headlong into a very tall man. He had to have been at least six-six, and his long blond hair flowed down over his bare shoulders. His arms were completely bare except for some very strange bracelets. The man was most definitely not dressed for the weather. From his right hand dangled Billy, who was kicking wildly and flailing his arms as he repeatedly shouted, “Put me down!” The stranger was holding him like a sack of something he didn’t want to have anywhere near him. Though he wasn’t letting Billy drag on the floor, there was certainly no evidence that he was being gentle with him.

  Just behind the tall man, Grace saw something that left her speechless. It was a very strange symbol; she’d never seen anything remotely like it. It was made up of several strokes that formed circles and intersecting lines. She didn’t understand what it was, but at the same time it didn’t look excessively complex. What she would never forget about that symbol, though, was that it was drawn with fire; it was a series of flames, burning silently in the air. The fire was floating, just as her Billy had said.

  “Don’t touch the rune,” the blond man firmly reprimanded. His face was very serious. He walked up to Grace and handed her son to her.

  “Wait a minute!” she demanded, grabbing him by the arm when she saw he was just going to walk away. She did not understand why, but something told her this man was her only hope. “My husband . . . and my brother . . .” she begged, her voice breaking up. “Please,” was all she could add before dropping to her knees, crying, totally drained. She had only enough strength left to hug Billy.

  If the blond man did not help her, she would have no choice but to face the most cruel and unjust decision anyone could ever have to face. It was absolutely impossible for her to get her husband, her brother, and her son all out of the subway. For Billy’s sake she would have to choose.

  The blond man said nothing. He walked past her and over to the edge of a gaping hole in the floor. Grace watched, not knowing for sure what he was doing. The man then took one step forward and dropped down into the hole. Grace gasped in shock. It was the same hole her brother had fallen into and, when she had looked inside it, she had seen only blackness.

  By now she should have been feeling overwhelmed with desperation, but there was no time for that. What she was witnessing at this moment was so incomprehensible that she didn’t know what to feel. Right before her very eyes, she saw her brother rising quickly out of the hole as if he’d been thrown upwards, his body ascending ten feet above the hole. His eyes were closed, and his arms and legs hung limply. It was clear he was unconscious. Before gravity could force him back downward, the blond man appeared, reached out his arm, plucked her brother out of midair and quickly—but not terribly gently—deposited him on the floor.

  Grace could not possibly comprehend how the stranger had gotten down there and then gotten back out with her brother. In a matter of two seconds he’d thrown himself in the hole, popped back out with her brother, and now apparently had already gone back in. Had he even really gone down there in the first place? But then, if he hadn’t, who could have thrown her brother out?

  Another body flew out in the same manner. The blond man caught him in midair. Then another, with the same results. Grace and Billy watched in shocked amazement as if they were witnessing a magic show, forgetting for a moment where they really were. Yet another body rose out of the hole. The blond man now had three bodies in his arms and could hold no one else. Just when it looked like a fourth body that had been ejected from the hole would inevitably crash to the floor, something very fast and very large intervened and stopped the body’s abrupt descent. A pair of immense white wings emerged from the blond man’s back; upon one of them rested the last body that had been tossed out.

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  “There are more people down there, but they’re dead,” he explained as he laid the bodies on the floor. He then tucked his wings away again.

  A tongue of fire appeared in that instant from behind the heap of rubble. It was coming from the spot where Grace had left Larry. She was once again gripped by terror when she was jolted back to the reality that she’d had to leave her husband lying unconscious when she’d gone after her son.

  She pulled away from Billy and was about to take off running when the winged man, grabbing her arm, declared, “He’s alive. I’ll bring him to you.”

  “He’s my husband! Please hurry!” she shrieked.

  “Here he is,” said a voice from behind her. Grace spun around and saw a blond man identical to the one who was holding on to her arm. He had Larry in his arms.

  Her concern for her husband faded as the absolute certainty she was going crazy took over. She turned her head and looked again at the man who was holding onto her; she reached out and touched his arm to be sure he was real. It was like touching a steel beam. The man looked at her, expressionless. She turned back to the man who was carrying Larry. He also had absolutely no expression on his blank face. They were identical; exactly the same down to the last detail. And she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt these were no ordinary twins.

  Something exploded nearby, intensifying the fire that was drawing ever nearer to them. The Twins paid no attention to the flames, which were growing at an alarming rate. Grace went to her husband and wrapped her arms around him. Billy ran to her side and hugged his father.

  “Get back,” said one of the strangers.

  Grace moved back as much as she could without getting too close to the flames. Suddenly another man appeared where the blond man had first appeared. He was tall, though not as tall as the Twins, and had beautiful red hair. He was carrying a blue sword she could swear looked like it was forged from ice. When he came over to where they all were, he sliced through the air with his magnificent weapon, forming flashes of ice. Then he struck the floor and the fire immediately receded at the same time as a thin layer of frost spread out over the surface of the floor and the walls.

  “Any problems, Yala?”

  One of the Twins shook his head to confirm there were none. At that moment, more people arrived; four of whom wore attire similar to what the blond men were wearing, and they were accompanied by a large group of very noisy people. Grace tried to maintain her focus in the midst of this surreal scene, hoping to catch at least part of any conversations that might explain what was going on here. But the blond men and their friends were talking about things she didn’t understand, and were referring to people with very strange names. She finally managed to put together enough pieces of the conversations to understand that the noisy people were a group of refugees that had been rescued by the group that appeared to be led by the redhead.

  “You are a disaster, Yala,” criticized a man with short blond hair and arched eyebrows, directing his comment to one of the Twins, though Grace couldn’t tell which one he was addressing. “You have to learn how to treat Minors. Even I’m not that rough when I’m saving them,” he added, looking at the four bodies piled up that Yala had pulled out of the hole.

  “Leave him alone, Vyns,” patiently scolded another shorter man.

  “I was only trying to teach him, smart ass,” retorted the man who’d been admonished. “Sure, the clones are a force to be reckoned with, but when it comes to dealing with the Minors, they’re clueless. Are you going to tell me I’m wrong, Lyam?”

  Grace had no idea what they were talking about. She didn’t even know who the Minors were, and the attitude of the guy named Vyns didn’t coincide with the conclusion she’d come to about these bizarre men after she’d seen the blond one’s wings.

  She was quite surprised to see one of the Twins approaching, looking directly at her. He grabbed Lyam by the neck on his way over to her, putting an abrupt end to the little discussion he was having with the one named Vyns.

  “Heal this woman’s husband and brother, Lyam,” said the Twin as he stared at Grace.

  What happened next was a true miracle that ended with a clear disclosure of the identity of these strange men. If the wings hadn’t been enough, this man called Lyam put his hand on Larry’s chest, and a white light immediately flowed from it. Larry opened his eyes and gazed into his wife’s face. They embraced tightly, with little Billy between them. Shortly after, Grace’s brother joined them, and she told them both everything that had happened. They were stunned by her unbelievable tale.

  “Are you sure, Yala?” the redhead asked one of the Twins.

  “Completely, Asius. I’ve studied the rune and I know it’s Tanon’s. I’d recognize his flames anywhere.”

  “Then the situation is extremely grave. We have to go back immediately.”

  “You can’t go,” pleaded Grace, realizing they were planning to leave. “There are people here who need you. We won’t be able to get out of here without your help.”

  “I could stay and help them,” offered Lyam.

  “If he stays, I’m staying too,” affirmed Vyns. “This good-for-nothing will screw it up if I don’t watch him.”

  “You can’t save everyone,” Asius argued, a shadow of sadness in his eyes. “You know where your place is. The worst threat imaginable just crossed through the Fog. We have an enemy to stop. If we fail in that, nothing we do here will matter. The Minors will be subjugated . . . or worse.” He walked over to Grace. “I’m sorry we can’t help you anymore. But we won’t leave you completely alone.”

  “But . . . we need you!” Grace began to cry.

  Yala approached and knelt before her. Everyone present watched the scene in astonishment. Each Twin took one of Grace’s hands, lifted it, and kissed the tip of each of her fingers. It all took place in perfect synchronization.

  “Do not be afraid. We’ll leave you with someone who can get you all out of here.”

  Grace was completely captivated. She didn’t know which of the two brothers she should look at—which of the two angels, since she had no doubt that’s what they were, even though the men as a group didn’t seem especially noteworthy. Vyns looked most like a normal human to her. The rest of them didn’t stand out in any particular aspect, with the possible exception of Asius—who radiated a unique aura she couldn’t really put her finger on.

  But then there was Yala. Except for the detail that he was actually two people, he was exactly as she had always imagined an angel would be. He was tall and handsome—more than handsome, actually. He possessed an incredible beauty. She felt like she could spend hours gazing at his face and at the grace with which he moved. The fact that the Twins were so impossibly equal gave her a very concrete idea. In Grace’s opinion; they were a living example of perfection.

  Putting an end to a moment Grace would keep in her memory forever, Yala let go of her hands. Moving away from her, each Twin stepped to one side as they stood up. Between them appeared the tallest man Grace had ever seen. He was much taller than Yala, which in and of itself was unusual. His skin was ebony and his head was completely bald. Several hoop earrings dangled from his ears.

  “Listen to me, everyone!” Asius called out, standing next to the tall black man. “You are going to follow this man; he will take you out of here. He knows the way. Once you get out to the streets of London, look for a safe place, far from the Fog.” The tall man began to walk and everyone followed him as if hypnotized, drawn in by the sheer size of their newly-appointed guide.

  Asius turned back to his group. “Time presses on. First we will keep the London Wall from coming down or there will be a chain reaction that will destroy half the city. Then we’ll go back to the Nest as fast as we can.”