Now fully surrounding Fifer and Aaron’s team, the dissenters worked together to send dozens more freeze spells at them. There was no place to run or hide, and several in Fifer’s group were hit. One spell whizzed by Fifer’s ear and struck Aaron. He froze on the spot and tumbled down the stairs, and others were hit and piled on top of him.

“Aaron!” Fifer cried out, and dove down after him, firing more components with one hand. She released the spell on him and squirmed again to avoid another wave of airborne components. Aaron revived, then was immediately hit again.

“No!” screamed Fifer. It was hopeless. Fifer whirled around and saw that she and Seth were the last ones standing, and the parties at the top and bottom of the stairs were advancing toward them. Seth and Fifer exchanged a frightened glance as they both realized just how much trouble they were in. As others of their party, all frozen, slid and tumbled down the stairs, Fifer abandoned her attempt to release the spells and instead let out a loud shriek.

Frieda and the dissenters paused to cover their heads, but all the glass in the entire mansion was already broken. Instead, flocks of red-and-purple falcons came soaring in through the windows. Shimmer and a few others carried the hammock by its ropes. Seth took the momentary reprieve to release spells on Carina, Sean, and Ms. Octavia, but as soon as he finished, more components came soaring at them again.

“Come on!” Fifer yelled to Seth and anyone else who remained standing. She dove into the hammock and scrambled around to make room, staying low so she wouldn’t get struck.

But Seth and the others didn’t come. After an agonizing second, Fifer peeked out and saw that they were all frozen, and Seth had been hit by a freeze spell and shackles. Now everyone on Frieda’s side was trying to launch components high enough to arc and land in her hammock.

“Retreat!” Fifer called out to Shimmer. There was nothing else she could do. The birds took her out of the mansion, and Fifer pelted as many dissenters as she could on her way. As the falcons carried her through an upper window, she could see that the dissenters were storming the stairs. They picked up and dragged the frozen bodies of Fifer’s friends over to the single tube that was still functioning.

“Circle around and stay close to the mansion!” Fifer commanded the birds once they were outside. “I need to see what they’re doing.” Through the windows as she passed by, Fifer could see Frieda’s people stacking two or three frozen friends into the tube at a time and pushing a button. Fifer breathed a sigh of relief—at least they weren’t trying to hurt them. But then she looked closer to see which buttons they were pushing. They were sending her friends to the library and the lounge, which seemed very strange. As each couple or threesome disappeared, the dissenters loaded more frozen bodies inside.