Summer put Bugz down on the ground and suddenly the skies clouded over. Everything turned cold, dark, and gray. The leaves fell from the cottonwood tree; only the dry, dead branches remained, clawing the sky. Bugz looked down at her arms and saw she was marked for the piercing ceremony. She’d never pierced before. Now she knew her dream was drifting from memory and taking her someplace new. Her heart raced.

Bugz saw Waawaate walking to her with a scalpel in his hand. She knew he would cut her, even if the look on his face said he didn’t want to. He touched the skin on her shoulder.

Bugz woke up with a start. Scanning her darkened room, she fumbled for her phone and found its reassuring glow.

CHAPTER 40

The bullets screamed down, their tracers illuminating the darkness around Lake of the Torches. Artillery crashed through rain onto the pebble beach, pinning Bugz down behind two large boulders. She stuck one eye out around the corner and pulled back instantly. A barrage of laser fire exploded on the spot where her head had been. Bugz couldn’t find any room to maneuver. Clan:LESS had caught her completely off guard this time.

Why didn’t I see them coming?

A helicopter gunship dropped from the sky just a few dozen yards away from Bugz, cutting her self-interrogation short. The ship opened fire. Bugz dove into a ninja roll to escape the bullets, which riddled the ground behind her. She ran along the shore, away from the horde, knowing they’d pounce on her again in an instant. She waved her hand and giant roots shot up from the nearby forest floor, but the upgraded Clan:LESS weapons tore them to shreds faster than they had in the past. Nothing Bugz did bought her enough time.

Alpha jumped from the helicopter and landed on the shores of the lake in a kneeling position. As he stood slowly, somehow taller than before, Bugz tried for a second time to summon the plant life. But this time, Alpha anticipated the maneuver and fired napalm across the forest canopy, which disintegrated on impact. Birds scattered into the sky, melting to the ground while still attempting flight. They fell like a dark and disturbing rain. Animals scurried and ran for their lives but most moved too slowly. Alpha kept firing on the forest creatures and they burned alive. They roared and bit at their own backs and hind legs in futile attempts to stop the damage.

Bugz howled.

Mishi-pizhiw roared from the depths of Lake of the Torches with demon-red eyes aglow, contrasting brilliantly against the torrential downpour and the darkness around him. He spewed a stream of fire down on the Clan:LESS horde. But they matched him move for move. They raised clear Gorilla Glass shields and hunkered down to wait out the attack. Alpha ran to his troops and slid down under the shields.