Fuse’s wings hummed loudly as she drew near. “The bulk of your training will take place at the Council’s complex,” she said, “but the only gatestone from Skae leads here. You’ll have to come to Iresca before you transfer there.”

There was a strange implication in the bird’s voice. It was hard to tell what she was looking at. Ru squinted at the shoreline running off to the horizon. At first, she saw nothing but the thorny silhouettes of trees. On a second sweep, something caught her eye. It was very far away, but it was square and unnatural. She thought she could pick out its signal from all the others she was receiving, like a single line of smoke rising into the sky. “What’s that?”