His gaze drifted toward Sophie again, and she took a step away.

“That’s what Project Moonlark’s about? I’m supposed to…” She wasn’t sure how to finish that sentence, but she had a horrible feeling it ended with something like “save the human race.”

“Project Moonlark was about gaining a valuable new perspective,” Mr. Forkle corrected, “in the hope that fresh eyes might help us spot something we’ve been missing—both for this issue and for some of the internal injustices in our own society. Any action beyond that was never meant to rest solely on your shoulders. You’re a part of our order. We face these challenges together.”

Somehow that was both a relief and a disappointment.

Sophie didn’t want to be the answer to everything. But she wouldn’t mind being the answer to something, after all the sacrifices she’d had to make.

Mr. Forkle rested a hand on her shoulder. “You’re incredibly special, Miss Foster. And there are other roles you’ll be asked to play someday—but for now, I need you to concentrate on this.” He pointed to the map. “Given everything I’ve just told you, and everything you see here, what do you think the Neverseen’s next move will be?”

She stared at the map so long, the colors blurred.

“Okay, let’s try it this way,” he said. “What do you think the Neverseen truly want? I’m talking about the order as a whole, not the personal agendas of their individual leaders.”

The only answer Sophie could come up with was: “Power?”

“Exactly. They want to be in control—that’s one of the primary ways our orders differ from one another. The Black Swan resorted to rebellion because we had no other means of pursuing necessary solutions. And our ultimate hope has been—and always will be—to work hand in hand with the Council as we address these complicated challenges. But the Neverseen have always desired to take over.”

“So… you’re saying their next move is to overthrow the Council?” Sophie asked, really hoping she was wrong.

“I believe that’s their endgame—but I also believe they’re wise enough to know they’re not ready for that step. Think about what would happen if they took out the Council now. Would they prove themselves mighty? Or simply show the leaders of the other species that the Lost Cities are ripe for a takeover?” He tapped another rhythm against the table and made every landmark on the map disappear except Gildingham, Ravagog, Loamnore, and Marintrylla. “That’s the piece I fear you’ve been ignoring. Ruling our planet involves so much more than leading the elves. And the Neverseen cannot afford to weaken the Lost Cities until they’ve first weakened all of the other worlds.”

“They’ll never weaken us,” Bo huffed, his knuckles cracking as he squeezed the hilt of his sword.

Mr. Forkle shook his head. “They already have. What happened when they tricked your king into unleashing the plague upon the gnomes?”

Sophie wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to remind Bo that she and her friends had been forced to flood half of Ravagog in order to escape the ogre city after they snuck in to steal the cure from King Dimitar. But Bo’s grip loosened on his weapon, and his mottled skin paled as he said, “We lost many great warriors.”

“You did indeed. And others defected to the Neverseen afterward. You’ve also had half of a city to rebuild—which is still a work in progress, as I understand it.” Mr. Forkle tapped Ravagog on the map, and the lights dimmed around the ogre capital.

“We can still protect ourselves,” Bo argued.

“I never said you couldn’t. But we all know that your king changed strategies after the flood, shifting his focus away from the larger world and centering his attention on his people—which is what the Neverseen require. They need the other leaders to be distracted and disorganized, so they won’t notice the turmoil in the Lost Cities—or have the means to take advantage—until things stabilize. And that’s exactly what they’ve now made happen for Empress Pernille. By exposing Luzia Vacker’s involvement with the experimental hive, the Neverseen cost the empress her secret ally, as well as the lives of those newborn soldiers, and the facility where they were created. And they’ve forced the empress to face numerous treaty violations, which will keep her far too busy to concern herself with whatever’s happening in our world for a good long while.”

Another tap darkened Marintrylla on the map.

“That leaves the goblins and the dwarves,” Sophie murmured, feeling her stomach churn with a thick, sloshy dread. “Though… I guess they already took out a bunch of goblins in Lumenaria.”

“That was hardly a dent in our forces,” Sandor argued. “Our army is immense.”

“It is,” Mr. Forkle agreed.

But he still darkened Gildingham on the map with an ominous tap.

“My gut tells me,” he explained, “that the Neverseen will save any targeted move against Queen Hylda until they’re ready to take down the Council, since the goblins serve as the Councillors’ bodyguards. And before they can take down the Council, they must also win over the majority of our people—otherwise their rule will be rejected, and our world will dissolve into rebellion. That’s why each of the Neverseen’s moves has also been designed to make them appear mighty while making our current Councillors look weak and foolish, and caused many in our world to question the Council’s power and authority.”

“But everyone saw Vespera, Ruy, and Gethen cowering under their little force field during the Celestial Festival,” Sophie reminded him. “And abandoning Umber without even bothering to see if she was still alive.”

“Yes, they made a grave mistake there—which is a credit to you and your friends.” He moved closer, placing both hands on her shoulders and bending to her eye level. “I realize how easy it is to see our defeats. But don’t overlook what we’ve achieved. We’ve dulled the effectiveness of each and every one of the Neverseen’s schemes. And this time? We’re going to thwart them much more completely.”

All eyes focused on Loamnore, glowing like a beacon on the otherwise dark map.

Glowing like a target.

And yet, Sophie still had to ask, “How can you be so certain?”

They’d been wrong about the Neverseen’s plans so many times before. In fact, she was pretty sure they’d never actually been right.

“I can be certain, Miss Foster, because this time the Neverseen tipped their hand. Taking Mr. Tam was devastating—but not just for us. In fact, it dealt a far larger blow to them. Now we know that shadows will play a role in the next stage of their plan.”

“Shadowflux,” Sophie corrected.

“I’m sure that will be crucial, yes. But I doubt they would limit themselves to one aspect of Mr. Tam’s ability when they can utilize the full scope, particularly since Shades are so powerful. So I think it’s best if we keep our focus wider and assume that the key will be darkness, in all of its varied forms. And where would darkness be more valuable than an underground city inhabited by creatures who rarely step into the light?”

A tingly sort of energy hummed under Sophie’s skin as he moved back to the map and tapped the table with a new rhythm. The pins zoomed in on the dwarven capital, which reminded Sophie of an ant farm—a maze of carefully arranged tunnels snaking deep into the earth and leading to underground plazas and marketplaces, or to the scattered bubble-shaped living quarters. It was somehow both bigger and smaller than she’d been expecting. Grady had told her once that the most recent census showed only three hundred and twenty-nine dwarves on the entire planet—and that was before thirty went missing, and others were lost in the battle on Mount Everest. But it was strange to see so few homes in Loamnore—especially since their tunnels stretched for miles and miles and miles.