When Black Heart Machine had dreamed of the volcano, she had also dreamed of Anath. Her face was so vivid then, as she remembered it when they were young. And when the Peak had erupted, splintering into a thousand pieces and raining hellfire and brimstone down upon all that lay below, Black Heart Machine awoke fearing that it was too late. The vision of the volcano had driven her back here, and when she returned she found that the mountain she loved so dearly was indeed still intact. Relief had washed over her in that moment, but when she found Anath was nowhere to be found, her stomach turned in knots—the uncomfortable reality of her friend’s unknown whereabouts settling inside her like a tumor, growing and taking up space where something else should have been.

Today, Black Heart Machine was hopeful because she had the confidence of the Vulcans once again, however lackadaisical they were. Yet what mattered most right now was that the Codebreaker had resumed her former rank with ease and was finally in a position to finish what she had started. She was hungry for more than the sweet grass at her feet; she wanted vengeance, realizations and change. She wanted an army, and if she were going to have her army, she would need her general.

And then, as though her subconscious brought her back to life, Black Heart Machine heard it.

HEART?!

Her head shot straight up and her hooves gave life to a wild sort of movement that lifted her into the air and after the call for her name in frenzy. Anath. She was here. She had to be here. If she wasn’t, then Machine was losing her already tenuous grip on reality. She couldn’t admit that her mind might be failing her, because when the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the darkness fell over the land, Machine closed her eyes and knew at her core that was all she had.

“Anath…”

Machine’s deep, brown eyes met Anath’s emerald green ones and for a moment, she can’t breathe. The weight in the pit of her stomach rolled in anticipation, waiting for Anath to say something—anything else to validate this long-anticipated reunion.

BLACK HEART MACHINE