- Tainted streams flow in the fields of stone
As the vanguard rises from hope
On the path of least obstruction
The evil one is crowned.Quatrain 28, Century 3
The disappearance of a Raven Nation operative leads Foster and Jordan to a small mining town, where they find that the operative was onto something big involving the GUA. Something is not quite right in this small town, but what?
Tropes:
- Bag of Kidnapping: Jim kidnaps Cade and Jordan by putting bags over their heads and driving them away at gunpoint, hoping to scare them into leaving town. They turn the tables on him instead.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Raven Nation operative Alana has her face burned off by a radiation blast.
- Heel Realisation: Jim is the one who summoned Jordan by posing as Alana. He's no longer comfortable with protecting the Gua at the expense of human lives. He's not the only one.
- I Have Your Wife: The Gua are keeping the townspeople in check by threatening their loved ones if anyone falls out of line.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Played With in the death of Jim, when Cade and Jordan have him at gunpoint. He starts telling them what's going on, but is shot from a distance before he can finish. However, he does last long enough to utter one final, cryptic clue; "Over, not under." He's referring to the meteorites.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: After being spotted by a local cop and tracked to the motel room he's sharing with Jordan, Cade puts on glasses and shaving cream to avoid being identified. Somehow, it works.
- Spotting the Thread: Cade and Jordan find a document proving that the town's mining company hasn't mined anything since 1988. So why does the mine still appear active?
- Tempting Fate: After she and Cade successfully dodge the sherrif's car, Jordan says "Looks like we lost him!" Sure enough, two seconds later our heroes have a shotgun at their heads.
- Town with a Dark Secret: That it's run by the Gua, who are using the place as a landing spot for meteorites containing Gua orbs.
