I look out onto the horizon. The base is so peaceful at night. The darkness of the night mirrors the feelings churning within me. Sadness. Loneliness. But most importantly, rage.

Anyone can betray anyone.

It feels like a lifetime ago since Julian said those words to me. Yet I have spent every moment ignoring them, despite every mistake I make. While Maven's imprisonment was torture, nothing could have prepared me for the pain of Cal's choice. Maven may have destroyed my trust, but Cal did something much worse. I've made the same mistake too many times, never learning to stay away from the flame to save myself from the burns.

But today everything changes. I will no longer be a pawn in everyone else's games. The clouds roll over the peaks of the mountains, unnaturally circling around the camp. It has been weeks since Cal made his decision, and I have been spending every moment of my time training my abilities to heights I could have never even dreamed of. Even the other electricon have been watching me closely, waiting for my power to reach its limits. They'll be waiting for a long time, because I'm not anywhere close to my full potential.

I reach out to the sky and feel the storm building up around me. Thunder starts to rumble across the clouds, filling the silence of the camp. I feel the electricity building around me. I can't help but laugh – I've spent so long looking for somewhere I belong, but it has been right in front of my eyes the entire time. Not Silver. Not Red. Even the Newbloods look at me as if I am something different. Something more dangerous than themselves. They aren't wrong.

I feed on the electricity in the air and send a small bolt into the sky. To any unsuspecting patrol out right now, it would be barely noticeable, but those watching the skies for my signal know it's time to get out. There's no turning back now. I watch as small groups of young soldiers come out from their cabins, moving towards the mountains. The image still sends shivers down my spine – young boys and girls, most of them barely even 16 years of age, sent to fight in a war they are too young to understand. A war devised simply to keep them under control.

And while the Scarlet Guard may have rescued them, they will only be used as soldiers again if they stay. They are children who have grown up too fast in their small amount of time at the Choke, and they jumped at the first opportunity they got to return to a life without war.

With so many children moving together, we expected to be caught almost immediately. It's pathetic the Dagger Legion made it so the base of the mountain before any of the patrols noticed. Now following in the distance, the base patrols start to gain in numbers as they begin to close the gap between themselves and the children. Now for my part.

I give myself up to the storm, concentrating all of the built up electricity in the sky into one area. It takes everything in me to hold it back from unleashing onto the earth, letting it build and grow.

"Mare…are you sure about this?"

I turn and see familiar green eyes searching my face for any sign of regret. Kilorn knows me well, probably better than anyone else, but even he doesn't understand what I've been through.

I am done allowing myself to become a weapon for others to wield. The Scarlet Guard will only use me to accomplish their own goals, and cast me aside as Cal did when a better opportunity comes around.

I will no longer be someone else's sword for a war I can't control. I will no longer allow myself to fall into the cages that everyone around me builds. I have had enough.

I turn my gaze away from Kilorn and focus on the storm again. "I never liked Evangeline, but the last time I spoke to her she asked me to do something, and now I plan on finishing it."

The thunder roars, drowning out whatever Kilorn says next. I watch below as the patrols start to close the gap, slowly gaining on the Dagger Legion. I pull the lightning from the sky and direct it between them, striking the ground and throwing dirt and dust into the air. The force of the bolt throws many of the patrol backwards, and causes the rest of them to stop dead in their tracks.

Some of the patrols start to slowly move forward again, but I smash the space in front of them with another bolt of lightning. As I continue to pound the area with lightning, the Dagger Legion continues moving towards the rendezvous point. After a few more strikes I see they have made it far enough to escape. Now there is only one thing left to do.

I take a deep breath and reach even further into the storm for as much lightning as possible. I take a deep breath and picture all of the Silvers and Reds who have manipulated me since I left the Stilts. I think of all the pain it has caused my family. I think of Shade. The rage building within my heart pushes me further, to the point where I am barely able to control the electricity rippling through the sky.

You can do it Mare. Focus.

"Mare..."

I hear Kilorn but it's too late now. They started it. Maven, Cal, Command, the Lakelanders. They have all tried to play a dangerous game of manipulation and secrecy, but not anymore. They trained me, and now they'll fear me even more than they already do. They wanted a Red Queen, and now I'll give them one.

I let the lightning loose, aiming it directly at the hangars where the planes are stored. The lightning breaks through the ceiling of the hangar as if it wasn't there and smashes into the ground, lighting up the sky in sparks and fire. Even though I am far away at the top of the mountains, I can still feel the shake of the earth after the strike.

I don't wait to see the Scarlet Guard attempt to salvage their aircrafts. I turn around and see the disbelief plastered all over Kilorn's face.

"I'm keeping my word. It's time to let this fucking place burn."