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sometimes in ways that are subtle, imperceptible; sometimes more directly. Humans have at times been treated like dol s in a dol house, maneuvered and manipulated into doing what Arcadian society needed… sometimes wanted.
    We’re pretty clever in our way of getting a desire effect on humans, including Pim. When I…. we, the Magical Ones, brought this talent to his attention, he was impressed.”
    Liam gasped and I could feel his heartbreak.
    I wanted to console him. I turned to Dr. Sanz to ask for a moment alone with Liam, but the grim expression on his face told me he had other plans.
    “Sorry to have to announce to you how your father came to build Arcadia, but I guess you're now old enough to understand the true man your father is.” With a firm hand, Dr. Sanz pul ed me away from Liam. “Now, we’ve got other matters to tend to.” While a guard escorted Liam, Dr. Sanz held onto me as we al headed to the main entrance of the Committee Building. We passed through the doors and out into the heart of the revolution.

Chapter 6

    Catchers ran about, doing their best to control the djins in armor that continued to descend on Arcadia. Despite the leather bands on their wrists, they fought hard and achieved a degree of success. Magical Ones were also working hard, banning together in order to get their hands on as many djins as they could.
    The scene was chaotic and discerning good from evil was difficult, if not impossible. For al their efforts, djins seemed to have the upper hand, often nabbing Catchers and destroying them in the blink of an eye.
    The violet sky spewed warring djins in a nonstop flow that seemed endless. Their constant arrival was accompanied by smal clear fragments.
    The pieces fel to the earth like sleet that neither melted nor froze.

    “What is al this?” I asked. I tried to bend down to pick up a piece, but Dr. Sanz kept a firm hold on my elbow, keeping me from moving.
    The fragments became larger, some several inches wide.
    “This, dear Kama, is the work of your father.” In the distance a huge shard fel . The size of a smal car, the piece hit the ground and shattered into thousands of smal er pieces.
    I looked up, trying to understand why the sky was fal ing apart and my heart sank as I realized what was truly happening. High above, almost beyond what the human eye could see, was an opening.
    Shaking my head in disbelief, the reality of what Arcadia real y was final y sank in.
    “Our protective bubble has been shattered.” Dr. Sanz fol owed my gaze and glimpsed the hole in the sky.
    The perfect world we’d live in… our perfect lives were al kept under a huge transparent force field, and that force field was crumbling around us.
    We lived in a world encased within a giant glass dome so far out that human eyes could not see it.

    Arcadia had been like a smal dol house town in one of my snow globes. This was what the Magical Ones have been using their magic for…to keep up this perfect il usion of a real town.
    Feeling desperate and lost, feeling a complete lack of control, over my life, over my destiny, over al the chaos that surrounded me, I searched for one face; the one person I knew I could rely on in such turmoil. The one person I needed to see; Torrid.
    His handsome features came to my mind and the longing to see him intensified. His thick black hair and dazzling blues eyes… it’d been far too long since I’d last seen him.
    “Where are you, Torrid?” I whispered into the chaos. “What have Pim’s Catchers done with you?”
    “What do you intend to do with us?”
    Liam’s voice broke my search and brought my attention back to the reality of the situation.
    Dr. Sanz offered him a smal and victorious grin. “Lure the big guns out. You N> We walked to the edge of the top step and looked down at the fighting. Dr. Sanz straightened his shoulders, gazed arrogantly at the deadly scene and smiled. “General Adar! Pim Seer!” His voice echoed over the scene, carrying much further