The Survivors

The survivors of the Aethelgard & Thorne Grand Circus are often called the "Hollowed." While they escaped the physical descent into the Fourth Ring, they did not escape the circus unscathed. The "show" leaves a permanent mark on the soul of anyone lucky—or unlucky—enough to walk away from the field.

Here is the fate of those who remain when the sun rises:

1. The Amnesia of Ash

Most survivors wake up in the empty field with no memory of the performance. However, their bodies remember.

• The Sensory Ghost: They develop a lifelong, violent phobia of specific circus triggers. Some will faint at the smell of kettle corn; others will have panic attacks if they hear a steam whistle or see a red-and-white striped pattern.

• The Ash Lung: Survivors often develop a persistent, dry cough. Doctors find nothing in their lungs, but when they cough into a handkerchief, they find tiny flecks of black sawdust—the same sawdust used to floor the Fourth Ring.

2. The Mark of the Witness

Those who looked too closely at the performers find that their own reflections have changed.

• The Silver Eyes: Survivors of the Second Ring (The Beast) often find their pupils have turned a dull, reflective silver. They can see "glitches" in reality—spirits, lingering shadows, and the invisible gears of the world that Elias Aethelgard once maintained.

• Shadow-Sickness: Their own shadows no longer mimic their movements perfectly. Sometimes, a survivor's shadow will stay seated when they stand up, or it will reach out toward passing children, mimicking the grasping claws of the Third Ring Clowns.

3. The "Ticket-Holders" Who Stayed

Occasionally, someone holding a Golden Ticket manages to stay above ground during the Great Folding. These individuals are the most cursed of all.

• The Debt: The Impresario does not like to be short-changed. These survivors find that they can no longer feel warmth. No fire, blanket, or embrace can heat their skin. They are "cold" because a portion of their heat was pulled into the Fourth Ring to power the Calliope.

• The Summoning: They become "beacons." Everywhere they go, small, strange tragedies occur. Animals grow aggressive around them, and electronic devices play distorted circus music when they walk by. They are being tracked; the circus is simply waiting for its next "season" to reclaim what it's owed.

4. The "New" Carnies

The most tragic survivors are those who didn't leave at all, but weren't taken to Hell.

• When the tents vanish, locals often find a few "drifters" wandering the town days later. These are people who were so mesmerized by the show that they lost their identities.

• They speak in riddles, perform mindless sleight-of-hand with stones and dead leaves, and wait by the edge of town. They are the advance scouts. When the circus returns in ten, twenty, or fifty years, these survivors will be the ones to hammer the first stakes into the ground with their bare hands.

The Final Warning

There is a local legend in the towns the circus has visited: "Never count your change." Survivors who find a wooden nickel or a brass token in their pockets weeks after the circus has left are said to disappear within the year. They aren't killed; they are simply "recalled" to fill a vacancy in the troupe. Somewhere in the afterlife, a new clown needs a costume, and your skin is just the right shade of pale.

Next: The Secret Melody