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The words were careful, but warmth bloomed in my chest all the same. Because I believed him. Because I wanted him there, despite any of the judgement that should have plagued me. Doing any of this without him seemed impossible now.

Finally, I nodded, not trusting my voice, and turned back to the rip. One breath, then another, and I stepped through.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

The air changed first.Gone was the stale, ashen taste of Umbrathia, replaced by something so rich with life it nearly overwhelmed me. Sunlight—real sunlight—filtered through a canopy of leaves above, casting dancing shadows on ground that seemed to pulse with vibrant green. My knees nearly buckled at the sight.

This was Riftdremar. Not the burned husk I'd always imagined, but something wild and alive. Nature had reclaimed everything, transforming the ruins of my birthplace into a tangled paradise. Vines thick as my arm wrapped around chunks of blackened stone. Moss carpeted what might have once been streets, broken here and there by saplings that had fought their way through old foundations.

The others stepped through behind me. Someone gasped, maybe Effie or Mira, but I barely registered it. My attention caught on a half-standing wall where delicate purple flowers bloomed from cracks in the ancient mortar.

"Time does wonders," Tamir breathed, clutching his maps tighter. "Nature always prevails."

I forced myself forward, letting my fingers trail across stonestill blackened from decades-old flames. Life had returned here with a vengeance, but beneath the beauty lay the bones of a massacre.

I pulled out one of the mirrors Raven had given me before we left. "Made it through. No Guard in sight, the entire place seems to be abandoned."

Raven's reflection appeared, that familiar glint in his eye. "Disappointed? I know how much you enjoy a dramatic entrance."

"I'll try to contain my disappointment." I shifted the mirror, giving him a view of the verdant chaos around us. "I guess we'll head towards the mining tunnels now."

"Far North, near the Western border." He shuffled through some papers. "Though I should warn you, these maps are old. Might be slightly less reliable than my usual work."

"Well, that's why we have Tamir, after all."

"Now I truly feel invaluable to the operation, Your Highness," he said sarcastically, then his expression softened slightly. "Stay safe out there."

"You too." I tucked the mirror away, shaking my head as I turned back to the group.

"We'll need to follow the Western ridge," Tamir said, spreading his map across a fallen column. "The mining operations were concentrated near the mountains, tucked away from the main settlements." His finger traced a path through faded ink. "If we keep the peaks to our left, we should reach the entrance to the valley in about three hours."

One by one, we mounted Vördr that were already tearing grass up by the roots. Tamir's earlier hesitation returned as he settled behind Rethlyn.

"Hold on properly," Rethlyn said, amusement lacing his words. "Unless you fancy a long fall."

The Vördr took to the sky in pairs, their massive wings sending ripples through the canopy below. Tryggar followed, and I foundmyself holding my breath as we rose above the treeline. Riftdremar spread beneath us in a riot of green I hadn't seen since leaving Sídhe. But this was different—this was wild, untamed. Twenty years of nature reclaiming what flames had tried to destroy.

The further North we flew, the more the landscape changed. Dense forest gave way to rolling hills, then jagged cliffs. Massive rock formations thrust up through the greenery like bones breaking through skin. Time stretched on as we navigated the sunlit clouds.

"There!" Tamir finally called over the wind, pointing to a narrow valley cutting between two peaks. "The mining complex should be just beyond that pass."

Tryggar's wings caught an updraft, and my stomach lurched as we soared higher. Below, something glinted among the trees, maybe metal, or glass glinting in the sun. Evidence that this wasn't always wilderness, that people had once lived and worked here.

"We'll need to find somewhere clear enough to land," Dannika shouted from behind Vexa. "Those trees look too dense for the Vördr."

She was right. The valley floor was a tangle of vegetation, broken only by the occasional jutting rock or fallen tree. But then I spotted it, a break in the canopy where something massive had collapsed long ago, leaving a rough clearing in its wake.

Rethlyn signaled, and we began our descent. The Vördr landed in stages, their hooves finding purchase on ground that hadn't felt such weight in decades. As I slid from Tryggar's back, my boots crunched against something that wasn't just leaves or twigs. I looked down to find fragments of dark glass scattered across the moss, its surface still bearing strange, swirling patterns.

I crouched to examine the glass, but Dannika's sharp voice cut through the clearing. "Movement in the trees."

Everyone froze. My shadows coiled beneath my skin, ready, asI scanned the thick foliage surrounding us. The Vördr shifted uneasily, Tryggar's tail flicking with agitation.

"There," Mira whispered, pointing to our left where branches swayed against the wind.

Aether moved first, his form dissolving into shadow as he glided toward the disturbance. The rest of us spread out, weapons drawn. Even Tamir had produced a small knife from somewhere within his robes.

A flash of white darted between trees—too fast to make out any details. My heart thundered. Had the Guard somehow known we were coming?