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“So,General,” I teased. “What do you see?”

“Several things,” she answered quickly. Clearly, she’d already been brainstorming. “First, tell me more about Gloom. What did Inarus teach you?”

“Gloom creates exhaustion and fatigue. Lethargy.” The effect was the opposite of Teyr’s blessing—a source of vitality.

“And it’s like that… everywhere?”

I nodded. “It’s why the Isle of Shadow has been abandoned. Gloom isn’t deadly, but her clouds change life. Crops won’t flourish, and animals won’t breed. Gloom prevents cultivation.”

Her throat bobbed. “What does this mean for us?”

“In Gloom, your reflexes might not be as fast, and your thoughts might feel sluggish. You may feel detached from your emotions. Honestly, it’s the perfect place for Inarus to protect his Shades from decay.”

“Shades decay?”

I nodded. “That’s why they attack boats from underwater. Inarus must work with someone gifted in weather wielding to bring a mist when the Shades attack.”

Ayla frowned. “We barely beat the Shades that time.”

I tried not to show my worry—I couldn’t afford to worry. “We will figure it out. This time, we have the ashflower and Ninti. I’ve gained experience since then, and you’ve…”Found something within yourself.I didn’t know how to say it.

“And I might have magic. Maybe.”

“Is that what the gnomes showed you?”

“It’s blocked, or something. I can’t access it.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that—”

She waved me away. “I’m not sure how to fix it, but the important part is, I figured out where Eleanor is.”

“What? How?”

“My Brand is connected to Inarus—to his entire network of Shades. I found Eleanor through that connection.”

“Where?”

“Point Bethia,” Vanessa answered, descending from her crow’s nest. The sprite scrunched her brows. “I think that’s what Ayla is describing. I’ve already started redirecting us.”

We had been steering toward Nuette, the port town linked to the capital Issa Neu.

Vanessa continued, “Ayla told me the details of the place without knowing what she was describing. Rough cliffs against the sea. A hilly landscape with mountains in the distance.”

“Point Bethia,” I agreed. Several strongholds were in that region, tight communities that withstood the area’s harsh winters. The region had been secluded and cold. It would be a good hiding spot for Inarus.

“Already headed there,” Vanessa added.

My sister.We knew where she was. “Is Eleanor…”

“She’s alive,” Ayla answered. “The Brand has captured her soul. But she hasn’t been turned into a Shade. Not yet.”

I exhaled, slowly. Alive yet captured. I’d barely saved Ayla from the ceramic jar. To think, she hadn’t even been fully contained. My pouch of ashflower felt too light.

“She’s surrounded by an army of Shades,” Ayla added.

I kept my face blank, focused on the task at hand. I needed empowerment, not despair.

Ayla added, “If I understand my Brand, most of Inarus’s Shades are there. I estimate there are three thousand of them.”