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I prayed to the Goddess for Kol to reach out to him. To say anything to him.

I splashed water on my face.

“Are you ready?” Nyx asked. He hadn’t taken his fae form since we left.

“Have you had any water?” I’d given up trying to get him to eat anything. He wouldn’t take the time.

“I’ll take a drink from the stream.” His voice was hollow even mind to mind.

I watched him, catching our reflection in the water. I couldn’t get over how we looked together. A huge dragon with midnight scales, and a girl. What a pair. Except it wasn’t a girl who stared back. I hadn’t noticed how much I’d changed since all this began. I gathered my hair to twist it on top of my head with a tie, drinking in my stance.

I didn’t hold myself the same or cut the same figure. I’d been a girl when I’d left my village, and now, I was a female. A warrior. A mage. At least a little. I stood differently—I would have never stood with my feet so far apart in front of a male back home. I would never be so immodest as to wear leather ryding pants or such a tight shirt.

I smiled, lifting my chin when I finished with my hair. I liked the fae staring back much more than the one who had lived in the village.

The words Nyx had said when we left the First Kingdom came back to me. I couldn’t go back to rotting in place. No matter if my family was still alive or what we faced at the outpost. Nyx and I had to find a way forward. He’d held me up through all of it, and now it was my turn to hold him.

“You must eat, or you’re going to have no reserves left to help your brother.” I stepped away from the stream and went to where I’d left my pack on a rock. I dug through it to find some of the bread I’d saved. “Please,” I said when he didn’t move.

In a second, his fae form stood in front of me, naked, and as carved as a statue. He was leaner than he’d been when we left for my village. He hadn’t bothered to hide his wings. They cast his form in a shadow.

I held out the bread.

“Thank you,” he muttered as he took it and ate with his head bowed. He wore grief like a weighted vest. It pulled all of him forward. Rounded his shoulders. Changed him in ways that shouldn’t be visible. I offered him the water skin I’d filled, too. He took it as well as a small sip while I dug out more dried food from the pack. I gave him the last of the smoked meat and bit into an apple. He ate it without a fight, which gave me some relief. I knew I couldn’t do anything about the lack of sleep, but it was something.

He took another sip of the water, then I stepped around the rock to wrap my arms around him. He leaned against me, our sorrow so thick between us I didn’t know how either one of us carried it.

“Thank you for eating.”

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pressing his lips to my forehead. “Thank the Goddess I found you.”

I smiled, fighting tears. “I thank the Goddess you found me, too.”

FORTY-EIGHT

ZARIA

This was madness. I was strapped down to keep me on his back, but even Nyx did not know what we would face over the Wild Mountains. No one knew. According to him, they were impassable. Any who’d tried were never seen again. But we had to get to Kol, and flying around the mountains would add a day or more. Plus, Nyx felt the risk was just as high flying straight through the Storm Kingdom at the peak of its storm season, so we were crossing the uncrossable mountains, and I would pray to the Goddess to keep us safe the whole way.

Nyx was resolved, and I trusted him.

We flew in silence while he crossed the foothills, the mountains looming ominously ahead.As he began the climb to cross, the weather changed suddenly. Wind battered us in warning, and Nyx fought to stay his course. I hung on, praying to the Goddess we would make it to Kol.

But as we crested the mountain range, fairer skies were ahead. The sun broke through and seemed to welcome us into an untouched place.

“Where are the storms?” I asked.

“I have no idea.” Nyx was as shocked as me. “Maybe we got lucky?’

We rose to cross the highest of the peaks, and as we banked to the west, I caught sight of a twinkle of light to the east. I searched for it again, and suddenly, a valley came into view. A lake sparkled from its floor.

“Nyx, look!” I gasped. “A lake.”

“I see nothing but mountains,” he replied flatly. I didn’t press. His sole focus was getting to Kol, and I wouldn’t distract him.

He flew on, undeterred, while I took in the view below and felt like we were in another realm of existence.

FORTY-NINE