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Despite her renewed energy, when she and her friends wereparronedto the stadium, she couldn’t repress the nerves that came with knowing there were only two days of testing left. If they triumphed today, then one way or another, they would be returning to their world after the Gate tomorrow, and Alex had no idea what might be waiting for them there. While now on her sixth day in Vardaesia, added with the additional day she’d spent wandering the Tia Auran desert, nearly a whole week had passed in Medora—a week whereanythingcould have happened. The very thought filled her with knots, to the point that she hadto keep reminding herself to live in the moment and focus on one problem at a time.

“Today our challengers will face either the Gate of Trust, the Gate of Sacrifice or the Gate of Judgement,” Saefii announced when the arches finished spinning and settled into the clouded gap. The empress turned from the cheering audience to look directly down at Alex and her friends. “You’ve impressed me so far, mortals—you’ve impressed all of us. But you still have two more challenges to overcome. So choose wisely today. And may the light be a guide to your path.”

Alex spun slowly to look at the three fiery Gates before facing her friends. “Trust, Sacrifice, Judgement. I can’t say I want to venture into any of these.”

The shaking heads she received in response told her she wasn’t the only one.

“We’ve made it this far,” Jordan said, his optimism feigned but appreciated. “You’ve got this, Alex. Lead, and we’ll follow.”

‘Lead, and we’ll follow.’ That was how it had always been— her friends trusting her no matter where she led them. She just hoped she would continue proving worthy of their loyalty, of their faith. Because if there was one thing the new prophecy had been right about, it was that her friends were her family. They gave her strength, they gave her courage. She would be lost without them.

Knowing they were right there with her, just as they would always be, Alex strode towards the edge of the dais and, with a running jump, sailed through her randomly chosen Gate.

When she came out the other side, she knew where she had landed, she just didn’t knowwhy.

But as she took in the familiar scenery dappled with the fading rays of sunlight and processed the word that had glowedacross her mind while travelling through the Gate, Alex’s heart began pounding, pounding,poundingin her chest.

“Why are we back at Raelia again?”

Bear’s question alerted Alex to the arrival of her friends, but she couldn’t answer him. Not because she didn’t know, but because she couldn’t get any words past her frozen lips. She could be wrong—shehopedshe was wrong. But she’d only ever been at Raelia once before at sunset… and if this was another journey into her memory as she suspected it might be, then—

“You have entered the Gate of Judgement,” Saefii’s voice echoed around the mushroom-circled clearing, and it took all of Alex’s willpower to keep from falling to her knees. “As with your earlier tasks, if at any time you cannot endure more, call out ‘stop’ and your challenge will conclude immediately.”

Saefii didn’t need to warn them that doing so would lead to instant failure—everyone already knew.

“At least we didn’t land in the Gate of Sacrifice,” D.C. said, peering around the clearing. “Judgement can’t be too bad, right?”

Alex’s body had begun to shake, small trembles at first while Saefii had been speaking until now when she was visibly quaking. But none of her friends noticed, nor did they see her pale face. And that was because they were distracted by two people arriving at the edge of the clearing, blurring in on theValispath.

One of the two was Alex.

The other was Aven.

“What the hell?” Jordan whispered. But the others shushed him, since Aven started talking.

“Do you remember this place?”

Wearing the silvery dress that was only fractionally less beautiful than the gold one she’d worn last night, Alex’s memory-self seemed perfectly at ease with Aven—because, at the time, she had been. “I do,” she answered.

“Do you remember what you told me that night?”

A quick shake of her head, and Aven continued, “You said that no one can tell us how we should feel.”

The memory played out in vivid detail as Aven went on to explain how he’d come to realise his beliefs were wrong; how he still didn’t like giving so much to the mortals but he was surrendering his crusade against them—becauseshehad convinced him to do so.

Alex watched with morbid horror as he reached out and gently pressed his fingers to her bare cheek beneath the delicate mask she had worn.

She heard her friends’ collective inhales as Aven’s reasons for relinquishing his mortal hatred became known, both in his tender actions towards her, but also in his words as the scene continued.

“Aeylia, surely you must know how I feel about you.”

Then and now, those words were like a punch to Alex’s stomach. Her memory-self was already beginning to retreat from the clearing and deeper into the forest, with Aven following closely behind. As if there was a string attached to the real Alex and her friends, they too were being tugged through the trees, hearing the heart-rending declarations pour from Aven’s lips.

With each of his softly spoken words, both memory-Alex and real-Alex’s faces paled further and further, until finally she said, “Aven, I’m not sure—”

“I am, Aeylia,” Aven interrupted, reaching for her shoulders to stop her retreat. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

She was clearly attempting to dislodge his grip, but he held fast and continued, “Think about it and you’ll realise that I’m right. Thatwe’reright. Please, Aeylia—you know what I’m saying is true. Don’t you feel the same?”