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I held my breath, watching as the gems within the platform’s polished face lit up one by one. Each illumination revealed a new image in the marble; they rose up like ink bleeding through a page—symbols that resembled all manner of things, from towers to forests to crests of ocean waves. Alongside each cluster of symbols were markings that vaguely resembled letters, a script that seemed to be some ancient, stylized version of the common one I’d grown up reading in the Above.

It took a moment of studying before I managed to read them—to recognize the name of a familiar kingdom.

Eldris.

And several more names became obvious, the closer I looked at them:Elarith. Rivenholt. Midna…

“It’s a map,” I realized, stepping back to the edge so I could get a more complete view. “A map of both the Above and the Below, with this realm we’re in—marked by the Aetherstone—in the very middle. Each of those jewels represents a kingdom.” A sense of awe blossomed in my chest as I stared at our world in its entirety…followed by a rising sense of despair.

It was strange to see all the realms united in one circle like this.

Aleks stepped onto the platform, walking between the kingdoms, considering each in turn.

“What about these empty spaces near the Stone?” he wondered, pausing next to a groove carved into the dais, far away from any kingdom. It looked almost like a wayward slash left by a careless hand—I hadn’t even noticed it before now. But there was an identical one on the Noctaris portion of the map, which made me think there was nothing random about it.

Curious, I went to Aleksander’s side. Bracing myself for whatever I might see, I crouched down, pressed my fingers firmly against the groove, and closed my eyes in search of its past.

It took several deep breaths before an image flickered into my mind: One of the Sword of Light impaling this spot, and then the Aetherstone glowing to life behind it. The sword took on the same glow, briefly, before sending cracks of white energy outward. Some branched toward the kingdoms, but most of it went northward, settling in an orb on display just beyond the platform.

The vision lasted only an instant before another vision seemed to be trying to push its way in. Then another, and another, and—

I felt a hand on my shoulder, squeezing tight.

“Nova?” came Aleksander’s concerned voice.

Slightly dizzy and breathing hard, I shook my head, blinking away the last bits of the chaotic vision.

“…Luminor has sank into that space more than once,” I told Aleks. “The memory was…strangely broken up. Like an overlapping of several different, but similar, impressions. But I saw the sword working as a conduit, guiding energy from the Stone across this platform…most of it went to that.” I pointed to the orb above the Soltaris portion of the map. It stood in ashadowy recess within the wall and, like the Aetherstone and its pedestal, it was small and unassuming, easy to overlook.

Aleks walked to the orb my vision had highlighted, circling it, tentatively running a hand over it—an action that made its center pulse with a dull light. “So is this the main way energy is fed into the Above? It’s linked to Soltaris in some way, I guess…” He looked across the dais and asked the same question I was thinking: “Where’s the one for Noctaris?”

Instead of answering, I made my way across the room, to the point exactly opposite of where he was standing. It was one of the only sections of the marble walls not covered by a tapestry, I noticed.

The source linked to the Above was already clear and on display; that wasn’t surprising. It had been for centuries, presumably, while the one for the Below had been shoved aside, hidden and buried.

But this room, and all the magic it represented, was about balance. Which meant there had to be a counter piece to Soltaris’s power source here, somewhere.

Aleks joined me, summoning a bit more light to help me inspect the wall more easily. Within the glow of his magic, I quickly spotted two diamond-shaped symbols etched deeply into the stone, their edges smoothed by time.

I pressed a hand to both of them. My bracelets shivered—all of them, at first. But the turquoise one continued to move long after the others had stilled. I stared at the word spelled across that bracelet, thinking of the meaning my brother had shared with me weeks ago.

Kindred spirits…souls that are bound to one another…

I carried the force of an untold number of those ancient bonds, of countless lifetimes and the magic they had wielded across thousands of years.

And together, we were going to find a way to save our realm.

The surge of Shadow magic that followed this thought was violent and swift, sweeping over the wall with a force that left the nearby tapestries hanging haphazardly and sent me stumbling backward.

Aleks caught me against his chest. I stood perfectly still, bracing myself against his strength, as we watched the wall begin to glow with symbols that had been invisible before.

They were faint, their glow more like foggy moonlight than the brilliant blaze of the runes we’d illuminated earlier. But soon that moonlight was shifting, pulling away from the symbols and etching out a tall, rectangular shape against the marble.

I still didn’t move, even as parts of the wall slid open, revealing the Noctaris orb.

I scarcely breathed as the moment settled, along with a silence that felt ancient and deep, and I slowly realized what I needed to do next—a relatively simple next step, in the end.

Almost too simple, whispered a quiet, wary voice in the back of my mind.