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I made my way to the Hymma, feeling stronger and more present than ever. My head was clear in what felt like the first time in forever.

Rowen followed beside me, taking my clothes as I undressed. I removed everything. Even my favorite part—the starlit weapon sheathed at my thigh.

After speaking with Takoda, I felt like I could face anything. Go through any door.

I know the healer said one could lose their mind in the introspective ceremony, and I could see why; you could easily find a doorway to yourself that once you walked through it would be hard to turn back.

I entered the Hymma and sat cross-legged on the ground. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

Suddenly, a tunnel of indigo light appeared before me, whispering for me to enter. It was as if it had always been there, just waiting for me to see it. How had I ever missed it?

Fear cemented down my spine, bonding me in place. What if I went through and couldn’t find my way back?

Realization hit me like an avalanche. I had already experienced my greatest fears. Yet I hadn’t crumbled under the weight of that fear but used it as stepping stones and grip hooks to climb above it—over it—then down the other side, able to look back upon what seemed an insurmountable feat.

I’d walk through any door and ask any question if it meant saving this world. My home.

My golden tether to Rowen would hold strong. No matter how deep I went, there would always be a trail back to his arms.

Steeling my spine and setting my jaw, I walked through the tunnel of my inner eye.

I thought the information I sought would involve winding through corridors after corridor like a labyrinth. But it wasn’t a maze at all; it was a core with rows of concentric rings.

I studied the dark and light patterns swirling all around me.

Was I inside a tree?

My fingers traced over the thick years of heavy rainfall and slim seasons of drought. My touch hitched at the scars from millennia-old fires.

This tree was old. Very, very old.

The distinct and ancient circles of wood spiraled around me, the imprints similar to the whorls of a thumbprint.

As I expanded my awareness, I recoiled as I was met with branch death and decay.

The parts of the tree that were still healthy curled in on themselves, furling deeper into its first ring for protection.

I tried another direction, and another, flinching at all the dead edges around me.

The only way was down, deep into the roots.

The roots extended into smaller threads stretching farther than I could fathom. Interwoven white fibers that extended into a vast underground network. Who knew such a universe existed within the ground, connecting the world just under our feet?

But the unseen world was weak and dimming, already with roots curling up into themselves like wounded tentacles. It was a travesty, witnessing the death of what kept the forest alive and healthy.

Suddenly, a hum vibrated through my fingertips, through me, and I shivered as strange yet extraordinary images flashed before my eyes.

Lost Light, you have returned.

I jumped as the sound echoed through my being. The ancient voice reverberated as if I were a harp and it was pulling the strings within me to communicate. The dissonance and lack of harmony was apparent, because this tree was in pain. It was dying.

“Who are you?” I asked gently.

My name is Indrasyl. I am the Sylvan Mother Tree of this earth. And you are the one written in the stars? The one who shall return light and life back to the dying lands?

Relief bloomed within me like a field of wildflowers. Indrasyl was alive! But the joy was fleeting. She was very sick.

“Yes. Though I’m not sure how,” I replied to the ancient tree. “How do I heal you? And Luneth?”

A sacrifice is required. I felt her hum through me. The blood and bone of The Marked.

“How much do you need?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

I think you know, Lightling.

A piece of me collapsed in on itself. Any hope lingering in my chest shattered like a stained-glass window. The broken shards lacerated my breath in my lungs.

“You need all of me?"

As it’s written in the heavens. Yes . She pulsed around my astral body. I can tell you much of this earth, of its bounty and of its droughts. Of its fires and floods. But this darkness is unlike anything my roots have ever known.

Trees know sickness and death; such is the way of life. We nurse where we must and retreat where we must. But an unnatural darkness has entered our roots, a rot we cannot escape, and it is spreading. The earth is dying. I am dying.

“I won’t let that happen,” I cried out. Her sorrow was my sorrow as I intertwined with her roots.

Through your blood and bone, we can become one to heal this earth.

Sorrow punched down my throat.

This saddens you. Why?

“I . . . I have people I love. One very much so, and the thought of leaving him?—”

Somewhere deep in the rings of time, you will always be together.

“ That isn’t good enough!” I screamed, sorrow turning into rage. “We haven’t had enough time together. There’s always been something keeping us apart. This, right now, was supposed to be our time. There must be another way.”

I am afraid it is already too late. My time grows shorter yet. Even now it is taking what little strength I have to communicate with you. If you wish to save this earth and all who inhabit it, you must give everything. If you love this man, this is how you save him.

An unimaginable pain erupted in my chest. It was as if my ribs had splintered open and pierced my heart.

Rowen wouldn’t let me do it. If he knew, he would find another way or die trying. He would let the world burn before he’d let any more harm come to me. Or, and the thought tasted like rust in my mouth, he would follow me no matter where I went, in life and in death.

“War is at our doorstep. Even if I sacrifice myself, what’s to stop the darkness from spreading? I’ve seen the army headed our way. They will fell and uproot every tree to get what they want.”

You must seek help before we become one.

“ Where? ”

I do not know.

I wanted to scream and tear my hair out.

This was a lose-lose situation. No matter what I did, there was no scenario in which we prevailed. Erovos would win.

No one had come to our aid, and we were unable to locate Rayal and her people.

Suddenly, an idea struck.

“You know this earth. Do your roots extend to all?”

Yes, my arms are all-encompassing, holding this planet together.

In my mind’s eye, I imagined Rayal’s necklace, the one she stroked with reverence. There was a symbol upon it, a graceful line, sweeping over and under two circles. “Have you seen this symbol before? Do you know the people who wear such a sigil?”

I do not, Lightling. I am sorry.

If there had been little hope before, it was now squashed. It was utterly and entirely hopeless.

A phrase came to mind: Rayal’s parting words from deep in the Crypts. “If you should survive and ever find yourself where sun casts upon sun and your shadow greets mine, know that you are amongst friends.”

Sun upon sun?

“ Yes! Do you know where that is?”

Not well, for it is dry, and my roots there are very small.

“ Where is it?” I implored.

It is hard to remember.

“ Please,” I begged. “It’s our only hope.”

You must mean the Eye of the Sun

“ Yes. Yes! Where is it?”

I grow weaker yet.

“ Try!”

Suddenly, I was yanked down, deep within the earth. There was no time to fight or claw my way out because before I knew it, I was surging forward, flying through Indrasyl’s roots like an electrical current—or at least some part of me did. My body still sat on the floor in the Hymma.

Indrasyl guided me through the vast underground system. It was a marvel. A hidden world with endless webs that glowed in my mind like a galaxy. All interconnected.

I only received fleeting snippets as the Sylvan Mother Tree projected me through her roots. The terrain changed and shifted around me as she avoided thin or frail pathways, some already wilted and dead.

I kept charging forward in bursts of light when I slammed into a barrier, halting my traveling.

What the hell? I’d never stopped mid-flight.

My awareness shifted upward, wondering what could have blocked my path.

Towering above me was a stone archway—a breathtaking marvel of rock and time. It stretched impossibly high and loomed over me like a cathedral.

An arch! The marking on Rayal’s choker was an arch.

I tried to step through again, but I was met with resistance as if I’d run into a glass door.

Upon further inspection, I realized a thin mist emanated from the arch like a veil.

It was made of dust, golden specks, and a gentle pulsating wind.

It reflected on the sand, decorating the ground in a dance of shadows and light.

Was this some sort of protection ward? I knew Rayal was on the other side, but I couldn’t get to her, no matter how hard I pushed within the rootways.

It appeared that whatever I had to do, I had to be in my corporal state to pass through. But I had no idea where this arch was!

Suddenly, I felt a ripping—a tearing—like all the seams of a tapestry were being pulled apart. Millions of shrieks echoed within me as Indrasyl rushed me back to my body in waves of pain .

The earth quakes and trembles as the Dark Spirit rips open the world.

“Hold on a little longer,” I desperately begged, clinging to Indrasyl’s presence.

I shall try.

She sounded so weak and fragile.

“We’re coming,” I said to the tree who hopefully had turned the tides of the war.

My astral self returned to my body, and my gut lurched as Indrasyl’s pain lingered. I opened my eyes and staggered out of the Hymma.

Rowen scanned me worriedly and helped steady me. “What did you see?” he asked, handing me my clothes.

His presence was a double-edged sword, one that offered me strength yet sharpened the ache in my chest and cracked my heart open.

I dressed as quickly as I could, allowing the act to hide the pain and anguish that flooded through me.

It was an anguish I couldn’t afford to show. Too much hung in the balance.

Althea and Donis, the first soul flames, had found a way to leave this world together. I wasn’t that strong. I couldn’t ask that of Rowen. I’d never want to.

I would try everything within my power to save Luneth without sacrificing myself. If I could find the desert elves and convince them to help, perhaps I wouldn’t have to face that impossible choice.

Rowen didn’t need to know because I had every intention of finding another way.

I wanted to collapse into my soul flame’s embrace, sob into his strong chest as his encompassing arms held me and I told him what Indrasyl had asked of me. But there was no need for us both to suffer. I would protect him from this pain because I was determined to find another way to save us all .

“The Eye of the Sun,” I said, offering Rowen a smile to keep from crying. “We are looking for an archway.”

My gaze brimmed with equal parts hope and dread.

Even though I’d found our salvation, I might not survive this war. And if my death were part of the prophecy, I would simply have to rewrite the stars.