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Urgency snapped at my heels. There wasn’t a moment to lose.

Rowen and I sprinted home to gather supplies and fill our waterskins.

Though it was late, we didn’t dare waste another minute.

We darted through the village to alert Nepta of what I’d seen.

Rowen pounded on her door, her dome no more lavish or exquisite than the rest of the village.

After several urgent knocks, she opened the door, her cobalt robe draped around her in an embroidered plume. Her fine, silver hair was loose and cascaded down her back as her withered hand rested on the doorway. “Yes?” she questioned calmly.

“I need to find the desert elves, convince them to help us, and hopefully bring back an army,” I said, rushing to get the words out as I quickly recalled what happened in the Hymma.

“Nepta, I need to leave immediately. Indrasyl showed me the way. In the Hymma ceremony, I somehow connected with the Sylvan Mother Tree. And with what little strength she has left, she showed me the way to the Eye of the Sun, but she’s fading fast.”

“This news comes swiftly on the wings of the night. Much needed and right before the dawn,” she replied, and even though we had woken her before sunrise, it looked like she hadn’t been sleeping. “What is your plan?”

“We haven’t exactly figured out the logistics,” Rowen admitted, his hand on the small of my back, casting circles to calm my breathing.

“She can’t go alone to a foreign city. If the desert elves know what is happening, they’ve either chosen to ignore it or believe such a blight could never reach them. Either way, what could convince them?”

“Perhaps witnesses,” Nepta said, peering her head around me to call out into the darkness. “I know you are there.”

Dyani stepped forward, surprising me. I didn’t know she’d followed us. “We saw you running through the village. Figured it must be important,” she remarked, almost embarrassed she’d been caught.

“‘We’?” I asked, my eyes scanning the darkness behind her.

Maddock emerged from the shadows, his broad shoulders rippling through his shirt, his thick thighs filling out his pants. He’d gotten bigger since I’d first met him. “Were you really going to leave in the middle of the night without telling anyone?” he asked.

“Always lurking behind trees,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Wait. Are you two . . .?” My gaze shot back and forth between them, a slight pang of jealousy twisting in my gut.

“Ew. No. You know he is not my type,” Dyani said, brushing her hair off her shoulder, her eyes colliding with Maddock. “No offense.”

“None taken.” He shrugged. “We were just training. And you think you can hide things from me?” he asked, tapping his chest, indicating the stolen bond. For a moment, I froze, and my heart stalled. Had he felt my anguish, the pain I’d tried to push away when Indrasyl told me what I had to do?

I had so many questions but now was not the time to ask them .

“Time is of the essence,” Nepta continued as she walked down the steps of her dome, muscle memory leading the way.

The moonlight illuminated the forest, casting a line of silver along the treetops. “I’m coming with you,” Dyani said, her arm cuffs shining as brightly as the steel strapped to her body.

“Dyani, thank you, but this is dangerous. I don’t even know if I can get us there.”

The warrior unsheathed her blades and lowered to one knee, silencing my protest. “I offer you my blades, Alcreon Light,” she replied, her sharp eyes unfaltering. “Do you accept them or deny them?”

My breath caught in my throat, and my eyes burned at the depth of her loyalty. “I accept your blades,” I nodded with gratitude.

“Good,” she said, standing upright. “I would’ve had to hurt you had you declined such an offer. And you will get us there. I believe in you.”

“Well, if she’s going, then I’m going,” Maddock said, stalking up to us. “Don’t fight me on this one, sparky. Rowen, tell her.”

“The more protection you have, the better. We know very little about the desert elves. They may not take kindly to being disturbed.”

I didn’t have time to argue. Indrasyl needed me. Luneth needed me. “Fine, but only because we don’t have time to argue.”

“You have two minutes to get provisions,” Rowen said, and our tagalongs darted off.

“Can you get us there?” I asked Nepta worriedly.

“I know little of this ‘Eye of the Sun,’ but I’ll call upon the spirits and ask them to allow you to guide this portal. Focus on where you must go. Hesitate, or let your mind wander, and you could all be lost.”

“No pressure,” I said, shooting Rowen a glance .

“I regret I cannot leave,” the Elven-head replied, and though hope shone faintly in her eyes, fatigue lingered in the subtle movements of her face.

“My protection wards are connected to me, and it’s nearly taking all my strength to keep them up.

We cannot risk any stray Voro-Kai entering the village.

You must go without me.” Her hand rested on my shoulder.

“I cannot leave my people, but when you speak to the desert elves, you speak for us all.” Her voice carried both the weight of unspoken fear and immeasurable trust.

“Thank you for believing in me,” I said, honored that she viewed me as an extension of her and her kin.

“No need for all that,” the Elven-head said as Dyani and Maddock returned with their supplies.

Nepta raised her hands and summoned a portal of pulsing blue light.

I gathered my strength, both physical and mental, hoping what Rayal said was true—that if I did manage to find her, I would be amongst friends.

I approached Nepta’s shimmering portal, feeling Rowen, Maddock, and Dyani close behind. Whatever Nepta had asked of the spirits, I prayed they accepted.

I emptied my mind of everything except for one thing: the arch.

Indrasyl showed me the Eye of the Sun—or at least I hoped she had.

She was a dying tree who had admitted to having memory issues.

She might have led me to the wrong place, but I couldn’t think too hard about that now.

Instead, I focused on that arch as if my life depended on it.

I stepped through Nepta’s portal, hoping it would land us somewhere close.

The air changed in an instant as a bright light blinded me. I felt the environment shift from a forest filled with sap, salt, and evergreens to a dry and arid landscape.

My eyes adjusted to the harsh light, revealing a sea of golden sand.

Heat like a furnace washed over my skin.

The sun was bright and blistering, with no shade or protection anywhere in sight.

Sand billowed across the dunes in a hazy glow, making it hard to tell the distance and height of anything. It all felt like an illusion.

“I don’t see an arch. Do you see an arch?” Maddock’s voice held an edge of panic as he spun around, looking in all directions.

“Keira,” Rowen said calmly, the desert wind making his shirt billow around him. “Where are we?”

I spun back around, looking for Nepta’s portal, but it had vanished. “We should be at the Eye of the Sun.”

Dyani shielded her eyes from the harsh light. “What exactly were you thinking when you stepped through?”

“I was thinking of the arch ,” I said, trying to remain calm.

“What else?” Dyani ground out.

My heart stuttered in my chest. “Oh no.”

Oh no, oh no, oh no.

The memory struck me. My last thought had been one I didn’t even realize. “I may have thought, land us somewhere close .”

Dyani dropped her hand and closed her eyes, breathing slowly as if refraining from stabbing me.

“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Maddock asked, voicing the thoughts I tried to keep at bay.

“We’re not lost,” Rowen said, the pools of his green eyes the only oasis in sight. We stood in a circle of fresh footprints with no trail leading in or out. It was as if we had simply dropped out of the sky. “You heard Keira. She said we are close.”

“ Close is relative,” Dyani pointed out. “Especially to the spirits! For all we know, their idea of being close could mean on an entirely different planet.”

I stood in the sea of golden sand and closed my eyes, trying to feel the way Indrasyl had shown me .

“We’re still on Luneth,” I said, praying to the Elder Spirits that I was right. The arch was an imposing presence, one I’d felt down to my core. “I projected through the Mother Tree’s roots to see the arch, so I’ve technically been there before. Plus, the sand looks familiar.”

“Did you hear that everyone? The sand looks familiar,” Maddock said sarcastically throwing his arms up in the air. “Let’s just follow the sand then, shall we?”

He turned to take an exaggerated step, but as soon as his foot landed, the sand beneath him gave way. Maddock disappeared as the ground collapsed, his startled cry echoing after him.

Panic struck me like lightning. Without thinking, only reacting, I dove after him. It was pure instinct to protect the piece of the bond he had stolen from me. Who knew what would happen if he died carrying a piece of my soul flame bond?

Suddenly, I was rolling down a dune, choking as dirt flew up my nose and into my mouth. I tried to reach for something, anything, but I kept tumbling down the collapsing mountain of sand.

Just as it seemed like I would fall forever, I hit a sharp bump, and my stomach lurched as I flew through the air. I was weightless for a split second before I landed on something soft yet firm and rippling. Whatever it was, I was grateful it had broken my fall.

A groan rumbled underneath me, and I realized I’d landed on Maddock. “This . . . isn’t how I pictured you on top of me,” he muffled, and if my eyes weren’t so full of dirt, I would have rolled them.

Dazed and shaken, I lifted my head, squinting from the sand in my eyes, but my gaze kept rising, up and up. I had to tilt my head all the way back to take in the red-and-copper rock that arced like a rainbow.

My breath hitched. I was staring into the Eye of the Sun .

Sprawled out on top of Maddock, I offered Indrasyl a silent prayer of thanks. She was fighting back against Erovos the only way she could.

“Keira!” Rowen and Dyani shouted as they ran down the hill after us.

“I’m okay,” I said as Rowen’s hands slipped around my waist and lifted me off Madds.

Once he placed me on my feet, I dusted off my pants, though I had a feeling sand had already found its way into every nook and cranny of my body.

“This is incredible,” Maddock said in awe. “I knew we weren’t lost.”

“Yeah, so glad you remained calm,” Dyani said dryly, offering Madds her arm. He clasped her wrist as the warrior rolled her eyes and helped him to his feet.

“We’re here,” I breathed, my gaze locking on the arch that represented everything I’d been searching for.

The stone arced over me like a sculpture, and I marveled at nature’s artistry, using only wind and time as tools.

As I stepped closer, I noticed the cascading sheet of golden mist, or was it swirling sand?

Whatever it was, it stopped me dead in my tracks, just like when I’d been in Indrasyl’s roots.

I peeked around the arch, but the sand stretched on forever.

It must be a portal.

I might be able to astral project through, but the sentient mist seemed to promise death, dehydration, and a slow descent into madness if I tried.

The grave warnings were enough to have me sprinting in the opposite direction, but I’d come too far to give up now.

I planted my feet and stood my ground as determination surged through me. “Now, how do we get through?”