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The flames weren’t scalding. They were warm and comforting.

My eyes opened in confusion.

It wasn’t a world-ending fire as I had suspected. It was the sun: bright, vibrant, and full of life. But how? The sun never reached here. Erovos made sure of that.

I squinted through the blinding glow, and as my eyes adjusted, a giant, red arch appeared through the rays of light.

The Eye of the Sun!

I peered closer, not believing my eyes. Was I already dead, returning to the Eternal Sun Stone?

But I wasn’t the only one who was stunned. The entire battlefield twisted in shock at the colossal arch.

A choked sob erupted from my throat as thousands of Hara-dune soldiers marched through the haze, gleaming in golden armor. The Eye of the Sun framed the cerulean sky and never-ending dunes like a painting, stark against the barren and bloody battlefield.

The sun was shining through the arch, which meant it was the evening here, but the sky was so shrouded in a grey haze, it was impossible to tell .

I almost broke down when I realized we’d been battling all day. And just as all hope was extinguished and we bravely faced our deaths, reinforcements and daylight broke through the clouds.

Rayal led the charge, dressed in armor that looked molded to her body as if she’d been dipped in gold.

She’d pulled her braids into one long twist down her back, revealing every strong and determined plane of her face.

She must have taken control of her city, now leading her warriors in a cavalry charge.

“Grab an Ever-burn weapon!” Alvar commanded, gesturing to the carts filled with star-forged steel. The elven warriors picked up arrows, spears, and blades with a coordinated speed and charged into the fray.

“Destroy them all,” Erovos roared, and I almost blacked out from the sonic boom of his voice.

Suddenly, a grinding of stones sounded in my ears. My gaze darted up to see a giant hawk flying through the arch. Its wings folded in before sweeping out to soar over the battlefield. Three more hawks followed suit, filling the sky with avian warriors.

It took me a moment to realize they were the stone statues perched high above Hara’dune. The Sunshades!

Even though they must have weighed a ton, they drifted through the air as if they were weightless.

My eyes searched for the elve commanding them, and sure enough, I found Thaydril. His arms flourished through the air as he puppeteered the stone beasts.

The hawks flew over the weapon racks and filled their talons with Ever-burn spears. They tucked their wings and dove into the fray of demons.

The Wyn and Viltarran soldiers cheered as the birds barreled into the Voro-Kai and sliced them to death.

Erovos dropped me to the ground as his jaw unhinged and his deadly eyes focused on one of the majestic hawks .

The world eater’s eyes widened in disbelief as the Sunshade continued to pump its wings, unaffected by his siphoning power.

I smiled. The stone had no life, so there was no essence to steal.

Another bird dove in a gust of wind, impaling demons with its spears, and as their hearts were punctured, or their limbs ripped apart, their remains rained down on their littermates.

Erovos turned his gaze to the charging desert elves, his jaw elongating.

And with a gravitational inhale, he drained a whole line of gold-plated soldiers.

Before their shriveled bodies could fall to the ground, Erovos hurled their energy at one of the great hawks.

The stolen power hit the bird, and it screeched as its wing was blasted off its body.

Unable to balance in the air, the great avian teetered and then fell to the ground.

The Sunshade plummeted to the earth, crushing enemies as they fell.

The distraction was enough for Nepta to regain her balance. She raised her moon staff and slammed it to the ground, and with a rippled tremor, the earth cracked open. A horde of demons fell through the chasm, howling as they were lost to the earth.

The tides of war shifted. Instead of total obliteration, the playing field was evening out, but still, it was too close to call.

I couldn’t stay on the battlefield much longer. Now was my chance to get to Indrasyl and heal her before any more lives were lost. But Nepta had cracked open the ground, and I couldn’t ignore the call of rushing water deep within the earth.

Erovos left the tree unguarded as he battled three armies and the great hawks. It was just the diversion I needed. Rowen had regrouped with Callum and a few other soldiers, their faces exhausted as they prepared for another wave of demons.

I called upon the water, just like Althea had done when she separated her soul flame from the giants. I dug deep into my inner well of power and called upon the water. Erovos may be a gravitational force, but so was I.

My body shined like the moon as I dragged the water out of the earth in a violent wave. It smashed into the Voro-Kai, drowning out their charging growls as they were swept away. Satisfaction rippled through me, even though it hardly made a dent in the never-ending swarm of demons.

Once I knew Rowen was safe and had a moment to catch his breath, I charged toward the Sylvan Mother Tree when suddenly, a claw wrapped around my ankle and wrenched me to the ground.

I whipped onto my back, ready to strike, but a flash of iridescent feathers shot past my vision.

A Voro-Kai, crawling with no legs, released its hold on me with a shriek and clutched its eye that oozed sludge. I didn’t have time to process what had given me the opportunity to stab the demon in the throat, its cries turning gargled.

Rowen darted between me and the charging beasts. “Go!” he yelled, his face covered in blood, dirt, and sweat. “I won’t let them touch you.”

“I love you,” I said as Rowen dug his feet into the ground and tightened his grip on his Ever-burn blades.

“You’ll come back to me?” Rowen asked, his face turning from the charging Voro-Kai to lock eyes with me.

“Yes,” I said, but it was a lie—a terrible lie. “Now, don’t die.”

Our chests heaved in unison as our gazes darted to each other’s mouths, and in a desperate fury, Rowen and I collided like crashing waves.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he pulled me in tight.

Our lips and tongues tangled in a wild and reckless moment.

We didn’t have the time, but we selfishly indulged in the obliterating kiss anyway.

I could taste Rowen’s blood, fear, and passion in his kiss.

Could he taste my goodbye?

He would never believe I’d lie to him, but I had, and with the ugliest lie possible—that I would return to his arms.

I could only hope that one day we would meet on the horizon line like Althea and Donis, the first soul flames.

Rowen tore his mouth from mine in a savage growl and plunged his star blade into the nearest demon.

“Go,” he urged again, facing the barrage of Voro-Kai.

I gazed upon my soul flame for the last time. His beauty was deadly as he kept the astral demons at bay, protecting and guarding me as he always had.

I tore my gaze away from my ferocious god and sprinted the final steps to Indrasyl—the tree that would be my tomb. It was a fact that haunted me in my waking, sleeping, and astral life.

I entered the tree’s ancient and dying form. Her twisted branches unfurled like the wings of a dragon, inviting me inside her towering trunk. The chains that once ensnared me still hung from her hollow cavity, locked and latched from when my wrists were in them last.

My spine spasmed as I saw the black dress Erovos had dressed me in crumbled on the ground.

This was where my body had been forged as an elve.

My knees went weak. Not many die in the same place they were reborn. But I had to keep it together. I couldn’t lose it now. Letting my emotions consume me would only waste precious time.

I walked deeper into Indrasyl’s sheltering presence, losing sight of Rowen and the people I cared for. The only thing that kept my feet moving was the thought that if I succeeded—when I succeeded—they would live long, happy lives in a flourishing land. I just wouldn’t be around to see it.

The hollow of Indrasyl’s trunk was far bigger than I remembered, with earthy chambers and twisting walkways between her roots. I walked deeper into her ancient form, gazing around the space that was the size of a large room.

I drew Mithrion with a shaky grip, readying to cut my palms open to feed the tree with my blood.

“Wait,” said a voice that startled me as I poised the knife at the heel of my hand. I glanced up, and a choked sob caught in my throat.

“I thought you left,” I barely gasped out.

“I would never leave you like that,” Maddock said.

His black hair was damp with sweat and stuck to his forehead.

“After everything, that’s still how you see me?

” The hurt was evident on his face. His eyes flashed to the gown, then to me, wrath darkening his pained expression.

It was as if he relived the day I returned to the village.

When he’d knocked me out with my Light and caught my naked body from falling.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” I whispered, taking my place in the very heart of Indrasyl, my final resting place. “Tell Rowen I’m sorry.”

“I won’t,” Maddock said, stepping toward me. All the color had left his face except for the deep purple smudges under his eyes. He stalked toward me.

“What are you doing?” I asked, fear creeping up my throat.

Maddock winced as if I’d stabbed him in the heart; then he drew his Ever-burn blade on me.

I raised Mithrion, a warning to stay back.

“It will be you who apologizes to Rowen for me,” he said between hastened breaths.

My brows narrowed in confusion when he suddenly flicked Mithrion out of my hand and caught it midair, just like Dyani had taught him.

“You said I might have to die for you,” Maddock continued, his steps faltering as if he were drunk. “You said your forgiveness might come at the cost of my life.”