Chapter 23
MARLAK
Iclose my eyes and try to call Astra, try to feel where she is. There’s nothing. I could be wrong that she’s in this darkness outside this room, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.
My chest feels cold as I try to imagine her in this nothingness, this void.
With a deep breath, I try to calm down, try to quiet that anxiety corroding me, see if in the silence between my inner anguished screams I can find something. I extend my arm and send the thought to Azur.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
And pure darkness.
I’m so angry at myself. Why did I let her escape with Nelsin?
I ended up running away not much later, and was able to push away the few giants in my path while Ferer found enough circles to get us back.
Astra could have escaped with us—should have. But now I can’t go back, can’t fix everything that’s wrong. Letting darkness take me sounds comforting considering the alternative is to live with so much regret.
I pull my hand from Azur’s touch, realizing he could be seeing that. At least he doesn’t say anything, leaving me with my silence and anguish.
Still, the idea of trying to come up with a solution feels ridiculous, when I don’t know what to do. What part of my mind can conjure anything?
“Focus on your bond.” Azur breaks the silence.
To his credit, his expression is grave, and I believe he does care for Astra, in his own way, even if his voice grates on my nerves.
I don’t even know if I can still try to reach through our bond, when it’s painful like a hot iron. Worse than that. It’s more painful than fire.
Closing my eyes, I try to think, try to search through the depths of my mind for all I know about magic, about the Witch King, and yet it’s so little. I hadn’t even heard about this heart, this castle.
No. This castle has been in my dreams. Different, yes, but it was this place. I try to think about those dreams, those strange happy moments when we were united while under the spell of slumber.
Then something else tugs at me. It’s not a bond, but a connection, filling me with sadness, but determination too.
Cherry Cake is flying through a starry sky above a forest. I wonder if he’s saying goodbye to me. He can’t come to the Shadow Lands, bound like he is to the Witch King. He can’t.
But he wants to—and I don’t think I can stop him.
A crash startles me, and a gust of air prevents glass shards from reaching me. Cherry Cake comes through, and I realize Azur blocked the glass.
I approach the beloved unicorn and pat his neck, so glad to see him. Part of me dreads what may happen to him by coming here, but I’m also thankful to see my old friend and companion. He’s shimmery and brilliant, with a sphere of light around him. Strangely, the circle reminds me of Astra’s magic.
The image he sends me is of me and Azur on his back, finding Astra. I wonder if Azur needs to come, and Cherry Cake lets out an annoyed neigh.
“Fine, my friend,” I whisper, then turn to Azur. “He’s saying he can take us to her. If we climb on him. It’s a double saddle. You don’t have to come.”
Cherry Cake neighs again, and I add, “He thinks you should come for some reason.”
A huge unicorn like that can’t fly in castle corridors or enter through doors, but there’s some odd magic at work here, and if Cherry Cake thinks he can help, I trust him.
Azur climbs on the saddle, and then I do the same. Cherry Cake floats in the air, and when I’m wondering how we’re going through the door, he turns and goes outside, above the trees.
Perhaps Astra was never in this castle after all. We’re heading north, and my chest squeezes with worry as we might be approaching the Witch King’s prison.
But then the stars disappear, and the forest below us vanishes. There’s only silence, a silence without wind or even the muffled echo of life. True silence. And darkness so dark that I can’t even see my hands or Cherry Cake’s head.
A sliver of hope lights in my heart. If Astra is in this darkness, he’s taking me to the right place. For the first time since I got to this castle, I believe I can save her.
I hear another window crashing in front of us, but this time, I have the presence of spirit to shield us with air.
Cherry Cake becomes shimmery again, and I see that we’re in a large, tall atrium of an old, abandoned castle, and he’s flying upward at such a steep angle that I need to hold tight to the saddle.
Behind me, I feel Azur holding tight to the saddle too.
There’s glass above us, and I finally recognize that we’re under the room with the heart. Cherry Cake knocks it with his horn, and it shatters.
To my horror, Astra and Nelsin fall. Quickly, I use air magic to slow their trajectory.
“Get her. I’ll get Nelsin,” Azur mutters.
I focus on Astra, and push air beneath her, so that I bring her close to me. She reaches out, and I hold her hand. Cherry Cake flies out through a broken window, then we’re flying over that forest. Again I feel sadness coming from him. A goodbye. And a message: go.
“I’ll transcend us,” Azur says.
The forest disappears, and then we’re falling on the river bank by the island. I try to use air magic to stop us, but it fails. I pull Astra close, and keep trying to use air magic. When I’m about to use water, I feel a cushion of air below us, and we fall graciously on the ground.
Azur’s magic.
“Thank you,” I say, then hold Astra close, and ask, “Are you all right?”
She nods, then squeezes me harder. “We thought we were going to spend days over there. How did you find me?”
“Our bond. And Azur figured you’d be there. Did you cut his bond?”
She smiles. “I did.”
Azur and Nelsin are already crossing the river, and I make a disk of ice for me and Astra. We step on it, then I blow it to the island.
When we get to the shore, she says, “Cherry Cake. He was… sad.”
“I noticed it, but I don’t know why.”
We take a few steps toward the house, and I see Azur hugging Lidiane, and Nelsin kissing Ferer.
Astra smiles and whispers, “I’m happy to see that.”
“So am I.” Then I change the subject. “What happened? Why did you go to the heart?”
“We ended up there. I saw Otavio. He’s… more dangerous than I thought.”
“Did he hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “He tried to, but Nelsin saved me. The heart was hurt, however, but it granted me one last use of magic.”
“And you chose to cut Azur’s bond to the Witch King?”
She grins. “Yes.”
“Good call.”
“I thought you didn’t like him.”
“He doesn’t like me. It’s different. But we all have the same enemy.” I take her in, and my heart gets filled with joy at seeing her healthy, awake, whole. “I feared losing you.”
“But you saved me.”
“It was all Cherry Cake. Azur too, I must say. And Ferer, who knew the location of the heart.”
Our lips touch with so much love and relief and joy.
“Marlak,” Ferer calls me, interrupting my moment with my wife.
I can’t help but glare at my friend. “What?”
“We should leave this island. It’s not safe.”
Astra’s eyes widen. “How come?”
Lidiane approaches us, holding Azur’s hand. “We’ll explain.”
Astra stares at their hands together, and Lidiane adds, “We’ll explain that too, but it’s better if we go.” She waves a transcending note. “Zorwal might fly with dark moth carriages, and he’s worse than we thought.”
I’m not sure that’s even possible. “Worse?”
“Yes,” she says.
I try to comb through the royal hideaways I know, but now I’m not sure any of them is as secret as this one, and none of them is protected by Nymphs.
“We could go to another river island,” I say. “But there won’t be any shelter.”
“Maybe,” Astra says. “We shouldn’t split, if we want to plan how to take down the Witch King. Also, where’s Renel?”
Lidiane smiles. “He rescued Tarlia! They’re at the Misty Court now.”
“Oh.” Astra grimaces and looks at me.
“I know,” I mutter.
Azur strokes his chin, then says, “There’s a place. An old house. Close to the ocean, but warded. My family… had access to it. We could go there. It’s near Clare Beach.”
Lidiane frowns. “A beach? We’ll be at the Sea Court’s doorstep.”
“Yes, but if they don’t know we’re there, it will be fine. It has enough rooms, even for Renel, Tarlia, and Ziven, when they return. It’s warded, so ghouls and bloodpuppets won’t track us.”
Astra looks at him. “Are you going to tell us how your family came across that house?”
It’s an odd question.
Azur smirks. “Yes, later, when we’re all sharing our life stories. Right now I’d rather get out of here, then plan what we do next.”
Astra stares at him for a moment, as if thinking, then says, “Fine.” She looks at everyone. “What do you think?”
I don’t love the idea of leaving the safety of the island, but at least I’m glad to see Astra isn’t sad about it. I shrug. “It sounds like a good idea.”
“No problem with me,” Ferer says, even if he sounds a little annoyed.
Lidiane says, “Let’s just grab what we need, and then we go.”
We enter the house, then I go to my bedroom and pack some of Astra’s clothes and mine in a duffel bag. For some reason I don’t want to use the royal suitcase, perhaps not willing to use any needless magic.
“I still have your poison,” I tell her. “Do you want it?”
She chuckles. “I thought you had thrown it away.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Leave it here. I’m sure we’ll be back.”
I feel an odd knot in my chest at her certainty that we’re not abandoning this house for good, at her hope that we’re not going to lose the home she loves so much.
I don’t know if we’ll ever be able to return here, and perhaps I wish I could just mask my sadness with denial.
Then again, we have so many bigger problems.
A few minutes later, we all float to the riverbank, and Azur transcends us all. His transcending magic is so powerful that it’s almost ridiculous. I’m glad he’s on our side.