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A burst of otherworldly light, and the ground shook beneath his feet, chunks tumbling from the cliff. Another burst, another ripple. Lunara’s lips were moving, but he couldn’t hear what she said above the din of their clash.
“Now,” Fern murmured. “I can feel—”
Every last one of them was thrown to the ground against their will, leveled by the sheer wall of sound the witchling emitted. In that moment, she wasn’t of this world. Wasn’t mortal.
She sang the song of the Celestials, primordial creators of the Unknown.
The truth of it was in his own trembling particles as they danced beneath his skin, those tiniest parts of him threatening to rip free and join their maker in her crooning.
Weeping…fuck...
A single breath of silence.
Brand and Lunara exploded apart, shaking the very fabric of the universe.
Lyriat shouted as an avalanche of stone fractured away from the mountainside and rained down on the castle, he and the twins racing to stop the worst of the damage with their power.
Not Mag’s problem—his eyes were on Brand as he fell, limbs trailing.
“Now, Fern!” he shouted, tossing his robe away. “Go! Get her home!”
You know what to do, Pet.
Magnus gave over to the shift and tore across the field to meet his brother’s descent, praying all the while.
Sisters, please let it be him. Don’t ask me to do what I cannot.
He leapt, jaws closing around Brand’s body in a gentle hold. As he soared down again, Magnus spared a single glance towards the mountaintop in time to see Fern disappear through the shimmering portal there with Lunara in her arms.
The radge, wee witch only thought of Brand and his beloved Solyrian. Lucky for Lunara, there was a whole damned realm where the twin moons perpetually shone, and she had a family who loved her and bleeding knew better.
He landed with a skidding stop and laid his brother on the grass, back to himself when his knees hit the ground a second later.
“Come on, you wee shite.” Mag gave Brand a good smack, using his heightened senses to search for any sign of life. “Don’t be an arsehole. Lunara didn’t do all that just for you to piss off to the Veil, so fucking wake up.”
Fern shot through the portal and straight up into the evening sky, clearing the trees around a small cottage.
She was initially wary of Araxis’s plan. There was a tightness in her chest when he handed over a glowing jasmine flower for the toll, but Fern had no other suggestions. No alternatives. Thank the weeping, fucking Sisters she ignored it in favor of his foresight. Despite her trepidation, the arsehole was right.
This was more than necessary.
Fern jerked to a stop, her wings fluttering to keep them aloft. “Please,” she begged, absolute misery spewing from her instead of the usual crass encouragements and curses.
Lunara was too still, too heavy, and that ache in Fern’s chest just wouldn’t fucking leave.
“Okay. I admit it,” she whispered, choking on the words. “You’re a genuine Star Goddess. Celestial through and through, eh? I’m sorry I ever laughed at you. I’ll even make Hedda apologize, too. I swear.”
Fern wanted to shake her, just to get her to breathe.
A prickle worked its way up the back of her neck, the warning in her heart intensifying. Worse when she looked down and noticed the forest. As far as she knew, this was only her second visit to the Evesong, but…
The overall glow was subdued for some reason. Lazy. Too foggy, too dark, even for a place that never left the nighttime. She was sure of it.
Fern went a little higher to put some distance between them and the eerie scene, and the stone buried within Lunara’s scarred sternum pulsed.
“Shitting seasons.”
That’s when Fern really flew.
