Fated

14

When I came back to my body it was like waking up for the first time.

Luna was saying something, but I barely noticed. I knew exactly what was happening without needing to look. I started walking down off the dais, twirling the fateweaver absent-mindedly in my right hand. ‘Starbreeze,’ I called. ‘Break off.’

Starbreeze tore herself away from Thirteen. Her form was tattered, mist leaking from her wounds. She shot me one terrified look and fled. Thirteen didn’t pursue, instead turning back to me, her primary target. She’d shed the last of the glitterdust and as she moved she faded into invisibility again.

Thirteen was the greater threat; I should eliminate her first. I turned my back on her and looked to the other side of the room. ‘Onyx!’

Onyx had crippled Rachel, sending her limping into the darkness of the pillars; now he turned to me. ‘Rules changed, Chosen,’ I told him. I kept walking, placing myself between the two killers. ‘Surrender or die.’

Onyx didn’t waste time answering. A whirlwind of razor-edged discs of force flashed towards me.

I sidestepped and the attack hit Thirteen just as she swept in at me from behind. She flashed into visibility as the force blades chewed her to pieces. Her mouth opened in surprise, and she looked at me with wide eyes, and for a moment I thought she was going to speak. Then she was nothing but wisps of drifting air.

I looked back to see Onyx staring at me in shock. That attack should have hit me; I knew it, and he knew it. ‘Last chance,’ I said.

Onyx threw a lance of force at me, followed by a spinning sawblade that could have cut me in half. Next was a series of hammer blows, then a force wave, then he just blasted the entire area in a thirty-foot radius.

He might as well have saved his strength.

The power the fateweaver gave me was beautifully simple. My divination magic let me see what might happen; the fateweaver let me pick what would happen. Together, they were invincible. Fighting Onyx was like a chess match where I got to play both sides of the board. Each attack had a hole, a flaw; I lined up each flaw with my own movement so that it would miss. I didn’t even move fast enough to break a sweat.

‘What the fuck!’ Onyx screamed as I walked through the blast, bits of stone chipping and bouncing around me.

I kept advancing, and Onyx backed away. ‘Your aim really is terrible, you know that?’

Onyx threw an entire wall of force at me. He was panicking now, and that made it even easier; I found a flaw in the wall, enlarged it, and chose the future where the flaw was aligned with my course. I had to dip my head slightly as the wall ruffled my hair, then I straightened up and kept walking. ‘What the fuck!’ Onyx screamed again. ‘I hit you! I know I hit you!’

I sprang at him.

Onyx struck with everything he had, but my attack had been a feint and I slipped away as Onyx filled the air around him with missiles. Onyx’s strikes were frantic, uncontrolled, and it was easy to curve one of the bolts of force around to strike him in the back. The impact threw him from his feet, blood spattering the stone.

Onyx struggled to rise, gasping, until the sound of my footsteps made him look up. I was walking towards him, and as I did I slid my knife from its sheath, letting its blade glint in the dusk. ‘Should have listened when you had the chance,’ I told Onyx, and I was smiling as I said it.

Onyx looked up at me, and for the first time I saw fear in his eyes. I knew Onyx was no coward. He could face battle without flinching, but this was something beyond his understanding, and the magic that had been a sword and a shield since childhood had betrayed him. To Onyx it must have seemed as though his world had turned upside down. He made his decision and acted in the same instant, and his body vanished in a mote of darkness as he teleported away. All that was left were drops of blood on the stone.

I came to halt with an annoyed tch. If I’d been paying more attention, I could have anticipated Onyx’s flight and prevented it. Still, not bad for a first try, I suppose.

‘Alex?’

I looked around to see that Luna was the only one still moving. She was still kneeling, chained to the pedestal, staring at me with wide eyes. ‘He got away,’ I said, unable to keep the irritation out of my voice. ‘Stay there.’ I began a circuit of the room, checking for survivors.

Griff, needless to say, was very dead. After being shredded, incinerated and disintegrated all at once, what was left of his body could fit in a pencil case. Anyone planning to give him a burial would need a mop and a vacuum cleaner. Thirteen was gone as well, though with her I wasn’t sure how permanent it would be. The trouble with incorporeal creatures is that it’s always so hard to tell if they’re really dead.

The big surprise was that Cinder was still breathing. The back of his head was a mess, and he was carrying a few broken bones, but he was still alive, for the moment at least. I searched his body, then glanced up as I sensed movement.

Rachel was standing a few pillars away. Her mask had been torn away in the battle, and for the second time that day she was Rachel rather than Deleo again. She didn’t move. ‘Rachel,’ I said with a smile, rising to my feet. I lifted the fateweaver and raised my eyebrows. ‘Want to try and take it?’

Rachel didn’t answer and I walked towards her. ‘Don’t tell me you’re not thinking about it,’ I said. ‘You’re wondering if you can succeed where Onyx failed.’ I reached Rachel and began to walk slowly around her. ‘Do you think you can?’

Rachel swivelled to stay facing me, limping slightly as she did. Her hair was disarrayed, matted in one place with blood, but her eyes followed me unblinkingly. ‘Well?’ I said.

Rachel shook her head slowly, not taking her eyes off me.

‘Why not?’ I leant in and suddenly I was right behind Rachel, whispering into her ear. I could smell her scent, blood and sweat and dust … and something else, as well, something that made my nerves quicken. ‘You like to kill by touch, don’t you? You’re close enough. Show me what you’ve learned.’

Rachel shook her head again. ‘Why not?’ I said again, softly into her ear.

Rachel was silent for a long moment. ‘You’d win,’ she said at last, her voice as soft as mine.

‘Yes,’ I said. ‘You were always good at knowing when you were outmatched, weren’t you? Not like Shireen.’

Rachel held very still. I withdrew, pulling away from her. ‘Now,’ I said coldly. ‘Why should I let you live?’

‘We had a deal-’

I laughed, then, my voice suddenly cruel, and Rachel stopped. ‘Did you think I was that stupid?’

There was fear in Rachel’s eyes, but there was something else too: she was looking at me with respect for the first time, and I found I liked it. ‘Still,’ I said. ‘You might be some use. But payment is only put off. I’ll be calling on you. Understand?’

Rachel nodded carefully. ‘I understand.’ She stepped away, backing towards Cinder.

I lifted an eyebrow. ‘You want him as well?’

‘He’s all I have,’ Rachel said. She spoke simply, and I had the odd feeling that for once she was being honest.

I shrugged. ‘He can share your obligation. Go.’

Rachel nodded again, then opened a gateway and started to pull Cinder through it. Her movements as she pulled the big man were oddly tender. Then the gate closed behind them and I was walking back towards Luna.

‘I don’t understand,’ Luna said as I reached the dais. She’d gotten to her feet, and was standing with her arm cradled awkwardly, staring at me. ‘How did you do that?’

‘Back off two steps,’ I said. Luna did, causing the chains to rattle and draw out. As the links stretched I identified the weakest points, created a pair of hairline flaws, then shattered them with two stamp kicks. I turned towards the wall. ‘This way.’

‘But-’ Luna said, then found she was talking to my retreating back. She hurried after me, the broken chains rattling. ‘Where’s Starbreeze?’

‘She’ll be fine.’ I stopped in front of a featureless section of wall, then spoke a command word. It darkened, then faded away, and I stepped inside. ‘Come on, unless you want to stay.’

Luna started, then followed me in. I touched a control crystal on the wall and with a shudder the room sealed itself and began to move.

‘Alex?’ Luna asked. ‘What does that thing do?’

I smiled. ‘Oh, Luna, I wish you could feel it. It’s like being able to see where you were blind. Watch.’ I stepped forward.

Luna flinched. ‘Don’t!’

I laughed. ‘Your curse? That can’t hurt me now.’ I could see the silvery mist drifting around me, never quite reaching. Occasionally a strand would touch me, but I simply grounded it in the floor, along with the remnants I’d picked up from earlier. It was just as well I’d found the fateweaver when I had; I’d gotten altogether too close to Luna over the past few days. I pointed at Luna’s broken arm, and as she flinched I translated her movement into resetting the bone, aligning the fragments into their proper place. Luna gave a yelp of pain, then stopped suddenly, staring down at her arm. ‘It doesn’t hurt.’

‘I did some encouraging of your body’s healing system. Once we find a healer I’ll have it fixed before you know it.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘And what do you say to having your curse lifted?’

‘ … What?’

I laughed again. ‘Anything that’s possible, I can make real.’ The room came to a sudden halt and one side opened. ‘Our stop.’

The journey out didn’t take long. Luna trailed along behind me, shell-shocked, as I strode along the corridors, eagerly laying plans for everything I was going to do once I got outside. Before anything else, I’d visit Morden. I was going to enjoy our next meeting, though I didn’t think he would. After that, I had a score or two to settle with Levistus. Then there were the others …

I was so absorbed I hardly noticed once we reached the exit. ‘Hold up the cube,’ I told Luna.

Luna hesitated, looked around. We were in a small, featureless room. ‘This isn’t the way we came in.’

I felt a flash of annoyance that I had to explain things to her, then smoothed it over. ‘This is the back door. It’ll take us into the countryside.’

Luna hesitated a moment longer, then obeyed, speaking the command words I ordered her to use. The cube lit up and a gateway opened in the wall, carrying with it a breeze that smelt of leaves and grass and cool night air. I stepped before the portal, next to Luna, and looked upwards. For a moment I could see nothing, then I started to make out pinpoints of white light. Gradually the stars took shape before me, and as my eyes adjusted I could see the shape of a hillside, trees silhouetted against the night sky. I stood there for a long moment, drinking in the starlight, basking in the rush of triumph. I’d done it. I’d won.

‘Let’s go, Luna,’ I said. ‘We’ve got a world waiting for us.’

Then suddenly there was a whirlwind in front of me, pushing me away. I jumped back with a curse, bumping into Luna and making her cry out. The whirlwind solidified, taking the form of a waif-like girl with spiky hair. ‘Don’t!’ Starbreeze said urgently.

‘Starbreeze?’ I recovered my balance. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘Wrong! Don’t go!’

‘You’re in the way.’ I tried to walk forward and again found myself in the middle of a whirlwind of air, driving me back. I came to a stop and looked angrily at her. ‘Starbreeze!’

Starbreeze didn’t move. ‘Can’t go!’

Luna looked at me in puzzlement. ‘What’s going on?’

‘I have no idea,’ I said in exasperation. Starbreeze wasn’t intending any harm, else my precognition would have sensed her, but she wasn’t budging either. ‘You can’t go,’ Starbreeze insisted. ‘Wrong!’

‘Maybe it’s dangerous?’ Luna asked doubtfully.

‘Luna, there’s nothing out there within a hundred miles that’s a danger to me,’ I said impatiently. ‘Starbreeze, get out of the way!’

Starbreeze shook her head again. ‘Wrong.’

I took a threatening step forward. ‘You stupid little-’

‘Wait!’ Luna said urgently, looking between us. She was close enough to Starbreeze to be dangerous, but Starbreeze was focused so desperately on me she didn’t even notice. ‘What’s wrong?’ Luna asked Starbreeze. ‘Isn’t this the way out?’

Starbreeze shook her head again. ‘Can’t go.’ She stared at me anxiously. ‘He’s wrong.’

‘This is the way out,’ I said. ‘Starbreeze, move or I’ll make you move.’

‘Wait,’ Luna said. ‘What does she mean?’

‘Who cares?’

‘Wrong,’ Starbreeze said again, insistent.

‘She keeps saying that …’

‘Who cares?’ I wanted to get out of this place, walk outside the boundaries of the tomb and taste the night air, wanted it so badly I could taste it. Starbreeze was stopping me, and that was making me angry.

Luna hesitated. ‘Shouldn’t we listen to her?’

‘No!’ I said in frustration. ‘There’s nothing for us to go back for. We are done with this place!’

As I spoke, Luna started. ‘Wait!’

I was almost ready to kill Luna. ‘NOW what?’

‘There is someone we need to go back for. Sonder!’

I stared at her for a second. ‘Who?’

‘Sonder! Alex, you saw him, Griff hurt him, don’t you remember? He must be back in those corridors.’

‘He’s probably dead.’

Luna started as if I’d slapped her. ‘He’s not! He was breathing when Griff took me away. He could still be alive!’

I started to answer and suddenly came to a halt. Luna was right. When I’d last seen Sonder he’d been alive. Griff hadn’t killed the younger mage, he’d only stunned him. So why had I been so sure he was dead?

Luna was looking at me as if waiting for something. ‘What?’ I said at last.

‘Aren’t you going to …?’ Luna said. When I didn’t respond she trailed off.

‘We’ll go back for him later.’ I didn’t want to think about Sonder. I just wanted to get out.

‘He might be dead by then!’

‘Plenty more where he came from.’

Luna started again, her eyes going wide. ‘Why do we have to deal with this now?’ I said in irritation. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

‘I can’t believe you’re saying this! Alex, you were the one who told him to stay with us!’ Luna was staring at me in shock. ‘What about what you told me? You said that you shouldn’t let someone die if you could help it. I believed you.’

‘When did I …?’ I trailed off as I remembered telling Luna that. It had been after we’d helped Cinder and Rachel. Except I didn’t really believe it, it had just been something to say to-

No, it hadn’t just been something to say. I had believed it. I did believe it. Luna was right. I couldn’t just leave Sonder back there; I needed to go back and help him.

No, Sonder didn’t matter. What I needed was to get out.

Wait, that was wrong. Leaving Sonder in the middle of that maze would be like killing him.

But I didn’t care about that.

Yes, I did.

I made a noise and turned away, holding a hand to my forehead. I was getting a headache; it felt like there were two voices in my head at once. I paced back and forth between the walls of the tunnel. ‘I don’t know,’ I muttered. ‘Let’s just get out of here.’ I felt I’d be able to think clearly if I only got outside.

‘No,’ Starbreeze said urgently to Luna. ‘Wrong.’

‘Shut up,’ I snapped. Their voices were making the headache worse. ‘I don’t-’ I turned and saw that both Starbreeze and Luna were looking at me now, and both had the same strange look on their face. ‘What are you staring at?’

‘Back in the chamber,’ Luna said slowly. ‘You were ready to kill them.’

‘Of course I was!’

‘I’m not sorry about Griff,’ Luna said. Her left hand moved unconsciously to her crippled right side, but she seemed to have forgotten about her broken arm. She was staring at me intently. ‘But I’ve never seen you like that, not until-’ Luna stopped, and something changed in her eyes.

For some reason I felt a sudden stab of fear. I wanted to push past, make a run for the exit, but Luna and Starbreeze were blocking my way now, staring at me. ‘What?’

‘Alex?’ Luna asked, and all of a sudden her voice was very careful. ‘What happened when you picked up that thing?’ She gestured to the wand in my hand.

I opened my mouth to reply, and suddenly everything was silent and I was standing outside my body again. Luna and Starbreeze were looking at where I stood, but I couldn’t hear them any more.

I rolled my eyes. ‘Not you again.’

‘Are you going to stand around all day?’ Abithriax demanded, striding into view. He’d appeared right next to me in his red robes, and he looked seriously pissed off.

‘Shut up,’ I muttered. As soon as Abithriax had reappeared, my headache had gotten worse, bad enough that it felt like someone taking a hammer to my skull. Just talking was making me nauseous.

‘Listen, Verus,’ Abithriax said. His voice was on edge, tense. ‘I’ve been sitting listening to this conversation and I’m thoroughly bored with it. Just get us outside and I’ll teach you to help this Sonder boy however you want.’

‘Leave me alone,’ I said through clenched teeth. If only my head would stop hurting. ‘Why do you care about getting outside anyway?’

Something flickered in Abithriax’s eyes and I stopped. I’d only wanted to shut him up, but that look made me pay attention. I’d stumbled on something Abithriax didn’t want me to know. More than one thing. I shook my head. If only I could think straight.

‘Look,’ Abithriax said carefully. He’d calmed down again and his voice was calm, reasonable. ‘I’ve got nothing against the boy. It just wouldn’t be sensible to go back now. If we can get to somewhere with more facilities, then we can …’

Abithriax kept talking, but I wasn’t listening. I was looking up through the portal at the stars shining down from the night sky. Starlight. What did that remind me of?

‘… more safely,’ Abithriax was saying. ‘In any case-’

‘The greater power for the lesser,’ I said absently.

‘What was that?’

‘Abithriax?’ I said. All of a sudden my headache was gone. I could think clearly again, and all of my attention was focused on the man in front of me. ‘How do you know my name?’

‘I’m sorry?’

‘My name,’ I said pleasantly, and I didn’t take my eyes off him.

‘Well — your friend.’

I shook my head slowly. ‘Luna calls me Alex. Not Verus.’

‘One of the others, then.’

‘Which one?’

Abithriax hesitated. Just for a second his eyes shifted, and I saw something behind them, something calculating and cold.

No, it had always been there, I just hadn’t been looking for it. ‘I’ll open my mind to you, my knowledge and skill will be yours …’ Stupid, stupid, stupid. If I could look into his mind, he could look into mine. Why hadn’t I asked how someone who’d been sealed away two thousand years could speak perfect English?

‘Why do you want to get out of here so badly, Abithriax?’ I kept my voice friendly, but inwardly I was tensing. When I’d merged with Abithriax last time, I’d touched him. He might be a ghost to everyone else, but if I could get close …

Abithriax stood still for a long moment, then straightened. ‘All right.’

I tried to move, but Abithriax was faster. All of a sudden I was paralysed, frozen. There was no spell or gesture: one moment I was talking, the next rooted to the spot. All I could move was my eyes.

Abithriax walked forward. As he did he seemed to grow in presence, become larger, more there, as if until now he’d been holding himself back. The red streaks in his hair and beard stood out brightly, and all of a sudden they made me think of blood. ‘You just had to make this difficult, didn’t you?’

I couldn’t answer. Behind Abithriax, I could see Luna and Starbreeze. They were talking, speaking to my frozen body, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. ‘Still, I suppose I should be impressed,’ Abithriax said. ‘Normally my wielders never even notice. The name was careless of me … lack of practice, I suppose, it’s been such a long time …’ He glanced at me. ‘You asked how I did it. I suppose it’s only fair. I was a mind mage. That was how I was able to imbue myself into my fateweaver. But I always hesitated to make that final jump … until the alternative was death. But once I’d adjusted to my new form, learning to control a bearer was quite straightforward …’

Luna was standing next to my body, now. She was trying to pull the fateweaver out of my hands, struggling with her one good arm. Starbreeze had joined her, heedless of the pain, and Luna was shouting silently, her face frantic. ‘Interesting,’ Abithriax said. ‘She’s worked it out. I think I’ll keep her, if she doesn’t make too much trouble … Where was I? Oh yes. First I took revenge on my betrayers in the Light Council. It took them quite some time to realise what was happening. They’d kill my wielder, but then they’d take the fateweaver for themselves, and of course I’d just start all over again.’ Abithriax shook his head. ‘And yet even when the last few figured it out, they couldn’t bear to destroy me. All that power, you see. So they built me this tomb and sealed me away, hoping to find a way to take my power for themselves. And eventually they stopped coming and I was left to wait out the years, alone in the dark.’

I was struggling to move, but couldn’t. I wasn’t panicking yet, but things were looking bad. Abithriax was talking to me the way you do to someone who’s not going to be around long enough for it to matter.

‘And then you came,’ Abithriax said. ‘I hadn’t expected it to be this easy. But perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised. It may have been two thousand years, but mages haven’t changed. Power, power, power.’ Abithriax took a final glance back at Luna and Starbreeze, and nodded to himself. ‘Well, we’d better get on with it.’

Abithriax placed his hand flat against my chest. For a moment nothing happened, then I felt a draining sensation, as if the strength was flowing out of me and into the man — the ghost — in front of me. I fought against it, trying to pull it back. ‘There’s no point resisting,’ Abithriax said calmly. ‘Each time you used my powers you granted me more of a hold. If you’d fought me from the instant you picked me up you might have had a chance, but it’s far too late now.’

Starbreeze was still trying to pull the fateweaver away, with no success. Luna was standing in front of me, and I could see she was crying. I could make out the silver mist of her curse clearly, its tendrils soaking into Starbreeze, but curling away from my body. ‘There’s no need to be afraid, Verus.’ Abithriax’s voice was reassuring. ‘I looked into your memories, and isn’t this what you always wanted? To be powerful enough that you needn’t be afraid any more? Soon you’ll be the most powerful mage in the world. Well, it won’t exactly be you. But you’ll still be in there, watching everything that happens.’ Abithriax paused. ‘At least, I think so.’

Abithriax’s voice was getting stronger, and I realised it was starting to sound like mine. He was taking over my mind, and soon he’d have the rest of me as well. My strength had been drained so far now that if I hadn’t been paralysed, I wouldn’t even have been able to stand. All I could do was look at Luna and taste despair. Oh Luna, I’m sorry. All this way, and this is how it ends. I don’t want to think about what this man’s going to do with you once I’m gone, but I can’t stop him. He’s going to win, and there’s nothing I can do …

The light seemed to be fading, but I knew it wasn’t the light that was going, it was my vision. Because of that, it took me a moment to notice what was different about Luna and, when I did, I would have blinked if I could. The silvery mist around her was changing to gold. She was standing close to me, head down as if praying.

‘Goodbye, Verus,’ Abithriax said, and he was smiling. ‘I’ve never known exactly what this feels like, but I don’t think it’ll hurt.’ But I don’t very much care if it does, his eyes added.

Behind Abithriax’s back, Luna placed her good hand on my body’s shoulder, pulled herself up on tiptoes, and kissed me.

The golden light around Luna seemed to flash, then jumped into my body. To me, it felt like being struck with a bolt of energy. I felt Abithriax’s hold on me slip, and all of a sudden I was free, my strength rushing back. I staggered, and Abithriax jerked in surprise, staring at me. For a moment he hesitated.

I didn’t. Before Abithriax could react I’d caught his wrist, twisted, and come in behind him, my arm locked around his throat. Abithriax choked. ‘Surprise,’ I snarled into his ear.

‘What-?’ Abithriax gasped. ‘How did-?’

‘That was an interesting talk, Abithriax,’ I said, my voice shaking with anger. ‘I was paying very close attention. You said I might have a chance if I’d fought you from the beginning? Let’s find out.’

Abithriax was struggling desperately, but I was stronger and better trained. I brought up my other arm, changing my grip to a hammerlock, and I felt Abithriax struggle wildly as I cut off his air and blood supply. ‘You’ll kill us,’ Abithriax managed to gasp. ‘If I die — you-’

I tightened my grip and Abithriax’s voice trailed off in a gurgle. ‘Oh, I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘I learn fast, you notice that? I think you’re lying again, and this time you’re not getting any more chances.’

Abithriax couldn’t speak any more. The side of his face that I could see was red, turning purple. He clawed at my arms, but I only tightened my grip further. Around me, the world was starting to blur, the corridor and Luna and Starbreeze going in and out of focus. ‘Goodbye, Abithriax,’ I snarled into his ear. ‘I don’t know if this’ll hurt, but I really hope it does.’

Abithriax made a last desperate attempt to get free, then went limp. All around me, reality seemed to unravel and fade to black.

When I woke up, I felt as though I’d just taken a long, relaxing nap. I would have liked to stay sleeping, but someone was calling my name and I had the feeling I ought to answer. I shifted slightly and let myself come awake.

‘Alex? Alex!’

I opened my eyes to see Luna’s face. ‘Oh,’ I said agreeably. ‘Hey.’

‘Alex!’ Luna looked like she’d been crying, and her face was drawn and pale, but she was desperately hopeful now. ‘It’s you?’

I yawned and looked up. ‘Hey, Starbreeze. You stuck around too?’

Starbreeze was floating a little way off, her face anxious. Luna looked back at her happily, then froze. She looked back at me, suddenly watchful. ‘Wait. How do we know it’s you?’

I smiled. ‘Good girl.’

Luna let out a breath and slumped back against the corridor wall. ‘It’s him.’

I looked to my right. The fateweaver was lying on the floor, an inert wand of ivory. Experimentally I tried to manipulate the futures ahead of me, and found I couldn’t. The power had gone with Abithriax. ‘By the way, what happened?’

‘What happened?’ Luna demanded. ‘I couldn’t move you, and Starbreeze couldn’t either, and she kept saying that it wasn’t you, and I didn’t know what was going to happen, and- You tell us what happened!’

I closed my eyes and couldn’t help but smile. ‘Let’s just say it’s good to have friends.’

We rested a little longer before I pulled myself to my feet. I reached down and picked up the fateweaver between thumb and forefinger. ‘Wait!’ Luna said in alarm.

‘Don’t worry,’ I said. The fateweaver was a wand of ivory again … for now. ‘I just think we should put things back where we found them.’

Starbreeze looked at me closely, then nodded in satisfaction. ‘Sleeping.’ She looked through the portal at the piece of night sky, hopefully. ‘Go?’

‘Soon,’ I said. I took a look up at the stars, then turned back. ‘Well, then.’ I gave Luna a grin. ‘I think we’ve got someone we need to go back for.’

Luna scrambled to her feet. It must have hurt her, but she was smiling. ‘You wait here,’ I said.

Luna shook her head, still smiling. ‘I think I’ll go back with you.’

‘Find someone?’ Starbreeze asked in interest.

I looked between the two of them, then laughed. I turned and started walking back down the corridor, and both Luna and Starbreeze followed. The power from the fateweaver had gone, but my magic hadn’t, and I could still tell where to find Sonder. I didn’t think it would take long.