He grasped the stick with blood and dirt-crusted fingers, looked up to the surface—and flew right to it, with the wind at his back and every shred of energy he had left at his heels. Until sunlight finally rained down on his skin, and he was able to take a clean breath of air. He landed, stumbling—but Lynx caught him.
He had been waiting there. So had Wraith. And so had Astria.
“You got it,” she breathed, looking at the object in his hands.
“With help,” he said, his voice just a dry rasp.
“More help is coming,” Astria said. And it was nearly enough to bring him to his knees with relief. She was right. With the portaling device now in his possession, more help could finally reach them.
Astria insisted he eat and drink before doing anything else, but Oro refused. He was covered in dirt when Isla reached out again.
She was in yet another dress that was pooling around her from where she sat on the floor. He guessed she was still in a cell, but right now it looked like she was in the room that Astria had graciously set up for him.
He studied her quickly, like he always did, for any injuries. This time, though, what he noticed weren’t marks. He saw the wrinkles and tears in the fabric. The straps looked like they had been cut and then retied hastily around her neck.
He swallowed. She gazed down at the state she was in and blushed, pressing her knees against her chest.
“I take it...things are getting better with Grim?” he asked, trying to push down all his emotions for both of their sakes.
She gave just a single nod.
He took a long breath and closed his eyes. He could put reason first, before his feelings. He had done it for centuries. He could do it again.
Hand still trembling both from strain and emotions he didn’t want to name, he lifted the portaling device. “How do I use this thing?” he asked. At least this was a safe subject.
Isla’s smile was pure relief, seeing it in his possession. She also must have been happy to see it at all. Oro knew how much she loved this relic. How it had freed her from her Wildling room, how she had used it to explore the world before the Centennial.
How she had used it to meet Celeste. And Grim.
Maybe there were no safe subjects between them anymore...
“It takes a little practice,” Isla said, shaking Oro from his thoughts.
She explained how to picture his destination in his mind’s eye, how to channel his energy into that image, into the device, how to draw a puddle of stars with it and step through.
“It’s much harder to go to places you’ve never seen before,” she explained. “And make sure to practice before going anywhere too far, in case you get stuck and can’t return.”
Oro nodded and closed his eyes, picturing the throne room in his castle on Lightlark. It was a place that was more familiar than anywhere else.
His blood hummed as he channeled his energy into the object in his hand. Slowly, he used it to draw a circle on the floor between them. With every inch made, he kept his focus steady on the throne room. He imagined the sun gleaming against its walls, and the smell of freshly steeped tea, and Isla walking through the doors for the first night of the Centennial, dripping wet—
A flash of gold flared in front of him, so bright, it reached past his eyelids. He opened his eyes to see sunlight streaming through the portal he created. His throne was right in the center of it.
“Show off,” Isla scoffed, but when he looked at her, she was smiling.
“You’re a good teacher,” he replied, and she broke his gaze in a way that made him wonder what she was thinking about.
A flash of activity within the portal pulled him from that thought. His friends were there, locked in conversation. It seemed tense. “I should head back. I just—I wanted to see you first.”
And the way she looked at him, with the same worry and focus, made him wonder if she had been desperate to see him too.
“Go,” she finally said, with an air of disappointment. As he moved to stand, she said, “I’m glad it worked out...and that betting on me wasn’t in vain.” Her words were light, but he knew her.
“I will never regret betting on you, Isla,” he said, standing to his full height. “Bet on yourself. You’ll never lose.” He was about to walk through the portal when he hesitated. There was something else on his mind. His friends would tell him to keep this to himself, but he couldn’t. He was still betting on her, he wouldalwaysbet on her choosing light and helping them all through this.
“I...I saw something on my way here.”
She frowned at the seriousness in his tone. “What was it?”
