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 atsuch 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.”
