“Me too,” I said, because she deserved honesty. “But I promise you this—no matter what happens next, no matter how this ends, I will fight witheverything I have to give us a chance.”
“The seed,” she reminded me. “You have to get the seed.”
“I will.”
“And Kaelren?” She pulled back enough to look at me. “When the moment comes, trust Peeble. Trust what they tell you. They’ve been preparing for this for longer than any of us can comprehend.”
The dream was already starting to fade, reality pulling us back to our separate hells. I held her tighter, trying to memorize the feel of her, the smell of her, every detail I could capture.
“Find me,” she whispered as the world dissolved around us. “When it all begins—find me.”
“Always,” I promised. “In this iteration and every other, I will always find you.”
I woke to cold dawn light filtering through the tent flap, Elle’s warmth replaced by the chill of corruption spreading through my veins. But I could still feel her, still taste her, still smell her scent on my skin even though it had only been a dream.
More than a dream. A gift. A promise.
I dressed quickly, my mind already planning the detour we’d need to make. The seed. Elle had given me a mission, and I wouldn’t fail her.
But when I emerged from my tent, I immediately knew something was wrong.
The others were gathered in a tight cluster, their voices low and urgent. Peeble sat on Vashael’s shoulder, their wings vibrating with distress in a way I’d never seen before.
“What happened?” I demanded.
Vashael turned to me, her expression grim. “Bryx is gone. And Kevin with him.”
The words didn’t process at first. “Gone where?”
“We don’t know.” Sarnyx gestured to Bryx’s tent—empty, his pack missing, no sign of a struggle. “Nimor says they left during the night. Quietly, like they didn’t want to be followed.”
“Why would he—” I stopped, remembering his odd behavior last night. The whispered conversation with Kevin. The way he’d avoided my eyes. “Damn it.”
“There’s no note, no explanation,” Eltrien said, his marks pulsing rapidly. “Just… gone.”
Peeble launched off Vashael’s shoulder and landed on mine, their usual sass completely absent. “He knew something. Kevin knew something. I could feel it yesterday—they were planning this.”
“Planning what?” I demanded. “Why would Bryx abandon us now, right before everything?”
“I don’t know,” Peeble admitted, and their uncertainty was more frightening than their usual confident snark. “But if they left, they had a reason.”
I wanted to go after them. Every instinct screamed to track them down, demand answers, drag Bryx back by force if necessary. But—
“We don’t have time,” Vashael said quietly, reading my face. “The Convergence is in three days. If we delay even half a day searching for them…”
“Elle dies,” I finished, the words bitter in my mouth. “And everything ends.”
“Bryx made his choice,” Sarnyx said, though her voice held regret. “We have to make ours.”
I looked at each of them—Vashael, Sarnyx, Nimor, Eltrien. Four where we should have been six. Two losses already, and we hadn’t even entered the tunnels yet.
“I saw Elle again last night, and she told me something in the dream,” I said, making the decision. “There’s a chamber beneath the Heartspire, hidden even from Auradelle. A seed grows there—created by the Root, preparing for a second flowering. We need to retrieve it.”
“A detour,” Nimor said, understanding immediately.
“Yes. But it’s necessary.” I looked at Peeble, remembering Elle’s words. “When we reach it, something will happen. Peeble you’re supposed to know what we need to do.”
Peeble’s entire body went still. “She told you.”
