“If your cousin does not return, he instructed you to go home.”
“I won’t go back.”
The Prince’s mouth thinned. “You will go back.”
Dyna glared at the clear command. The history of her village was founded on those who fought for the right to make their own choices and she would not let that be taken from her.
“I think you have misunderstood me, Prince Cassiel. I have decided where I am meant to be, and that is here. I won’t go back. Not without the stone.”
Astonishment settled on his features. It was the first time she had spoken to him so firmly, but he needed to understand that no matter what happened, she would not give up.
“Even if you were to drag me away again, you would not find my village,” she said, still upset that he had snatched her into the sky. Fearing he would drop her Dyna had clung to him desperately. Remembering her sheer panic made her insides drop.
A hint of amusement swam in his cool gaze as if he also remembered it. His large black wings flexed at his back. The plumage was as sleek as oil in the firelight.
“As long as I can see the skyline, I know my heading. Your village lies due west. It won’t take much to find it.”
Dyna shrugged. “Even then.”
Cassiel arched an eyebrow as he gauged whatever he read on her face. She wasn’t lying. The mages of old had cloaked North Star from any unwanted attention. He would never find it. Not from above, not even if he stood right in front of it.
“Once you see what darkness awaits out there, you’ll beg me to bring you home,” the prince said over the crackle of burning wood.
Dyna rested her palms over the tall grass as she leaned forward, holding his hard gaze. “Be it here or out there, darkness finds its way into every remote corner of the world. I am not a demon hunter, or a warrior, or anyone with experience. Perhaps I should leave this quest to someone else far more qualified, but I won’t because it’smine.”
She curled her hands into fists, tearing up blades of grass. Essence stirred through her, hot and electric, roiled by rare anger. Its invisible energy prickled along her skin and cast static around her. The firewood snapped and the flames flared, startling the Prince.
If she had a significant amount of Essence, she would have expelled uncontrollable magic. Emotions riled up magic in those who hadn’t trained in control. Her father had passed before he could train her, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t have enough Essence to produce any real power.
But she would not turn back.
Not when she could clearly remember how her family’s blood had crystallized in the snow after the Shadow came. It had looked like a hill of crushed rubies glimmering under the sunlight. Beautiful. Devastating. A reminder of what was to come.
“The Shadow tookeverythingfrom me,” she said, pinning Cassiel with her stare. “I won’t rest until I turn it to ash.”
He didn’t look away. Nor did she until the moon rose above the clouds as though called by the ancient powers in her blood. Whether it was the moonlight or the settling of her Essence, the roiling in her faded away like a passing breeze, sweeping all the bitterness away in her next breath.
Dyna laid her cheek back on her knees, closing her swollen eyes. “Do you believe me so foolish that I don’t fear what may happen on this journey? I know what I risk. I know the dangers, but I have to try. The Sunstone is the only way to defeat the shadow demon. So, I will go on this journey, even if it costs me my life.”
A heavy silence fell, thickening the space between them. She had not admitted that aloud to herself before, but it was an oath she kept locked within her heart. For Lyra, she would do anything.
Cassiel fidgeted with the belts of his sheathed sword lying beside him. “If you found another way, would you forget Mount Ida?”
She could not read his expression. “I would have no reason to go. Why do you ask?”
He shrugged.
Dyna waited but he offered no other answer. She glanced around at their belongings and came to a realization. “If Zev doesn’t arrive by morning, I must return to the glade.”
“It would do no good to see his body. If there is anything left of it.”
She winced. Zev deserved a proper burial, should it come to that. “I have to return.”
“Why?”
“I’m afraid I dropped the journal there.”
“What?” Cassiel hissed. “Youdroppedit? How could you drop it?”
