"And now?"His eyes met hers, dark and serious."Even with Tamsin's teaching, you still don't have all three.You're not a storm-caller.You never will be."
The truth of his words struck her with unexpected force.In her determination to master root-singing, she had somehow overlooked this obvious flaw in her plan.Storm magic was not something that could be learned through study or practice.It lived in the blood or it did not.And despite the strange energies that had coursed through her during her coma, despite the lingering sensitivity to weather patterns that remained, she was no storm-caller.
Before she could respond, Roran continued, his voice gaining strength and purpose with each word."But I am."
Understanding dawned, cold and sharp as the winter air around them."No," she whispered, the word emerging before she could stop it."Roran, you can't—"
"I can," he interrupted, his hand finding hers on the frost-covered stone."And I will.If you're determined to do this—to create a new seal—then I'll stand with you.Help you.Be the storm to your earth."
"You know what that means," Thalia said, searching his face for any sign of hesitation, any crack in his resolve that she might use to dissuade him."You understand what happened to the Founders.What would happen to us."
"I do."His fingers tightened around hers, warm despite the cold."When you fell into that coma after activating the chamber, when I thought I might lose you...my only regret was that I hadn't been there with you.That you faced that moment alone."A sad smile touched his lips."I won't make that mistake again."
"I can't ask this of you."Her voice broke on the words, emotion rising in her throat like floodwaters against a failing dam.
"You're not asking.I'm offering."His free hand rose to brush a strand of hair from her face, his touch achingly gentle."I know you, Thalia.I know the strength of your convictions.I won't try to stop you—that would be like trying to stop the tide or turn back the wind.But I won't let you face this alone."
The truth of his words settled into her bones.He did know her, better perhaps than anyone else at Frostforge.And she knew him—knew the fierce determination that burned behind his easy smiles, the courage that had allowed him to reveal his storm-caller heritage despite knowing it could mean his death.They had never tried to change each other, never demanded the other be less than what they were.It was the foundation upon which their bond had been built.
And he was right about something else, too—something she had been avoiding acknowledging even to herself.She needed him.Not just emotionally, but practically.The seal required all three magics, united with purpose and understanding.Without a storm-caller, her plan was doomed from the start.
"You're sure?"she asked, though she already knew the answer."Absolutely sure?"
"As sure as the storm in my blood," he replied, the ghost of his usual crooked smile touching his lips."Besides, if the choice is between dying with you or living without you..."He shrugged, as though the decision were simple, trivial even."Not much of a choice at all."
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, hot against the cold air.She blinked them away, unwilling to let them fall.Not from sadness or fear, but from something else entirely—something that expanded in her chest until she thought it might crack her ribs from within.How strange, she thought, to find such joy in this moment, on the edge of oblivion.
Without conscious thought, she leaned toward him, drawn by a force as natural and inevitable as gravity.Her lips found his, cold at first contact, then warming with shared breath and quickening blood.His hand moved to cradle the back of her head, fingers tangling in her hair as he pulled her closer, deepening the kiss with a hunger that matched her own.
In that moment, with the sun climbing higher above them and the black tide waiting patient and terrible on the horizon, Thalia forgot about the end that awaited them.Forgot about seals and sacrifices, about Deep Ones and darkness.There was only this—Roran's arms around her, the taste of him on her tongue, the knowledge that whatever came next, they would face it together.
When they finally parted, breathless and flushed despite the bitter cold, Roran pressed his forehead against hers, their breath mingling in the space between them.
"Together, then," he whispered, the words both promise and prayer.
"Together," she agreed, sealing the pact with another brief, fierce kiss.
They turned as one to face the rising sun, their hands still clasped between them.The light had fully claimed the sky now, revealing the world in all its battered glory.Despite the darkness that waited at the edges, despite the knowledge of what must come, Thalia found herself filled with a strange, quiet peace.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Morning light spilled across the Crystalline Plateau like liquid silver, casting long shadows behind Thalia and Mari as they emerged from the narrow stairwell carved into Frostforge's highest point.
Thalia paused at the summit, one hand steadying herself against the stone archway, her breath forming delicate clouds that dissipated in the bitter Northern air.The vast expanse of the plateau stretched before them, its surface glittering with frost despite the strengthening sun—a reminder that winter's grip never fully released this place, even in the gentler seasons.
Mari drew in a sharp breath beside her, eyes widening at the savage beauty of the mountain-ringed training ground.
"It's different from up here," she whispered, pulling her borrowed fur cloak tighter around her shoulders."You can see...everything."
Thalia nodded, allowing her sister this moment of wonder.From this height, the world seemed both infinite and comprehensible—the jagged peaks of the Rimspires framing the horizon, the shadowed valleys below where patches of black water gleamed like spilled ink, a grim reminder of how far the Deep Tide had already advanced.
Beneath their feet, the plateau itself thrummed with ancient power, currents of energy flowing through the stone like blood through veins.Once, Thalia would have missed these subtle vibrations.Now, they sang to her, a constant melody underlying every moment since her awakening from the coma.
She had brought Mari here for reasons she hadn't fully articulated, even to herself.The simplest was to share this rediscovered piece of their heritage—the root-singing that had once been as natural to Southerners as breathing.But beneath that noble purpose lurked another, more desperate hope: that Mari might carry the same gift in her blood, might learn what Thalia was learning, might one day continue what Thalia wouldn't live to finish.
Might teach Niko, when he was old enough.Might preserve knowledge that had nearly vanished from the world.
"There," Thalia said, pointing to a small figure seated cross-legged at the plateau's eastern edge, where the stone met the sky."That's Tamsin."
