I tense, expecting the Aeternalis to ambush me on sight, but when I open my eyes, there is only the foreign stillness of the cave. Moths flutter overhead, the blue-green lights speckled on the ceiling far above winking in the darkness. Silence presses against my ears as I venture further inside, the ragged tenor of my breath and the stubborn beat of my heart suddenly far too loud.
Thump, thump, thump.
Endlessly beating on.
When I round the corner to where the cavern expands, its rhythm quickens, scattering wildly off beat. Because though there is no enemy—or anyone at all—what’s missing sends a lick of fear ricocheting through my veins.
The Indomnitus is gone.
Niko’s beautiful ship that’s guarded the heart of the island for centuries, is gone. Standing in its place is an exact replica of something I never wanted to see again.
My father’s barn.
The place where I found my sister Celie bleeding on the floor more than two centuries ago. The place that started it all—the pain, the loneliness, the running.
The shadows in my chest slither as I stare and stare at the paint chipping off the siding and the cracked window to the right of the doors.
Is this Pan’s magic? A way to remind me of our shared abandonment? Or is this the island, taunting me with everything I’ve lost?
I remember Niko’s words about the Indomnitus, the longing in his eyes when he spoke:The island resurrected the Indomnitus as a reminder of everything I lost.
Is that what it’s doing to me?
Anger spikes through me. I saved this island, and now, it dares to taunt me? Dares to betray our bond the moment its original creator returned?
The shadows in my chest blaze to life, edging through the shimmer of my magic and twisting it into something dark. Imagination is considered children’s magic—hopeful and bright. It’s easy to forget imagination can be something sinister. Dreams ofmore,of power, drive empires and colonialization. It lives in the boots on throats, and the pain in cells with no windows.
Right now, it is only the darkest of dreams that mingles with my anger, sparking it to new heights. An untenable thing whose hunger is relentless.
I refuse to think of Celie—refuse to think of everything that happened in the cool shade of the barn. Instead, I squeeze my eyes shut and paint. There are no details to guide me, only a soul-deep rage: take me where the Aeternalis is so that I can destroy him.
Killing him would be a release, one I’ve been desperate for. All my pain, my grief, my regret, my insecurity; it’s been building beneath my skin with nowhere to go. It would be euphoric to pour it into someone else—give my lungs room to expand; give myself space for something other than self-hatred.
Peter thinks we’re the same because of the shared experiences in our past, but he doesn’t understand me.He has always had so much, he doesn’t understand the lengths I will go to keep the little I have. He doesn’t understand that I don’t want more—I just want what’smine.
I grip my sword tightly, and with a measured breath, push my magic outside of myself. I expect the Aeternalis, but when I open my eyes, I find myself instead in the harbor of Caelum in the midst of a writhing crowd.
Panic hangs in the air in thick clouds, permeated by wails that echo from every direction. Bodies jostle and push all around me, the mass of people straining like one giant organism toward something I can’t see.
Something beyond the docks.
Whispers thread between cries, their icy notes sending shivers racing over my skin as I make out one word clearly:the Indomnitus.
Horror threads through me, and I’m prepared to begin shouldering my way through the crowd when suddenly, the pressure loosens. The sounds of fear turn to relieved whispers, as people begin to back up, giving me a wide berth. All eyes turn toward when I walk through the crowd, the emotion shining in them sinking a stone of dread in the pit of my stomach: hope.
I can be the hero so long as I have you as my villain.But I’m alone, the weight of the kingdom now resting on my shoulders, even as I crumble beneath it.
“The queen—" Their whispers flood around me in a deluge of faith. “She’s come! She’s come to save them!”
The shadows in my chest lurch as Niko’s words resound through my head:They’ll turn you into their savior, their god. And you will never be able to escape it.
Trepidation presses against my sternum, as burdensome as their stares. I try to ignore the feel of them as I walk between them to the edge of the docks to find out for myself what has everyone in an uproar.
The violet sea thrashes, like the waves are determined to drown the sky itself. And riding atop their fury is the Indomnitus, in all her serpentine glory.
I know immediately it isn’t the ship that’s sent shockwaves ravaging through Caelum, but who captains it.
The Aeternalis.
