“We don’t know.” The historian cringes. “There are no recorded accounts of anyone who survived the walk across the moonglade.”
Damn it all to fucking hell.
“So those are our options,” the captain says grimly. “Fight our way past the Amheuk to enter the Realm of Four Kingdoms. Or walk across the moonglade, which no one has ever survived?”
A high-pitched ringing pierces my ears, and I clasp the sides of my head.
“Please, daughter.” Rushing to her side, Mrs. Ha grabs both of Minju’s hands. “This is suicide. Give us time. Your father and I will think of another way.”
“Time is the one thing I cannot give you.” Minju pulls her mother into a hug. “Besides, just because no one ever made it across does not mean we won’t.”
“She’s right,yeobo.” Mr. Ha wraps his arms around both females, heartbreak and hope warring on his face. “They have better odds of making it across the moonglade than getting past the Amheuk.”
The walls I’ve built around my mind shatter, and my knees buckle. I reach for a chair at my side and try to sink into it, but I miss the seat and fall on my ass, bringing the chair crashing down with me.
Some things I’d forgotten in the endless struggle to stay alive. While others I’d deliberately pushed to the back of my mind because it was ... too much. But there is no more hiding from the shitstormIset in motion.
It’s all my fault.
“Sunny.” Captain Seo reaches my side in a split second. “What’s wrong?”
Minju grasps my arm from the other side. “Are you okay?”
“Is the Amheuk still hovering at the entrance to the Realm of Four Kingdoms?” I ask in a trembling voice, as my friends help me to my feet.
“Yes, it is.” The historian absently turns me around and dusts off my ass. I’m not a toddler, but I’m too wrecked to protest.
“I made it into the Mortal Realm seconds before the Amheuk reached the entrance.” The captain shudders. “I flew faster than I’d ever flown to get away from it and landed way off base. But even from gods know where, I could see it coiled in the sky beneath the Realm of Four Kingdoms.”
“That’s why we can only return to the realm by walking the moonglade.” I glance between Minju and her father for confirmation.
“I’m afraid so,” Mr. Ha says. “There is no other way.”
“But what is the Amheuk waiting for?” This time I look behind me to make sure I don’t miss the chair and sit down before my legs give out. “Why hasn’t it invaded the Realm of Four Kingdoms yet?”
“Our best deduction is that it is recuperating,” Mr. Ha answers. “We don’t know how it escaped from its prison beyond the abyss, but it must have depleted its powers doing so.”
“Ah.” I nod and ... nod.
“The Amheuk is not without limits.” Captain Seo holds my gaze. “That means it can be destroyed.”
I stop nodding because I’m getting dizzy. I do my best to pull myself together and ask, “How long do we have?”
We?Why do I keep sayingwe?
“There is no way of knowing.” Frustration laces Minju’s words. She hates not knowing the answer. “But I think it’s safe to assume that we don’t have much longer.”
“Then we better get on with it and walk the moonglade,” I mutter. “Whatever the hell that means.”
There I go with theweagain.
My knees bounce haphazardly like drops of water on a sizzling pan. I thought I wanted to stay the hell away from all of this. But how can I turn my back on the Realm of Four Kingdoms whenIput it in danger?
I can’t run from this anymore.Idestroyed the Gray Void. I flinch at the thought, but I grit my teeth and face the stark truth. I didn’t understand it at the time. I was only trying to survive the Gray Void as it tried to annihilate the dark magic from the ancient rune on my back.
I would have died, but the light of the Yeoiju saved me from being torn in half by the dark magic and the Gray Void. Even though I didn’t know how to wield the Yeoiju yet, it eradicated the word of power from my body. But somehow, the white light also destroyed the Gray Void, the only thing that stood between the realm and the endless dark.
I am responsible for the destruction of the Gray Void. I signed the death warrant for everyone I hold dear within it.
