Reese's grip did not waver. He gritted his teeth, eyes lifting to the sky.
"I trust you, Brighid," he said reluctantly, hand loosening around my wrist. "The moment you cannot handle it anymore—turn back."
"I know my limits." Brighid looked up at Bláth. "Keep him from running after us, would you?"
"As if I could stop him," Bláth sighed. "Are you going to help Liam?"
I looked over at my brother. He was watching me intently, brows furrowed in worry. "Why wouldn't I want the Paragon to dash in after my sister?" He sighed. "But, Mare . . . " He hesitated before finishing his thought. "Do try to come back alive. Arranging your funeral would be a pain."
"Itwouldbe rather rude of me." I smiled. "I haven't even written you a will."
Brighid took my arm. "Let's go. Before our Paragon changes his mind."
We took a step forward, deeper into the storm. Brighid's eyes flared, and her fingertips danced with flame. She drew a circle before us with her arms, and brilliant orange light engulfed us.
Fire swirled in a sphere around us, batting away the wind like two blades clashing against one another.
I glanced back. Reese shifted forward, as though intent on following.
"One day," Brighid called back. "You'll have to set her free. Start practicing."
Jaw tensed, Reese strangled his rapier's hilt. He remained still, watching me with eyes pooled to the brim with concern. How had I managed to charm him? Me, who was not deserving of that worry.
He should be glad, for this storm to strike me down.
Turning away, I held Cierthine before me and nodded for Brighid to move.
We tread forward, under our precarious canopy, toward my home. My destiny.
Even beneath Brighid's flaming shield, the storm was unbearable. My eyes stung from the endless lash of wind, my ears rang from the endless beating of thunder.
"Does Cierthine heed you?" Brighid shouted.
I squeezed the blade's hilt and felt it respond. Storms churned within its black steel, at my beck and call.
"Yes," I shouted back, hair whipping into my mouth.
"Good. If I'm right, we need only find where the last Diath cast his spell, and undo it."
I stared up at the great canopy of Tirnanog's tree. If the magic here was meant to call to me, I felt nothing.
Raising a hand to shield my face, I staggered up a hill, tripping over scorched roots. At its peak, Brighid froze. And my heart stopped.
A city painted the horizon. Beneath the tree's protective shield, towers rose toward stormy heavens, silver spirals against the night. A lush plain of thick grass dotted with violet flowers wrapped the walls. Vines crawled up their length, overgrown from years untended. From the firmament, lightning plunged, and the world inhaled its charge.
The flowers and trees danced beneath its touch, glowing with an electric pulse.
Home. Tirnanog.
My heart soared. I finally gazed upon that which I'd only dreamed of. The place I belonged. The people I had lost.
"Look there." Brighid pointed above the towers.
Hidden behind the great tree's leaves, the sky was broken. It looked as though someone had taken a god's knife and torn a hole between the stars.
Violet light poured from the sky, and a twister grew from its tail.
"What is that?" I asked.
