And we can't waste any more time.
"I will return," I say. "Once I've defeated the Darkness, I will return with an army and free my friends."
Marasphyr rolls her eyes. "Whatever you say." And then, for a brief moment, she turns serious. "I do want you to win, you know. I really do."
"Well, you have an odd way of helping us."
She looks down, quiet. And I realize she is torn again. Torn between staying with Fen and going off on adventure. She is like me, before I passed the test with the guardian.
I say no more. No more needs to be said.
It's time to go.
But first… I look down at my hand, at the ring Fen had made for me when I first came to Stonehill. I slip it off my finger and study it. "Marasphyr, I know you have no love for me, but I must ask you one last favor." I hold out the ring. "Can you please give this to Fen? Tell him… well… just give him the ring. I've already said what I needed to say."
Marasphyr opens her hand and I lay the ring on her palm. She stares at it a moment with a guarded expression on her face. Then she clutches it in her fingers and nods. "I will do as you ask, Arianna Spero. And I wish you the Spirit's luck on your journey."
I grab Dean's hand and close my eyes. Let's see if Marasphyr was being honest.
I want to leave. I want to leave. I want…
I open my eyes.
And see a mountain before me. The Rift is gone, and my head is clear. The calmness, the peace that permeated The Rift has left me. Though I wasn't as affected as the others, I still feel a heaviness settle on me. The weight of responsibility. The weight of consequence. But rather than suffer under that weight, I now relish it. Value it. It is the feeling of purpose. The feeling of a life that can make a difference.
I see a shift in Dean as well, as he wraps his arms around himself to block out the chill in the air. His features are less dreamy, more solid, more serious—at least as serious as the Prince of Lust gets. "Where are we?" he asks.
"Grey Mountain," I say, petting Yami on my shoulder. "I left something here."
The underground dwellings have been abandoned. The Fae probably moved on to fight for Lucian, and so it's easy to scour the rooms. Eventually, I find what was taken from me. My armor, half black and half white. And Spero.
"What now?" asks Dean.
"Now," I say, raising my two swords. "We fly to Ace's realm. And then the real war begins."
Chapter 13
ACE
"Ace is brilliant. He's also lazy, or so he says."
—Fenris Vane
I focus my emotions, summoning my anger, and Yami roars. He dematerializes into black dust, and then the dust takes on a new, larger form, the size of a gryphon. I jump on Yami's back, holding onto one of his black spikes, and offer my hand to Dean. "Come on. We have no time to lose."
He's frozen. Awe on his face. But then he shakes his head, grabs my arm and hops on behind me, wrapping his arms around my waste. "I think I dreamed about this once," he says mischievously. "It had a happy ending."
I roll my eyes. "I imagine all your dreams have happy endings," I say with a smirk.
I expect a chuckle and some witty response, but instead he sighs and holds me tighter. "Not all, Princess."
I want to ask him what he means, but I have to focus on the task at hand. I will Yami to move.
He unfolds his giant wings, and with one burst of power, we lunge into the air, spiraling through the clouds. The experience of flight fills me with joy, with peace, and I savor the moment while I can.
"You know," says Dean, looking down, "I think everyone should have a dragon. Think you can get me one? Maybe if Yami has babies or something?"
"That's not how it works with Spirits."
"Pity." He sighs. "A life is truly incomplete without a baby dragon."
"I'll have to agree with you there," I say, petting Yami's head and scratching behind his horns.
We fly near lands full of raging water, with giant stones jutting from the earth beneath us.
"Zeb's realm," says Dean. "I don't see any fires below. Hopefully, that's a good sign."
Hopefully.
Dean lays his head on my shoulder, his voice soft. "We really are going to go back for the others, right? I'm kind of fond of my little brother."
"I'm fond of Fen, too," I say with a bit of snarkiness. "And yes, if we must, we will go back."
"If?"
"We may not have to return to the Rift. Because I hope… I hope that when our friends realize we're gone, they'll leave to find us. That Fen will leave to find me."
A breath. "And what if he doesn't?"
I don't think about that. I dare not.
We press on. To a realm of yellow rocks and sparse shoots of grass. A realm of cliffs and canyons. The Realm of Sloth. In the distance stands a grand city. It is surrounded by walls and watched over by a fortress.
I whisper under my breath, casting illusion, making us all translucent and blending us with the night sky. If nothing else, the incessant and repetitive training with Tavian has drilled spells and magic into me so deeply I could do it in my sleep, and to some degree was. This training is a part of me in ways I still don't fully realize. I have become truly one with my magic. Silently, we glide past the walls and land in an empty square. People must be in their homes at this late hour. That or… I don't allow myself to think of the alternative. Ace must still be in control of this realm. He must.