I rush to Nox’s side and drag him away from the trunk.
The puncture wounds on his arm are deep and the skin surrounding them is already turning gray. The venom must be setting in, searing inside his skin.
“What was that?” he asks.
“A box of snakes,” I say. “But you trapped them back inside. Don’t worry.”
Nox blinks. “You just said box of snakes and I’m not supposed to worry?”
I tug a loose strand of hair furiously away from my face as I try to get a better look at his wounds.
“I need to heal you,” I say. “Give me your arm.”
I pull his arm forward and close my eyes. When nothing happens, I tighten my grip on his arm, pressing my lips tightly together.
I open my eyes.
Nothing.
The magic doesn’t come when I call it. It’s as though there’s something blocking my connection to my own power.
“I can try again,” I say, desperate as he begins to grow pale.
Nox pulls his arm back. “No.”
“You don’t want me to heal you?”
“Healing snake venom clearly isn’t the same as healing a stab wound,” he says. “And we can’t risk weakening you. You need to be at full strength to complete the trials. I won’t be the reason that wavers.”
He tries to stand, but barely shuffles forward before collapsing back into my arms.
“You’ll die if we don’t do something,” I say.
“That’s been the theme of this month.”
Nox’s head rests against my chest, breath growing deep. His skin feels hot and sticky against me.
We don’t have much time.
“The snakes were guarding some kind of jewel,” I tell him, gesturing back to the trunk. “Like the one we smashed with that ghost.”
I look over to the snake box and bite my lip, remembering how the snake’s eyes met mine with such curiosity.
“I think it’s a gift,” I say. “Eldara said these trials would reward me with power. Maybe the jewel holds some kind of connection to the past queens.”
I make to move out from under Nox, but he grabs my shirtsleeve.
“Wait a second,” he says, keeping me still. “Did you forget what was inside that box?”
I didn’t forget, but I know that not everything is bad just because I expect it to be. I’ve spent too long fearing things. My powers and my family. Even myself.
“What if those snakes attack you too?”
He holds up his injured arm and I wince, seeing how the infection has taken hold, marring his skin. It looks like it takes all his energy just to do that single action.
“They won’t hurt me,” I say with certainty. “You had your sword and I think they sensed you were ready to attack, but when they saw me, I felt a connection. They’re a part of my history, Nox. I told you once about how Asclepina fell into a pit of snakes and didn’t harm them, so they gave her the powers of a goddess. This must be what the final trial is.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Nox asks. His voice is breathy as the venom takes hold. “I’m not strong enough to protect you. I can barely move.”
“It’s not up to you to save me,” I tell him. I stroke the hair from his face, settling him down onto the cavern floor. “I’m the one who saves you, remember?”
Nox manages a weak smile, his hand slipping from my sleeve.
He may not have faith in a box of snakes, but I know now that he has faith in me, and that means more than I can say.
“Be careful,” he warns.
His voice is breathy as the venom takes hold.
The last thing I want to do is move from his side, but for whatever reason, I can’t heal the snake’s venom. If whatever is in this box might give me the power to do so, then I have to try.
It’s Nox’s only chance.
I take in a steadying breath and then walk toward the trunk. I clear my mind of everything but Asclepina’s tale, then I flip the lid open.
Instantly, the snakes slip out and then the trunk shakes, birthing more and more of them from its mouth. They come as if from nowhere.
The ground begins to rumble and then without warning, it folds in on itself. I shuffle quickly backward as it creates a pit that drags the serpents and the trunk itself down.
I peer over to see dozens of them swarming in the new hole.
The jewel is in the center.
It’s just like Asclepina and the pit she fell into.
I turn back to Nox, who watches me with heavy eyes. His skin is damp with sweat and I can see the way he sways as he tries to hold his head up.
He doesn’t have long and I won’t lose him waiting around in fear of what could be.
I can’t lose him.
“I’ll be right back,” I say.
I descend into the pit.
My fingernails dig into the dirt as I slide downward. The snakes rise when they see me, tilting their heads to get a good look. Their hisses are sharp and threatening, but they don’t attack.
I spy the jewel I’m looking for and curse my luck when I see that the largest of the snakes is coiled around it in a vise.
I take a step toward it and it bares its teeth protectively. It is striped black and yellow, like the lines of night and day. The two sides of the world. Of the good magic my family once had and the dark magic we use now.
The snake sets its eyes on me, watching as I cautiously approach.
“I know you,” I tell it, trying to keep my voice steady.
I don’t blink, letting our twin eyes stay settled on each other.
I kneel down beside it, my heart pounding in fear at being so close to such a deadly creature.
I press my lips together.
The king made my family into deadly things too. I grew up thinking evil was simple and clear-cut, with no in-between, and that once the blood oath took hold of me, I would become a monster unable to feel or do good.
A part of me feared I’d never be capable of redemption.
But I’m not sworn to anyone and I should know myself better.
I have to learn to trust in my power and to not attack out of fear and callousness, like the king. Or to be scared of things I don’t know or understand, like the people who flinched at my eyes.
The snake keeps watch on me, waiting.
“I’m going to change what we did,” I promise the creature. “I’m going to make it right.”
I reach over and pluck the jewel from beside the snake.
Its tongue forks out and when it hisses, I panic a little before I realize it is more a call than an attack. The remaining snakes slither toward their master, crawling in and out of my legs, pushing across the dirt. When they reach the snake that guarded the jewel, they merge into it.
Dozens of creatures, a rainbow of colors and sizes, morphing into something new.
The shape quickly begins to take hold, and in moments, born from the legion of snakes, a kneeling woman rises.
Her body is a mix of skin and brightly colored scales that glitter in the darkness of the cave. Her green hair tumbles down to her ankles, and her eyes, so wide and bright, are a mirror of my own, reflecting my awe.
“Selestra,” she says, voice as light as wind.
The voice of a goddess.
Asclepina.
My family’s patron goddess stands before me.
Asclepina, the first of the Somniatis witches. The Goddess of Snakes and Immortality. The Healer and the Protector.
She is more beautiful than I could have imagined.
I bow my head, unsure of what else to do.
A delicate hand lifts my chin back to rising.
“Queens need not bow or cower,” she says. “Especially to the past.”
Her voice is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before. It sounds like honey tastes and feels like silk against my skin, soft and warm as the setting sun.
“It’s really you,” I say, awestruck.
Asclepina nods, watching me with eyes like forest moss. The scales of her skin are iridescent.
“You have learned faith in yourself and your powers through these trials,” she says. “You have proven your wisdom in embracing harmony. In knowing that sometimes enemies can be made allies, if only we let them. A true ruler understands that peace is the ultimate goal, far above power.”
“My mother told me stories about you,” I say.
“And people will one day tell stories of you.”
My heart is like a butterfly, fluttering inside my chest.
There are so many things I want to ask her. Endless questions, so that I don’t even know where to begin. About the blood oath and if my mother can ever be freed from the king’s grasp. About the afterlife and if all the witches of Thavma are in a place of peace.
About Nox.
I hold out my palm to reveal the king’s serpent.
Asclepina laughs and it’s a beautiful sound, enveloping me whole.
“Two children, with the power to change worlds,” she says. “I put it there so you would realize your shared destiny and we would have the opportunity to undo a grave mistake.”
Isolda’s mistake, I think. When she helped the king conquer Thavma and tied us to him.
Asclepina places a warm hand on my cheek. Touching her feels like touching the first breath of morning.
“I only hope destiny is not cut short.”
I frown. “What do you mean by that?”
She doesn’t answer, but she does look upward to the edge of the pit.
I follow her gaze.
Nox.
Panicked, I claw my nails into the dirt and climb back up and out of the snake pit. Nox is unmoving on the cave floor.
I rush to his side. His skin is gray-tinged, barely a whimper of breath escaping his pale lips. I touch a hand to his cheek.
“Nox,” I say. “Wake up.”
His eyes briefly flutter open. “Selestra?” he asks, squinting in the darkness of the cave. “I can’t…”
He trails off and reaches out a hand for mine. I swallow as I press it tightly against me.
Nox’s breathing begins to falter.
I feel him growing cold as his hand shakes in mine.
He blinks, eyes searching for me, rolling over and across the cave.
“There’s nothing,” he says. “Selestra, I can’t see you.”
I blanch. The venom is taking hold, erasing his sight and decaying his body. My heart collapses. “I’m here,” I assure him, squeezing his hand tighter. “I’m here.”
I grit my teeth as Nox stares over my shoulder and into the nothingness. I won’t look on as he fades away, like I did with his father. I won’t just sit here and have Nox die in my arms. I turn to Asclepina, who has risen from the pit and to my side.
“Heal him,” I beg. “Please. He doesn’t have long.”
Asclepina shakes her head. “That is not for me to do,” she says softly. Regretfully.
“I can’t lose him!” I yell. “You don’t understand. I need him. I—”
I love him, I realize.
“I can’t watch him die again,” I tell her, pleading.
“Then don’t,” she answers. “Magic is yours to command, dear one.”
I steel my breath and turn back to Nox, angry that she refuses to use her powers to intervene in this.
It’s up to me.
I’m not losing the first person to have faith in me.
I’m not losing the boy who showed me an entire world and the kind of person I could be in it.
I close my eyes, letting the tears slip down my face and onto Nox’s ashen skin. His hand goes slack in mine.
Please, I plead. Help me save him. I call on every ounce of power I have in me and on all that surrounds me.
The wind that breezes through the holes in the cavern ceiling.
The river that puddles around us and the fish that slip through its waters.
The trees that breathe life and air into the world.
The goddess by my side.
I draw from all of them, reaching out and siphoning power from every inch of the world I can.
I pull it all into me and then let it wash over Nox like an ocean wave.
All that I am becomes all that he is. Bring him back to me.
Nox’s hand tightens in mine.
I open my eyes and find he is staring up at me.
“Selestra?” he whispers, confused as he takes in my tear-streaked face.
I don’t wait for more. I kiss him.
I taste the life and warmth on his lips. Nox sits up, pressing himself closer to me, not letting us break apart for a moment.
His hands knot in my hair and I’m breathless with the feel of him. The hunger for him, gnawing in my stomach and my heart.
Nox presses his forehead against mine. “You’re a goddess,” he whispers.
“Actually.” I pull back from him and gesture to Asclepina. “She is.”
Nox blinks, taken aback as if he hadn’t realized we weren’t alone in this cave any longer.
Nox’s eyes widen and he scurries quickly to his feet. “Asclepina?”
I pull myself up to stand beside him. “One and the same.”
Asclepina looks between us, a soft smile on the edge of her rose-petal lips. “It is time,” she says. “Selestra is to be imbued with the magic of queens. All we need now is the final sacrifice.”
I tense, my hand shooting to Nox’s, in case she tries to approach us. “What are you talking about?” She cannot possibly think I would ever let her lay a hand on him.
“Do not worry, niece.”
Eldara’s voice fills the cave.
“It is my gift to give, not his.”
I stare as my distant aunt glides toward us. Her feet barely leave a print and her dusty pink dress doesn’t dampen as it kisses the watery ground. She has but one guard with her: Lucian.
“What are you doing here?” I ask my lost aunt.
“I’m here to do what must be done.”
Eldara turns to Asclepina and bows deeply.
“My goddess,” she says in reverence. “It has been an age since I saw you at my own trial.”
“And now you must do what your past queen did for you.”
Eldara dips her head in understanding, but I remain uncertain.
“What is she talking about?”
Eldara smiles when she looks at me. “I am so proud of you,” she says. “You overcame the trials inside yourself, learning to be selfless and to trust each other and all you have inside you.”
I don’t like the way she looks at me, in a goodbye.
“What is the sacrifice?” I ask again.
“Me,” Eldara says. “My power and all I once was. The goddess will share her magic with you as she once did with me, and in doing so remove the last sparks of it from my being.”
“Will you die?” I ask.
“A part of me,” she says. “And only so that you can live.”
I shake my head, refusing to believe that.
“I won’t ask you to do that.”
“You don’t need to ask me,” Eldara says. “I do this because it belongs to you. I haven’t deserved it since I abandoned my people in Thavma. I failed them, but I know you can succeed where I didn’t. The Polemistés warriors don’t need me, Selestra. They need you.”
Nerves rise up in my stomach, but I know she’s right.
“You must embrace your destiny,” Eldara says, “rather than worry for mine. The past cannot decide the future. That is for you.”
I started out so resigned to my future, only to realize I had the power to change it. Now I owe it to the Six Isles to help change their futures too.
To undo the wrongs my family has done.
To make the Six Isles a force of good once more.
Eldara isn’t the weapon I was searching for, Nox told me. It was you, Selestra.
I bite my lip and nod.
Eldara takes my hand and joins it together with Asclepina’s.
“And so it is,” our goddess says.
Light radiates from her, warm and yellow. It flows from her hands and into mine. From Eldara’s heart and across my skin until it touches my own chest.
I am alight.
I can’t describe it, but it’s as though something has awakened inside of me.
I can feel everything: the trees and the air and the earth. I can feel the sun, even though it has not yet appeared in the sky. I can feel the waters of the Endless Sea calling to me.
My breath sparks as I let the light of a goddess fill me, enchanting my blood and gifting me with the power to take on a king of souls and shadow.
“My power is yours, dear one,” Asclepina finally says. “You are all that I am and I am all that lives in you.”
I can feel her essence inside me, waiting for me to call on it.
I want to thank her, but I don’t know how and I don’t have time.
She smiles at me and then she fades. In a blink. There and gone.
The cave seems dimmer somehow.
“You’re ready,” Eldara says.
The wrinkles on her face look newly deeper and her green hair has now mottled to white. She looks like she’s aging in front of my eyes.
Suddenly I realize how much shorter she is than me, like a tiny pocket of a woman.
She collapses to the floor.
“No!” I scream, rushing to her side.
Eldara smiles up at me, the crisp waves of her hair sweeping across the cavern floor. She reaches a hand to touch my cheek.
I have taken every spark of magic from her and I can tell she isn’t long for the world. Without our family’s power to rejuvenate her, she will fade away.
“This is a beginning, niece, not an end,” she says. Her voice is as soft and certain as ever. “I am glad for it.”
“I don’t want to lose you,” I say.
Eldara is the one member of my family who believed I could be something more, encouraging me to be great where my mother always wanted me to keep my head down.
“Nothing is ever lost that can’t be found again,” she says. “I walk with goddesses now.”
“Thank you,” I say to her. “For believing in me.”
Eldara threads her hand through mine like a needle and I feel the spark, the prick, of her magic within me.
“If Seryth wants a soul-eater,” she says, “then when the time comes, you be sure to give him one.”
Her hand goes slack in mine and the yellow of her eyes turns milky.
Then all at once, the butterflies that led us through the cavern surround her, landing on her still body. Their wings hum, singing her a lullaby goodbye. Then from those wings, they begin to glow and glitter. Their bodies are alight in magic, seeping from them and to Eldara.
When they depart, fluttering upward toward the very tip of the cavern, Eldara’s body is gone.
I walk with goddesses now, she said, rekindling the stories my mother told me of the afterlife of our people. It doesn’t fill me with mourning, but with hope.
Eldara is reunited with Asclepina and with the witches of Thavma who perished by the king’s hand. She is at peace now and I will honor her by bringing that same peace to the Six Isles.
“Selestra?” Nox asks. He slips his hand through mine and the current returns, shooting up from my fingertips and through my entire body. “Are you okay?”
I nod.
His eyes flicker between me and Lucian, my aunt’s most trusted guard. “What do we do now?”
“Now we get ready,” I say. “We fight.”
I look at him and his eyes glisten with a thousand futures. A thousand hopes and opportunities and life.
So much life, in place of the death I’ve always feared.