The crystal city was just as she remembered, gleaming beneath a sun-drenched sky, a symbol of hope and peace and light. Soon it would be bathed in fire. Fur-clad doves soared across the glittering rooftops, not a care in the world. Before long, they would cower in fear.
Lyana swallowed the tightness in her throat, unable to imagine her childhood home surrounded by fog and flames. But she knew what she’d brought by coming here. She knew what followed her on the wind. Time was the only thing on her side. The quicker she acted, the quicker it would all be over and the quicker the people of both worlds would be safe.
With that in mind, she dove for the nondescript dome on the northern edge of the city, fighting a chill as the cool air rushed over her body. Her clothes had been made for humidity and heat, and the cold was already nipping at her bones. When she landed on packed snow, her toes immediately prickled with the sting.
I miss my boots.
The thought was so silly it almost made her laugh. But she did. She missed her boots, and her furs, and all the other things that reminded her of home. Never in a million years would she have thought she’d be returning like this—sneaking into her own house to bring about its ruin.
Lyana threw open the door.
“What—” The guard stationed inside immediately jumped to his feet. Upon seeing her, he froze, confusion twisting his features. “Princess Lyana. I mean, Your Majesty.”
He sank into a deep bow, his tawny wings spreading wide as a sign of respect.
“Please, don’t,” she said and stepped forward, her heart jerking wildly. She was about to end the only world he’d ever known. She didn’t deserve his admiration.
The guard stood. “What are you doing here? The king and queen will—”
“No,” Lyana interrupted. Invisible to him, her golden magic took hold of the spirit glittering inside his chest. Though he didn’t move, fear flashed in his russet eyes. Swallowing back her disgust, she pushed on, aware that with every wasted moment her head start was disappearing. “I know you don’t understand, and I’m sorry for that, but no one can know I’m here. So I need you to go out that door and fly until you reach the very end of the House of Peace, until there is nothing but open skies beneath you, and only then can you even think about coming back. Go, now.”
He left, heeding her orders.
The command would wear off, probably by the time he reached the sky bridge, but by then the fighting would have already started.
Lyana shut the door behind him and ran down the tunnel, keeping her wings tight to her back in the cramped corridor. She knew every inch of the secret passage. Even in the dark, her steps didn’t falter. The last time she’d been there was on the dawn of the courtship trials, when she and Cassi had snuck out of the palace to spy on the arriving houses. Little had she known then what fate had in store for them. That morning had changed her life. But here, now, racing toward her destiny, Lyana had the sense that everything had happened exactly as it was supposed to, as though guided by the gods’ own hands.
She reached the end of the passage and pressed her palms to the trapdoor, searching for the latch. At this time of the day, the palace should be quiet, not much activity except for servants shuffling between the rooms. Still, she cringed when the click reverberated through the silence and slowly eased the door open a crack. Wielding her magic, she stretched out with her senses, feeling for all the souls currently fluttering across the crystal dome.
Leave the main atrium.
Don’t turn back.
Get inside a room, lock the door, and stay there until the danger has passed.
The order was subtle enough that it would seem innate to most, only appearing strange as it started to wear off and they wondered why they’d locked themselves away. By then, the dragons would be here, and they’d have far more to worry about.
She waited a few moments for the gentle rustling of feathers to fade, then strode into the main atrium. A deep breath filled her lungs at the sight of her home, overwhelming in its midafternoon glory. The sun cast a dazzling glow upon the mosaic floor, so from floor to ceiling the might of Aethios shone through. Lyana drew on that strength as she soared to the entrance of the sacred nest. Normally, the door, towering thirty feet high, would be too heavy for a single person to move, but with her magic she gripped the spirit of the wood and it glided silently open, just far enough for a single dove to slip through. A resounding thud echoed across the stones as it slid closed, loud despite the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves. At the end of the hall, just behind the ornate gilded gate, a priestess waited in flowing ivory robes, almost as though she’d known Lyana would come. The trees beyond were backlit by the golden glow of the god stone hiding within.
“Open the gate,” Lyana commanded, her magic giving the words weight.
The priestess complied, slipping a key from around her neck and inserting it into the lock. The bars swung open, and Lyana stepped inside.
“Now close it,” she ordered, guilt coiling inside her at treating one of Aethios’s chosen with such little respect. But there was no time. The power of the stone thrummed from the center of the nest, urging her closer, calling out to her the way it always had. “Find the other priests and priestesses, and lock yourselves in your sleeping quarters. Don’t return to the sacred grove until I say you can. It’s not safe.”
As the priestess disappeared around the perimeter of the large room, Lyana stepped between the trees. Leaves crunched under her feet as doves cooed overhead, their gentle calls almost like a blessing. Warm light streamed through the branches, a mix of the sun and the stone, sparkling with the hint of magic. The pulsing in the air drew her in, luring her closer as her heartbeat shifted to the same rhythm.
There, in the very center of the sacred nest, waited the brilliant golden egg she’d been looking for. It hung suspended in the air, oozing power. Deep in her spirit vision, she no longer viewed the stone as an emblem of her god. Now it was the center of the rift spell. Threads unspooled from the orb in a spectrum of rainbow weaves, some dim, some blinding, all burning with power. Letting her hands hover above the smooth metallic surface, Lyana felt connected to it all. The rift waiting thirty thousand feet below, drowning beneath the sea. The remaining stones keeping the House of Song and House of Prey afloat. Even the creatures, no longer connected to the spell but still connected to the beings housed within the eggs, just waiting to hatch. She could feel them racing closer. She could feel the aethi’kine creature pulling them in. They were a part of this, just as much as she was. Everything was connected. The isles. The rift. Their souls. It was a vast puzzle she was on the verge of solving.
Yet she hesitated.
What if I’m wrong?
Blood pounded in her ears as her fingers twitched a mere inch above the egg. The aethi’kine power seeping from inside wrapped around her, telling her not to stop, to keep down this path, to give in. Was it Aethios? Was it the creature? Was it her own intuition? There was no way to be sure. It was a leap of faith, a belief in the prophecy and in herself, a trust that despite all her faults, she knew what she was doing. Love had always guided her—a love for adventure, a love for the world, a love for its people—and that love had led her here.
People were dying. Their souls called out to her for aid.
The world was suffering. Even now, the black abyss at the center of the rift claimed more and more of its beautiful spirit.
The unknown was calling, and she had no choice but to answer.
Aethios, be with me.
Lyana swallowed and took a deep breath as she lowered her fingers to the stone. Aethi’kine power rushed through her like a windstorm unleashed. Her body snapped back even as her palms remained stuck to the surface, connected to the power in a way she couldn’t control. Her magic fled from her spirit, draining into the egg. The trees disappeared. The doves vanished. The grove fell away. Her vision ran gold as the glittering power pulled her under. There was no way to fight, no way to stop. All she could do was spread her spirit wings and fly as the torrent carried her forward.