I’ve had a few different kinds of sleep over my years at the Academy.
There’s the usual kind; the kind where you don’t wake up a single time throughout the night and in the morning feel legitimately rested.
There’s the frantic, terror-filled kind full of nightmares.
The stop-and-start kind that leaves you feeling more exhausted than you did when your head hit the pillow.
And the kind I had once we returned to the Academy: Long and dreamless. And when I awoke, either a few hours or a few weeks later, I woke with the undeniable sense that something had changed, for me and for others. I felt I was waking up in a world that was different than it had been when I’d closed my eyes.
I swung my legs over the side of my bed, brushing aside some of the leftover plaster that’d fallen from my ceiling. I was lucky my room had remained relatively intact, since the students whose rooms hadn’t had been forced to move down to the ‘other’ Academy. I was pretty sure if that’d been me, I would have been dead via hypothermia by now.
But both Mia’s and my sides of the room looked only a little worse for wear. Hers remained neat and orderly while mine looked only a tad messier than I usually kept it, even with the enormous chunks of ceiling plaster covering my dresser, and the residual stink of dark magic. Score one for being a slob.
I remained sitting on the bed, taking deep breaths until I was sure I wouldn’t collapse right back down as soon as I stood. I got dressed, then hovered my hand over Valkyrie, debating. Kasia might be gone, but that didn’t mean her acolytes knew when to give up a fight. I imagined there were still many, many more dangerous things out there waiting to finish what she started. Or more-than-willing to take revenge on those who’d destroyed her.
I strapped Valkyrie to my side.
Our living room was empty. I grabbed a quick snack from what food was left in the fridge to quiet my yowling stomach, took a deep breath to prepare myself, then stepped back out into the Academy.
The first thing that hit me was how quiet it was. There were still plenty of students around, but without the laughter, joking, and chatter. A few enormous holes had been carved out of the ceilings and walls, but I didn’t hear the usual traffic and bustle from the city. Either they hadn’t dispelled Kasia’s fog, or the Coalition had erected their own protective barriers around the place.
I stood there, unsure where to go. It looked like hardly any time at all had passed since I’d chased Kasia into the portal. No doubt Asher and the others hadn’t expected me up this soon, not with as bad a shape I’d been in after the Twilight Realm. I needed to find them. And if I had to guess, I’d say they were meeting where the worst of the fighting had taken place.
I took off toward Remembrance Hall, taking care to only step on the parts of the floor that looked like they weren’t about to collapse beneath my feet. Students passed in and out of the doors to their rooms, carting out the worst of the destruction. A few of the older ones were directing clean-up duty along with the Masters who’d re-emerged from the ‘other’ Academy. I saw more than one shocked face among them all; usually it was the younger ones, standing in the center of the aftermath, wearing blank looks like they hadn’t yet come to terms with what had happened. I guessed, in all their imaginings of what the Academy of Magic would be like once they finally got there, a war zone wasn’t part of it.
That made two of us.
It wasn’t until I was halfway down the hall before I noticed the whispers. I glanced back before I turned the corner in time to see one of the younger students pointing at me, muttering something to her friend. Another group was staring, too. I tried to shrug them off and kept walking, but now that it’d started, I couldn’t stop hearing them.
“Is that…”
“I heard she…”
“The hall is in ruins. I heard the person who attacked us…”
“Do you think it’s true…”
I ground my teeth until the sound drowned out the worst of the whispers. I didn’t think they were saying anything mean. The complete opposite, actually. It was the same kind of whispering we’d heard upon our return from finding the Cursed One; a sort of hushed reverence based on a story that only grew more outlandish when told by those who knew the least about what had actually happened. If Lucien didn’t clear up any misconceptions about this final battle with Kasia, and fast, I’d probably find myself the center of a tale involving me galloping in on a laser-guided unicorn, wielding Excalibur as I charged down the forces of evil. Stranger things had happened.
The worst part wasn’t even how out of hand the rumors could get. What was bad was the misconception of how heroic I’d been. None of the other students had been in the thick of the fight. They might think those of us who were involved had fought valiantly to preserve our beloved Academy against an evil tyrant. They weren’t technically wrong. And yet, they hadn’t held the hand of said tyrant while she died. They hadn’t understood that she’d been just as scared and flawed as the rest of us. They hadn’t felt how terrified I and everyone I knew and loved had been as we’d fought to stay alive.
In a way, that was a blessing.
At last I broke free of the cloud of murmurs and emerged in Remembrance Hall. This looked like the place a battle had actually happened. The scorched remnants of dark magic scored the floor and walls. The remains of the gnarled oak’s stump sat forlornly in the center, bits of bark feathering up toward the ceiling as though trying to regrow again. My heart hurt at seeing that. And at seeing the grass around it charred to a withering brown.
But all that didn’t matter as soon as I spotted my friends and family.
Asher, Mia, and Colson stood with a few of the Fae guard, talking in low voices. My parents and Lucien were with General Zell. He stood at the center of two lines of Fae soldiers, flanking either side of two slabs of white marble magically hovering above the floor. I couldn’t get a good look, but I thought I could see a prone form on one of the slabs, mostly covered by a silk sheet.
My mom saw me first. She let out a totally un-mom like squeak of surprise and rushed over, my dad right behind. I barely had time to brace myself physically or emotionally before they both slammed into me like battering rams, squeezing me so tight I thought I’d nearly pass out again
“I’m…glad…to see you too…” I gasped.
“Skylar.” My mom kissed my forehead at least half a dozen times before handing me off to my dad who nearly lifted me off my feet as he hugged me.
“General Zell told us he’d returned you to us, but we thought it best you rest,” my dad said.
My tears were wetting my dad’s robe, but I let them continue hugging me for a little bit longer. “Yeah, he did. I’m sorry I scared you guys like that during the fight.”
“It isn’t the first time I’ve been caught off guard with a plan I had no knowledge of,” my dad said, casting my mom a significant look.
“Though if one of you had told us what you were going to do…” my mom said.
“Between fighting and trying not to die, there wasn’t much time,” I said.
“That’s the truth, isn’t it?” She planted another kiss on my forehead. “When I watched you facing off against her, I’ll admit I felt…”
“Torn,” my dad said.
“Yes, torn. So incredibly scared. And so incredibly proud at how strong you’ve become. Which doesn’t mean,” she added heavily, “that you’ll be doing it again anytime soon.”
I grimaced, still well aware of the lingering aches and pains I’d probably have for the coming weeks. “Agreed.”
“And Kasia?” my dad said. “Asher told us he didn’t see her when he found you in the Twilight Realm.”
I had a sudden image of Kasia’s peaceful body, still resting where I’d left it. “She’s gone. For good, this time. When we’re done here I’d like to go back and put her to rest.”
My dad frowned. “I’m sure we can have someone else do that—”
“Of course,” my mom said. There was understanding in her eyes. I could tell she knew that this wasn’t something I needed to do for Kasia, as much as it was something I needed to do for myself. To finally bury the thing that’d haunted me practically my entire life.
“Well…Okay. We should be out of here soon,” my dad said.
We started moving back toward the others, but I stopped my mom. “I just wanted you to know, anything you did or thought you did to Kasia, it wasn’t your fault.”
My mom looked confused. “What are you…” Then understanding dawned on her face. She looked as though she might start crying again. “You’ll have to explain it to me later. We’ll have lots of time to talk. Just as soon as the Fae leave.”
“Wait, they’re leaving?” I said. “Couldn’t they at least, I don’t know, help clean up or something.”
“Of course not. That would be too helpful,” my dad grumbled.
“Isak,” my mom chastised. “They did help defend the Academy. The least we can do is wait until they’re gone before talking about their lack of social graces.”
“At last the sleeping princess awakes!” Lucien said as we rejoined the others. “And how did you find your accommodations?”
“Messy,” I said.
“I think that says more about you than it does about the Academy,” Asher said, giving me a cheeky grin. He stepped aside to allow Mia to hug me tight.
“You were absolutely amazing against Kasia. A couple times I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. You were amazing! I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“I’m glad you’re okay, too,” I said.
General Zell was watching me. He gave a curt nod.
“General Zell was just telling us about the united Fae’s plans to return here and talk of an alliance with the Coalition!” Lucien said in a tone that made clear General Zell had better return to speak of an alliance. “Isn’t that wonderful?”
“That’s great,” I said, actually meaning it.
“Once we’ve tended to our own dead and wounded,” General Zell said gruffly. “This Kasia woman and her acolytes were a far more fearsome opponent than we had anticipated. We have our own rites to take care of.”
It was then that I got a good look at what—or rather who—lay on the marble slabs.
Prince Zephyr looked peaceful in death, his body from the neck down draped with a smooth silk blanket the color of a calm sea. And beside him—
I choked back a surprised sob as my eyes fell on Miranda’s body. I was grateful there’d been no blood when Kasia had stabbed her, for now she looked as at peace as the prince, her angelic face serene. Her blond hair had been arranged elegantly around her head, almost like a halo.
Colson stood over her. It looked as though he’d returned back to his usual form following his fight with Greubal. The only indication he’d ever changed at all was the flicker of darkness I saw move behind his eyes, but his eyes were also filled with sorrow as he gently stroked the top of Miranda’s head.
Mia gave my arm a final squeeze and went to join him, wrapping her fingers in his. He squeezed her hand tight, knuckles whitening, not daring to let go.
“I do not forgive you, or anyone here, for what happened to Prince Zephyr,” General Zell said, breaking into my thoughts. “Humans are still cruel, conniving creatures, and if it weren’t for your kind he might still be alive. Yet there are good among you as well. I, with the blessing of all the Fae, are willing to try to work with that.”
“I understand,” I said.
General Zell turned to Colson. A look of understanding crossed his face. “Do not despair, blood of giants. The Cursed One—”
“Miranda,” Colson said sharply. The darkness behind his eyes moved.
“Miranda,” General Zell said, inclining his head. “Though Miranda had an ability of terrible consequence, she is still blood of our blood. We have other places where the spirits of the innocent can live forever, free from pain and misery. She will exist eternally in bliss.”
Mia looked sadly up at Colson as he nodded and took a step back. “Good.”
General Zell raised his hand and all the Fae snapped to attention. Next, he drew his hand down, and a Farcast portal zipped open on the other side of the slabs of marble. I got a brief glimpse of yet another realm, this one so different, so alien, just the brief glance I got was enough to give me the start of a stabbing headache. The line of Fae began marching inside. The center of the line grabbed hold of each end of the marble slabs and steered them through before the end followed.
General Zell was last to enter. He turned, placing a hand against his heart as he gave a shallow bow. “Until we meet again.”
Then he backed into the portal. A second later it closed, and we were left in silence.
“I guess that’s it, then,” Asher said.
“For now,” Lucien said. His eyes were sparkling. “That’s it, for now.”