Page 63 of Fading Sun

Do it, the wind hisses, like it’s threatening me, angry at me. Now. Before the others get here. Before he can hurt anyone else. Before he can hurt you.

With a shuddering breath, I pull back slightly, looking deep into Blaze’s fiery eyes.

There’s question there. A shadow of doubt.

Did he feel it, too? Or is he playing with me, toying with me, trying to hurt me as much as I hurt him? Would he help me again if I needed it, or would he turn his back and walk away, like he did to those monks?

Yes, the monks brought out their weapons first, and yes, we did what we needed to do to open that portal. But some of them had severe injuries. Not fatal ones, but third-degree burns and shattered bones. The sort of injuries that might never fully heal on their own.

Would it have killed Blaze to have healed the most injured ones, just a little bit?

I don’t know.

But the longer I stand here, searching him for answers I might never receive, the more suspicious he’ll become.

“I’m sorry,” I tell him, and as my lips brush softly against his again, my hand slides down to the hilt of my dagger, the wind guiding it there, helping me do what’s necessary before it’s too late.

Amber

“I was abiding by the rules of the trial,” the Abbot says, as stubborn as ever.

“A trial we completed,” I say. “The portal’s open. It looks like we passed to me.”

“We also don’t know how long it’s going to stay open,” Damien says to me. “Their injuries aren’t fatal. You were right when you said we have to go.”

You were right.

Three of my favorite words.

But, as I look around at the injured monks, the guilt swirling in my chest is impossible to ignore. They’re not evil, like the shadow souls. They were given rules for this trial, and they were doing what they felt was necessary to uphold those rules.

“He’s right. You should go,” the Abbot says, taking me—and many of the other monks—by surprise with his change of heart. “You completed the trial. It was, admittedly, not how I expected the trial to be completed, but you did complete it. I can take care of my men from here.”

Still unsure, I remove my phone from my pack to see if I can call 911 or… whatever the Himalayan version of 911 is.

No service.

Not surprising.

“We’re trained fighters,” the Abbot continues. “Your bindings are strong, but not impossible to escape, given enough time. Plus, it would be a shame for my men and I to be injured for nothing. That portal won’t stay open forever. Leave. Now.”

“Sorry again,” I say, offering a sincere nod to the Abbot and his men.

Then, Damien’s by my side, and he’s reaching for my hand, squeezing it.

My heart leaps at his touch.

“Come on,” he murmurs, pulling me toward the portal. “Let’s go.”

For a moment, the world narrows to just the two of us. The tension, the fear, the uncertainty—all of it fades away. It’s just Damien and me, standing on the edge of the unknown, together.

Maybe there’s hope for our future, after all.

But I can think about it later. Right now, the portal’s open, and we have no idea how much longer we have before it’ll close.

We give each other a final look, move toward the portal, and step through.

The light envelops us in a shimmering embrace. I’m weightless, warm, and suspended in a world of pure magic.

---