Page 91 of Thornlight

Thorn squeezed her eyes shut. It was so much farther than Zaf had taken them before, and with more people too.

But you have no choice,whispered the dark, hungry voice in Thorn’s head.You’ve been gone for nearly two weeks now. You’re so slow. Move faster, Thorn. Hurry. The queen needs you. Only you can save the Vale, remember?

Noro, standing beside Thorn, blew out a long, cold breath. At the bottom of the hill waited Emmi and the other soldiers from the Vale. They had agreed to stay in the Star Lands for a time. Thorn, Bartos, Ari, Quicksilver, Noro—it was already so many for Zaf to carry. Any more would be too risky.

Thorn was glad to leave the soldiers behind. Mostly.

But every few seconds, her hungry fingers twitched.

The web in her belly stretched its limbs, climbing ever higher, coating her ribs in shiny hard black.

And Thorn wondered: if the web grew, and grew, and kept growing, until it was all she could hear or feel or think, would she too become a monster like the Gulgot? Like the unicorn Noro had killed?

Where would she live? Who would be her friends?

Thorn stared at the star-touched horizon, her stupid eyes filling up. She wiped her face, and her fingers came away wet with cloudy gray tears.

She stared at her hand.

“Well, I suppose this is it,” said Noro, his breath cool against her itchy scalp. “The end of our journey, one way or another.”

Thorn wiped her fingers on her coat and bit down until her jaw ached.

One way or another.

She knew this was the right thing to do—for the Vale, for the other stormwitches who might still live trapped in the skies. The web had told her so, in its dark, clever voice that was so much cleverer than her own.

She shook her head, clenched her fists. “No,” she whispered, “you arenotclever. And you’re not right.”

But the web only laughed, cutting its teeth on her bones, and Thorn’s doubts slithered right out of her head.

She looked up as Bartos finished climbing the hill. A stone-faced Zaf walked beside him, her palms faintly glowing. Her cheeks glittered with soft light.

Zaf’s eyes cut quickly to Thorn, then looked away.

Words formed on Thorn’s tongue:I wish I was strong enough, Zaf, to carry you myself.

But the web’s black whispers were louder, slithering like shadows through Thorn’s mind.One stormwitch,the darkness hissed,is worth the sacrifice. To save the Vale? To show them you’re more than just a meek little sweep?

“Be safe,” murmured a quiet voice behind Thorn, lower on the hill. “Do you hear me?”

Thorn turned, saw Sly Boots hugging Quicksilver good-bye. His face mashed into Quicksilver’s messy red-and-silver braid, and his fingers dug into her shoulders. Beside them, Bear whined and wagged his tail.

Quicksilver pulled away and ruffled Sly Boots’s pale blond bangs. “I always hear you, Boots,” she replied with a smile. “I just don’t always choose to listen.”

Sly Boots laughed quietly. He pressed a glass vial into Quicksilver’s hand. “Here’s the last of Zaf’s tonic. It should help her with the pain.”

“You’ll watch over Bear?”

“I’ll guard him with my life.”

Quicksilver smiled fondly at him. “So dramatic.”

Sly Boots’s eyes shone in the starlight. “And Quicksilver—”

“I’ll be as safe as I can.” Quicksilver touched his cheek. “I promise.”

“And I’ll be safe too, of course,” said Ari, with a wounded sniff. He stood a little apart from them, a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth. “If anyone cares.”

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