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PROLOGUE

Two sisters stood together in an ethereal plane, in a world that existed beyond the comprehension of mortal minds.

One was older, but only just. Long ago, her younger sister was taken from her, hidden away in the darkest of the realms by one who believed possession and control could remedy a broken heart.

The elder didn’t know how much time had passed since she’d last seen her sister. That concept—time—did not exist to her. All she knew was her balance, her scale, the other side of her same coin, had been gone.

But now she was back.

The sisters embraced once more, both feeling complete to be reunited again. As if all was set right.

If only that were true.

The younger sister released the elder, stepping out from her embrace.

He will come for me. You know he will.She spoke with the whispers of the night wind through the stars.

Her older sister frowned.I would like to see him try to take you from me again.Her words burned through the infinite expanse like a spark of warmth in a mortal’s chest.

The younger smiled sadly.You are strong, lifted up by many who hold your presence in their hearts and minds. It seems that with my time … away … I have not been so lucky.

You are not weak—

I am, my sister. At least, I am right now.Wildfire flashed in the younger sister’s eyes.Yes. Only for now.

Then we have time. For you to grow your strength.The elder’s voice was strong and sure.

You know we do not. Once he discovers I am gone—which he likely already has—he will come for me. He will not waste time. I spent five thousand years with him, sister. He will come, and he will draw me away from you by taking this fight somewhere you can not go.

The elder’s strong expression faltered, just slightly.I made the decision tosavethat world. Have I doomed it?

The younger grabbed her sister’s hand.No. I will not let him take that world from you—fromus. That world is ours, and its people are our children.

The elder regarded her sister.You have a proposal. Tell me.

The younger pulled all her immortal grace to her before meeting the elder’s gaze.If we join, then together, our power in that world might be enough to stop him.

The elder blinked, and then scoffed.Impossible. If we join, in these forms, then we would doom not just that world but all the realms.

I don’t mean in these forms, nor in any form on this plane, my sister.

The elder snapped her gaze back to her sister. Comprehension spread across her face. She thought for a moment; the possibilities playing through her mind on an endless, eternal loop.

This … this could work.

We would have one chance. I have no more grace to give, and you can only give yours once. And even then … we would not survive it. Not as we are now.

Iknow. It is the only way.The younger’s voice was stoic and assured. She’d thought about this for five millennia while trapped in that endless darkness devoid of starlight. She knew this was their only hope.

The elder looked away from her, gazing out across the violet expanse of their endless realm. She had long ago doomed herself to spend the remainder of eternity there, unable to visit the beautiful world with stars and seas and life she’d helped to create. She had no desire for her sister to do the same.

But there was one thing she loved more than her sister. One thing she loved more than the single, sparkling north star that grounded her in ways her sister could not. She would gladly give away her entire, immortal being to save that world.

She looked back to her younger sister.

Who?

Just as the word spilled into the void between them, the two sisters felt a soul flash into existence. A soul that ached for freedom, that longed to be filled with the power and might of not just the world she’d been born into, but all the realms stretching across the eternal time and space separating her from those two sisters, so far away but also so very close.

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