Page 42 of Queen of Stars and Shadows

I nod, my throat feeling tight, and Zyren springs skyward, flying us out onto the dunes. He flies for several miles, heading in the direction I’d pointed, before landing amidst the great rolling waves of sand.

“I can’t use them for very long,” he says apologetically.

“I know,” I say. I try, unsuccessfully, to hide the sadness from my tone. What if Zyren never regains his memories? What if all these simple things we’ve shared before are lost forever? I shove my feelings down. The important thing is that Zyren lives. Even if he never remembers, I need him to stay by my side. We can create new memories.

“So now we walk,” he says, offering me an encouraging smile as if he can sense my melancholy.

“So now we walk,” I echo.

And we begin.

We walk for what must be the better part of a day. I check in on our direction periodically, falling within to connect with my nightmare, who is my inner compass leading me to the rift. She seems more willing to cooperate now, like we’re finding a balance of control. Zyren flies us every few hours when his magic recovers, but as the day goes on, and we grow thirsty and baked by the heat yet again, that option is lost to us.

We’re just cresting the top of a particularly massive dune when I feel it.

Pain lances through my stomach and I fall to my hands and knees in the sand. In my head, there’s a great rush of darkness, magic so black it’s like nothing I’ve felt before. It is darker even than nightmare magic, something ancient and evil and bloodthirsty. A craving for death and chaos and the end of all things. A song of suffering and hopelessness.

Zyren drops to his knees next to me, his tone laced with panic. “Sarielle! What’s wrong?”

I can’t speak for several long moments. The sensation finally passes, but the residue of that ancient magic lingers. I can feel it worming in my gut, I can taste it on my tongue.

“She’s free,” I say, my voice hollow and empty.

“The demon?”

I nod miserably. “I’ve failed, Zyren. I’ve damned Valaron to the most terrible fate imaginable.”

Zyren helps me into a sitting position and pulls me against him, pressing his cheek into my hair. “Listen to me, Sarielle. We’re going to get out of here. And we’re going to stop her. I promise you.”

“You can’t promise that,” I whisper. “Besides, you’re not the one who did this. I did.”

He lifts my chin, his eyes burning into mine. “I promise I will help you, or give my last breath trying. I’m your guardian, remember? It’s my job to protect you. I may not remember these last few years, but I have been a guardian for a very long time, and I haveneverfailed.”

I nod.

“Do you believe me?”

I believe that it may very well take his life and mine to make this right, but I know what he needs me to say. And he’s not wrong. He’s never failed me.I’mthe one who has failed. “I believe you, Zyren.”

He nods, a renewed determination in his eyes. “I think I can fly again. A short while at least,” he says.

Neither of us have rested for what must be the turning of a sun in a normal realm, but I don’t argue with him. He summons his shadow wings, and I check our direction again, just to be sure.

“We’re getting close,” I say. It’s a barely perceptible shift in the magic. But it feels stronger, and that’s something. We both need some small measure of hope that we’ll get out of this hellscape.

Zyren takes us skyward, skimming over the tops of the dunes. As we fly, the tug in my gut grows even more. Zyren flies until I can feel his magic stuttering, his reserves depleted.

“You’ve gone far enough,” I call over the wind in my ears. “We’re almost there.”

We land in the sand and continue on foot. We crest one dune, then another. At the top of the second one, I see a shimmer in the sky far in the distance. Maybe a couple miles. The tug in my gut confirms what my eyes are telling me.

I point. “That’s the rift! We’re almost there!”

Zyren smiles, an exhausted smile, but a smile nonetheless. We’re both covered in sweat and dirt and my throat is on fire, but we’re nearly out of this hell hole the demon had shoved me into. “Let’s get out of this goddess forsaken place.”

We move as quickly as we can, though nearly dead on our feet, toward the glittering slash in the sky. It looks like perhaps a glimpse of night sky, deepest purple with a glint of starlight. We lose sight of it in the valleys between the dunes, and some irrational part of me is terrified it will be gone before we crest the next ridge. Each time I catch sight of it again, I breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Finally, we reach the apex of the last dune between us and the rift. There, about halfway up the side of the next dune, it hovers in midair. It looks about ten feet long and three feet wide. We should be able to climb through. Zyren turns to me and pulls me into a quick kiss. He tastes of salt and of home. Home, which is just on the other side of this ridge.

---