Page 205 of Ash and Feather

But it wasn’t alone. A second dagger accompanied it, this one with a blade that was stunningly white, etched with golden symbols that shone brighter as I approached and knelt beside it.

One light, one dark.

Balanced.

As I picked up the daggers, the scenery whirled around me. Faster and faster. The spinning would have made me panic, once upon a time. But I knew where I needed to go. Who I needed to see. I knew I could find my way.

So I merely reached out with both hands, a dagger in each— balancing me—and I brought myself to a stop.

Everything stilled. I blinked, and as my eyes opened, I found myself once more on the top of the cliff overlooking the battlefield.

Except it was no longer a battlefield. It was changed—and still changing. The landscape was blooming into something wild, something with a beauty almost beyond description.

I sheathed my daggers and walked to the edge for a closer look.

Grass took root where there had been only dry stone. Little rivers had started to appear, forming crystal clear waterfalls that pooled in places where blood had once stained. Both the smoke and the poisonous clouds filling the air were disappearing, and in the clearer air, a scent of jasmine and honey was rising.

Elves and humans alike stood among the shifting land, their expressions a mixture of confusion and awe. But there was no animosity to be seen; at least for the moment, a feeling of strange, otherworldly calmness permeated all.

“Karys?”

I turned to meet Mairu’s shocked gaze. She raced toward me but drew up just short of embracing me, curiosity overtaking her features. “Your energy, it’s…changed.”

I breathed in deep, a smile warming my face. “Yes. It’s a bit of a long story.”

She contemplated asking about that story for only a moment before deciding it was more important to finish embracing me.

“How is Valas?” I asked as she pulled away.

She fixed me with another close look, considering my strange new energy for another moment. “The light that washed over this battlefield…it seemed to cleanse the poison from his body as well, and he’s…” Her voice grew thick with emotion. “He’s okay, I think.”

She led me to the same spot where I’d last seen him, where he was now propped up against a tall, skinny tree.

I crouched before him, giving him my best impersonation of his chaotic grin. “You look absolutely terrible.”

He grinned back. “Haven’t had much time for all the beauty sleep I require, here lately.”

I laughed, tears springing to my eyes, and threw my arms around him.

“Easy,” he groaned, “the gaping hole in my chest is still a bit tender, if you couldn’t tell.”

I eased up but didn’t let go completely. After a moment,hewas the one squeezing tighter, all while laughing softly despite whatever pain I might have been causing him.

I drew away when I heard footsteps, followed by a soft little gasp—my sister.

We stared at one another for several beats, both at a loss for words.

It seemed impossible that we were both standing here in one piece. That we had somehow ended in the same way we began—together. Despite all the mess and uncertainty between us.

The right words to capture these feelings never did occur to either of us. So we merely drew together and took each other’s hands, pressing our foreheads against one another’s and breathing in the same air, sighing in the same relieved way.

The only thing that could have pulled me from my sister just then was a warmth that suddenly radiated from the ring around my finger—a reminder that I still hadn’t seen Dravyn since my return.

I clutched that ring to my chest and went to peer over the edge of the cliff once more, searching for him.

It was easy enough to know where to look. Though the magic coursing through me had changed—shifted into something thatwas more my own before anyone else’s—the impression he’d left on it was still there.

We were still connected, and I would recognize his magic anywhere, I was certain.

---