Page 206 of Ash and Feather

I leapt from the cliff, soaring down and landing close to where I felt the strongest pulse of that magic. My wings were no longer made of fire; they were sleek and tapered, made up of bird-like feathers.

Like a sparrow’s, I thought, only with bolder, more fiery coloring.

Dravyn stood with his brother at the edge of the encampment that was slowly disbanding. The two were deep in conversation—a serious talk, from the looks of it, but not an angry one. If anything, they seemed to be consoling one another.

It healed a part of my heart to see it.

As I walked toward him, all the lingering soldiers turned to watch me pass. Walking through the mist-like energy still floating over the area made me feel bolder, brighter. That silvery energy gathered toward my body without any effort from me, settling on my skin and making it glow softly.

Heads turned my direction. Eyes lowered. Voices called out to me.

I didn’t answer.

I just kept walking.

It was Fallon who saw me first. Shock registered slowly in his eyes. Then his face softened in a way I’d never witnessed from him. He placed a hand on Dravyn’s shoulder. Nodded in my direction. Took several steps back, out of my sight, and I forgot he existed at all.

I forgot everything else as the God of Fire turned toward me.

Our eyes met, and my breath caught exactly as it had the very first time I’d seen him in his divine form.

I recalled the first words I’d said to him that day:This is a dream.

It felt like a dream again. Except better. Because now I knew I was actually awake—and now he was walking toward me, swooping me into his arms, crushing his lips against mine.

It was a brief kiss; he quickly drew back so he could study me closer.

I smiled. “Do you remember when you asked me if I would ever stop surprising you?”

He laughed, shaking his head in disbelief, his fingers trembling slightly as they brushed across my cheek.

“And I told you I didn’t plan to?”

His hand stilled against my face. “I hope you never stop,” he said, lips tilting closer to mine.

I don’t know who moved first. Who started the kiss. Who wrapped their arms more tightly around the other. Who fell more fully, more completely into the other.

I only knew I never wanted it to end.

When that ending inevitably came, I breathed in deep, fully at peace for the first time in as long as I could remember.

Yet I knew there was more to do.

The world around us teemed with unsettled energy. Beautiful, but messy. Still in need of more of my magic. My guidance.

I knew what came next. A bittersweet part that I wasn’t looking forward to, but one that couldn’t be put off for much longer. There was too much work to be done.

We rejoined the others, and once we were all together, I did my best to explain the things I hadn’t been able to before—the meeting with Malaphar, and why I’d made the sacrifice I had, and what that meant for the future of all of us.

“Where will you go now?” Savna asked.

“I am the being now responsible for maintaining balance and peace between the realms,” I said, “so I’ll go wherever I’m needed. In this realm or otherwise.”

Her brow furrowed in thought, a tiny frown starting to form on her lips.

I cupped her chin, lifting it up the way she used to do to me whenever I was sad about something. “I’ll need you to help me put things back together where the elves are concerned. So you should be expecting me soon, once I’ve mastered my new magic a little better.”

She nodded, the corners of her mouth turning slightly upward.

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