Descending along Treble’s wing, I take cautious steps to the edge of the platform. The base of the tower is at least two hundred feet below us and the place where Mathilda and Imatra sat is a small crevice right at the cliff’s edge.
Reaching my side, Nathaniel inhales deeply, a curious crease forming in his forehead. “It smells strange here.”
The air contains an odd mix of salt and magic. I tilt my head to gauge the position of the sun, the sky a perfect blue above us. The clear horizon here is more beautiful than the sparkling skyscape above Bright.
“My father spoke to the Vanem Dragon on this ledge,” Nathaniel says. “It was a few days before he died. He wanted to ask the dragon if there could ever be peace.”
When the Vanem Dragon flew down to the coliseum to seal the Law of Champions, Nathaniel asked the dragon for answers about what really happened on the night his father was killed. The dragon said he didn’t know—on the night of the final battle, his sight became dark. As soon as the sun set, he and the other dragons and thunderbirds couldn’t see or move because dark magic took hold of them. They were only released when an explosion of light split the horizon. The dragon arrived at the border to find Queen Imatra bloodied and weeping, surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of humans and a squadron of fae.
She was holding me in her arms.
“The Vanem Dragon told my father that only great courage would bring an end to war.” Nathaniel’s dark gaze pins me to the spot, the way his focus on me always makes me feel like I am the center of his life. Always the point of origin of his decisions.
“We are the ones whose courage will determine whether or not the war ends,” he says.
I pull air into my chest, seeking the beat of my heart that tells me I’m alive before I press my hand to his chest. I want to tell him that it won’t be us. It will be him. Only if he has the courage to fight and kill me.
Instead, I say, “Yes.”
My mouth is dry, my heartbeat too rapid as I step back and incline my head toward the arched opening into the tower. “We need to find whatever answers this tower can give us.”
Venturing through the opening, we discover a large alcove that is wide enough for Treble to shelter inside of, so I urge him to come inside instead of flying back into the sky.
Thunderbirds can communicate silently with each other and I’m worried that a patrolling bird might sense Treble’s presence. They won’t be able to attack him—or us—here, but I’d prefer to avoid detection.
“It’s better if you remain here,” I say to Treble, stroking his neck. “The Spire is neutral territory, so nothing is allowed to hurt you, but make sure you stay out of sight at all times. Only take to the air if the situation changes and you feel it’s safer. We’ll be back before the moon rises.”
Nathaniel waits for me at the rear of the alcove. A long, wide corridor provides a direct line of sight to the platform on the other side of the tower. Rooms appear to lead off each side of the corridor and a set of steps is visible in the middle of it, which must go down into the tower itself.
I gasp as I pass the first room. Its walls are inlaid with gold and silver filigree while large golden spyglasses rest on stands in front of wide windows. “What are those spyglasses for?”
Nathaniel walks behind me so we don’t lose sight of each other as we venture to the windows. I brace for the wind to hit us as soon as we step inside, but it’s eerily still. Not a breath of air.
After adjusting one of the spyglasses on its hinged stand, I take a look through it.
My breath stills as I make out the mountains behind which Eteri City hides, every detail of the peaks visible to me. Turning the glass in the other direction, I can see the Misty Gallows at the edge of Fell and the misshapen trees before the mist obscures my view.
Nathaniel peers through the second spyglass, not tilting it to the earth, but up at the sky.
“You could see the stars with these,” he murmurs.
I shiver. The spyglass’s hinges are well-oiled, the glass itself in perfect condition despite its exposed position, open to the wind and rain. But the lack of wind in the room indicates that the old magic protects everything from the weather.
More slowly this time, I turn the spyglass to the border, sighting along the glitter field.
As I watch, several bulbs rise up from the field, these ones floating toward Bright. Another shiver runs through me. The bare, bulb-less stems that remain behind are sharp, pointed at the top. Weapons themselves. There are many of them, indicating that hundreds of bulbs have separated from their stems.
Is it really possible that all of those memories relate to me?
I jolt as a sudden flare of light in the distance catches my attention. Swinging the spyglass back to the crystal peaks that protect the fae city, I seek the source of the flash.
Beside me, Nathaniel has also bent to his spyglass, following the same trajectory as me. “What do you see?” he asks.
A glitter bulb floats into view, drifting toward the crystal peaks in the far distance. The spyglass allows me to see every glimmer across its surface. Another bulb glides beside it. And another…
“I count five bulbs,” I whisper.
“I see two more, farther east,” Nathaniel says.
The bulbs rise up, higher than the crystal peaks, as if they’re going to float over the mountains.
A squadron of thunderbirds suddenly dives from the cloud cover above them. I recognize Cadence among the birds. She is my brother, Evander’s, thunderbird. She’s as enormous as Treble but with deep wine-colored wings.
Evander stands up on her back, his arms outstretched. Cadence is flying higher than the bulbs, but she dips for a moment, drawing dangerously close to the cluster of bulbs as a blast of wind rushes from Evander’s hands. The gust rushes around the bulbs, pushing them even closer together.
At the same time, a second thunderbird swoops downward.
I jolt with surprise when I see its rider.
Serena, the Queen’s former champion, stands on its back, wearing indigo armor, her amber hair tied back in tight braids. The last time I saw her, I used my starlight power to defend Nathaniel against her attack. It was her black armor that I stole and wore into Fell country. I’m still wearing her boots.
At the exact moment that the bulbs gather together, her hands shoot out. Firelight rushes through her arms and pours across the cluster of glittering orbs.
The bulbs shatter.
Shards shoot in every direction, cutting through the air around Serena and flying toward Evander. I can’t hear Serena’s scream, but I can see the blood spilling down her cheek as she drops to her bird’s back and tries to evade the spray of glass.
Evander’s wind power rages around her, lifting her bird above the deadly wash, while Cadence cracks her wings at the same time, also soaring above the explosion, taking Evander to safety.
I’ve stopped breathing, but I force myself to drag air into my chest as the two birds rise again. Glitter shards crash into the ground far below them, some pieces exploding against the mountain peaks. Others kick up into the air as the thunderbirds evade the aftermath.
A quick scan of the other riders flying thunderbirds tells me that Talsa and Mia are also with them. They are both Dusk fae, with the power to communicate silently with their thunderbirds. I frown in confusion because Talsa and Mia usually work at night, not at this time of the day.