“Lady Arlet has business to attend to outside,” she tells them firmly. “Let her pass.”
The enduar guards hesitate, glancing at one another, but they do not argue. They step aside.
Liana turns to me, studying my face as if memorizing it. “Go,” she says softly. “Know that you will be missed.”
I nod, gripping the bundle tight, and step into the tunnel.
The incline of the tunnel is steep. It’s been so long since I’d been outside for more than a few hours. When I reach the exit, I squeeze my eyes shut, putting one foot in front of the other to avoid looking back. Instead I picture the massive golden doors and the red veins swirling around the entrance.
The ice floes floating on the ocean to the distant left creak. Fear pricks at the back of my neck. The cold night air bites at my skin, burning against the heat of the tears threatening to fall. I keep them back, knowing they will freeze if I let them spill over.
The worst part of leaving is not knowing if I will ever return.
But Enduvida has given me everything. How could I not do what was needed to protect it?
I press forward until the last traces of black stone fade from view. The mountains slowly shrink behind me.
Ahead—the forest waits.
I scan the shadows, wary. For the first time, I remember vaimpír could be near. The thought makes me hesitate, but I see nothing. No movement in the midnight mists. Cursing, I grit my teeth. I’m not used to being on my own, despite what I said.
I keep going.
I say goodbye to the sight of the ocean as I enter a ravine called,El Paseo de las Nubes.Towering walls of ice rise on either side with veins of bright white running throughout.
The passage is narrow, like a frozen canyon carved by time and storm. The moonlight shifts strangely here, refracted through the translucent walls, casting long shadows that stretch and distort with every step.
I haven’t been here since the slave caravan took Estela and me to Enduvida for the first time.
The early spring winds bite at my cheeks, strong enough to make walking difficult, especially since the Enduar Mountains are high enough to almost always be frozen. The air hums with something strange—a faint, whispering song.
It isn’t unpleasant.
“FIRELOCKS!”
A voice roars behind me.
I freeze.
Every hair on my arms stands on end.
“Arlet!”
The sheer force of the sound gives me goosebumps.
I whirl around. The fur of my coat whips against my face.
Vann runs towards me. His messy silver braid is loose, and the strands ripple in the wind, his cloak billowing. His chest rises and falls, breath labored.
I step back, bracing myself.
"Arlet, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
My heart pounds. He’ll take me back.He can’t do that.
How did he find me so quickly?
I turn—and run intoEl Paseo de las Nubes.