Nearly there.

  The cool breeze soothes my sun-burnt skin as I make my way home to a place I do not recognize.

  The warmth in my hand reminds me that I am not alone, and its light guides me forward—to where the story will end.

  the uneven paving stones make me stumble worn by the wind and cracked by the intrusion of pitch-black roots that climb out from the earth below like grasping hands looking at them makes me feel ill so I turn my gaze forward to the tree

  but that doesn’t make me feel any better

  hold the warmth in my hands tightly to my chest

  the wind is cold

  Frost was not in good condition. I could easily catch up to her, given her pace. But that wouldn’t be enough. If she fully fell under the Seeker’s control, it would no doubt push her body to its limits and unleash its own demonic power.

  Worse still, the theory we’d arrived at earlier gave me serious pause. There was only one way to expel a Seeker without killing its host: render the host no longer viable. If a demon determined that its host was no longer capable of helping it achieve its goals or was in mortal danger, it would flee the host. Even if the demon would die without a new host to inhabit. The image of Coroban’s body withering suddenly pierced my thoughts, and I quickly cast it out. Surely it had not been that long. Surely it was not too late.

  If I failed to convince Frost with my words, I would have to drag her back by force. And this would be no easy task. I had sparred with her hundreds of times, and when armed with a sword, she was easily my match. Until now, I had considered my command of magic to be an insurmountable advantage, but it seemed she had learned that from me as well. My only advantage over her might be the magic I used against the duchess… but I was terrified that that power would not merely wound her, but kill her. No. I did not want to use it.

  As I drew closer to her, a new hope rose in my chest.

  Frost was practically being dragged forward by the sword. Was it possible that the Seeker had not yet fully taken hold of her body? Perhaps it was still just inside her, struggling to wield its influence. I still had a chance. If I could just somehow destroy it...

  I spoke as calmly as I could. It wouldn’t do to startle her. “Frost. It’s me.”

  She turned her head to look at me, her pace slowing but not stopping. In her hand, Pretense glowed a dull red.

  “I’m glad you’re here,” she replied. Her voice was… unfamiliar. “It’s almost done. Soon you can go home.”

  “What do you mean, Frost? Our home isn’t here. It’s back where we came from. Come with me and we can go home.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not what I mean. You can finally go home if we finish this. You just need to help a little bit. The tree will do the rest.”

  “How can the tree help? It’s dead, look at it. And I don’t understand what you mean about going home, Frost. Where will I go without you?”

  “Back to where you came from, Helian. Home. Where they miss you. Where you belong. The tree can take you anywhere if you walk along its roots. It told me so.”

  The tree’s roots did not just reach distant places. They reached distant worlds, or so the tree had told Frost. I understood now how it had managed to lure her here.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  “Frost… there’s nowhere for me to go back to. And even if there was, there are people here who will miss me. You’ll miss me, won’t you? I don’t want to leave. So… it’s okay, you don’t have to go to the tree. Do you understand?”

  She shook her head again. “No… you don’t understand. You don’t belong here. You need to go home. The tree can help. All it needs is a little blood. I thought I was good enough to open the door but I guess I wasn’t since I’m a fake after all it only let me through because it knew you’d follow me and I was worried that you wouldn’t but you’re here and I’m so glad because at least now we can be together for a little while longer before you go home since you’ve been wishing to go home all along and I saw how lonely you were and how you cried when you thought no one was watching but I was watching and it hurt to see you feel like that and I don’t want you to feel that way ever again so I’m going to send you home.” She paused. “All you need to do is help. All the tree needs is a little blood. It says it won’t hurt at all.”

  Words weren’t working.

  “Frost. You’re tired and hurt. You’re delirious from riding all the way here. If you won’t leave, why not at least sit down and rest? We can talk.”

  She shook her head. “No, I must keep going. The tree is waiting. I’m almost there.”

  “Please put the sword down and rest, Frost. Please. I… I’m begging you.”

  “Why? It was a gift, wasn’t it? You said I could have it. I always wanted a sword for my birthday. I’ve treasured it since we found it together. Are you saying you’re really done with me? Do you want to take my present back?” She was crying now.

  “No, Frost. Of course I don’t want you to give it back.The sword is making you sick. Just leave it on the ground and I promise you’ll feel better soon. If you don’t want to leave, we can just sit here together and rest. We can talk. All you have to do is put the sword down. Aren’t you tired?”

  She nodded. “I am tired… but Pretense says you’re lying. Without it, I can’t send you home. You’ll be stuck here, and it’ll be my fault. I have to help you go home and the tree can help me so I have to go to the tree and all it needs is a little bit of your blood. It won’t hurt.”

  She turned to face me. Pretense was glowing even brighter now. Frost, holding the sword firmly, got into stance.

  The tree’s scheme was excellent. I would have to be perfect. If I shed a single drop of blood on the ground, the roots would drink it up like spring rain, and then the tree would do whatever it truly aimed to do. For all I knew, Frost was right and it would send me home… but there was nothing for me there. Of that much I was certain.

  And if I left, people would miss me dearly. And I—I would miss them, too.

  Even if I could never tell them how I felt, and even if I could never truly apologize, I wasn’t going back. I was going to stay here.

  I drew my sword and mirrored Frost’s stance.

  “Okay, little bird. I’m going to help you now. Do your best to not get hurt.”

  ------

  Though it pained me to fight her, I still had hope. Frost was not all there, but she was not all gone either. She lacked the calm and murderous intent I’d felt from the archmage, and she was not behaving as abnormally as the duchess had. And based on what I’d heard, the duel between Solana and her vice commander had been different from what was happening now. Frost’s true self was desperate to be heard, and in this moment, swordplay was her language.

  Despite her obvious fatigue and clouded eyes, she matched my swings with great precision, parrying each and every one of my strikes. Each of her attacks came dangerously close. Unlike our childhood sparring matches, I could not afford to tolerate even a single nick or scrape. I had to be perfect.

  As our duel continued, Pretense glowed brighter and brighter. That damned sword. If only I could get it out of her hands. I dreaded the possibility that I’d have to sever her sword arm entirely. No healer in the kingdom would be able to undo that act. Such a move would literally cut her future short as Solana’s successor. It would also take one of the things she treasured most. One of the connections between us.

  And even if I managed to do just that, I would still need to seal off her magic. It was a blessing that she had not used it so far. Perhaps she had not yet mastered it. Perhaps her magic had simply been a result of operating on instinct back when she’d fought the duchess and the archmage.

  As I watched her blade move through the air, something occurred to me.

  Pretense was inset with gems. At those points, and those points alone, the blade was thinner. Weaker.

  If I made sure to be precise, if I struck those points repeatedly, I could weaken it. I could destroy the sword. I could smash the damned thing to pieces and cast its remains into a lake or bury them deep beneath the earth.

  But I would have to be perfect.