Page 120 of Cursebreaker

Uncomfortable heat creeps up my neck. But she’s dead.

The dragon chuffs a laugh, the sound full and rich. And yet, you’ve seen her.

I think about the woman I saw below the waves—the woman made of gold dust. So that was her? That was Hildegarde?

He dips his head.

My pulse quickens. If Emrys knows Hildegarde—if he knew I was coming… Is the Key here? I dare to ask.

Emrys frowns—or at least, the way his lips pull taut reminds me of a frown. He sighs as if carrying the knowledge of six hundred years weighed heavily on his shoulders. The Key is not in this realm.

A chill snakes down my spine.

What do you mean? I ask, but I think I already know the answer. Both the Helm and the Sword required sacrifice to obtain. I planned to send the Key back with Liv and Sylvie before I left for the Burning Lands. Now I see that turning myself over to Morana is the only way to find the final Relic.

Because in order to obtain the Key, I will have to die.

I almost laugh. Could it be that this was the True King’s plan for me all along? If I were never bitten by a Shifter when I was a child, turning myself over to Morana would mean that when I die, I would have no hope of returning to this world. But because of the venom in my veins, I will come back. And now I’ll come back with the Key.

I’m going to the Burning Lands, I tell Emrys.

That Pegasus of yours cannot make the journey over the wall, he says, and my chest deflates.

How else am I supposed to make it across the sea in time? I can’t be sure how long Titus has before the curse claims his life, and if he were to die before I return… we both knew this plan was a risk. Will might be angry that I didn’t hold up my end of the bargain by refusing to bring the Relics. But I am counting on him to cure Titus, and every second I waste trying to make my way to the Burning Lands could be a second too long.

Swiftwing cannot make the journey. Emrys flattens himself, crushing the mystiks below. But I can. He inclines his head, beckoning me.

My heart swells with hope. I hesitate, but again, that invisible force seems to tug at my chest, pulling me toward the Myth. I reach out, placing my hand on his scales, and it’s as if the earth pulses. The cavern quakes, bits of rubble raining down from overhead. I climb onto the dragon’s back and grab hold of two of the dozens of spiked horns that trail down his neck.

Tears well in my eyes. If only I could tell Elsie about this—she wouldn’t believe it.

Now what? I ask.

Hold on tight.

I close my eyes, half-expecting to be crushed by the collapsing cave, but my stomach lurches, and when I look up, stone scrapes stone as if some giant, invisible hand were peeling back the earth to reveal the starlit sky above.

Emrys soars upward, surging toward the opening. A gust of cool morning air tosses my hair over my shoulders as we emerge from underground and the dragon slows, gliding over the estate below.

“Liv!” I shout. “Sylvie!”

They stick their heads out of my pocket.

“I didn’t tell my family goodbye,” I say as Sylvie presses her forehead to mine. “Please, in case things don’t go according to plan… tell them I love them, all right?”

She nods, solemn, before darting off, disappearing into the morning mist.

But Liv refuses to leave, tucking herself back into my pocket, and I can’t help but smile.

As I leave Bludgrave Manor, I look down at the open fields below. There, racing toward the orange haze of dawn as it breaks over the tops of the mountains, Caligo, Nutmeg, and Thea run free, chasing Swiftwing as she leads them farther away from the estate.

I close my eyes, holding out one arm to cut the wind with my hand, just as I saw Owen do—just like the wings of the Pegasus as it lifts into the air. And for the first time in my life, if only for a moment, I feel truly free.

As I soar over the Western Sea, I wonder if this is what it’s like to be a Star, looking down on our world from the realm above. To my left, the stormy, fog-laden skies of the Dire rise up like a dark wave. But to my right, the ocean is endless, stretching beyond the horizon, beyond the Known World.

Emrys crosses the Western Sea in less than a day. When my muscles ache and the sun scorches my face, I remind myself that this will all be worth it. By nightfall, the coast of Hellion comes into view. It’s not long before we pass over the wall, and Emrys weaves through the towering flames that shoot into the sky.

I can turn back, Emrys says. If you choose.