Page 34

“Is that⁠—”

Cedric looked down and realized he was not nothing anymore. It was also not dark any longer. He was a sort of man-shaped beacon, legs and arms and a torso, all made of light. And right in the center of his glowing chest, he saw that golden thread. Saw that it was coming from him.

“The bond,” he whispered.

“Your bond,” confirmed Noctis. “Thin. New. Weakened by distance and interference. And yet . . .”

“It’s still here.” Cedric had known it would be. He felt it always, clung to it, relished the knowledge that it was still wrapped around his bones, tied to his heart. He just couldn’t feel her on the other side of it.

“Yes,” said the detached, ethereal choir that was Noctis’s voice. “And so, you must follow it.”

“I can’t. I don’t know how.”

“Try.”

Cedric lifted a luminous hand and ran the pad of a single finger along the bond, instantly shivering. It felt like he was prodding his very soul. But if Elyria was still tied somewhere at the other end of it, then⁠—

He wrapped one fist around the thread. Then the other. And hand over hand, with a firm grip that had his spirit shuddering, Cedric pulled himself along its shimmering length as it twisted through the infinite dark.

As he moved, the expanse around him shifted. Changed. The shadows his own light created bled into shapes, scenes, settings. He caught fractured glimpses: stone walls, lit sconces, an arched window. Snatches of sound echoed in his ears: the scrape of metal; a distant cry; a low, muffled sob.

And then—there—he caught the briefest flash of periwinkle.

“Elle,” Cedric breathed.

He released the thread to reach for her, but the instant he let go, the vision blurred, faded. It fell away, collapsing upon itself, the sky shattering.

And when Cedric opened his eyes, he was back in the cavern, Thraigg and Nox flanking him on either side with concern scrawled across both their brows. Sid was perched on Nox’s shoulder, peering at Cedric with a far less concerned look on her feline face.

“Easy there, knightling,” said Nox quietly, bracing a hand on Cedric’s upper arm.

“Are ye back with us, boyo?” Thraigg asked, the worry on his face making Cedric question how long he had been . . . in his own mind? He still wasn’t entirely sure what that was.

Noctis was still standing in front of him, wearing an expression that could only be described as curious.

“You are death-touched,” said Noctis. A statement of fact.

Cedric nodded. “Yes. During the Crucible, I . . . The final trial demanded a sacrifice in order to retrieve the crown. But after, Elyria, she . . .” He swallowed. “I came back.”

“I thought there was something I recognized about you, Sunbringer.”

“What does—what does that mean?”

“It means you have already paid a price. And when the crown brought you back, it did not merely restore your life. It rewove you. Tethered you inextricably to her. It is why your bond is so strong, even as it remains incomplete. Why you were able to follow it so easily.”

As if trying to confirm the celestial’s words, the thread in Cedric’s chest gave a sharp tug—a bright, aching pang that propelled him forward several steps. She had seemed so real. She had been so close.

Cedric’s heartbeat was wild, racing. He felt unmoored. “What did you do to me?” He pressed a shaking hand to his chest. “How do I get back? How do I get to her?”

“You already have everything you need, Sunbringer. Hook yourself on to that thread. Follow the bond.”

“You must—I can’t—” He looked pleadingly at Noctis. “You have to send me.” He whipped his head toward Nox. “Or take me. I don’t know how to do it on my own.”

Nox was already shaking their head. “This goes far beyond stepping through the shadows. This is something only you can do.”

“But I can’t,” Cedric protested. “I’ve never⁠—”

But he had.