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We couldn’t leave, though. Not when Jeddak still had the map. Skyler had said I was the sworn protector of the Azurstone. I didn’t need my memories to tell me this was true. I could feel my heart pumping with purpose and determination. This was no longer simply about finding my brother, it was about saving my tribe—no, savingallthe tribes of Eastlandra. I wasn’t leaving without my map.
With a growl, Jeddak thrust his elbow into Skyler’s ribs and spun his torso to twist out of his hold. His fist pounded into Skyler’s injured shoulder where the bear had clawed him. Skyler faltered, wincing in pain. He blocked Jeddak’s next swing, but with his wrists still bound, Skyler couldn’t get the upper hand.
Grabbing a staff from one of the fallen Kovaks, I swung it at Jeddak with all my strength, knocking him away from Skyler. Jeddak turned on me and kicked my ribs with such force, the air fled from my lungs as I fell.
I gasped for breath as Jeddak ripped the staff out of my hands and raised it. I braced myself for the impact.
I heard the crunch of wood on bone before I saw Sora step in front of me to block the blow. She crumpled to the ground.
“Sora, no!” I cried.
Before I could move, a blonde Kovak girl in a cream-colored dress and her tan-colored bear charged toward Jeddak. “Try this!” she shouted, tossing me a small metal object before raising her staff.
My eyebrows shot up when I caught it. It was a key.
The blonde girl and Jeddak collided like angry storm clouds. They whirled and spun, their staffs moving like lightning around them, crashing together in thunderous strikes.
Beside us, Kah and Lila’s bear were tearing each other apart. The tangy smell of blood and sweat filled the air. Kah swiped at the white bear with his claws, raking them across her face. She twisted away from him, stabbing her claws into his side. Heroared in pain, turning to strike back, but he missed, and his paw swiped through the air. She was waiting for the mistake and tackled him with her full weight, knocking him to the ground and locking down on his throat with her massive jaws.
Kah! No!
The Kovak girl’s tan bear tore into the fight with Kah, shoving Lila’s bear off him. With a terrifying roar, the new bear reared up against the white bear, their open jaws clashing. This gave Kah the chance to get to his feet. He was limping, but still alive.
I knelt beside Sora. She wasn’t moving. Blood was oozing from a cut on her head, but thank the skies, she was still breathing. I needed to get her out of here. But how? The entire hall was in chaos.
I startled when someone touched my shoulder. It was Skyler.
“Sora—she stepped in front of me …” I told him, my voice almost breaking.
“I know,” he said, his face grim. The gash in his shoulder was bleeding heavily, and his shirt was stained dark red. He looked almost as bad as Sora.
“We have to get these off,” I said, showing him the key.
Without hesitation, he took the key and knelt to unlock my shackles. “We need to get that map back,” he said.
“We can’t leave her here, Skyler. She needs help.”
“We’re not leaving her, Rae. But I have a bad feeling that if Jeddak’s new bride gets the map, it’ll be much worse than if the Rathalans do.”
My eyes flicked to Lila. She was watching the scene from the terrace doorway with a look of wicked amusement. Why did she want the map? How did she even know about it? But there wasn’t time to figure that out. The moment my shackles released, I grabbed the key from Skyler to unlock his.
“Hurry,” Skyler urged.
Across from us, the tan bear swatted at Lila’s bear, its claws raking down her side. The white bear retaliated with a violent growl, twisting to tear her teeth into the new bear’s flank. But now Kah had recovered some of his strength and was back in the fight. With two bears against one, Lila’s bear was outnumbered. Soon, they had her cornered, striking at her on both sides. When the fatal blow came, Lila’s bear went limp, blood spilling onto the cold stone, staining her pure white fur.
My mouth went dry. The commotion in the hall slowed as several eyes shifted to Lila like they were waiting for her to draw her last breath and follow her bear companion to the shadowlands.
But Lila stood still, her elegant wedding dress flapping in the icy wind, unfazed as she studied the carnage.
Skyler and I glanced warily at each other. I barely noticed when the lock in his shackles clicked open.
Just then, a clap of thunder shook the mountain beneath our feet, shattering the glass in one of the large windows. I gasped, my heart hammering in my chest.
The Kovaks and Rathalans momentarily stopped fighting. We quickly got to our feet. My attention was locked on Lila. Her blonde hair was coming loose from her elegant braids, growing longer and whiter. My mouth opened as she shed her girlish innocence like an invisible snakeskin, her silver eyes sharpening like blades, the soft lines of her face transforming into the bewildering, haunting beauty that only a Magi can possess.
In the corner, her bear’s body faded into dust like a star winking out, the spell she must have used to create the animal now broken.
“The White Widow,” Skyler breathed, jaw slack with shock.
