WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Alda's POV

As Elba disappeared from my sight, panic set in. I tightened my arms around Siofra’s body and prayed this would end soon.

Before I could realize what was happening, the force of something threw me through the air. I was flying blind before my body plunged downward.

Panic seized me completely. It felt like I was being shoved off another cliff. I was pulled right back into the nightmare of the drop that had taken my life before, until my body violently slammed against a rocky mountain. A sharp, searing pain shot up my spine as the mountain violently threw me off its slope.

In sheer panic, I scrambled and managed to catch an edge of jagged rock before the mountain could fling me off entirely, Siofra’s body still tightly bound to mine.

“Siofra!” I screamed, desperately needing her because my fingers were beginning to slip. I didn't dare look down at the drop below us, but Siofra didn't answer. It was only then that I realized I couldn't feel her presence.

A fresh surge of adrenaline washed over me at the horrific thought that I might have left her back in the wild portal.

But then I noticed the glowing line bonding us together from my chest up the cliff, and she suddenly came into view.

“Alda!” Her frantic voice called out desperately for me. A rush of relief washed over me. I was safe. Siofra was here.

But that relief vanished when the rock I was desperately clinging to broke apart before I could even shout her name.

A scream tore from my throat as I blindly reached out, ignoring the pain shooting through my fingers as I managed to catch another rocky ledge.

“Siofra! Down here!” I yelled, finally getting her attention.

As she made her way toward me, a sliver of hope returned as I prayed I wouldn't slip again.

“Alda? Why are you holding on instead of letting go?” Siofra asked, her face twisted in confusion.

I was the one who was confused. “What do you mean? Have you seen the drop?! Do you want me to fall to my death?!” I yelled back, not understanding her at all. “Help me up!” I demanded, reaching a hand out toward her.

“Alda, there is no drop. You're practically on the ground,” Siofra said.

Another wave of confusion hit me. I finally forced myself to look down, and she was right—the ground was just below my feet. All this time, I had just been seeing another deadly height created inside my own head.

“Are you two okay?”

Elba stepped into view from below, her questioning gaze searching Siofra’s face and mine.

“Yeah, just help Alda down,” Siofra replied.

Elba helped me down, but the moment my feet touched solid ground, supported by Elba’s weight, I didn't realize just how weak I was until she unbound the tree roots holding Siofra’s body to mine.

The moment Siofra’s body was taken away by Elba and laid alongside her grandmother, my legs gave out completely, and I dropped to my knees.

All the nauseous bile I had been holding back since our first step into the wild portal rushed up my throat. Before I knew it, I was scrambling toward a large tree a few feet away, throwing up uncontrollably.

By the time I was finished, an overwhelming wave of exhaustion hit me. I collapsed onto my back on the ground, struggling to catch my breath, until I looked up and saw Siofra’s worried face hovering over mine.

“Alda, are you okay?” she asked softly.

I gave a weak nod. But then, a low tremor shook the ground beneath my back. My weak gaze drifted back to Siofra’s.

“Tell me we made it back to Álfheimr, and not another realm filled with rocks, volcanoes, or maybe dinosaurs,” I muttered in a raspy voice.

Siofra let out a small laugh before extending her hand and pulling me up from the ground.

“We made it, but we might be a step too late. My sister has already located where the armies of the dead have been locked away for a thousand years. And she is willing to sacrifice every elf in Álfheimr to bring those creatures crawling back into this realm.”

Siofra's words made my stomach twist even further.

“Grandma isn't waking up, even though all she has on her body are minor injuries,” Elba called out. Only then did I notice she had been tending to the elderly elf, trying to bring her back to consciousness.

“Lumeria, what do you suggest? Please tell me she's okay,” Siofra said, sounding as if she were speaking to another presence standing right behind me.

I turned around, but there was nothing there. “Who are you talking to?” I asked her.

“Them,” she replied, pointing behind me again.

I turned around once more, but saw nothing except the tall trees surrounding us—or so I thought. Then, a blinding light flashed for several seconds, revealing three breathtaking figures.

The elf goddesses.

Siofra's spirit guides for each of her gemstones.

They looked divine, otherworldly.

If they were here, it meant the time had finally come to separate us. The moment I feared most had arrived.

Siofra's POV

I rushed to Grandma's side and took her hands in mine. They were warm, but she showed no sign of waking up.

“Lumeria, help,” I called out as Lumeria stepped toward her. She gently touched Grandma's face, a deep frown settling on her features.

“She's fine. She just needs to snap out of it,” Lumeria said.

“Snap out of what?” I asked, confused.

“It seems your sister knocked her spirit deep into her subconscious,” she replied, placing her hands over Grandma's face. “It's time to wake up, old friend,” I heard her whisper before her form slipped entirely into Grandma's body.

I understood instantly—Lumeria was Grandma’s spirit guide first, which meant her gem had belonged to Grandma before I ever bonded with it. The sadness lingering in Lumeria's eyes before she vanished showed just how painful unbinding from her had been.

“We need to get you back to your body now!” Valeria urged, stepping toward my physical body, which still lay perfectly still in Elba's arms. “Your sister has successfully parted the Cursed Sea and reached the depths where the dead armies are sealed away. Right now, she holds every elf in Álfheimr captive, bound with their heads bowed, ready to be slaughtered. She intends to turn the sea red to make those creatures hungry enough to crawl out of hell.”

My gaze shifted back to Alda, who had gone completely still.

“Let us begin,” Nymeria said, drawing a small, slender dagger from her sleeve.

Before I could even ask for a moment, she sliced the thin line that had been the only thing tethering Alda and me together. In the next instant, Nymeria lunged at me with lightning speed, shoving my spirit forcefully back toward my physical body.

My eyes remained locked on Alda, praying she was still holding on. But right before the force pulled me back into my body, I saw Alda collapse to the dirt like a body stripped of its life.

A silent no left my lips before everything went black.