I continued to climb, keeping my star magic focused on the shadows behind me. Something whooshed over my head, and I stilled for moment, halfway up the gate.
Another shadow. I looked up, beckoning for more starlight to stop the shadow. The gate trembled under my hands, rattling. The vibration echoed through my body. A low rumble, like thunder, rose over me, and I slowly looked up to see hundreds of shadows staring down, red eyes glowing bright.
I reached for more starlight, but I wasn’t quick enough. One of the shadows snatched me from the gate, holding me tightto its wispy form. It felt so solid for something that looked as transparent as a cloud.
I struggled against it, throwing my head back, kicking, but it wouldn’t let go. My magic weakened, and the rest of the shadows far below began to jolt awake. The shadow flew me higher, making my stomach flip.
I didn’t fear heights, but this shadow could drop me at any moment, and then it would all be over. The thought made me go still and stop struggling.
We flew higher until we were eye level with the mountaintop where Kairoth’s castle was perched. If this shadow delivered me to Kairoth, it could ruin any trust I’d built with the god. It could ruin my chances of ever getting more nettle weed. I arched my neck, gazing at the stars and commanding them to help me.
Their silvery light blazed on the shadow, and I closed my eyes, going inside the shadow’s mind. It was the same as the last time I dove into a shadow’s head. Eerie. Empty. No color, no thoughts. That made the shadow hard to manipulate. I couldn’t create dreams in an empty space. Down below, I just used the starlight to keep the shadows still, but up here, I didn’t know what I could use the starlight to do. If I tried to fight the shadow with the starlight, it could drop me. If I tried to make the shadow go still, it could drop me. If I tried to make the shadow lose consciousness, it could drop me.
I groaned in frustration and left the shadow’s mind as it flew me closer to the castle, dark and foreboding as ever.
Leoni had been wrong. I couldn’t use my magic to do anything, and soon I was going to be right back where I started, except in a worse position. Because now Kairoth would have everyone watching me.
Panic flooded my veins, my stomach twisting into a tight knot as I wriggled against the shadow’s hold. I had to do something.
Think, Bellamy, think.
I summoned the starlight again, and yet again, its light beamed down over the shadow.
Tell us what to do,the stars seemed to say as the power thrummed in my blood.
Stop, I commanded the shadow.Make it stop.
The light went dazzlingly bright so that I had to close my eyes, but when I opened them, I realized I’d made the wrong move, because the shadow did stop, but it also lost its grip on me.
I fell from its arms, straight through the sky.
I grasped for air,my arms wheeling around and around as I dropped.
A memory surfaced, one of me training with Ryder. He was the fighter of my brothers. The strongest. The fastest. The fiercest.
“Get up, Bellamy,”he’d said one day after I’d jumped from a tall rock and had fallen.“Get up and try again.”
I hadn’t wanted to, crying for Soloman, who I knew would gather me in his arms and tell me it would be alright.
But Ryder wouldn’t have it. He’d scowled down at me.“I said get up.”
Tears had been streaming down my face, but they’d had no effect on my older brother.“You don’t get to give up, Bell,”he’d whispered, hooking a finger under my chin.“You know why? Because one day we won’t be here for you. One day, you’ll beleft to fight your own battles, and I need to know that you will fight them. That you’ll fall, but you will get back up again.”
I opened my eyes to see white all around. Something soft brushed against my cheek. A feather. Feathers surrounded me. Swans. My swans.
After not seeing them for weeks, my heart sang at the sight of them.
They flew around me as I fell. My brothers were here. Their wings flapped powerfully. Even Solomon. They might not be able to talk, but they were here and telling me I needed to fight.
I reached for the sky, feeling the ground growing closer. Then I commanded the stars to shine on me.
Fly, I thought, even though it was impossible. My magic was strong but not that strong.I want to fly.
As soon as the command entered my mind, the star light entered my veins, and my body stopped. It just stopped. In midair. A weightlessness took over me as I floated. I stared at my body in disbelief. My red dress swished around my ankles, my hair lifting over my shoulders.
The swans formed a V on either side of me. I was the point. They wanted me to go with them. To lead them.
I’d missed them so much.
