Jae was gone.

Elan pushed himself to his feet, rain hammering him, his hair sticking to his face and neck. He shivered uncontrollably but couldn’t bring himself to move. Jae was gone. After everything, after Tal’s decision and her agreement, she’d leapt after him, and now…

Her magic had worked. The rain hit the cliff and cascaded over it in growing streams. It would fill the Well, helping it grow back to its intended size. It would rain for days, Elan realized. It would pour out here as magic called water back to the Well, and in the rest of the world, the reservoirs would rise. Maybe the rain would make its way out there, too, ending the drought that had plagued the world for so long, and everyone would celebrate.

No one else in the world would know what had happened, that no one was really saved, that they only had a reprieve. Jae was gone, and with her, their hope.

Elan climbed farther under the trees for shelter, but they didn’t provide much. Wind still battered him, and sheets of rain found their way through the leaves. He curled up in the driest spot he could find and shut his eyes.

He lay there and shivered, unable to bring himself to move, with no idea what to do next. Hours passed, and between the wind and the trees, he couldn’t even see the sky to get a sense of how long he’d been in that position. He gave up trying to guess and just lay there, alone.

Finally the rain lessened, though it didn’t stop. He was stiff from the cold, desperate to move, and forced himself to straighten out and stretch. After their days in the desert, his body was lean, muscle over bone with almost nothing else to it. He’d gotten used to being sore.

As he stretched out his limbs, he found his resolve. Yes, he was alone, and no, the Well wouldn’t last forever, but Jae and Tal had bought it time. Jae had said that the only way to prevent it from drying again was to break the Curse, and she’d told him how.

There was a knife somewhere. He’d have to brave the desert again, but alone this time. He’d have to find his way back to civilization, and find a way to get from Aredann back to his family’s land. He’d contact Erra and beg her for help, tell her the truth about what their father knew, what he’d done—what all of the Highest had done. If she helped him, they might be able to find the knife and destroy it. He’d have a better chance with her than he would alone, and then…

He would break the Curse, and save them all—unless the Closest then rose up against the Avowed who’d controlled them, rose up and were slaughtered. Without Jae’s magic, the Closest might have sheer numbers on their side, but no weapons, organization, or training. There would be a war, he was sure of that—and if the Closest lost, if this time the Highest went beyond cursing them and killed them instead…

If the Highest slaughtered the Closest, they would seal their own fate. Without the Closest, the Well had no binding. The whole world would turn to dust, including the Highest. They’d bring it on themselves, Jae would have said. But the Avowed would believe they were fighting not just for their lives, but for their birthright. Elan would have to find a way to make them all understand the truth he’d learned about the Well and the Closest and the War. All of it.

He finished stretching and found the waterlogged remains of their camp. Most of their supplies had been lost in the desert, but he still had the satchel and water skin to fill, and a bag large enough to carry food in, plus the flint. It wouldn’t be much, but it would have to be enough. Besides, the desert blossomed in the days after a rain. Maybe he could find something out there, once it came to life around him.

There was no point in putting off leaving. Nothing was going to get easier, and no one was going to help him. All he could do was start to gather supplies and force himself to go before he lost his will.

“Elan?”

Elan spun, dropping the bag he’d been holding open, and found Jae standing in the misting rain behind him. He stared, eyes saucer-wide, as she took another few steps toward him.

“You…you’re alive?” he murmured, almost unable to believe it, as if Jae were an apparition brought to him by magic. He’d seen her fall, he’d felt the magic settle. She’d died. How could she not have died?

“I’m tired,” she said.

He tried to answer her but couldn’t remember how to speak, and instead stepped forward. She didn’t give him her eternally wary look, just stood there, looking lost and alone. He reached for her, pulled her against him, wrapped his arms around her, and breathed her in.

“Tal’s dead,” she said, and pulled away from him.

He reached for her again, just her hand this time, and tugged her farther under the trees. The rain was light enough now that, aside from when branches grew too heavy and sent showers of drops splattering down, the ground beneath the branches was sheltered. “Sit,” he said, and then sat with her. “I’m sorry. I know he was…It wasn’t easy for you to…Jae.”

“We can’t sit long,” she said. “We have to go back. I won’t waste his gift.”

“Of course,” he said. “I was gathering supplies when you appeared.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “You thought I was dead.”

“I did,” he said. “But I couldn’t just…The Curse has to be broken, and I had to try. Even if I was alone.”

“Alone,” she echoed, and turned away. He reached out, wanting to put an arm around her shoulder, pull her close and comfort her. But she didn’t move any closer to him, so he dropped his hand instead.

“But I’m not alone,” he said. “We don’t have to be alone. We have…”

She looked over at him, and he couldn’t say “each other.” He’d sworn to Tal he’d look after her, and he’d keep that vow, hold it more sacred than the vows he’d once said to his father. He’d follow her anywhere, do anything she asked. But as grateful as he was to have her to follow, she didn’t feel the same. She’d lost her whole world, and all she had in return was him.

He didn’t think he’d ever be enough, but he’d try. So he just sat there next to her, still and quiet in the mist. Alone, together.

Gathering supplies didn’t take them long, and then they set out into the overcast, dreary desert. That felt right somehow. Jae was empty and cold inside, as if Tal had left a tear in her body, one that would never be sewn shut. At least the weather reflected her mood.