"Rain, nei." This was exactly what she'd been afraid he'd say. "It will take more than a week to get to Elvia and back. Celieria doesn't have that much time. We must go to Celieria City first to warn King Dorian about the High Mage's impending attack, then to Danael to ask for their help. After that's done, we can go to Elvia."

His brows climbed up to his hairline. "Are you mad? Ellysetta, you've just convinced me I must accept your murder rather than risk your getting a sixth Mark. We go to Elvia first, and that's the end of it."

Ellysetta scowled. "We've been over this a hundred times. If Celieria falls, we've already lost. We can't hold out against the Eld alone. We need Celieria and the Danae."

"And if you fall to the Mage, you think there will be a different outcome?"

"You're being impossible!"

"And you're a raving crack-skull if you think for one instant that we're going to run around the countryside seeking allies while the High Mage freely torments you in your dreams!"

They glared at each other, sweet murmurs of love and devotion replaced by fiery temper and stubbornness.

Gaelen cleared his throat. "There is a way to help buffer her from the Mage. Something we have not tried yet."

"And what is that?” Rain snapped.

"Let me add Azrahn to her shields. It isn't a permanent solution, but it should buy us enough time to take our news to Celieria and still reach Navahele before the worst comes to pass."

Rain's teeth came together with an audible click. His jaw worked, as if the mere thought left a foul taste in his mouth. "Spit and scorch me." He threw up his hands. "Fine. Do it. I've already blackened my honor beyond repair. What's one more stain upon it?" He glared at Ellysetta and thrust a finger in her face. "One day, Ellysetta. One day in Celieria City. Then we leave for Elvia, no matter what."

"Danael first, then Elvia. There's no sense crossing the entire continent three times," she pointed out when Rain opened his mouth to object. "Besides, if we go to Elvia first, the Danae will be too late to help even if they do agree to fight."

Rain ground his teeth. "Fine. One day in Celieria City. Then we head straight to Danael and Elvia."

"Agreed."

Ten chimes later, Rain took to the air with his Azrahn shielded truemate on his back and the Fey began to run, heading east towards Celieria City.

Ellysetta turned for one final look at the Mists-enveloped mountains that marked the borders of the Fading Lands, wondering if she would ever see those Mists again—or the beloved family trapped within.

She closed her eyes briefly and sent up a silent prayer. Adelis, Bright One, Lord of Light, no matter what happens to me, please, watch over the ones I love. Shine your Light upon their Path and keep them safe from harm.

The Faering Mists

Lillis sat up with a groan and lifted a shaky hand to her pounding head. Perhaps she shouldn't have left the place where she'd first woken up after all.

Wandering blind on a shattered mountain came with many a deadly peril—including roots and stones to trip small feet, razor-sharp rocks, abrupt dropoffs, and trails so steep a billy goat wouldn't tread them. Even so, she'd managed to survive most of the dangers with only a few minor bumps, bruises and cuts . .. until the ground disappeared beneath her feet.

One moment, she was climbing down a steep, rock-strewn slope; the next, she was tumbling down the mountainside, cradling Snowfoot protectively in her arms as she fell.

The last thing she remembered was the big bump that sent her flying through the air, the sudden, painful jolt of landing, then nothing until she woke again just now.

She was surrounded by a mist so thick and white she couldn't even see her own hands when she raised them to her face. For one terrified instant, she thought maybe she had died and gone to the Haven of Light, but then the mist began to thin. Within a few chimes, she could see her own badly skinned arms and legs and a small circle of the steep, rubble-strewn mountainside at her feet. Grit-filled wounds on her knees and palms throbbed with a dull pain. There was a long slash down her left thigh and a terrible lump on her head just above her left eye. Her head hurt. Her brain hurt. Everything hurt.

And that proved she wasn't dead.

At least, she thought it did.

Lillis put her face in her hands and started to cry. She wanted Papa. She wanted Kieran. She wanted them to hold her in their arms and tell her everything would be all right.

A weak mew emerged from the sling around her neck.

"Snowfoot!" Frantic, she fumbled to open the sides of the pouch to reach her pet. The instant he was free, the kitten clambered into her lap, mewing and rubbing against her the way he did when he was hungry. If she were on her own, she would probably just sit here and cry, but Snowfoot was depending on her. She couldn't let him down.

"All right." She sniffled and wiped her eyes. "All right, we'll keep going." She took off her pinafore and tied it around the wound on her leg. Then she settled Snowfoot back in his sling and hauled herself to her feet.

Carefully, each step slow and deliberate, Lillis began once more to hobble her way down the mountainside. This time, she tested her footing first before shifting her weight. More than once, the ground crumbled beneath her feet, leaving her scrambling for safe purchase, but she didn't stop. After a while, the crumbling ground grew firmer. Shifting, treacherous rubble gave way to grassy mountain meadows dotted with shrubs and fragrant fir trees. The mist began to thin until Lillis could see several tairen lengths around her. just up ahead, a footpath led through the grass towards the crest of a mountain pass flanked on both sides by dense stands of fir trees.