We rest for a while longer, Braizen rotating his shoulder as if unable to believe it’s healed. “For what it is worth, thank you. For saving my arm, and my life,” he says.

“It’s the least I could do after you tried to take on that dire wolf for me.”

“I know that you’re overwhelmed by it all, but I think it’s amazing that you can use…magic. Or, whatever the hells you did back there. One moment, I could feel myself dying, and all I could hear was…” His throat bobs. “All I could hear was you singing.” The air between us stills for a moment, then he quickly continues.

“Next thing I know, there’s a golden light spiraling towards me. At first, I thought it was The Lady, coming to take me to the Great Lands, but then, it was you. Amazing.”

I blush. What happened is amazing, but I’m still confused by it all.

“I wish I were magic,” he whispers, shaking his head.

I stand. We need to reach the border before nightfall to avoid more deadly encounters.

Braizen jolts up. “Ready?” He asks with a dashing smile.

I only nod as he takes the lead. “Do you know where we’re going? I think the map is back in the carriage.”

“I memorized enough of it to get us the hells out of here. Don’t you worry about that.”

I look back at the ground we’ve covered. Crossing the border means leaving behind everything that happened to me, and I don’t know if I can. I don’t know if I want to.

A heavy weight drags in my chest. A clod of reminders: I must save Verdana. I must go to Aeradian. I have to cross that border.

“I tell you,” Braizen shouts back at me. “Lachlan better have good alcohol. I need a drink.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Braizen

Maybe the gods are tired of torturing us, I think as I take my final step out of The Wood. Idalia is close behind, and as soon as her feet cross that invisible border, I hear her begin to cry. I don’t look at her or say anything. I could cry, too, thinking about how lucky we are and about everyone I had to leave behind.

Her sobs break my concentration.

I wish we could hold each other and share the victory that comes from surviving the evil that lies within those trees, the triumph that comes from crossing through that invisible veil. But I can’t and I’m not convinced she’d let me touch her even without the curse. So, I stare off into the distance and wait out her sniffles.

“How far from here, do you think?” She asks after some time.