Sora almost broke down again. She would have tumbled off the rock face, but he held her fast. “‘Be more.’ That’s what your mother said, and you rose to the challenge then. Honor her memory by doing it again. Save the empress. Kill Prince Gin. That’s what we have to do.”

Sora wanted to crawl back into the tunnel.

But she didn’t. What Daemon said hit a nerve.

Mama and Papa had known what Sora was capable of. And Mama’s entreaty had been about not only Sora’s potential but also her duty to be the best person she could be.

That included pushing through sadness to save Papa, her friends, and her empress. To protect the kingdom.

So she did her best to stow away her grief. Sora knew it would come raging back again, but she needed to try to control it as much as possible right now, to let it out in smaller doses. Grief was a beast that didn’t react well to being caged, but this had to be done.

“Everyone, huddle together. I’ll try to make us invisible.” Her voice cracked. She didn’t know if her magic was strong enough to do this. But Daemon nodded at her, encouraging.

The ship breached the mist. Daemon and Broomstick pressed against Sora on her left, while Fairy and the empress pushed up on her right, all while holding on to the slippery crevices to avoid plummeting into the sea.

When they were packed together like sardines, Sora called on the emerald dust. The particles dove into her, taking away the cold of the ocean spray and infusing her instead with the heady warmth of ryuu magic. And then the magic spread to her friends on either side of her like ink traveling through water.

Just in time, too, because the ship sailed closer to inspect the rocks. Sora dared to look over her shoulder to watch the ship approach.

The collapsed remains of skeletons and corpses littered the deck. But it didn’t matter; this ship didn’t need an entire crew to sail it. Tidepool stood at the helm, directing the sea to guide her where she wanted to go.

Please hold, Sora thought to her ryuu particles as the ship lurched closer.

Tidepool leaned over the starboard side to examine the coastline. She noticed the hole in the cliff and stared at it for a while. Sora held her breath.

After what seemed like much too long, the ship swung away abruptly.

Sora exhaled. Tidepool was probably going to sound the alarm that they’d escaped, but at least Sora had managed to save everyone this time. She held on to the invisibility spell until the ship disappeared again into the mist.

“Bravo, Spirit,” Empress Aki said.

“We’re not safe yet, Your Majesty, but thank you.”

“Now what?” Fairy asked.