“We find some place flat where Daemon can stand,” Sora said, feeling a bit more in command now. “He’ll transform into a wolf, we’ll find Papa, and then we’ll fly the hells out of here. Can you hang on a little longer while I go scope things out first? I can float everyone up individually once I make sure it’s safe.”

“Just be quick, please,” Empress Aki said. “I’m rather weak.”

Sora cast a spider spell and skittered up the rock face. At the top, she peered over the edge. There was a short cluster of bushes, which would suffice for cover as long as they didn’t stay here long.

She pulled herself up, then leaned back over to get a view of everyone below. Get the empress, she commanded the ryuu particles.

They created a platform and, within seconds, lifted Empress Aki to the top of the cliff. She crouched beside Sora, concealed from the rest of the island by the bushes.

Sora brought Fairy and Broomstick up, too, while Daemon transformed into a wolf and flew to them. They clambered onto his back.

Before Daemon could take off, though, a voice called from a short distance away. “Your Honor, wait!”

Papa!

Sora took off running. Papa crashed through the bushes and hurled his arms around her, his eyes and nose red from crying.

Sora’s own tears began again as she embraced him. “You’re alive!”

“Y-your sister . . .” He tried to say something, but he was too choked up.

“Is to blame for Mama’s death,” Sora finished for him. “Let’s get out of here before Hana finds you again.”

“I can’t leave her,” he cried.

“This isn’t the Hana you knew,” Sora said as kindly as she could through her own anger. “She could have stopped Prince Gin from killing Mama, but she didn’t. You have to accept that Hana has changed. She’s a terrible person.”

Papa held Sora more tightly. “That’s not true.”

“No, she’s right,” Hana said, emerging from the bushes. She must have been following Papa. “I am a terrible person.”

Sora pushed Papa behind herself to protect him. Broomstick and Fairy jumped off Daemon’s back and brandished their weapons. Daemon stepped back to move Empress Aki farther away from the fight that was about to break out.

He had returned the soul pearl to Sora after they left Dera Falls. It strained inside her collar, attracted to such a strong source of the prince’s magic.

But Hana didn’t look like the Dragon Prince’s scathing Virtuoso anymore. She had more in common with a willow sapling beaten and bent by too many storms.

Hana held up both hands as if in surrender. “I’m so sorry for what I’ve done,” she said, her voice subdued.

“I can’t even look at you,” Sora said, turning her attention to Papa instead. He sobbed softly against her.