But her spirit did not walk through the tunnel of light to the afterlife. Instead, the path led her down, down, down, until it ended at an archway made entirely of flames.

“What is this place?” she cried as her skin began to crisp and blacken, like fish too close to the charcoal.

A figure emerged from the archway, holding out his hand. His face was partly ash, flakes falling off as he approached, and yet she knew him from his first step.

“Father.”

“Kitari,” he said as he ran to her. “I am so sorry. I gave you devilfire, and thus you are condemned to the hells.”

She looked wildly around her, all while frantically slapping at her arms to stop the relentless burning. “But I tried to be good!”

“It doesn’t matter. You possessed illegal magic, and thus you are here.”

Kitari sobbed, but it made no difference. Her skin began to turn to ash like his. When she was completely burnt, her skin healed itself, and the fire began the process of frying her all over again.

“I hate you,” she said to her father.

“I know.”

But he took her hand, and they walked through the archway of the hells, to suffer through eternity together.

“Stars,” Fairy said when she finished. “That was one of the darkest things I’ve ever read.”

Daemon stared at the book. He pointed at the Dragon Prince’s handwriting in the margin, which said, Must achieve the Evermore. “D-does that mean what I think it means?”

Fairy cocked her head at Daemon. “I don’t follow. I must have missed something.”

“If Prince Gin brings the Evermore to Kichona, he and all his warriors will be immortal. But if he doesn’t, I think this means that anyone with ryuu magic will be damned to the hells for eternity after they die.”

“Oh gods,” Fairy said as understanding settled in. “Because Prince Gin stole Sight from the afterlife, and he’s gifted it to the ryuu, just like the warrior gave devilfire to Kitari.”

“Which affects every single one of our friends and teachers that Prince Gin hypnotized. And . . .” Daemon couldn’t finish the sentence.

He leaned heavily against the desk.

“Including Spirit,” Fairy said. All the color in her face drained away. “We have to send a message to them right away!”

“No,” Daemon said quickly. “You can’t tell someone via dragonfly messenger that she’s damned for eternity. I . . . I want to break the news in person.” He sagged against the desk.

Fairy looked at the floor. “That makes sense. But I can’t just do nothing. Maybe we could find a way for Spirit to be forgiven?”

“You saw Kitari’s legend. She possessed illegal magic, and that was that.”