“Think of this as a new beginning,” Valen said. “A new life, Nor, for countless others. I’m ready. I’m willing. And I can’t wait to see how beautiful it is, when Exonia finally walks free.”

He kissed her cheek then, and squeezed her hand once more.

“It’s time,” he whispered, backing away with a small smile on his face. “I’m ready, sister.”

Darai stood, joining them. “You’re very brave, princeling. Brave and loyal to your core.”

For a moment, Nor thought she heard the echo of her brother’s voice, calling out to her from within. But then Valen grimaced, as if he were in pain, and she reached out to support him.

“No more time to waste, Nor,” he said weakly. “Come on.”

So Nor forced back her tears and took his arm. Together, they left the office, ready to complete their mission as one.

CHAPTER 34

DEX

Dex had never been a man capable of staying in one place for too long. It always made him feel like the rest of the galaxy had ceased to exist, like the world outside of wherever he was stationed was simply gone.

It was always good to be back among the stars. To head out on another mission.

And even today, with the threat of what was to come looming on the horizon, Dex felt like he could breathe a little bit easier, staring out at the stars as they streaked by, the ship soaring through hyperspace.

This ship wasn’t the same as the Marauder, by any means. Though full of incredible tech, it was smaller in its common areas, with far less room to stretch out and find some silence. But Dex had somehow found himself blessedly alone for a moment, seated in one of the lookout chairs below the main deck, and the hum of the ship’s engines was slowly lulling him to sleep—a sound that Dex hadn’t realized how much he’d missed while they were on Solera.

The flight away from the Underground was breathtaking. They’d soared up through a massive tunnel carved by soldiers of old before the Cataclysm, dug so far it stretched beyond the dome of Craatia above. They’d burst through a cavernous, ancient space adorned with one of Solera’s few waterfalls that wasn’t frozen over—a steamy, near-boiling cascade at the western edge of the Wastes.

No one had tried to stop them as they’d soared away, up through the atmosphere and into the blessed black skies.

Dex yawned, leaning deeper into his seat.

The new crew would work together well enough, especially with Eryn’s talents at their disposal. But he missed Breck and Gilly and Lira, and their perfect cadence with each other, almost as if they were Guardians of a different kind. They were warriors, Gilly perhaps the most terrifying of them all, despite her small stature.

“Hiding?”