“It’s so empty here,” Dex said, clearing his throat. Andi looked at him as he ran a hand through his hair. It was getting longer, the front now shaggy enough to cover his brows. “Sorry. It’s just...talking helps. To distract my mind.”

Left and right, spanning as far as they could see, was a world blanketed in white. There were countless frozen lakes across Solera, snow bounding across their surfaces in a dance that went in time with the wind. The wreckage of the Marauder was long behind them, the poor ship abandoned to the cold, half-buried in the ice. Already, it probably looked as if it were becoming a part of the planet. As if everything that visited Solera was claimed by it eventually.

Jagged ice mountains, like splintered bones, were scattered across the landscape, some of them twisting in spiraline forms, purple and deep blue in color. But Dex was right—there were hardly any signs of life, save for the few scattered outposts that they passed. Many of them looked abandoned, as if everyone had picked up and left for more populated areas, perhaps the better to find a place where others praised Nor.

It made Andi want to scream—or drive her swords through the queen’s throat, the way Nor had done to all the other planetary leaders.

“How did it happen so quickly?” Andi asked. Grief still marked her heart, but Andi had lost enough people in the past to know that Dex was right—talking about something, anything other than the loss, would help make it easier to bear.

“I guess Nor had more resources on Xen Ptera than we always assumed,” Dex replied. “Or she used the advanced tech on Arcardius, once she gained control. I hate to say it, but she was smart to pick Arcardius as her target for setting up shop.”

“Did you just compliment that witch?” Andi growled.

Dex looked like he regretted it already.

“Smarter, still,” Andi said, changing the subject, “for Arachnid to choose one of the most unforgiving planets in the galaxy for his headquarters. Nor would have a hell of a time bringing the battle to this tundra, especially if the Underground has already overtaken some of the domed sectors. She’d have a hell of a time infiltrating it, too, if it’s really underground.”

“Doesn’t bode well for us,” Dex said with a deep sigh.

“We’ve made it through worse,” Andi said with a shrug. “Or have you forgotten Lunamere so quickly?”

Dex muttered under his breath, his hands gripping the wheel tighter. “You know, I never suspected Valen was a part of this. Did you?” When Andi remained silent, he added, “You didn’t see the way he bowed to her that night. Like she truly was his goddess come down from the stars. To think, you’re both from the same planet, born and raised, and yet somehow, he has this impossible power to—”