Caledonia nodded even as she imagined the spike of pain Sledge would feel when Pine didn’t show up. But if all went well, it would be temporary.

They moved cautiously, eyes alert and guns ready. Every so often, another Bullet appeared in their path, or surprised them from behind. The four of them fired without mercy, dispatching every Bullet who moved to stop them.

Once they were on the western outskirts of town, no Bullets pursued. Apart from crew members of the Luminous Wake, they saw no one else. Everyone was following their evacuation orders. Or attempting to. Without the lifts, getting down to the docks was infinitely more difficult, and even if they managed it, Caledonia wasn’t sure how many ships would be left to carry her crews to safety.

As the trail inclined toward the mountains, Pine set their pace at a brisk jog. Caledonia’s ankle ached more and more until it became clear that she was slowing them down.

“Pine, Nettle, go ahead. Tell them we’re on our way.”

Though a protest landed immediately in Pine’s expression, he swallowed it and turned to chase Nettle up the mountainside. Caledonia and Oran continued more slowly, each step sending fresh pain shooting through her ankle. By the time they reached the cherry orchard, the town below was fully aflame. High on the southern wall, the stronghold was slumped and misshapen, its walls carved out or missing altogether, while smoke poured from every opening. On the very top, the observatory was cracked down the middle and Caledonia found herself thinking of those dense, blue curtains that shrouded the room from cold winds and rain. The crown of Hesperus’s reign had been split in half and now lay in ruins.

As she watched, what remained of the stronghold gave a deep rumble and began to collapse in on itself. The sound reached them a second before the earth beneath their feet shivered with the force of a massive underground explosion.

The ground trembled harder and the remains of the stronghold vanished inside a destructive cloud, and Caledonia thought of Hesperus’s words: “Nothing will ever convince me to leave Cloudbreak. It’s that simple.”

“Hesperus,” she said. Caledonia knew without knowing that the Sly King had not responded to the call for evacuation. He had remained in his stronghold until the very end; perhaps he’d even added to that final explosion. It wouldn’t surprise her at all to learn he’d made sure that no one could ever take his fortress.

“Let’s move,” Oran said, gesturing for them to stay low as they moved through the orchard of cherry trees.