She led them down the winding path, an easier journey than the climb had been, though nearly as long. The sound of cannon fire chased their steps, along with the shouts from both Renalt and Byrne forces alike. They reached the beach and Agnes stopped short. Misarros were locked in combat, swords and knives flashing, whips cracking, spears flying through the air.

If Agnes was the head of these Misarros, they should have to listen to her. “This isn’t what I want,” she said to the leader. “I don’t want them to fight. Ambrosine’s dead. There’s no power or wealth on this island. There’s nothing to fight over anymore.”

The Misarro gave her a curt nod. “Halt!” she cried out, running toward the fray. “Drop your weapons, by order of the matriarch!”

The other Misarros followed, but they were only pulled into the fighting instead of ending it, as the Renalt Misarros focused their attacks on the newcomers.

“No,” Agnes moaned. She had lost her best friend and her grandmother, and the weight of her grief, of the unfairness of it all, ripped out of her in a wild, untamed cry. “Stop fighting!” She began sprinting toward the fray, sand flying up beneath her heels. “Stop!”

Someone behind her called, “Agnes!” but then her brother was running in time with her. Though his face was expressionless, Agnes could see the pain in his eyes, the agony of Sera’s loss fresh within him. He didn’t cry out to stop the fighting—he didn’t speak at all, and Agnes had the sense that he was here simply to be by her side, to protect her in any way he could. A spear whizzed by her head and a dagger shot past Leo, grazing his shoulder, a fine line of bright red blood seeping through his shirt. Just as Agnes thought, Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, there was a flash of light on the beach in front of her. Then another. And another.

The cannons ceased and the fighting stopped as the beach was suddenly filled with Cerulean.

Half the Misarros stood stunned, eyes wide and mouths agape, the other half readying their weapons as if waiting for the knot of silver-skinned women to attack. The Cerulean seemed just as surprised as the humans, taking in Agnes’s world with its blue sky and white sand and salty water as if spellbound.

“Sera!” Leo cried. And there she was, her head turning at the sound of his voice and they were running to each other, and Agnes was running too. Leo and Sera crashed into each other, and Agnes’s brother was shaking with joy.

“You’re here,” he gasped as Agnes caught up with them, panting. She realized her family had followed her, Matthias and Hektor, along with Vada and Eneas.

“I couldn’t leave you in danger,” Sera said. “And we must give back what we took from the planet.”