One by one, Cerulean eyes lit up like fires. Daina gasped and Freeda sucked in a hard breath and Koreen made a sound like a giggle and a cough. Sera’s mothers looked fierce, as Sera had never seen them before.

“Now walk the beaches,” Leela said, and Sera knew she was thinking of Wyllin’s memory, of the Cerulean wandering through the forests of Orial. “And give back.”

Faint wisps of magic emanated out from Acolyte Endaria as she took the first steps. Acolyte Imima followed after, then Sera’s mothers, then Koreen, then all the travelers were walking the white sand, leaving the faintest trace of silver trailing out from behind them.

Sera beamed, so proud of her people.

Until she realized someone was missing.

“The High Priestess,” she gasped.

“Where could she have gone?” Leela asked.

Sera’s eyes turned upward to the ruins of the Alcazar. “Wyllin,” she said.

She and Leela left the others on the beach, Agnes, Leo, and Elorin coming with them. Leela was breathing heavily by the time they reached the top of the cliff.

“I never dreamed I’d see a planet,” Elorin said, gazing out over the ocean. “It’s not quite what I thought.”

Sera grinned. “What did you think it would be like?”

Elorin paused. “Smaller,” she said. “And not so green.”

“The city we come from isn’t as green as this,” Agnes said.

“No,” Sera agreed. “And there were dwellings as tall as the temple piled up next to each other, made of all sorts of materials, with hardly any trees.”

Leela wore a curious expression, one that made Sera’s stomach twinge with an inexplicable sense of foreboding. “You have seen so much,” she said.

“I suppose there will be even more to see when we leave this planet,” Sera said, trying to sound brave. She saw Leo flinch out of the corner of her eye but could not bring herself to look at him. She’d have to leave him. Again.

They passed through the doors to the Alcazar and made their way back to the courtyard. And there, by the fountain, was the High Priestess. She and Wyllin stood several feet apart.

“You abandoned me,” Wyllin was saying, though there was no anger in her tone.

The High Priestess crumpled. “Forgive me, Wyllin. I didn’t know how it would work, not really. I was frightened. I thought I was doing what was right.”

“I know,” Wyllin said. Her eyes caught Sera’s and then she pointed. The High Priestess turned to find Leo and Agnes gaping at her.