She massages her temples and pauses as if trying to choose her words carefully. “Sookhee wasn’t…herself near the end. She was obsessed with the sunstone ax, and when we tried to protect her from it, she turned violent. It was almost like she became someone else. She fought anyone who stood in her way, and innocent lives were lost at her hands.” She glances at me and at Taeyo, and something in her eyes makes me feel uneasy. “So we had no choice but to defend ourselves. I’m sorry, Emmett. I really am.”

Emmett sobs harder, and I pull him closer to me. Could the person who gave birth to my best friend really have been corrupted by an artifact and driven mad with greed? I don’t know what to believe anymore.

Sora comes over and puts a hand on Emmett’s shoulder. “But the thing is, I don’t believe Sookhee meant for any of that to happen. I’ve been thinking about that day for a long time now, and something she said before she passed has stayed with me.”

“What was it?” I ask, and Emmett looks up, too.

“She said, ‘She made me do it—I thought she was my friend.’” Sora pauses thoughtfully. “The council pulled the strings—there’s no doubt about that. But I believe someone else was involved. Someone close to her, whom she thought she could trust.”

A shiver runs through my body. Emmett’s mom and Auntie Okja used to be best friends. And Auntie Okja took over as Gom elder after Mrs. Harrison died….

I quickly push the thought away. This is my auntie, the gracious, selfless healer we’re talking about. She would never. Not in a million years!

Eventually, Emmett pulls himself together. “I’ve heard enough. The only person who could clear this up is my mom, and she’s not here anymore. That leaves us with one option: Find the last artifact and destroy it ourselves.” He wipes his face and sniffles away his last tears. “Regardless of whether your story or the council’s is true, a fallen star is the reason for my mom’s death. So I will destroy the last one before it can ruin anyone else’s life. I won’t let her death be in vain.”

I squeeze his shoulder. Yes. Finding and destroying the last fallen star is our solution to everything. The Cave Bear Goddess will be pleased, we’ll get Hattie back, and Emmett will have avenged his mother’s death. And if the prophecy’s to be believed, we’ll have saved the entire world from the end of days.

“He’s right,” I declare to Sora and Taeyo. “Let’s work together. Let’s find the eighth artifact so we can destroy it.”