“Thought what? Thought we’d have a happy reunion? I would hold out my arms and welcome you into them as the mother I always wished I had? The mother I always wished I had died when I was eight, slaughtered by demons. You abandoned me. You may have thought your reasons sound, but it doesn’t change the result. And when you gave me up, you gave me up for good. You don’t get to pretend all is well and forgiven. It isn’t. It never will be.”

Her expression hardened.

She vanished.

I screamed into the void left by her absence.

“My count?”

My eyes widened, and I scrambled to my feet, turning to see Arasgon standing there. “What? No, what happened? You shouldn’t be here…”

I only knew one reason Arasgon would be in the Afterlife: his death. But even as the panicked thought rampaged across my mind, I realized Arasgon’s appearance had changed.

Fire burned from his eyes and hooves. Instead of tiger stripes along his legs, his mane was a mass of flame and sparks. I’d have thought him demonic if the flames were blue instead of red. And yet, I would have known Arasgon anywhere. The curve of his flanks, the arch of his neck, the gentle bend of his nose. This wasn’t Xaltorath.

He walked up to me and bent his head to nuzzle my shoulder.

I threw my arms around him and started to cry.

“Did … how?” I lacked any coherence.

“Your mother,” he answered. “She thought you might like my company and so showed me how to join you here.”

I hadn’t even suspected such a thing might be possible or how Tya might have accomplished it. And yet I could assume the Goddess of Magic knew one or two more things than I did.

“If she thinks I’m going to forgive her just because she—” But the words choked in my throat.

Because as gestures went, this was a good start.

I sobbed into his hide, until Arasgon had enough and butted me with his head. “Come on, then. I want to run.”

“You always want to run.” Laughter and tears fought with each other, and I wiped at my eyes.

He gave me a silent laugh and shook his head in agreement. “Running is one of life’s great joys. You two-legs always want to complicate the matter with duties and obligations and punishments. Just run. Remember how you used to love to run?”

“Just run?” I echoed. “I’m not running anymore, Arasgon.”

“Of course you are. You’re just not running away.”

I felt laughter shudder through my chest as I petted his nose, always the softest velvet. No, I wasn’t running away anymore. I felt a moment’s regret, though, for my canton, Tolamer. I had abandoned it, even as I’d promised myself this was necessary to save it.