She went back to the assassin, knelt beside him, and spoke a Druid grace to give him peace and forgiveness. Even the worst of the dead deserved that much.

Then she rose and went to find her sister to say good-bye.

It was time to return to Paranor.

4

WITHIN THE JAGGED RING OF THE DRAGON’S TEETH, FADING daylight turned scarlet splashed across the canopy of the Forbidden Forest all the way to the spires of Paranor. The Druid’s Keep rose stark and solitary out of an ocean of trees, its ancient stones blackened by time and weather—a vast sprawling complex in the midst of a wilderness. At the helm of the Wend-A-Way, Aphenglow eased off the thrusters, bringing the craft almost to a halt, creeping forward so that she could consider what she had left behind. It had been a long time since she had been home to Paranor, and she felt the need to prepare herself for her return.

She had left at sunrise, awake before Arlingfant so that they could say their good-byes. Her sister had asked again to come with her, to join her as a Druid and leave her life as a Chosen behind. She had cried, which had caused Aphenglow to cry, as well. But in the end Aphenglow only kissed her sister, hugged her close, and promised she would be back to see her again soon. “Take care of Mother,” she whispered before breaking away.

It all seemed very long ago now that she was coming up on Paranor and the life she had chosen for herself. She felt excited as she watched the details of the towers and walls come into focus, the places she had always favored revealing themselves one by one, the secrets she had discovered finding fresh purchase in her memories. The history of the Druids was intriguing and compelling, but it was the structure of the Keep itself that left her breathless. Sometimes she thought back to the days of Galaphile and the first Druids and wondered how they had managed to construct such a massive and complex edifice in a time when so little in the way of machinery and skill had been available.