“Where have you put the blade and glass?” Ryber blurted with none of her usual poise. Her jaw cut a hard slant, her silver eyes had turned to steel.

But Kahina only smiled more widely. “You will forgive me if I do not reveal them quite yet, Sightwitch. We have only just become allies, you know. And as broken as they are, they are all we have against what is coming.”

“And what is that?”

“I think you know.” She dipped her head toward the diary at Ryber’s hip. “What is it your order sings? When the sky splits and the mountain quakes, make time for goodbyes, for the Sleeper soon breaks.”

Stix frowned; she really should read Ryber’s diary, she supposed. “And where are the rest of the Six?” she asked.

This prompted another sigh from Kahina, heavy and frustrated. “The Fury has vanished, Dysi is dead, Saria refuses to pick a side, and the one called Corlant isn’t who he seems. But our cause is not lost, Water Brawler. So long as I remain and you remain, we can fight to the splintered end.”

Stix’s lips pursed at those words. They tickled with familiarity—or maybe it was simply Ryber’s gaze locked on her face that tickled. “And what of the one who betrayed us? The king with the silver crown?”

“He is still out there, playing his own game until there is nothing left but chaos.” Kahina slid her pipe from her pocket. Overhead, a lone gull cried its scree, scr-scree, while in the jungle, cicadas buzzed into wakefulness and welcomed the day. “You want to go after your queen. As do I. But until the Sleeper rests, we are no use to anyone.”

“No,” Stix said, a small pinch gathering between her brows. “I understand that now. And yet.” She rubbed at her chest, an ineffectual movement for the enormity of what swelled inside her. Like a firepot in a birdcage just waiting to go off.

“And yet,” Kahina agreed. “Here you are, and here I am, driven by the same need to always keep the Goddess-chosen rulers safe.”

“Oh,” Ryber murmured, a breathiness to the word, as if she finally understood why Stix had come here. Then her cards began whispering while she flipped them out one by one. “The Queen of Hawks, the Queen of Foxes, and the Giant.”

Kahina nodded at that, tapping her bowl against her ring. Ash floated on the breeze. “It is almost time for the battle to begin here. After that, we will have to leave. Sirmaya depends upon us. The entire Witchlands depends upon us.”

Stix squinted out over the dawn-bright sea, the cracks in her spectacles distorting each splash and wave. “Your ships are out there, then?”

“Near, and when we are finished aiding our rulers, my Red Sails will pick off any remaining ships. But until that moment…”

“We fight,” Stix finished.