A chilling thought entered my head. If he’s standing here, why were the others still crowded around the wall?

“They’re trying to save my life,” he answered, even though I didn’t say the question aloud.

“Your life? But you're alive right here.” I reached out my hand. “Come with me, back to where your body is.”

He shook his head, a simple action that gripped my heart. “I'm so sorry Badger. You were right.” The spiky silver light of his daughter's soul orbited the crowd around his body. “This was too dangerous. We were just so worried…”

I took his hand. It was hot like a stone baking in the sun. “Don't talk like that. Let me help you. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

He squeezed my hand and pushed it away. “Promise me you won't blame yourself. Don't let Sharp blame herself either.” He laughed, without fear or apprehension. “You can't let mistakes hold you back. Learn, grow, move on. I won’t be as far away as you think.”

I grabbed his other hand and pulled. “Please…”

Again, he pulled away. Another light was growing behind him. “It's too late. I can't go back.”

“We need you,” I pleaded through tears. “You have to stay.”

The others talked across dimensions, but something muffled them. It was like Glass and I were the only ones in the room.

“Look at me Badger.” No hint of uncertainty in his eyes. “We knew your destiny would lead you here one day. To live is to make mistakes. To live is to die, so we must cherish whatever life we’re given.”

“But my power…” All I could do now was beg. “I’m in the Divine Pantheon. I might be able to change things. Let me try at least.”

A threshold of light bloomed, as blindingly bright as the sun. The smile on his face was even brighter. He reached for it, and whispered, “I have to go.”

“No!” I shouted, refusing to believe what I knew in my heart to be true. Had his eyes always been so young? I’d known this man since I was just a little kid. He set my leg after I broke it falling from a tree. When Mama Robin came down with a strong seasonal illness, it was Glass who took the snowy journey to Pavv for the proper elixir. On the palm of my hand were the ghosts of stitches from the incident with the thorn bush, a cut sewn by steady hands.

“Before you get sad kid,” he scolded. “You have the chance to give me a beautiful gift. Maybe you can't save my life, but you can hear my last words. Can I trust you with this?”

The stone of melancholy in my throat prevented me from speaking, so I bowed my head.

“Tell your mothers I cherished their friendship. Tell your friends I loved them like they were my own. You too.”

I smiled. Salty tears touched my lips.

“Tell Sharp she has the spirit of her mother, and she should never underestimate her strength.” The uncanny threshold of light framed him, waiting patiently. “Tell her I’ll always be by her side.”

A moment of clarity came over me, a feeling so strong it cut through the building grief. “I’ve been thinking,” I said, savoring some of the last words I spoke to him, “I want to be a doctor.”

He touched his chest. A piece of his light removed itself, floating over and nestling somewhere near my heart. “Good. Promise to be the best.”

I promised. In my head, I imagined the look falling over Sharp's face when she learned she was now an orphan.

A hand of light intertwined its fingers with his. Could it be the Goddess herself, I wondered, or Crystal Of-the-City reuniting with her husband on the other side of life? His body split apart, and the shattered soul light merged with all the souls around us. For a moment, Sharp was brightest in the room. The rest of him disappeared through the doorway, forever.

I returned. My legs turned to jelly and brought me to my knees. The air that had been smoky and black was now a bright wispy orange. New and heavy grief bloomed in Ivory's aura. They understood what had happened. Glass had not survived.

Without a word, my friends wrapped their arms around me. Sharp's black silky hair draped over my shoulder. Tears soaked through my shirt, her body shaking with despair. Maybe it was because of Ivory, or the light that still lingered in my heart, but somehow amidst that sea of grief, I was calm. My tears were already dry.

“It's going to be alright,” I whispered, for them and for myself. “He'll be with us forever.”

Chapter Fifteen

Ghosts and Goodbyes

A week later, the only thing I could think about was the sun. It wouldn't be long before I was enveloped in its warmth, far from the Dark.

Joy for Ivory's victory was soured by the tragic coup, so the coronation ritual had been short and private. Tomorrow we would leave for the Arbor Inn, a midway point between the City and Pantmawr, where all the friends and family of Glass would meet for his funeral.

Willow’s voice graced my threshold. “You're not seriously going to wear that, are you?”

I looked at the black ensemble laid out on the circular bed. “It's a Valley tradition to wear dark colors at a funeral.” I appraised his appearance and laughed. “What are you wearing?”

He straightened a black tie and brushed the sides of an ill-fitting purple velvet suit. The blue scarves around his arms clashed terribly, but I could tell he liked it that way. “Something fun. Made you laugh, didn’t I? City funerals aren’t a painfully sad affair like the dreadful ones in the Valley. They do things differently. The point is to have a night of peace and good times with your loved ones. Wipe that frown from your freckled face and find a new outfit.”

My hands fell to my sides. “It's not like I have many options. These aren’t even mine.”

“Nonsense.” He took my hand, mayhem clouding his gaze. “You just don't know where to look. Come with me.”

I shook his hand off but still followed, curious. We passed some staffers who greeted me with enthusiasm. Most of the people in the palace town celebrated the transfer of power, yet few of them knew the extent of how it happened. I had no intention of breaking their good spirits.

As we turned down an empty corridor, it occurred to me this was the first real chance the two of us had to speak alone since the events in the throne room. The last week of preparing for the event and getting the message out to the family and friends of Glass had been hectic, but I hadn’t forgotten the memories I stumbled into that day.

I stopped. “Wait a minute.”

His crooked white teeth gleamed. “Come on, we have to hurry before the good stuff is taken!”

“Okay, but just…give me a chance to apologize. That day… the day they took you… I saw something you obviously didn’t want me to see.” When he tilted his head, I added, “Don’t you remember? I read your mind.”

The gleam faltered and he looked down, a white feather earring dangling near his shoulder. “You don't need to be sorry. Once that man trapped me, I was so scared, I forgot all about it. I don’t even know what you saw.”

I recalled the memory of falling a great distance and waking to see the face of a young girl. Willow tended to avoid anything too serious, so the sincere sadness stirring in his eyes was not a sight I enjoyed.

“Remember that story I told you? The one about sparring with the princess from the Kingdom of the Wind?”

I leaned against the red interior wood, designed with little flame carvings. “The one you told before we left? I thought you made that up.”

His frown deepened. “Except I didn't make it up. Well, I made up the sword fight, but I really do know a princess! When I was four years old, I thought I could make it to the Kingdom on my own to get some of their decadent bubbly chocolate. The problem is, I had no control over my power. I made it halfway up, slipped, and fell to what should have been my death. The girl you saw in that memory saved my life. Her name is Phoenix Of-the-Wind, King Wyvern’s youngest daughter.”

This information hit me square in the face. My mouth was agape. Being the subject of prophecy had altered my perspective and attuned me to coincidence. “This princess…do you think she’s the one with ATMOSPHERE?”

“I’m not sure,” Willow lowered his voice, “but there’s a way to find out. Before we leave, I’d like that fortune-teller to let us look at that special book, The Compendium of the Divine. It’ll show us the truth.”

He led me by the sleeve down the hall. “But first, fashion. Look, I’m going to tell our friends about Phoenix, but nobody else can know. She’ll be in danger if Wyvern knows she’s alive.”

We entered a great black doorway leading to a large, luxurious bedroom. I froze. “Are we supposed to be here?”