“She must’ve thought it was best,” Ramin replied. “Otherwise, she would’ve… I don’t know, made new Hermessi, like me.”

“Without understanding her selective reasoning on these previously affected planets, we can’t really tell what she was thinking,” Derek said. “Maybe the people here were evil, or maybe they were bound to die out, eventually. Pax could’ve been headed for its own demise already, before Death’s intervention against the Hermessi. But, then again, they’re all speculations.”

“It doesn’t really matter, if you think about it,” Ramin mused. “Not everything gets to exist forever. Where there’s a beginning, there should be an end. I know it normally applies to you living creatures, but I’ve often believed that all the entities of this universe should be subject to the same rules. Immortality can lead to… madness, sometimes.”

“Are you, perhaps, referring to Brendel?” Claudia asked him.

The Fire Hermessi of Neraka nodded. “She’s been around for longer than any of us. Kabbah, too. Though he was able to step away from the ritual fantasy. I’m not sure when that happened. Maybe he helped her during the first few tries, every other four or five million years.”

“But, then again, madness is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results each time,” Claudia said, bitterly amused. “Kabbah learned that the ritual would never work, while Brendel found a way to make it happen by depriving Death of Thieron.”

“We’re about to take off,” Kafei interjected, positioning herself in front of the control panel. Corrine and Ibrahim flanked her, eager to help if she required additional energy. She began whispering her spell chant, and the light bubble expanded outside and all around our shuttle.

Derek and I resumed our seats and strapped ourselves in, as did Claudia, Yuri, Mona, Kiev, and the other members of our crew. Ramin stood in the middle as the light bubble took off along with our shuttle. The ride was bound to get bumpy without a destination—Kafei was a strong swamp witch apprentice, but not a full swamp witch. Nevertheless, we trusted her, and so did Kailani, who’d urged her to assist us.

I would’ve been perfectly happy with Kailani helping us, but she was needed on Calliope, where the first affected fae had died, putting the others at risk. I was more comfortable knowing that Corrine and Ibrahim’s granddaughter was working with the Reapers to keep the remaining fae in the sanctuary safe—their efforts were limited, but better than nothing.

Kafei didn’t speak much, but she was focused. On top of that, she had a sister to avenge. Acantha had died to get Eirexis, and Kafei had a massive bone to pick with Brendel and the other Hermessi over this. If our endeavor got us any closer to disrupting the ritual, then Kafei was totally on board.

“I must leave you now,” Ramin said, surprising us all.

“Wait. I thought you were coming with us. To help us,” Derek replied, his brow furrowed.

“I am of no use on board this ship,” Ramin explained. “I’ve summoned the remaining rebels to meet me outside Yahwen’s solar system. We’ll help you from there.”

I understood then what he and the others were planning. Yahwen was bound to be tighter on security, and we’d discussed this already as a clear possibility. Ramin and his rebel Hermessi were going to tackle the ritual Hermessi, giving us a better shot at a smooth and safe landing on Yahwen.

“You are brave and crazy to do this,” I said. “You know Brendel will want you all captured or killed.”

“I’m aware. She won’t kill me, though. I’ve stripped Ledar of his succession powers, and Neraka is of logistical importance to Brendel,” Ramin replied. “She won’t risk losing it by killing me.”

“How so, I wonder?” Corrine asked. “I thought she wanted all living creatures gone. Why does Neraka need to still be alive from that point of view, for Brendel to use it? She’ll still be able to work with the three remaining Hermessi once you’re dead, right?”

“I often wondered about this, but I only got my answer recently, after some serious thought.” Ramin sighed. “Brendel doesn’t just want a new dawn with fresh life forms. She wants to control them. She wants to be a supreme god among the Hermessi and the people they will bring to life.”

“Oh, wow, that’s taking micromanagement to a whole new level,” Claudia muttered, shaking her head with disgust.

“It’s probably why Death has stopped her before,” Ramin said.

“Hold on, I’m a little confused. I thought Death killed most, if not all, of the Hermessi who tried the ritual before. I get that Brendel was too close to Death the last time around, but what about the previous attempts?” Kiev asked. “Why wasn’t she destroyed and replaced, like the others?”

“I’m afraid that’s something that only Death can answer,” Ramin replied. “If I’m to follow my reasoning, I’d be inclined to assume that Brendel and Death once had a slightly more amiable relationship. Or maybe Brendel operated from the shadows and pushed other Hermessi to the front as fodder for Death to punish. It could be that it wasn’t until the previous attempt that Death was able to pin this ritual obsession on Brendel.”

The spell took off and shot through the vast space of the In-Between once more, humming as it gained speed. We pierced clouds of pink-and-purple stardust, as Kafei steered the light bubble toward Yahwen.

The complexity of everything that had happened before our time and all that would come to pass if we didn’t stop Brendel made me shudder. There was so much at stake, it hurt to even think about it.

“I’ll go and gather the others, now,” Ramin said. “Fortunately, I am not compelled to stay inside the spell bubble. I might not be able to get back in, though. So I may not see you again. I’ve already told you what side to go through and where the old temple is on Yahwen. I trust you’ll head that way.”

“He’s right,” Kafei replied, her eyes on the cosmic road ahead. “Normally, a Hermessi wouldn’t be able to break into an interplanetary spell—not straightaway, at least. That might no longer be the case for every Hermessi out there, given their power increase. Some might succeed, which would obviously be deadly for us. But Ramin can still get out of here… Good luck, Ramin,” she added. “You’ll need it.”

“You too, young witch. Keep your focus on the destination and nothing else. My friends and I will handle the rest,” Ramin advised her. “Derek, Sofia. I wish you all the best.”

“I do hope we’ll see you again,” I said to him. Harper had gone through so much trouble to get him back to his old self, to help him survive. It would’ve been a shame and a terrible blow to lose Ramin now.

“This is your opportunity to throw Brendel for a loop. Do whatever it takes,” he replied. “Get the children away from her, and more Hermessi will join your side against her.”

Ramin lost his humanoid form as the flames slipped through the tiny grates on the shuttle’s floor. I could hear him swooshing through the pipe system. Moments later, a fireball split from our spell bubble and darted across the incoming asteroid field.

“Everybody, hold on!” Kafei shouted. “It’s about to get bumpy!”

She pressed hard against the hand screens, forcing the spell bubble to descend. The serium batteries shone bright and blue, and we managed to avoid the vast expanse of hurtling rocks that had gotten lost in space.

We watched them roll past us, miles above, as our shuttle continued its interstellar voyage toward Yahwen. Ramin became a fiery dot in the twinkling blackness as he went ahead. We needed all the help we could get with this mission, and we were more than lucky to have an ally like him.

This was an incredible, though frightening, opportunity. But it had to be done. For my son, for everyone who had a future ahead of them. Brendel was unfit to be a god over us or future species and civilizations. She wasn’t even fit to be a Hermessi, given every horrible thing she’d done.

Holding my husband’s hand, I braced myself for the next part of our journey—the rough ride to Yahwen and the mission to extract the Hermessi children. There were only a hundred of us, but there was nothing more powerful or more fearsome than our wills, combined.

We’d built entire worlds with them.

Sofia

The remainder of our journey to Yahwen was, for the most part, uneventful. Kafei held her own as she navigated through the In-Between’s oldest solar system. We’d lost sight of Ramin, but we also knew we’d see him again shortly, and hopefully he wouldn’t be alone.

Kafei drew power from the batteries, with Corrine and Ibrahim supplementing the energy flow by keeping their hands on the young witch’s shoulders. “I’ll need more,” Kafei said as Yahwen grew ahead.

Slightly tilted on its axis, the planet was beautiful, even from hundreds of thousands of miles away. Streaks of white adorned the blue-and-green marble—clouds bearing heavy rains, judging by their ample formations. Dozens of orange lights orbited the planet. All of them Hermessi, stationed there to protect it from incoming forces such as ourselves.

“Ramin advised us to steer toward the dark side of Yahwen,” Derek said, his gaze fixed on the shuttle’s massive windshield. It gave us a full view of our destination and the many hostiles that guarded it. Yahwen’s moon looked over the night on the planet, while the day basked in golden sunshine.

“Yes, I’m trying to get us there,” Kafei replied, as the spell bubble descended and slowed into an arched motion, moving away from the initial, straight trajectory. “That’s why I need more power.”

“Samira, Waleen, can you please join us?” Ibrahim asked.

Two jinn got up from their seats and positioned themselves behind Kafei, placing their hands on her upper back. Their palms lit up in a shade of gentle lilac as Kafei whispered the spell required to draw additional energy from them. The jinn, a female and a male, hovered over the grate floor, their lower body mist illuminated by what looked like lightning inside grayish clouds—a side effect of Kafei’s magic, from what I could tell.

“This feels weird,” Samira murmured, glancing back at me.

“I can only imagine,” I replied. “Thank you for the support, nonetheless.”

“Whatever helps to keep us from crashing.” Waleen chuckled.

Yahwen occupied most of our visual field now, and I wondered whether we’d make it safely through. I felt my blood pumping with adrenaline. Derek gripped my hand firmly, giving me a reassuring smile.

“It’ll be okay,” he said.

“Is that your optimism talking?” I asked, without hiding my amusement.