The world froze for a moment before starting again in a frenzy.

The Wolfbanes shouted at each other, their voices fighting to be heard. One word stuck out amidst the rest: Captain.

Ash strained to listen as she fumbled over the shattered chests toward Caspian. He hunched forward now, balanced against his palms but precariously close to the edge he'd shoved Wolfbane over. She escaped the sharp shards at the same time she heard the most blessed of words.

"Retreat! We must get down there to find the captain!" This came from Yuru, who had made his way to stand apart from the battle at some point.

"But what about the captives?" a bald man asked.

Yuru shot him a glare. "If the captain's alive, he won't want them dead. And whether or not he is, I don't want to be here when the Nimfeli arrive. So, either follow me, or deal with the riffraff yourselves. Lanelle, come along!"

Ash didn't know who he meant, but he didn't wait for them. He took off down the corridor Ash and Caspian had arrived through.

"Follow the fox!" the pale man shouted.

"Garman, protect the Blade!" Lorica called.

Ash paused her approach to see Garman bound over to Callum. He jumped between the young man and the pale pirate that had been nearing him. Lorica rushed over to join him. They were both battered and bruised, but between their ferocity, the pirate's retreating allies, and the threatening gaping hole, the man risked more than he could gain. Spitting at their feet, he turned and sprinted after the others.

The relief was short lived because someone else soon took the pale man's place. She was his exact opposite, with dark brown skin and reaching no more than five feet in height. Garman snarled at her approach, and she flinched away.

"Wait," Callum gasped. He pushed himself into a near sitting position, one hand propping him up and the other reaching toward Garman. When the lysian didn't move, Callum looked past him to the girl. "Lanelle, are you...?"

Lanelle glanced at the way the other Wolfbanes had gone before shaking her head. "I can't. They still have my grandma, remember? But the Nimfeli are going to storm this place soon, and you need to escape." She pointed at the tunnel. "Go back through there and toward the previous storage room. Near halfway, you'll find a painting of a rainbow-feathered Nimfelum. Push inward. It's a secret door that takes you to an emergency exit."

Ash didn't know why Callum trusted this pirate girl, and Lorica couldn't have either, but her captain still asked, "But won't your crew be there?"

She shook her head. "They'll be dispersing. We don't want the Nimfeli to have any more reason to connect us to the havoc you've caused. This will put a mark on your crew's backs. I must go before they notice my absence."

Pushing himself even further up, Callum kept his eyes trained on the retreating girl. "You'll be free someday, Lanelle, I promise," he said.

She didn't look back, but she paused. "Don't let your guards down," she said instead of addressing Callum's vow. "He's not dead." With that, she took off through the secret tunnel to catch her crewmates.

"She's right," a small, raw voice said. Ash wouldn't have caught it had she not stood so close to Caspian. He still hadn't pushed himself up, opting to stare down through the hole instead. "He can't be dead. If he was, I'd feel it, right? This shadow would be gone."

Ash had wondered the same when she'd thought Odella might have died after lunes of no news, but even if it were true, she wasn't sure it worked for those who had scarred one's soul rather than filled it. With no answer to give, she crouched down and placed a hand on Caspian's shoulder.

She ached to do more to comfort him, but she didn't know what else she could—or should—do.

"Is he alright?" Willow stood on the other side of the hole. Cuts littered her face, and one of her eyes was nearly swollen shut. The visible eye stared down Caspian with concern.

"Yes," he answered before Ash could. As if the lie wasn't obvious enough, the word rang hollow. He pushed himself back on his knees, though his eyes never left the hole.

"We don't have much time. Anyone who has the strength, I need you to assist those who cannot walk on their own." Lorica's voice seemed to boom despite being at a normal volume. The world might be crumbling, but she was Captain Nightwrath regardless. "We must leave the fallen. Haylan, swiftly salvage any remembrance pieces that you can."

"Yes, Captain!" Face somber, Haylan rushed to Jhor's side. He removed the man's wedding band before moving on to Arda.

Realizing she had to act, Ash turned to Caspian. "We need to move," she said.

He closed his eyes. She thought that might be the first time he'd done so since Wolfbane's fall. The knot in his neck bobbed with a hard swallow. "I didn't kill him," he said.

They still didn't know that, but Ash set that aside for now. It wasn't what Caspian needed to hear. "You saved so many of us by buying us time and then ensuring he fell through. The people still here are because of you. Now, let's go and get them back to the ship."

Another gulp, and then he opened his eyes and nodded. "Yeah, let's get out of here." He stood slowly, and Ash followed beside him. When he crumpled back down, she caught him. "I'm fine, really. Ankle didn't expect it, is all."

"We need to make sure you don't fall into the hole on your way around it," Ash pointed out, stubbornly putting his arm over her shoulder.

He didn't fight her further. They took the longer way around since it had more space. By the time they'd made it to the others, everyone was ready. Lorica assisted Callum while Haylan and Willow helped the other two surviving Nightwraths. Willow didn't look like she was well enough to be helping another, but Korri wasn't much better.

Lorica surveyed everyone before nodding. "Garman, you take the lead. Everyone else, follow us."

Even going as quickly as they could, it was slow. Caspian slipped away from Ash, but he kept pace, even while limping at her side. They arrived at the secret passage and pushed onward. Garman stayed a few feet ahead as he sniffed the air for new arrivals. When he got too far ahead, he paced in a circle to wait for them.

They never found the Nimfeli Caspian knocked out, which Ash didn't take as a good sign.

It felt like it took them a sol to arrive at the painting Lanelle had mentioned. Lorica leaned Callum against the wall long enough to shove against the painting. As the Wolfbane girl had said, it pushed inward. Ash sent up a prayer that they weren't walking into a trap. They wouldn't survive if they did.

Garman's head snapped up. His lips curled back into a snarl as he scented the air. He jerked his muzzle toward the new opening and nodded toward it. Ash went cold. He was telling them to go in, yet he'd smelled danger. It must have been coming from elsewhere.

Ash and Caspian took up the rear of the group, so they were the last in except for Garman. The lysian followed them and then shoved the door closed. He growled at the door before hurrying to Lorica's side.

They'd arrived in a circular, plain room. A pillar of some sort sat in the middle with the Nimfeli characters inscribed on its top. Crystalline ice created a mirror-like wall on the backside of the room, with an arched opening leading out into the open sky. One of those small, floating clouds levitated in front of the opening, bobbing as if to beckon them.

Lorica walked to the pillar and examined it. She pressed down on one of the symbols, and it emitted a faint grey glow. The area beneath the floating cloud did the same but also squirmed as if alive.

"Do you know what's happening?" Willow asked, eyeing the glowing spots warily.

"This controls the room's escape system," Lorica explained, gesturing to the top of the pillar. "I've activated it. Those cumula will take us back down to land. It will be a tight fit with their size, but we'll be able to fit two on each. Garman, you first. Ensure we're safe where it drops us off. I'll take up the back."

The lysian shook his head. He fixed her with a fiery red stare as he moved to stand at her side. Even if he couldn't speak, he conveyed his message loud and clear. If she remained here, so did he.

Caspian stood straighter, and though it couldn't have been easy, he kept any pain from his expression. "You go after him, Captain. If anything goes wrong, you and the Blade need to be the ones to escape. You're the most valuable pieces up here."

Lorica pressed her lips together. Between that and the slant of her brow, she made her disagreement clear without words, but she didn't have a chance to argue. Garman tugged at her clothes with his near-humanoid hand. With both of her most trusted crewmates against her, she sighed.

"Fine. We don't have time to argue this. Garman, go. I'll be on the cumula right after you."

He eyed her for a moment longer, as if gauging her honesty, before doing as she said. In other circumstances, it would have been hilarious seeing the large beast awkwardly and nervously fit himself onto a floating bit of cloud. He snarled when it glided forward, though it couldn't hide the flash of worry in his eyes.

Ash had never related to Garman more than in that moment. She'd have been happy to never ride one of those things again.

As the cumula descended with Garman upon it, the patch of cloud beneath where it had been bubbled like overheated water. The bubbling grew in size until detaching. Another cumula floated in the place of the last one.

Keeping her word, Lorica took this one. Callum yanked his sleeves over his hands despite having no chance of touching their magical transport. The process from before repeated. Haylan and Willow shared a look, but she set her jaw stubbornly. Chuckling affectionately, Haylan positioned himself and the other Nightwrath on the cloud.

"I'll go down with Caspian," Ash said when Willow hesitated. "You get Korri down there. And, do yourself a favor. Don't look down."

"I could have told you that." She stuck her tongue out at Ash, but nerves crinkled the spot between her brows as she approached the cloud.

Willow's foot touched the cumula at the same time Ash felt it. A sensation trailed its way down her spine before making its way to her chest. There was that familiar tug that she'd felt perhaps only an hour before. The warmth drained from her body.

"What's wrong?" Caspian asked, noticing her change instantly.

"We need to go. Now."

"Ash?" Willow asked. The cloud beneath her glided forward, forcing her to focus on staying on top of it. As the transportation descended, Willow shot a quick, panicked glance back toward Ash. But she was already vanishing. There was nothing for her to do against what Ash sensed coming.

Not that she and Caspian could do anything, either. Ash grabbed Caspian's arm and pulled him toward the next cumula. "Come on, come on, come on!"

He didn't fight her, but his confusion slowed him down. "What's going on?"

If the door made a sound, she didn't catch it, but she couldn't miss what came next. "Stop."

Less than a foot separated Ash from escape when Caspian stilled. She stumbled forward and nearly tripped over the cloud. The expansive night sky opened up in front of her too suddenly, and her stomach almost left her mouth.

The sight she found behind her was much worse.

Roan stood in the middle of the room with Nimfeli pouring in behind him. The Nimfelum that had appeared with Wolfbane followed close behind Roan. He stepped past the Scion to stand next to the pedestal and pressed something on it. The glow both on the structure and on the floor faded while the cumula melted away.

Ten Nimfeli formed a tight semi-circle around Ash and Caspian, blades poised to strike. They left a gap to reveal Roan and the verdant-feathered Nimfelum.

"Human, you have something that belongs to us." The Nimfelum's eyes narrowed on Ash. "I suggest you return it."

Ash inched back. A cool breeze tickled her neck, reminding her of what yawned open behind her, and she froze. Caspian shifted to stand beside her. Either he'd broken Roan's magical hold, or Roan had released it once he saw they had no leave. She had a horrible feeling it was the latter.

"Do you plan to activate our escape if we give you it?" Caspian asked. When he received no response, he smiled. "Didn't think you would, so why should we make it easy?"

The Nimfelum scoffed. "Should you resist, we can prolong your deaths. Don't let our peace with the other races fool you. We do know how to punish those who defy our laws."

Roan shot a glare at the Nimfelum. "You will not harm the woman," he said.

The seed of an idea took root in Ash's mind. A very dangerous, deadly idea that relied on a tenuous possibility. But what else were they to do? She'd sheathed her dagger during the fight to avoid losing it, and by the time she reached for it, the Nimfeli would react. Caspian hadn't even brought his stolen sword, and his own dagger was in the same position as hers. Even if they could draw their weapons, they were drained, especially him. They wouldn't last in a fight.

She grabbed Caspian's hand and tugged him toward her. If the Nimfeli noticed, they didn't care, as they still waited for the verdant Nimfelum to give an order. The Nimfelum didn't pay attention to Ash or Caspian. He was too preoccupied hissing his indignation at Roan for the Unwoven's demand for Ash's safety.

Caspian let her pull guide him, putting him right at her side. He glanced down at their hands, then at her face. As he searched her expression, something flickered in his own, and though she couldn't read what it was, her nerves jittered. Or maybe that was because of what she was about to do.

"Trust me," she said, hoping her voice didn't convey how little she trusted herself.

His lip twitched as if he had heard a joke rather than a request, but he nodded.

Bracing herself for all that could go wrong, she faced their enemies. "Roan."

His eyes slid from the Nimfelum and fell on her.

She swallowed. As her gaze latched to Roan's, she saw all the moments that had led to this idea. His fury when he discovered her aboard the pirate ship, his gentleness despite the emptiness that came with being an Unwoven when he tried to reason with her, his warnings to send her away. Even now, when he refused to let her come to harm.

He was a monster, created into such by the hole cut into him by the false gods.

But he was also wrong about one thing, and she knew that. Or maybe she simply prayed it to be true, because she needed to be right if she wished for her plan not to kill them.

"They didn't take it all," she said, pouring her belief into her words. "You're still in there. They hurt you because you believed in what's right. Don't let them steal that from you, too. Please, do the right thing here."

Without giving anyone time to react, she spun, encircled her arms around Caspian, and threw them both over the edge.

The wind whipped around Ash. Her heart climbed into her throat as she hurtled through the open air. Caspian cursed rapidly, though never at her. His hold on her was even tighter than hers around him.

The sea grew closer by the second. Too close. Had she been wrong?

But then she felt it. A shudder in the air so powerful that she could believe an impossible force was attempting to rent the world in two. It had to be that sheer amount of magic that carried his voice to her.

"Slow!"

Roan's presence wrapped around them. Their descent continued, but steady and gentle. The gods had feared this Scion, and they'd been right to. He could warp the world with a single command if he desired.

How much of himself had she forced him to surrender to do this?

"You're insane, Cinders," Caspian breathed into her ear as he realized what she'd done. "Dreamer above, absolutely insane." He squeezed her even tighter. She became very aware of his heart rampaging beneath his skin.

She pressed her head against his chest and breathed. They were alive. She didn't know if their survival or her guilt brought tears to her eyes, but she didn't fight them.

"Slow." Roan's voice resonated around them again, quieter but just as powerful. He repeated it two more times before his presence around them vanished.

They fell once more, but only ten feet remained between them and the sea below. The cold water swallowed them and stole the breath from Ash's lungs. She managed not to inhale as she and Caspian disentangled themselves from each other. He broke the surface first, but she followed soon after. They both took large gulps of air.

Ash tipped her head back to stare at the floating island above. She didn't believe it possible, but she could have sworn she saw the glimmer of emerald.

A sudden burst of laughter shocked her into looking forward. Caspian looked up at Maewyll as well, but he brought his eyes down to her as he laughed again, the sound more relieved than amused. "We did it," he said.

She couldn't help her own near-crazed laugh. "We did." They'd escaped, along with most of the others, and they'd rescued Callum. They'd mourn the lost lives, but for the moment, she rode the rush of euphoria.

"You drowning sods!"

Ash shifted to face the direction of the voice. Willow stood twenty feet away in waist-deep water. Everyone else gathered on the land behind them.

"Get over here! We have to hurry. And the moment we're safe, I'm strapping you to the front of the ship for scaring me like that!"

"That is a horrible thank you!" Caspian hollered back, and then he glanced Ash's way. "She's right, though. Let's make sure this entire adventure wasn't a waste."

They swam to the shore, each stroke taking them further away from Maewyll and the danger it held.

*****

You didn't think we were going to end this without another Ash and Roan meet-up, did you? And I had WAY too much fun with it xD I always had this imagine of Ash and Caspian falling from the sky at the end of the book even back when this was Midnight, so I'm glad I could still make it work here as well. And also just fun Roan and Ash times VwV 

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!