Skye had moved the soldiers of the Fist who remained on the Globe to the foothills of Dunsinane. It was strange to visit the barren purple mountains that she associated with Reaper and find her own people.

The camp was unlike any that Valerie had seen on Earth. There were houseplants that grew into luxurious beds, and the aromas of food cooking smelled like what you'd find in a fancy restaurant instead of the stew you might expect when roughing it outside.

There were even some solid buildings that had popped up, courtesy of the Architecture Guild. They were simple, but elegant, with lots of light.

The organized bustle of the camp slowed when she approached. Soldiers paused to shake her hand or stare at her. It didn't make her uncomfortable anymore. These people were her extended family, and they'd all die for each other.

Skye trotted out of one of the buildings, and under his stern glare, Conjurors returned to their activities.

"We weren't expecting you today."

"I'm here to talk to Juniper, but you should listen, too," Valerie said.

Skye nodded in the direction of a group of soldiers practicing blocks with their weapons. Juniper was among them, correcting stances and giving instructions. He didn't hide the stump where his hand had been, or wear any kind of prosthesis. Valerie couldn't help staring at the physical reminder of the toll this war was taking on them all.

But Juniper was entirely at ease with himself and his role. "Remember that the light in your weapon is the only thing that keeps the Fractus's black weapons from absorbing your magic. Keep your weapon in front of you, blazing, at all times."

"What if those black-eyed Fractus are around? Our weapons are useless then," said a woman who was no taller than Valerie's waist and had a pair of wings sprouting from her back.

"Wyld is right," Juniper said to the group. "Not all of the Fist's weapons are imbued with the new magic that protects you from the darkness. But more of these weapons arrive every day, so call out the code word, and someone will come to help you. We don't send any team into battle without at least a few of the new light weapons."

Juniper saw Valerie and gave her a nod.

"Continue sparring with each other until the lunch bell," he said before walking over to join her.

"Let's talk inside," Skye said, and the three went into one of the buildings.

Inside, it was a workshop of some kind, and it was empty.

Skye noticed Valerie scanning the room. "The lightweavers from the People of the Woods work here, creating more powerful weapons. Cyrus himself visits regularly to oversee their progress. But it will be months before we have all the weapons we need."

"We won't have that long before our next key battle," Valerie said.

She explained what she'd learned about binding magic on Earth, and how Reaper would try to use the magic from the flame for his own ends.

"Before that happens, we need to attack, on Earth and the Globe. I'm hoping that by challenging Reaper here, it will divert some of the Fractus from Earth and minimize human casualties."

"We'll have our soldiers as ready as they can be when it's time to fight Reaper," Skye said. "We all yearn to take back Arden. Living in our enemy's abandoned home is a blasphemy."

Valerie turned to Juniper. "That's not the only reason I'm here."

Her friend cocked his head. "What? You're looking at me like you're about to throw me into a volcano, and you feel really bad about it."

He'd been joking, but he wasn't far from the truth.

"Putting the rules limiting magic on Earth back in place requires a Conjuror with the ability to bind magic," Valerie said.

Juniper was shaking his head, and he took a step backward. "You can't mean me."

"You're the only Conjuror I know with that power. Is there anyone else?"

"My brothers...but they're all younger than me. We inherited our power from my mom, but her powers were much weaker."

Skye pawed at the ground. "It is an unusual power. And, like your mother, most with binding magic have only a weak manifestation of it."

Juniper sat down on a stool, his gaze faraway. "I don't know if this is terrifying or amazing."

Valerie watched him closely. "Maybe it's both."

"When I became a Knight, I wanted to be a hero. But even then, I never dreamed I'd be doing something this big. I'm not even sure I know how."

"I'm hoping the People of the Woods can help you. They're creating the object that will contain the spell when it's time," Valerie said.

Skye flicked his tail. "I do not doubt that Juniper can do this. But is it the best solution? An object that binds magic on Earth has failed us once. What if Reaper destroys it again?"

"It's the only idea we have for now, but I share your worry. I want more for Earth and the Globe than for things to go back to the way they were," Valerie said.

Skye nodded. "We all do."

"For now, I'm glad we have you, Juniper. Are you up for saving the universe?"

Juniper grinned, which was her goal, but he was tapping the fingers of his good hand against the table with nervous energy. "I'm in."

Valerie was walking through the cities in the trees when she was hit by a wave of joy from Henry. She had a brief flash of Kanti's shining face before Henry leaned in and started kissing her like the sun would stop shining if he didn't.

"Oh, ew. Please block me, Henry," she said. "Not that I'm not happy for you and all."

There was another flash of Henry's happiness, and an echo of his laughter, before he shut her out of his mind and she didn't have to listen to any more wandering thoughts about how good Kanti's dress looked on her.

Despite not wanting a front-row seat to their reunion, a pang of deep joy filled her at the thought that Henry and Kanti had finally made up. It was sweet to revel in an emotion other than pain or grief or guilt, and it also made her think of Thai.

Was she really pushing him away because her mind was fraying, or did she think she didn't deserve the bliss that would come from being with him? She didn't know, but she decided to be selfish for once, and give into the urge that lived inside of her at all times.

That was when she started running, and she knew that the magic that had been all but stripped from her was returning. She didn't stop until she made it home and found Thai in the garden with Emin, carefully planting seeds in the soft dirt.

"Cara is going to show me her power today," Emin said to Thai. "Do you think she'll let me borrow it?"

Thai laughed. "If she can, buddy, I'm sure she will."

Emin turned and gave Valerie a hug before going back inside. Thai turned to her, and his eyes were expectant.

"I've been waiting for you to come home," he said, and she couldn't help sensing that his words held two meanings.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I gave up, sorry I didn't help you through your grief like you helped me, sorry—"

Thai interrupted her by pulling her into his arms.

"Me, too."

"For what?"

"For forgetting that you're more than a hero, you're a person. One I love," he whispered into her hair.

"I'm going to face Reaper again and again until I defeat him or he kills me. Even if I survive, I think I won't be in charge of my mind for long. But right now, I want to pretend none of those problems exist."

"Okay. Then there's somewhere I want to take you."

Valerie's first official date with Thai was different from any other first date in the universe. He went to his room and pulled out a stone.

"Since travel between the worlds has been possible, I've taken walks in places on Earth I never thought I'd see, places that are remote or beautiful or famous. And every single time, all I could think about was how much I wished you were with me."

Valerie's heart thumped as he moved closer to her, standing so her head was level with his heart.

"But there was one spot I swore you had to see. Neither of us is allowed to die before going there together. Let me take you now."

Valerie nodded, wordless, and Thai gripped her hand and held it to his heart. The world melted around them, morphing into the ruins of a once-great castle. Grass had grown in between the stones. Valerie's gaze swept past the ruins. They were on a cliff, and there was a dramatic view of a raging blue-green ocean.

But it wasn't the beauty of the site that struck her most. It was the hum of ancient power that was threaded through the land, through the stones of the ruined castle, and even poured from the stormy sea. Breathing it in was intoxicating. Her own magic surged in response.

The wind whipped Valerie's hair out of its braid as she tilted her head back to breathe in the power of the place. "It's out of a fairy tale."

Thai's face was alight with mischief. "You're right. It's Tintagel Castle, where King Arthur was rumored to have been born."

The legend of King Arthur was one that Valerie had held close to her heart since she was a child, and ever since she'd discovered that her mother had left her a copy of the story, it had become even more tightly knit in her heart. Only Thai would think of bringing her here, and she let the magic and meaning of the place settle into her bones.

Valerie sucked in a breath, and the hum of power from the land around them synchronized with the hum of her own magic. She turned to look at Thai, half-drunk with the sensation, and he put his hand behind her neck and pulled her to him. Then his lips were on her neck, her cheeks, her eyelids, and finally her mouth.

He kissed her with all of the pent up passion of two and a half years apart. Every nerve ending in her body responded. Thai pressed her back against a tree, and she raked her fingers through his hair like she'd been aching to.

For once, her conscience was mute. Just this once, she'd let herself be with Thai. She'd face all the reasons why she couldn't be with him tomorrow. She wanted every part of them to be intertwined, and his magic responded to her wish, leaping to flow into her, amplifying her own until she was almost dizzy. Or maybe it was his kisses that were doing that.

When Thai pulled back, his eyes were dark and shining and beautiful. "When you kiss me like that, I swear I see a world remade."

"When you kiss me, I can almost see it myself."

Valerie woke the next morning, her body humming with something other than magic. Something better, she decided. She had never been more awake, more ready for what was coming.

She had to do something with the energy that was bursting from her, so she tied her shoes and quietly slipped out the window, so that Mr. and Mrs. Burns wouldn't catch her coming from Thai's room.

Then she ran, letting her magic power her legs. Trees sped by in a raucous gold blur. She had reached the Lake of Knowledge when Henry invited her into his mind.

She tucked herself into a nook of one of the trees nearby and concentrated on her brother. He was on a training field in Elsinore with Kanti, who gripped his hand in hers.

Henry's mind skipped between excitement and terror as a Conjuror approached him. She was tall and thin, and her body was tense, wary.

The woman's eyes flicked to Kanti. "You said he would help me find my magic, but I've heard that sometimes his gifts end up being more trouble than they're worth."

"You can trust Henry, Gertrude," Kanti said.

Henry took a breath. "I know you mean people like Blake, who I gave the power of invisibility."

Gertrude nodded. "He was invisible, but breakable. Even now that he has expunged that power from his system, his bones creak in wet weather."

"Reaper made me give specific powers to his soldiers, forcing them all into the same molds. When it ran contrary to the natural direction of that person's magic, the power weakened, or became fractured. I won't force your magic to do anything it doesn't want to."

The lines in Gertrude's forehead eased at Henry's words. "I weary of being at the heel of those whose magic is more evolved. I want to protect myself and my family."

"And your country," Kanti added.

Gertrude raised an eyebrow. "If I must. It is not a cheap price to pay, risking my life, but I will do it for the chance that my spark of magic will become a flame."

Henry placed his hands on Gertrude's shoulders. He bent forward, touching his forehead to hers. It was an intimate stance, but Henry's discomfort quickly dissolved as he reached for his power.

Until now, Valerie had never thought much about her brother's power to gift others with magic. It was a part of his mind that was always cordoned off, untouchable. When Henry opened the door that unleashed his power, it was as unstoppable as when her vivicus power raged through her, but somehow more delicate.

His magic tiptoed to the root of Gertrude's power. Instead of being like a spark, as she described, to Henry, it was like a lump of clay, something malleable that could be shaped into different forms. Henry kneaded it, testing its texture for possibilities. What shape would make it strongest?

A power associated with water would weaken it, air would crumble it, he decided. But fire would harden it into something strong and beautiful. Henry's imagination raced through the possibilities of what gift could be made that would enhance Gertrude's natural aptitude.

Lightweaver. She would revel in the warmth of her gift, and the Fist needed as many lightweavers as they could get. Henry encouraged the clay, molding it, his magic manipulating it more and more rapidly as his confidence grew.

Then the power within Henry stilled. It was not depleted, but finished. The masterpiece was complete. Henry drew his magic back into himself and stepped back from Gertrude.

Henry opened his eyes, and saw that Gertrude's were still shut, a small smile playing on her lips. She wiggled her fingers, and light danced between them.

When she finally opened her eyes, they were shining. "Thank you."

Henry was dazed, a little in awe of what he'd done. The curse that had made him Reaper's pawn was now his own tool against the darkness of the Fractus, the world, the mostly closed pit inside him. "You're welcome."

"Next!" Kanti shouted, and another eager Conjuror stepped forward.