Karin's idea involved an anti-gravity charm and walking up the curved walls of the tower.

Makaela nearly threw up at the thought. Being upright hundreds of feet in the air, held to a surface by a magic that could fail at any given second, didn't sound fun—nor safe—in the slightest. But with no other way to access the room in the ceiling, she knew she'd have to suck up her vertigo and push on.

"Everyone, copy me," Karin instructed. She held her hands over her snow boots and performed the long, complicated sequence for the anti-gravity charm.

Makaela was sure to mirror every finger movement the girl made, careful not to botch the charm. One misstep could prove to be the difference between her sticking or sliding down the wall. While she possessed more abilities than the average magician, flight wasn't one of them. If the charm stopped working at any point...

The image of her body splattered across the tower floor made her cringe and shiver. Dying in such a manner after overcoming everything she'd been through thus far almost seemed like a bad joke. Her story wouldn't end her, though. She was sure of it.

Once the group successfully finished charming their shoes, they approached the nearest wall not covered by dusty bookshelves and faded paintings. Karin went first. She planted her left foot on the ivory surface, and sure enough, it stuck as if coated in heavy-duty glue. Grinning, she jumped and placed her other foot on the wall. Her body went rigid and horizontal. The magician's long, silky hair fell past her face, cascading down in a mercury waterfall.

Han and Ismael moved beneath her as she went up. Once they were confident her charm would hold, they joined her on the wall. With widened eyes, Makaela remained at the base. The sight of them walking vertically was a bizarre one. Magic never ceased to amaze her.

"What are you waiting for?" Karin called out from a few yards above her head. "Get a move on, Makaela!"

Cursing, shook out her arms and legs as if that would get rid of the nerves worming through her taut muscles. She exhaled and placed a foot on the wall. A strong, suction-like feeling emitted from the bottom of her boot. It took a great amount of force just to remove it. She nodded. A good sign. After testing the other foot, she determined it safe enough to continue. Squeezing her eyes shut, she journeyed up the wall.

Against her better judgment, she kept her eyes closed. Her heightened sense of hearing—courtesy of her now cooperating Nightling—allowed her to keep track of her friends. She didn't want to risk looking below; one glimpse of the retreating floor would've been enough to make her empty her stomach. She didn't need anything slowing her down. They needed to get to the room in the ceiling. With Shades likely nearby, they didn't have any time to—

The temperature in the massive library dropped to a violent chill. It had been cold before, but now she was freezing. Goosebumps riddled her dark skin, and she was forced to open her eyes. Vertigo immediately hit her with the force of a blasting spell. The nausea wasn't far behind. She reluctantly glanced over her shoulder. Her body tensed. Fear of the climb was usurped by fear of what lurked below.

Hooded figures poured into the library like smoke. Silver masks hid their faces, the glossy metal reflecting the sunlight pouring through the stained-glass panes Makaela just stepped past. Despite the disguises, their identities were all too familiar.

Shades.

Her stomach turned over. Terror and anger rushed through, warming her skin to an uncomfortable temperature. She looked upright and opened her mouth to warn her friends. Her warning was cut short by a spell crashing past her ear. A smoldering hole had been burned into the wall inches away from her foot.

Cupping her hands over her mouth, she shouted, "Run!"

She willed her own feet to carry her further up the wall. As she sped up, her grip on the wall became more and more uncertain. More attacks from the Shades careened past her. Within seconds, the sulfuric smell of smoke and magic filled the air. Bright colors lit up the room.

Above her, Ismael conjured a grey shield charm to ward off the attacks. Han and Karin surged upward.

Makaela's face strained as she pushed herself. The anti-gravity charm, while helpful, didn't make movement easy. Cold sweat ran down her face in reverse, getting into her nose, eyes, and mouth. Her legs and abdomen burned with fatigue.

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a neon green spell race toward her. She tensed, bracing for impact. The spell flew off course and crashed through a window, courtesy of a blast of wind from Karin.

"You're welcome!" she shouted. "Now come on before we all get killed!"

Heart hammering in her chest, she continued up the wall.

She knew the Order would catch up eventually. Still, their arrival was nonetheless frightening. Fortunately, the Shades were confined to the ground. It didn't seem like they had thought of using an anti-gravity charm themselves. Or perhaps they were confident in their ability to pick off their prey scaling up the wall. Makaela went with the latter. They were like bugs on a tree, covered by nothing but the clothes on their backs. The Shades hadn't hit one of them yet, but they wouldn't keep missing for much longer.

She turned her gaze toward the opening above her. Karin and Han were nearing it now. Ismael wasn't too far behind. Makaela needed to catch up.

The Shades didn't let up. More spells rushed toward her. A bolt of red light ripped through her jacket sleeve. It seared her skin and rendered her right arm useless. Pain flared throughout her entire body. Gritting her teeth, she soldiered on.

She was so close. Just a few more steps and she'd be there.

The Shades couldn't get her there.

Just a few more steps and she'd be safe.

But her energy was waning now. Her legs shook with such force she thought her bones would shatter. Sweat was pouring off her now. Black curls coated in sweat clung to her face like her feet desperately clinging to the wall. Breathing heavily, she staggered upward.

Han and Ismael, who had reached the room in the sky, leaned forward and grabbed hold of her. They pulled her into the opening while Karin fired back at the Shades below. The two Vayan monks successfully brought her into the room. She laid on her back, panting like a dog as she tried to take in as much oxygen as possible. Silver spots dotted her vision and her legs felt like someone set them on fire.

"That was close," Ismael quipped as he backed away from the open circle in the ground. He quickly performed a spell that covered the opening in a layer of reflective ice. Spells continued to collide into it. Cracks formed in the makeshift plug, but it was holding. But it wouldn't forever. Eventually, it'd break.

From what Makaela recalled before being forced to rush up the wall, Thorian wasn't with the murder of Shades who entered the library. She wasn't sure what that meant yet. Was he waiting? Watching somewhere with that wretched charm that claimed his eye? Or perhaps something else was at play. Either way, he'd be arriving soon. She needed to figure out how to save Lumi before he did.

Or else they'd all be done for. Slain by the hands of the Order of the Black Lotus.

Once her breath returned, she got back to her feet and looked around the tower's triangle-roofed attic.

A circle window made up the entire far wall. Her reflection stared back at her through the gold-tinted glass. Descending steps lead to the center of the room, which housed an ivory podium decorated with silver engravings in the old language. A handprint had been pressed into the flat surface of the stone. Above them, the roof angled upward to form the triangular point of the tower's vertex.

Loud booms sounded below. More cracks formed in Ismael's ice barrier.

"Alright, Makaela," Karin said. "It's on you now. I hope you know what to do."

Makaela stared at the stone pillar in the middle of the room. Since Madame Alizeh told her about the tower, she'd been racking her brain for ways to save the goddess of light and prophecies. The answer never came—not until right now. She thought back to the painting she saw and the spell book she recovered. She thought back to her dreamwatching lesson with Karin.

Madame Alizeh told her mastering that skill was the key to contacting Lumi. She didn't understand what the woman meant then, but she did now.

She faced Karin. "I know what to do."

Exhaling, she approached the white podium. She stood above it and, with the hand that wore the Illumio, she placed her palm on the indentation in the stone. Closing her eyes, she tapped into the power of the gemstone sitting on her finger.

She allowed the light of the Illumio to fill her head and lull her almost to sleep. The world around her faded, washed out by the golden light provided by her artifact.

"What's she doing?" Han asked.

"She's going to talk to Lumi," Ismael answered.

Makaela tuned all their voices out as she sunk deeper into her head. She delved into the light, letting it wash over her. It warmed her skin and silenced her mind. The Nightling that used to lurk in the darkness of her psyche gave way to the pure being of light that lived inside the Illumio.

It was until right then she realized something.

Lumi never left. She'd been with her this whole time.

#

Makaela awoke in the sky.

She no longer stood at the top of that ivory tower hidden in the Himalayas. All that surrounded her was blue, white, and gold.

Sitting cross-legged a few paces ahead of her was a woman with skin blacker than the darkest night ever seen. Golden stars pulsed against her midnight complexion. She resembled her late mother—their rounded features and striking eyes were nearly identical.

Makaela walked toward her. The closer she got, the more apparent the wrinkles in her skin became. The woman's hair, once a bright blue, mirrored the color of pensive storm clouds. Her shoulders drooped and her eyes dimmed like a setting sun.

"Ah, finally," the goddess croaked. She stood up. Makaela could hear her joints pop as she moved. "Was wondering when you'd finally show up."

"You didn't exactly make this easy, you know."

"It wasn't supposed to be."

Makaela rolled her eyes. Of course it wasn't. Nothing was ever easy for her. The perks of being a part of a thousand-year-old prophecy weren't lost on her.

"I'm here to save you," she said firmly to the goddess. "We don't have much time. The Shades are—"

Lumi brought a withered finger to her cracked lips. Makaela's forehead creased as she squinted at the weakened deity.

"Did you not hear me? We don't have any time to waste. Tell me how to stop you from fading so I can—"

"Makaela, please. Just...take a moment."

"We don't have a moment."

Lumi sighed. "You know not of what you're asking, child."

She scowled at the Lumi. The goddess' cryptic nature was starting to get annoying. Frankly, she didn't care what the implications of her statement were. Lumi needed saving. That's what her mission was. Since Madame Alizeh hadn't told her exactly what she needed to do before she left Tenzin, she needed the goddess to tell her.

"Just tell me what to do and I'll do it."

Lumi smiled weakly at the girl. "At least I know the prophecy picked the right person to be the Light." She ran her fingers through her stiff hair and sighed. "Do you understand what's been happening to me, Makaela?"

She paused. "Sort of... Since Thorian has been collecting the artifacts, you've been getting weaker."

"Do you know why that is?"

"Thorian has been serving as Mauvorin's primary conduit."

Makaela hadn't fully understood what Madame Alizeh meant when she told her that, and that was still the case.

Lumi nodded before grimacing as if the slight movement pained her. "Mauvorin has been slowly taking over Thorian's body. What Thorian believes to be a gift from my twin is no gift at all. It was a ploy to plant a seed that would allow Mauvorin to one day seize full control over his body, giving him a physical form body in this plane."

The image of Thorian's blacked-out eye filled Makaela's head. When they spoke in her dream, dark veins had sprouted from his eye socket. They'd been traveling across his body, marring his alabaster skin.

The disease plaguing him was no disease at all. It was Mauvorin.

"What happens once Mauvorin takes full control?" she asked.

"You've been under the impression that Thorian wants to seize control of this world," Lumi began. Makaela nodded. "Well, you'd be correct. Only once Mauvorin takes his body, it won't matter what he wants. Mauvorin doesn't want to control this world. He wants to desecrate it. He wants to drown it in shadows and darkness until it resembles the realm he was banished to."

Makaela suddenly felt woozy. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, preventing her from speaking.

This entire time, she'd thought Thorian had been lying to everyone, including himself, about his asinine plot to bring magicians back to the forefront. In some ways, he had been lying, but he truly wanted to see magician supremacy again. But that was never on the cards. Not really. The god of chaos and death didn't care about the magicians. He didn't care about ordinaires. He didn't care about anything except the darkness he ruled over.

Mauvorin never intended for Thorian to win. He'd just been supplying him with power, fueling his desire for control, strengthening his hold on the man. He'd been whispering in the magician's ear, pretending to be an ally. But he was no ally. He was a monster. A devil.

He was the greatest threat their world had ever known.

"How do we stop him?"

Lumi fell silent.

"Lumi, tell me how to stop him."

"Once he takes over Thorian's body, he will be granted with nigh godly abilities. With the artifacts in his possession, he will become virtually unstoppable." Lumi turned away from Makaela. The constellations on her back winked brightly. "To stop him, you must bond with me.

Bond...?

"Thorian has not consented to Mauvorin's takeover. While my twin will be in control of his body, a portion of his focus will be on suppressing Thorian. That means he won't be at full strength. If we merge, we'll be able to face him with my full power."

Stunned, Makaela blinked a few times as she tried to understand. It didn't help. Her head wouldn't stop spinning long enough or her to focus on one of the many thoughts raging through the tempest in her mind.

"What...what does this mean?" she asked, her voice small. "Will I still be able to control myself?"

"In short, yes. But...you will not be the same after."

Her heart sank. She felt her mouth dry up at the thought.

The Light. That's what the prophecy said she was. All this time, she thought it was metaphorical—she thought she was supposed to be the world's savior. The light that vanquished the darkness. But it was literal. The prophecy intended for her to become Lumi's actual light.

Part of her wanted to reject Lumi's idea. There was no way she could bond with a god. What would happen to her if she did? Lumi herself said she wouldn't be the same. But what did that truly mean? She already knew what it felt like to be controlled and manipulated by a greater force. Was she ready to let that happen again so quickly after regaining ownership of her full self?

But if she didn't merge with Lumi, who would? Nobody. No one else could do it but her. They needed someone of equal strength and skill to battle Thorian when the time came. With Mauvorin's raw ability and the power of the Eldenarian artifacts, no one else could face him.

It had to be her.

It was always meant to be her.

Her eyes widened as she realized something. She was born to do this. Her very being was constructed to shoulder this kind of weight. She was a halfling—magician and demon. Every part of her was stronger than anyone else on this planet. The prophecy picked her for a reason; there was no one else like her.

She had to do this.

The world was depending on her. Sebastian, Remy, her uncle, the entire magician population. The ordinaires too. In that moment, she decided that whatever happened to her after she bonded with Lumi didn't matter. They required her sacrifice. She betrayed them once before by joining the Order and helping Thorian topple both Thania and Vashara. Magicians were killed because of—and by—her. This was her chance to make up for all the mistakes she'd made. This was her chance to be strong for all the other times she was too weak to make a difference.

This was her chance to fulfill her destiny.

Lifting her head, she regarded Lumi with such vigor and intensity that the goddess blinked with surprise.

"I'll do it," Makaela said. "I'll do whatever it takes to bring them down."

Lumi turned to face her. Her expression was sullen and grave, like a cry getting ready to cry sheets of rain. "Once we begin, there's no going back."

She understood.

"Very well." She ordered the girl to kneel. The golden-eyed magician did as she was told. Lumi placed her hand on the girl's forehead. "You may never be the same, Makaela."

"I know."

Nodding, Lumi closed her eyes and began to whisper.

Magic filled Makaela's body—more magic than she'd ever felt before. It spread throughout her body like sunlight pushing away the last lingering bits of frost at the end of winter. What started as an intense, pleasant sensation quickly morphed into agony. She began to feel like her body was bursting at the seams. Every nerve-ending in her body was alight with pain.

Her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

When they opened again, they were solid gold. And not just the irises. Both of her eyes looked like golden ingots plucked straight from a burning furnace. Her entire frame shuttered as Lumi entered her. It was unbearable now. But she remained on her knees. She allowed the goddess to intertwine with her very soul.

Because the world needed light.

And that's exactly what she'd become.