Drenched in rain and swatted by wind, Skye activated his curse. This night would be long. And assuming he made it to Kastrala, his journey would only grow harder. His mark, the Keeper of Secrets, had evaded discovery for decades, a master of concealment and subterfuge. What if he didn’t have a solution? What if he were dead?

  But none of that mattered. Ku had failed to give a satisfying answer, just like Stenser and every book he’d ever read. Nothing in this life mattered.

  “I’ve been telling you so for ages,” Redeyes huffed. “It’s the only logical conclusion.”

  The forest swallowed him. Trees swayed in every direction, scattering faint moonlight and giving the illusion of chasing after his steps. A hidden root caught his foot, and he fell, skinning his knee. Blood mixed with rain and mud as he scrambled to his feet and ran again.

  When he chanced upon a burning pyroxos, he ran past it, unconcerned as it roared. More deadly monsters might lurk in the shadows or behind any tree, but he didn’t care. His bell made him invisible. He didn’t even know where he was headed—toward the mountains, the lake, or an endless pit. It didn’t matter. He’d never reach his target anyway.

  The forest floor vanished beneath him. Skye screamed as he fell, flailing until his hand caught a slick branch jutting from the cliffside. It bent dangerously under his weight, but held.

  Far below, the river raged, unnaturally violent. Activating his curse only barely stifled the aquaxos’s rage. It swirled below instead of leaving, spinning in a wide whirlpool.

  “It’s waiting for you,” Redeyes said, perched on a higher branch, dangling his fiery feet. “You can let go and meet it. It’d be the easiest thing in the world.”

  “Just shut up!” Skye shouted as lightning cracked across the sky. “Leave me alone!”

  “Why? This is your chance to meet that ‘Lahūtum’ and demand an apology for the insane challenge he gave you. That is, if he hasn’t forgotten you too.”

  Skye’s hand slipped, and he clung tighter, his breath ragged. It was a long fall, long enough for his life to flash before his eyes several times before he hit the water.

  Redeyes hopped closer, standing weightless on a thin branch. “There’s no need to try so hard. Accept your fate.”

  Skye looked up, summoning his last dregs of courage to release his grip. But then he saw the azure ribbon tied to his wrist, fluttering in the wind, and faces filled his vision. Rierana and Lyonel. Stenser and Jella. Nakais and his stupid troupe. His fallen team. The wardens who had saved him. Everyone he’d met at the city.

  And then landscapes formed, of placed he’d never seen but longed to. The ocean. The flying islands. The frozen volcanoes. The seas of golden sand.

  Perhaps life was pointless, yet there were so many things he wished to experience. He wanted to see the whole world. He wanted a long, happy life spent with friends and family.

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  He wanted to be free.

  “You can only be free if you let go.”

  “No,” Skye whispered, his voice so faint he couldn’t hear it.

  “You don’t want to live like this. There’s no purpose to it.”

  “No!” Skye said, louder this time. “You’re wrong. I’m wrong. I don’t want to die. I want to live. To be happy, even if it’s pointless. Even if it’s all meaningless.”

  The means to achieve our goals exist, we simply have to find them, Ku’s words rang in his ears.

  Skye felt like an utter fool for forgetting his ability. Focusing on his hand, he channeled his fantasia through his fingers and into the branch. A blood-tingling sensation overtook him as his flesh merged with the wood, accompanied by a soft, lilting melody, like a flute playing inside his head.

  His grip steadied. No longer slipping, he laughed, and the flute played louder, matching his excitement. Rain poured on, thunder cracked overhead, and his shoulder burned with strain, yet he laughed on. He’d passed tonight’s trial using his own power. His magic wasn’t useless after all.

  With newfound strength, he grasped the branch with his other hand, ready to pull himself up.

  Crack.

  It all happened so fast. One moment he was climbing. The next, he was racing down to the churning river. Time seemed to slow as he tumbled through the air. With a loud whoosh, a geyser erupted, its watery blades rushing upward to shred his body and claim his life.

  He’d lost count of how many times he’d brushed against death since the day of his curse. And now, after finally deciding he wanted to live, after realizing his magic had value, he was about to die.

  The watery arrows shattered against a shield of light, splashing all around. A bright bubble cradled him midair, carrying him back to safety atop the cliff.

  Ku dismounted from Rico’s back, a strange silvery flower humming above his cane. Nearby, Luccello gestured with his glowing wing, urging the light sphere forward. Ku stared at Skye, stepping out from under Ka’ib’s shadowy umbrella to extend a hand.

  “You’re right, master. There’s a monkey here!” Rico said, shrinking to his normal size.

  “How?” Skye asked, shivering, breathless. “How did you know I was here?”

  Ku’s milky white eyes squinted, his expression puzzled. “Who are you, child?”

  “I’m Skye,” he said, his voice trembling. “Do you… remember me?”

  It was too much to hope for, too impossible to happen. He’d activated his curse several times while running. No one should be able to remember him.

  Ku hesitated, his brow furrowing. “I believe I should… but I cannot.”

  “Then how? Why did you come here?”

  “You bear my spell,” Ku said. “Yet… I don’t recall casting it on you. How strange.”

  Standing atop that cliff amidst the storm, a wave of heat flushed through Skye. “You know I exist?” he whispered, jaw quivering. “You came to save me because you knew I was here?”

  “I left home because I wanted to feel the rain,” Ku said, a stern look of concentration on his face. “Odd, since it’s not something I usually do. Then I felt like seeing the river, though I’ve seen it countless times. And then… I sensed my mark on you. I felt your fear and knew you were in trouble. So we rushed here.”

  Skye could bear it no longer. He flung himself at the master, burying his face in the old man’s robes, and wailed. More than twenty times, he’d rung his bell in the forest, and every time, the curse had altered Ku’s memory of why he left his home. Yet every time, he sensed him and rushed to his aid.

  Clinging to the master, Skye sobbed like a babe who’d missed his mother. It was humiliating, but he couldn’t stop. When Ku hugged him back, he only cried harder. Whatever spell Ku had cast on him, his curse couldn’t erase it.

  Because it was now a part of him.

  For the first time since that cave, he had an undeniable relationship with someone. Under the raging storm, the two embraced for a long while.

  ?????Days until Green Eve: 20?????