Page 185 of Into Ashes and Doom

Herbeach. Her hometown, Bournchester. So close she could almost touch it.

They stopped directly in front of it. No one moved; everyone was transfixed by the shimmery image before them. Lora battled with worrying thoughts hitting her faster than she could process. She’d wanted this. Had dreamt of this.

She hadn’t let herself think it until now, but if she crossed, if she reached her family, who would be left? Would they blame her for her mum’s… She still couldn’t think the word. Lora was only certain of one thing: Once she knew for sure, there was no going back.

The sounds of the guards close behind them anchored Lora to the present. Damir turned his head, clearly alarmed by the guards approaching. She supposed he had reason to worry. He had betrayed the guards. They would strike him down—following Tarnan’s command.

The guards drew closer, the trees partly hiding them.

“This is ridiculous,” Damir said, pulling himself upright, his stance uneven as he shrugged off Eyden and Ilario, who looked at him irritated. Damir put his hand through the portal in one fast move.

Nothing happened. He didn’t die, didn’t even seem shocked by it. Damir pulled his arm back unharmed. No corpse would litter the border anymore.

“Let’s go,” Damir muttered, a drop of blood on the corner of his mouth. His violet eyes sought out Ilario, who stared at him with his emotions wide open. So much so that Lora could swear she saw Damir flinch. What the hell had happened to him? There was no time to figure it out now.

Lora’s gaze travelled to Eyden again, then to Elyssa, who nodded at him slowly, putting two fingers behind her ear.

Eyden’s hand grasped Lora’s and she looked down at their joined hands. “I don’t know what will await us, but we’ll face whatever comes our way,” Eyden said, his eyes telling her he knew what she felt, had somehow learned how Lora’s mind worked. “Through fire, into ashes, against all odds of doom.Together.”

Elyssa, standing on Lora’s other side, breathed in sharply, her eyes determined even after everything that had happened. Even with everything that lay ahead of them.

“No holding back,” Eyden said as the others waited for their cue.

“No going back,” Lora whispered, her gaze slipping from Eyden to the border so close to her. She could feel the familiar electricity calling to her as if she had crossed only yesterday.

Staring at the hazy image of Bournchester in front of her, Lora held on to a new promise with the last of her strength. The promise of revenge. The promise ofjustice.It was the only thought keeping her sane, keeping her upright.

Not looking back, Lora took a deep breath and headed into the world that used to be her own but might very well be the foreign one now—holding onto the ashes of herself.