Page 133 of Fire to the Stars

Papa’s prayers were worth it.Morethan worth it. They earned me the fiery power to liberate the mortal realm from centuries of manipulation—the likes of which convinced so many people that they didn’t deserve a place in it, myself included. But I’m here. I’m staying. And Ibelong.

I clutch my stomach. Goodness, this hurts. But it feels so much better than the burning that tried so hard to destroy me from the inside out. Those flames were never mine to carry. They were a beacon for everyone to follow to a kinder realm. A light in the dark. A guiding fire from the stars.

“Thank you, Papa,” I whisper, smiling as I wipe my eyes with the pelt. “Thank you.”

Noctu lingers patiently while I collect myself. Lyle returns with an armful of spare clothes. I take them and sort through the thick layers, finding a Gendarmerie uniform at the bottom, with boots to match.

“Me? Dressed like a gendarme?” I laugh.

He grins. “It truly is the apocalypse.”

He holds the blanket like a curtain while I get dressed. The boots are a bit too big, and the uniform hangs baggy. The thick hunter’s coat warms me plenty, but something about the pelt makes me feel protected. I drape it over myself like a cloak.

Once I’m finished, Lyle’s mood shifts. He stands awkwardly in place, swallowing hard as if working up the will to say something.

“You have questions about your mother,” Noctu presumes.

Lyle nods stiffly, now offering his map of the mountain. “I’d like to ask where the rest of her body is. Assuming you ‘saw’ what they did with it?”

Noctu considers the topography for a while longer than I expect. He must need to piece together the fragments of what he’s seen by memory. Eventually, he points to a ridge not far off our path of descent.

“Here,” he says. “You should find her ashes buried in the snow.”

Lyle exhales with a shudder, nodding as if he’s forcing himself to accept her death all over again.

“I’m sorry, Lyle,” I whisper. “She deserved better.”

He rubs his eyes. “At least now I can bury all of her remains next to Pa. It’s what she would have wanted.”

“If it is any consolation, your mother’s final moments were swift,” Noctu says. “She did not suffer. She spat in their faces and told them they had picked the wrong boy to extort.”

Lyle chokes on a laugh. “Sounds like Ma.”

I squeeze his shoulder, like when we commiserated together in the church. “Our parents didn’t die in vain. They’re more than stardust now. They’ve become the foundation for a better future.”

“Thank you, Claire.” He faces Noctu. “I must confess that if I had Diu’s power, I would have been tempted to unleash a star’s worth of fire upon the realm to rescue you sooner.” He swallows. “Was it our worship that spared us?”

Noctu’s brow arches into something akin to sympathy. “We never wanted to exist as your superiors. That is not why we created you.”

“Whatdidyou want from us?” I ask.

“What you gave each other.” Noctu gestures to the activity outside. “Community.”

Sunslight burns high in the sky. Smears of red and black stain the clearing, but they can’t erase the blinding sparkle in the snow.

“Your species has made many mistakes, but neither one of us would ever wish for your demise,” Noctu continues. “It has been mundane for Diu and me to live a forever life. We have each other, yes, but there is no newness. No complexity. We had created human beings in our image, with our magic, so that our purpose might grow beyond each other. We merely wish it had unfolded differently.”

A strange vulnerability softens his stare as he watches Abel, Marshal Payen, and the gendarmes work. It’s the sort of longing that my isolation as a dragon taught me all too well.

“Would you like to go outside with us?” I ask. “It’s a beautiful day.”

“Yes,” Noctu says distantly. “I think I would.”

Lyle and I step into the sunslight first. Noctu hesitates at the threshold, but it takes only a moment for him to sink his bare foot into the snow.

The scent of pine wafts through the clearing, strong and fresh. I turn my attention to the treetops, inhaling deeply. The sharp winter breeze carries the smoke away. Lucy bounds in circles around Abel while he helps ready the horses for our descent. Her coat shines as golden as the suns.

“My brother wants to start over in a new realm,” Noctu says quietly, “but I do appreciate the way this one turned out.”