Page 40 of Starside

“That’s when they’ll open again. At sunrise. They’ll close at sunset.”

I knew the quest usually took around two months, but an exact timeline is the type of knowledge I had hoped Stellan might share with me.

Zane’s from a Great House. I should ask him a hundred more questions about what he knows, but one spills from me before I can think of anything else. “Why did you save me?” He risked his own spot to secure mine.

He just shrugs a shoulder. “You’re less likely to kill me than one of Cadoc’s friends.” His gaze dips to my ruined clothing. “And I saw what you did with the blood. It was smart. I want to work together.”

I don’t pretend that my new sword doesn’t also have something to do with it. He knows I’m stronger with it … Or maybe he’ll kill me, to try to claim it.

I consider his words. Now that we’re not fighting for fifty spots, we aren’t rivals.

Even so … we all want to make it to the Land of the Gods. He might betray me in a second, if it meant reaching the end of the journey.

My eyes drift to the rest of the Fifty. Teams are being formed. The only person who is striding into the unknown alone is Harlan Raker, the black cape of his hood curling in the wind.

I can’t trust anyone. But to make it to the other side, and to survive possible encounters with these teams … I’ll need one of my own.

I face Zane again. “Only if Kira can join too.”

Zane frowns. He seems to be considering the same thing I already did, that Kira could slow us down.

But she’s survived this far. And Kira is here for her sister. That motive alone, knowing she will do anything to succeed … it’s valuable.

“Fine,” he says.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t hesitate,” Kira says, glaring. She looks him up and down. “What exactly do you offer, other than wielding that ax?”

Zane reaches into his bag. Uncurls a scroll. We all watch as ink spills across the blank parchment, shapes and letters forming before our eyes.

A map. Part of one, at least. It’s just a single path, all the way from the gates to the Land of the Gods.

“Fuck. Okay, that works,” Kira says. I nod in agreement. It’s a huge advantage.

He quickly puts it back in his bag. The last thing we need is other competitors taking it. But before he did, I saw a mess of mountain ranges, rivers, and something called the Storm Woods.

Fifty days total. Anyone making it back to the gates will have to do the entire journey to the Land of the Gods in twenty-five. Seeing the landscape … I’m not even sure that’s possible.

Kira has a clump of green in her hand. Grass, she ripped from the ground. She sighs deeply. “At least we get to die in a beautiful place.”

Ever the optimist.

Yells sound to our left. Cadoc’s group is huddled around someone covered in blood. One of the Enders. The eldest. She must have been wounded by the beasts on the bridge. She’s screaming out in pain. I watch as Cadoc lifts his blade—and drives it through her heart. She goes still. Her siblings … they did nothing to stop him. They don’t do anything now either but stand still, as if waiting for instruction.

Forty-nine Questral challengers remain.

“Let’s go,” I whisper, hoping Pagnus or Cadoc doesn’t turn our way.

Zane nods. He leads us southeast, to where his map starts. The same path someone successfully made the journey on.

We walk the first few steps—and then we run.

Hours later, the blood on my face has dried into a painful crust. My energy begins to wane.

The sun dims, and so does the brilliance of everything around us.

Just when I’ve started to think this entire side’s ground is made up of one color, the grass gives way to a shimmering pool of blue.

“Finally,” Zane says, and he runs into the water, ax still on his back. Kira is right behind him. She dives forward, soaking the crown of her head, before angrily scrubbing her face.