Page 353 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Reylan came back to her, resting a hand on her hip as they stared at their reflection together. “Last I was here, I saw a flicker of a familiar face.”

Faythe looked up at him in confusion. Until color bled into the mirror—dark and glittering, like a night sky unfurling. It beckoned her to step forward; to soar into its endless expanse.

“What is this?” Faythe asked through a breath of wonder.

The midnight canvas cradling hundreds of constellations began to shift. It morphed into swirls of starlight before Faythe started to make out the shapes of buildings. A city that was born for the moon and stars with how brilliantly it shone under the night. Faythe took a step closer, mesmerized by the starlit labyrinth and the proud, glittering black castle.

Then the image changed again, and Faythe’s spine curved back in shock.

“It’s Nyte,” she said.

Nyte didn’t pay her any attention. Perhaps he couldn’t see her. Nyte wore a smile she’d never seen before on him—one that unmasked every vicious part of him to reveal nothing but pure love and joy for the woman beside him. She was absolutely breathtaking. Her silver hair had strands that glittered when she moved, smiling with the same adoration at Nyte. They both wore finery fit for Gods, and what a picture of divinity they were.

“Astraea,” Faythe said, recalling her name. Nyte’s mate. The woman he’d chosen to return to rather than stay in this realm, where he was born.

Faythe’s eyes welled, but she blinked to clear her vision, needing to capture this moment entirely. “He made it back to her,” she said.

Reylan’s arm tightened around her, and his lips pressed to her head. “It’s happy endings like theirs and ours that are worth trekking through the Nether for,” he said.

“In every realm and in every time.”

“That is our promise. Do you want to prove it?”

Faythe couldn’t deny she was tempted to step through the mirror if it could take her to that beautiful city. To exchange happier tales with the last family member she had left. But she had much more to see in this realm, and so, for now, she wanted to stay right here.

“Maybe someday,” she said and let herself dream beyond the confines of her own stars.

Her heart swelled for Nyte’s happiness, and she captured every last flicker of the night and the star who turned away from the mirror as it began to fade.

Before Faythe and Reylan headed home to Rhyenelle, Faythe had one last stop she had to make.

Staring up at the two figures that proudly stood in Farrowhold’s outer-town market square, Faythe paid tribute to her fallen friends on one knee. It never got easier to see their faces carved in stone instead of having them by her side, but she was glad their bravery and sacrifice had been immortalized right here.

Jakon Kilnight and Marlowe Kilnight

Fallen Heroes of the Darkest Hour War

After, she found herself in the Eternal Woods with Nik. They parried lazily with their swords, talking mindlessly about court gossip.

“Asari has been particularly protective of Tauria recently. I knew it was only a matter of time before that wolf turned on me,” Nik said.

Faythe ducked under his sword, twisting on her sole before lunging up and blocking his next attack.

“Doesn’t Katori stay with you too?” Faythe asked.

Nik huffed, and a smile twitched Faythe’s mouth at his pretend annoyance.

“Yeah. Apparently, she’s miserable in the cold in Lakelaria. Now I have two oversized mutts I never asked for.”

“You love them,” Faythe teased.

She feinted left, and Nik fell for it, giving her the opening to disarm him with her fist slamming down on his sword hand. Nik hissed, shaking his tender hand with a scowl.

“I wasn’t paying attention,” Nik complained.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Faythe quipped, sheathing Lumarias.

“Speaking of, Asari has started climbing into our bed, and Tauria finds itcute.”

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