The return to Thalassa was a via crucis.
They had walked for two days without sleep, taking smuggler's paths, avoiding Vane's patrols. Lyall carried Elara on his back for the last hours not because she was wounded, but because she staggered, emptied. The Solis stone hung from her neck, dull and mute. No glow. No vibration. Just an ordinary stone, as dead as a pebble on a grave.
"Put me down," Elara murmured for the third time.
"No," Lyall replied without slowing.
"You're exhausting yourself for nothing. My gift won't come back."
"I don't care about your gift."
She didn't argue. Behind them, Elias walked in silence, the Counter-Keystone fragment tucked into his belt.
. Lyra brought up the rear, her shadows stretching like faithful hounds to detect any pursuers.
Thalassa appeared at dawn, bathed in grey light. The coalition's flags still flew on the ramparts, but fewer than before. The city was bleeding. Entire buildings bore the scars of Vane's aerial raids.
"He struck while we were away," Elias observed.
They passed through the sea gate unmolested the guards recognized Elara, despite her haggard face and torn clothes.
The Citadel of the Tide was in a state of siege. Wounded lay on stretchers in the main courtyard. The air smelled of blood, sweat, and burnt mana.
The Lady of the Tide received them in the council chamber, surrounded by her admirals. Her gaze fell on Elara, then on the extinguished stone at her neck.
"Your gift… it's gone?"
"It died in the Tomb of Ether," Elara replied in a flat voice.
The Lady asked no further questions. She gestured to seats.
"Sit down. I have bad news."
She unrolled a map of the Empire. Red markers indicated the positions of Vane's forces.
"The Supreme Archon was the victim of an assassination attempt three days ago. He is dying. The Lumenarc physicians say he won't last the week."
"Vane?" Lyall asked.
"He has proclaimed himself regent. He controls Aethelburg. The High Ducal Houses have rallied behind him out of fear, opportunism, or because he corrupted them with his stones."
"And the Minor Houses?" Elias asked.
"Some resist. Others have fled. Civil war is inevitable."
Elara stood up, swaying. She placed her hands on the table.
"We must strike now."
"With what?" sneered an admiral. "Our airships are in dry dock, our soldiers are exhausted, and our Aerum allies are beginning to doubt."
"With the truth," Elara replied.
She took the Counter-Keystone fragment from Elias's hands and placed it on the map.
"Vane wants to merge with the Heart of the World. If he succeeds, he will control all mana. Our stones will be useless. Our armies will be powerless."
"And this pebble will save us?" the admiral asked skeptically.
"It will cancel the fusion," Elias said. "But to use it, we need a source of pure energy. The gift of a stone bearer."
All eyes turned to Elara, then to Lyall.
"Not him," Elara said. "Me. My gift is already dead. I have nothing left to lose."
"Yes you do," Lyall said, clenching his fist. "You have yourself to lose."
"A pebble doesn't make a person, Lyall."
She sat back down. Her face was calm, but her eyes shone with icy determination.
The Lady of the Tide made the decision.
"We will launch the assault in three days. You will have an airship, a reduced crew, and carte blanche. If you fail, we will never have another chance to stop him."
That night, Lyall found Elara on the Citadel's terrace. The sea was black, and the wind carried smells of iodine and copper.
"You're not sleeping," he said, sitting beside her.
"I can't get used to the silence."
"The silence?"
"In my head. Before, I felt everything. Intentions, fears, lies. It was a constant cacophony. But now… nothing. Just the wind. And my own thoughts."
"Does that frighten you?"
"No. It's… strangely peaceful."
She turned to him.
"You kept your promise, Lyall. You brought the Waltzer all the way. You gave him a dignified death."
"He gave himself his death. I only watched."
"Sometimes, that's all one can do."
He was silent for a long moment.
"I'll go to the Glass Mountain alone," he said finally.
"No."
"Elara…"
"Without me, you will die. Not because I am powerful, I no longer am. But because I am the only one who knows how to read Vane's intentions. Even without my gift, I know him. I studied him for years. I know how he thinks."
"And if you die?"
"Then I will die at your side. That is better than living without knowing what I have become."
He took her hand. She squeezed it.
"We do this together," he said.
"Together."
The dawn of the third day rose over a diminished but resolute fleet. The flagship, "Breath of the Tide," was a fast ship, hastily repaired but sturdy.
Lyall boarded, the Teral vibrating against his chest. Elias checked the navigation instruments. Lyra stood at the prow, her shadows caressing the wood like black seaweed.
Elara boarded last. She wore a simple leather tunic, without ornaments, without a stone. Her neck was bare.
"Ready?" Lyall asked.
"Ready."
He gave the order.
"Set sail."
The Breath of the Tide left the port, gliding over the black waves. Behind them, Thalassa shrank to a line of flickering lights.
Lyall gazed at the horizon. The Glass Mountain stood there, days away, where the Archon lay dying and where Vane awaited him.
He clenched the Teral.
You want to become a god, Vane? Then I'll show you what a god weighs.
The wind filled the sails. The war had just begun.