We wait patiently while Halley speaks with Comet, the enormous dragon bowing down so she can hear the small griffin.

“Sofia,” I say, “Be ready. She’ll fight this.”

Sofia nods, pulling her final totem from her belt. During my fight they spread all the others around the island, ready to form a prison. “We’re killing her, aren’t we?”

“She isn’t alive,” Sable says, “not really.”

“And she didn’t choose this,” Izaak adds.

I stand up, swaying slightly before finding my feet. “She’s Zhran’s victim as much as Kiera. Both of them should be free.”

Halley’s eyes find mine, and she nods, signalling it’s okay for us to start. “I’m so sorry, my daughter, “she whispers to Comet, “I’ll never forgive myself for simply watching you suffer.”

Comet gently buries her snout against Halley’s side. She sighs into the griffin’s pelt, Halley’s long hairs swaying under the ebb and flow of breath. “Just make it stop, mother.”

Halley pushes herself against Comet, silent tears streaming down her face. “We will. We will end everything together.” She turns towards Sofia. “Please.”

Sofia holds out her final totem, closing her eyes as she chants at the item. “Spirit, lend me your strength. Awaken the others, and stop this dragon’s suffering.” She drops the totem to the ground, where it shatters into dust. Vines and scrubs lighting up as the spirit circles around the island. Every totem it passes more plants begin to move, until the entire island comes alive, trees twisting into tails, claws and maws, Nature spirits solidified. They reach out towards Comet, binding around her bones until the only part she can move is her mouth. “Halley,” she says, struggling against the pressure.

“It’s alright, child. It’ll all be alright.”

“What now?” Izaak asks. Our plans didn’t get much further than this, restraining Comet so we can get Kiera back. Halley assured me the ritual Zhran did won’t be needed, as I’m very much alive, and Kiera should be very much willing to return to me. Still I see her scratch another star into Comet’s forehead. “I have decided,” she says, “that I’ll spend my final days with Comet.”

“What about Kiera?” I ask.

“Don’t worry, they’ll come out the moment I go in.” She flashes a smile, stroking her paw over the star she etched on Comet’s forehead. “You tell them to take it easy.”

“I will.”

She nods. “Once I’m inside, I don’t think we’ll wake up again. So I just want you to know you’re all good kids. Thank you, from the bottom of my well. May yours never drain.”

I reach out a claw, stroking her back one last time. She leans into it, soft fur tickling the scales on my palm. “Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, River.” She pushes her forehead against the star on Comet’s head, murmuring soothing words as the air around them hums. She glows golden, then slowly ghosts into Comet, disappearing into the star. Comet trashes and roars, but Sofia’s spirits hold sound against her bones. Then the shadows below Comet stretch, the island warping around Kiera’s emergence, shining black light that bends reality.

I get it now, why unicorns can’t last. Kiera can’t help but bleed magic, energy smoking through their skin and burning through their hooves. They halt in front of me, their horn only reaching up to my chin. “River,” they say, “my stupid, foolish boy.”

“Hi,” I whisper back. “your Uber’s here.”

They laugh, a melody that washes my turbulent thoughts away. “About time. Now—”

The entire island explodes in a burst of lightning and thunder, blinding and deafening. A shape rises from the smoke. Zhran’s claws encase Kiera’s frame, pushing them down into the ground until their legs kick sideways. “What did you do!” he yells, his eyes settling on me. He’s dripping wet, water steaming off his crackling scales. “You ruined everything! You… you killed her!”

“She was already dead,” I say back. “All you were doing was hurting her.”

Zhran roars, lightning igniting in his maw.

“River!” Kiera yells, struggling below Zhran’s bulky claws. They’re digging into their hide, smoky clouds of magic rising from their wounds.

Zhran fires.

If I dodge, it hits everyone else. So I don’t. The burning starts the same, but then it ends as I command the electricity into the earth. I shake off the static, stretching my wings until they no longer ache.

Zhran stares at me, first in shock, then in anger. He roars again, and this time he doesn’t bother with magic. He lets go of Kiera and slams into me, using his bulk to push me towards the edge. The ground falls away before I can react. This time I rip myself free from his grip, flying up into the sky before he can lock me into another death drop. This turns out to be another mistake. Zhran circles below, shooting bolt after bolt. This time there’s nowhere to redirect the electricity, so I dodge desperately, weaving through the narrow gaps he leaves in the sky. I want to shoot back but I know I can’t, my magic already leaking through my skin from all the abuse I suffered. I spent over a hundred years these last few minutes alone.

Then, after his last bolt, Zhran shoots up, his claws reaching for my neck. I dodge, but then his tail tangles around my torso, both our wings free but our heads snapping at each other, his tail squeezing until I can’t breathe. One of the holes in my left wing re-opens, my entire shoulder seizing up with pain. It’s all Zhran needs. He grabs my neck and forces our heads downwards, plummeting us towards the sea.

“Shut up,” he says suddenly. His claws tighten even more against my throat as I tear at them desperately. The edges around my vision close in, and my limbs prickle. Pressure builds in my chest as my heart beats painfully, my lungs begging for air.

“Shut up, I said!” Zhran lets go with one of his paws to grab at his head, giving me the chance to wheeze a little air through my windpipe. The lightning dancing on his scales falters. “If you don’t help, both of us die!”

My mind, barely capable of drawing its next breath, realizes his unicorn’s fighting him. This should be my chance but the adrenaline crash hits, numbing my wings so much I can’t feel if they point up or down.

We enter the height of the islands. My eyes shift toward Comet, who lies buried under a mountain of nature. It’s a good resting place. Kiera and Sofia watch me from the edge. I can tell Kiera wants to jump, but if they spend what little there’s left of their magic on flight, they’ll burn out before they reach me. Poppy and Sable fly around us, the agent with her KLIP drawn, but I know she won’t fire. What would it do, send us even faster towards the waves? She could command Poppy to help me, but Zhran will surely kill the familiar if they get into a struggle.

“Fine,” Zhran says, “we die with him.”

I try to find Izaak before we pass the island, but he’s neither at the edge, nor on Poppy’s back. Then I spot him sprinting towards the edge. He jumps, flying just a single second before he falls into our path. “River!” he yells as he slams into my back, sliding off the scales until he hooks Mikey’s curved blade between my horns. I can’t see him hidden behind my back, but Zhran’s eyes widen when he grips onto my scales. Izaak bends forwards and Raphael comes into view, his blood red metal translucent from the white energy buzzing through. Izaak doesn’t negotiate. He hurls the entire thing right at Zhran. The storm dragon lets go of my neck in a futile attempt to dodge, but it’s too late, Raph hitting the soft scales on his underbelly. He screams as the metal burns right through his flesh. His claws dig into his own side, but they too start to melt. He looks down at the waves and I recognize the emotion, the wanting for relief.

I have no desire to stop him. We watch him disappear into the depths.

Izaak hugs my neck as I slowly right myself, and I mend my head towards him, this stupid boy who saved my life. I don’t deserve him, but all I can do about it is fight to become someone who does.

With Poppy’s help and Izaak’s soothing words I make it back to the island. Kiera gallops towards us as we touch down, yelling one profanity after the other. “Come here,” they say, “and never do that again.” They touch their horn against my forehead and their form pools into smoke, soaking through my scales and breathing into my lungs.

Good to be back.

I can’t help it. I start to cry.