They didn't sleep.

Neither of them could.

The storm had vanished, but the Heart Lantern remained weak.

Lyra sat beneath it.

Kael stood nearby.

Outside, the first hint of dawn appeared.

A pale line of gold beneath the clouds.

Lyra looked at him.

"Do you believe me?"

"Yes."

"About the child?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you don't lie."

She smiled faintly.

"You don't know that."

"I know."

"How?"

He looked at her.

"Because you make lying look exhausting."

She laughed softly.

Then she became serious.

"What happens now?"

Kael looked at the Heart Lantern.

"We find the Veil."

"How?"

"Your mother knew."

"She's alive."

"I believe she is."

Lyra stood.

"Then we find her."

Kael nodded.

"Together."

The word settled between them.

Together.

Not keeper and guardian.

Not prisoner and protector.

Not two strangers thrown into the same impossible adventure.

Together.

Lyra looked toward the sunrise.

For the first time, the sky was becoming colorful again.

Pink.

Gold.

Lavender.

The same colors she had known all her life.

But something was different.

One by one, lanterns were beginning to ignite across the distant islands.

Not all of them.

But some.

The Heart Lantern was recovering.

Slowly.

Lyra smiled.

Then she noticed something.

One lantern remained dark.

It hung high above the temple.

She walked toward it.

Kael followed.

"Don't touch it."

"Why?"

"Because everything here has been trying to kill us."

"That's fair."

She reached toward the lantern.

Her fingers touched the glass.

A memory appeared.

Her mother.

Standing beneath a golden tree.

Older now.

Tired.

Alive.

She looked directly at Lyra.

And smiled.

"If you're seeing this..."

Seraphine took a breath.

"Then you found the Heart."

Lyra's eyes filled with tears.

"And if Kael is with you..."

She smiled sadly.

"Then he finally kept his promise."

Lyra looked at Kael.

He was staring at the memory.

Seraphine continued.

"There are things I could not tell you when you were young."

"Things about Aetheria."

"Things about the Crown."

"Things about the lanterns."

Her expression became grave.

"But the greatest secret is this:"

The lantern flickered.

"The Heart Lantern isn't dying."

Lyra's breath caught.

"Someone is killing it."

The memory vanished.

The lantern went dark.

Silence.

Kael looked at Lyra.

She looked at him.

Neither spoke.

Then a sound came from behind them.

Footsteps.

Slow.

Deliberate.

Someone was walking toward them.

Kael reached for his sword.

Lyra raised her lantern.

A figure emerged from the darkness.

A young woman.

Silver mask.

Black cloak.

A curved blade at her side.

She stopped ten feet away.

Then removed her mask.

Lyra stared.

She knew that face.

She had seen it in one of the Heart Lantern's memories.

The woman smiled.

"Your mother was wrong about one thing."

Lyra's hand tightened around the lantern.

"What?"

The woman looked at Kael.

Then back at Lyra.

"You were never supposed to find him."

Kael stepped forward.

"Who are you?"

The woman smiled.

"The person who has been waiting for you."

She lifted her hand.

Outside, every lantern in Aetheria suddenly went dark.