I didn't sleep much that night.

We had walked the whole day after the wolf incident, and I was exhausted by the time we decided to stop. I figured I'd pass out immediately. The firmness of the ground had long since ceased to bother me, and for the first time in a while, I wasn't worried a Whisperer would attack us in the night. But there was a deep unease rooted in my stomach that I couldn't shake. The few moments I drifted off were dreamless and brief.

When the sky began to lighten, I abandoned any hope of getting significant rest. I stood up quietly, stretched, and began to walk to wake myself up. I glanced at Amarie as I passed her sleeping form. She looked so much more comfortable than when we had first found her in the woods behind my house.

I lifted my hand and inspected the thin silver scar that ran down the length of my forearm. A wolf attack, right before we met Genevieve the diviner. Those wolves could have been monsters. Scared children, just like Amarie.

Just like Giselle.

I walked a little further from the makeshift campsite, the unease in my stomach growing stronger. My argument with Audrey echoed in my mind. Was the Boss another scared man, pressured into doing harm to protect himself? Or was he truly evil, manipulating governments and sorceresses to cause chaos in the world?

"Hey."

I jumped, spinning around so fast, my hand almost slammed into the eye of Ravi Jindal.

He ducked just in time. "Whoa, I did not expect that kind of speed from you this early in the morning."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," I yelped, pulling my arms back in to wrap around my stomach. I laughed nervously. "Guess I'm a little jumpy today."

"I don't blame you," he said, standing back up. "We're pretty close to the castle. I think today might be the day."

The unease rose in my stomach. "Yeah. It might."

"Hey," he said softly, "it's okay to be scared."

I bit my lip. "I'm not sure that I'm scared of fighting. I don't feel bad about that. I'm just...scared I'll make the wrong decision."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Um. Expand on that?"

"Uh..."

"You know what, let's walk while we talk," he suggested. "You look a little antsy."

I chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, a little."

We set off into the trees. It was nicer not having to look him in the eyes. Ravi's eyes tended to distract me. It was like they could see everything I was trying not to say.

"So, what decision are you worried about?"

I sighed. "The Boss. What are we going to do with him? What is he, even? A sorcerer? A Legend? I just feel like we don't have enough information."

"I'm with you on that one," Ravi replies. "I'm a big fan of information, and we essentially have none. But we didn't really have any information last time, and that worked out okay."

"I guess." I wrapped my arms around myself a little tighter. "But how are we supposed to defeat this guy? Make him not evil anymore? Is that possible? Maybe Audrey's right, maybe there is no good inside him, maybe we have to do something drastic, maybe we have to..." I couldn't finish my thought.

Ravi nodded slowly. "That's a lot of 'maybes'. I can see why you're stressed."

"Are you NOT stressed?!" I exclaimed.

He shrugged. "Not really."

Irritation sparked. "This might be the most important fight of our lives, and you're not at all concerned?"

"Oh, trust me, I'm plenty concerned," he assured, "but I'm not stressed. Want to know why?"

"Yes."

"Because of you." He stopped walking. "You are, without a doubt, the most incredible person I've ever met. You're kind, and funny, and understanding, and you've got the biggest heart of anyone I know. The world changes around you." He gestured to our friends sleeping somewhere beyond the trees. "All of these people are here because of you. Because of your tenacity and belief in goodness. Because you help and support and love. We are all better people because of you. You're an inspiration to everyone you meet." He smiles softly. "You taught us how to love. So in a battle where love is our strongest weapon? Yeah. I'm not stressed at all."

I stood for a moment, speechless.

Then I surged forward and embraced him.

For a moment, he was still, and I was scared I had made a terrible mistake. But then his arms settled around me and he hugged me back. I turned my head and rested it against his chest, feeling his breath catch for a moment before relaxing, his head tilting ever so slightly so I could hold him even closer. My eyes closed, my senses were consumed with my arms around his torso, the smell of the fire that lingered on his shirt, and the soft sound of his heartbeat. And that was the missing feeling that had plagued me the night before. The feeling that everything, somehow, was going to be okay.

~~~

The morning was slow. The rest of the crew woke up one by one, grabbing some oatmeal that Ore had somehow managed to whip up (I had learned not to question his food making abilities). Everyone was quiet, save for the occasional "can you pass me that" or "there's a leaf in your hair". An unmistakable tension hung over our heads—the knowledge that we were close.

Then, Amarie sat up straighter, her brow creased. "Do you...do any of you hear that?"

A chill ran down my spine. Hadn't we met all the Whisperers? Hadn't we defeated them all? Was one coming back for Amarie?

Audrey scrambled to her feet, clearly thinking along similar lines, until Isaac grabbed her arm. "Wait." He pointed upwards, and my gaze followed.

There, deftly navigating her way down among the treetops, perched upon her blue plastic broom, was Abigail.

I immediately relaxed, my mouth breaking into a smile. She was the perfect person to arrive at that moment. A powerful, optimistic sorceress? The sorely needed cheerleader of our little team (if the cheerleaders were also arguably the most powerful players).

I glanced at Isaac and Amarie. It had been a weird departure the time we had seen Abigail, and she had confessed her dual crushes on the two. But Isaac seemed happy and Amarie didn't look worried, which was rare for her, so I figured everything would be okay.

We stood up to greet her, and when she finally had enough space without branches in the way, she dropped to the ground and spread her purple cape with a flourish. "Ladies and gentlemen, Abigail Starthunder, at your humble service!"

We politely applauded her before she broke the act and ran in for hugs.

"I've spent the past week or so since I last saw you all evacuating the island," she explained while she moved from person to person. "I figured the fallout from the coming battle could be brutal. It was hard to get communities to leave their homes, but Meri helped. And I think a lot of the village leaders were tired of living in such a dangerous area anyway."

"That's brilliant," Isaac remarked softly.

She smiled. "Thanks, I guess. It was the least I could do. I didn't even do most of the moving, that was all Liza and Chris. Oh, and I reached out to all the people on your butterfly!" She pointed at the orange butterfly clip in my hair.

I paused. "Pardon?"

"I essentially back-routed the enchantment circuit flow to designate the locales of anyone you've sent that butterfly to in its history, which wasn't too hard, as you've had it for under a year," she said dismissively. "So, Magnolia the dryad, Serephina and the princesses, Genevieve, Tess, all those guys!"

"This is growing complicated," Deynan whispered.

"So they put me in touch with even more people like Horatio and some other satyrs, and—"

"Wait, Horatio?" Deynan interrupted. "I love that dude! Weird, nervous, drinks a lot of tea?"

Abigail nodded. "That's the one. Not super interested in fighting, but he had some ideas."

"Hang on," Ravi said suddenly. "Fighting? Who's fighting?"

Abigail laughed. "You didn't think the Simones just sat back at the school twiddling their thumbs, did you? Right now, all around the magical world, you guys have supporters who have been growing in numbers since the Elder Council went haywire. The Simones have been making allies, creating bonds, uniting a front." She grinned, a glint in her eyes. "You have an army. And they're almost here."

My mouth fell the slightest bit open.

"So, what's the plan, then?" Audrey asked, excitement growing in her voice. "Surprise ambush? Invasion?"

"Well, we need you guys to go in first," Abigail explained. "You need to get as close to the Boss as possible when the invasion begins. Then we'll come in and get your backs."

"How are we supposed to make sure that happens?" Sophie asked quietly. "How can we get an audience with the Boss? No one knows anything about him."

"By doing what we do best," Deynan declared. He grinned widely as all eyes turned to him. "Getting captured on purpose."

~~~~
A/N:

I'm aware that this is short and that also it's been several months? But I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm going to finish this book IF IT KILLS ME. Hopefully I'll get a few more chapters up during winter break. WE ARE GROWING CLOSER TO THE END, in case you couldn't tell...

Also, shoutout to my friends who spent 45 minutes helping me figure out the specifics of the Ravi/Sierra hug.

(I'm the blue.)

Finally, my friend FACETIMED ME to show me her hugging her dad (same height difference) so I could get the physics right...

...the things my friends do for me <3

UNTIL NEXT TIME WHICH IS HOPEFULLY SOON!
~Margot