As for the mainland, the Delvala province became Delvala les Restes and was annexed to Bright Moon, so the young Queen Angella could lead as queen. Lé resigned shortly after, and Delvala elected a governor, just like the other Meyan provinces. And the kingdom of Arxia was no more.

❂❂❂

Shadow Weaver recharged, her mind racing. No time to waste. She had to get to the skiff within the next half hour. Her heart thumped as she grabbed Nell again and made a desperate teleport all the way to the coast.

They exited in a haze of shadow. Black spots danced at the corners of Shadow Weaver's vision, and she squinted, trying to get a handle on their surroundings. Carmen's small hand gripped her own as Shadow Weaver regained her bearings.

Shadow Weaver looked out over the endless horizon. Micah's skiff was thousands of miles away by now. She would have to muster all her strength, all her power...

Carmen handed her a note. Shadow Weaver unfolded it. Written in the felinetta's near-illegible handwriting was one word.

Starwalker.

Shadow Weaver swallowed. "I can't teleport all the way there," she said to Nell, who stood in silence. "It's impossible."

"That was your plan?"

"I told you, I'm insane – no thanks to you." Her hair blew in her face. "But I have another idea."

"What's that?"

"I," she said, "am going to starwalk." Carmen smiled. "I can use kinesis magic since I have iridulium boots on. They reflect magic – we can use that to our advantage."

"You're...going to walk in the air?"

Shadow Weaver looked back at him, bored. "Did I stutter?"

"I suppose not. But be careful."

"Always am." She waded in the water up to her knees.

Then Shadow Weaver cast a kinesis spell, launching herself into the air. The ground grew further away; she propelled herself forward with a brief burst of levitation.

Shadow Weaver swallowed, placing her hands behind her back and continuing to run forward. Pull, pull, pull, pull. The pulls turned to pushes beneath the metal, and she raced through the air at a blinding speed, hair flying behind her, exhilaration pumping through her body.

Miles passed as she combined kinesis and levitation. As Shadow Weaver starwalked. Breathless, she soared up to touch the clouds; a group of sky rays flapped their enormous wings, launching themselves through the air on magic alone. A smile came to her face.

That's me - I'm powerful. I'm...free.

She didn't know how close she was to Micah. But for once, Shadow Weaver almost forgot about her goal. This power...these abilities...would she give them up just for one silly man who had rejected her?

Shadow Weaver continued, soaring beneath the clouds as she saw a tiny speck below her. An island. A strange island...

She slowed her fall with levitation. Almost there. Almost...

Shadow Weaver's muscles seized up, awful pain contorting her as she choked out a scream.

Oh, Alura, the Spell mocked. I can't believe how stupid you are.

She tried casting a spell, but she was unable to focus. So instead, Shadow Weaver's body relived the electrocution, the pain she'd endured all those years beneath Hordak's hand, the trauma of Micah and Nell's abandonment.

All of it. Hurt her. At once. Shadow Weaver plummeted toward the ocean, the Spell laughing mercilessly from within her as it fed off her pain. Pain that it stirred up in her.

Shadow Weaver's heart raced, and she hyperventilated. No escape existed this time. There...was no...

Black.

✧✧✧

Shadow Weaver woke up battered and broken, with numb legs and a broken spine.

A deep noise reached her ears; her mask was greeted with a wet kiss. Shadow Weaver willed herself to open her eyes. A huge fishlike face stood above her.

A sky-ray.

Shadow Weaver closed her eyes again, hearing it flap away. They were not sentient creatures; they didn't know she was better off dead. They...just saved her...

"Where am I?" she whispered.

Shadow Weaver's broken bones ground against one another as Nell held her. She gazed into her ex-fiancé's teary eyes.

"It's alright," he said softly. "It's alright that you couldn't save him. I knew it was a long shot anyway, but..." Nell pressed a hand to the side of her mask with a sad expression. "You won't survive here. We can escape – Fort Ammeer is only a few miles away. I'll take care of you, even if you hate me. Understand, Alura? You can't survive on your own anymore."

Shadow Weaver breathed in deeply. Her entire life flashed before her eyes. Alura, the child of Lydia and Ántonin. The girl who lost both her parents by the time she was an adult.

Light Spinner, who had suffered the pain of rejection from society – the betrayal of Micah, Nell, and Norwyn. Who was punished for trying to save the world.

Shadow Weaver, who tried so hard to be worthy but instead was tortured day in and day out for three years. Shadow Weaver, who begged for help but was rejected.

Shadow Weaver, who loved Micah.

Alura, who knew that her one salvation was dead.

Shadow Weaver laughed. Nell, who left her for a shifter, wanted her to stay?

Red coursed through Shadow Weaver's vision, and she screamed as the emotional torture manifested into physical anguish. Invisible daggers sliced through her arms, stabbing into her stomach and twisting in harmony. Destroying everything she was, hunting for her very soul.

"Alura?" Nell cried. "What's happening? – I don't know, Carmen! Is it the Spell?"

Shadow Weaver thrashed. I loved him. I loved him, I loved him, I loved him –

There is a way out, sweet one.

"No!" she cried. "No, I am not a monster! They were wrong!" The words were choked off as blood filled Shadow Weaver's throat, spilling out her nose and mouth. She gripped herself and sobbed, unable to move from paralysis.

"Alura!" Nell cried. "Please, come back to me! I never left you for Zeka – I –"

"LIES!" Shadow Weaver roared.

You cannot fight forever. No one can withstand their torment alone.

We deserve one another, Alura. This truth is. You call me a separate being, but you forget one fact.

I. AM. YOUR. SHADOW.

Shadow Weaver shrieked, opening her eyes, but she was blind. Red soared through her vision, and she gripped Nell tightly. She was deaf to everything but the taunts.

Then, someone else held her close to their chest. Shadow Weaver bellowed hideous sounds of pain, but as she listened closely, a sound overcame them all for a moment.

Purring.

"C...Carmen..." she croaked. "I'm..."

No. You caused 'Carmen' to be silenced forever. Don't you know how she betrayed you?

Carmen was loyal! There was no way –

She. Left. The faith.

She plans to leave you too. And yes, your 'Carmen' has already betrayed you. But the runestone was bonded, and the tiny princess was safe.

You. Have. FAILED.

And with that, Shadow Weaver let out a final cry of raw, unadulterated agony. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and as her heart melted into a mess of pure sorrow and pain, the Spell's soft whisper was all she could hear. The slush of darkness infected her mind.

You were never strong enough to bear your pain. Nor to stop me.

We are one now, Alura.

❂❂❂

Did you know...

- Despite Shadow Weaver and Micah's epic battle in the Snows, I see this as the true pivotal moment of the story.

- The title was originally meant to be an allusion to the move Shadow Weaver used in this story, but I wasn't a fan of how shallow it was, so I attached the Starwalker legend to it to give it more thematic depth.

Tell me what you think...

- What will happen to Nell now that Shadow Weaver has gone insane? What will he do?

- Is there any cure for Shadow Weaver's condition? Why or why not?