Chapter Forty-Eight

Aeri recalls drowning and briefly treading the Road of Souls before Royo’s pleas pulled her back to life. Now in the Light Mountains, Aeri worries her time-freezing power won’t save Royo if they’re chased on dangerous slopes. She argues to go alone, but they compromise: Royo will guide her close despite his noisy steps.

As they climb, Royo asks about Aeri’s necklace. Fearing the danger of revealing her relic and power, Aeri gives a partial truth, and Royo shares that his mother vanished in Tamneki and was found drowned despite being able to swim—a mystery that haunts him. Their talk also prompts Aeri to reflect on her mother’s failings and on the cost of love and loyalty.

Royo spots a sleeping amarth at a mountainside nest; dozens more roost in nearby trees. Aeri silently approaches and discovers black eggs, including one left at the edge. She freezes time with her amulet, lifts the ice-cold, likely abandoned egg, and unfreezes, sprinting downhill with Royo following her tracks.

They race off the slopes to the foothills, aiming for their tethered horses and hoping to outrun the birds before sunset. Just as escape seems possible, falling white down heralds danger. A giant amarth—white, powerful, with a humanlike face—lands before them, eyes fixed on the stolen egg, leaving Aeri and Royo trapped.