something useful over for Viola to study, who, in turn, gave it to me. Efissa and Ruelle were as dismayed as Rubia and Safira, aimlessly staring at the ceiling or out the large, floor-to-ceiling window. From here, they could still see a thread of smoke rising from above the ocean, where Mount Agrith had once been.
The twin peaks were gone, gobbled up by an active volcano. A sizzling pile of rocks, wood, dirt, and lava had been left in their place. No one dared get close to that island anymore, fearing additional retaliation from Firr. He’d made his point, and we were in no position to fight him. The last thing we wanted was the kind of attention that Taeral and his entire crew had been getting from the Hermessi.
“We could visit the sanctuaries,” Ruelle suggested. “If they want us there…”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” I snapped, then turned around to face them. “Just because your mountain was destroyed, it doesn’t mean you’re useless or unwanted here! On the contrary, the people need you now more than ever. Why are you letting Mount Agrith define you? I don’t remember you ladies being so—”
“Vulnerable?” Nova replied with a half-smile. I sighed, nodding slowly. “Mount Agrith is where we came from. I might’ve been forced to hatch early, and Viola might not have been as tied to it as our sisters, but still, I understand their plight. Mount Agrith wasn’t just our point of origin. It was our home. It was our haven, where we went for solace and meditation. Surely, you understand why my sisters are so out of balance.”
“I understand, but… I don’t know, we’re dealing with so much already,” I said, choosing my words carefully as I caught a whiff of irritation across the room, coming exclusively from the other Daughters. “I think your hearts and your souls would feel better if you were preoccupied with something else. Like caring for the fae. Or helping the witches and all of GASP in stifling the Hermessi cults’ advance across the In-Between. We’re still fighting them. We’re still facing mass extinction, with or without Mount Agrith.”
“You’re right,” Safira said. “You are absolutely right, Phoenix. And we’ve been selfish, perhaps, to behave like this. Coming here, sulking, and doing nothing but feeling sorry for ourselves.”
“It wasn’t without reason,” Viola said, trying to comfort them.
“No, but he’s got a point,” Rubia interjected, then rubbed her face and pulled her reddish pink hair into a loose bun on the top of her head. I’d been around the Daughters for long enough to recognize that move—the let’s-get-to-work move. There was hope for them yet. “We should get out of here. Visit the sanctuaries across Eritopia, then gather in The Shade and discuss the next steps with Derek and Sofia.”
Chana got up first. “Yes. We should do that. We cannot let Firr dictate how we spend what is left of our lives.”
“That did not sound as optimistic as you might’ve intended,” I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. Chana stared at me, befuddled, and Viola giggled.
A heavy boom echoed from outside. It was enough to make us all jump. I’d heard that sound before, and it had preceded the fall of Mount Agrith. Naturally, our collective instinct was to rush to the window and look toward Mount Agrith.
“Please, don’t tell me it’s… Oh, no, it’s not,” Safira said, her palms pressing the glass as we huddled to see what had just happened.
“It sounded like thunder,” Nova said.
But the streak of black smoke crossing the clear sky didn’t speak of a storm. I followed its point of origin first—high up to the east. It had pierced the atmosphere. Mount Agrith was still far to the north, crumbled.
“No, that streak,” I replied, pointing with my finger on the glass, right to the new thread of black smoke. “It came from outside. Maybe a meteor…”
I followed it all the way into the west part of the window frame. It descended toward the continent. My mind was already going through the geography of the continent as I quickly tried to estimate its point of impact.
Viola and I seemed to be on the same page, as we both gasped at the same time.
“Stonewall!” she said, beating me to it by a split second.
Indeed, something enormous had pierced Calliope’s atmosphere, and it had gone down in flames toward the ocean to the west, where Stonewall, the citadel of Bajangs, stood proudly. For a moment, my chest tightened. My True Sight wasn’t capable