Lightlark 2
Alex Aster
1. Isla uses her crown to open the vault in the Place of Mirrors. She looks inside and feels peace. In an instant, the scene is replaced with cracked floors and dead bodies everywhere. She hears Grim telling her to come back to him. She wakes up to find blood coming out of her nose, ears, and eyes. Oro looks concerned. Isla wonders if it is a vision of what will happen if she doesn’t go back to Grim.
2. Isla is frustrated she still can’t get into the vault. Oro thinks she may need to master her Wildling abilities before it will admit her. She tries to take off the necklace Grim gave her, but it won’t come off. Oro thinks Grim will start a war over her and she needs to start her training. She wants more time to recover. She reminds Oro her Wildling and Nightshade powers are intertwined and useless until she figures out a solution. He says he has an idea about it. She told him she wanted to take it slow with him, but she gets closer to him now. He leaves her to rest while he goes to meet about what to do I. The aftermath of the centennial.
3. All eyes are on Isla when she walks into the feast. She approaches Azul and wants to apologize for doubting him. She doesn’t have the chance when he offers to meet with her later. She agrees. Cleo doesn’t show. There is a Starling representative. Oro announces Isla is the one that broke the curses. He tells them they will need to figure out how to go forward together. Isla hears Grim tell her they are monsters. She wonders if it was her imagination. Oro puts his hand I. Her thigh to comfort her. When the Moonling course is served (live fish in blocks of ice) the Moonling representative Soren arrives. Oro asks about their alliance. He tells them they have severed the bridge to the mainland. The Moonlings are taking their ships to their new land and have not decided on what they want to do. Skylines are giving each their own decision to stay or go. He also says the races on Lightlark are not happy with how long it took to break the curses. Oro plans to visit each island to address grievances. He assumes Nightsade will attack soon. Soren starts asking Isla questions about her land, but she isn’t sure of the answers. They start questioning how Isla will rule two kingdoms. She announces she will do it. She becomes determined.
4. Isla meets with Azul in …’s bar. She feels like she doesn’t have a choice. He points out she does and she realizes she can’t just stand by and let the people of two kingdoms suffer. He takes her to Sky Isle’s palace that is only accessible by flight. He tells her many died when they fell out of the sky the day of the curses. He tells her she will have to figure out for herself how she wants to rule. He warns her that she will be expected to produce an heir before to long to ensure the survival of her people. He tells her the power can be passed on in other ways, but it does shorten the lifespan of the ruler to do so.
5. Isla faces her people and sees they are weaker and fewer than she would like. They bow to her because she broke the curses. Tarah had told them. She asks them to tell them about their struggles. She misses the first question because she thinks she sees Grim in the crowd. They ask about the status of the island. She plans to get the island back to its former glory and return them there. She notices a rift between the people and asks about it. They point out the curse made them do things they weren’t proud of. Ren tells her they have started figuring out this to get food in their own. She asks Isla to help the Starlings because they are worse off and it would help alleviate their own guilt if she helped them. She attends her coronation for Skyling, but the ground cracks in half and beasts come from the issue to attack them. The islanders try to fight back, but many end up having to run. She tries to use her powers to help them. Oro tries to fight off the beasts while healing the ground. Isla isn’t able to help magically. One of the beasts is about to swollow her whole, but looks at her and stops. It turns the other way and starts attacking elsewhere. A few accuse her of accusing her of communicating the beasts and the whole ceremony being a set up to kill them. Azul stops them and continues to help the others. Isla rushes to her room to get her star stick so she can get the Wildling elixir that would help heal the wounded from the battle. In her hurry, she touches one and they leave.
6. Cleo demands to know how Isla made the drex disappear. She says she just touched one. Oro tells Cleo to make a decision on what she and her people will do as it appears a war with Nightshade is coming. She says she will side with the winner. Isla is still covered in blood when Oro walks her back to her room. She wants to reach out to him, but stops when she sees her hands are still covered in blood. He tells her goodnight and takes off.
7. Isla is take. In the middle of the night and brought before a group of various islanders dressed in beige, a neutral color. When they get ready to attack her, Isla uses her power to push them back and one is put through a stalagmite. Isla runs and finds her ways to the tunnels and into a ship yard. She finds her way to the market and finds Sunlimg guards that inform Oro quickly. He announces to the kingdom that going after a ruler, especially the one that freed them from the cursed, is treason. Two Skylings offer to be her personal guards and she accepts. She tells Oro how she tries to use her powers and failed and then was unable to control their use during the kidnapping. She wants to learn to control them.
8. They go to visit Remlar as he said they would during the centennial. Oro threatens his life if he hurts Isla. Remlar says he wouldn’t hurt her because she is one of them. Then he does something that sends Isla reeling.
9. Before. Isla remembers arriving in the Nightshade territory the guards coming after her. She starts running down a hallways looking for an open door. She bangs on one door and a woman shuffles her into a room giving her clothes to put on. She finds herself among other girls around her age that talk about hoping to be chosen. The Nightshade ruler comes in and selects her. He takes her to another room and starts kissing her. She is surprised. He asks if it is okay and she says yes. She feels new feelings the first time being touch by a man. She starts to panic. She takes the dagger from her thigh and stabs him in the chest. She uses her star stick to get away and go home.
10. Back in the forest, Isla’s powers are starting to unravel from each other. The process makes her sick and she asks Oro to take her somewhere she cannot hurt anyone. He takes her to Wild Isle since everything there is already dead. He stays by her side while she is too sick to move. When she is awake, he tells her she is a lot of his favorite things. He tells her the parts of her she hates are the parts of her he loves the most. She falls alseep.
11. She dreams a memory of her and Grim. He appears in her room demanding to know how she got into his realm. She holds a knife to his neck and tells him to get out of her room and he does. She notices Grim has the same portaging ability as her star stick.
12. She starts practicing with her Wildling power, but is frustrated after an hour and nothing happening. Oro tells her it took him years to master each of his powers. He tells her that when he was a baby, he set his crib on fire. When he was still a child, he turned a person to gold not knowing it was even a possibility. Isla starts thinking about her mother and how her Wildling power is one of her only links to her. She starts to focus and feels it click into place like a key in a lock. Oro starts throwing things at her telling her she needs to learn.
13. Oro introduces Isla to his friend Enya. She attends meetings when Oro can’t and was able to help the Sunlings transition into new roles to help them survive the curse. Isla takes Enya, Oro, 12 volunteers, and her Skyling body guards with her to the Wildling realm she grew up in. Enya and her people have the Wildlings divided into nearby villages to help teach them in groups what they need to do to grow their own food and sustain themselves. Isla spends her time trying to get to know her own people. She tells Oro she wants to do the same for the Starlings. When she gets tired, she assumes Oro flies her to her old room where she wakes up feeling like she is back in prison. He reminds her he is there with her. She wants to have sex with him, but he insists they spend their time training with her powers.
14. While trying to grasp onto the Wildling power, she feels like she is poison. She is able to make things grow, but they die instantly. Oro tells her that she was the one that freed them all from the curses. She has been the cure for all of the realms, not just her own. She starts to think positively and a rose blooms in her hand. That night she takes off her shoes and starts through the woods she trained in all her life. She feels the power and moves up through the trees. She thinks she sees Grim on the ground following her and loses her concentration. She starts to fall and realizes she could have put two realms in danger. Avel and Ciel, her Skyling guards, are luckily there to catch her.
15. Isla sends Oro back to Lightlark while she continues to bond with her people and work on her powers. Wren asks why Isla had never been to see them before when her mother had been so active in the community. Isla asks about her mother and Wren tells her she was lovely. She also mentions the bonded, their animal companions. Isla asks if she is still able to have one. Wren asks if she is willing to go through the ceremony and Isla says yes without asking what the ceremony entails. They follow her out to the woods and give her a bow and a single arrow. Wren explains Wildlings usually go out and their bonded will find them, but the ruler must shoot theirs with the arrow. Isla takes off into the woods and the others disperse trusting her to complete the task. She sees a few different animals before she is chased by a bear. She tries to shoot it, but it breaks the bow. She climbs up a tree. The bear follows and she tries to break the branches to make it fall, but it keeps coming and cuts her calf open with its horns. She concentrates and breaks the branch below the bear and it falls out of sight. A massive black panther comes up to her and sniffs her. It tries to tell her to get on its back. When she can’t, it takes her in its teeth and flings her on its back. It takes her to the ground and puts her on the ground. She grabs the arrow and apologizes for what she has to do. She puts all of her strength into stabbing the arrow into the leopard’s leg. It doesn’t react before it takes off with her on its back again. When they get back to the center of the village, Wren tells her Lynx was her mother’s bonded.
16. Isla goes to get Oro and brings her back to the Wildling Newlands to show him Lynx. The leopard seems to like him better than Isla. She asks Lynx if he would like to go back to Lightlark with her or stay in the Newlands until she makes a place for him there. He looks out the window and she decides he will stay. Isla goes back to Lightlark with Oro where Azul is waiting to tell them the rebels have been spotted. Ella, Isla’s Starling assistant, tells them the rebels must have Starlings among them because they are the only ones that know about the crypts below the city. The Starlings used them to survive during the curses because of how many of them were abused by other realms. Isla decides she must go to the Starling realm next. Oro wants to go with her, but she insists she needs to go by herself and he agrees. On her way to her room to get ready to go, Isla asks Ella if the Starlings hate her for not having come to see them yet. Ella explains most of the them see her as a savior that gave them a chance at a future. When she gets into her room, she sees Grim behind her in the mirror. She lashes out and creates a tree branch to go through him, but no one is there.
17. Isla arrives on Star Isle in front of the partially ruined castle. There are some Starling present and all look very young. She admits she doesn’t know what she is doing and a little girl in the audience says encourages her by saying none of them do smile. She starts out by saying their ruler was her friend and she didn’t want to take her power. There are about 100 more Starlings on the island that aren’t at the meeting. The ones in fancier clothes are the nobles they live in the castle. She asks to see where the rest of them live. She asks them what they need and what she can do to help them. Ella takes down their grievances while Maren and Leo take her to where the others live. The little girl, Cinder, asks what the king is like because Maren doesn’t let her on the main land and keeps her inside when he came to visit. When they come to where they live, Isla is shocked. Where they lived previous had burned down. To the east is overrun with creatures. When people go into those woods, they don’t come back. Other groups live elsewhere on the island. Isla is furious that Celeste had known all of this and hadn’t done anything to help them. When she gets back to Lightlark, she tells Oro about it. He can tells he is stressed and not eating or sleeping right. She changes the subject telling him she missed him. He kisses her forehead and tells her to rest. She falls into a deep sleep.
18. When Grim returned to Isla and again demanded to know how she got into his realm, she eventually told him about the star stick. He tried to take it back from her because it was an object that he enchanted. She begged him not to take it and he left without it. She decided to go back to his realm to give him a thank you gift. When she hears him approaching with another man, she hides in his bathtub. When he finds her, he demands to know what she is doing there. She gives him the vial and says it is to heal the mark she made on his chest with her knife. He smashes it in the sink and portals her back to her room. He asks her what it will take for her to never come to his realm again. She suggests a duel. They go outside and the duel starts. She maneuvers him into sand that he sinks into. They fight, but he wins easily. He tells her to never come back to his realm and then disappears.
19. Isla wakes up on the floor of her room. She wants to erase the memory of Grim with a new one of Oro. She dresses in lace and when he comes to her room, he is surprised. He admits he is attacked to her, but he doesn’t want to have sex with her while she is struggling the way she is. She admits she is starting to remember her time with Grim even though she doesn’t want to. Oro offers her his own room so she won’t have to be in a space where they had spent time together. The memories stopped once she moved rooms. They practice their Wildling powers by telling each other what to make. When Isla laughs at her idea of him making a golden blade of grass, he makes her a gold rose. She tells him he is the only person she has loved that hasn’t betrayed her. She tells him she loves him. They kiss and he says he loves her too.
20. Isla suggests they celebrate the Copia on Lightlark as a way of introducing the idea of Wildlings on the islands again. Oro flies them to Wild Isle and they create plants all around them. That night, Isla asks Oro to stay with her. He agrees to it and she changes into one of his shirts which he likes. While in bed together, she wakes up in the middle of the night and tells him she needs him. They mess around together, but he tells her they aren’t going to have sex yet.
21. Isla is stitched into her flower dress for Copia. She tells Oro he will have to rip it off her later. She is wearing the gold rose he made her on a chain around her neck. The party starts, but shortly after, Grim’s voice enters everyone’s head and tells them they have 30 days to leave the island or be destroyed.
22. Isla goes to visit Cleo to try to convince her to stay on Lightlark. Isla wants them to work together to save their realms. Cleo says she will consider it. Oro calls a meeting to discuss their options. Cleo watches Isla the entire time. Isla goes to her room and Cleo is waiting for her there. She says if she had tried to kill her, Isla would be dead. She didn’t participate in the previous centennial because she was ineligible due to her son. He ended up dying during a full moon despite Cleo’s best efforts to keep him safely locked up in a glass room. She had the heir in the best interest of her people and was surprised when she actually loved him. She tells Isla the Oracle is awake and has a message for her. She takes off. The next morning, Isla and Oro are getting ready to head to Moon Isle to talk to the Oracle when Asul comes to get them. They take to the sky and see that Cleo’s Moonling ships are in the water pointed at Lightlark. They have decided to join Nightshade’s side.
23. The Moonling island is melting when Isla and Oro go to see the dying Oracle. She says Isla’s memories are the key to everything. Back in their shared room, Isla confesses she doesn’t want to remember the past. The vault will also be a major part of the puzzle. Oro tells her whatever happened a year ago, she is a different person. Isla goes to see Remlar in the Sky aisle woods. He tells her the more she masters her Nightshade ability, the more she will remember. She reaches out and feels her Nightshade powers for a second. When she opens her eyes, she isnmt in the woods anymore.
24. A month after her duel with Grim, Isla finds herself in the Nightshade market looking for the flesh gloves she needs for her and Celeste’s plan. One woman in a stall tries to sell her nightbane. She finds a store with flesh. Someone grabs her from behind and pulls her behind a curtain with his hand over her mouth. He plans to cut off her hair and scalp to sell. She stabs him in the ribs and she runs through the crowd. Guards follow her. She checks her star stick and it glows faintly. Grim sees her and tells the guards to take her to the cells. Grim comes and takes away the shackles that hold her to the ceiling. He says he will let her go if she allies with him the centennial and helps him find a sword that will allow both their realms to survive. She agrees.
25. Isla tells Oro about the sword and he starts researching. Isla goes to her people and tells them they have a choice if they want to go to Wold Isle and fight for Lightlark. She warns them they will not survive if Lightlark falls. She also says anyone that stays behind must learn how to extract the elixir from the flowers for healing since the Moonlings joined Nightshade. She goes to see Lynx and he seems to start accepting her. She wonders if that means the vault will finally let her in. She tries, but still isn’t able to enter though she feels it’s pull. She remembers the dreks and tells Oro they are Grims. He has a plan to make weapons made of a special blend to be able to pierce any hide. He takes her to meet the rest of his friends. One is a Moonling, Calder, and the other a Skyling, Zed. One of them asks if she really is Nightshade and she admits she is. Azul comes in quickly to tell them they have another problem. The people of Skyling Isle are most likely going to vote to leave Lightlark. Isla suggests they go to the Vinderland for help. Oro is against it because they put an arrow through Isla’s heart and hate Wildlings the most. Enya privately tells Isla she will go with her if she wants to approach them. Isla goes back to Remlar to learn more about her Nightshade powers. He has her kill a kingwood that has been around since before the Centennials explaining that its ashes will become something new. She does it and saplings sprout around her.
26. Another memory comes back to Isla. Grim came to her because he needs her help finding the sword. He takes her to a cliff they have to climb to get to the blacksmith that made it. He warns her not to cut herself on the rocks as they climb. By the time they reach the top, Isla has a cut on her hand. The blacksmith smells the blood and comes after her, she throws her dagger in his eye and starts to run. She is stopped by running into Grim. He tells her he warned her not to cut herself. The blacksmith uses whatever parts he can from whatever he catches to make the weapons. Grim asks him about the sword he needs. The blacksmith says it was stolen from a Skyling market a long time ago and no one knows where it has been since. Grim asks if Isla will be able to find it. The blacksmith says she can. Isla asks why he needs her to find it. The blacksmith tells her no Nightshade is able to find it. She asks Grim why he doesn’t have his people find it for him. He says he has been betrayed in the hunt for the sword before. He has wiped the blacksmiths memory of their visit. She asks if it is permanent and he says only if he wants it to be
27. Isla goes to Star Isle and asks Maren to take her to the most powerful wielder they have. Maren hesitates offering to take her to a few skilled ones. Isla corrects her saying they need the most powerful to help with a shield for Lightlark. Maren makes her promise not to tell anyone except the king before revealing Cinder is there. Most powerful wielder. Maren explains it is odd for the Starlings to have any relations, so she is protective of her cousin. Isla understands and promises her contribution can be anonymous. Isla tells Oro about Cinder. She then sees more of her vision. Gumby’s her drink from a cup of ashes and it kills her. She tells Oro about it and he says they will have to kill Grim first. Isla has another memory return.
28. Grim rows them to an island to visit the best Nightshade thieves. Isla asks how Grim can be out at night and he tells her his cloak protects him from the curse. When they enter the building, Isla is attacked and kills the man with her dagger. She is surprised because she hasn’t killed anyone before. They find another one of the thieves. When he refuses to talk, Grim cuts off his hand. They ask him about the sword and he says he will tell them about it if they don’t kill him. Isla promises him this. He tells them one of their own, Viktro, betrayed them and took off with the sword. He has been seen near Creetan’s Crag and has a snake. Grim kills the man and Isla starts to cry. He tells her he sold more than rare items and deserved to die. He takes Isla back to her room and tells her he will come back for her win two weeks for the Celebration on Creetan’s Crag.
29. Enya goes with Isla to talk to the Vinderland. When Isla asks Enya if she is scared, Enya reveals that she knows when and how she is going to die because the Oracle told her mother when she was a baby. When she was old enough, her mother gave her the option to know. Enya knows she will not die that day. When they get to the Vinderlands, they don’t want to join Isla, despite their lives also being tied to her and Lightlark. She blocks their arrows with her Starling shield. When. One throws an axe at her, she turns it to ash using her Nightshade abilities.
30. In another memory, Isla was bothered by Grim saying she didn’t know her own people. She used her star stick to portal across her own island and get a look. When one of them sees her, they grab her and tie her up. They know she is a Wildling, but they are starving. They start to cut open her chest before Isla is able to grab her star stick and portal into Grim’s room. She explains she couldn’t portal home and didn’t know where else to go. She sends him back to her room for a vial of elixir. It stops most of the bleeding, but doesn’t stop the pain. He brings her a chocolate drink to help. She asks for nightbane and he says he won’t give it to her because it is an addicting drug that kills people’s with a smile on their face. She asks for alcohol and he hands her a bottle. She finds it tastes as bad as it smells. After she is bandaged, she asks him to destroy her blood soaked shirt and he turns it to ash. She portals back to her room and goes to sleep. When she wakes up in the middle of the night, Grim is watching over her and says he has to protect his investment. She tells him she will be fine. He says he should have just let her stay in his room, because t she says she hates it there and can’t imagine why there is a line of girls that want to sleep with him. He tells her he can read emotions and felt hers that day and currently. He tells her to go back to sleep. She turns over and hides her red face.
31. Isla tells them the Vinderland will either fight with them or they will all die. They respect her power and that she has dodged death by them more than once. They tell her most of their people are too sick to move let alone fight. She tells them she will be back with help. She goes to ask Calder and Zed about healing abilities. She takes them to the Wildling land to show them the flowers. She suggests they might be able to make tea from them as well as get the elixir. When Lynx shows up to great her, the others are startled until she approaches the leopard. They tell her if there are more creatures with them, they could be useful in the battle. They continue to work out their plan to contain the Nightshade army so they will have an advantage in the battle. Memories start coming back to Isla faster.
32. Grim takes Isla to a training room to show her how to better use her star stick. He shows her short distances take a lot more focus. He teaches her how to fight in battle rather than in a formal duel like Tarah had taught her.
33. The Starlings were attacked by the creatures that have hunted them. Isla goes to the forest where the creatures are supposed to live. She walks far before she sees a snake head. She jumps out of the way before it can bite her. She dives into the water to avoid it. Her Skyling guards fight the snake to help her. She comes out of the water and digs her bare feet into the mud. She captures it in thorny vines. It turns into a woman dressed in scales. She says she is Wildling. Isla is disgusted they kill children. The serpent woman says they only take what wanders into their territory. Isla orders the woman to fight for them. The woman declines saying she is no longer Wildling and won’t obey her orders. She takes off. Later that night, Isla would remember another encounter with a snake.
34. Grim appears for the festival in Creetan’s Crag. He gives her a small piece of clothing to wear. He says many only wear paint. They portal an hour away and walk the rest of the way. They walk through the crowd. From goes to talk to a woman that is serving drinks. When he comes back to Isla, he says he knows where to find him. The find the man and Grim sends her to seduce the location of the sword out of him. She starts dancing in front of him and he asks for a private show. She obliges and he pulls her to his lap saying his snake doesn’t bite because he had her fangs removed. She asks about the sword and he tells her it ruins lives. She keeps asking and he tells her it is in The Caves of Irida. The woman who stole it has it guarded by a monster. The man passes out drunk and Grim approaches them. She asks him not to kill the man. She tells him she got the location of the sword and asks if she tempted him at all. Grim says he doesn’t want to love her, he wants to ruin her. He bites her Becka Dan grabs at her before he makes a portal with her star stick and pushes her through it.
35. Isla feels guilty about the memory and tries to cut off the invisible necklace Grim gave her. Thirteen days before Grim plans to attack, the Skylings get ready to hold their vote. Oro gives a speech. Isla stands up and talks about how she plans to find a powerful Starling to take over as their ruler. She plans to set up a democracy for them. They need the Skylings to give them a chance. The Skylings vote that Azul is not allowed to stay and fight, but some of their forces will. Zed decides he will stay. Isla goes to Wild Isle and lets her anger scorch the earth. It sends her into another memory.
36. Weeks after the festival, she still hasn’t seen Grim. She uses her star stick to get to Grim’s room. A woman enters and Isla portals herself away. She decides to find the sword on her own. She portals and ends up in the night market. She decides to hide and move in the night when most of them cannot because of the curse. A few nightshades find her and start to attack asking who she is. The man said she shouldn’t have been able to pass over the threshold. One of them rips the star stick from her and it creates a portal. One goes through to see where she was planning to go. They plan to start torturing her. Grim arrives with the man that went through the portal. He asks which one hurt her. When she doesn’t answer, he kills them all. He portals her to his room and then gets bandages to help her. He pulls her into his lap to pull glass from her hand. She asks where he had been. He says he had to take care of other things. She admits she was thinking about going to find the sword herself. She asks who the woman that came into his room was. He says it was his general that he told Isla was someone he found to bed from another realm. She tells him where the sword is and the monster that guards it. They plan to leave the next morning when the Wildling elixir would have healed her hands enough to let her hold a sword.
37. Zed takes Isla down into the mines to help him find the ore they need to make weapons. At first they walk in silence and they don’t particularly like each other. Isla asks why no one likes Soren. He tells her Soren thinks Moonlings are above the others and convinced many of them to migrate to their new lands. When they get to the end of the tunnel, Isla is able to use her abilities to make the rocks crumble and reveal the ore they need. After that she goes to Soren and asks if he agrees to heal any potential warriors she can round up without telling him she is referring to the Vinderland. He agrees knowing if he refused they would think he was a spy for Cleo. The group meets to discuss strategy. They are going to try to use their resources efficiently by trying to funnel the Nightshades into a bottleneck.
38. In her memory, The monster guarding the sword is a dragon. Isla tries to sneak around it, but there are traps that fire arrows at her. Grim pushes her out of the way and covers her with his own body so he takes the hits instead of her. She gets one through her leg. Grim Carrie’s her out of the cave and far enough away to where he can portal them back to his room without making the sword disappear. Isla takes the arrow out of her leg and uses some of the Wildling elixir to heal the wound. She then dies the same to Grim’s wounds. He tells her his father used pain to train young Nightshades. Grim has used it before to increase his own powers. He tells her they will have to keep going back until they can get to the sword.
39. Isla feels like she needs more power. She goes to the spot where she needed to make the poisonous plants grow to slow down the Noghtshades and uses pain to accomplish the work faster. When Oro finds her, he is disappointed that she did not head his warning about using emotions to power magic being dangerous. He tells her he doesn’t recognize her. She realizes she doesn’t recognize herself. The next day while partaking civillian Starlings a to their new land, she stops by Celeste’s old room where they used to hang out. She finds a feather quill, but it doesn’t write. She is so angry that Aurora used her and tricked her. She says she hates her before she leaves. She goes back to her previous work and starts correcting all the plants she made. Remlar shows up to tell her not all life in Lightlark can be restored. He tells her to ask the creatures older than the cursed for help. It has been a long time since they have seen someone wield Nighshade and Wildling powers.
40. Grim and Isla make their way through the cave setting off traps. After one that got them both badly, he asks her to stay. He rescinds his ban on her in all of his kingdom and offers her a medicinal bath. She takes him up on it. Grim watches her and then leaves.
41. Isla has been practicing riding Lynx and wants to make him armor. Wren tells him he already has some from when he fought with her mother. Wren helps them out it in and Isla has an easier time holding on with the saddle. Lynx takes her through the tops of the trees and to a clearing. He shows her memories of her mom and then of both of her parents holding her as a baby.
42. Isla remembers Grim coming to her to tell her they were going to have to hold off on getting to the sword until after a ball that was being thrown. She asks to go and he tells her no. She decides to go anyway. She dresses in as little black clothes as possible and uses her star stick to portal there. Grim is furious when he sees her, but he can not give his secret away by approaching her. A man asks her to dance and hands her a drink. She drinks the entire cup and dance a with him. He invites her out into the hall and she agrees to go with him. They kiss, but she doesn’t feel the same thrill she did when Grim kissed her. Grim puts his sword through the man and explains it’s because he poisoned Isla to paralyze her. He gives her the antidote
43. Isla starts making her way to Star Isle when she realizes she is being followed. She lets herself get captrured and drug down into the tunnels. She threatens the rebels and starts to push them away from her so she can kill them all. Maren takes off her mask. She tells Isla there is another curse, the Nexus. This was put into place to make sure the rulers stayed in power. This is what ties the people’s lives to their ruler. They think she is immune to curses and therefore has already freed the Wildling and Starling people. They want Isla to end the curse, but it requires the death of the king to save thousands. She says no and leaves them. She decides not to tell Oro about it. eBay says she likes Isla, but not for Oro. Isla is upset by this at first. Enta explains that Oro is a the king and will need to be with someone who can handle being his queen and producing an heir.
44. Isla is sleeping when she hears santhid that throws her back into another memory. Grim comes into her room badly injured. He tells her he has been fighting off the draks - monsters that used to be people. They sprung from a crack in his land and the Nightshades have to kill them as they come out of the ground. The sword they are after was designed to control the draks. How a father wanted it to take over Lightlark. Grim claims he wants it to safe his people from having to fight them. Isla asks about his mother. He tells her he never knew her. Nightshades are taught not to have any attachments because love is a weakness. He tells her how he has was sleeping with different women to try to produce an error for his people. He has stopped since they made their deal and he has agreed to help her in the Centennial.
45. Isla tells Oro and the others what the sword does. She believes Grim already has it. Axul points out she diesnmt have that memory, but the dreks flew off towards Nightshade after their last attack. Isla goes to the snake woman asking for help. She promises to not abandon them. She promises them a place on Wild Isle after the fight. The snake woman refuses her. She goes to each island and asks the ancient creatures to join her. Most agree. She unlocks another memory.
46. Grim and Isla are past all the traps and only have the dragon to get past. They decide they will have to draw it out to get past it without magic. He takes her to a field of Nightbane. He has her smell her and tells her he thinks it is the same flower they use to make the elixir. They make a deal for him to get the flowers to the Wildlings so they can make more elixirs and supply the Nightshade. They portal back to his room. They admit that they want each other. He senses a breach in his realm and disappears.
47. Isla tells Oro about Nightbane and how the Nightshades have massive fields of it. She has a vision of Grim at one of the Wildling villages where Wren lives. She says she has to go immediately and Oro offers to go with her. They portal immediately. The people and elixirs are gone. Grim left her a note that he took them all to Nightshade and are waiting for her. She starts sobbing and Oro holds her.
48. Isla tries to wait to hear that Grim is okay. She portals to his room and waits for him to arrive. He comes into his room in his armor and starts taking it off. They each admit they lust after each other. They fool around.
49. Grim arrives. He realizes she doesn’t remember everything. He confirms he has the sword, but says he did not send the dreks to Lightlark. He tells her he saved her people by making them forget what they did during the curses. They had asked him to. She tells him to take off the necklace. He tells her if she could remember, she would know that he cannot. She lifts herself on vines and Shadows and goes to Remlar. She asks him to teach her how to cut someone off from their powers using a love bond. She tells the board that she talked to Grim. She tells them she intends to kill him and take his power to save his people. She admits she hasn’t done anything like it before, but is confident. She goes back to Remlar and tells him she needs him to speed up her memories. She asks Remlar about his powers. He says they are along those of Nightshades. He gives her the tea to drink and says few still remember home from long time ago.
50. Isla remembers asking Grim to take her to a Skyling festival. He complains because he thinks Skylings celebrate too much. They dress up like Skylings and go. Isla begs him to take her up in one of the hot air balloons. Isla decides she is afraid of heights. From tells her he can portal her away at any second. When she tells him to, he pushes her out of the basket and portals them back to his room. They fool around. They practice their plan for getting past the dragon over and over, but their next attemot results in waking the dragon. It breathes fire at Isla and Grim portals her out of there to protect her. She hopes she can find it because she touched it. He says he doesn’t want the sword anymore and will continue to use his powers to protect his realm. They talk about how they will pretend not to know each other at the Centennial. He says he has to tell her something and she says she has to tell him something. He says he knows she isn’t cursed and can’t wield power. They have sex. The next morning, she suddenly remembers that the Nightshade rulers supposed to bed someone more than once and asks if he is going to disappear. He says he won’t. Isla goes back to the cave alone and finds an abandoned baby dragon. She brings it back to Grim’s room and he begrudgingly agrees to let it stay with him because Isla doesn’t have anywhere to keep it.
51. Isla is disappointed none of the memories help their situation. She practices with Azul on how she will have to kill Grim. She tells Oro she is not good for him. He tellls her he has waited a long time for her and will continue waiting until she is ready. He tells her he will be there for her as long as she wants him. She tells him the same is true for her. She had him tell Oro that she will be practicing alone and takes off to break her promise to Oro. She cuts herself and uses the crown to open the vault. This time, nothing pushes her back.
52. Isla enters the darkness and is approached by Tarah. They fight and Isla wants to kill her former guardian. Isla fights back using her powers, but Tarah is more practiced. Isla’s powers are drained. Tarah thanks her for opening the portal, but Isla doesn’t know what she is talking about.
53. Isla brings Grim the sword and asks Grim what he wanted to tell her before they got distracted by sex. He reminds her he was betrayed previously while searching for the sword by his general that had a flair. Her father. She had his same flair for breaking curses. He tells her Lightlark was a smaller version of their original home. He and Cleo were the only ones that knew the location of the portal. Openingnit to get back to the old world would destroy Lightlark. Her father hid the sword from Grim to prevent him for carrying out his father’s dreams of conquest and opening the portal. He tells her he had decided he don’t want the sword because he breaking the curse on it would either kill her or significantly shorten her life. She tells him she never wants to see him again.
54. Isla calls for Oro and he comes to take care of her. She tells the others about the portal to the other world. She tells them she already opened it for him.
55. The morning of the war, Isla goes to see the Oracle. The Oracle tells her she will have to decide to kill either Oro or Grim and whichever she chooses will determine the fate of Lightlark. The Oracle falls into the ocean. She goes to get ready for battle with the others. Oro tells her some day he’s like to take her to his favorite place, a specific beach. Isla says they will go the next day after the battle, but Oro doesn’t seem to think he is going to survive. The battle starts and Isla takes off on Lynx. One of her Skyling guardians dies protecting her and his twin holds him instead of continuing to fight. Isla puts a barrier around them before going back to the fight. She looks around and knows the best isn’t enough. She goes to the bridge and waits for Grim to meet her. Soldiers appear all around her and he tells them he will kill anyone that touches her.
56. Grim stayed away from Isla for about a month. When he appears in her room, she can tell something is wrong. He tells her a scar has opened in a previously safe place where hundreds of people live. He tells her he loves her and that he will always find her. She asks to go with him and he says yes. The. He takes her star stick and leaves so she cannot follow.
57. Grim is in full armor and knows it’s a trap. When Oro appears, Grim attacks and Oro fights back. They make sure their blasts don’t hurt her. They duel across the bridge and into the air. Oro uses a strike of lightning, but Grim uses his portal ability to trade places. Isla battles with her past self about killing Grim. She reaches for his power.
58. Isla grieved the possible loss of her only friend and lover. She reaches out for him and can feel the link between them. She asks it to take it to her. She lands on the ground and can see the dress over her. Grim is in the middle of them killing them as quickly as he can. Dreks were destroying the nearby village. He is horrified she is there but realizes it means she loves him. The dreks stab through Grim’s chest. She focuses on the sword. The power pours out of her and kills the dreks around them. She sends her Wildling power to him. He portals to her and tries to keep her from passing out, but she is out of power. She tells him pain is not the strongest before her heart stops.
59. Grim looks at Isla when he realizes he she has a hold on his powers. It is the first time Isla has ever seen him terrified. He tells Oro if Grim dies, so does Isla. Oro stops just before the killing blow.
60. In the memory, Isla wakes up after dying. Grim tells her she died, but Isla doesn’t understand how she is alive now. She wonders if her people are okay.
61. Oro realizes Grim bound Isla to him. They share a life, not just power. She tells Oro to do it anyway. Grim wants to open the portal to save her. She reminds Oro of the vision, but the idea of killing children and villagers confuses Grim. She realizes the vision she saw was not a vision but a memory. It was her emotional power used to save Grim that killed the villagers. She tells Oro to get away from her while he tries to tell her everyone makes mistakes. Grim tells him to get away from his wife.
62. The rest of Isla’s memory comes back to her. She remembers their marriage and suffering with guilt for months. In Nightshade they exchange necklaces instead of rings. He showed her the necklace and tells her once it is put on, it can only come off after death. He puts it into is pocket before sending her back to her Wildling room with her star stick and without her memories.
63. Isla asks Grim if he will stop the attack if she goes with him. He says he will. Oro doesn’t know about the prophecy and decides to go with Grim. She looks at Lynx and Grim says he will come with them. Isla tells Oro she loves him, but she also loves Grim. Oro knows she is telling the truth because of his flair. Grim portals them away