The underground passage was pitch-black. Only the faint light from Mira’s oil lamp illuminated the way.
Lyra walked ahead, carrying the Black Petal. Elian followed behind her with one hand pressed against the wound in his shoulder.
“Who killed you?” Elian asked again.
Lyra stopped. She didn’t want to answer, but they didn’t have time to argue.
“I don’t know,” she said.
Elian stared at her back. “You saw that message. There has to be something you’re hiding.”
“I only saw fragments of a memory. I can’t choose what appears.”
“And yet, in that memory, you were with me.”
Lyra lowered her head. “I used to know you. That’s all I know.”
They kept walking. From above, the faint sound of soldiers’ footsteps reached them. The royal soldiers were still searching for them.
At the end of the passage, they found an old wooden door. Lyra shoved it open with her shoulder. It led to the riverbank.
The night air greeted them at once. The river rushed between massive stones.
Mira pointed to a small boat tied near a tree.
“Get in,” she said. “It’ll take you to a village outside the city.”
Lyra looked at Mira. “You’re not coming?”
“I’m too old to run.” Mira gave a faint smile. “Go before they find this passage.”
Suddenly, the distant sound of the passage door being battered shook the air.
Mira immediately shoved Lyra toward the boat.
“Quick!”
Lyra climbed in first, then helped Elian aboard. But before she could untie the rope, an arrow struck the ground beside her foot.
The soldiers appeared in the passage doorway.
“Don’t let the prince cross!” one of them shouted.
Elian stepped in front of Lyra. He picked up the short sword lying inside the boat.
“You’re hurt,” Lyra said.
“I can still stand.”
“If you fight, your wound will open.”
Elian turned toward her. “If I don’t fight, you’ll die.”
He leaped onto the riverbank.
Three soldiers attacked him at once. Elian deflected the first strike, then ducked as the second sword swung toward his head. He moved quickly, but his body wasn’t as strong as it had been before.
Lyra pulled several blue memory petals from her bag. She threw them into the river.
The river water turned into a thick fog. The soldiers lost sight of him.
“Elian, come back!” Lyra shouted.
Elian ran toward the boat. But one soldier managed to spot him and threw a knife.
The knife shot toward Elian’s back.
Lyra had no time to think. She grabbed a red memory petal and crushed it. Red light appeared in her hand, then transformed into a cord of light that wrapped around Elian’s body.
The cord pulled Elian into the boat just before the knife struck him.
The boat broke free from the riverbank and was swept away by the current.
Lyra fell beside Elian. Both of them were breathing heavily.
“Thank you,” Elian said.
Lyra looked at him. “You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t want you to die.”
Elian gave a small smile. “Do you always say that?”
Lyra fell silent.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” Elian clutched his head. “When you pulled me back, I thought I heard your voice.”
“What did you hear?”
Elian closed his eyes. “You said, ‘Don’t go. I haven’t had the chance to say it yet.’”
Lyra felt her chest tighten. The words sounded unfamiliar, yet they also felt incredibly close to her heart.
Suddenly, the Black Petal in Lyra’s hand grew hot.
Dark light spilled from the petal and touched Elian’s face.
Elian screamed.
He saw a white room. Lyra stood beside a stone table inside it. Elian’s motionless body lay on top of the table.
A man in black robes stood behind Lyra.
“Do it now,” the man said.
Lyra was crying as she held a knife.
Inside the memory, Elian watched Lyra lower her head toward his body.
“Forgive me,” Lyra whispered.
Then the knife descended.
Elian jerked awake and opened his eyes.
He immediately moved away from Lyra.
“You killed me,” he said.
Lyra froze. Her face went pale.
“I don’t know what you saw.”
“I saw you holding a knife. I saw my body on the table.”
“That wasn’t the whole memory!”
“Then what’s missing?”
Lyra wanted to answer, but no words came out. The Black Petal was still trembling in her hand.
Elian reached for his sword.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Lyra looked at the sword, then at Elian’s face. Her eyes were filled with fear, but she didn’t back away.
“If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn’t have saved you.”
“Maybe you saved me so you could kill me again.”
The words wounded Lyra more deeply than she let show.
She took the Black Petal and placed it on the floor of the boat.
“Look closely,” she said. “This petal only shows the part someone wants to see.”
Elian stared at the petal.
Suddenly, new writing appeared on its surface.
THE PERSON WHO KILLED YOU WAS NOT LYRA.
Elian read the words, holding his breath.
The writing changed once more.
LYRA WAS THE ONE WHO ASKED FOR YOU TO DIE.
They both fell silent.
Elian stared at Lyra in confusion. “What does that mean?”
Lyra felt another memory emerge in her mind. The palace garden. White flowers. Elian holding her hand.
“I didn’t kill you,” she whispered. “I asked someone to kill you.”
Elian raised his sword higher.
“Why?”
Lyra looked toward the Black Petal. Behind the writing, one final sentence appeared.
BECAUSE THE PRINCE YOU LOVE IS NO LONGER HUMAN.
At that same moment, the river ahead of them suddenly stopped flowing.
A young man in black robes slowly emerged from the water. His face was exactly the same as Elian’s.
But his eyes were completely black.
He smiled at Lyra.
“I’ve been waiting for you a long time,” he said. “This time, don’t kill me too quickly.”