Wildfire and Stars Eternal

Chapter 38: The Way Back Home

It was so beautiful, my heart nearly burst at the sight of it all. 

Aelin had told me what it was like. Falling through worlds. But she could never have done it justice with only her words. 

One world after another, we crashed through the gates separating the numerous lands. We passed through one made entirely of ice and snow, the next a vast ocean with no dry land in sight. We passed through a world with light so blinding, it left spots in my vision. We passed a land with sparkling buildings of immense height stretching in every direction, a world made only of dust and ash, and a world with a great blackened scar cutting a path across the main continent. 

They flew by faster than I could see. There were so many. And I'd never even known. It made me feel impossibly small, a mere speck in this vast universe of billions of hearts and souls, all living and breathing as one.  

Aelin wasn't nearly as awed as the rest of us. She had to shout just to grab our attention. 

"We're going too fast!" She roared. We all snapped back to attention, the reality of the situation settling in again.  

"How are we supposed to find Prythian in all of this?" Tarquin yelled. Aelin ignored him completely and looked to Rhys.

"Rhysand! You need to slow us down!" She barked. "Or else we're going to miss it!! Feyre," She turned to me, her eyes blazing. "You need to find Prythian's tether. Grab it, and do not let go." 

I hesitated for one moment. Then I nodded and closed my eyes to block out the worlds whizzing by. 

I had no idea what she meant by 'tether'. Maybe she should have explained before we jumped into the portal. But time wasn't on our side here. I had to act fast before we crashed through too many worlds and burned away to nothing. 

Aelin's tether to her world was the map her mate had inked across her back in hopes she'd use it to return home. But we didn't need to go to Erilea. We needed to get back to Prythian, and I had no such map. But Aelin was right. If we'd learned anything over the course of this journey, it was that everything is connected. Even if I never saw Aelin again after this, I would never forget her. She would always be in my heart, a constant reminder of everything we'd seen together. 

Magic isn't something you can force. You can't control it anymore than you can control love. And that, I suddenly realized, is how I'll find our way home now. 

I clenched my teeth and gripped Rhys and Mor's hands tighter. I felt the magic still flowing between us, the magic of a world we all shared. The magic of the love and the life we all shared. 

I thought of Cassian. Of Nesta. Of Elain, Lucien, Ressina, Alis, all those I'd met in my life who were not here with me now. Who I had to return to. 

And there they were. 

Shining like a beacon before me. I grabbed the tether to Prythian, the tether to my friends and family, and held on with all my might, hauling us all towards it. 

I knew the moment we began approaching home. 

"RHYSAND! NOW!!" Aelin screamed. Rhys roared, and I felt his power blast out beneath us, forming a wall that we slammed into, then crashed through. But I instantly felt the difference. We slowed, just barely. 

I had to pray it would be enough. 

My eyes flew open just as we entered Prythian. It was unbelievable, how much I could see. I could see the human lands, all seven Courts, even Hybern. I could see all the way to Illyria, to Velaris. 

I could see all the way to the mountain peak, where we still stood, frozen in time. 

"Feyre! It's now or never!" Aelin yelled. My eyes snapped to hers.