Wings of Starlight

Clarion wakes in the healing clinic after her battle with the Nightmares. Though still weak, she’s alive. Her thoughts immediately turn to Milori, whose sacrifice haunts her. Elvina arrives, relieved to see her awake, and tells her that Artemis and Petra are alive, though the latter remains trapped in the Nightmares’ spell. Milori returned to Winter.

Elvina confesses that she regrets what she did. Her plan to defeat the Nightmares was flawed, her judgment of Winter was misguided, and her time as queen is ending. Her power is waning, and soon she’ll return to the stars. She finally offers Clarion the maternal love that she had long withheld from her. Clarion realizes that Elvina’s emotional distance was a defense against loss and sees how she, too, was beginning to walk the same path. Moved by Elvina’s confession and Milori’s wish for a better future, she decides to become a queen who carries her people’s hopes with compassion, not detachment.

Three days later, Clarion resolves to face the Nightmares once and for all. With her magic restored and newfound determination, she escapes from the clinic by successfully teleporting for the first time. She then travels to the Winter border and crosses into the snowy woods. When she whistles for Noctua, the owl appears, and Clarion flies on her back to the frozen lake. Upon her arrival, Clarion finds that the magical barrier she and Milori made is shattered. With no other choice, Clarion leaps into the lake.

Plunging into the Nightmares’ prison, Clarion is enveloped in an unnatural darkness. Suspended in the void, she feels like she’s being watched. She glimpses a vision of Milori walking away from her, his form barely visible. Desperate to follow, she finds herself in a shifting, dreamlike space that morphs into a twisted version of Pixie Hollow. She sees the Pixie Dust Tree rotting and the land around it consumed by despair. The fairies, including Petra and Elvina, accuse her of selfishness and failure. Overwhelmed, Clarion nearly gives in to despair, but the sound of Milori’s real voice calling out to her anchors her to reality. Realizing that she’s trapped in a Nightmare-induced illusion, Clarion bites her lip to wake herself up and shatters the hallucination with her magic.

Once she returns to the real prison beneath the lake, she comes face-to-face with the source of the Nightmares: the Queen Nightmare, a dragon that has glowing eyes and is cloaked in purple smoke. The sight nearly paralyzes Clarion, but Milori calls out to her again through the ice above, reminding her of her promise to him to create a better future. Clarion draws on the collective hopes of those who once wished on her falling star and unleashes her full power. Her light floods the prison, unraveling the dragon.

Milori pulls Clarion from the Nightmares’ prison, and the ice seals shut behind them. Under the glimmer of an aurora, Clarion and Milori marvel at their accomplishments and reflect on the future. She formally offers him a place on her court as the reinstated Lord of Winter, forging a political and symbolic bond between their once-divided realms. He accepts, and they briefly dare to dream of a shared future. However, the physical toll of Milori’s border crossing becomes clear as he reveals his broken wing. Though he insists that he has no regrets, Clarion decides to end their romantic relationship and forbid future border crossings to protect others from harm. They share one last, desperate kiss before parting ways.

Clarion solemnly returns to Spring, where the warm fairies greet her as a hero. She reunites with Elvina, who ushers her back into the palace and into bed. Though questions and praise follow her arrival, Clarion feels nothing but exhaustion. She finally allows herself to grieve the loss of Milori and the weight of everything she’s endured. Elvina comforts her, cradling her like a mother would a child and soothing her with fairy tales.

Clarion wakes to find a letter from Elvina with news that the Nightmares’ spell has finally broken, and those cursed are finally waking up. Clarion flies across Pixie Hollow to the Summer Glade and the healers’ clinic. She finds Artemis outside, still recovering from her injuries. Artemis insists on remaining Clarion’s guard, saying that she doesn’t see the position as a punishment anymore and wants to serve out of loyalty to Clarion.

Inside the clinic, Clarion sees the newly awakened fairies reunited with their loved ones. Petra is still asleep. Clarion takes her hand, and Petra stirs. When she wakes, they apologize to each other. Their reunion is cut short when Artemis rushes over. Artemis kisses Petra and demands that she never put herself in danger again. Clarion excuses herself, recognizing that while love might be out of reach for her, she can take comfort in seeing others find it. She goes to see Rowan, who soon wakes and tells her he “always knew [she] could do it” (326).

The day of Clarion’s coronation arrives. The ceremony takes place on the bridge between Winter and Spring, where Elvina formally crowns her, and Clarion gives a speech pledging herself to her people. She formally appoints Milori as Lord of Winter but declares the border permanently closed to prevent future harm to other fairies. After her speech, Milori leads the cheers.

The celebration that follows bridges the divide between the seasonal realms for the first time in living memory. However, as the festivities wind down, Clarion withdraws to prepare for her final farewell to Milori. She finds Milori waiting for her on the bridge. He insists that he’ll always love her, even from afar. Clarion kisses him one last time but asks him to move on. He returns the request before vanishing into the Winter Woods. Clarion remains behind as rain starts to fall, standing alone at the edge of Spring.