Alia wiped the tears from her cheeks, as Nim and Theo placed their arms around her shoulders.
“You should bring friends home more often,” Nim said softly.
“Guys,” said Theo after a minute, “how are we getting back to town?”
Nim shrugged. “I’m pretty sure the Fiat’s where we parked it.”
They began to make their way to the now-deserted road, Alia trailing slightly behind them.
She hadn’t been entirely honest with Diana. She did feel changed by the spring. Alia reached out to that dark, winged thing inside her—its shape was different now; it felt more wholly hers, and the dagger in its hand was sheathed. She gave it the tiniest nudge.
Nim’s fist shot out and punched Theo in the arm.
“Ow!” Theo yelped, and gave her a not-too-gentle shove.
Alia yanked her power back hurriedly. She was a Warbringer no longer. The spring had altered the legacy inside her, but it hadn’t taken everything. That strength was still there, hers if she wanted it, more gift than curse now, something she could choose to use or ignore. Make some trouble. She just might. For all the right people. She’d done good with this power before. Maybe she could find a way to do good with it again.
Alia glanced back once at the river, at the silver waters of the spring, but whatever ghosts once dwelled there had gone.
“Sister in battle,” she whispered once more, less a vow than a prayer, that wherever Diana was she would remember those words and keep her promise. That someday Alia might see her friend once more.
Diana couldn’t breathe; the water had her, the current driving her forward with impossible speed. She kept her arms straight before her, her body taut as she arrowed through the dark, the rush of the water like thunder in her ears. Some part of her ached for the friends she’d left behind, trembled with fear at what might lie ahead, but she refused to be distracted. There could be no mistakes this time.
She shoved all of her will into the heartstone, her only thought: Home. The bright shores of Themyscira, the little cove that cut into the northern coast, the cliffs that rose above it, the landscape of her heart.
Behind her closed lids, she sensed light, but she could not open her eyes against the force of the water, and then, with a tremendous burst of speed, she was hurled ashore. She slammed against the sand with enough force to rattle her bones and send her head spinning. No—not sand, stone. She was lying in the blue-lit hollow of the Oracle’s temple, sprawled wet and bedraggled in the moat that ran along the bramble walls.
The Oracle sat beside the bronze tripod, a slender curl of smoke rising from the brazier into the night sky.
Slowly, Diana pushed the heavy tangle of her hair back from her face and rose. She didn’t know what to say. It had been hard enough facing the Oracle before, but now she knew she was in the presence of the very goddesses who had founded Themyscira, who had given her a second chance to save herself, to save Alia. What did you say to a goddess when you had no tribute to offer? Maybe a simple “thank you.”
But in the next moment, she heard voices. They were coming from the tunnel she’d braved to visit the Oracle only days ago.
“This was inevitable.” Tek’s voice. “We’ve been living on borrowed time since—”
“Do not say my daughter’s name again,” said Hippolyta, and Diana’s heart squeezed at the sound of her mother’s voice. “Not in this place.”
“Let us hope the Oracle accepts our sacrifices,” said another voice, familiar but less well known.
Diana froze, unsure of what to do. Hide? Face them here in the Oracle’s sanctuary? The Oracle extended her arm, one long finger pointing, and Diana heard a whispering behind her. The brambles parted. She hesitated for a moment, then hooked her hands into the twisting gray vines and climbed into the wall.
The brambles closed around her, but Diana felt only the briefest panic. There was something gentle in the movement of the branches now, in the way they shifted so she could turn and peer through the spaces between them into the Oracle’s chamber.
Diana could see her mother and Tek emerging from the tunnel with Biette, Sela, Arawelo, Marguerite, and Hongyu—all members of the Amazon Council. It was Hongyu’s voice she’d heard.
The Amazons waited in respectful silence on the other side of the moat.
The Oracle rose. Her hood slipped back, revealing the face of an ancient crone. “Sisters of the Bow and Spear, have you come to make your offering?”
“We have,” said Hippolyta. “We bring you gifts and pray you find them wor—”
“I will accept no offering this day.”
The members of the Council exchanged stricken looks.
Hippolyta shut her eyes briefly. “Then we’ve come too late. The island’s sickness, the earthquakes—”
With a start, Diana realized her mother wore the same purple silks and amethysts she’d been wearing when Diana had left. The Council had been meeting to decide whether to consult the Oracle, and this must be the delegation they’d sent. That meant only hours had passed on Themyscira. If that was the case—Diana tried to temper her hope and failed. She’d been sure she would return to exile and punishment, but what if they didn’t know she’d gone? She could slip back into the city and be at Maeve’s bedside in under an hour.
“Why did you wait so long to visit my temple?” asked the Oracle.
A crease appeared between Hippolyta’s brows. “The Council meeting was unusually contentious. At one point, I feared we’d come to blows.”
Could that have been Alia’s power? Diana wondered.
“Is there no way to save Themyscira?” asked Tek impulsively. “Can we not—”
Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled through the temple. “I have accepted no offering, and yet you dare to speak these questions?”
Tek bowed her head, her hands clenching into fists. She wasn’t particularly good at meek. “I beg your forgiveness. I seek only to protect our people.”
The thunder faded, and the Oracle’s voice calmed. “You need not fear for your people, Tekmessa.” Tek’s face snapped up. “Nor for the island. This time of trouble has passed.”
Though they held their tongues, the Council exchanged worried looks, and Diana sensed their confusion.
The Oracle made a disgruntled humming noise. “And still you wait for explanations.” She waved a gnarled hand. “The island was thrown into imbalance by a disturbance in the World of Man, but the unrest is at an end.”
A slow smile spread over Hongyu’s face, and a sigh of relief seemed to pass through the Council members. Hippolyta blew out a surprisingly un-queenlike breath, and Tek grinned, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Hippolyta reached for Tek’s hand and let their fingers entwine.
“I was so sure it was something worse,” she murmured. “Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
“Just be glad it’s over,” said Tek. “Can you do that?” Hippolyta returned her smile.
But the Oracle spoke again. “Do not think to rest, Daughters of Themyscira. I have looked into the waters and seen a battle waged in the World of Man. One of your own will wade into the mortal fray to face this turmoil, a trial that will test her and decide the fate of this island and us all.”
Tek squared her shoulders. Hongyu lifted her chin. Even in her mother’s eyes, Diana saw the light of battle burning. Diana wondered which of the Council’s great warriors would face the challenge the Oracle described.
“Go now,” said the Oracle. “Rebuild your walls, set your cities to rights, and trouble me no more.”
The Amazons made their bows and departed silently through the tunnel of brambles. Diana was afraid to watch her mother go. She wanted to run after them, offer some foolish explanation, hold her mother close. She even wanted to hug Tek. Instead, she forced herself to wait.
When their footsteps had faded, the Oracle turned to Diana and the vines parted, allowing her to pass from the wall.
“So you see, Daughter of Earth, I have kept your secret.”