River laughed. “I’d say she’s still with us.”
I looked briefly, squinting. The star hovered over River’s open palm, as if waiting for something. He nudged me.
“I think you should say something.”
“What am I supposed to say?” I held my hand in front of my eyes, looking at the star through my fingers.
“I don’t know. But she can’t leave until you do.”
I thought for a moment. “All right. I release you, star. You don’t have to stay with me anymore.” I paused. “We’re going to help you return home.”
The star bobbed gently in place, its light flickering. River lowered his hand, and a cloud of shadow rose from the forest floor, lifting the star into the air. It flickered madly, bathing the forest in its pale light. River made a gesture, and the shadows rose higher, until the star was a distant gleam of light. After another moment, I could no longer distinguish it in the tapestry of stars that stretched across the sky.
“Did it work?” I murmured. “Did she make it home?”
River watched the sky for another moment. “Yes.”
I leaned against him. He smoothed the hair back from my cheek and kissed me.
“Kamzin?” Lusha’s voice drifted toward us.
I sighed. River released my hand.
“It’s all right.” He was smiling again. “Soon we’ll have all the time in the world.”
I felt a surge of something heady, a mix of elation and excitement. I saw myself striding over glaciers and through dense, dark forests. I saw sharp mountains and snowy valleys, and vast, open lands framed by stars that glittered like frost.
Now I was heading home. But after that, there was nowhere I couldn’t go.
Acknowledgments
THANKS TO EVERYONE who read this book at various stages of its development (including the earliest, messiest ones) and provided invaluable feedback and encouragement, including Jordyn Alger, Katherine Arden, Amy Chen, Ross Conner, Shannon Grant, Stephanie Li, and Margaret Rogerson. Thanks again to Dr. Lauran Hartley for her insights on Tibetan nomenclature.
Thanks to my brilliant agent, Brianne Johnson, without whom these books would have never seen the light of day, and to my equally brilliant editor, Kristin Rens, who always knows exactly the right questions to ask (I’m convinced this is some sort of superpower). Thanks again to the incredibly talented cover artist Jeff Huang, and to the entire team at Balzer + Bray.
Thanks to the supportive community of debut authors I’m lucky to be a member of, particularly my fellow Vancouver authors, Rebecca Christiansen, Sabina Khan, Rebecca Schaeffer, and Lianne Oelke. Thanks to Catherine Egan, Sarah Glenn Marsh, and Evelyn Skye for championing this series and generally being amazing. Thanks to the bloggers who went out of their way to promote these books, to Cat Scully for her beautiful map, and to the staff at Black Bond Books and the Laughing Oyster Bookshop for their support. Thanks to all my friends and family who supported this series in ways large and small. And, once again, thanks to the trailblazing female mountaineers who helped inspire these books and who have lit paths for others to follow.
About the Author
COURTESY HEATHER FAWCETT
HEATHER FAWCETT has worked as an archaeologist, an aerospace technical writer, and a backstage assistant for a Shakespearean theater festival. In her spare time, she can be found reading, hiking, reading, eating ice cream, or reading. She is also the author of Even the Darkest Stars. Heather can be found online at www.heatherfawcettbooks.com.
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Books by Heather Fawcett
Even the Darkest Stars
All the Wandering Light
Ember and the Ice Dragons
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Copyright
Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
ALL THE WANDERING LIGHT. Copyright © 2018 by Heather Fawcett. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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COVER ART BY JEFF HUANG
COVER DESIGN BY MICHELLE TAORMINA
Digital Edition DECEMBER 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-246343-2
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-246341-8
1819202122 PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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