The Sword of Summer

The World Tree seems to exist in a void of white nothingness. Magnus feels dizzy and off-balance by both the whipping wind and the potential fall. Sam advises they get moving because being on the tree for too long “is not good for your sanity” (264). They walk along a branch for a while before the sword points them onto a smaller, thinner branch. From there, it directs them to jump off into a portal. Before they can, Hearth falls into a patch of lichen and gets stuck. Sam and Magnus start to cut him free but are interrupted by the Squirrel approaching. Sam covers herself and Hearth in her hijab, camouflaging them.

The Squirrel bares down on Magnus and Blitz. It squawks, and Magnus hears a bevy of insults in the sound, including “you could not save your mother” (265). Magnus falls to his knees, but Blitz hauls him up and drags him through the portal.

On the other side of the portal, Magnus stands in a sunlit field. It takes him a moment to remember Blitz and how they got here. He still feels the effect of the Squirrel’s insults with “corrosive thoughts rattling around in my brain” (267).