‘No,’ Ezer said, meeting his silver gaze. ‘Nothing to worry about with me, Prince.’
He smiled. ‘All right then, Raphonminder. Let’s go.’
Six was not easy to guide down the cliffside by foot. They went the long way down, a path that led through the Thornwell instead of the black stone steps. It was not used often, for it was overgrown with trees, and too steep for Ezer’s liking, but she and Kinlear managed to stay on Six’s back without falling.
A true feat they should have celebrated … because though Six was built for scrambling down harsh terrain …
She ran into tree branches, and got distracted easily, batting at things with her enormous paws. She leapt off boulders and scratched at the snow every few feet, like an overgrown chicken.
‘It’s good we did this,’ Kinlear said, breathless as he held on to Ezer. ‘She’s become unhinged.’
‘She’s justcurious,’ Ezer corrected him. ‘Ravens are like that. It’s best she works it out now.’
The raphon sent a vision into her mind.
A small black kitten batting at a ball of yarn.
Ezer laughed. Six wasplaying.
And she was happy. Truly happy.
So Ezer was too.
The snow fell heavier by the time they finally made it down the upper cliffside. They stuck to the edge of the Thornwell, avoiding the barracks in the valley down below. Then they were moving upwards again as the land stretched gradually towards another jutting cliff.
A violent cough shook Ezer’s back, where Kinlear held on.
‘Should we turn around?’ she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him.
He shook his head and uncorked the vial at his throat. ‘Gods, no.’ He took a sip, then worked to calm his breathing. ‘My mother arrives tomorrow. I don’t think she’ll let me out into the cold again.’
They passed through a thick line of trees – both of their heads covered in snow, thanks to Six’s wings knocking a heavy branch down – and when they came to the other side …
‘Ah. Here we are,’ said Kinlear.
Ezer’s eyes widened.
The Sacred Circle.
She’d seen it through the library windows with Kinlear, what felt like forever ago now. But even though she knew just how big the standing stones were …
Seeing them in person stole her breath away. She had to crane her neck back to see their tops, and even then, they faded into the low-hanging clouds.
A ring of twelve, each stone protruded from the snow like they were only extensions of the earth. They would have blended perfectly with the snow, were it not for the runes carved into every square inch of them.
She dared push Six closer.
‘Can I …’
‘Go ahead,’ Kinlear said, as the raphon stopped.
And Ezer placed a hand on the closest stone, marveling at the fact that she was touching somethingolderthan Lordach’s first kings and queens.
As old as recorded time, and then some.
‘Can you read them?’ Ezer asked.
Kinlear shook his head. ‘It would take me centuries to read every rune. But the overarching story of each realm is the same. The realm’s creation, the gods, the inevitable attempt of mortals hoping to be just as great. And the Sacred.’ He sighed. ‘The names change, of course, depending on the realm, but there is always a placeholder. A set of souls meant to take the blame. To hold the punishment of imperfection so the rest can enter the Ehver when the Five call us home. Every stone was once the same … until the Thirteenth. And as ours darkens … we believe our fate is tied to whatever ended theirs.’
