And then he was laughing too, as Six circled lazily around the mountain.
It was then that Ezer saw it: the opening right on the side.
Like a dark, yawning mouth.
‘Kinlear,’ she gasped, and pointed. ‘There.’
An outcropping of black rock, almost like a landing pad, appeared before them.And more raphons.Several lounged with their tails or paws hanging right over the edge, like they had no fear of tumbling overboard. A few pups bounded back and forth, leaping onto their mothers.
And Six was suddenly diving again, right towards that flock.
Growls sounded out, and dark eyes turned skyward as Six landed and jogged to a sudden stop.
Ezer and Kinlear sat frozen on her back.
But not a single beast moved towards them as if to attack. Mostly, they sniffed the air and clicked their clever beaks.
Six clicked back at them, like she was only saying hello. There were paw prints leading into the darkness: a massive, yawning cave, so black that it seemed like a blanket had been draped over it, so no one could see what lay beyond.
It wasn’t a black door. But … it was as good a start as any.
Like she was drawn forward, Six padded into the mouth of the cave.
Torches on the rock walls suddenly flared to life. They blazed with purple fire. Not magefire, but almost like liquid darkness, the flames black in their center. The sconces they sat on were in the shape of hands with long black talons, the blazing fire held in their palms.
‘Darksoul hands,’ Kinlear whispered.
His voice was so quiet, like he was afraid to speak.
There were several boulders inside, raphons of all sizes lazing atop them.
‘Where is she leading us?’ Kinlear whispered.
The torches led downwards, deeper into the cave, where the walls shone with hoarfrost, and strange, jagged symbols were carved into the rock.
Ezer’s heart gave a little tremor.
Were these the same symbols her mother claimed she saw in the Shadow Tome?
The same ones from her own labyrinth?
They were confusing at first, angular and sharp as the Sawteeth. But the deeper Six walked, the more the shapes began to make sense.
Ezer swore she sawwordsmixed among them, but when she blinked they became only the symbols again.
Her head was swimming, her heart was racing too fast, and?—
A vision from Six slid into her mind.
The raphon rider soaring over the icy lake, a castle with dark, twisting spires in the distance.
The wind was gentle, and Ezer was at peace.
And when the vision flickered away …
Ezer relaxed and stared at the symbols.
Perhaps it was because she’d seen them so many times in her sleep. Perhaps it was because they had always felt so familiar. But this time as Six took her deeper into the darkness …
