Ryu gave Tate a twisted smile. “Welcome to the Rift. Birthplace of most dragon-ridden.”
TEN
Home.There was a sense of yearning wrapped in hesitation in Ilith’s tone. A complicated tangle of emotions Tate had no hope of unraveling.
“Clever,” Tate said, staring at the distortion.
She didn’t know if it was by design or happenstance for the Rift to be located in such a strategic position. Isolated, yet close enough to the city that prospective hosts for the dragons could be easily gathered.
Even its presence on this set of stairs was fortuitous. The emperor could station guards while claiming he was protecting the palace, when in reality he was safeguarding the Rift.
It was like someone had wrapped everything up in a nice packaging and tied it together with a pretty bow.
“Was the palace built where it was because of the Rift?”
Ryu’s lips curled up in a tiny smile that touched the corners of his eyes. “You’ve met the emperor. He’s very similar to his predecessor. What do you think?”
“I think he and anyone related to him would be very easy to underestimate.”
It was a good thing Tate was on his side.
A huff of laughter escaped Ryu that was anything but reassuring.
Tate prepared herself, taking her courage in hand with a firm grip as she steeled herself for what was coming.
Already the familiar energy that spoke of homecoming buffeted Tate and she hadn’t even stepped through to the other side yet. She could only imagine what was waiting for her once she did.
Saviors could only hope it didn’t scramble her mind any more than it already was.
“Here goes, I guess.” Tate took a deep breath and stepped forward without waiting for anyone else.
A prickling sensation danced across her skin, growing until a feeling that edged past uncomfortable and into the realm of pain swept over her entire being.
Darkness blanketed her eyes. Vertigo slammed into her, leaving her feeling like she was standing still yet moving at a speed incomprehensible to the human mind.
The world came into focus slowly.
The black of night had been replaced by a dim twilight. The weak rays of the sun barely penetrated the thin sheet of fog that surrounded the stone platform Tate suddenly found herself on. The mountain range in the far distance played peek-a-boo as the fog thinned briefly before coating the world in white again.
The cliff and stairs were nothing but a distant dream accompanied by the sound of crashing ocean waves drifting up from far below. It was the only commonality Tate found with the place they’d just left.
Vaguely, she was aware of Ryu, Archie and the Lord Provost crossing over after her, even as she paid them no attention. Too consumed with the strangeness in front of her.
Tate lifted her hands and blew into them, hoping to warm them a little. Wherever this was, it was much colder than Aurelia.
She shivered, not even her coat providing much protection from the elements.
“This isn’t Aurelia,” Tate whispered.
The view had changed too much for them to be anywhere near the city, which left only a handful of explanations. The Rift could have transported them someplace far away yet still on the same planet. Or to a pocket realm of some kind.
Tate’s instincts told her it wasn’t either option. It felt too different. Disorienting almost. As if she stood on the cusp of two worlds at once. An intersection of sorts between Tate’s world and the dragons’.
There was almost a mystic feeling to their surroundings. As if they were caught in a dream. The world muted yet heightened at the same time.
The air smelled crisper. The colors dull, the drab grays and whites predominant.
Tate could see how this place got the name Rift. The fabric between worlds was gossamer thin. Almost as if the barest pressure or influx of energy would tear it asunder, allowing what was on the other side to spill into this world.
