I couldn't explain how the sight of those warriors felt like an omen of battles yet to come, so I kept what I saw to myself.
Codric would have laughed at that.
As a keening cry echoed off the mountainside, I looked up and was surprised that the sound had come from a dragon. I’d thought that they only roared.
It was a large male with deep blue scales, and as it circled overhead, its rider leaned out of the saddle and looked down at our struggling line with what I imagined was either pity or amusement.
"We are getting close, people," Shovia called back. "Look up there. This must be the Circle of Fate." She pointed.
I followed her gesture to a ring of standing stones that were perched atop the summit like a crown. There was something about it that made my vision blur and my thoughts scatter, but I didn't know whether it was the effect of the massive boulders forming the circle or my weakened state.
"I didn't expect it to be so..." Codric's voice trailed off.
"Big?" Kailin suggested.
"Majestic," he said. "There are no pictures or movies made of it, so the circle is shrouded in mystery." He chuckled. "The circle, your shaman, your history, everything about Elucia and its people is so mysterious. That's why Alar and I are here. To uncover your secrets."
I wanted to throttle Codric. Evidently, the thin air and hunger were not only making him see things that weren't there but were also loosening his tongue. If only I could shut him up, but how? What was I supposed to do, turn around and punch him in the face?
Morek chuckled. "You and me both, bro. You'd think we know more than you, but we don't." He tilted his head. "Well, maybe you don't know that the circle used to be a magnificent building. It was Elu's temple before it was destroyed in the First Extinction War."
I hadn't known that, and I wanted to hug the burly Elucian for diverting suspicion away from my cousin and his big mouth. Codric didn't know about my mission, and what he had said probably reflected his curiosity about Elucia, but it cast suspicion over both of us nonetheless.
"I thought you were here to become dragon riders," Shovia mocked.
I should've expected her to be the one to latch on to Codric's words.
"Of course, we are," I said quickly. "But the mystery surrounding it is also part of the allure. How does Elu open the inner eye of the gifted to allow them to bond with dragons? How does Saphir Fatewever know whose inner eye is working, especially since he has to test over a thousand people in each pilgrimage? Do any of you know the answers to these questions?"
"No," Kailin said. "No one talks about it. It's forbidden."
As another wave of dizziness hit me, stronger this time, I was unable to continue the discussion, and perhaps it was for the best. The less I said, the better.
The path ahead split into three, then merged back into one. I blinked hard, trying to focus on Morek's backpack in front of me, but even his broad form seemed to flicker, looking insubstantial.
I worried about Kailin and how she was doing.
Perhaps a foggy brain was better when dealing with a phobia. I didn't suffer from any, so I didn't know how they worked, but I hoped she wasn't terrified out of her mind.
The next time we stopped for a break, I asked Morek to switch places with me so I could be closer to Kailin.
"I can't see anything behind your back," I excused my request.
I was taller than Morek, but his mind must have been foggy as well because he didn't point that out.
A dragon circled lower, close enough now that I could feel the wind from its wings, which I hoped was proof that it was real, but in its shadow, the stone warriors emerged from the rock face again, their armor gleaming with an inner light. They marchedin perfect formation toward the Circle of Fate, their footsteps echoing the rhythm of our quintet.
Oh, wow. Until now, the hallucinations had been only visual, but now they were auditory as well.
"There are so many of them," I muttered, forgetting for a moment that I shouldn't acknowledge the hallucinations.
"Many what?" Codric asked.
"Warriors marching in formation," Kailin said. "Do you see them too?"
My step faltered. "You can see them?"
"Not just them," she said. "I also see a rider. Always the same one. Dark eyes and an obsidian dragon."
