The two dragons were hovering at the edge, and I hadn’t noticed before, because dragons pretty much took up all of my attention, but they were tethered together.
And there was something attached to the back of them.
Was that a freakin’ flying carpet?
12
My heart was pounding so hard that it felt like an actual drumbeat in my chest, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the fascinating – and terrifying – beasts. They looked exactly the way I imagined a dragon would, minus a few little details: as tall and wide as a house, with four powerful legs, a long spiked tail, huge head, and sharp teeth-filled jaws. One was dark, a shiny, shimmery black, like oil spilled across the top of water. I could see other colors within the inky coat of scales, but for the most part it was darkness. If darkness had thick wings lazily flapping behind to keep it aloft.
The other dragon was white, its coat almost blinding in its intensity, reflecting the light of this world. I couldn’t see a sun in the sky, which was a deep, rich emerald color, but something was definitely illuminating Overworld. I was distracted from my stunned observations by Lexen stepping forward, balancing precariously on the edge of the platform.
The drop below would have to be miles, and I fought the urge to reach out and pull him back. Surely he knew what he was doing, being thisoverlordand all. Whatever the hell that was.
The white dragon popped its huge head up right before him, and I managed to swallow my gasp, too petrified to do anything except stare. Its head alone was bigger than Lexen’s body. Shit, it probably had teeth bigger than his body. He didn’t seem worried, holding out a hand and waiting for the dragon to press its snout into it.
“Hey there, beautiful.” His voice was low and lilting, emotion resonating on each word. He then switched to another language, one that was musical and so damn beautiful that for a moment all of my fear calmed. I was entranced, focusing only on Lexen and his voice.
“Lotera muschin roatina, Qenita.”
“It’s a dragon,” I breathed, needing to say it out loud.
“Her name is Qenita. She’s bonded to Lexen,” Star whispered in my ear, her eyes lit up.
Ohmygod.Bonded to Lexen. What was happening? How was this my life?
Darkens around us started to move, all of them striding over to the carpet, which was twenty feet wide and the same deep. It was a shimmery white, looking like … well, a magic carpet, right down to the tassels which hung off the very end.
One by one the members of House of Darken leapt across – none of them afraid they were going to fall to their death – landing on the white rug. Lexen, finished greeting his dragon, turned to hurry the stragglers along.
Star used that superior strength to haul me over, letting me go when we neared the carpet. “We’re all taking the oblong sphere home. Don’t be afraid. Once you’re on, your feet will lock in place.”
I flailed my arms and dragged my feet. “I can’t jump down,” I gasped out, sucking in deep breaths. “Learn this about me immediately! No jumping or running. If you need to discuss literature, or help with dinner, I’m your girl, but athletic ability … look elsewhere.” I was rambling, my head feeling light again. Maybe the overload of oxygen here was too much.
“Go on,” Lexen told his family. “I’ll get Emma across.”
Jero winked at me, before he turned and gracefully leapt. As Star had said, the moment his feet hit the … oblong sphere … he didn’t move again, except to cross his arms.
Marsil and Star followed, each of them landing right beside their brothers. Unfair. Not only could they jump the five feet to reach the sphere, they could also aim where they landed.
“I won’t let you fall.” Lexen’s voice distracted me, and I crossed my shaking arms over my body, trying to hide my nerves. “Trust me.”
I snorted, glad when some of my spark returned. But before I could say anything I was being lifted up and tossed over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. I wanted to scream and smack him in the head, seeing I could finally reach it, but he was moving and I really didn’t want to die today. I closed my eyes when he jumped, opening them again as I felt the landing. I was dropped to my feet almost immediately, and as promised, my tennis shoes suctioned to the rug. Looking down, it wasn’t obvious what was holding them. Clearly magic, because why not?
I knew I was focusing on something small, like the foot suction, so I didn’t have to deal with the fact I was on an alien world … riding a magic carp … oblong sphere, and dragons were pulling said sphere like a carriage.
There was a small jolt; breezes blew up as the carpet moved. I had never been particularly great at keeping my balance, something that contributed to my hatred of physical activity, but as the dragons flapped and we rose up above the height of the platform with its light ball in the center, I wasn’t thrown off at all. I had a very good view then of the other houses. Imperial still remained near the center, but it looked like a whirling mass of light – similar but not the same as the one we just took from Daelight Crescent – had appeared in the floor before them. I gasped as one by one they stepped forward onto the whirl of gold and then disappeared.
Where was their territory?
As the dragons surged forward, we crossed closer to the water world, which was … House of Royale – I recognized some of those blond students, some with hair so white it was a blinding beacon on top of their heads. They were taking turns to dive into the water, graceful despite the fact the platform was quite a ways up from the water. I blinked a few times, then more rapidly as I caught glimpses of scales as they disappeared below the surface. Jero must have caught my fiftieth gasp for the day.
“They’re mermaids,” I said.
He tweaked my nose. “Good try, doll, but we call themCaramina.Cara means ‘tail’ or ‘appendage’ in our original language. Which roughly translates to ‘tailed folk.’”
Sounded like a mermaid to me.
I tried to see the final house, the one made up of the sector of trees. That had to be the Leights. There were only a few of them left on the platform. I hadn’t seen their house at school before, so I tried to catch all the details I could. They had dark skin, varying in shades from light brown to a beautiful ebony. They also had long hair, most calf-length or longer, thick and wavy. I was immediately envious. There didn’t look to be a single strand of frizz or fuzz, despite their waves.
