They told the wolves how Hayn had doubted Drifa’s guilt and given them her map, which had led them to the Sun Scepter.
“We needed it to counteract the Snowstone,” Anders explained.
Jai and Mateo exchanged a guilty glance. They were the ones who had stolen the Snowstone during the skirmish at Drekhelm, though they hadn’t known what it was at the time.
“Sigrid was using the Snowstone to cool all of Vallen,” Anders continued. “She would have killed the dragons. And everyone was suffering—the wolves might like the cold, but the farmers’ crops were dying, and families without enough fuel were freezing.”
“So that’s why we hunted down the Sun Scepter,” his sister said. “It was supposed to warm the weather. We brought it to Holbard, so the two could balance each other, and everyone would be safe.”
All the wolves and dragons around the fire were quiet for a moment, thinking back to the ruins of the city, where nobody had been safe.
“I guess we brought them too close together,” Anderssaid. “The lava from under the city and the ice above collided, and both the artifacts exploded. It wasn’t some plan of the dragons’ to blow up Holbard, though. If Sigrid hadn’t been trying to kill them, none of it would have happened. We were just trying to solve the problem she created.”
“Remind me not to bring you any ofmyproblems,” Sakarias murmured. But he had another small, tired smile for Anders. They had a long, long way to go, but Anders could see the wolves absorbing the story he had told, and he thought perhaps it helped them a few steps along the road to trusting the dragons.
Rayna brought them to the topic at hand, as she so often did. “Basically,” she said, “Ellukka and—what’s your name? Sakarias?—are both right. We all need to eat, or we won’t be able to do much else. And we need to figure out how to get properly inside this place. We can’t camp out in the entrance forever. It’s freezing, we don’t have anything to sleep on, and if the wind really picks up, it’ll be miserable. It’s not safe, either.”
“Agreed,” said Lisabet. “The dragons are forbidden from coming here—they have been as long as anyone can remember—and it’s too high for the wolves. But if we can’t go inside then it won’t be much of a hiding place if the dragons decide to break the rules.”
“Rayna and I will go look for a way for everyone to come inside,” Anders volunteered.
“And we’ll organize something to eat,” Theo agreed. “Sakarias, you can help.”
Anders and Rayna took one of the artifact lamps hanging on the wall near the hearth, and left the others behind in the entrance hall as they approached the huge door that led into Cloudhaven proper. It was set on the very far side of the hall, and the room was so large that the conversation of their friends faded behind them into silence, until Anders felt himself no bigger than the specks of dust dancing in the lamplight around them.
The door was made of dark wood and had no handle. There were rows of metal letters fixed into its surface, reflecting the light of the lamp back at the twins.
COME NO FARTHER WITHOUT...
~A TOKEN~
~TRUE BLOOD~
~TRUE PURPOSE~
The first time they had read these words, only hours ago, they had been baffled. But at least they’d managedto answer one question, and he and his sister moved confidently. Rayna pulled both her hairpins from her head, her black curls springing out even bigger than before. She handed one pin to Anders, and moving at the same time, with the tiny, engraved runes on the pins facing inward, the twins pressed them into the shallow indentation built into the door for them.A token. Anders’s fingertips tingled as the essence inside the artifacts did its work, and with a soft click the door swung open to reveal a long hallway beyond it.
One by one, lamps were coming to life all along the hall, illuminating door after door, as well as a stone floor and walls lined with hundreds of long strips of metal that glowed a soft blue green with tiny, intricate runes. The whole of Cloudhaven was one giant artifact.
True bloodwas easy now—Anders and Rayna were descended from Drifa, and that seemed to be enough. Anders wondered if perhaps Drifa herself was descended from the dragonsmiths who had originally created this place.
Just before the twins stepped inside, Anders heard a soft skittering noise behind him, and he turned in time for Kess to leap up into his arms. He tucked her inside his shirt, and there she settled, a warm lump against his skin, purring softly.
“Well,” he said, “that’s a token and true blood taken care of. But what’s our true purpose this time?” He knew that as soon as they asked for what they wanted, a path would light up along the ground, leading them to whatever part of Drekhelm could help them or answer their question. “Finding a way to get the others inside?”
Rayna nodded, then cleared her throat. “Cloudhaven, please show us a way to allow other people inside you.”
Anders felt a flicker of hope as the lights dimmed.Come on, he silently urged the walls around him.Help us protect our friends.
Then the lights came up again, and rather than leading away, the path that appeared began at their feet, completed a circle around them, and then led straight back to where it had started, so they each stood inside a circle of light.
Anders wanted to scream.
What were they supposed to do now? How was this guiding them anywhere?
“Is it broken?” Rayna asked, stamping one foot inside her circle.
But they repeated the request and got the same result.
