His legs were trembling with effort when he reached the second ledge, the water thundering down just past his nose, the moonflowers still gently glowing by his tail. They went no higher, though—the vine seemed to disappear behind the curtain of water.
If there wasn’t room back there, and Anders was swept off by the waterfall again, it would be a brutal fall. The kind of fall that could kill a wolf. But he had to take the risk. He growled a low warning to Lisabet to stay well clear, took a deep breath, and plunged in.
And he came out the other side into a perfect garden.
To his left, the torrent of water was still pouring down, filling the air with crisp, cool spray that danced before him. And hidden behind the curtain was a large, round cave. It should have been completely dark, but the moonflower vines snaked all around the walls, softly illuminating the room. Some of them seemed to be growing on some sort of metal lattice, and he shook the water from his coat, then padded over to stand up on his hind legs, pressing his front paws against the wall. There were runes engraved all along the lattice, and it was slightly warm to the touch. These artifacts must have lasted the five centuries or more since Flic had first made this place. They must be why such incredible plants grew here.
He heard a soft whine behind him and turned to see Lisabet, who had followed him through the waterfall after he didn’t emerge and was staring slack-jawed at the cave. She walked over to join him, standing up to look at the artifacts.I’ve never seen anything so old, she said without words, but with a tilt of her ears, soft whines, and intakes of breath. Every move was tiny in wolf form, but he’d never seen her so excited.
He dropped down, nosing through the flowers at the base of the vines. They must get some light through the waterfall during the day, for they were all facing that way, their dark petals closed against the night just now.How did it last?he asked her, following the edge of the cave around, finding a small bush with berries that glowed a deep red, and then a pale moss that lit up when his paws touched it.
Perhaps Drifa came here to make sure it did, Lisabet replied, when he turned back to look at her.
Anders’s breath caught. He imagined his mother—who he couldn’t picture at all, except as a dragon, and he didn’t even know what color her scales had been—coming here, one in a long line of dragonsmiths who had come to maintain the work of Flic, who had gone before. This place was worth that kind of effort. And being here, somewhere she had been, made him feel connected to her. It made him miss her, even though he’d only just found out who she was.
Let’s look for the scepter, said Lisabet, picking the other direction to the one Anders had taken and hunting around the edge of the cave. He mentally shook himself and returned to his own search, using his nose to try and sniff out anything that didn’t smell like a plant, anything that didn’t quite fit. He soon caught a whiff of oiled wood, and pushed himself hurriedly back into human form, brushing aside the vines at that section of the wall. “Lisabet, look!”
It was a huge, stout wooden door, banded across with metal—engraved with more runes—and most definitely locked.
Lisabet shifted back to a girl beside him. “I really hope she wasn’t expecting you to have the key,” she said.
Anders hoped so too, feeling all around the edge of the door and going up on his toes to feel along the top of the rim. He had an inkling Drifa wouldn’t have left it quite that much to chance. After all, she wouldn’t have left a map that gave them clues if she didn’t want them to be able to find what they were looking for.
“I wonder how she got in here,” Lisabet mused as she watched him. “It would be difficult to climb the waterfall in human form. She and Flic must have wanted to very badly.”
Anders’s fingers closed over a cylinder at the top of the doorway’s arch, and he tugged it loose from where it was woven into the vines. It was wrapped in the same waxed canvas as the first half of the scepter had been, and his hands were shaking in excitement as he pulled the string away. A moment later, the dim light of the moonflowers revealed a second section of the Sun Scepter, dark wood wrapped with engraved metal bands. “Got it,” he said, squeezing it tight. “But,” he continued, as realization sank in, “it’s not big enough to be the rest of it.”
“Two pieces down,” Lisabet agreed. “I was sort of hoping there’d only be two pieces, but I think we’ll have to keep searching. Looking at the size of what we have so far, comparing it to the Staff of Hadda, I’ll bet my tail there are two more pieces to go.”
Anders thought of the tall, worn wooden staff used to test whether those with wolf blood could make their transformation and join Ulfar. She was right—it had been taller than he was.
“We’ll find the others,” he said confidently, buoyed by success. “All we need is time. Let’s get back to Rayna, and see if the map has another clue for us.”
There was no real way down except to jump from the waterfall, and though Anders would have preferred to do it in human form to hold on tight to the piece of the scepter, he couldn’t afford to soak all his clothes. So he transformed back into his wolf form and picked the piece up, gripping it experimentally in his jaws. It tingled a tiny bit, just the way his amulet had the first time he’d put it on, or the purse had when he’d held it, as if the essence inside was tickling his skin, and then it subsided.
He and Lisabet exchanged a nervous glance. They’d have to take the waterfall at a run, to be sure they could jump all the way through it and come as far as possible out the other side, landing clear of the tumbling water at the bottom. It went against all his common sense to charge a waterfall and leap out into the air, but he backed up as far as he could and readied himself.
Lisabet looked back at the wooden door.We’ll come back one day, she said with a soft, determined growl.And see all the amazing things behind that door.
And then, side by side, they ran toward the waterfall as fast as they could, leaping from the edge of the rock.
The waterfall pummeled Anders breathless as he flew through it, and he closed his eyes tight as he arced out toward the water, landing with a splash at the bottom and sinking down, down, down. His mouth was forced open by the piece of the scepter, and water wanted to pour in, but this time he was sure which way was up, and he used all four legs to propel himself. Lisabet, being lighter, had surfaced quicker, and she was treading water and waiting for him. Together, they struck out for shore.
They were careful returning to camp—they rolled in the grass until their coats were dry, and Lisabet signaled with a flick of her ears that she’d creep ahead of Anders to make sure the coast was clear. If anyone saw her, she would shift to her human form and speak loudly to give him warning.
He lay still as she slunk forward, her belly close to the ground. Her fur was so dark it was almost black, and she was nearly invisible in the night. When all was silent after a minute, he crept in after her. She was sitting with Rayna between Ellukka’s forelegs, the dragon looming over the pair of them and looking down at Anders with interest. It was a bit intimidating, what with the size of her eyes.
Rayna had the map ready, and Anders quickly transformed back into human form, then crouched down to touch the piece of the scepter to it. By the firelight, they all saw the knotwork around the edge of the map shift and wriggle and form the words they were expecting.
Lisabet leaned in and read them in a whisper.
“They might be crumbs, or scattered jewels,
For wolves they’re home to mighty strength.
Through spray so high and wind so cruel,
Go search along the shortest length.”
