Cassiel rolled his eyes, an indignant admittance.
“He can join us then?”
Cassiel and Zev shared a look and both nodded in agreement. “I suppose there’s no sense in arguing.”
She beamed and squeezed both their arms. “I knew you’d see reason.”
Rawn sat back on his heels, too bewildered to speak for a moment. “Thank you.”
Zev pulled out Azeran’s journal from his pack. He opened the pages to a section before offering it to him. Rawn’s hands trembled as he accepted the journal. He drew in a deep breath and looked down at the blank pages. Cassiel and Zev chuckled at his confusion.
“The map disappears when it’s separated from me,” Dyna said. She motioned for him to pass the journal to her, and she whispered,“Tellus, lunam, solis.”
Rawn stared at the vivid purple swirl of magic. The calligraphic strokes swarmed across the page. When the glowing island of Mount Ida appeared, emotions crossed his face in rapid succession. Astonishment. Relief. Joy.
He blinked his misted eyes and gave a short laugh of amazement. “My lady, you mentioned Azeran Astron is your ancestor. You have an incredible heritage. To be of his bloodline, you must be powerful. I have only witnessed elves and mages with formidable magical abilities perform Essence Healing as you have done.”
Dyna shrugged, feeling timid at the praise. “My abilities end there. I’m human but I share his blood and Essence. It’s the reason I can reveal this map.”
Rawn smiled warmly. “You are far more precious than I have foreseen. This excursion would cease to exist without you.”
“What do you mean?” Cassiel asked.
“He means, should anything happen to Dyna the map would disappear,” Zev said. “Only her Essence can reveal its secrets.”
Cassiel sucked in a sharp breath. He looked at her as though he feared she would vanish in a wink. She hadn’t brought herself to ask him what his true intentions were for going to Mount Ida.
“I won’t let anything happen to you,” Cassiel declared so ardently that she blushed. He nervously scratched his neck and clarified, “I mean to say that I will protect you from Tarn.”
“Me too,” Zev said.
Rawn nodded. “As will I.”
Dyna’s eyes filled with tears at their promises. For once, she felt to be on the right path to her journey. “Thank you.”
“What is one man?” Cassiel said to the flames. “You have far worse enemies.”
Rawn glanced from him to her, his smile fading. “My lady?”
Zev tilted his head at her and shrugged. “Will you tell him, or shall I?”
She sighed at the reminder. Lord Norrlen should know her reason to reach the island. She would need every possible ally on this mission. Lyra and the children of North Star depended on it.
Dyna pictured the mountain of bones from her dreams. Pitch-black clouds shrouded the peak, smothering the sky from any source of light. The mountain had always represented her fear and the imminent death of everyone she loved. It was fear that kept her back, knocking her down whenever she had tried to climb it. This time, she was determined to reach the top.
“I have a Shadow demon to vanquish.”
Epilogue
Cassiel
The land of Azure gleamed with the rising sun. A gradient of pink and purple bled across the sky as the gray of early dawn faded. Arms crossed, Cassiel stood on the edge of the cliff that sheltered their camp below.
He had lost count of the days since their escape from Corron. Other things consumed his thoughts. Struggling to find any sleep, he had gone for a flight before the others awoke. But even flying now brought him little joy.
He was not the same. He felt it. He was different. Unclean.
Forsaken.
