“Yes, sire,” she said. “Most say it is impossible to find—”
“Correct, my dear. Mount Ida is impossible to find because it’s not real. It’s a tale of adventure and lost treasure, and like most grand tales, this one is also fraught with death.”
The High King glanced at his son, pausing before he strode to his ornate desk. With an iron key, he unlocked a drawer. He returned with a stack of books and set them on an end table beside her.
They were much more modern than the history book he’d given her, at least created within the century. Dyna picked one up with a detailed, painted cover of a volcano island masked in clouds. Before she could admire it, Cassiel snatched the book from her. His hands gripped it so tightly they shook. He shifted through the others, knocking them to the ground in his haste as he read the titles. His furious glare pinned on his father.
King Yoel ignored him, nodding for her to continue. “As you were saying.”
She glanced back and forth between them. The books held some meaning to them. “I’m familiar with the legend of Mount Ida, sire, but it’s not just a story. It’s true.”
“Dynalya,” the High King spoke her name as though she were a foolish child he needed to reason with. “It’s easy to let our imaginations run rampant and believe such fairy tales. Relic Hunters pursue the legend hoping to find its fabled treasures and enchanted relics only to return years later empty-handed or not at all. I’m sorry, my dear. I’m afraid your Sunstone is not there for Mount Ida is a myth and nothing more.”
Most didn’t believe the legendary island to be real, and she had never thought it was until she discovered the journals. King Yoel was attempting to convince her it was all a lie, but he knew it wasn’t. She could see it on his face. He was hoping his words would make her see reason.
That was impossible.
Dyna smiled. “Mount Ida is real, sire. I have a map.”
Chapter 11
Cassiel
The room was as quiet as a crypt, but Cassiel’s heartbeat roared in his ears. A part of him denied what Dyna had revealed, but the stunned reactions of the others told him they had heard the same thing.
Mount Ida was a mystery that had plagued him for most of his wretched life. That cursed place was real, but it was lost to the world. Yet this human claimed to have the means to find it.
Lies.
“This journal once belonged to a renowned mage,” Dyna said. “On his many ventures, he discovered the location of Mount Ida.”
The sigil on the journal’s cover looked familiar, but Cassiel couldn’t quite remember which House it represented while his mind was reeling. He watched her slender fingers divide the pages to a glowing section. He inched closer, marveling at a detailed map of the country of Urn lit up with a swirl of purple magic tinted green.
To the southwest, within the Leviathan Ocean, the light pulsed the brightest over an island. As though the enchanted journal itself indicated what he so desperately searched for all these years.
Dyna tapped the island with her finger and the image expanded until it filled the page. Accompanying it in elegant script, were the wordsMons Idaeus.
Language of Magos. It’s Urnian translation: Mount Ida.
Cassiel stared at the image until his vision spun, his mind struggling to accept it as real. This had to be the only map in existence to that place.
The myth, the island, finding it—all of it was impossible, but how did she?
He leaned against the fireplace column, needing something solid to support him. His father’s wide, astonished stare fixed on the glowing journal.
Zev’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly before he managed to speak. “You … you truly have a map to that place. Dyna, you mustn’t tell people about this. It can get you killed!”
“Merely attempting to go there will get you killed,” Cassiel said, forcing a dull tone. “You would have already died if not for me. How do you expect to survive traveling across the country?”
She sighed. “I appreciate your concern, Prince Cassiel, but I must go.”
Zev shook his head. “It’s not that simple. You’ve never left the village before. The journey will be far more dangerous than crossing Hilos.”
“That is why I came for you,” she told him. “I hoped you would accompany me on this quest. I need your guidance out there, and you need me to keep my promise.”
Shadows crossed Zev’s face, a profound misery filling his distant gaze. Cassiel watched, wondering what promise made him respond that way.
“If you had the means to save others, would you not do it?” Dyna asked them. “That demon has taken so many lives, so manychildren. I wasn’t able to stop it from taking my brother, but I won’t stand by again. I’ll stop the Shadow before it takes anyone else.”
