Dynalya
After dinner, Dyna wandered away from the camp toward the cascades. Raiden had shown her the ruins earlier, and now she wanted to investigate the sacred waters that happened to cure infertility. She stopped by the edge of the embankment and kneeled to gaze at her reflection on the surface. Except brown curls fell around her face, and eyes from another time looked back at her.
Dyna’s pulse pounded in her ears as she recalled the dream she had last night. She had found herself in a familiar forest, before aHyalustree. Its leaves glowed in the evening like twinkling stars.
“Allow me this, and I will grant you anything,”the pleading words slipped from her mouth that didn’t seem to belong to her.“Whatever wealth or favor, I’ll do it.”
She spoke to a man with his back to her. He wore fine white robes, his pearlescent white wings catching the light. Gold-spun blond hair fluttered around his face in the evening wind as he stood silent.
“Then what do you want from me?”she asked him desperately.
He turned, and her heartbeat raced at the sight of Cassiel. The Celestial had his face, and yet she knew he wasn’t the same Cassiel she knew. His blue eyes softened.“You already know the answer…lev sheli.”
Dyna had woken from the dream with her heart pounding. It circled in her mind all day. What did it mean? She was so tired of these confusing dreams and her unanswered questions.
Whatever sleep she gained had been minimal and frustrating. She had little to say to anyone, and she ignored Cassiel completely.
Groaning, Dyna splashed her face with cool water, and like magic, it soothed her headache, banishing it away. Well, that was interesting. She removed a glass vial from her satchel and dunked it into the pool. Drawing it out, she held it up to inspect it.
The true color was difficult to distinguish. The water appeared pink, but that was either due to the twilight or another organic matter like the dynalya petals floating in the pool. Whether what they said about the Melodyam Falls was true or not, studying new remedies always helped clear her mind.
But she couldn’t stop thinking about last night, her new dream, and all the ones that had taken over her life. Every night, she was falling to her death or stumbling upon another reality. None of it made sense. When would they stop? Dyna was afraid to sleep lest she be plagued with more nightmares that she didn’t understand.
But maybe she wasn’t simply dreaming anymore.
You already know the answer … dream walker.
Exhaling sharply, Dyna thought back to her other strange dream in the White Woods. Did Leoake know something? If she could say anything about that dastardly Druid, healwaysknew something.
Dyna tucked away the vial in her satchel and thought of the scroll he had left her with. The case landed in Dyna’s hand. Pulling it out, she briefly ran her fingers over the green leather. She took out the scroll and studied the faded illustration of the mysterious key.
How ironic that it was also the key to her freedom.
The geas faintly throbbed as if in agreement. Dyna pressed against her ribs. It was a beautiful key, archaic in its intricate design with a winding bow made of bronze. Whereas keys were now made of iron. That alone told her this one was very old.
Whatever lock the key belonged to, it had to be connected to Mount Ida.
“What do you have there?”
Dyna jumped up at the sound of Raiden’s voice. He had been standing over her shoulder, frowning at the parchment. She quickly rolled it up and tucked it away.
“Raiden, ah, it is nothing, really.” Dyna flushed at her lie. Guilt filled her chest, because frankly, she had been keeping this from the Norrlen family.
How could Dyna explain the key was another reason she had to go to Red Highland? Even if Leoake had planned for this, it was her actions that led to Rawn’s capture and Fair’s death.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said, changing the subject. “What happened?”
“These ruins were once a grand civilization in the Vale. It was lost during the first war that split the kingdom in two.”
Oh. That only made her mood bleaker.
Raiden canted his head as he searched her face, clearly as perceptive as his father. Dyna held her breath. “How are you, my lady?”
“Me?”
“You seem troubled—or tired,” he quickly amended. “Well, of course you are, with the constant rain and long travel. I, well, we haven’t had a moment alone since…” Raiden ducked his head, and the tips of his pointed ears turned pink. “I have been meaning to beg your pardon.”
Ah, now that she thought of it, it did seem as though he had wanted to speak to her last night. It must have been difficult with so many ears listening.
