Puzzlement filled me. She’d broken my tether so easily on the wildlands, and yet I’d sensed no steady, certain root within her magic. It was likely she didn’t know how to wield it properly…andthatwas a dangerous thing. Unrooted heartstone magic was unpredictable. I would know that better than anyone.
Amaia of Rath Savenal broke my gaze first, darting it back down to the lump of bread in her hand, as if surprised to see it there.
She was a problem I’d deal with in the Arsadia, I decided.
But for now, I had one too many of those in Grym. And so I turned back to Samryn for the next leg of my journey home.
Chapter 5
AMAIA
“Amaia,” came the voice, followed by a jostling of my shoulder. I gasped, shaken awake, though it was a mystery how I’d fallen asleep to begin with.
Brune’s hooded eyes were peering off to the left of me, into the yawning darkness of night.
“Look.”
After nearly three constant days on Elthika-back, with very little sleep or privacy, all I wanted was to plant my feet on the ground and never leave it again.
My back hurt something fierce, an unpleasant crick in my neck from being hunched down in an awkward position while sleeping in the saddle. The constant rhythm of the Elthika’s flight made the hard leather of the seat press into places I would definitely feel in the coming weeks—places I could already feel ache. I was bruised, I knew. Just like I’d been when I’d first started riding on the backs ofpyrokis, only I had a feeling this would be worse.
We were still flying, into the dead of night. While the moon was nearing full brightness, there was a heavy cloud cover tonight that obstructed nearly all of its light. Before I’d fallen asleep, Icould make out the tops of trees and the dull shimmer of lakes as we flew over them.
But when I turned my gaze to follow Brune’s, I pressed forward, against the steel of the rail that kept us safely enclosed on the seat.
Just when I thought it might never end, I saw lights below.
A village?I wondered, my lips parting in hopeful, excited awe.
In the distance I saw towering, darkened mountains, their tips and cliffs clean and sharp like blades. Below were forests, thick and seemingly impenetrable. When a misty cloud passed by the moon, I saw the light reflect off what I thought was a tumbling waterfall, so massive that I swore I could feel the spray thousands of feet off the ground.
And nestled into a flat valley on the edge of a forest, bracketed by mountains, was a village, not unlike asarukin Dakkar. An outpost. I could make out the shadowed dwellings and larger structures illuminated by soft golden light.
When I felt the Elthika tilt, swinging in a sharp left to circle back around, I felt my heart leap in relief. Maybe tonight I would be able to sleep on the earth. And I never wanted to leave it again. I wanted to press my cheek into the hardened ground, and I would be thankful for the stillness, the calm.
Next to me, Brune groaned, “Thank Kakkari.”
In the front row of the cramped seat saddle, I eyed the backs of the twodarukkars’ heads. They’d said not a word to either of us, had barely even spoken to one another. Now that we were descending to the village, I realized I had no inkling of an idea of what I was supposed todoonce I got there. But at the moment, I didn’t care. All I wanted was to get off this dragon’s back.
Tomorrow I would worry about the blue-eyedKarath, whose smoky voice had whispered through my mind like a touch. Tomorrow I would worry what that wouldmeanfor us, for our mission.
Tonight, however? Food and sleep.
When the Elthika landed with a hard thump onto the earth—in a large clearing a few stone throws around from a perimeter fence, I saw—I nearly sobbed with giddiness. Brune nearly tumbled again as he clamored down the dragon’s outstretched wing. At the bottom, he did trip and fall, but he seemed relieved, lying on the ground for a moment, even though thedarukkarsmerely stepped over him.
I was the last to descend, brushing my hand against the Elthika’s scales, thinking that I was grateful it had worked so hard to get us to this place. Its breathing was labored, as if the long journey had been strenuous on it too.
“Please tell me we’re staying put now,” I heard Brune say in a tired voice to the Karag who’d been at the helm of our Elthika. “Please tell me this is Grym.”
“This is not Grym,” the Karag grunted back. “But we are staying.”
Not Grym?I wondered, frowning, my legs shaking as I navigated the large wing of the Elthika. When my feet hit the ground, I could swear my whole body vibrated in pleasure, even as I crouched down beside Brune.
“You all right?” I asked, placing my hand on his back.
I felt his sigh vibrate his entire body, running up my arm.
“Lysi,” he replied.Yes.
