Not real?
“What do you mean?”
He looked up, his expression somewhere between longing and betrayal.
“This Realm is cursed,” Blake said. “The sky you see is an illusion of where Valyria once was in the stars. Wherever we are, it is not where the stars you see would have you believe.”
“How do you know? What could do such a thing?” I asked.
“You will see eventually. It is like everything else, Anna. You must see it and feel it for yourself to understand.”
We made our way down a steep and long stairway. Cascading waterfalls sprayed around us and calls of creatures I’d never heard before sang in the distance. We came to a stable where a beautiful black horse was waiting. Blake saddled her in an elegantly stitched black saddle. She wasn’t tethered, and when Blake approached her, she went to him, nuzzling him in the neck.
“Her name is Sadrina,” Blake said, stroking her back.
When he said her name, an accent I’d never heard before came out.
“Interesting name.”
“She was my mother’s horse,” he said. “She can sense my everi and be summoned from anywhere in the Realm.”
He shifted his sword to his hip and hoisted himself up before reaching for me. Taking his hand, he lifted me behind him.
“Hold on,” Blake said before taking the reins and saying something strange.
“Narthia.”
Sadrina responded by taking off at full pace. I quickly locked my arms around Blake’s waist. She moved like the wind across the rocky landscape and took steep inclines effortlessly. The gusts were cold across my face, and I leaned into Blake’s back, using him as a shield. His everi cloaked me again, but this time, him as well, securing us to Sadrina.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
Trembling, I said nothing, not sure that I could.
“We are almost there,” he said.
Sadrina galloped toward a rocky stream, my body swaying rhythmically with each stride. My core was burning from overuse in this everi-dense atmosphere as I tried to keep from slamming against Blake’s back with every motion.
Suddenly, a fresh wave of Blake’s everi flowed through me, warming me from within. His presence pulled me closer, tightening its hold. My heart quickened as I realized his intention. Taking a breath, I eased my body against him, pressing my cheek against him and closing my eyes.
Sadrina’s pace quickened.
Blake’s heartbeat reverberated against my skin. It echoed Sadrina’s gait, a calm and assuring presence amidst such a vast, strange world.
When she reached the creek, she struck the water with such force that water sprayed well above my head, showering us in cool droplets. Her hooves crushed the pebbles on the narrow beach as she climbed the bank.
Feeling a fresh wind on my damp skin, I lifted my lids.
We were traversing expansive grassy plains, and the vast night sky sprawled out around us. With the thicket behind us, I saw the silhouette of a tower in the darkness. It looked like amonolith of shadow-slicked stone that nearly touched the night sky. It gleamed under the orange and red light of the dual moons, smooth and unblemished.
“We shall be there soon,” Blake said. “It should be unoccupied, but if it is not, follow my lead.”
I nodded.
What might happen if someone were there?
Sadrina’s gait slowed.
The tower was massive.
