It featured intricate filigreed carvings and multi-tiered balconies.
The closer we got, the more intense the everi surrounding us became. It was amassed here in a far greater quantity than I’d felt so far. I’d never experienced anything this dense and heavy. It weighed on my limbs and coiled around my everi like a snake suffocating its prey.
I mentally leaned into Blake’s everi, hiding within its warmth as we drew nearer. Whatever this place was, I could face it with him by my side.
A stacked stone wall surrounded the tower. It was perfectly intact, as if it were new, but I suspected it was much older than it appeared.
The sound of Sadrina’s hooves clanking against the cobblestone path alerted my senses.
We were drawing near—no more dirt pathways and forested terrain. Gradually, it became lined with stone, and orchards of trees with silken leaves or metallic colors.
A large, black-barred gate loomed ahead. On the pillars flanking the gate stood two towering stone statues—one a raven mid-screech, the other a rearing Pegasus with flared wings. Their size and craftsmanship were remarkable, but it was the gate itself that held me frozen.
Forged into the iron was a massive dragon—scaled, coiled, and poised with its wings stretched wide, ready to strike.
A chill crept into my bones. Every joint was taut, like the tension in the metal had seeped into me.
“What is this place?” I asked.
The gates loomed ahead as Blake slowed Sadrina to a trot.
Holding his hand out, his everi flashed through the air like a bolt of lightning. My lips parted in awe. The physical manifestation of his everi was mesmerizing. I knew it was possible, but I’d never seen it before. It didn’t seem possible that I’d ever be that powerful.
The dragon split in two as the lightning struck it, opening as Sadrina sped up and crossed the threshold.
“It is called the Tower of Angalor,” Blake shouted over the rhythmic staccato of Sadrina’s stride. “It is where the Alliance gathers. All three kingdoms in Valyria meet here in peace. Even in times of war, it exists as a demilitarized zone.”
The mere inkling of mages that wielded the power of this realm raised the hair on my arms. What kind of destruction was wrought in a battle between two mage kingdoms?
I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand.
The courtyard was dense with twisting trees with exposed roots. Statues were overgrown with moss. Vine twisted around them, thorns lining them like fangs.
The trees’ leaves were broad with veins of silver. Flowers gleaming with bright luminescence flickered in the darkness. It was so startling that I couldn’t take it in fast enough. My senses were heightened, draining my everi, and even with Blake’s everi, I was quickly losing energy.
A tingling sensation was spreading from my fingertips to my chest.
It wasn’t long before every part of my body was numb and too heavy to hold myself up.
I knew I should say something—tell Blake, but I couldn’t. I was too tired, and began to drift, my body leaning into Sadrina’s gallop, but Blake’s everi grasped me, jarring me awake as it pulsed through my veins like electricity, and Sadrina came skidding to a halt, rising on her hind legs.
She whinnied as she did, her hooves striking the dirt when she landed, flecks spattering my face.
Blake’s everi never let go of me—it flowed in warm waves, and I took a sharp breath. My fingers and limbs were tingling again, my heart beating rapidly.
“We need to get you inside,” he muttered urgently.
Everything was swimming as his weight shifted, then my own was relieving Sadrina of her burden as he slid me from her back. I didn’t bother to try to speak.
He carried me against his chest, one arm behind my back, the other under my knees. Thick, polished wooden doors awaited us at the tower's base. They were reinforced with black iron, etched with curling runes I didn’t recognize. The moment his palm met the surface, the doors opened on their own, revealing a space within that rivaled everything I’d seen at Nightfall.
Gently, Blake set me on my feet, letting me regain my composure.
Within the walls of the tower, the weight was lifted.
The door shut with a thud behind us and a sense of relief flooded me. Though exhausted, I could stand, but Blake still hovered beside me, his everi continuously coursing through me.
Torchlight flickered to life in rapid succession, the flames burning with a golden glow upon our entry. They lit an enormous foyer with pristine stone walls, unmarred by time or neglect. It opened into a hall with ornately threaded rugs and armchairs I longed to sink into. The ceiling rose several floors, resembling an atrium in a hotel, with viewing ledges on the upper levels.
