But Ardruna races down the wide stairs toward the city with me clinging to her back like a bug, and I clench my thighs and hug her neck so I won’t fly off.
True to his word, incredibly, Roane keeps up, running beside us. At first, it doesn’t seem so strange, but as we race through and out of the city, as we cross the meadows and the hills, dodging screeching birds, snakes and winged salamanders, it becomes harder and harder to believe anyone could have such stamina and speed.
I hadn’t thought much about the strength and endurance of a fae compared to a human. I know that my brother moves between towns mostly on foot and works hard labor jobs, but it was only on occasion that I caught my adoptive family doing stuff I couldn’t do. Like lifting heavy furniture. Lifting a cartclear off the ground. Running from one end of the city to the other without breaking a sweat.
And now I’m getting to see Roane doing exactly that. His braid flying behind him, he runs, ducks, sidesteps, climbs, wades, leaps, stumbles, and keeps going, never falling behind.
Unbelievable.
The mountains now loom over us, vertical and imposing, trees hanging off the sheer slopes, barely hanging on.
“Are we going up there?” I ask when Ardruna slows down. I’m not that scared of heights but my last climb up a mountain almost killed me and my experience in the griffin’s nest left a scar in my mind.
“We’re heading to a gorge.” Roane halts beside us and bends over, panting. Oh, look, running across half the world can get him a little winded, after all. “A passage between mountains.”
“Minimum climbing,” Ardruna confirms. “Don’t you worry.”
“What’s behind the mountains?” I finally get to satisfy my curiosity. “Where are the centaurs heading?”
“The plains of Eola.”
“Eola.” The name rings a bell, but I can’t place it. “What book is that from?”
But Roane only straightens and unstoppers a flask, taking a swig. Then he offers it to me. “Water?”
“Please.” I take long gulps, relishing the cool liquid. “Ardruna, some water?”
“I’m good. Let’s get moving. We don’t want darkness to find us here, or we’ll lose their tracks. We’d better catch up with them before they reach the plains. Intercepting them in the gorge would be best.”
“It would give us the advantage,” Roane agrees. “They won’t have much space to maneuver those bulky horse bodies, and won’t be able to run from us.”
“As if centaurs need to run from us,” I whisper. “A fae, a human, and a lioness.”
“A fae guardian whose magic is failing him,” Roane mutters, “that’s what you wanted to say.”
“Only because you won’t open up to me,” I reply.
“Maybe it’s good she’s here, Ro,” Ardruna says, “to speak the truth to you. Someone has to.”
Roane rubs his jaw. “What do you mean? You do it all the time, whether I want it or not.”
She growls and sets off. “Nobody can speak the truth to you unless you speak it back.”
He follows. “Meaning?”
“You need to stop keeping secrets. You can’t protect us that way.”
“We’ll see about that,” Roane says and falls silent, keeping his gaze ahead as we run up a few gentle slopes and climb over rocks.
I’m sprawled on my stomach on Ardruna’s back, hanging on with all I have. I’m starting to think we’ve taken the wrong path when the gorge opens up before us, deep and majestic like something carved out of a gem. It’s composed of blue and purple rocks, with white striations going through them like cream and foam.
I have to scrape my jaw off the floor—well, the lioness’s back. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Was this passage in the rock always here?” I breathe. “Are these formations natural?”
“We’ve seen tombs carved in its walls the few times we crossed it,” Ardruna says. “But I’d say it’s as natural as anything born from a book can be.”
A world that is a patchwork of tales. It looks so real. Itisreal. Its existence is an impossibility but it’s here, and I’mmoving through it like a fish swimming through a lake, always discovering new places.
