I blink back tears. At this moment, I have no way to influence what might happen to Saxon, so it’s best if I push my fears aside. Surath needs him to help free the other dragons. She’ll keep him safe.
Also, Tynan will do what he can to help. I feel sure of that. He’s a prince of Khotor. Surely, he can get his grandfather to intervene on Saxon’s behalf. The King of Khotor might be despicable, but the Khotori admire strong men—even if they place no value on women, treating our sex worse than livestock. Saxon is a dragon master, which gives him high standing, and Tynan cares about Saxon more than he likes to admit.
Concentrate!Zogar says sharply.That’s enough about your lovers. You must be prepared for what you’ll face on the other side of the shield.
Fear overtakes everything else warring inside me. “You said I’d be safe.”
I’ll keep you safe, but I cannot shield your eyes from everything. Unless… I could blindfold you.
“No!” I say more sharply than I should. “I’m ready to face whatever we see.” In fact, I’m as excited as I am fearful to see the Darkness.
He growls.
I grip the knobs at the top of his saddle. “I trust you.” And I realize that I do trust him. I don’t like what Zogar did earlier—how he drilled me as a display of superiority and his claim on me as my husband—but I do trust him.
Zogar’s mood shifts, but he doesn’t respond.
“I don’t like what you did,” I say aloud. “But I understand that you needed me.” Pride flashes to expand my chest. It’s still amazing to me that I can do something to help the massively powerful Zogar.
I will always need you, my queen.
The shield seems very close, now. The foreboding black wall dominates my foreground, and the creatures below us moan and shriek, as if reacting to our presence above them.
When we first crossed into Lymbo these creatures were so still I thought they were boulders. “Whatarethose creatures?”
I’m not yet certain,he responds,but I do have theories.
His speed accelerates. We’re so close to the shield, I fear we’ll smash into it.
Brace yourself.
Zogar breathes a long stream of fire in a vertical line. The flames flick back toward us, and I blink as it brightens the dull grey light of Lymbo.
The shield parts, and a thick red vapor spills through the gap. Is it vapor or light? It seems too thick and heavy to be either. And it’s not liquid.
Before Zogar can answer, we fly directly into the redness.
I hold my breath. Glancing down, I expect my skin to be painted red, but my silvery complexion is barely shaded pink. In fact, it looks more natural than it did the first time we entered Lymbo.
Flashes of red join the iridescent colors flickering on Zogar’s scales, and I take comfort in the beauty of my husband’s strong body. Gratitude flashes through me. Zogar has great beauty and power, both as a man and a dragon.
Breathe,my queen.The air is safe.
I draw in long gulps of air, unaware of how long I’ve been holding it. Then my entire attention is captured.
Far in the distance, unfamiliar structures, seemingly constructed from spots of bright light, jut up from the ground and extend toward a blood-red sky.
I try to make sense of what I am seeing. In shape, some of these formations resemble castle turrets, and many seem as high as the mountains of Verax. I blink a few times, drawing on help from Zogar’s vision. The structures aren’t made of light. They’re made of steel and glass and other materials I can’t name. The bright dots that first caught my attention, are shining panes of glass, perhaps with light behind them.
The glow shining from these windows isn’t like that emitted from fires or candles. Nor is it like the light from dragon fire. This light’s quality is different, but I have no words to describe how, never mind why it’s so different. It’s whiter than most light. It must be magic.
“Those towering shapes!” I find my voice. “What are they? There are so many! Whose magic made them?”
Zogar chuckles.That, my queen, is the City of Darkness. It is the capital. The seat of power. And those shapes are buildings. They aren’t illusions. They are solidly real, and very little magic, if any, was involved in their creation. I have been inside more than one of them.
Eyes wide, I absorb his answer. It’s hard to believe thatanythingI’m seeing is real, but Zogar wouldn’t mislead me. He doesn’t lie, as he constantly likes to remind me.
I search to see something that seems real to me, something I can recognize. Fields and forests stretch out below us, and as I focus, they don’t seem very different than those we have in theKingdoms of Light, except that, because of the red tinged light, the foliage appears darker, closer to black. “Is it day or night?”
