“Kezra…”
“Yes, my little swimming guppy?”
“Are your people… suffering too?” She hasn’t talked about her people at all. I know they’re supposed to be mysterious and what not, but… I can’t help but wonder.
Her tiny body becomes more rigid as she looks away. “We do not discuss fairy matters to any outsiders. Even you, Elysande.”
That’s okay. She doesn’t need to tell me. Her body language says everything. We’re all fucked.
~
The Deadlands are as eerie and glum as I imagined. It takes nearly the whole day to cross through them, and the scenery is a lot of the same. Which is nothing. As far as the eye can see, there’s nothing but slate gray dirt. No trees, no life, just barren land. Dust blows off the ground in the distance, the whistling of the wind making it even more creepy.
Kezra is hiding in my pack as I ride atop my walking dragon. She hates it here.
I read all about the Deadlands in the past. They were named this long before the curse struck. There’s never been much here, but I believe it did used to have small, pokey bushes that tumbled along the dirt-covered terrain after they died. No one ever lived in this region, though.
I can’t help but think that this is what our entire world could look like a thousand years from now if we don’t succeed.
Chapter 76
Torrynth is beautiful.
Yesterday, I started to notice the change in everything around us, from the dirt we walked on, to the lessening of trees, to the jagged, barren, black and brown mountains. They’re a stark contrast to the tree-dotted mountains in most of the lands I’ve been to before.
Now that we’re here, there’s barely a single tree in sight. Instead, there’s rolling hills with more reddish dirt and the mountains where once upon a time you could find emberstone if you climbed high enough. In the distance, I can see the white buildings he once told me about, but his brief description didn’t do them justice. They’re tall, intricately designed, and the entire town is constructed of the beautiful, rich material.
It looks like a dream.
As I get closer, I can see the swirls of gold mixed in with the white, bringing all of the architecture to life in the most stunning way.
“It’s beautiful,” I whisper to Daegan, who just shifted back moments ago so we can walk into his homeland hand-in-hand.
He smiles at me.
“Where does the material come from?”
“Mined under the mountains.” He nods toward the large black and brown mountains in the distance. The white buildings stand out even more when you look at the full picture, with the dark mountains contrasted behind them.
“I love it already,” I say.
It’s true. Yesterday the air started to feel warmer and it felt incredible. I could easily get used to this.
He smiles at me again, squeezing my hand. There’s something lighter in the way he carries himself since we arrived. It melts my heart, seeing him almost at peace here.
Another important observation we’ve made since we got closer is that there seems to be no Ellyarian army presence anywhere nearby. Not a single soldier.
It seems odd, even if it’s what we hoped for.
“Home at last,” Raef says with a breath of air that seems like it’s been held in for a long, long time. I feel a smile tug at my cheeks as he wraps an arm around Daegan, looking ahead.
Daegan, to my surprise, puts his arm around him in return, and they stand like that for a heartwarming moment, just two boys returning to their home.
“So, where are we going?”
Daegan’s expression falls. “We’ll need to check in with my father.”
“Before we do that…” Raef says, glancing at me with a strange look in his eyes. “I want to show you something.”
