Funny how the brain fixates on little details when the big details are too overwhelming.
I gawked at all the wyverns as we passed through the crowd. Several of them stared back at me. An older man half waved, and I paused. He looked familiar…like one of Ryan’s uncles, the one who always burned the hamburgers at barbecues. But I thought he was dead! Yes, in fact, the longer I stared at him, the more certain I was. He’d tried to lead a heist. It had failed, and he’d never returned. “Hey, Mom, I know him.”
“You may know many here, or know their relatives. Thomas has been sending his enemies through for some time,” Mom said. “He acquired the Door by accident—the wyvern he stole it from didn’t know its worth, but Thomas quickly figured out what it was. I believe in the beginning, he intended to share it with the council, but then he fell in love with the human woman who became his wife. There were many on the council who opposed his marriage. Those who objected to his marrying a human, who made threats against her—they disappeared. And came here, to join the exiles.”
“All these wyverns are from Earth?” I waved at all the people and dragons.
“Not all. Some are friends and relatives, born here in Home. Like Novi. Novi was born here, but her father was exiled from Earth by Ryan’s father—he was one of the first to object to Ryan’s mother. After he came here, he married Novi’s mother, a wyvern from Home. All the exiles from Earth and their families tend to live together. We are more comfortable with one another than the general wyvern population. For one thing, there is the language barrier. Most native wyverns don’t speak English. For another…the general wyvern population doesn’t trust us.”
“It’s not that we don’t trust you!” Novi said, returning to us. “We’re thrilled to have you back! You escaped a hell world that we can’t even imagine.”
“Mmm,” Mom said. “Among those older than Novi, there is a measure of distrust, due to the reputation of our ancestors. Apparently, our ancestors were not satisfied with the outcome of the Reckonings, and that didn’t sit well with those whoweresatisfied, the ones in power.”
Exiting the hall, we were in another corridor. “Well, I’m happy you’re here,” Novi said. “And soon you’ll be happy about it too. You’ll see.”
Mom squeezed my hand. She was touching me more than she ever had, as if she was afraid I was a dream that would vanish if she didn’t keep proving I was real. I felt the same way. Never expected us to become a family of huggers. I wondered what my brothers would think of this new hug-friendly Mom. “Novi’s right—you’ll like it here, once you’re used to it,” Mom said. “There’s beauty here beyond your wildest imagination. Wait until you see the waterfalls! Greater than any on Earth. And the mountains—they’ll make you cry, they’re so beautiful. I want to show them to you. I want to watch a sunset with you. The colors aren’t the same. Oh, and the stars! You’re going to love the stars, Sky. They remind me of when I was younger, when your father and I were first married, and we used to lie on the roof and look up at the stars. You could see so many on clear nights. Here, you can see so many more!”
“Sounds pretty.” Watching her, I tried to understand what she’d gone through, coming here all alone, unable to return home.I’ll find a way home,I thought. There had to be a way to defeat the fire beast.
“You can show her all of that after the Reckoning,” Novi promised.
“Why are you being so nice to us?” I asked Novi. “Who are you?” She reminded me of Gabriela, bubbly and perky and optimistic. I wished Gabriela had come through the Door with me. She would have liked to see all this.
“It’s Novi’s job to be nice to us,” Mom said. “Novi did very well for herself at the last Reckoning and was given the honor guard post. You could do worse than to have her show you what’s at stake.” She stepped back, and Novi propelled me forward.
I twisted my head. “Wait—you aren’t coming with us?” I’d just found her again! I didn’t want to leave her.
“She’s not allowed,” Novi said, pointing to Mom’s amulet, as if that explained everything. “Your mother isn’t ranked high enough to access all you need to see.”
“But I don’t—”
Mom’s smile was tight. I’d forgotten how much she could convey with just a curve of her mouth. Her lips could speak volumes without a single word passing them. “I’ll be right here when you get back, and then we’ll talk more. I’ll braid your hair, if you like. You’ve let it get tangled.”
I touched my hair. I’d shoved it into a ponytail for the heist, and clumps of it had tangled during all the excitement. It wasn’t exactly my top priority.
“Go with Novi,” Mom urged. “She’s an honor guard, allowed to go anywhere, and you’re unranked, so restrictions don’t apply to you yet. I must stay here.” I wanted to ask a hundred more questions, about what she meant by “unranked” and why we weren’t talking about defeating the fire beast and why…But Novi tugged on my sleeve and propelled me forward.
I let her lead me while all the questions swirled tornado-like inside me. Soon we reached an archway and emerged from within the mountain. This ledge was narrow, and the cliff drop-off was immediate. Novi swung herself over the edge, holding on to a rope. “One moment, and I’ll find an easier way for you.”
Obviously, I didn’t wait for her. Grabbing onto the rope, I followed her.
She looked back in surprise.
“I like climbing,” I told her.
With me behind her, we went from rope to rope up the rocky slope. “Most wyvern fly,” she called, over the wind. “But there are rudimentary alternatives all over the mountains, for the disadvantaged to use.”
We were near the top of a mountain, and the wind whirled around us. Snow clung to a few rocks, but so did tiny yellow flowers. The air had a bite to it but wasn’t unbearable, and the sky above was a brilliant blue. I saw dragons soaring through it, twisting their bodies as if they were dancing with the sun. “Beautiful. But what am I supposed to be looking at?”
She pointed behind me. “That.”
I turned and gasped.
There was a golden city on the next mountain.
As a rich girl whose family has owned at one time a fleet of Aston Martins and given the gardener his own Tesla, I am rarely impressed by displays of wealth. Plus I’d just seen a palatial cathedral built into a mountain and drenched in jewels and gold.
But this…this was impressive.
