Page 50 of The Truth

“Do I have a choice?”

“Perhaps. But that will be up to you.” The man grabbed Fane’s forearm. “I just need you to remember one thing.”

“And what is that?”

A blinding light erupted in Fane’s vision, and the world shifted and turned. And as everything flitted about him, Amatkai’s voice echoed in the aether.

“All great things require sacrifice.”

Part Five

1 year before The Fall

Chapter Fifteen

The Weight of it All

Lodhar Mountains – Winter, Year 2681 After Doom

Alvira reached out her hand and watched as the snow piled in her palm, flake by flake. She had forgotten how beautiful the ocean looked when it snowed. Before her, the cliff dropped off for over a thousand feet into the Iron Bay, the mountains closing around it like great walls. In the distance, where the claws of the mountain sheltered the bay, cold moonlight drifted through the opening. If only she could capture the peace in that moment and hold it forever.

Behind her, Vyldrar lifted his head at the sound of wingbeats that echoed like thunderclaps through the bay and up the mountain walls.

She let her mind drift into his, and through the dragon’s eyes she saw Suínvír flying low, skimming the ocean waves, her black and white scales causing her to almost vanish in the night’s snowfall. The dragon tore across the water’s surface before angling her wings and streaking upwards.

Seven heartbeats and the dragon swept past the cliff, a gust of air almost sucking Alvira off balance as she did.

A moment later, Suínvír had curled backwards and alighted on the cliff to Alvira’s left. The dragon was slender and elegant, her scales sweeping like plate armour across her body, her eyes a deep blue.

Alvira smiled softly at the sight of Eluna Faviril dropping from her soulkin’s back. The elf moved with a grace and poise that Alvira had envied from the moment they had met. She skirted the ledge that joined the two plateaus upon which their soulkin rested, then pulled Alvira into a warm embrace.

Eluna pulled back and stared into Alvira’s eyes for a moment, brushing her thumb across Alvira’s cheeks. “You need to rest, Alvira.”

The smile faded from Alvira’s lips. She gestured for Eluna to follow her into the shallow cave at their backs.

As they moved, Vyldrar stretched out his neck and brushed his snout against Eluna’s shoulder, a warm rumble in his throat.

Alvira drew in threads of Air, Spirit, and Fire, then wound them around the cave, knitting them together into a ward of silence. Not even the birds that nested in the bay would hear the words that would leave their lips.

“The dwarves of Vindakur have accepted an embassy. It will be constructed within days.”

Eluna gave no reply.

Alvira turned to look at the elf who had become one of her closest friends. “Are you having second thoughts?”

“About living beneath a mountain? Yes.” She gave a brittle smile that faded in a heartbeat, then stepped closer to Alvira. “Are you absolutely sure, that this is what must be done?”

“Yes.” Alvira kept her gaze fixed on Eluna’s. “I know that what I ask of you is not a small thing. But it will only be a for a time. I do not trust this task to anyone else. I know your heart, Eluna. Two summers, maybe three, and then we can⁠—”

“I am yours, Archon,” Eluna said, cutting Alvira off. “I will do what you ask. Suívnír and I will make it work.”

Alvira nodded, folding her arms as she stared down at the floor of the cave, then out at the snowfall. “There is a room within the vault below Ilnaen. A room that is only known by those who have worn the mantle of Archon and accessible only by one.” She reached beneath her shirt and produced a small, brass-backed pendant that bore the symbol of The Order on the front. “It is concealed by a glamour. This pendant is the key. The room can be accessed only when the moon is at its fullest, as that is when the Dracårdare give their thanks to Varyn. I will leave the eggs there and send the pendant to you. There are already three eggs resting safely.”

Eluna held Alvira’s gaze for a long time, utter silence consuming the cave. “Something has shifted in you.” She narrowed her gaze. “There is an urgency. What is it?”

“Three of my contacts have vanished this week alone. Two the week before that.” She shook her head. “On the surface it might seem like nothing, but I can feel it, Eluna. Fane is moving in the dark. The Order sent a battalion to deal with Urak raids near Gildor. Forty Battlemages went with them, and only twenty-eight returned. All twelve dead were mages I knew personally, mages who would have stood by me if the worst were to come to pass.” Alvira ran her hands through hair, wet from the snowfall. “I know how it sounds.”

“It sounds as though care must be taken.”