Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127026 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 635(@200wpm)___ 508(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“Where are we going?”
“That I cannot tell you,” Helly said.
“We can only show you,” Kivrin said.
“I hadn’t planned to leave for the evening,” Helly said glumly, shooting Kivrin an irritated look. “Forewarning might have been appreciated.”
“I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“I’m aware,” she snapped. “Kerrigan, have you called Tieran?”
She blinked. She hadn’t caught up to what was going on. They were really leaving, which meant she needed her dragon. She reached for the crux bond and called Tieran toward the Row. The houses here were large enough to accommodate dragon landings within their gardens. Even two dragons. As they exited into the darkened gardens, Kerrigan watched Helly’s magnificent dragon, Tavry, land effortlessly.
Tavry had been Kerrigan’s favorite dragon while she was growing up. She was long and lean with plum-purple scales that almost shifted to metallic in the moonlight. They had ridden together countless times, and when Cyrene’s world had called for aid, Kerrigan had ridden with Helly on the back of Tavry to answer her request. It was her first glimpse at battle, and though many would have preferred that she remained in Alandria, she had been the one to warn them and refused to be left behind.
The portal that took them to another world resided inside the mountain, closed and empty. Only a great magical user could turn it back on. Kerrigan had walked through it once during the tournament and still dreamed about using it.
Hello, Mistress Kerrigan, Tavry said warmly into her mind. It has been many moons since I have had the pleasure of your company.
“I missed you too, Tavry,” she said, putting a hand on his warm side.
Then, Tieran dropped down beside him. He looked concerned by her late-night request. Is everything all right?
“Uncertain,” she said, walking toward him. “Apparently, there’s been a change of plans, but I am not allowed to be aware of them.”
So, an average night for you.
She laughed. Leave it to Tieran to put her at ease. “I suppose.”
“Will you ride with me, Kivrin?” Helly asked.
Kivrin nodded. “Of course.”
Kerrigan mounted her dragon, pulling the cloak tight around her body to keep her warm. Then, they were up in the skies, staring down at Kinkadia, so small and distant below them. Tieran followed neatly behind Tavry as they made a quick circle and then headed northeast, toward Bryonican land. The moonlight illuminated the peaks of the Vert Mountains, which turned into forest and then rolling hills.
Home.
Bryonica was home despite how she had been forced out. Now, suddenly, she was forced back in. The tides were shifting.
They’d been traveling for nearly an hour when a lake came into view. Kerrigan’s breath hitched.
“No,” she whispered into the wind. “It can’t be.”
I know these lands, Tieran said reverently.
They followed Tavry down toward the lake and landed on the black rock before a cave entrance. Kerrigan slid off of her dragon with her mouth hanging open.
“Is this …” she gasped.
“The sacred Fae lands, Draíocht,” Helly confirmed.
19
THE SACRED LANDS
“Holy gods,” Kerrigan whispered as she surveyed the land before her.
Draíocht was shrouded in mystery and reverence. She had heard the faerie tales of it as a child, but few ever visited it even though it was on Bryonican lands.
The tale went that a Fae child who had just come into their sharply pointed ears was walking the lake edge when she discovered a cave system. A musical voice echoed from within, and the child followed, as if playing a game. Deep within the mountain lay a magical pool so clear that a stone could be seen for hundreds of feet beneath the surface. The child knew no fear as she passed into the water, still following the voice. As she reached the center of the water, she was pulled beneath and drowned.
The child’s parents looked everywhere for the child, but none was found. Then, after seven days and seven nights, the child appeared at the cave entrance but changed forever. The child could heal with a magical touch that was passed down their bloodline for generations. And that had been the beginning of the water magic of Bryonican healers.
“What … what are we doing here?” Kerrigan asked.
Kivrin stepped forward. “We are descendants of the healing magic of the Draíocht. We give our life and blood to the water as thanks for the blessing originally bestowed upon us thousands of years ago. To pass the house properly, you must bathe in the holy waters and give a piece of yourself to the land.”
She looked at him skeptically. “You want me to … bathe in the Draíocht? Where the child was drowned?”
“Yes,” he said evenly. “Every head of household in Bryonica has done it since the dawn of our lineage.”
“The house will not officially pass to you until the land recognizes you,” Helly informed her.
Kerrigan froze, suddenly uncomfortable. “What if the land doesn’t recognize me?”