The monkeys all looked at her, as though making sure she wasn’t going to do anything stupid again, and then they turned and bounded off back down the rock, their tails creating tall question marks in the air as they went.
Okay, so it didn’t look like she was going to be sacrificed to any monkey Gods—at least not today.
She took a moment to assess where they’d brought her. To her surprise, she found herself standing in front of an ornate door embedded in the rock. It was made out of a dark wood, but showed no signs of wear and tear from being out here, at the highest point of the island, where it must have suffered numerous storms. The top was curved in an arch, and engraved into the surface of the door were detailed carvings. At first, she thought they were just swirls and patterns, but as she looked closer she realized the swirls made up the eyes, noses, and mouths of multiple faces of all different sizes. As she leaned in closer to get a better look, one set of eyes closed and opened again in a blink.
Dela staggered back, her hand clamped to her mouth. Had she just seen that? Or had it been her imagination? But as she dared to look again, she saw movement all over the door—the flaring of nostrils, the twisting of lips, the widening of a mouth in a yawn. They were subtle, but they were definitely there.
Somehow, the door was alive.
There was only one person she knew of who lived on the island who would be behind a door like this, and that had been the person they’d risked their lives to come and see.
The Seer.
Her heart picked up pace, but for a different reason this time. That must be who was behind the door, and if so, had she sent the monkeys to come and collect her? Did the Seer know she was here?
With a trembling hand, she reached forward. There was no knocker, so she balled her fist and rapped her knuckles on a part of the wood that was free from any carved faces. Breath bated, she listened hard, trying to hear a voice from within, but instead of anyone responding, the door swung open, revealing darkness beyond.
“Hello?” Dela called.
Her voice echoed back at her, though she was unable to tell what would have created the echo. The piece of rock the door was embedded into was smallish—an oblong shaped boulder. It was impossible for her voice to bounce back at her as though she’d called into a vast cavern.
Still unable to see anything, Dela took a cautious step forward, edging into the space beyond. Her eyes strained, trying to get used to the lack of light, after having been in the daylight for so long.
From somewhere in the depths of the darkness, a voice called, “Welcome.”
And behind her, the door slammed shut.
Chapter 14
Vehel
A scream had come from the west side of the island, breaking through the trees and snatching all of their attention.
Vehel looked to the others in alarm. “Was that Dela?”
Orergon frowned. “It must have been. Who else would scream like that?”
“If Vehel wasn’t here,” Warsgra said, his eyebrows lifted, “he’d have been my next choice.”
“This isn’t the time for smart remarks. If she’s screaming like that, she must be in trouble.”
They were already moving as they bickered, breaking into a run.
Another cry sounded, but from deeper into the island this time.
Vehel looked around helplessly. “Which way?”
“It sounds like she’s on the move,” Orergon said.
Warsgra’s brows pulled down. “Or someone else has got her. Why else would she cry out like that?”
Vehel turned to the Moerian. He was the natural tracker in their group. “Orergon, which way?”
“This way, I think.”
Orergon led them deeper into the island. They navigated a steep slope, and then the foliage gave way to craggy rock, and they found themselves climbing.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Vehel asked him, his breath heaving in and out of his lungs.
“No, I’m not,” Orergon snapped, unlike him. “Do you have any better suggestions?”
A scream came again, and they all stopped and looked up.
“That was her,” Vehel said. “I’m sure of it.”
Warsgra rubbed his hand across his beard. “What’s she doing all the way up there?”
Vehel’s worried deepened. “We’d better find out.”
The climb was hard. Physically, Vehel was spent, but he forced himself to keep going for Dela’s sake. Not long ago, he’d thought she might be dead, and his relief at hearing her gave him a second spurt of energy. She’d screamed, though, which meant they were probably going to find her in some kind of trouble. He reached inside himself, feeling for the ball of magic—his power source—at the center of his chest. He’d not used the magic recently, but still he didn’t feel it was back to its full level. He hadn’t even had time to try to use what he had when the sea serpent hit the bottom of the raft, breaking it apart and sending Dela flying into the water. It had all happened so fast, he hadn’t even had time to think. And then he’d found himself in the water as well, and his need to not drown overcame any ability to focus on his magic to help them. If they reached Dela now and she was in danger, he’d use every last little ounce to save her.
They climbed higher. Vehel’s thighs burned, and sweat trickled off his forehead and into his eyes. At least this rock was solid and there were no signs of crusted over sludge or smoke pouring from the top. But he’d definitely heard Dela scream, and that meant there was something dangerous out here. He just had no idea what that something was.
“We’re almost at the top,” Warsgra grunted between breaths.
Orergon frowned. “There’s something up there.”
Vehel’s heart lifted. “Dela?”
“No, something else.”
They reached the flat top of the rock. The view across the rest of the island, the ocean, and back to the mainland stretched as far as the eye could see. But one thing blocked the view. In the middle was an upright rectangular box of stone, and embedded into its center was an ornate door. The door was made of dark wood, and carvings of numerous faces covered the front.
Vehel knew what they’d found right away. “The Seer.”
Orergon glanced over at him. “The Seer? You think the Seer is in there, and that she’s taken Dela?”
He nodded. “I think that’s exactly what’s happened. We came here to find the Seer, only the Seer found Dela first.”
Warsgra stormed up to the door and pulled his axe from his back. “Then I’ll break it down and get her back again.”
Vehel lifted his hand. “I wouldn’t do that.”
He scowled. “Why not? Don’t you want to get her back?”
“Of course, I do. I’d lay down my life for her. But if that door is owned by the Seer, there’s no way an axe is going to work. It’ll be cast in a spell, and you’ll probably do more injury to yourself than to the door.”
Warsgra glared at the door. “So, I can’t smash it down?”
“No. I suggest we do things the more civilized way.”
Vehel stepped forward, moving past Warsgra, who begrudgingly took a step back. “We’re not here to cause anyone harm. The Seer will know Dela is special, and that we’re here to help her.”
Warsgra’s green eyes narrowed. “Then why did Dela scream?”
“I don’t know,” Vehel admitted. “It might have been completely unrelated.”
“Or it might not.”
Vehel ignored Warsgra. He lifted his hand and knocked on the door. To his surprise, as much as anyone’s, the door creaked open.
Vehel didn’t hesitate. Ignoring the shouts of alarm from the others behind him, he stepped through the door and into the darkness. Though he knew it shouldn’t be possible to keep going, considering the size of the space the door was embedded into, he recognized magic when he saw it.
Movement came behind him. Warsgra and Orergon had followed him in as well. He kept going, walking deeper into the cavern-like
interior. His eyes began to grow used to the dark, and now he saw they weren’t in complete darkness. A faint luminescence came from the ceiling, like a type of bug, or perhaps plant, emitting light clung to the rock. Directly in front of him, a massive staircase wound its way down from the floor, heading deeper into the rock face they had ascended.
“This is impossible,” came Warsgra’s mutter from behind him.
Vehel kept going. “Only in the realms of what we’ve been taught is possible.”
“After everything that’s happened,” Orergon said, “I’d have thought there was no such thing as impossible anymore.”
Vehel didn’t answer, but in his heart he believed Orergon was right. Look at everything that had happened so far. They’d crossed a distance in an instant when they’d been thrown from the Southern Pass, they’d brought Orergon back from the dead, and dragons were still alive. Vehel wasn’t going to limit himself to what he’d been told any longer. They needed to think bigger than that if each of them was going to somehow make a difference to the world.
A second source of light came from the bottom of the huge, winding staircase, though it was dim. Vehel led the way, treading carefully, not wanting to slip and tumble to the bottom. His clothes were still wet from the dunk in the ocean, and seawater dripped onto the floor. The footsteps of the others followed.
He wanted to call out Dela’s name and get the reassurance that she was not only still alive, but that she wasn’t in any harm, but caution made him hold his tongue. They didn’t yet know for sure what they were dealing with, and though he was sure who ever lived here already knew they were there, he didn’t want to give them a heads up if they didn’t.
Vehel reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped short, his breath catching. He lifted a hand to tell the others behind him to stop.
A figure stood facing away from him. The light was too dim to make out any details, but the person was slight, and long hair spilled down their back.
Was this the Seer?
Every muscle in his body tensed, and his pulse raced. He opened his mouth, still unsure what he was going to say, but as he did, the person turned around.
“Dela!”
His heart lifted at the sight of her, and a wide smile broke across her face.
“Vehel!”
She ran to him and threw her arms around him. He held her against him, lacing his hands in her soft hair and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
“By the Gods, you’re safe,” he murmured.
“Yes, I’m safe.”
She noticed the others behind him, and untangled herself from his arms and went to each of them in turn, throwing her arms around them and hugging them tight. “Orergon! Warsgra! I’m so happy you’re all okay. I was frightened you might have drowned or the sea serpent had eaten you.”
“We thought the same thing about you,” Warsgra said.
Orergon looked around. “What is this place?”
She stepped back from them and gestured to the cavern they’d found themselves in. “This is what we came here to find. The home of the Seer.”
Vehel frowned. “Then where is she?”
“Right here.”
Icy fingers crept up his spine at her words, and he darted his gaze around the cavern. He noticed what he hadn’t before—a small figure wearing a cloak of animal skins, the hood of which was pulled up to cover her face and hair, crouched in the corner.
His heart lurched, and he sucked in a breath. “It’s her.”
Dela placed her hand on his arm. “She’s not what you’re expecting.”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
But Dela didn’t answer, and instead the figure rose to standing. Was this another Fae? They were small enough. He’d never heard the Seer was Fae, always assuming she’d once been human, but then she turned to face them, and he staggered back a step in shock.
The person standing before him was a child. A girl of no more than eleven years old, and when she lifted her face to regard them, her eyes were solid white. She had no pupils, and as such was completely blind.
“But … but …” He reminded himself of what he’d thought during his descent down the staircase, how nothing was impossible.
“It’s a kid,” Warsgra exclaimed, unable to hold himself back.
The girl spoke, her voice soft. “I was a child once, many hundreds of years ago, before I was made what I am today.”
“She is the Seer,” Dela said. “She knows stuff. She knows … everything.”
Vehel stared at her. Other than the strange eyes, she looked just the same as any human child. From either side of the hood fell tendrils of honey-blonde curls. “But, you can’t have been living here by yourself this whole time.”
A smile touched the girl’s lips. “I’m not by myself. I have the entire world, right here, inside my head.”
“This can’t be real,” Warsgra said in disbelief.
The Seer continued. “The things you see now are only material. The rock you’re standing on. The island itself. In time, they will wear away, and then there will be nothing where they once stood. So what is more real? The things I’m able to see inside my head, or the things I can’t see that someday will no longer exist?”
Vehel didn’t know what to say.
She turned to Orergon. “You have death inside you.”
Vehel’s stomach twisted at her words, and he turned his head to regard Orergon. Death? Was that linked to what he’d done back on the fire mountain?
Orergon frowned and glanced down at the floor. “Yes, I know. I can feel it.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Vehel asked Orergon, but the Moerian didn’t answer. Vehel looked to Dela, who also glanced away. She knew.
The Seer continued to stare at Orergon with her blind eyes. “Who brought you back?”
Orergon nodded to Vehel. “He did.”
The girl nodded. “Elvish magic. Part of the reason the Treaty was formed in the first place.”
“I was the one to break it,” Vehel admitted, shame flooding through him. The doubt in himself that he’d worked so hard to push aside came back with a vengeance. Had he been wrong in bringing Orergon back? Why hadn’t he and Dela confided in him? Though the Seer wasn’t able to see him with her eyes, he still wished he was able to melt into the floor.
“Yes, I know that,” she said. “But the Treaty should never have existed in the first place. Xantearos is not supposed to be a divided land.”
“But what about the death inside me?” Orergon asked. “Is there a way I can get rid of it?”
She shook her head. “Not yet. A time will come, and then you will know. But you must be careful, or it will consume you.”
Lines appeared across Orergon’s brow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
A faint smile touched her lips. “Exactly as I have said.”
The small group looked around at each other, none of them quite knowing what to say.
“We need your help,” Dela said eventually.
The small, strange smile didn’t leave her face. “I already know that.”
“Of course, you do,” Warsgra huffed.
Dela shot him a warning look.
“You need my help,” the girl continued, “because she can speak with dragons.”
“Not just speak with them,” said Vehel. “She can see what they see. She saw how Xantearos is going to be at war. With her ability, she can bring Xantearos back together again. She could be our new ruler.”
But the girl shook her head, a small smile on her lips. “No, you’re wrong.”
Vehel’s stomach sank. Wasn’t that the whole reason for them coming here, to help Dela learn how to control her ability, and make her strong enough to stand up against those who waged war on Xantearos? “What do you mean?”
The girl’s white eyes were almost luminescent in the dim light. “The Dragonsayer will not be your ruler.”
Chapter 15
Dela
Dela felt as thou
gh someone had punched her in the chest, winding her. She’d never considered the possibility that she might one day rule Xantearos, but still it was strange hearing it coming from the Seer’s mouth.
Warsgra balled his shoulders. “What do you mean? What’s all this for if not to stop the madness and have Dela with her dragon ruling the land?”
“I didn’t say she wouldn’t be ruling Xantearos, only that she wouldn’t be ruling you.”
Vehel shook his head. “What does that even mean?”
“You all will rule. There will be four rulers for one kingdom.”
Dela frowned in confusion. “There can’t be four rulers.”
“Yes, there can. One for each of your kind, but with each of you in unity. A marriage of four. Show your people that you do not need to be divided, that you can all work together to achieve the same thing. Peace.”
“But,” her mind raced, “there are already people on the throne. King and Queen Crowmere in Anthoinia, and even the Inverlands have their own ruler—Vehel is their son.”
The girl smiled again and looked around blindly. “Ah, yes, a prince.” She turned her attention to Vehel. “But your father is neither good nor kind,” she said, “and neither are your brothers.”
Vehel’s gaze darted across her face in confusion. “How do you know that?”
“I know everything.” Her smile broadened. “Well, almost everything.”
“Vehel already has a rightful claim to the throne when his father passes,” Dela said, “but I’m a no one. I’m just a street girl. I don’t have any right to be taking a throne from anyone. Especially not King and Queen Crowmere.”
“There, you are wrong. Many hundreds of years ago, it was the Dragonsayers who ruled Xantearos. It went without question that those who were able to communicate with dragons were also the ones who should rule. Admittedly, both the Dragonsayers and the dragons were more prevalent back then, and they waged wars of their own, but that’s no longer the case. Dragonsayers are no longer aware of their abilities, and the remaining dragons have been forced into hiding to protect their kind from extinction.”
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