Gelryn rose to his haunches, spreading his massive wings. Kerrigan held on with all of her might, flattening herself against him, and then he took off, descending deep into the cavern below. She barely suppressed her shriek of terror before he leveled off and then flew upward to one of the exits in the mountain. Then, just like that, they were soaring high above Kinkadia.
She released her death grip on Gelryn’s back and pressed herself up into a sitting position. She held her hands out to her sides, enjoying the wind running through her hair. It was easy to forget all of her problems when she was up in the clouds. Her last ride with Tavry felt like a lifetime ago, but she remembered thinking it would be her last. She was glad that she had been wrong.
They didn’t fly long before Gelryn descended toward another smaller mountain peak. He dropped gracefully onto a summit overlooking the entirety of the valley below and every twinkling light above.
“Whoa,” she breathed. “This is beautiful.”
You speak of more visions. Tell me what you have seen.
So, she spilled her guts, telling him all about her latest visions—the tournament, the raven sigil, and then the bizarre dream she’d had that prompted her to come see him.
“The tournament portions make some sort of sense, but how am I supposed to know what to do with the rest of it? A length of rope? A blue drink? A girl with blonde hair?”
It is as I feared.
“What is?”
The spiritual magic is controlling you, child, and not the other way around. You need to find a way to harness this ability, or it will destroy you.
“And how am I to do that?” she demanded. “They come on completely unexpected.”
Since our meeting, I have been researching the harbinger ability. Others in the past have been harbingers, but it does not appear that we have seen one in millennia. The recorded histories of that time are few. But even without more information, it is clear to me that the closer your visions are together, the more danger.
“That, at least, is true. All of my visions have spelled danger… usually personal danger.”
I fear that dark times are coming for Alandria. If only one vision was enough to reveal the Red Masks riots, how much danger could be coming if you have already had three visions?
She frowned. She had not thought about it in magnitudes. “A lot.”
Indeed. We need more knowledge. That is always the answer.
“What can I do? Scour the library?”
No, child. I fear Fae and humans alike have not been kind to harbingers. Most are seen as mad at best. He looked at her with one wide eye—a warning. It appears almost all have been violently killed for their gift.
She shuddered. “That’s… marvelous. At least I’m on the right trajectory.”
With your visions coming more frequently, I think it is time that I go home.
He said it with such reverence that there was no question in her mind where he meant. He wanted to go to the Holy Mountain. When dragons had first come to Alandria, the story went that they had been exiled through a portal from another world and left upon a mountain of Tendrille. There, they would bring their eggs to feel the vibrations of home. She didn’t know how much of it was even true, but it was a good story. And many dragons lived and pilgrimaged to the Holy Mountain every year, especially those whose riders were too old to continue participating in the Society culture. They retired to the mountain, and immense amounts of knowledge were still recorded there.
“You think that someone will know about other harbingers?”
Unlikely, he said truthfully. But I hope to find more information from our spiritual leaders. They have walked the plane for generations. I will find control for you, child, if I can.
She respectfully bowed her head. “Thank you, Gelryn.”
While I am away, you need to stay close to Fordham. He is in your dreams for a reason. Whether for good… or evil, we will find out with time.
She cringed. Well, that wasn’t exactly comforting. It paralleled what Audria had been alluding to in the caves. Was Fordham here for good or to cause havoc? She had come to believe that he was on her side, but she wasn’t sure if he was on anyone’s, save himself.
Trust your gut.
“I will,” she agreed.
Her gut said he was friend, not foe. She hoped her gut was right.
28
The Tip
Fordham punished her with more running. Okay, it wasn’t precisely a punishment. He thought that he was helping. But her legs ached for days after her climb up the mountainside, and she couldn’t exactly tell him why she hurt so much. She couldn’t exactly confide in him about the visions.
At the third-mile mark, Fordham slowed to a walk. Kerrigan happily fell into step beside him. Her chest wasn’t heaving quite as bad as it had been, but it wasn’t easy yet either.
“You’re improving,” he said.
“Does this mean we can move to weapons?”
He just shot her a look. “We’ll cut this session early. The second task is tomorrow.”
“Okay,” she said, trying not to sound eager.
She couldn’t believe the second task was already here. Half of her time was up, and she hadn’t gotten any closer to finding out who had killed Lyam or what tribe was going to accept her. She had thought Ellerby would be the answer, but he still hadn’t responded to her letter. He might never respond. She needed to find a way to get in front of tribe members who wanted a Dragon Blessed. Parties were the easiest way to do that, but she’d found Ellerby almost right away and not had to schmooze at any of the parties. Plus, there weren’t any more Dragon Blessed parties until after the tournament was completed.
“You seem distracted,” Fordham said.
“Just two weeks left.”
Fordham remained silent, continuing their walk and turning them back toward the mountain. It had seemed so simple when she made that deal with Helly. But then life had gone down the drain, and though she could see the future, she had no idea what was coming next.
“Are you worried about the tournament tomorrow?” she asked.
“Unless you have some insider knowledge about the second task, I have no idea what’s coming. There’s no reason to worry.” He shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve been through worse.”
“Well, that’s highly logical,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“This isn’t what has you distracted,” he said.
“No,” she said with a sigh. “Audria came to see me a couple nights ago.”
His back stiffened. “About what?”
“You.”
He gritted his teeth. “And what did your friend from Bryonica have to say?”
“She’s not my friend,” she said at once. “But she was worried about me.”
“Because of me?”
Kerrigan shrugged. “You are from the House of Shadows.”
“Of course.”
“And… there are rumors that you killed Lyam because you are anti-human rights.”
He looked at her, and then all the anger bled out of him. To Kerrigan’s surprise, he began to laugh. She’d never seen him laugh before. Not really. Not like this. It was full-bodied with his head tipped back and his eyes closed. The display was contagious, and she found she was laughing too. She hugged her belly and tried to stop but failed three times before she got it back under control.