After a few minutes, I couldn’t take not knowing what was happening, and I opened my eyes. Beneath me, farms and green fields passed by, and a few people pointed up at us. It probably wasn’t a common sight for a drakkan to be carrying a person.
I didn’t want to think about what he intended to do with me when we got wherever we were going. He looked like Gus, but that didn’t mean he was Gus. And even if he was the drakkan I’d rescued, he had changed so much there was no telling what he’d do.
We passed over a field of grain that looked like wheat, and I stared at the huge shadow cast by the drakkan. I was struck by the overpowering feeling that I’d seen this before. Tiny flashes of a memory taunted me. No, not a memory. It felt more like a dream, but how could I have dreamed of a place I’d never seen.
Up ahead, the wide river cut through the valley, and somehow, I knew before we reached it that he was going to turn left. When we flew over a few boats, I wondered dismally if I’d ever get to take a boat along the river or if this was the last time I’d see it.
I lifted my head and saw we were headed straight for the black cliffs I’d seen from my balcony. We veered away from the river, and the drakkan picked up speed as we neared what had to be his home.
As we approached the base of the cliffs, he started to climb at a dizzying speed that made my stomach roil. I had to close my eyes before everything I’d eaten at the market came back up.
The air suddenly shifted, and it felt like we were floating. I forced my eyes open to see we had crested the top of the cliff and entered a world beyond my imagination.
The craggy cliffs stretched for miles, and as far as I could see, there were drakkans, hundreds of them in every color and size. Some played together or ate, some nested in aeries, and others looked like they were standing on guard watching for threats. Two fought over what looked like a catfish the size of a tuna, and two appeared to be busy making more drakkans.
We flew along the cliffs out of reach of the other drakkans but close enough to see their snarling faces and hear their growls as they watched us. One snapped and jumped at us, making my heart threaten to break through my ribcage. If my captor let me go here, I wouldn’t have to worry about the fall killing me. The teeth and claws below would rip me to shreds.
He didn’t drop me, and he didn’t land on the cliffs like I expected him to. We reached the end that jutted out over the ocean, and he kept going, straight out to sea where there was nothing but the vast horizon ahead of us.
A mile from shore, he lifted his legs so I was tucked against his warm underbelly and sheltered from the wind. I didn’t know if he did that for me or because it allowed him to go faster, but I felt less like I was about to fall into the ocean. He was flying at a speed I hadn’t known was possible for a living creature.
After several hours, I spotted a dark shape miles ahead. The closer we got to it, the more I could make out the details of an island. It was small, no more than a quarter of a mile wide, with a rocky shoreline, some trees, and a hill at the center. On top of the hill was a stone building that looked like it had grown out of the rock. Except for a few sea birds, the island appeared to be uninhabited.
The drakkan circled the island once before going in for a landing on top of the hill. He touched down lightly on three legs with me still tucked against his belly. I held my breath as he lowered me to the ground and released me.
I stumbled when he set me on my legs, which felt a bit rubbery from the flight. Righting myself, I turned to face him. He towered over me with his wings folded against his body, and his slit eyes watched me with the same wariness I had for him. He resembled Gus, but I’d seen other drakkans with similar coloring on the cliffs. How would I know if this was the one I’d rescued?
I licked my parched lips, wishing I had some water. Clearing my throat, I said, “Gus?”
He cocked his head to one side. Gus had done that too, but all drakkans probably did the same.
I gave him a sad smile. “I wish Finch was here. He’d know if you were our Gus.”
The drakkan suddenly dropped down to his belly, his enormous spiked tail swishing back and forth and little puffs of smoke issuing from his nostrils. He rested his head on the ground and stared at me with an expectant expression. I knew that look. It was the same one he’d worn when Finch used to play with him.
“Gus, it is you!” Tears pricked my eyes. “I can’t wait to tell Finch how big you are.”
His tail moved faster at the mention of Finch. Gus might recognize me as the person who’d fed him, but he’d spent more time with Finch than anyone else. What would the drakkan do when he realized Finch wasn’t here?
Better questions are where the heck am I, and how am I getting home? I turned toward the stone building, which appeared to be the only structure on the island. It wasn’t much bigger than a hut with an uneven roof and a hole for a doorway that was barely tall enough for a Court faerie.
I walked in the direction of the building and began to feel a strange pull toward it. The closer I got, the stronger it was. The logical part of my brain said anything that compelled you to do something could not be good. My gut told me it wasn’t a coincidence that Gus had flown all the way to this island in the middle of the ocean. I needed to be here, and I had to find out why.
I stood in the doorway to let my eyes adjust to the dim interior. There were stairs leading down and the glow of light below. I released my breath. This place couldn’t be abandoned if there was light.
Encouraged but still cautious, I descended the roughly-hewn steps to a round room less than fifteen feet across. At the center of the room was a narrow stone pedestal on which sat a glass bowl of laevik crystals that cast enough light to allow me to see where I was going. To my right was a narrow tunnel lit by sconces. Across from me was an archway to another room that looked larger and more well-lit.
I crossed the room and peered into the one beyond. My breath caught because I suddenly knew exactly where I was.
The round, sunken room was easily three times the size of the first one, and it had a high ceiling hung with crystal lights. The walls were bare stone, and across from the entrance was a low, white stone altar. At the very center of the altar sat the ke’tain.
I walked down the steps to the room and jumped when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. On my left were two male faeries in the blue and silver livery of the Unseelie court. I looked to my right and found two more faeries in white and gold tunics that must be the colors of Seelie. All four guards watched me with suspicion, but none of them spoke or approached me.
I turned back to the alter and stared at the stone that had changed my life in ways I was still coming to terms with. Seeing it stirred up a lot of conflicting emotions, and I was torn between wanting to leave this place and needing to move closer to the altar.
The pull of the ke’tain won, and I walked toward it. Four feet from it, I came up against an invisible wall that kept me from getting closer. It had to be the new ward they’d added to the temple to protect the ke’tain.
The ward might keep me from getting near the ke’tain, but it didn’t stop me from feeling the power emanating from the stone. As a human, I hadn’t been able to sense the ke’tain’s magic. As a faerie, the ke’tain’s energy was almost overpowering. How had Conlan been able to get within a foot of the thing that day in the bookstore office?