by K. A. Linde
Suddenly, the sound of wings filled the air. Even Darrid paused at the unholy noise. Birds rushed out of Noirwood Forest and blanketed the sky black. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of ravens descended on the battling ground just outside of the forest.
Kerrigan ducked her head to try to shield herself from the attack. But the ravens never touched her or Fordham. And a memory hit her, though she knew not from where, of ravens guiding spirits through the unknown. Psychopomps—the word came to her, unbeknownst.
Spirit guides. Ravens were spirit guides. They directed the dead to the next world, but that wasn’t all they could do.
“Trust me,” she told Fordham.
She grasped his arm and closed her eyes, and they walked into the raven melee, letting the birds carry them onto the spiritual plane.
48
The Raven Flight
The ravens disappeared, save for one lone bird, as they exited the physical and materialized onto a new plane. The raven looked at her, and she shivered with the realization that this was what she was here for. Not to survive in the forest, but to cross the spiritual plane.
“What did you do?” Fordham gasped.
“I saved us.”
She didn’t know what she had done. Not really. But she had done it. It felt the same as the time with Gelryn when she had unconsciously pulled him into the spiritual plane. Now, here she was again with a raven waiting for her command.
Before Fordham could ask any other questions, she smiled at the bird. “Are you here to guide us?”
The bird cawed, knowingly.
Kerrigan nodded, ignoring Fordham’s look of puzzlement. She couldn’t doubt herself. Not here. For some reason, she felt perfectly at ease. As if she had been waiting for this very moment, and she knew exactly what to do. “Can you take us to the caves?”
The bird cawed and then was off.
Fordham’s eyes were wide. She touched his hand, not quite real, not quite not. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” he said easily.
“Then trust me.”
And with their first step together, they followed the raven across the expanse of the plane.
That first step was the hardest. Her body felt encased in the energy of the plane. But as soon as they started up an easy pace behind the raven, they moved through it like free-flowing water.
She had never seen anything like it. The sky was the bluest blue, and the ground was the greenest green but not naturally so. As if the entire space had a blanket thrown over reality. What they were staring at was the clearest, purist, bluest form of the world below. None of it felt quite like walking, per se. At least, she didn’t feel the stretch of her muscles or the elements against her skin or get tired in the same way. Though she was certain that, this time, her physical body was coming with her. It wouldn’t have been much of an escape if they’d left their bodies behind for Darrid to ravage.
After a short time, the landscape at their feet began to change. No longer were they on the plane, but right ahead, they could see a raging river.
“That’s the South River,” she said. “I didn’t think we were that close to it from the forest.”
“That’s what you’re concerned with?” Fordham asked.
Kerrigan looked over at him. He was very pale. As if the weight of reality was pressing down on him. “Breathe, Ford. Just breathe.”
“I don’t understand what’s going on.” He took a deep breath and released it. “The adjudicators of the tournament told us to bring our medallion for the final test. I assumed it was a weapon.”
“It was,” she confirmed. “The ravens responded to the call from the medallion. They attacked the other competitors, and we were able to flee.”
“Flee,” he said blankly. “When I think flee, I think running out across the field we were in and finding cover.”
“Well, isn’t this nicer?”
“I don’t know what this is,” he said, gesturing to the barren landscape that overlay the physical world.
“The ravens were a distraction in the physical world. But for those who have access to the spiritual plane, they’re guides.”
“I know what the spiritual plane is, but isn’t that reserved for dragons? Isn’t that half the reason we bond with dragons to begin with? We’re stronger together with the use of the spiritual plane and our combined knowledge and might.”
“Yes, dragons are connected to the spiritual plane, but they’re not the only ones who have access to it. Birds, especially ravens, are traditionally omens of evil or ill intent. Not because the birds themselves are bad, but because they escort people from the physical to the spiritual… like dragons do. Only ravens shepherd the dead.”
Fordham looked ashy. “And are they doing that for us?”
Kerrigan looked up at the bird gliding in the air with no breeze and guiding them through the plane. “I don’t think so. I believe it’s just taking us where I asked it to go.”
“How do you know all of this?”
She furrowed her brow. “I don’t know, but I just do. I’m not an expert by any means, but I think it’s where I draw my energy for my visions and for that blast I had when we were being tortured by Clare. It’s where Gelryn pulled you when you were in testing.”
Fordham looked startled. “How do you know about that?”
She grinned sheepishly. “I’m nosy. So, I got tested.”
“You got tested?” he asked in exasperation. “Why does that not even surprise me?”
“It wasn’t purposeful. I wanted to know what testing was, but when I stepped inside, Gelryn said he’d been waiting for me.”
“Ominous,” Fordham muttered.
She laughed. “A little bit. But it ended up being fine. He actually left and went to the Holy Mountain to try to find information on my visions.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if he’ll find anything, but he seemed confident.”
“That’s good at least. You need to get those under control.”
“Hey, they’ve helped you!”
“They have,” he admitted. “I just don’t want them to control you.”
She nodded and fell silent. They did control her, and if she didn’t find a way to stop them, then they always would. It was why she’d gone to Gelryn in the first place.
They continued trudging through the plane and watched as they crossed over the South River without ever getting wet. Then, the landscape turned rocky, and suddenly, they were in the mountains. The sun was low on the horizon when they began to trek through the Vert Mountains toward the cave system. The bright and vibrant plane turned darker and darker. If she was right about where they were, then they were traveling across days of land in a matter of hours. It was unfathomable.
“I wish we still had those torches,” Fordham muttered.
Kerrigan gulped. “Me too.”
Then, she heard a dark, rasping noise.
“Do you hear that?” she whispered, shaken by the first sound other than them or their raven in the plane.
“Hear what?”
Kerrigan waited and listened, straining her ears. The noise came again—a low, scratchy groan, as if someone were straining against their bonds or reaching for them in the darkness.
“That,” she whispered again urgently.
Fordham shook his head. “Nothing, Ker.”
She strained again, but couldn’t hear anything. The sound still shivered down her spine, but whatever it was… if it had even been real, was gone.
“I guess you’re right,” she said with a sigh.
The bird cawed then, making Kerrigan jump straight out of her skin. Well, she already had been.
“We’re here,” Kerrigan said.
“Where is here?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, but we must have made it as far as the raven can take us.” She respectfully bowed her head to their guide. “Thank you so much for your assistance.”
Fordham likewise bowed, and then with another caw, they both snapped back into their bodies.<
br />
Kerrigan jolted into reality, feeling the full weight of her existence settle over her again. She felt heavy, like her limbs were made of lead. “Oof!”
Fordham cursed and dropped to one knee. “Well, that’s… something. Where are we?”
She looked around at the dip in the mountain pass. “There!” She pointed to an opening in the rock. “I think that must be the cave.”
“The raven actually took us here,” he said in amazement.
“You should go,” she encouraged. “You want to be one of the first five to make it through.”
Fordham was about to respond when they heard a battle cry behind them. They both whipped around to find Darrid standing on the high ground, holding up an axe. Where he’d gotten it and how he had made it to the cave system at the same time as them was a mystery. His threat was not. With no magic and no weapon, they were defenseless.
“Go!” Kerrigan cried. “He wants to stop you, not me.”
“Kerrigan.”
“Go!” She pushed him backward. “I’ll handle it.”
“I won’t leave you.”
“Don’t be an idiot. You taught me well enough. I’ll be fine.”
He searched her eyes for a lie.
She just laughed and pushed him again. “Get out of here.”
Fordham took off at a run toward the tunnel. Kerrigan turned back to face Darrid. He looked every inch the Herasi warrior as he charged toward her. She scanned the area for a weapon of some kind, but there was nothing to use, except small, pebble-sized rocks. Nothing sharp. Nothing that could go up against a Herasi battle ax.
“Darrid, stop!” she cried, stepping into a defensive position.
He just screamed at the top of his lungs. And at the moment that he brought the axe down to sever her neck, she pivoted out of his way. The axe barely grazed her shoulder. She cried out but had enough strength to slam her hand into his kidney and dash farther away from his weapon. He clutched his side, looking like he might vomit, but he was a soldier after all, and he knew enough not to collapse here.
“Please just stop.”
“I’ll never stop,” he snarled. “He doesn’t deserve to enter the Dragon Society.”
“Well, I think that’s already too late,” she said, edging closer to the mouth of the cave that Fordham had entered.
He yelled out another battle cry, held the axe aloft, and charged for her. Her eyes rounded in horror. There was nowhere to go. Nothing to do. If she stayed where she was, Darrid would kill her in cold blood.
With her last dash of desperation, Kerrigan turned and fled into the mouth of the cave with a raging Herasi warrior on her tail. As soon as she stepped through, something settled over her, holding her in place. Darrid vanished. The world disappeared. And she was dragged into a nightmare.
49
The Nightmare
Kerrigan stood from the floor, but it wasn’t a floor. It was a royal ballroom.
She had been to this place. A Bryonican flag hung from the ceiling in striking navy blue and gold. Her dress matched with the square-cut neckline and full sleeves that were in the current fashion. The bodice was tight and the skirt enormous. She even wore uncomfortable heeled shoes and heavy diamonds in her ears and around her neck. Her hair was piled high on top of her head. Not a loose curl in sight.
The ballroom was full of Bryonican Fae. So many that she couldn’t possibly recognize them all. But every one of them seemed to recognize her. They smiled and curtsied as she stood at the head of the room.
“Introducing Lord Ashby March, First of the House of Medallion.”
Kerrigan startled at the name that she hadn’t heard in twelve long years. Her stomach dropped as she realized what was to come next.
“And his betrothed, Lady Felicity Argon, First of the House of Cruse.”
A cheer rose up from those assembled in the ballroom. Kerrigan thought she was going to be sick. And it only got worse as March stepped up to her side and offered her his arm.
“My lady,” he said demurely, the gesture hiding his cruelty in public.
“March,” she whispered, stunned by his presence.
He had grown exceedingly handsome in the twelve years since she had last seen him. He had been an uncomfortably charming young man with enough baby good looks to get away with anything. But now, he was a man with sweeping broad shoulders and a face that any woman would swoon over. Still, she saw the boy who had learned at an early age to put bruises where no one would see them.
He grinned devilishly. “Shall we?”
“I…”
But he didn’t wait for her response. He’d never cared for a woman’s answer to anything. He tugged her close to his side, and they stepped down into the ballroom.
“Lady Felicity, I love that dress,” one woman said.
“Such the height of fashion,” a second added.
Another fluttered her eyes at March. “Hello, Ashby.”
He grinned at her but continued walking with Kerrigan close at his side. It felt like an interminable distance to reach the end of the room, where her father stood with a golden goblet in his hand. He actually looked the part of a prince and not the elusive party boy he was.
“My beautiful daughter, the day has finally come for you to marry Lord March,” Kivrin said proudly. “I have been waiting for this your entire young life. I know this is what you have always wanted.”
Always wanted? No, no, it wasn’t what she wanted. It had never been what she wanted. Why was everyone looking at her like this was normal? Did no one see her for who she truly was? She wasn’t Lady Felicity any longer. She was Kerrigan. She loved fighting and colorful, sleek party gowns and flying and breaking the rules. She loved getting drunk with Clover and sneaking into fancy parties. She loved adventure and her friends, who weren’t present, and she loved her own life. Not this one that had been made for her. Not this one that they had thrown her out of.
She tried to take a step back, but March tightened his grip on her arm.
“This is what we’ve always wanted too,” March said. His gaze was steely. “Isn’t it, Felicity?”
“No,” she whispered.
A gasp went up through the room. She had never said this before. She had never denied Ashby March anything. But she would never accept this.
His grip turned painful, and she whimpered, “Let me go!”
“Tomorrow, we will be married, Felicity, and all of this weak display of disobedience will be gone,” he hissed, low and urgent.
Kerrigan looked to her father and Sonali and Audria and all the many people she knew from her time in Bryonica. She saw them wait on bated breath for her response. Saw them all judge her for not wanting the most eligible bachelor in all of Bryonica.
But none of them saw her. Not a one. They saw a lady to be wedded off. Not a girl with real feelings and emotions and wants and needs. And she could never live this life. It was the one thing she feared above all others, even more than abandonment—to be trapped forever.
She wrenched her arm free of March’s grip. He snarled at her and tried to grab for her, but she easily evaded him. He had always been sloppy on discipline. Then, she turned, and like a runaway bride, she ran back through the ballroom as fast as her feet could carry her out and away from that life.
Kerrigan came to, gasping for breath. She put her hands on her knees and tried to suck in enough life to leave that horrible nightmare behind. She knew that it was the faerie illusion that she had walked into. That it was designed to warp reality and pull out her deepest, darkest fear. She had just lived it—marrying Ashby March and living a life where no one ever saw her for who she truly was. She had come out on the other side of it, had risen above the adversity, but it had felt so very real.
Her body trembled with exhaustion from the illusion, but she was no longer helpless. Her magic flared bright and bursting within her, and all of her injuries had been healed. She straightened to her full height and found herself before a gaping audience. The cave was large
enough to hold the five dragons—Avirix, Netta, Tieran, Luxor, and Evien—as well as their five Dragon Blessed handlers. Standing before them were the four competitors who had made it this far. Audria stood with wide eyes, farther from her. Roake looked shocked at her side. Noda crouched in a corner, a green tint to her visage. And then, finally, Fordham stood on the other side, pale and shaken.
“Kerrigan?” he asked in shock.
“What is she doing here?” Roake asked indignantly.
Kerrigan shook her head. “I shouldn’t be here. Darrid is going to be coming in right behind me. He was chasing me with a battle axe.”
“The room is sealed,” a small but powerful voice said from beside Tieran.
Kerrigan gulped and found Tara, a pale-skinned Dragon Blessed three years younger than her. “What?”
“What do you mean, sealed?” Audria piped up.
“Yeah, we’re missing one more competitor,” Roake spat. “Darrid will be here in a moment.”
“No,” Tara said evenly, pushing her dark ponytail over her shoulder. “The room has selected the five competitors who will become dragon riders this tournament.”
Kerrigan gaped. “That’s not possible.”
“She is not a competitor,” Roake yelled.
“I mean, I hate to say it, but he’s right,” Audria said. “She wasn’t part of any of this. How could she even be accepted?”
“This room is imbued with powerful magic. Only a competitor could have passed the fear test and entered,” Tara said with a small smile for Kerrigan. “Whether or not she was an official competitor matters not. If she has been tested for her magical ability and passed the fear test, then she is a competitor, and the room has accepted her as a victor.”
“Well, she couldn’t have gone through testing,” Roake continued.
Fordham glanced at Kerrigan. “But you did. You just told me you did.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I did. I didn’t… mean for any of this to happen, but, yes, I was tested by Gelryn. He said I was passed through. I just… I didn’t think it meant this.”