by Kym Dillon
Retreating a step, Daya glanced at Neigen, but he was still kissing the temple floor. No help at all. If she was dreaming, she was ready to wake up now. None of this could be real.
“And, you are Oedaya of the Blue Sky Realm,” Feis whispered.
“Just Daya Krane, thank you. N-no one calls me Oedaya but my grandfather,” she stammered. “I’m-I’m sorry, how do you know me?”
“Oh, don’t be frightened. You’ll have to excuse my appearance. I haven’t eaten,” the woman said casually, waving in the general direction of her face and...teeth.
Daya gulped. “Yeah, being hangry does that to me, too.”
“You’re not what I expected, but what a pleasure,” Feis purred. “I’ve searched the four realms for someone with your unique capabilities. A woman, born with the Moon trine Neptune, with a predilection for taking things that do not belong to her.”
“Excuse me?” Daya tremulously straightened her shoulders. “I mean, with all due respect, I think you have the wrong girl. Moon trying Neptune doesn’t sound anything like me. I guess, you know, for this place, it’s a common mistake. You can just, uh, let me go home now. No harm, no foul.”
Feis closed the distance between them, and Daya’s nose twitched. The woman exuded a musky aroma. Like the dregs of rose water scorching in a kettle. She coiled a lock of Daya’s hair around her forefinger. “I never make mistakes, Oedaya.” She tugged until it hurt. Badly. Then, she let the dark curl go and patted Daya’s shoulder. “I know you’re a thief and that no one matches your ability to procure things.”
“Maybe in the past, but, um, I’m reformed. Born again. Baptized in holy water.” Daya released a nervous, high-pitched giggle. She clapped a hand over her mouth as Feis smirked and moved away. “I’m sorry. I get goofy when I’m scared.”
“What you people do with religion is sinful. But, you know—holy water—that can be arranged.” She snapped her fingers, and a book materialized in the air. “I brought you here to retrieve something for me, and you can’t leave until I have it in my hands.”
Neigen gasped when the book flipped open. “The Heart of the Dragon Lord.”
“A red diamond!” Daya exclaimed at the same time. “That’s one of the rarest gems on the planet! I’ve never even seen one in person.” The thief in her tingled with anticipation, drawing her to the illustration with wanton greed. She thought of every jewel she had ever stolen. This was her unicorn.
Feis tilted her head. “It’s nearby. In a mountainous keep none from my realm can enter.”
“That sounds pretty sketchy,” Daya admitted.
Neigen laboriously straightened his posture and fixed Daya with a stare that reminded her of the stern nuns from her Catholic school days. “It is sketchy. You live in a world where magic is an illusion,” he said solemnly. “This is not that world.”
“Oh, don’t chaperone her, Neigen. She’s an adult.” Feis circled her, but Daya couldn’t take her eyes off the scarlet diamond. She mentally calculated how much the jewel would be worth to the obviously rich and powerful high priestess—assuming she believed this whole other realm business. Enough to retire?
“A powerful spell prevents me from doing this for myself,” the woman continued, “but I can tell you how to get in and, most importantly, out with the Heart of the Dragon. No police. No cameras. No silly catsuits.”
Daya’s gaze narrowed shrewdly. “I like a challenge, but I’ll need more than my walking papers when this is done. I want hazard pay. You know, the kind of money that’ll keep me set for life.”
“You can’t be so naïve. Oedaya, she’s trying to—Ack!” Neigen choked. Feis spread her fingers, and the priest doubled over in pain. His anguished outcry pierced the pious silence. Daya instinctively threw her body in front of him. She didn’t bother questioning reality.
“Don’t hurt him!” she yelled.
Feis dropped her hand and said sweetly, “You needlessly torment her, Neigen. She doesn’t want to see you like this.”
Daya glanced over her shoulder. He was clutching his chest, recovering. Tendrils of steam wafted from his clothes. An incendiary odor filled the temple. She hated to think what it signified. His skin was a bright pink and glistened with sweat.
She shook her head in horror when she looked back at the high priestess. What in the world was going on? This was a place where power meant actual power. She felt it crackling in the air around her. Feis weakly slumped against the altar. Whatever foul magic she had used had drained her, but Daya still backed away from her.
“Be careful,” Neigen panted.
“Yes, be careful, Oedaya. I give you options, but choose wisely. Behind door number one, you get me the jewel, and I give you what you want. Not just wealth, but unending wealth. I can make your life so much easier,” Feis seductively promised. The words wrapped around Daya enticingly, but she couldn’t get the thought of Neigen’s torture out of her head.
Feis seemed to realize it. She hardened her voice: “Door number two, you don’t get the jewel, and you die a swift death. What about door number three? You die slow,” she said apathetically.
“I told you I’d get it for you!”
“Of course, you have to get past what guards it.”
“Fantastic.” Given what Daya had seen thus far, she guessed whatever guarded the treasure would likely be better equipped to hurt her than she would ever be to hurt it. But, there was no backing out now. “I need time to devise a plan,” she hedged.
“I’ll give you one night, and you’ll have the book for reference. Take her to her chamber.”
“But, that’s not enough time!”
“She’s being generous,” Neigen advised.
He staggered from the room of worship with bony fingers clamped around Daya’s elbow. Her heart thundered in her chest as they raced a flight of stairs that wound through the sprawling temple, past dark rooms and quiet rustling. The movie had turned from fantasy to sinister. Only, this wasn’t a movie or a dream.
“There’s no way I can plan a heist in one night. Is she crazy?”
“Perhaps you should’ve asked that question before you promised to get her a stone that will give her all-power,” her guide sputtered.
Daya inhaled sharply and halted in her tracks. “Well, gee, Neigen! You could’ve told me I was signing up to play fetch for a mad sorceress. I would’ve taken my chances surviving Marco’s courtyard,” she snapped.
He glared at her as he flung open the door to an oversized bedchamber. Her jaw dropped at the sight of a massive bed and deep-basined tub, a warm fire crackling in the hearth, and food on a table. She breathed in the heavenly smell of candied fruit and roasted meat and forgot why they were arguing.
Daya ran to the cloche-covered dinner tray. “OMG, is this real?” she gushed. Stuffing sugar-glazed pear slices into her mouth with greedy relish, she extended a plate to Neigen, but he shook his head.
“I was ordered to bring you here, and so I have,” he said stiffly, peering over his shoulder.
“Fine, then. More for me.”
He smirked and slipped into the room, shutting the door. “I had to make sure we weren’t followed,” he hissed. “Listen, there were things I didn’t know that I didn’t know, but we haven’t time for regrets. She’s sending you on a suicide mission! I can’t let you go without a fighting chance. After all, you bravely put yourself between me and certain death back there.”
The pear lodged in her throat uncomfortably. “What’s guarding the diamond, Neigen?”
“That’s the least of your worries now that you’ve agreed to retrieve it. This world—It will change one, and not always for the best. So, you must stay focused and work swiftly. Bear in mind, for every day you’re here, months are passing in your time. The realms aren’t entirely in sync.”
“Wait, what?!”
“Yes, and knowing Feis, you’re not the only one. You’re racing not only against the clock but against whoever else she sends as a backup plan. I’m sure you realize there�
��s no second place in this game.” He backed toward the door. “I will try to lend assistance however I can. But, once you get to the keep, you’re on your own. You should look out for anyone who seems out of the norm.”
“For me, that’s everyone here!” she wailed, pacing away. “Do you know when she’s sending in the competition? Where the diamond might be? I mean, a ‘keep’ is a very nonspecific noun. And, what’s guarding the thing?” Daya turned to an empty room.
The tall double doors whispered shut, and she groaned helplessly. Then, the floating book from the temple materialized. With a surprised yelp, Daya rushed to grab it. She flipped open the cover, and the pages turned on their own. Squiggly runes shifted and changed shape, transforming before her very eyes into an alphabet she understood. She deciphered the first line above the illustration of the red diamond.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Daya slapped the book shut.
The first line read, “There be dragons.”
I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek.
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