Chapter 27
27
MEV
It was completely different, riding with Lyra. For starters, hers was not a warhorse capable of carrying both our weight as easily, so the pace was slower. I also couldn’t rest my head on her back, or wrap my arms around her in the same way. It felt like I would fall at any moment. Somehow, though, I’d managed to stay astride all day.
We only stopped once, for me, but immediately got back onto the road. As we continued uphill, the steepest section of the day, Lyra let go of the reins and extended her right hand. She swirled it backward and forward a few times. I suspected she was manipulating the wind, so I wasn’t surprised when it picked up from behind us. With the wind at our backs, we climbed and climbed.
Had I really descended these mountains with Kael such a short time ago?
“How did you do that, exactly?”
“It’s no different than the way you put out the fire. We will practice more when we’re not being chased.”
“Who do you think it is?” I asked. The question had been on my mind all day, but part of me was afraid to know.
“It could be anyone. Another Council member. Or any number of Gyorians, having learned about your presence. Or even humans who, like Rowan, are invested in reopening the Gate.”
I’d read The Most Dangerous Game in high school but never thought I’d be acting it out. Being hunted by humans was one thing, but immortal beings with powerful magic? It was a whole new level.
“The trees are thinning out,” I said, looking up.
“We are getting closer. If we do not stop again, it’s possible we can reach Aethralis by nightfall, even at this pace.”
Attempting to keep my mind from worry over Kael, I remembered Salvia and her artifacts.
“Can you tell me about the Wind Crystal?” I asked, adjusting myself and vowing, if I could not immediately go back home, to make learning to ride a horse my main priority.
Go back home.
The thought of it made my stomach turn. I would take things day by day. First, I had to get safely to my father.
“Certainly. It is said to have been created by the first king of Elydor.”
“Elydor? Not Aetheria?”
“Before there was an Aetheria. Although it’s just a story, so no one knows for certain. But it has remained in the hands of the kings and queens of Aetheria since, with the exception of the time it was stolen.”
“Stolen? By whom?”
Her shoulders tightened.
Oh. “Kael’s dad?”
“Precisely. Which is why some believe it was needed to close the Gate. Either way, stealing one of our most precious relics was as horrific, to some, as closing the Gate. It nearly began an all-out war between us and Gyoria.”
“What does it do?”
“Like other powerful relics, it enhances the user’s manipulation of magic. True flight, and not simply gliding through air currents, becomes possible. Storms like the ones Thalassari can call up become easier to summon. It’s said the Wind Crystal was used in the Great Storm of Arathia, where fleets were scattered across the seas and an entire Gyoria village was flooded.”
“No wonder they don’t like us.”
“Long before your mother was taken, Aetheria and Gyoria were enemies. Our way of life—embracing change, just as air shifts and makes things possible—is unthinkable to them.”
“Salvia said she sensed a disturbance in the Wind Crystal? What did that mean?”
“Some, like Salvia, are so attuned to its power that they can read it, much like a human reads an orb. It’s not the same, of course, because she’s using air currents and humans’ abilities come from within, but it’s the best way I can describe it. Very few have that power, though.”
I hadn’t heard anything beyond “orb.” At that word, a sense of… foreboding? No. Awareness? Something washed over me, like the time I’d met Lord Draven. But this wasn’t as defined and made even less sense than meeting Isolde’s general had. I pushed the thought aside and got back to the Wind Crystal.
“Can anyone use it?”
“No. Most could not harness its power and would disrupt the natural air currents and wreak havoc on weather systems, causing a great imbalance. It is kept locked away in the king’s palace with layers of protection around it. Very few are able to wield such a relic properly.”
My father could, though.
I hadn’t noticed Lyra slowing until we came to a complete stop. I looked behind us.
“Is someone coming?”
“I don’t believe so. But we are close enough now that I should be able to whisper all the way to Aethralis. I must listen carefully, though.”
In other words, be quiet. Lyra had such a diplomacy and gentleness about her. She was like one of those women who could insult a man without him even realizing he was being insulted.
I tried to see through the trees, but they were still too dense. This didn’t seem to be the same path we’d taken south, but I hadn’t exactly been in a state of mind to remember at the time. As Lyra remained still, I breathed in the air, realizing something. That buzz of energy I’d felt was gone. It was replaced by a sort of… peace in my surroundings. Maybe getting used to being here, or something of the sort?
As quickly as we stopped, Lyra spurred us forward. “Hold on,” came a bit late but I did as instructed. We were riding faster than we had all day.
“I was able to reach a friend in the capital. Apparently, all know of your arrival now and rumor is that you were in Estmere but are now coming north.”
“How do they know that?”
“Between whispers and humans’ abilities, word travels swiftly in Elydor, especially in the north and east.”
It was the last we spoke, Lyra concentrating on navigating us up the steep path, and me attempting to hang on. Eventually, as the trees began to thin even more, Lyra took a path that opened wider than any we’d taken since leaving Zephros. I sat up straighter, looking into the distance.
“Is that?—”
“Aethralis. We’re almost there.”
It was difficult not to be excited by the prospect, despite the fact that Kael hadn’t caught up with us. I tried not to let my mind go down the rabbit hole of wondering what was happening. He would be fine. He had to be fine.
I’d seen Aethralis in the distance with Kael not knowing what I was looking at. Now, as we got closer, I knew so much more. This was the capital of Aetheria. The place where my mother had lived with me inside her.
My father’s home.
Built into the mountains, some buildings were on floating plateaus connected by bridges of what looked like white stone. Spires and towers stretched upwards, as if they were trying to touch the sky.
“The buildings almost look as if they’re shimmering.”
Lyra looked behind us, as she did often. I did as well.
Nothing.
“They’re crafted from a blend of lightweight stone and crystalline materials. At this time of day, when the sun sets, they are the most spectacular. Though some argue their soft glow in the moonlight is even more so.”
As we got closer, I could see open terraces, large windows, and so many balconies. Courtyards and gardens filled with wind-swept trees and streams that spilled water to plateaus below them. It was as if the entire city hovered above the mountainous landscape, defying gravity.
In short, it was the most beautiful place I’d ever seen.
It settled into my chest almost as if… I was home. Without warning, the insides of my cheeks stung and tears sprang to my eyes. No doubt I’d have broken into tears, but they were staved off by riders approaching us. Six of them, all dressed in a similar fashion as Lyra. Shades of whites and blues and silvers were everywhere, but these were obviously warriors by their dress.
That was when I saw him.
As they rode closer, one man stood out easily from the rest. He was in front, his hair white and his beard neatly trimmed, and sitting taller than the rest. In human years, he might have been in his late forties. It wasn’t that I looked like him—or maybe I did a little—but that the man’s gaze told me this was my father.
“That’s him, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
I’d thought about this moment so many times, but the reality of it was so unlike the fantasy. Instead of running into his arms, I felt like I was about to stand up in front of a crowd and give a speech. Actually, I think facing a crowd might have been easier than this. What if he didn’t believe I was his daughter? What if he wanted nothing to do with me? What if he was mean and awful?
I remembered the first thing Lyra had said about him.
He will be very glad to see you, Mev. Your father has been searching for a way to reopen the Gate since the moment your mother left.
Looked like I would find out if her words were true sooner rather than later.