Chapter Six #2
“Because we might not have been at the Keep yet,” Katana realized. “We might have been outside the Realm to begin with.”
“And beyond the protection of its dome?” Frey said, as alarmed by that as I was, because it would have left Katana and me especially vulnerable to Skarde’s darkness.
“Why would the Yggdrasil take us outside the Realm?” Katana wondered. “I was under the impression the tree at the Maine chalet was supposed to protect time travelers in tandem with the big Yggdrasil in the Realm?”
“I couldn’t say,” I replied, feeling more uneasy than ever. “Other than I suspect my darker half knows.”
“Then either you need to tap into what he knows,” Katana said. “Or...”
She didn’t need to finish her sentence. I knew what she was going to say.
“I will never willingly embrace him,” I said adamantly, unsure how to feel that she had even suggested it.
“He’s far too dangerous. His sense of entitlement knows no bounds and his overconfidence will not only be his ruin but that of everyone I care about.
” I shook my head. “If it were just about him being right and able to defeat Skarde, that would be one thing, but ‘tis not.
‘Tis just his superior belief in himself and his capabilities, which I can tell you firsthand are fictitious.”
“I cannot help but agree with my brother,” Frey echoed, even though she typically defended my darker half as readily as she defended this side of me, whether she realized I knew it or not.
“Torsten’s darker side has an inflated sense of self that’s dangerous, and he should not be encouraged to surface unless we know with certainty we can repress him as quickly as we allowed him out. ”
“Perhaps I can,” Katana theorized, gesturing toward the rocky throne. “I just did, and it happened quickly. All I did was tap into a memory or dream I shared with his counterpart.”
“Which would be fine if you knew with certainty it would work again,” Taro pointed out, thinking clearly, to be sure.
“Having met Torsten’s alternate personality, I can safely say it’s a bad idea.
He’s more dangerous, and I would guess unpredictable, than most. While I'm confident that he’d never harm you, I don’t think he’d hesitate to do whatever he saw fit if it meant accomplishing his goals.
I’m sure I don’t have to spell it out for you to understand what I’m getting at. ”
“You do not,” I agreed, shooting him a thankful look for standing with my sister and me on this, because I didn’t need to know Taro long to realize his opinion meant a great deal to Katana.
“While my darker side would not see harm come to our mate, he would think nothing of imprisoning her or doing whatever he felt necessary to keep her at bay if she didn’t agree with him. ”
“Then we need to figure out a way to tap into what he knows without letting him surface.” Katana glanced at our surroundings. “Because we need to know where to go next if we hope to stay one step ahead of Skarde and somehow lead him in the opposite direction if this really is the Keep.”
It was a tall order all around, but she was right. She was also growing tired, whether she would admit it or not, a side effect of not just time traveling but location-hopping.
“We do,” I said, agreeing with her about staying ahead of Skarde until we figured things out. Strangely enough, I had a sudden, uneasy feeling that I knew just how to do that, too.
“Because he’s determined to protect me until he returns,” Katana said softly, seeming to sense something even I did not. She looked at me and flinched. “Your darker half will lead us somewhere we can rest because that’s what you feel I need, right?”
“’Tis,” I replied, trying to hide my frustration that he was still getting through to her somehow. “And you need nourishment.”
However much I distrusted my darker side in general, I knew he wouldn’t deceive me about this. I was certain of it in a way I never had been before.
When Katana shook her head and swore she was okay, Taro agreed with me again. “No, you’re not, Kat, and I can feel it. If there’s a chance for you to rest somewhere safe, then you should. We should, so not just our human sides but our dragons are at their best, given all that might lie ahead.”
Where some might think he only referred to the obvious, I realized, as his and Frey’s eyes briefly met, that they had been speaking telepathically without us knowing.
That meant she had likely shared what he could expect when we ended up at the Keep, as it typically appeared, and the vast array of more aggressive dragons that made up the Realm.
Katana considered what Taro said before nodding in agreement and looking at me. “So where are we going?”
“This way.” I headed toward the back of the cave and the shadows within. “While I feel strongly we can trust this route, I still suggest everyone keep their blades at the ready, lest there’s some trickery at work.”
Heeding my warning, everybody did just that, keeping their blades in hand when they followed me into the darkness, before allowing their dragon sight to take over.
“This is unbelievable,” Katana said softly, marveling at how everything looked as I led us down a tunnel we had been unable to see before. The rock seemed illuminated in a vast array of starlight, making it easy to see where we were going. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cave that looks like this.”
“They all look this way to dragons within the Realm,” Frey said, sounding both relieved and alarmed at confirmation that we were at least within the Realm, lending more credence to being in the Keep as well.
“And do all have stairs like this?” Katana wondered as the upward-sloping pathway took on the defined form of stairs ahead.
“No,” I replied, recognizing the faint outline of a familiar stairwell from the Keep, even though it wasn’t as smoothly strewn as the real one.
Rather, it felt rougher and jagged in its own way, much like the War Chamber cave had.
“These again speak to my darker side being right and that we are, in fact, within the Keep.”
“Ja,” Frey agreed, sounding certain yet perplexed. “Yet which stairway is this, I wonder?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” I replied, not lying.
While they were familiar, I couldn't quite place them either, suspecting perhaps my darker side did, which typically would have made me cautious about moving forward. Yet somehow, at least for now, I knew he wasn’t going to take advantage of what might very well be a dream he and Katana had shared.
Such an odd, not to mention jealousy-provoking, thing to think they shared dreams unbeknownst to me. That he had established some type of relationship across time with her, as well.
Refusing to overthink it right now, since it was a conversation best left for later, I kept my blade at the ready and started up the stairs alongside Katana, with the other two behind us, only for torchlight to spring to life on either side of us.
“’Tis very much the Keep, however roughly strewn,” I exclaimed. “And a stairwell I traveled many times in my youth, as I’m sure you did, too, Frey, ja?”
When my sister didn’t answer, I glanced over my shoulder, alarmed by what I saw. Or, better put, what I did not see.