Chapter 33
The thick air pushed against Imani like sludge when she ducked into the tunnel, as if telling her she was uninvited. Inside, the roaring sound was deafening, but she still resisted covering her ears, following Kiran’s instructions explicitly. After all, the binding was compelling her to.
In fact, the pull to follow Kiran was fierce, like she was tied with a rope to him. Her soul seemed to seek him in this otherworldly space.
The slip was small, no bigger than a cubby hole you’d crawl through. Kiran had to crouch down slightly, his body too tall and broad for him to stand. Within three to four steps, they were across the pathway in the slip.
Magic buzzed and ran along her nerves, hitting her with painful zaps. She was sure it was leaving welts behind.
It wanted to be free and, like the rest of the magic in the world, was fighting for control over it.
Letting go of her hand, and with feline ease, Kiran leaped over the boundary of the slip.
Palms sweating, Imani lifted her skirts and steeled her gaze on him, wiping all fear from her face. Then she followed, jumping lightly over the edge. More zaps hit her skin and made tingles rush through her nerves, but she landed sure-footed in snow.
A cold wind whipped through her cloak, and she realized the need for the warm clothes—they were standing at the foot of a mountain, presumably a dwarves’ mountain, overlooking a quaint town wherein lights flickered in the approaching dawn.
Esa was there, already moving Imani forward, pushing her toward a lightly worn path through the edge of a tree line.
Pulling a timepiece from his pocket, Kiran studied it for a moment.
“Where are we going?” Imani shivered.
Kiran ignored her. “It’s close to dawn; he’ll be returning soon. Let’s head to the meeting spot.”
Bristling at being ignored, Imani buried herself deeper into her cloak and followed them down the path. After all, she had no choice.
The four walked about ten minutes until they came to a clearing in the woods. Imani felt a bit sick at the unknown dangers that awaited them. After all, she’d never done this before, but it seemed everyone else had. She rubbed her churning belly and willed it to be calm.
A small, crumbling temple lay at the center of the clearing, and while Esa, Zadie, and Kiran conversed about things she didn’t understand, Imani wandered over and ran her hands over the smooth marble. It appeared to be a temple dedicated to the Fabric, something not often seen.
Footsteps crunched in the snow behind her. She smelled him before she saw him—pine and something else that was simply just him. Kiran cleared his throat.
“We’re waiting for someone—something,” he explained, his voice flat.
“When he arrives, I want you to keep your wits about you. You’re not one to lean into hysterics or your fears, but this …
this will surprise you. Stay quiet, and do as I say.
Understood?” Kiran was cold and detached again, his excitement at whatever they were embarking on subdued.
She clenched her fists. All she could do was nod. Her in hysterics? Please.
Still, confusing feelings lingered in her gut. Who—or what—was coming here?
They sat in silence for several moments.
Imani tried not to think about whether her death was imminent.
She held onto some hope that Kiran had been right that he simply needed her to accompany him, and then he’d let her leave, but what was Esa doing here?
She had a sickening hunch where they might be going with the pixie accompanying them.
A whoosh of wind sounded above and forced everyone’s eyes to the sky. Shadows—not her own—blocked out the moon for a moment, and then more air whipped around them as the sound of flapping grew louder, closer.
Imani’s eyes pinged in every direction across the sky. “What was that?” she yelled, eyes shifting to find the source. Her heart hammered in her chest.
“A powerful creature,” Esa whispered so low Imani almost didn’t hear her.
Kiran’s eyes were wide as he stared up. One more boom sounded, and everyone began stepping farther away from the clearing in the tree, waiting for the creature.
What beast is this coming for us? Imani thought frantically, holding her wand tight in her hand.
Kiran, with his chin tipped to the sky, cupped his hands and said something she couldn’t hear.
Darkness covered the sky above them as a huge creature dropped low from overhead. Imani’s eyes widened, and she crouched down in fear. It beat its massive wings for a few seconds before narrowing them forward and landing with a thud onto the ground.
The creature must have been the size of a house. It had two huge wings and one long, reptilian neck that moved around at their group with intelligence. Its barbed tail thumped softly against the ground as it let out a shuddering breath.
Imani had never seen such an animal in her life. She slowly crept to Kiran’s side. “What …? What is this monster?”
The prince shot her a fierce glare, as if she’d said something offensive, before stepping carefully forward, his arm outstretched. Imani watched in amazement as the creature dipped his neck down and let Kiran run his hand over its scales. It shut its eyes in relaxation and purred.
Her mouth gaped, and Zadie stepped closer to her. “It’s a natural wyvern. One of the very few that still live in the wild. They’re part of the serpentes group of animals, composed mostly now of simple snakes and basilisks, but a few of these wild wyvern remain.”
“Mostly? So there used to be more of these animals?”
“There was one other creature, very similar to a wyvern. But instead of two legs, it had four.” Zadie paused.
“And it breathed nightfire, a blue and orange flame that burned its prey sometimes from up to a half a mile away. We called them dragons. You can imagine the destruction beheld when such creatures roamed the Mesial realm. They died out thousands of years ago, though, when the doorways were sealed, and no shifter like one has ever been seen since.”
Kiran’s attention was still on the wyvern. He’d brought out his wand and seemed to be casting protective charms and spells over the animal. This was something special to him.
Suspicion creased her brow. “Zadie.” Imani turned to the nymph witch. “I saw Kiran speaking to a snake one day in his carriage … and now I see him befriending a massive snakelike beast … Is this what Kiran can turn into?” She almost whispered the last part.
Pursing her lips, Zadie didn’t answer right away.
“I don’t know what his shifter animal is …
no one does. With his affinity for animals, and serpentes in particular, I have my guesses.
Likely, a snake or a basilisk. But this”—Zadie pointed to the massive beast—“is what his father can turn into. The most powerful creature of the serpentes shifter breed.”
Kiran spent a few more moments with the beast before returning to speak with them. “The wyvern will fly us to the passage tonight.”
Imani’s hands shook as she regarded him with shock. “Fly?”
“Scared?” Kiran said with a hiss. “Too bad. You have no choices today.”
Scowling, Imani resisted the urge to hit him. “What type of passage?”
“One that’s much more dangerous than the slip we just passed through.
” He glanced up at the sky, clearly sensing the Fabric through the thick cloud cover.
Those dark eyes went far away, as if lost in the past. “The conditions are right tonight, just as I knew they would be. It’s the sign, and with that, he will be waiting for us on the other side. ”
The cryptic words irritated her. “Where in the kingdom will it take us? Who are we meeting?”
Kiran ignored her and waved them forward to the beast. “Come.”
The wyvern stared and sniffed in her direction; his nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. His solid golden eyes narrowed, and his own malicious smile curved his lips—a predator watching prey.
Imani stared back, biting back her fear. She wouldn’t give any of them the satisfaction.
Without preamble, Kiran carefully lifted Imani onto the giant beast’s back. She squeaked in surprise. With gritted teeth, however, she crawled up his tough scales and hoisted her leg over the side.
The prince quickly followed. Then, with a sharp jerk, he pulled her back, an arm wrapped around her waist, dragging her into his chest. For a moment, Imani thought she felt him nuzzle his nose in her hair, but it was too windy to tell. Zadie and Esa held up the rear.
Imani tried to get control of her limbs. They were slightly shaking again.
The beast dropped down to a crouch then pressed itself into the air.
The ground grew distant as the wyvern took to the skies.
Her stomach dropped, and Imani thought she might be sick.
Kiran laughed in her ear, a cruel, malicious sound, and clamped a hand onto her mouth to stifle her scream.
Black wings of shadows began snaking around her, and she tried to push out of Kiran’s hold.
But the beast was already hauling them into the sky, and Kiran’s arm tightened around her.
White-knuckling the scales, the rough wyvern skin cut into her own. It made her bleed, but she didn’t care as she clung to the wyvern’s neck for life.
She imagined herself with the Drasil in her hands, free from these suffocating bindings, all of which continued to build up day after day.
Imani clenched her fist and gritted her teeth against the biting wind as her desperation for the Drasil grew. Soon. So soon, she’d be free.
Or she’d be dead. It wasn’t in her nature to acquiesce, and she couldn’t amass this many binding ramifications then adhere to them forever without dire consequences.