CHAPTER FORTY-ONE（Untitled）Wranth

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Wranth

Shadow leads us through the shadow-road door to Alarria, both of us touching him for the length of the short tunnel. In the teleportation-stone clearing, the way to Ketalia remains open, a shadowy shimmer floating in the air above where the entwined crystal rests on the ground.

Shadow and Zephyr shift into their elfin forms. No, there are no more elves—they are called fae now—I must get used to it.

Lukendrevener becomes his dual form—a tall fae with bronze skin and long auburn hair, out of which spiral two horns. Claws emerge from his fingers and toes, and his back sprouts a set of red wings. Yet what’s most surprising is—

“Fuck me! Do you have two dicks?” Naomi gapes up at where he stands on top of the teleportation stone, naked.

By the goddess, I want to punch the smirk from his face.

Lukendrevener leaps to the ground, his wings snapping out and turning his fall into a graceful glide. He’s as tall as an orc and as heavily muscled.

“Shift all the way to fae,” I growl. At least then he’ll only have the one cock.

The dragon loses his smile, his eyes going flinty. “I can’t.”

“It’s easy.” Shadow shifts, changing from an elf into a seven-foot tall upright beast covered in smoky fur, his face an even blend of fae and cat.

“Werepanther,” Naomi breathes. “That is so cool.”

“Humph.” Zephyr shakes her head and shifts back to her regular unicorn shape. “Much better.”

“Now you,” I say to Lukendrevener.

“I can’t shift all the way to fae form.” He scowls, his voice rough as if it’s hard to force the words out. “I’ve never been able to.”

I stomp over to my pack, dig out a spare pair of pants, and throw them at the dragon.

As he pulls them on, Aldronn says, “I think Umbria should be next.”

Zephyr gives an approving neigh.

My moon bound bride collects another of the paired crystals and tucks it between her lush breasts. Then she steps up to the standing stone with Zephyr beside her.

Her last crossing went quickly due to the feline fae’s shadow road, but the door to Umbria offers no such shortcut. Naomi’s body trembles with the strain of effort, her magic pouring from her in strong pulses that raise the hair on my arms.

A possessive need to protect wells within me, and my teeth grind together as I fight not to call off the entire endeavor.

A deep whomp echoes through the clearing as Naomi and Zephyr disappear.

A growl rumbles in my chest, my hands balling. It will be but a moment before the tether takes me to her, but it always feels like an eternity, with her facing the unknown dangers of a thousand realms alone. I brace as a giant hand hurls me across worlds. All of my practice of previous days serves me well as I land on the unevenness of thick grass with nary a stumble.

My bride and friend stand before me, but now it’s Zephyr who trembles, her large body vibrating with suppressed energy.

I survey our surroundings, looking for any threats. A strong breeze blows across an ocean of grass, rippling the surface like water and carrying the sweet scent of green plant life. A lone tree stands on a slight hill in the distance, but otherwise, we appear to be alone. When I close my eyes and send my tracking magic spiraling outward, it finds only small creatures hidden in the grass.

I open my eyes to find Naomi watching me. She tips her head toward Zephyr and gestures for me to go to the unicorn.

“Zephyr.” I step up to my friend and rest a hand on her withers. The skin twitches, then settles. “Are you well?”

“As well as can be expected.” Her tone’s as grumpy as ever.

I exchange a puzzled look with Naomi, who gives a small shrug, and say, “What troubles you? Does this realm feel wrong? Is something amiss?”

“No!” She stomps her hoof. “Umbria feels perfect! That’s exactly the problem.” She gestures with her horn. “These meadows should have been the meadows of my birth. I love Alarria, I really do, but this…” She pauses to lip at a mouthful of grass, biting the tender tops from several stalks. Then she moans, “Even the grass tastes sweeter.”

“I’m sorry, old friend. I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Yeah, this place doesn’t have the dark feel of Avalon,” Naomi says. “If we think the Moon Goddess took everyone to Alarria to protect them, why did she take the cat sith and unicorns? It doesn’t seem like they were in any danger in their own realms.”

“Humph.” Zephyr tosses her head. “You forget our goddess is a capricious goddess. Who says her actions were to help us? I bet they were in service to her.”

“It could be both,” Naomi says, shooting a hopeful glance at me.

I have no comforting words to offer her. Avalon is clearly dangerous, yet the goddess did not see fit to rescue my ancestors from there. If she had, my parents would never have died and I would never have been orphaned. No, I agree with Zephyr on this—the goddess plays her own games.

The unicorn snorts and tears up another mouthful of grass, chewing with quick, angry movements.

“Where should we leave the crystal?” I ask.

“There.” Zephyr points with her horn toward the lone tree. “It’s an ash. It’s probably one of the original doors of Faerie.”

We walk to the tree, and small birds cheep and flutter out of our way as we go. Once there, Zephyr rips up grass to create a bare spot and uses her hoof to dig a deep hole.

Naomi extracts the crystal from her bosom and drops it into the hole, which I fill in.

“Let’s see if this works like it’s supposed to.” Zephyr lowers her head to lead with her horn and walks toward the tree, passing into it.

“The door!” Naomi claps her hands and beams at me. “It really works!”

“You did it.” Pride swells in my chest, clogging my throat. My bride is amazing and powerful and beautiful.

She’s still smiling as she steps through, and I follow on her heels instead of being yanked back to Alarria by the tether. It’s an easy transition, like stepping over a high threshold from one room to another when you’re a little drunk—a tipsy, disorienting feeling until you plant your foot solidly on the other side. It makes me realize how much we lost when the doors of Faerie closed. Why did it happen? I shake my head. If the dragons don’t know, no one does, but the not knowing is certainly annoying.

“That was amazing!” Naomi’s joy suffuses her entire being. “Is that what it’s always like to go through one of the doors in the regular way?”

“I assume so.” The corner of my mouth twitches, her delight sparking mine. For all that I dread losing her, I cannot regret a moment of her happiness at her accomplishments.

“As if we’d know,” Zephyr says. “They’ve been closed for three-hundred years, remember?”

“Speak for yourself, unicorn,” Lukendrevener says. “Dragons, being superior, are the longest lived of the fae.”

“Not superior enough to find your dual form,” she snaps back.

Smoke curls out of his nostrils as his eyes narrow and his wings spread wide.

“All right, enough.” My bride stands, hands on hips, her chin lifted in a no-nonsense pose. “We’re allies. Let’s act like it.”

Pride fills me. Underneath her sunny nature lies a strength of spirit and keen intellect that rivals any I’ve known. What a queen she could be!

“Now, we’ll go to the dragon world next.” She plucks up another of the paired crystals, leaving its match on a clear spot of ground as she marches over to the standing stone.

My cousin shoots me an approving glance, tipping his head toward my bride. I smile back. Yes, she is indeed a wonder.

And for now, she’s mine.

Yet for all her strength, it takes her even longer to open the way to Dularia. Her body shakes so hard her teeth chatter, her breath coming in great gasps. The knuckles of the hand holding onto Lukendrevener’s arm go pale as her fingers dig in.

Anger and worry whirl inside me. I want to leap forward, yank her away from the standing stone, and stop all of this now. But she would not want that. My tusks dig into my upper lip as I snarl. It’s all I can do not to growl.

I’m sweating as much as she is by the time my moon bound disappears with a loud ripping sound, taking the dragon with her.

The tether yanks me forward in a dizzying rush, and I land on slate-gray rock. Cool wind whips my hair into my face, and I shove it out of the way. We stand on a wide ledge on the side of a mountain, the drop off sheer and high.

Naomi stands near the edge, and my protective instincts make me leap forward, my hands curling around her upper arms. She glances back over her shoulder at me, smiling, eyes wide with delight. “It’s so beautiful.”

I grunt and take in the view, which I ignored until now—nothing is as important as her and her safety.

Mountains surround us, thrusting sharp rocky peaks into a rich-blue sky. Trees soften their lower slopes, the dark green of pines broken here and there by the brighter green of mountain meadows. A curving river cuts through the valley below, glinting like a silver ribbon in the sunlight. A majestic feeling of peace permeates the scene.

“The mountains of Dularia,” Lukendrevener says, his tone awed. “I never thought to see them again.”

A stronger gust of wind zips past us, and he leaps out into it, his wings snapping wide.

“Wait!” I bellow after him. “This isn’t part of the plan!”

Once he’s several yards away, he shifts into his dragon form, shredded scraps of my destroyed pants blowing away in the wind.

“Perhaps not your plan, but I have orders to find the other dragons. We may need them to fight this Dark God. Leave the crystal for the door here so that I may return with allies.” With that, his great wings beat at the air, and he streaks off, his magic propelling him forward. In only a few moments, he disappears behind another mountain peak.

Naomi tucks the crystal into a crevice and takes one last look back at Dularia.

As soon as we step back through the door, I wheel on Aldronn. “Did you know the dragon was going to abandon us? Naomi still has two more doors to open! What if we need his help?”

What if his leaving puts her in danger?

The old anger rises within me, washing the world red.