CHAPTER FORTY-TWO（Untitled）Naomi

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

Naomi

“I did not know, but I suspected,” Aldronn says. “Did he give a reason why?”

“He’s going to find the other dragons to get their help against the Dark God,” I say.

Wranth grits out, “But we’re not finished with today’s mission. With every new door she opens, Naomi puts herself in danger.”

“Dragons take a longer view of things than we do. Today does not matter as much to them as next year or a decade from now.” Aldronn flicks his shoulders in a small shrug. “We also have to remember they’re our allies, not our subjects.”

Wranth’s body locks rigid beside mine, vibrating with pent-up feeling. His hands curl into fists, and his glare looks fierce enough to start shooting laser beams.

“It’s okay,” I blurt, setting a hand on his arm and looking up at him. “Really it is. I have you, Wranth. You’re the best protection I could ever have.” I love that he’s so determined to protect me that he puts me first, but getting angry isn’t going to bring Lukendrevener back.

He sucks in a huge breath and lets it out with a sigh, his shoulders dropping. “Thank you,” he says to me, then looks at Aldronn. “I am still very quick to anger.”

“All orcs are,” Aldronn says. “We’re overdue for a good brawl.”

Wranth’s lips quirk up on one side. “It’s been a while since we went at it one on one.”

“Too long.” Aldronn claps him on the shoulder. “How about a sparring session once all of this is done?”

“Deal.”

My heart goes gooey. These two have such a great bromance, and discovering they’re cousins has only made it all the more special.

Pushing past the fatigue eating at me, I store another of the entwined crystals in my cleavage and move over to the standing stone. “Okay, Avalon or Earth?”

“Avalon seems safest,” Wranth says. When the other orcs give surprised grunts, he adds, “Even though the Dark God resides in that realm, we’ll arrive in an uninhabited location. The same cannot be said for Earth.”

“I don’t know. Depending on the time of day, Main Street can be pretty empty.”

“Is this street the place with the mechanical beasts?” He frowns down at me.

“Yep. Cars.”

Wranth gives a sharp nod. “It’s as I said. It’s more dangerous.”

“Okay.” It’s not as if it makes much difference. I have to open both doors within the next hour to open all the doors of Faerie successfully.

I stretch my hand out, and he takes it. This time I know what I’m looking for and dive right past all the brighter threads leading to the places in Alarria.

Finally, the dark-purple thread of his infancy swims into view. I follow along it until I slam into the door to Avalon. Gripping my crystal more tightly, I strain against the door, using the brute force of my magic to pound it open. Even with all the red crystals, doing this for the fourth time today starts to burn along my nerves. I suppress a gasp of pain, knowing if Wranth hears it, he’ll make me stop. Opening this many doors is always going to be this difficult, so waiting to try again won’t help. Best to get it done.

Wranth’s home.

I picture Tumbletoad in his cozy kitchen.

Wranth’s home.

The taste of his delicious bread fills my mouth.

Wranth’s home!

The universe rips in two, and I fall forward. Wranth’s strong grip keeps me from hitting the ground as the light level around us drops like somebody turned off the sun. That eerie wrongness hangs in the still air, and I can just make out the ruins of the hunting lodge in front of us as my eyes adjust to the light provided by the twin moons.

“Are we alone?” I whisper.

“I sense one being,” Wranth murmurs. “Tumbletoad. Tumbletoad. Tumbletoad.”

“Your majesty!” Tumbletoad’s voice comes from the darker doorway. “I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

We explain how I’m opening the doors of Faerie, and I hand the small man the paired crystal. “Do you know where we can put this to anchor the door on this side? It’s got to be somewhere safe and also a place where people can emerge out of thin air.”

“There’s a spot in the back garden that will do nicely,” he says, leading us around the ruins and past a small bed of vegetables to a barren patch where he digs a hole and buries the crystal. “Nothing will grow here, so there’s nothing to be trampled.”

“Thank you, Tumbletoad,” Wranth says.

The moonlight glimmers in the brownie’s eyes, and I think he might start crying because of Wranth’s thanks.

Wranth must see it, too. “Tumbletoad, once the doors of Faerie are open, come to me in Alarria. I cannot promise you I live like a king, but it’s a lovely realm.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” the brownie says. “I would be honored to serve the two of you.”

“Oh!” My mouth snaps shut before I can protest that it won’t be both of us, confusion filling me. Home? Where is home anymore? Is it the apartment over my parents’ garage? Is it the cottage in Moon Blade Village? Or a castle I’ve never seen?

I shake my head. I need to focus on the here and now. Once I open one more door, all the doors of Faerie will open, and I’ll have time to stop and figure things out.

We say goodbye to Tumbletoad and step through the door to Alarria. A dizzy drop of my tummy, like the first dip on a rollercoaster, and we’re there.

Just in time.

Aldronn holds up the purple timer crystal Lukendrevener gave us. It’s flickering.

Anxiety shoots through me. “How long has it been doing that?”

“A couple of minutes.”

Shit. We’re out of time.

I’m more tired than ever, but I hide it as I grip my crystal and trot over to the teleportation stone. At least I’m only teleporting myself on this trip, and no matter how much Wranth worries, there won’t be any dangers in Ferndale Falls.

Even though I opened it once, the door feels like a mountain, huge and immovable.

I try to ignore the seconds ticking away, close my eyes, and remember my beloved small town.

The smell of paper that fills the bookstore in the morning when I open for the day.

Home.

Hannah’s laugh as we chatter over coffee.

Home.

My mother and father sandwiching me between them in one of their combined hugs.

HOME!

A titan bangs a gong as large as a moon, the sound shaking through all of creation and juddering through my body in a percussive wave that makes my bones ache. My heart halts in shock for several seconds, only to start up again, beating double time.

I fly weightless through a void, lacking sight, sound, and touch.

The world rushes back to me in a blare of noise and brightness as I fall forward onto gritty pavement bleached pale gray by age. I blink a few times, and the old familiar pothole swims into view, pulling a rusty chuckle from my parched throat. Hannah hates that pothole, but it means I did it. I’m home. I’m in Ferndale Falls.

A whisper of wind as Wranth flies out of the air over my head. He lands on the ground and spins around.

“I did—” I start to say.

But he’s not looking at me. He stands, sword bared in front of the shimmering door that hangs in the air over me.

Aldronn comes flying out of the door. He hits and rolls up to his feet. “Brokk and Garint?”

Wranth shakes his head. “Zephyr and Shadow?”

“They went through right before me,” Aldronn says.

“What is it?” I try to stand, but my knees feel like jelly. We need to put the crystal somewhere better so the door isn’t right here.

As if to prove my point, people begin to emerge from a few of the still-open shops that line the street.

Before either of the orcs can answer me, a shape darts out of the door from Alarria, a small bird, black tipped in blood red.

The rest of the sluagh flock follows, filling the air with piercing cries.

“Oh, fuck.”