Chapter 5

Terrin and I search the seemingly endless forest and swamp for hours and find nothing. We only stop to have lunch, a rabbit Terrin managed to find, kill, and cook over a fire, almost like he’d been doing it his whole life, which amazed me because he’s been in dragon form for most of it. I’m glad he knows how to hunt, because the only thing I managed to help with was finding berries, which Terrin told me were poisonous before I ate them. I knew I should have gone to Brownies as a kid; I’m sure they teach that shit there.

We start heading towards the signs of a settlement when the sun hits the middle of the sky. It doesn’t take long to find a paved road and clear markings of people around, although we see no one, not until we are right in front of a massive gated city. The road leads towards gigantic wooden gates, the buzzing city clearly beyond. There isn’t a soul out here, and I think it’s on lockdown.

Terrin’s eyes are cast towards the forest often enough that I know he feels them too. I feel like someone’s watching us from the trees, stalking us from the shadows. Any time I glance out into the dark, I see a reflective haze before it disappears. I’m pretty sure there are wolves in the forest watching us, hunting us, and if we dare turn away at this point, they will definitely attack us. I let my shadows reach out, touching the darkness of the forest floor, any bit of it nearby, and knowing that I’m right when I feel them. There are wolves in the shadows, and they’re watching us closely. I’m impressed with how silent they are. Without my magic and Terrin’s amazing senses, we wouldn’t know they were there.

Terrin looks down at me, his fingers linked with mine, and I know we’ll face anything together. We may have lost the staff, Emrys, Hope and Xandry too, but I have a sense that we can fix this somehow. We can get back to our world. The staff isn’t gone, it’s just missing. Emrys will find me, or I will find him. He’s my mate, we find each other in any world. As for Arden, Grayson, and Lysander…it’s the same. I just hope Grayson has managed to stand between Arden and Lysander, especially when everything is so raw.

When we get close to the gates, we both stop as they slide open, dirt spitting in every direction with the force. Growls echo in the wind as I see several lines of wolves on the road between two towers. A single man walks out of the wolves, with a woman at his side. She’s tiny compared to him, and he absolutely looks like an alpha wolf, in my opinion. But the woman? She is the true threat. Power radiates off her, and the confidence of how she stands tells me she is the one to be watched. Terrin’s back straightens as he senses the threat too, and they both stop in front of us.

The woman speaks first, her accent strange but understandable. She makes sure to look into my eyes. “You must be the mate of all the dragons that have been causing us trouble recently?”

I inwardly wince. That’s really not a great way to start peace negotiations with whoever this is, but rather than balking, I keep my head high. “I am Princess Ellelin of the Spirit Court, and this is my mate, Terrin. I really hope they didn’t cause too much trouble, and we?—”

“Don’t mean any harm?” The man finishes my sentence, his eyes fixed on Terrin with a challenge. Terrin looks all too happy to accept.

Terrin tilts his head to the side, a cold venom leaking into his words. “Maybe it’s normal in this world to interrupt someone, but don’t interrupt my mate again.”

My cheeks burn as a low growl echoes from the man. He stops the second the woman looks at him. “We are aware of who you both are, and we have been expecting you. I don’t understand why I don’t call you the queen, considering you’re the last of that court, apparently. Your mate, Emrys, landed here last night. He was far more reasonable than the others.”

“Emrys is here?” I blurt out.

But she isn’t done. “Your other mates did not come here in peace. Especially not the water king. My grandmother got involved, and you are lucky it wasn’t my father, mother or grandfathers who heard my call. They would have done much worse.” She sighs. “But they are safe. Even the water king, Lysander.”

Oh Lysander, what the fuck did you do?I know I should apologise for them, but I’m not doing that when he isn’t here, and by the sounds of it—she has them trapped. “Where are they?”

“The court kings are locked in a prison nearby here by my grandmother, Mai. They immediately tried to attack us, and we put them in there for safekeeping, but I promise you they are safe. We do not want war with your world, and killing them would indeed begin that, I believe.”

I nod. “Let them go and we will leave.”

“Not yet. This is my mate Theodorn of the Ravensword pack, and I am Crown Princess Ember.” She inclines her head. “We have all gotten off to a bad start, but I believe the true motives of us both are not to see any of our people die. Our world had its own war with the gods, and we lost so, so many. I know you are fighting gods, Ellelin, and we don’t want to fight you too.”

My shoulders drop. I don’t trust her completely, but there is something genuine in her voice. “I didn’t come to your world to cause any trouble. Ares sent my mates here, and I came to get them back and leave.”

She smiles. “I know. Emrys told me everything. It’s a shame your other mates aren’t like him. They’re a bit more temperamental than he is, but I’m a dragon shifter myself, so I understand the temper that comes with that kind of power.” She looks behind her. “Oh, here is your other mate.”

I’ve already seen him. Emrys is in a black cloak that falls off his shoulders, and he has tight armoured clothing on that clings to his muscular body, reminding me how beautiful he is. His blond hair moves in the breeze, and he still looks a little pale, but I know we both have been through so much. The second he sees me, the pure relief on his face makes my heart pound. His eyes stay fixed on mine, forest green sparkling bright as they reflect the sunlight.

I let go of Terrin’s hand and run around the princess, straight into Emrys’s waiting arms. He clutches me tightly as I breathe his fresh lilies scent in. He grips my waist, holding me to him. “Are you okay?” He touches my head near what is left of the cut, but it’s healed pretty well overnight.

I whisper back to him. “I’m okay. It all happened so quickly. I don’t know how or why Terrin can’t shift from this form here, and he tried to catch me.”

Emrys winces like the memory is too much to think about. “I saw it all happen. I tried to turn back to get to you, but we were caught in…I don’t even know what it was, a whirlwind, and it wouldn’t obey my powers. Instead, it did the opposite of what I tried to do, and my dragon was thrown for miles into a mountain and knocked out. I lost Hope and Xandry in the storm. They aren’t with me.”

Hope and Xandry are strong and able; they will be okay. We will find them either way before we go back.

“When I woke up, I tried searching for you both in my dragon form and on feet, but I couldn’t. The bond is there but silent. I knew going to the nearest city was my best chance of finding you when I couldn’t find you through the bond. I thought if I’d made peace with them, they could help me search for you and the others. I’m glad you found us first.”

I kiss the corner of his lips, well aware of how many wolves and people are watching us. “Me too. Are they safe?”

“They’re reasonable and we have a lot in common. They have mates they’d do anything to protect and a world to fight for. I’ve not attacked them or given them anything, but they offered peace right away, even with what Lysander did. Half of the city is underwater. The only reason they didn’t try to kill them for that is because Grayson pulled tree vines out of the water and saved everyone. No one died, thank fuck, or we’d be at war.”

“Lysander,” I mutter, rubbing my face. “What was he thinking?”

“Not straight, by the looks and sounds of it,” Emrys agrees. “They will let the guys out, but first, their queen is coming here to speak to us.”

“She will be here soon with a mate of hers,” Ember claims from right behind me. She moved fast and quiet. Terrin walks past her, nodding to Emrys, who returns it. “You turned up just in time. Oh, but a fair warning before you come to our city. Use any magic here, attack us, anything, and you’ll be thrown in that prison too—and you won’t come out. It was designed to cage gods, and only those with the blood of gods can open and close it. We don’t want to make enemies with you, not when we’ve heard that you stopped two powerful gods from coming to this world and trying to destroy us. So, for that, we will hold you in a peace treaty of sorts, but I am absolutely sure if you push your luck, that will change really quickly.” Her eyes flash gold to make the point.

Looking her in the eye, I nod once. “I will keep my word. No magic. I only fight when attacked or in the name of revenge. You say my mates are okay, and as long as that stays true, you have nothing to fear from me.” I make sure she looks in my eyes when I continue, letting the shadows deepen around us, the darkness pitting the edges of my vision. “I want my mates, and then I’m going to leave this world with the staff that opened the portal here, and never come back.”

She smiles at me. “Aphrodite is still alive, right?”

I smile back. “Yes, but not for long.”

“Then you don’t take the staff back.” It wasn’t Ember who said that. I turn to face the woman who said it as she walks out of the gates, through my shadows, which dance around her feet like she is an old friend. She’s quite small, with long blonde hair that is braided back. Her eyes make goose bumps litter down my spine—there’s just pure power. “My name is Queen Mai. I am the queen of this world, and welcome. We will discuss this staff further when you are rested. I think perhaps you should have a meal, be cleaned up first, and then we’ll go and get your mates out, as long as you promise they’re not going to try to drown half the people in our city again.”

Fucking hell, Lysander. “Yes, I promise. They won’t do that. They just wanted to get back to me, and Lysander can be…”

“I have four possessive mates, and I understand. They have done worse in my name and honour.” She looks friendly, but there is such power coming off her that it makes it hard to fully trust this woman. She is a wolf, I’d guess. “Come in.”

I follow her into the city with two of my mates on either side of me, and they make me feel less frightened. I’ve been in three worlds now, and yet when I was taken from Earth to Ayiolyn, it felt like coming home, and coming here does not feel like that. They might be similar to us, but they will do anything to protect their world, and that much is clear. At the end of the day, we are intruders, and my world has a goddess in it who is a threat to them because I don’t think she went through the portal. I have no way to know for certain but I’d expect to have seen her causing trouble here. Terrin squeezes my hand, and I let out the breath I didn’t realise I was holding in.

The city reminds me of London on Earth but before any of the high-rise buildings were built. It’s a mix of old and new, like some of it was destroyed and they have rebuilt around it. The pillars, the rebuilt structures, are pretty similar to the Water Court, but instead of dragon statues, there are wolves and Greek gods. We pass a statue of a woman in a waterfall, and she is holding a moon in her hands, gazing at it. Mai looks at me and back to the fountain. “Usually, it is full of children. She is the moon goddess, but you might know her name as Persephone.”

My grandmother made sure I know all the family. Distant or not. “Hades’s wife?” I hear the waves of a massive river before we get close to it. She nods, her eyes taking in everything. “Do you live here?”

Mai comes closer, not by much. I swear I spot a giant black wolf prowling the streets behind the houses, watching us. Watching her. “No. This is the Ravensword Pack. I lived here for a short time when I was younger, but it wasn’t a good place for me, not for a long time. I hated this place for years, to be honest with you. I thought letting any pack live here would be letting old males’ history haunt the lands, but instead, I found letting them back here, picking their own alphas, was a way of making a good world. New rules were put in place about how mates were treated, how females were treated in particular, and they thrived here. Then my granddaughter found her mate here in their chosen alpha.” I follow her gaze to Ember and Theodorn. She doesn’t look old enough to be her grandmother. They could pass as the same age on Earth, but Mai’s eyes give her age away. She is wise. “Once this place was nothing but pain for me. It’s healing to come back, to find it’s such a beautiful place now.”

I wonder if there will be a time when I can find peace in the west…in the place I can’t even think of without my heart pounding. I’m glad Emrys speaks to fill the void, as Mai seems to read my every thought with one look. “It is beautiful here.”

She nods at Emrys, but her eyes never leave me. “I hear your world is at war. The gods have caused a lot of trouble for us, but not all of them. Some of them are good. You’re the granddaughter of a goddess?”

I’m thankful for the change of subject. “I am.”

“I can sense power through you. My soul is linked to Persephone’s, although not so much anymore. She sometimes speaks to me though, and she is an old friend at this point.” She smiles softly to herself. “As is Hades himself.”

“I’m the granddaughter of Hera.” She stops in front of a townhouse that sits on its own, easy to guard I’d guess.

She opens the door. “We will be back in a few hours to speak and return your mates. This house is small but modern, with everything you could need. If you need anything else, there will be a wolf outside who can understand you and get what you need. Rest.”

Emrys goes inside first, and I follow, leaving Terrin to close the door behind us. We all pause in the living room, a small cosy room with nice furniture. “Do you think we are safe?”

Terrin moves to stand by the door. “We will take turns guarding the door while you rest.”

“I will guard the door first. You need a shower, friend.” Emrys pats Terrin’s shoulder as he wrinkles his nose, and I chuckle at Terrin’s annoyed expression. “And maybe a shave too.”

I chuckle, leaving them to debate shaving or not, as I head upstairs, using my shadows to check the rooms for any intruders before opening the doors. It’s empty in here. There is only one bedroom on the top floor and a shower room next to it. There are fresh black clothes laid out on the bed, in several different sizes, and I head into the shower after grabbing some in my size. The second the water’s pouring down on me, my heart starts racing as the water freezes around me like mist.

Suddenly a horrid taste of magic fills my senses, nearly knocking me over, and I scream as my mind is filled with a power like I’ve not known. I’m no longer in the shower, but I’m floating like a ghost in the air, mist covering my body as I face a man sitting on a stone throne, his skin grey and wrinkled so badly it almost looks like it’s cracking. His long grey hair falls down to his waist, moving in a phantom breeze. When he speaks, I shiver. “My name is Cronus, father to all gods, king of the titans, and you are expected to come to me like your father promised.”

The vision’s gone in a heartbeat, and I fall to the floor, gasping for air as my hand stings like it has been burnt. The door is smashed in by Terrin and Emrys as I feel my body being pulled to the north. I lift my hand up in the shower water, seeing a rune mark drawn in blood on my palm.