12. Tahlia

“This is officially the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Fara shouted over the pelting rain and thunder.

Tahlia glared over her shoulder. “I told you not to come. This is your idea. Not mine.”

Fara buried her head between Tahlia’s shoulder blades, which was comical because Tahlia was so much smaller than Fara. “I couldn’t let you go alone. You know that!”

“Yes, you could have.”

Fara began to argue again, but lightning cracked, and she screamed instead of finishing her sentence.

“Stop digging your fingers into my sides,” Tahlia said, turning so Fara might hear over the storm.

“It can’t hurt you. You’re wearing leathers!”

“Your fingers are worse than arrows. Stop it!”

Fara detached her vicious grip, then wrapped her entire arms around Tahlia’s middle. A breath gusted from Tahlia.

“I need to breathe to get us there alive, Fara.”

“I’m going to kill Marius. I’m going to strangle him until he is dead and then kick him after.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Tahlia said, the wind biting her cheeks and eyes. She was soaked through and shivering.

“He deserves it for dragging us into this mess.”

“No, it’s ridiculous that you think you can kill him.”

“Shut it, Tahl. Seriously!” Fara groaned as another round of thunder started up.

The storm eventually relented, and the sun pierced the blanket of cloud cover, but there was no sign of Marius or Ragewing. Tahlia had completely lost them in the dark and driving rain.

“What are we going to do? Can Vodolija scent Ragewing at all?”

“I think she still has an idea of where they are because she feels sure of herself and isn’t trying to land.” Being bonded to a dragon was amazing…and mysterious. Tahlia wasn’t certain how she knew what Vodolija was thinking, but somehow she had a sense of it.

They flew on, the sun drying them out nicely as the wind finished the job. Only stopping twice for Vodolija to drink from the river and for a bite to eat, they covered a lot of ground.

As they rose into the air, letting Vodolija’s better vision spot and trail Ragewing and Marius, Fara made a growling sort of grumble near Tahlia’s ear.

“Other than the fact that I’m completely disobeying a direct order, what is bothering you?” Tahlia asked.

“If I had to guess, we are almost to the Kingdom of Spirits,” Fara answered.

A chill rolled through Tahlia. No one dared to enter the lost kingdom. Old tales of vicious spirits and dangerous ghosts had given the land its name.

“I read about a rare plant that only grows in this area. It has blood-colored leaves and was used ages ago to help Fae bond with dragons.”

Tahlia wanted to listen to her, but there was too much at risk to have a chat about plants.

“Would we even be able to cross the border of this ghostly place?” Tahlia asked.

There was one story Tahlia had heard at a tavern that involved some magical barrier between the Kingdom of Spirits and the rest of the Realm of Lights. Technically, the lost kingdom remained part of the Seelie Fae kingdom and under King Lysanael and Queen Revna’s rule. It existed within the Veil. But no one went in and came back to tell new tales.

“I hope not. It would be madness to try. Why would Marius even want to enter? Surely Ragewing won’t allow it. Dragons are many things, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

Vodolija growled, her body rumbling under Tahlia.

The Kingdom of Spirits. What could be in that area that involved the order?

That evening,moonlit mist billowed around Vodolija’s wings, the thick gray blocking everything except a strange distant light on the ground below. It shimmered like a ghostly gold version of those phosphorescent larvae that glowed in the creek during summers at home. It was definitely creepy, but shivers of excitement ran down Tahlia’s back. She hadn’t joined the order for easy days in the sun. She’d risked all to experience this type of adventure.

“I hope you can tell where they are,” Tahlia said to Vodolija, leaning over a bit as Fara hissed prayers that might have been less prayish and more curseish to every Old One and god she could think of. “Because I have no clue.”

Fara sighed. “Please just lie to me and say everything will be fine.”

Vodolija tossed her head and flew onward, showing confidence. Not that dragons ever deigned to show humility or ever admitted when they were wrong.

Tahlia grinned over her shoulder. “I think that’s what the head toss means.”

Fara rolled her eyes. “She could be saying she is about to dump us and go home.”

Tahlia laughed even though fatigue pulled at her. It had been a very long day.

The cold air bit at Tahlia’s cheeks. The temperature had dropped since sundown. She lifted the cowl she wore over her leathers and fastened her cloak’s three extra clasps, drawing the wool tightly around her chest and shoulders. Fara gave her a hand and offered a pair of leather gloves. Tahlia accepted them gratefully and held the reins in her teeth as she tugged them on. Fara cursed the entire time.

Vodolija dove suddenly, Tahlia sucked a breath, and Fara shrieked.

Wings spread wide, the dragon soared toward the ground or whatever was below. The mist and the night continued to hinder Tahlia’s view. Would they be far enough behind Marius and Ragewing to keep their presence a secret? If the wind blew the other direction, Ragewing would surely scent Vodolija. Tahlia gripped the saddle’s pommel and tightened the muscles in her legs and stomach to prepare for a rough landing. The Seabreak hit the ground even harder than Tahlia had guessed she would and she nearly lost her seat. Fara did. She went tumbling over a wing and landed with a wet smack on the ground.

“Fara! Are you all right?” Tahlia hissed in a whisper as she dismounted.

Fara’s chest moved in three quick breaths, then one steadier one. “Yes, I’m well. Thank you so much. Please remind me to absolutely never, ever get on a dragon again. That experience will fill my nightmares until the end of my days.” She cursed creatively. “I forgot about the ride home. Kill me.”

Ignoring Fara now that she knew she was well enough to whine, Tahlia squinted into the distance.

Beyond two dark hills, a large shape and a smaller one walked side by side toward that glowing light. It was Ragewing and Marius. Had to be, right?

Tahlia untied her bow and full quiver from the back of the saddle, her boots squelching in the mud. “Let’s go.”

Fara got up and straightened her belt and dagger. “Lead on.”

Tahlia strapped the quiver of blue-fletched arrows to her back and started forward, Vodolija beside her with scaled head low and wings tucked. Tahlia nocked an arrow just in case it wasn’t Marius and Ragewing, but the closer they got, the more sure she was about her guess.

Fara was pale, or as pale as someone with purple skin could be, and she was too quiet.

“Please whisper a warning of impending doom now and then so I know you’re all right,” Tahlia said quietly.

“We will all leave here with foot rot.”

“There’s the Fara I know and love.”

What would Marius do if he saw her here? Would he demand she return? Probably. Would she follow that order? She’d pretend to, but no. Marius wasn’t like this, someone who just flew off recklessly into dangerous scenarios. He thought things out. He made plans and followed the rules. This secret trip to a region known for its deadly spirits made no sense whatsoever. Marius had lost his handsome mind and Tahlia was going to get to the bottom of this. Besides, she wouldn’t abandon him here. Even with Ragewing, the spirits in this forlorn kingdom of old might be too much for him. She wasn’t going to leave him just to follow his rules or anyone else’s. If she managed to save Marius or solve this problem he was having, it would be worth the consequences.

Vodolija, Fara, and Tahlia walked between the two hills. Marius and Ragewing stood at the bottom of a slope. A break of rowans hid most of Ragewing; only his head stood out above one of the smaller trees.

Like the gruesome teeth of a buried giant, five standing stones set into a rough circle marked the entry to the kingdom. Even though the Kingdom of Spirits was technically in the Realm of Lights and held by King Lysanael and Queen Revna, the old boundary markers had been left in place for safety. No one wanted to stumble into this haunted place. Well, no one but Tahlia’s possibly less-than-wise adventurous side.

So for the thousandth time, Tahlia wondered why in the name of all that was holy Marius, a notorious by-the-book type, was calmly strolling up like he’d been planning this reckless excursion for ages.

Ragewing and Marius passed by the standing stones and the mist spun around them, hiding them completely.

“Come on, Vodolija. It’ll do no good to sit here and chew our nails over the HC.”

Vodolija bunched the scales that served as her eyebrows and huffed smoke into Tahlia’s face.

“Okay, maybe you aren’t chewing nails, but I do not like how he is acting. I really, really don’t.”

“That makes two of us,” Fara said.

As they made their way to the standing stones, a sound rose on the breeze.