17
Savannah
A vast, windswept moorland stretched before us. Snowcapped mountains rose in the distance, fronted by forest-covered rolling foothills. While it was not night in the Dreamlands, sunlight filtered down through clouds and a pale sky.
The damp cold bit through my clothes, and I shivered. “This is nothing like the Dreamlands we visited last time.”
“Our legends claim that the Dreamlands are made up of hundreds of realms, each unique and inhabited by different creatures,” Jaxson said.
I rubbed my arms to warm them, and Jaxson’s jaw tensed. He pulled me close, which sparked another flurry of shivers for all sorts of other reasons.
I tried to focus on the task at hand.
The Moon had anchored her spell in the Dreamlands with three massive floating orbs infused with her magic. We had to find them and recharge them with the moonstones she’d given us. I was pretty sure the moonstones were more than just mundane receptacles for magic—they seemed to be pieces of her lifeforce, judging by the way she’d withered the moment she handed them over.
My gaze settled on a derelict castle perched on a rocky outcrop, our first destination. She hadn’t given us any details about it, just that it was a ruined keep. “Maybe fate will throw us a bone, and this place will be populated with friendly furry creatures.”
Fate had been a sour bitch so far, so I didn’t get my hopes up.
“Unlikely,” Sam said dryly. “What do you say, shall we go storm the scary fortress?”
“Let’s go.” I touched my pocket where I’d stashed the moonstone. A faint glow filtered through the fabric, and like I’d downed a shot of Red Bull, I felt my magic spike.
I could get used to having a battery of the goddess’s power.
We started down the gentle slope as a light fog moved across the quiet landscape. Patches of bright pink flowers contrasted with the bleak, yet eerily beautiful, scenery. They looked like a type of strange heather, and their blossoms shrank when we moved through them.
My boots squished over patches of moist earth. Even though it had been bold to ask, I was deeply relieved that the goddess had let me take my Swiftleys.
Jaxson and Sam moved quietly on either side of me, their postures tense and alert. The moonstones in their pockets gave off a similar glow to mine, and together, we probably looked like strange beacons bobbing over the hills like will-o’-the-wisps. Hopefully, no watchers decided to take an interest. At least no one stopped us on our way up the slope to the fort.
Black and orange lichen covered its crumbling walls. The place seemed long abandoned, but a faint pulse of magic radiated from it, warm and soothing like the magic coming off the moonstones.
“It’s in there,” I whispered. “Do you feel it?”
Sam nodded as she climbed the outcrop of volcanic rock that spilled out of the gentle slope on which the castle was perched.
“Stay alert,” Jaxson said as a raccoon-sized animal scurried into a gap in one of the fallen walls. “We have company.”
The faintest scent of tar rose on the breeze, and my nerves hummed. Get in and get out. That’s all we had to do. The quicker, the better.
I glanced up at the stone wall, which towered above us at least a hundred feet. Apart from several windows that pierced it, there was no gate or entrance. “Should we go around the other side, or—”
Sam gave me a wicked grin and leapt ten feet in the air. Her claws dug into the stone, and she scrambled up the wall like a goddammed spider monkey.
Jaxson looked back at me with a glint of amusement flashing in his eyes. “You good?”
“Perfectly fine,” I snarled. He knew I hated scaling heights.
Slipping my claws out, I raised my chin and jumped onto the wall. My claws sank into the moss-stained limestone, and I heaved myself up, my muscles feeling exceptionally strong with the extra kick of moon magic.
Jaxson followed and somehow made it look even easier than Sam had.
Despite my moon-fueled burst of energy, I was breathing hard by the time we reached the top. I pulled myself up and slung one leg over the crumbling wall.
From there, I had an intimidating view of our surroundings. Just below the outcrop, about a hundred yards in the distance, a dense forest stretched out as far as my eyes could see. The wind carried scents of moss, earth, and the acrid odor of freshly laid asphalt on a hot day.
That last part was definitely unexpected, and I had no idea what it implied.
My breath hitched at the sight of the giant stone orb in the paved courtyard below. Hauling myself over the wall, I carefully descended. Sam was already on the ground, but Jaxson stayed just below me, I supposed to catch me if I fell.
I sighed in relief when my feet finally hit firm footing, and I quickly moved to inspect the white stone orb.
The thing measured at least twenty feet in diameter and levitated about four feet off the ground. The closer I got, the stronger the Moon’s power grew, vibrating through me like a drumbeat just beyond the edge of hearing.
There was something both beautiful and ancient about the orb’s simplicity. There were no magic runes, no ornamentation, no pretense at all. It was just her power made manifest, holding the Dark God at bay. The thing was completely smooth apart from a little notch at the top, a perfect match for a moonstone.
The problem was how to get it in. The orb was levitating just a few feet too high, and I couldn’t reach the damn notch in the top. There was no graceful way to get up, and I didn’t want to scratch the thing with my claws lest I damage it.
Or, more likely, it might damage me.
What would happen if I touched it? Just patting the moonstone in my pocket gave me a jolt of power. It could be like jamming your hands on the wires at a power transfer station.
Screw it. I gave the orb a fast tap. Cool as a cucumber.
Still not sure I wanted to scale it with my claws, I reached for the moonstone in my pocket, but a blur of movement from across the courtyard froze my hand in place.
“We’ve got company,” Sam said, and Jaxson was at my side in an instant.
We scanned the courtyard. For a moment, the only sign of intruders was an intense acrid odor, and then two figures bearing curved swords slipped out from behind a collapsed portion of the castle’s upper story.
“Holy shit,” I whispered as my skin prickled. “What are those?”