I’d felt the world change beneath my sandals. Gone was the soft moss and in its place was rougher terrain that crunched beneath my feet, along with warm winds that sent my hair flying. My heart pounded, and I smiled as I knew it was only because I thought it’s what it should do and not really because it was beating that hard.
I wasn’t ready when Ryder removed the blindfold, and beautiful ruins were revealed. I gasped in delight as I took in the thousands of candles which were lit around them. An entire rock face stood before us, with huge rock pillars that went into the earth.
“Wow,” I said in a breathless whisper.
“This place was built by the ancient race of these lands. The ones Danu first created. Now all that is left is where they came to worship their mates.”
“Danu made another race before the Fae?” I asked curiously.
He grunted. “Bilé and Danu made them together, but he created a rift in them that ripped them apart, because he thought they should be made in his image, but the scrolls say she was torn by them and unhappy with the outcome, so much so that she left Bilé soon after they’d created them, and then one by one, she destroyed the entire race. Centuries would pass before she would try again, and that’s when she made our race.”
I could feel the power radiating from inside the gigantic earthen dwelling. There were huge horned statues, which I could have sworn moved as I watched them. They looked like gargoyles, only more dangerous with their long talons and needle teeth.
“They are dead,” he said as if he was reading my mind.
I continued to peer up into the pieces of history Dristan and Ristan had seemed to have left out of our lessons, or hadn’t gotten to yet. Around us was night, dark and eerie, but thousands of candles lit up the area so that it looked like day, but only if you stayed close to the stones.
I moved closer without thinking, my hands itched to touch the history of the place. I paused at a massive staircase, and then turned to find Ryder gazing at me impishly.
“You coming?” I asked as I planted my hands on my hips.
“I didn’t say it was safe, yet,” he added the last word wickedly.
“Did I ask?” I smiled as he sifted to me and took my extended hand.
“You never do, always going off on your own and getting in trouble,” he whispered as he waved the hand I wasn’t holding, and the wide doors moved apart.
“Oh, wow,” I whispered excitedly.
Inside were balloons, filled with what looked to be fireflies, but I knew it wasn’t. Tiny fairies lit the balloons as they danced in them. I smiled and tossed a curious look to Ryder. “You put Fairies in them all?”
“They offered when Ristan told them I planned to seduce you,” he replied casually.
“Is that so?”
“Fairies like to entertain,” he started to explain.
“I meant the seducing part,” I replied impishly.
“You doubted it?” he grinned widely, his perfect teeth catching the light from one of the Fairies giving them a feral look.
I stepped closer and watched as the balloons bounced and spun as the show continued. Eventually Ryder moved us forward, and thanked them in the language of the Horde for the entertainment. I could hear them now, laughing and cheering on the King as he escorted me further into the ruins.
I wasn’t sure ruins were the right word to call the place, as it was truly beautiful even if it had been abandoned. When we reached the end of the long hallway, a door presented itself, and I lifted my hand instinctively and allowed my fingers to trail over the etched dragons that covered both sides of it. In the center sat a moon, and above it a sun. It was crafted of antique wood, sculpted by a master of his trade, judging by the details.
“As I child I came here, intrigued by the history of the race the Goddess had wiped out. This door would keep me entranced for days on end; each detail was woven into the wood masterfully. As if the carver had become enamored with the wood and caressed it as he would his lover with each stroke.”
He flicked his wrist and the beautiful doors opened for him. I smiled as we walked into an expansive, beautiful room that looked like the baths similar to what the Romans or Greeks once used, possibly something Danu could have used herself.
Inside, lanterns had been lit and floated in the air. There were squares of tranquil pools of water that called to me. More etchings of dragons covered the walls, and I turned to look at Ryder’s chest; his brands looked exactly as these ones inside the room did.
“Your brands,” I whispered.
“The same as these dragons,” he smiled. “I loved them as a young child, and would come here just to gaze upon them. When I inherited the heir brands, the dragons formed. To me it’s a reminder of this place and what could happen if we stray from her designs for the world. I’d often wondered if Danu hadn’t placed them on me as a warning to right the wrongs of my father. As time passed, I changed, and eventually my brothers and I started to right the wrongs, and then the Mages came, and now we fight for survival much like these beings did.”
“Can we swim here?” I asked, itching to sink beneath the inviting water’s surface.
“No, the waters are poisonous,” he smiled.