Kaiden reached for her hand, and when she turned to him, he said, “If you think I’m leaving you to do this on your own, you’re crazy.”
She knew the right thing to do was to object. To tell him how dangerous it could be, to come up with an excuse for why she had to go it alone. But when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. She felt the weight of Niyx’s note in her pocket and the knowledge that he had trusted Kaiden to look after her in his stead. She recalled how Kaiden had held her through her grief, listened to her stories, dried away her tears. He hadn’t left her side—and she knew he wouldn’t. So all she could do was entwine her fingers with his in silent gratitude.
Athora caught her attention again when he reached into the folds of his cloak and withdrew a ring, holding it out for her.
“You must wear this at all times,” he said, indicating for her to put it on.
Having had some experience with rings that were more than they seemed, Alex eyed it warily, but she could see nothing special about it. It was simply a dainty gold band shaped into a figure of eight—an infinity symbol—similar to the Beacon tattoo that had vanished after activation.
Still slightly hesitant, Alex released Kaiden’s hand and followed Athora’s instruction, sliding it down her right ring finger.
“Cantara des finn,” the cloaked man whispered, his lyrical words translating instantly to Alex as, ‘Hide what is’.
With wide eyes, she watched as the ring disappeared from sight—and so too did the glimmer of her golden skin.
“What…?”
She touched the space where the ring was, only to find it still there, just invisible. She pulled it from her finger, and instantly her flesh was shimmering once more.
“While amongst my people, it is imperative that you keep the ring on to hide the evidence of your vaeliana bond. At least until you no longer need to do so,” Athora told her.
“Don’t worry, I plan to always wear this from now on,” Alex said, slipping it back onto her finger and marvelling that she was no longer a radioactive freak of nature.
“There is a reason I didn’t give it to you before now,” Athora warned. “The ring draws its energy directly from you. You can wear it for a few days without consequence, but much longer than that and you will begin to feel its effects draining you. Long-term use will weaken you significantly, perhaps even lead to death. As soon as you no longer have to hide your bond, discard it and do not use it again.”
Alex blanched, wondering why he had given it to her in the first place. But he explained without her having to ask.
“It would not do well for my people to discover you have bonded with a draekon before you have proved yourself worthy of such an honour,” he said, and Alex felt a spike of anxiety at just how she was supposed to ‘prove’ herself. “They will deem you an abomination before a single word has left your mouth.”
“They sure sound friendly,” Kaiden said dryly. He, of course, couldn’t see the difference in Alex’s skin with or without the ring, but since she’d explained her bond to him earlier, he knew about it in theory.
“You are not going there to make friends,” Athora returned. “You are going there to seek aid in saving the mortals of Medora from certain death.”
Kaiden gave a quick nod, conceding his point.
Athora paused a moment, as if to make sure Alex and Kaiden truly understood the gravity of what they were about to undertake. But he needn’t have worried, since Alex certainly knew—as did Kaiden—that their mission couldn’t be more serious. The fate of the world was literally resting on their shoulders.
“As you know, in this cavern”—Athora waved a hand to the space around them—“time continues on as it does in the outside world. The same rules apply for however long you remain in Tia Auras, with time passing as is normal for both worlds. I therefore need not tell you that you’d best make haste in completing your task. Now that Aven has begun his campaign, I fear he will not wait long to move forward in carrying out his plans.”
Alex felt the same urgency, so she took a moment to wrap her arms around Soraya’s soft neck, whispering a promise to return soon—and hoping her words were true.
“Oracle I may be, but even I do not know what you will face on this path,” Athora said once Alex released the wolf. He stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of support. “But I also do not know anyone more capable of facing it than you. Believe in yourself, Alexandra Jennings. And whatever you do, do not fail.”
With those Athora-style words of encouragement, he disappeared with Soraya, leaving Alex and Kaiden alone in the cavern, facing the most daunting doorway she had ever considered stepping into.
“Are we really going to do this?” she whispered.
Kaiden reached out and tangled his fingers with hers again. When she looked at him, he was staring at her with calm, fearless eyes. Exactly what she needed to see.
He sent her a small but confident smile and said, “I’m ready when you are.”
And with a deep breath and a purposeful stride forward, together they stepped through the doorway and ventured into the great unknown of what lay ahead.