Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 136009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 680(@200wpm)___ 544(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
But the mind test was something else. It was a way to break the dragon by forcing an impossible choice.
There were ways around that—at least for her.
Kerrigan tugged on the thread. Her Doma powers didn’t work the same way as the rest of the Fae’s powers did, and this ceremony had been put into place with the dragons and Fae as the contingents. They couldn’t counter the gods. If they could, they might not have been sent to Alandria in the first place thousands of years ago.
So when she had come back out of the spirit plane, she had left a part of herself open to it, a tether to the plane that she could use as a little loophole for the test—something a Fae couldn’t possibly do. Only a dragon had access to the plane, but even a dragon would be hindered by the tendrille. The metal was a product of the gods. She could, if she chose, utilize its powers for herself.
Or so Gelryn believed.
For now, she needed to see if her trusty loophole worked.
She tugged, and the spirit plane materialized. A slow, dangerous smile came to her face. So much for magic dampening.
She dug back into her magic, which was unrestricted on the plane. She couldn’t conjure the elements here, but it worked the same. Every creature had a magical signature that felt different from any of the others. She had long ago found that Tieran’s had the scent of baking cinnamon and hearth fire. He felt like winter warmth.
Her magic cast from the plane, and it only took a minute for Tieran to appear when she called him.
He blinked at her in a panicked surprise. “Kerrigan?”
“No time to explain. Gelryn figured out a back door for me to talk to you.”
“This is cheating.”
“Is it cheating when the loophole exists? Or is it dumb not to utilize it?”
“It is cheating.”
“Gods, Gelryn told me to do this. So take it up with him. I’m not sure where I’m at. Somewhere in the mountain surrounded by tendrille. Now that I’m on the plane, you can locate me like we used to have to do during training.”
Tieran huffed dramatically. “If they found out…”
“They won’t. Who is the other person they have restrained?”
He was silent a beat. “My sister.”
“I love how forthcoming we are with each other,” she said sarcastically. “First your mother and now a sister. I didn’t even know you had a sister.”
“She is kin of Thiery. We have different fathers.”
“Just so you know, I don’t have any other siblings.”
Tieran’s golden eye narrowed. “This is not a joking matter.”
“Look, use the connection between us and find me. Then we can locate your sister—whose name is?”
“Amita.”
“Beautiful.”
Tieran shot her another irritated look. His wings fluttered out and his neck twisted. He was anxious. Not just upset with her but flustered and scared.
“Hey. We’ll get through this together, okay? Like we always have.”
“I did not want to kill Dalrig. He was an honorable dragon.”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “I know what that’s like.”
“And now you are in danger because of me, as is Amita, and she is just a hatchling. We have not even made a family bond.”
“You’re in danger because of me all the time. It’s only fitting that it’s now my turn. But look, we can get to Amita together. Just find me first. I’ll stay on the plane so we can navigate this. Okay?”
Tieran straightened as if her presence brought him back to himself. “Understood.”
He flashed and then was gone from the plane, but their connection remained strong here. She settled onto the ground and let her mind reach out while her spirit stayed tethered. They could do this together. She believed in them.
The silence was almost a comfort as she sat on the plane, in control once more of her secure place. Tieran was drawing nearer. He was still miles away from her current location, but she could feel him now. It wouldn’t be that long. She had no sense of time passing. They would have to have enough to locate Amita too. It was supposed to be an either-or, but would Thiery let her hatchling perish? It was possible, since she’d sent Tieran to the tournament against his will. Dragons were without mercy was what Kerrigan kept hearing. Only that wasn’t her experience. Not with Tieran. Not with Gelryn. Not with Tavry, rest his soul. Or so many others. They weren’t a monolith, and she had to think that Thiery wasn’t all she pretended she was either.
Kerrigan was so deep in her mind that it felt like she blinked and Tieran charged through the door.
“How long?”
“Hours,” he said.
Hours. It had felt like seconds. Gods, the spirit plane was a devious mistress.
“I do need help with these,” she said, holding her chained hands out.
Tieran brought a claw forward and snapped them in half. “Ready?”