Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 120029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 600(@200wpm)___ 480(@250wpm)___ 400(@300wpm)
I can only hope this isn’t an illusion.
“How are you doing this?” I rasp, resting my chin on the crab print in the middle of his new hoodie. The modern clothing is spoiling my fantasy a little, but its presence makes this moment more real. I am living out my own story, and it will be perfect, whatever happens.
“Shadowcraft,” he says simply, but his eyes aren’t on me anymore. Which I appreciate, since he is the one keeping me from dropping to my death from—
I squeeze his shoulders when my gaze settles on the ever-shrinking people below. When did we even get so high?
The tavern’s built at the foot of a massive cliff, and as Tristan turns us so I face the jagged rock, my eyes find an irregularity close to the top. A large cave opens its jaws, stalactites hanging at the entry like fangs. With the moon casting deep shadows onto the formations, it looks just like the skull of a long dead dragon, and we land right inside its mouth, on a tongue of soft moss.
There’s so much to take in my head whips around as my body gets used to being back on steady ground. The walls are covered in mushrooms, and colorful minerals glow with soft, fluorescent light. The soothing warmth of this place hits me as soon as Tristan takes a step back.
“How about this for a view?” he asks with a grin. At first I think he means the cave, but he spreads out his arm, and breath catches in my throat as I turn.
The night landscape opens in front of me like a storybook brought to life by forces beyond my comprehension.
We are so high up the tavern is reminiscent of a small animal tucked into the cliff at our feet, its golden lights nothing in comparison to the moon and stars above. The voices and song that so recently welcomed me with their warmth are now barely a whisper.
From up here, all the buildings we’ve passed since arriving in the Nightmare Realm look like wooden toys, dwarfed by the sheer magnificence of the forest stretching toward the horizon like an emerald ocean.
And above it, the sky shimmers like an ever-turning kaleidoscope, full of stars gathered around the enormous moon like royal attendants. Silvery light spills over the ancient landscape below in luminous streams, and just as I’m about to forget why Tristan brought me here in the first place, my gaze spots a falling star on the edge of the heavens.
I always thought I wasn’t fit to be a poet, yet look at me now. Maybe I really do have a book in me?
“Is that it?” I rasp, glancing over my shoulder as I point out the meteorite. It burns its way to the ground with sparkling ferocity. I’ve never seen anything like it. Any falling star I’ve ever spotted has been a blip barely long enough to— “Make a wish,” I whisper and squeeze Tristan’s hand.
“Hm?”
“In the human world, you make a wish when you see a falling star. Just don’t say it out loud, or it won’t come true!”
Tristan chuckles, but remains silent as I consider my wish, secretly hoping he made the same one. If we both wish for it, the power of it must double, right?
Not that I believe in the power of wishes.
Not really.
But if we both want to get to know each other better, and make the conscious choice to make it happen, then no magic will be necessary.
“It’s being very slow. In my world, you blink and they’re gone,” I say, breathing in the herby aroma permeating the warm cave. It’s almost like standing at the threshold of an open sauna.
“You try making a trek across the sky. Takes a while.” Tristan gently pulls me down to the moss, and this reckless, beautiful man sits with his legs dangling over the edge. I guess you don’t have to be afraid of heights when you have wings.
I take my place next to him with my heart pounding.
Only when I’m safely tucked under his arm can I think about what he just said.
“What do you mean when you say trek?”
Tristan kisses the top of my head. “It is said that’s a unicorn galloping down from the moon. Some elves think there’s only ever one.”
I swallow, sinking into him as I too hang my legs over the edge of the open cave mouth. There’s a thrill in doing this, but if the worst happened, I trust Tristan to save me before I hit the ground. “So… this means another one just died?”
“That would be the only explanation.” He points to the distance. “Somewhere far far away.”
I follow the trail drawn by his finger all the way to the shadowy mountains on the horizon and let his hoodie cushion my cheek. “That’s sad. It must be so lonely on its own.”