The magic that's been humming around us since we entered the Shadowlands intensifies here. It's palpable, thick enough that I could almost reach out and touch it. It doesn't feel threatening, though.
And then suddenly, we're through.
The mist clears as if someone drew back a curtain, and the sight before us steals my breath.
It's the most gorgeous landscape I've ever seen. Where I expected barren rock or scorched earth, I find lush greenery stretching out in every direction. Trees I've never seen before, their leaves shimmering with colors that don't exist in nature. Flowers blooming in impossible shades of blue and purple and gold. A river winds through the valley below, its water so clear I can see the stones at the bottom from here.
And beyond it all, in the distance, I can see structures. Buildings made of stone and something that looks like crystal,catching the light and throwing it back in rainbow patterns. A city. A dragon city.
"Sol," Kaia breathes, and I realize she's slipped off her horse without me noticing. She stands beside me now, staring at the landscape before us with wide eyes. "This is nothing like I thought it would be."
"No," I agree quietly. "It's not."
"If these were monsters, there would be destruction and decay," she continues, taking a few steps forward. "Not beauty like this. Not... not civilization. Not art and architecture and gardens. They're not monsters at all, are they?"
"No," I say again. "I don't think they ever were."
Kaia moves forward, drawn by something I can't see. I follow close behind, keeping alert despite the overwhelming beauty around us. She stops suddenly, bending down to pick something up from the ground.
"Sol, look at this."
I move to her side, looking at what she's found. It's a dragon scale, but unlike anything I've seen in the museums or royal collections. It's nearly the size of her forearm, heavy and metallic when she turns it over in her hands. The coloring is extraordinary. Black as midnight but shot through with iridescent green that shifts and changes as the light hits it.
Kaia lifts it to her face, and I see her entire body go rigid.
"That's the scent," she says, her voice coming out strange and tight. "Sol, I need it."
And then her scent explodes into the air.
Pure Omega, thick with need and desperation, so powerful it makes my knees weak. Her eyes glaze over, pupils dilating until they're almost entirely black. A low whine peels from her mouth, primal and demanding.
Her heat. It's here. Right fucking now.
"Not here, princess," I say urgently, trying to keep my voice steady even as my body responds to her scent with visceral intensity. "Fuck, not here. We need to find shelter."
She's swaying on her feet, the scale clutched to her chest, her breathing coming in short gasps. I grab her around the waist, practically carrying her back to the horse. He's dancing nervously, spooked by Kaia's sudden change in scent.
"Easy, easy," I murmur to him, trying to calm him enough to get Kaia mounted. "We need your help, handsome. Just a little longer."
I manage to get Kaia up into the saddle, though she's barely coherent, making those small whining sounds that tear at my heart. I swing up behind her, wrapping one arm around her waist to keep her stable, taking the reins with my other hand.
"Hold on, princess," I say into her ear. "I'm going to get you somewhere safe."
I kick the horse into motion, urging him forward at a faster pace than is probably wise on unfamiliar terrain. But I don't have a choice. Kaia needs shelter and needs to be somewhere she can ride out this heat without being exposed to whatever dangers might lurk out in the open.
I'm praying that the magic we're feeling is as safe as I think it is. That the welcome warmth I sense isn't a trap. That this place, this beautiful, impossible place, is truly what it appears to be. Because right now, this could be our only hope.
I curse myself for not being more prepared, for not anticipating that her heat might break through the moment we arrived. The suppressants clearly stopped working the moment we crossed some invisible threshold. Maybe it was the pass. Maybe it was the magic. Maybe it was that scale and the scent it carried.
It doesn't matter now. What matters is finding shelter.
The horse gallops down a winding path, and I guide him as best I can while keeping Kaia secure against me. She's trembling, her head lolling back against my shoulder, her scent growing stronger with every passing moment. It's taking all my control not to respond to it, not to let my own body's reactions distract me from the task at hand.
A small cottage comes into view ahead, nestled among the trees. It looks abandoned, or at least unoccupied. I'm about to steer toward it when more clouds shift overhead, revealing what was hidden behind them.
A castle.
Massive and magnificent, built into the mountainside itself. It's made of white stone that seems to glow in the afternoon light, with towers reaching toward the sky and walls that speak of both beauty and strength. It's exactly like the palace from our shared dream. The same architecture, the same proportions, the same sense of grandeur mixed with welcome.
