“You poor thing! Here, drink this,” the same girl commanded.
A cup was pressed against my lips. It felt cold—metal. Gold? The liquid inside smelled like wet moss. I took a sip anyway, because being poisoned might feel like an improvement. It slid down my throat in a gob.
“Oh, this is so exciting!” the girl said. “On my watch! And so soon after the other one! Worm said it would never happen, but I told him you can’t predict—”
“Other one?” I tried to ask, but a cough shook my body.
“Shh, you’re all right. Breathe. In, out.” She patted my shoulder. “You’ve had a frightening journey, but you’re free of the darkness now and safe. Can you tell me your name?”
“Sky.” My voice sounded rough. I coughed and tried again. “Sky Hawkins. My mother…she’s supposed to be here. Anabeth Hawkins. Is she here?”
“Stay here. I’ll send out word. Now, no more worries. Rest! You’re in a place of peace.” Footsteps retreated.
There was a cool breeze on my skin, and the air smelled odd. Like spring flowers and apples, except sharper. I should have asked questions: Where am I? Who are you? What happened? How do I get home? But all I wanted was to see my mom.
It occurred to me that she—whoever she was—hadn’t actually said whether Mom was here, just that she’d “send out word.”
A few minutes later, I realized that the pain had begun to fade. I only felt like I’d rolled down a hill covered in rocks and pointy sticks. Sitting up, I cracked open my eyes.
It was dark, except for the glow from the jewel. The milky orb sat on a pedestal of black stone that looked as if it had grown out of the floor. Pushing myself up to my feet, I toddled over to it, but I didn’t touch it. How could it be here and also in Ryan’s family’s vault?
Stupid question.
It was adoor.And I was on the other side of it.
And maybe Mom was too!
As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I saw that the door and I were in a windowless room that dripped with wealth. The walls, as much as I could see of them, were covered in a mosaic of jewels—diamonds, sapphires, rubies. The floor and ceiling were sheathed in gold.
An archway led to a corridor. It was lit with sconces with candles inside, and the light bounced off the jeweled walls, making it look like the inside of a lava lamp, slowly writhing as a breeze breathed through the passage. I followed the source of the breeze.
Up ahead, I heard voices.
Friendly voices?
I couldn’t tell. It didn’t sound like anyone was cackling evilly, which meant that if I was at the mercy of murderers, then at least they weren’t being clichéd about it.
My heart beat fast, and I wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans.Don’t be scared,I told myself. No one had hurt me while I lay in pain. The unknown girl had been kind. Even oddly excited to see me. But I couldn’t stop feeling as if my insides were churning.
The air tasted wrong.
Inching forward, I saw light ahead, actual sunlight, not the reflected candlelight that was dancing across the walls and making me feel seasick. Wherever I was, it was daytime. I went toward the sunlight.
Soon I heard more sounds. Birdcalls instead of voices, but not from any bird that I’d ever heard. Closer to the end of the corridor, the air tasted like flowers and frost and fire, charred trees and fresh soil and roses. It was sharper and cleaner than any air I’d ever breathed before. Emerging through a gold-encrusted archway, I stopped and stared.
I was on a cliff on the side of a mountain.
Spread before me was a valley, and it was filled with dragons: gold, emerald, and sapphire, winging freely in the sunlight, the sun glinting off their scales. Below in the lush green, a herd of unicorns—yes, actual unicorns with pointy, sparkly horns; Gabriela would have shrieked—raced next to a burbling brook. It looked like a tapestry come to life, or like the cover of a cheesy old paperback, but here, real, in brilliant colors that made my eyes water.
And I couldn’t help the thought that went through my mind:I’m dead.
I’d walked through the Door and died, and this was heaven. I looked down. I was on a cliff. A few feet forward, the rocks ended in a plunge all the way down to the green valley and a snaking blue river.
The birdcalls echoed, and then I realized they weren’t birds at all—they were the dragons, picking up the calls and amplifying them. Dragons, as plentiful as birds, swooped through the air, skimming the trees below and soaring up to the clouds. It felt like watching fireworks, but they didn’t fizzle or fade. I’d never seen so many wyverns flying so freely and openly in daylight.
Honestly, I’d never seen even one wyvern in his or her dragon form. We’d lost the ability to transform over time—the skill was forgotten and the talent died.
But here were lots of dragons.
