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Fel’s impression was that Cynon—or his vessel—would be inside the dome. That dome. All the metal in it called Fel, spoke to him. Reaching out and breaking it would be as easy as grabbing something with his metal hands. So far there were no guards and nobody outside the city, so they were unopposed. For now.
But there could be other problems. “When I destroy the dome, these things will be unleashed, won’t they?”
Tzaria’s voice was grim. “They would be unleashed regardless. I’m sure they’ll break the top of the structure so they can get out and still use it as a portal. The longer you take to break it, the more creatures will come.”
“I’ll be quick. Then what?”
“Fire,” Ekateni said. “If they are the ones I think they are, dragon fire will stop them.”
Fel almost askedwhat if they aren’t, but he figured it was best to focus on the dome for now.
“Leah, where can I leave you?”
“I…” He could sense her fear, her hesitation. Her home was being destroyed, defiled with unimaginable horrors. “I have to go, Fel. I’ll be right back. I have to do this.” She meant going into the hollow. At this time, in this place, when all this was happening? It was madness.
* * *
There wasa secret vault under the Ancient library, and Naia was following Anelise there, after telling most of what she knew about River and Cynon. In retrospect, even some of River’s previous behavior had been odd. His motivation for being in Ironhold had always struck her as flimsy and poorly founded, and then there had been so many little things here and there that made no sense. If he had been slightly affected by something else, it explained a lot—unless she was trying to make excuses for him. This would be the perfect excuse:it wasn’t me. I had an evil voice inside my head.Naia didn’t even know if it was a voice or what.
Anelise had heard her with attention, agreeing with most of her points, then brought her down here. Naia wouldn’t have imagined that she would be following a fae to a secret vault mere days after being imprisoned in this city. But then, Anelise had never threatened her.
They were in a corridor under the library, when the fae said, “To be honest, ambition was something that River never displayed. It was the opposite, in fact: a complete lack of interest and involvement… But then, if he’s a mindmelder and feared his power, I guess it might explain why he didn’t want to use it.”
“What’s the problem with mindmelding? Other than the obvious. I mean, it takes away people’s free will.” And now this power was another weapon now wielded by Cynon.
Anelise paused. “It’s an old kind of magic and only our kind has it, few of us—most of them now gone, thanks to River, who killed them. It was part of our tradition, even if it was not very fae-like. But then again, few ancients can wield that power, and they are born with it. We saw it as a gift to our kind, and mindmelders as special fae. That said, mindmelders had no family or personal interests, they lost their own minds in the years they developed and used that magic. I feel… maybe that’s what River feared: losing his sense of self. Now, that type of magic is confined to the Ancient city. It won’t work elsewhere in Aluria.”
Naia exhaled. This was one piece of good news amid so much despair. “It means River won’t be able to control anyone if he’s not here.”
“I guess not.” Anelise sounded a lot less certain and relieved than Naia would have liked. She ran her hand through her pale hair and sighed. “Do you know how the Ancients came to Aluria?”
“They came…” Naia had studied the history of her land. “About a thousand years ago, right?” She didn’t know much more than that, or why they were the only magical race on their small continent. “I’m not sure about the details.”
“Nine hundred years, to be precise. Do you want to guess the reason we came?”
Naia tried to think. If no other fae or elves were here… “Was there some kind of conflict?”
“Yes. Again, this is not a story we usually tell, and not a story you’ll find in our books, but it’s been passed on in hushed voices through generations, especially among royalty. The Ancients came right after the Great Mage was defeated. That’s where our history gets obscure. It seems that some of our people had some role helping him, something with mindmelding. As a punishment, we were exiled. Our mindmelding and some of our magic was contained to this city. The dragon lords also sent some humans to Aluria and gave them limited magic, so that we wouldn’t grow too powerful.”
The fae let out a bitter chuckle. “I guess it worked. Nobody knows the details of what exactly happened, what our kind did. They kept it hidden so that history would not be repeated. Still, we have relics from that time, from Fernick. These relics could well have been in contact with The Great Mage’s magic, and I’m assuming this Great Mage is the one you’re calling Cynon.”
They were in front of a heavy wooden door. Anelise took a key, spoke some incomprehensible words as she inserted it in a keyhole and turned it, opening the door to reveal a dark room. From the tip of her finger, she sent golden sparkles towards the four corners, reaching lanterns and igniting some kind of light in them. It wasn’t fire that they were burning, but something magical Naia had never seen before.
That eerie golden light illuminated a long, thin table with some objects on them: a golden crown, a cloak, some silver plates, a golden bronze sword. None of them seemed magical, mysterious, or extraordinary in any way.
Before Naia could ask anything, Anelise said, “The red dagger’s missing.” She covered her face with her hands with those dark nails and took a deep breath, then balled her fists and stared at Naia. “I saw it and I knew it. I knew the dagger looked familiar. I knew there was something wrong about it, but then River said it was his…”
“We couldn’t have guessed it.”We, because Naia had also missed obvious signs, had ignored her own voice telling her that something had been amiss. But then, how much could she have done? “And perhaps there was no way to stop him.”
River’s sister shook her head. “Perhaps. And now it’s not as if we can retrace history, understand what happened years ago. I’ve got very few answers. No idea what this dagger was, no idea how to stop Cynon.”
Naia swallowed. “At least we know something. The dragons will know more about it. Maybe they’ll come.” Dragons. A thought hit her. “So this city was made with dragon magic?”
Anelise nodded.
“And connected to Mount Prime? Mount Prime, in Ironhold, now destroyed.” Naia recalled that huge chamber where River had stuck the dagger in a dark rock. “I think they dug Mount Prime and brought it to the Iron Citadel and the earth and rocks they brought had dragon magic. I’m assuming Cynon then used the magic in Ironhold, not in Fernick. Meanwhile, the dragons thought he would never show up in Aluria because they didn’t realize the dragon magic here could be enough. Maybe even… Maybe that was why they kept us apart. Kept the Ancients far from the dragons… So that…” So that… It made sense that perhaps they didn’t want the dragons here, but the answer eluded her. “I don’t know.”
“Perhaps the dragons thought we’d bring Cynon back or something. And yet, despite all their effort, here we are. Stupid dragons.” She looked at Naia. “I mean, sorry. It’s just…” She sighed. “At least they should know we were asleep during all the time Ironhold was concocting their plan, and I’m sure it was Ironhold.”
