AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Now wait just a damn minute!” I yelled as the temple guards peeled themselves from their posts in the garden and along the temple walls, steel ringing through the air as they drew their swords. “We’re not the enemy! I’m one of you!”
“One of us?” the dragon sneered. “Don’t make me laugh. You’re a fae! How could you be one of us?”
Quye swept a hand wide and spun in a circle, knocking back the guards before they could reach us. Unfortunately, she knocked the priests over as well, and they all landed in a heap of tangled limbs. Knowing I only had seconds before the dragon unleashed his rage on us, I drew a circle in the air and snapped my fingers. A ring of fire sprang up around the group, and they began shouting frantically, scurrying as close as they could to the center to get away from the rising tongues of flame.
“Fire magic?” the dragon stared at me through the flames, his face slack with shock. A few seconds passed before he remembered himself, and then he banished the ring of fire with an angry flick of his hand. “That’s impossible. You’re a water fae!”
“I am,” I agreed, igniting another flame in the palm of my hand. I casually bounced it from one hand to the other, watching his face for any reaction. “But I’m also the daughter of Prince Daryan, which makes me half-dragon. And therefore, makes me one of you.”
The dragon’s eyes narrowed as he got to his feet. “Stand down,” he told the guards, and they reluctantly sheathed their swords. He crossed the distance between us until we were mere inches apart, and I tried not to betray my nerves as he studied me closely.
“You don’t bear much resemblance to Daryan,” he finally said.
“Maybe not,” I agreed, pushing the sleeve of my dress up to reveal the golden cuff clasped to my bicep. The dragon sucked in a breath as the red primal stone set in the center glinted in the afternoon sunlight, and I resisted the urge to give him a smug smile. “But I think you’ll recognize this.”
“I don’t believe this,” the dragon snarled. He tried to snatch the cuff from my bicep, but I jumped back, out of his reach. “You must have stolen that cuff somehow, along with the fire magic inside it. Guards!” he yelled again.
“Stop!” a feminine voice cried, and the guards came to a halt. A hushed silence fell as a priestess stepped out of the moon goddess temple, and my breath caught as I took her in. She was the most regal female I’d ever seen, with deep, piercing silver eyes, elegant features, and power that radiated from the crown of her midnight hair to the tips of her violet-painted toenails. She wore a flowing robe that seemed spun from moonlight, embroidered with intricate silver embroidery depicting the moon in all its phases, and around her neck hung a crescent moonstone pendant.
“That’s Anuket,” Nysa hissed in my ear. “High Priestess of Aahuti!”
“These two may not be children of the Sobek-Ra,” the high priestess said in her melodious voice, “but they are clearly powerful in their own right. We dare not risk offending the god or goddess they serve. I will take them into my custody and question them beneath the light of the moon goddess, so that I may discern the truth.”
“This is preposterous!” the dragon spluttered. “These two aren’t servants of the moon goddess, they are—”
He cut himself off, as if realizing he had said too much. The other priests stared at him expectantly, but he clenched his jaw and shook his head. “There will be a reckoning for this,” he warned the moon goddess priestess. “You should hand these two over to the Cult of Sobek, before it’s too late.”
“My goddess will protect me,” the priestess said coolly. “And as you are currently on her temple grounds, you have no authority here. Please leave at once.”
Cursing under his breath, the dragon stalked away, but not before leveling me with a malevolent glare that threatened to singe the hair on my exposed arm. Hastily, I yanked my sleeve back down, covering the golden cuff he’d tried to rip off me moments ago. The other priests reluctantly dispersed as well, but I knew they’d come sniffing for information later, once the priestess had finished speaking to us.
“Come,” she told us, then turned away in a swirl of silvery-white robes. Her long hair rippled in glossy waves behind her as she walked toward the temple. “You may take shelter in here until nightfall.”
Nysa, unfortunately, could not accompany us, so we said farewell to her, then followed the priestess past the twin foxes guarding the entrance and into the temple. The air inside was cool and musty and quiet, the only sound the soft whisper of the priestess’s sandals on the floor as she glided ahead of us. We walked past rows of statues of the moon goddess, some seated, some standing, some with outstretched arms, while others held objects like the moon, the stars, or the desert fox.
But none of these compared to the statue rising from the center of the temple, a fifteen-foot tall depiction of Aahuti in gleaming white marble. Her serene face was tilted skyward, her arms spread wide in welcome, offerings of flowers and candles gathered at her feet. I followed her gaze to the massive oculus set into the center of the ceiling. The oculus was fitted with a glass window, and there was a tarp draped over it to shield the temple from the harsh sunlight. But I imagined that when the acolytes removed it at night, moonlight would bathe the goddess's face.
As we walked, I noticed various rectangular doorways were set at intervals along the hall, leading to prayer and meditation rooms. Between these doorways were colorful murals depicting scenes from the moon goddess's mythology.
“This is a beautiful place of worship,” Quye told the priestess, her tone filled with a reverence I’d never heard from her. Her silvery eyes, similar to the priestess’s own irises, sparkled as she took in a mural of the moon goddess holding back the tide of chaos with a crescent-shaped shield. “Thank you for giving us sanctuary.”
“You are more than welcome.” The priestess smiled, turning to look at Quye over her shoulder. “If I didn’t know better, I would think you were a child of Aahuti yourself.”
Quye grinned. “I’m a child of air, not night. But I appreciate the compliment.”
The high priestess handed us off to a temple attendant, a tiny female called Tuya. “Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to roam through the temple at this time,” she told us, “So I will leave you in Tuya’s care. She will attend to your needs and ensure you are kept safe.”
I wanted to balk at that, but really, what choice did we have? I wasn’t certain about Anuket’s motives, but at least she wasn’t trying to kill us. “Thank you,” I said instead. “We appreciate your hospitality.”
The high priestess left us in a swirl of silvery robes, and the temple attendant led us to a salon off the main hall. The salon was inviting enough, but the guard posted outside the door reminded me we were not honored guests. He was there as much to prevent us from leaving as he was to keep us safe.
“Well, this is a mess,” Quye said as she reclined on one of the couches. At least our prison was a comfortable one, and the temple attendant had provided us with tea and snacks. “It looks like the dragons who moved here are now affiliated with the Cult of Sobek, and they’re not at all keen on helping us.”
“Well, we knew we’d meet some resistance,” I said, sipping on my tea. It was hot and fragrant, but I hardly noticed the flavor, too preoccupied with my nerves. “The dragons fled Ediria to escape the fae, yet here two of us are, looking for them. It’s only natural for them to be suspicious.”
“Yes,” Quye agreed, “but there was something off about that dragon in his fancy gold robes. He was afraid of us, yes, but he was also hiding something, something he didn’t want the priests to find out. I wonder if our presence is threatening to expose whatever this secret is, and that’s the real reason he tried to have us killed on sight.”
“Well, that’s disturbing.” I wracked my brains, trying to think what that might be, but I couldn’t come up with anything tangible. “I wish Nysa had given us more information about the Crocodile God and his followers.”
