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“I must give my thanks, warriors. We could not have conquered this first obstacle of the Rite without you. I never imagined we could achieve such an outcome.”
“Not me,” Ere said, “I’m not a warrior, just Sorin here. He’s warrior enough for the both of us. But I appreciate your sentiments nevertheless, though Divina is the one you should really thank. Her solution was brilliant. Win-win all around.”
Chiron looked over fondly at Andros and Divina, who had pulled much farther ahead than the rest of their group.
“Our prince has chosen a worthy mate. I pray she will fully accept him before long.”
Ere cocked his head a little.
“How can you tell she hasn’t already?”
Chiron looked back at Sorin and Ere with consideration and didn’t speak for some moments.
Finally, he said slowly, thoughtfully, “You are strangers in these lands. I can sense strong magic in you, as well as in your female friend. Even her pup. What brings you here?”
He didn’t answer the question, but Sorin knew what he meant.
How could he be sure Divina intended to stay with Andros? None of them knew. According to the Jade Emperor’s rules, no one on the quest could stay in the time and place they were sent.
But then, rules could be broken. As Rui had done with Wolfe.
“We’re on a quest,” Ere replied.
Sorin could practically feel his razor-sharp mind whirring, calculating how much he should reveal. Ere always knew what to say, the best course of action to take. Sorin simply waited for him to reach his conclusions.
“You’re correct. We aren’t from these lands or anywhere near here. And we don’t plan to stay long.”
“What are you looking for?” it was Ariana who asked this.
“A song,” Ere replied in a rueful tone.
Ariana and Chiron exchanged looks of bewilderment.
“What kind of song?” Ariana delved deeper.
“There are many creatures who sing beautifully in these parts, and those whose songs are like weapons. Sirens, mermaids, harpies, nymphs…they all have songs. There are regular and magical instruments that can be used to create music too. Lyres, flutes, harps. So many.”
Sorin saw the grimace on Ere’s profile before he spoke.
“Well, the thing is…we don’t know exactly what song we’re looking for. Just that it’s called the Song of Destiny. We were sent here to ‘find the horn. Storm the mountain. Retrieve the lyre. Gather the fleece. And bring back the song.’”
He shrugged.
“Any ideas?”
Ariana nodded as if she had a great many ideas, her eyes alighting with keen intelligence.
“Indeed! Starting with the horn, I suppose it could mean the Horn of Plenty, which is what the centaurs keep in the Pelion Mountains.”
“So I’ve heard,” Ere said. “Hence, the serendipity of running into you lot.”
He gestured with a sweep of his hand toward Chiron and the centaur troop trailing behind them with their women.
“But the horn is not for making songs,” Chiron said. “You cannot take it with you. It is our succor during times of droughts and poor harvests.”
Ere didn’t mention Andros’ promise, Sorin noticed. Smart man.
“I get that,” he said instead. “And given that it’s not really a musical instrument, I doubt it helps us with the Song. My sense is that the order of our…shall we say—ambiguous instructions—matters. Taken at face value, perhaps we’re meant to do these activities in sequence, like a checklist.”
