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He bore down on me with a snarl, steam pouring from his snout and fogging my face. You do not tell me what to do.
“Apologize,” I pressed, knowing I was crossing into dangerous territory by further angering him. “Tell her how much they mean to you. Don’t you want to reconcile with your family? To get to know Triss?”
He raised his snakelike neck, looking down at me as if I’d plunged a spear through his chest. Of course I do!
Refusing to cower, I craned my neck while giving him a pleading look. “Then don’t stop trying until she forgives you.”
Tari
I TOSSED AND TURNED all night, hardly sleeping, knowing I’d have to part from my babies and Finn. What if something happened while we were gone? What if demons attacked them? Yes, they were being protected by thousands of wyverns, and even Nikkos had agreed to stay behind and help Finn watch them. But what if they weren’t enough? We didn’t know the full strength of these demons. All I knew was they were able to wipe out entire human towns, and if they had already infected Helian, Thorin, a duke, and several fire mages, there was no telling their limits. What if they infected the wyverns? Or Finn and Nikkos? Who would protect my children then?
After barely finishing a glass of juice and then promptly throwing it back up, I wordlessly took a sponge bath with Shiri and the girls.
My sister didn’t speak either, save for one thought she projected into my head. I’m going to miss them.
I was too upset to answer, even through thought, as I fought to hold in my tears. My sister and I braided each other’s hair, knowing the wind would whip it into tangles if we wore it down. After we both fussed overly long on dressing the girls, we were finally chased out of the bathing room by our impatient mates.
I hadn’t taken a few steps out of the bathing chamber when I had to race back inside and vomit again. I tried to reassure my mates it was only morning sickness, but I feared it was more than that—a premonition that something bad would happen to my children. As far as I knew, I didn’t have seer powers, so I prayed I was worrying for nothing.
But what if I wasn’t?
Shiri and I changed into sturdy homespun dresses given to us by the satyrs. They were made of coarse wool that itched our skin, but they had pockets and fit me better than the dresses I’d found at Peloponese.
Ash refused to let me walk, so I clung to him as he carried me into the great hall where the satyrs had prepared a send-off breakfast feast. The hall was decorated once more with beautiful flowers as golden candlelight made the cavern resemble a faery garden. Isa and Triss sat on the wide, flat stone slab and slurped down a platter of large fish. Triss seemed more anxious than usual, her gaze constantly flickering toward the ramp that led to the outside, and I realized she was probably worried about her mother leaving.
The long tables were laden with a breakfast that was a feast fit for an army with juices of all flavors, many sweet and fragrant tarts, different kinds of smoked fish, and pickled vegetables. The satyrs joined us, making a merry breakfast with laughter and music. I managed to eat one tart before burping up bile, deciding not to test my luck, though I spied Ash packing tarts and smoked fish into his satchel.
When Esther walked onto the dais, Isa curled up like a hound beside a hearth, her curious gaze focused on the satyr. Triss slipped off the slab, her tail dragging as she snuck away from her mother. I wondered if I should tell Isa when Triss faded into the shadows, quickly scurrying up the ramp.
But then Esther cleared her throat, and a hush fell about the cavern.
Esther’s stony gaze swept the room before slowing when she reached my sister and me, and a strange feeling crept over me, as if thousands of insects were burrowing into my skin.
“For centuries the satyrs have guarded and maintained this temple of Maiadra.” Esther motioned to the slate walls behind her. “Knowing one day we would need to prepare for the coming of her successors.”
I fought the urge to crawl out of my skin when she looked at me.
“What you may not realize is that we weren’t just tasked to keep Maiadra’s memory alive through scriptures and stories,” she continued. “We were also charged with retelling the story of the elements.”
A shiver stole up my spine as I shared a look with my sister. Somehow, I knew what Esther was about to tell us would be momentous.
“Thousands of years ago,” Esther continued, “there were no Fae-kind, only humans living in a world of chaos where monster waves destroyed villages along the shorelines, ice and snow battered mountaintops, and fires swept across the jungles and forests. The elements were primitive then, but they knew enough that the world would never be at peace if they couldn’t be contained, so they created the first goddesses, or white witches, to wield the elements into harmony.”
My sister gave me a look, one that said we weren’t doing a very good job of it. “There were three that ruled, one over sea, another over land, and one over sky. Their descendants eventually became the Fae. With so many magical creatures, the elements were finally tamed, and the world was at peace. There were no demons then.” She flashed a tight smile that didn’t mask the fear reflecting in her eyes. “Those creatures were inhabitants of another dimension far removed from the world we called Lyria.” She visibly swallowed, her hands shaking as she smoothed them down her sides. “There is no accurate translation for the world they came from, but some call it ‘hell,’ a dark, painful place, its inhabitants forced to dwell in eternal fire.”
I clutched my roiling gut.
“But long before the demons,” she continued, “the goddesses ruled without threat or fear, wielding the elements to do as they commanded, until one day a human witch opened a portal into another dimension. It was then the first demons came into this world. These vile creatures butchered villages, burned forests, polluted oceans, while destroying the harmony that the goddesses had worked so hard to maintain.”
I winced when Ember and Aurora gasped, pressing up against Finn.
Should they be listening to this? I projected to my mates.
We can’t hide the truth from them, Ash projected, his mouth twisting into a scowl. It’s safer for them to know should they ever face demons.
My stomach roiled at the thought of my children facing demons, and I thought again that it was a mistake to leave them behind.
Esther leaned forward on the dais, digging her knuckles into the podium. “Many lives were lost when humans and Fae fought to drive the demons back into their dimension, leaving both races bitter while blaming each other. In the end, humans and Fae could no longer live together in peace, so the goddess Kyan created the Periculian Mountains to divide the two races. Only a few humans remained with the Fae, but all Fae or witches caught in the human lands were executed.”
