Lethe sent another blast at me, and I dove. That was when I heard Nell’s scream. Too late, too distracted. By the time I had turned, Lethe had already sent a disc of ice spinning from the cloud he had exhaled. It intersected the bolt of ice whistling its way toward Nell. Both objects crashed and showered down onto the beach; I saw that Michelle was wounded, the harpies had all but abandoned us, and Nell had rolled away and covered her head, leaving the astrolabe unattended between the two of them.
I was becoming too stiff, even though it wasn’t snowing, to continue this fight—but the sight of the astrolabe, lying between the two girls on the sand of the beach, renewed my vigor. It was not only a pivotal tool to the Aena dynasty, but it was the exact precious lure that a mad king would pursue into even the most treacherous depths. I pulled beyond Lethe and zeroed in on the beach, allowing the dull gleam of those interlocking spheres to become my focal point. My talons stretched forward. Silver Vulott went into a similar dive in an attempt to reach the astrolabe first—but Altair sent a plume of fire after him, and Vulott shrieked, thrown off-course.
I skimmed the wet sand of the lakeshore, bringing the astrolabe up in my claws, and then carried it over the lake again.
I knew—I had heard—that the Aena dynasty had used this astrolabe to manipulate the climate of The Hearthlands to be suitable to fire dragons, just as the Eraeus dynasty had used it to create a climate more hospitable to their own people. But now that the city had been burnt to a husk, and almost everyone on either side had vacated the region, it seemed silly and petty to hold on to it. I cast a look at the beach, where Nell was still huddled. Cold. She needed me. And that made the astrolabe all the pettier.
I relaxed my talons open and allowed its interlocking discs to whistle through the sky, plummeting down into the lake waters below. It winked in the silvery moonlight and then vanished into the tumultuous tunnel of what the people of Earth called “Beggar’s Hole”—the phenomenon the town itself was named after… and what others called the gate of the ghouls.
Lethe did not pursue the astrolabe, but watched it disappear into the dark froth of the lake. He did not cry out as Vulott flexed his talons and zoomed downward, his eyes steadfast on the disappearing gleam of silver as it went deeper and deeper into the whirlpool. I assumed that he did not realize, or did not remember, into what dimension his father had just plunged.
I looked at Nell on the beach. She was still cradling her head… but her eyes had raised to scan the lake’s shore. To determine the source of the mighty crash made by Vulott’s descent into the whirlpool.
I went to her without the sense of urgency I had felt before. We were safe now. The sole survivor of the Eraeus dynasty was her friend; he did not pursue me as I advanced on the beach. He did not seek to extricate his father as the silver beast swirled down into the shadowy vortex.
A deep, echoing moan filtered up from the portal, as if a hungry beast had been fed, but I didn’t look back. I knew enough of the realm of the ghouls to know that if they did emerge from that powerful vortex, it would be a sight best ignored, if not from which to flee. I focused on Nell and landed over her, steadily shrinking into the form she knew best: the human Theon. My hand still bore partial talons and patches of black scales as I stretched it out and gently brushed the hair from her cheek. Her eyelashes kissed closed, and she leaned into my palm, smiling. I wrapped my free arm around her, letting the chill of her body melt away beneath my touch.
“It’s over,” I whispered to her, cradling her against me. She shuddered and murmured, but the murmur didn’t seem too alarmed.
“It’s not over,” she replied. “There is still a queen and a king to be… in a ruined and empty city.”
I smiled and tilted her face to gaze into mine. I needed to see her eyes and know that she was thoughtful, but not dismayed. “Not ruined,” I promised her. “Only… battered. And not empty, either. We will rebuild the land with the remnants of our people, and the others will return. The Hearthlands are beautiful. The country will not fall into disrepair, and it will never be forgotten. Not while we are at its helm.” I leaned and pressed my lips to her cold ones. The heat of our bodies together formed a halo which surrounded us, and it wasn’t until the mewling of a crying woman shattered our solace that I remembered the harpies, and the ice prince, and Altair, all around us.
Theon
“Oh, Theon,” Michelle called out.
Knowing these harpies, it was entirely likely that she would find her chakras infected now, and without the tender touch of a dragon to heal her, the only cure would be a strict regimen of meditation… something she and her human doctor would have to figure out by themselves. However—naturally—her primary concern with the scratch was that it marred her complexion. She kept one hand up to shield the imperfection from view. “I’m so sorry,” she went on, lurching to a stand and approaching Nell and me. Meanwhile, both Altair and Lethe filtered back to the beach, shifting as they came. All of us were nude, and it was unfortunate, in this weather. It would help if we could get cleaned up at a nearby home. “I was—forced!” she exclaimed, pointing at Lethe as he stared back at her with a blank look of surprise. “I didn’t want to—you know that I was loyal—!”