Keth shook his head. “The cavern has remained untouched since long before my time—it goes back generations of monks, and guarding it has only been one of our duties, but one we have taken seriously. But there are servants along the way who will challenge you. We can give you no help. You must face and defeat them, or you will die on the crag.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Dying was not part of the plan, and given the elevation, chances were that trolls or ogres wandered the mountains around here. Possibly giants as well. Even if they were half-giants, they’d still be trouble.
“We’ll leave as soon as possible. I have no choice. We’ll have to face whatever is waiting for us.”
He took out a piece of parchment. “Then I will translate the incantation for you now. I’ll write it in modern Melosealfôr, as well as write a pronunciation guide to say the words in the ancient form. You may need to do that instead.”
I turned to the others. “Chase, I hate the idea of taking you up there with me, but every instinct I have is screaming that you must be a part of this. Venus, you have to go, too.”
Chase set his lips in a thin line, but nodded.
I was beginning to sense something unfolding that I really didn’t want to think about, because it would shift so much in our private world, but the feeling wouldn’t leave me. Chase had to be there. Chase was part elf. And Chase had drunk the Nectar of Life. I wasn’t clear on what was going on, but whatever it was, it was going to be yet another wide bend in the journey.
Delilah seemed to sense the same thing too, because she placed her hand on Chase’s arm. “We’ll be there to help. Whatever this is.”
Venus shrugged. “You are going to be my queen, Camille. I will do anything I can to help you. But what are we going to do about Rozurial and Trillian? We left them back at the edge of the foothills.”
“That’s over a week’s journey on foot. They have to know we aren’t coming right back. I guess…we have to trust that they’ll be all right until we find the diamond. There’s no way we can go back for them now, unless we’re willing to leave the horses to fate. They’re not used to running free.”
Bran shook his head. “No, without someone to watch over them, they’d be lunch for some monster within days. Predators abound in the Deep, and in the foothills. Although I suppose you could give them to one of the families that live along the river, but even that much travel would put us a day behind.”
“And we don’t know that they’d be well treated. Though frankly, I don’t think the dwarves are all that concerned about their well-being either. No, we climb the mountain without them. I wish our cell phones worked over here.” Whispering Mirrors were all well and good, but they weren’t portable and they didn’t make up for the lack of a good communications system.
“If you like, when you return, one of the dragons can fly two of my monks down to where your friends and horses are waiting. We will take care of the animals and bring them up the mountains to our monastery, while the rest of you fly down to Svartalfheim, the closest city from here.” Keth shrugged. “Otherwise, it will take you over a week to make your way out of the mountains if you go on foot. And if you’re to take the throne at midsummer, you can’t afford that much time.”
I nodded. “He’s right. All right, we go to the cavern, find the diamond, and then Smoky, you can fly two of the monks down to the horses, then bring back Roz, Trillian, and our gear. Then we fly to Svartalfheim, and go through a portal to the Wayfarer.”
Keth glanced over to the wall. There was a clock of sorts, though it ran on Otherworld time, which was very much like Earthside time but counted in longer increments than minutes.
“During the night, the dangers on the mountain increase. Be prepared. The ghosts come out at night. The Cavernica Redal is a day’s climb up the mountain. If I were you, I’d start out at sunrise. Your dragon wings will not take you there. The peak has been off limits to dragons for many many years, through a treaty, and that treaty is magically reinforced. A dragon who flies too close to the mountain top will fall out of the sky. You’re lucky you didn’t attempt it on coming in.”
Smoky looked at me. “It’s up to you. Now, or sunrise? This is your journey, Camille. We’re just here to back you up.”
I didn’t want to face monsters. I didn’t want to travel in the dark. But an urgency inside pushed me to make haste, to hurry up and get on that mountainside before dusk fell. Whether it was my own insecurity or a premonition, I didn’t know. But I did know that the more I followed my gut, the better off my life went, even if it wasn’t the easiest choice.