You need to teach him to fly.
Dani’s words echoed through Tyrez’s head later that day as he strode through the Watcher’s garden. Such a simple concept, but the woman had no idea how those words had torn through his heart.
Of all the terrible things Ash endured while enslaved to Rindek, perhaps the cruelest of all was denying him his Dragon. Without it, he was only half alive. And he’d faced a lifetime of torture with only part of his soul.
The interrogation—how could he call it anything else with the rage his father harbored—had proven just how shattered Ash was. Physically, he progressed. But Cara’s expression as she’d laid her fingers on the Oracle’s temples did not bode well for his mental state.
Tyrez had gotten to him far too late. Rindek’s damage might be irreversible.
Not that Dani’s idea didn’t have merit. But until the Watchers got that collar off, it was a moot point.
Cara had asked him to come early. She’d left Bess working on Ash’s collar. The Watcher and he were supposed to attend a meeting with the council, but it wasn’t scheduled for another three hours.
Apparently, Cara had something to show him.
She waited for him beneath the arbor, and waggled her eyebrows.
“What are you up to, Watcher?”
“Follow me, my scaly lostling,” she said with an air of mystery.
Scaly lostling? He was accustomed to the occasional verbal insult from her, but that was a new one. And, as usual, disturbingly accurate.
She led him off the beaten path and along an overgrown trail. “Where are we going? We should be discussing the meeting.”
Cara didn’t answer, just led him deeper into the garden. Until they reached an archway made of stacked stones.
The gateways in Cara’s garden had many different structures defining them, but he’d never seen this one before. “Where does it go?”
She flashed him a smile. “The human realm has many interesting things to offer. I wish to show you something.”
Tyrez stared at her with some incredulity. “This is not the time for sightseeing.”
“We are not sightseeing.”
He raised a brow. “Then what are we doing?”
“You’ll have to follow me to find out.” She laid small fingers on his arm—and pulled him through the gate.
The scents hit him like a fist—rarely had he smelled so many things at once, and none were familiar. And not just scents, but sound—birds and frogs and insects. At least, he thought they were birds and frogs and insects. He wasn’t one hundred percent certain.
The gate on this side was also framed in stone, but it was natural, not stacked, and barely visible through lush foliage that covered every surface, whether it be horizontal or vertical. Life. Everywhere he looked, and its energy flooded through him.
“Where are we?” he asked.
“Human realm. A place called Papua New Guinea. Or rather, an island just east of it, called New Britain. These are the Nakanai Mountains.”
He looked down at her. “It is quite beautiful. But why are we here?”
Cara closed her eyes and took a deep breath before speaking. “This is a lodestone. An area of intense life essences. The Watchers try to guard every lodestone across the realms, but there are not enough of us to go around. This one often drifts without a guardian. My counterparts in Australia do their best to cover it.”
“This gate is unguarded?” Tyrez looked around. “Doesn’t look like anything other than a monkey might come across it.”
“The area is very remote, but there are small pockets of indigenous populations on each side of these mountains. They avoid this region, though. They sense its energy and have a natural, superstitious fear of it.”
“Cara.” Tyrez waited until she opened her eyes and looked at him. “Why did you bring me here?”
She smiled. “It will be much faster if you get a bit more scaly.”
