Page 25 of What Lies Within Blood & Heirs

That usual uneasy sense he was keeping a burden locked deep inside his mind mingled with the tone of his voice. She crossed her ankles and leaned into the wooden beam. Somehow, she felt him there without needing to go inside his tent. Maybe he sensed her too… wherever he was. She hoped so.

I thought it was clear you wouldn’t go alone the next time you dawned somewhere?

A low hum. She could almost see that irritating smirk cross his face when he taunted,I knew you missed me.

I didn’t say that, mighty bastard.She smiled, hoping he could hear it in her voice.

Always so charming.Garrik sounded distracted, his voice quiet. Not because of the distance, but something … something was not right.Next time,he promised.I will return momentarily. Then you can tell me of all the places you have missed me. Riding Ghost. In your tent.The annulus… Your lips.

A healthy middle finger blasted through her mind, causing a deep laugh from him.I hate you.

I know.He laughed again.See you soon, darling.

He could not imagine ever being there again.

Walking across the frozen lake, staring up at the endless ice mountain that seemed to be made more of crystal than rock and snow.

Garrik willed darkness into his eyes despite feeling no amount of threat, blanketing his vision enough in whorls to shroud the sunlight that reflected off the mountain.

He wondered if he would have to climb it again. And how three years ago he had located thisbeing. His duty a never-ending curse, Magnelis had dispatched him—only him—there in a plot of revenge.

A flash of light beamed directly in the middle of the lake. Perhaps the sun had flared. But he was not foolish enough to find that circumstance as true.

The being he had once sought out stepped from an orb of… Garrik never quite knewwhatthat was.

Beauty far greater than this realm couldeverfathom blessed his gaze as the being’s perfect hands clasped in front of moon-white robes only the Stars Eternal were rumored to fashion. The golden waves of his hair seemed too pure to dwell in this desolate wasteland they called Elysian. Even the air seemed to be an insult to that pristine porcelain skin and the purity behind his glowing opalescent eyes.

The temptation was there—to bow. But the sentiment would likely be laughable. How could he think he was worthy enough to fall before this divinity?

Firekeeper’s realm would not be far enough. Too unclean—too befouled and tainted and sinful—to even be standing in his presence… Again.

Before him, Destiny majestically, invitingly, smiled. “Tenderheart.” But that perfect face of love and peace and light fell, and the fire in his opal eyes softened to mournful grief. “I know why you have come.”

Garrik’s hands trembled, barely able to say the name. “Allseeah.”

“Tell me, son.”

His next breath was one of finality. “Allow me to take her place.”

Winter was on the horizon. Its frigid chill blew in on the steady breeze, disturbing the bright colors of autumn among the tall trees. In the distance, a storm rolled in from the west over a mountain that put Alynthia to shame. Its peaks so high that at a certainelevation, all life had ceased growing, leaving the sharp bedrock jutting through the heavy charcoal clouds.

Alora could smell snow. Almost taste it.

Fourtress.

A magical mountain plagued with four seasons that changed with no consistent timeline laid before them. Waiting. Taunting. Ready to swallow them whole and claim the lives of anyone who entered.

The tales were written that a once powerful being from the bloodline of Moon himself once made the mountain a home. Deep within its tunnels and layers, the stones hid great treasures. The being, careful to keep what he deemed belonged to him, had built-in safeguards and intricate pathways to keep wanderers out.

Or keep them locked inside forever, never to return home.

And they planned on walking right through the front door.

Excluding Eldacar, the Shadow Order had dawned as far as the warded landscape permitted a week later. Apparently, the being drew pleasure from surveilling intruders from afar. To see them struggle up the mountain before finding their fate within his maze.

But they had meticulously planned for this.

Alora had spent the better part of the week in Eldacar’s library not only practicing a new tongue but learning about starfire—or whatlittlewas known about it. The tomes and histories in his collection and knowledge revealed next to nothing of her powers. They only knew that the Evening Star herself had never blessed anyone with such a gift. If it wasn’t for Kerimkhar, they would’ve never known it existed within Alora.

---