Page 208 of Gift from the Wing

Deliver the information for me to embrace.’”

Without an ounce of hesitation or really any consideration, I call my magic forth and repeat her words.

The air in my lungs empties with my gasp, and I clutch my head as the words that are beginning to scribble out on the page are also scribbled across my mind. My eyes shift back and forth so fast, it’s dizzying, and I have to look away from the book until the madness in my brain settles down.

The pages of the book flip repeatedly with no command from me or flick of my fingers, and as soon as it stops on an empty cream parchment, my mind stops moving as well.

“That’s a nifty little gift you got from your dragon Nexus member, my girl. I’m a tad jealous I didn’t get to learn this way.

Everything you need you should have in your mind now, but it’s written here as well. I like the feeling of a book in my hand, and I figured maybe you would too, so I wanted it here for you if you ever felt like sitting down and reading.

Take a little break and process what you just learned. I’ll be here, ready to discuss it and move on to the next mini lesson whenever you are.

I love you, filia mea.

Momma xoxo”

My body falls motionless, as do my tears finally, but my mind doesn’t. Not with what feels like centuries’ worth of information on the locations of the portals now settling in.

I can see the map of Elementra clearly as though I graphed it out myself.

In Aeradora, mixed within the massive Everest Trees, is one that the bark is cracked and breaking apart, but I can see it for what the large rectangular outline was. The twenty-five-foot doorway stood tall andshimmering green once before. The giants of Colosyree would pass in and out through there.

A swirling indigo pool, littered with sparkles now sits stagnant, dull, in a secret stream in the heart of Aquaria. Long ago, beings as beautiful and gorgeous as Aurora would step out of that water, glowing as though they always bathed in radiance. Not only beings that the nonmagical would consider angels but also demons. Shadows that almost match mine sit on top of the water like morning fog. That’s the way to the Valorian Veil.

If you look closely enough, you can see a path carved out through the rocky, volcanic terrain of Pyrathia. Through those sharp turns, and possibly falling rocks, you’ll come to what now just looks like an intricate stacking of stones. It used to be an archway adorned with glowing runes, leading you right into the heart of Mystara Hollow.

At the farthest end of Terian, where it borders Central territory, there’s a huge cave mouth that looks home to the deadliest animals that may live in the forest. Its foreboding aura wards people away, but there’s beauty in the structure of the cave. Prior to its gloomy appearance, the glow that the portal gave off from the back wall used to resemble light reflecting off gems. It created quite an art display.

The most astonishing thing about that cave is if it were only one hundred more feet inward, crossing the Central line, it would be in the Forsaken Forest. Where the residents who came out of the Essemist Keep portal now live.

Instead, they’re trapped, one hundred feet from their way home, guarding the last of the portals.

Why it was such a shock to everyone when we found out from the Terravile elders that there was a portal in the Forsaken Forest is obvious now.

It’s unrecognizable.

It used to be a lush, brilliant, and blooming forest, with animals, flowers, streams, everything. It was one of the most enchanting forests I’ve ever laid my eyes on in this entire realm. Those gnarled and twisted trees we saw when we went in have always been that way, but they had canopies thathung down to the ground, creating a secret escape and the most enticing place to explore or even relax.

Two things dawn on me as I metaphorically put my map up in my mind. Both realizations make me jump up, needing to find the guys, Gaster, Oakly, everyone.

Commanding my earth element to release the branches so I can be free of my hideaway, I race through the opening as soon as my tree stands back tall. I don’t have to search far for my people, though. They’re all standing in my lounge, waiting for me.

I can’t contain the huge smile that crosses my face. It’s so contradictory to the worried and concerned mask they all have written on their features.

Draken’s eyes are the first to light when he looks down at what’s in my hand. “You got your book open,” he says excitedly.

“It’s not just any old book or diary or anything I assumed it could’ve been,” I breathe heavily as a laugh tumbles out of me. “It’s my communal knowledge. She complied generations’ worth of knowledge of who and what my family line is. She and Elementra handcrafted lessons for me to learn as we go.”

His jaw falls toward the floor as he stares at me in astonishment. My gaze travels across the others and I chuckle at the mixture of responses I’m seeing.

There’s a twitch on Caspian’s lips that screams, told you so. It doesn’t hide the shock in his whiskey eyes, though. Tillman’s face is full of relief like he was battling not to reach out to me mentally while I was in there. Now that he knows everything’s fine, his pride is starting to show.

Corentin is…huh.

Excited.

Studying his face, he’s trying his hardest to keep a blank mask on, but I see right through it, and I burst out laughing. Crumbling that hard-ass exterior right down with the sound.

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