Page 53 of Bonded Ever After

“I do too, which makes me not trust it.”

She laughs. “But wouldn’t it be nice if this is really what it’s like?”

I consider that for the first time. If the Cloud Realm is really this nice… If it’s really a place that’s safe, with an abundance of food and water, we absolutely should settle down here. We shouldn’t keep going and hoping we can find a better place.

But I can’t say that to Elora yet. Her heart is set on finding our dads and finding the source of the goldarium. Besides, I still don’t know enough about this realm to trust it.

As we continue, Elora points to a tree near our path. “Is that… more goldarium?”

We come closer and, sure enough, it’s goldarium. Several large pieces are just dripping from the leaves of the tree.

“It’s strange though, I don’t feel the same pulling and tugging as I did with the goldarium in the past,” I say, realizing it at the same time as I say it aloud.

“I think maybe that’s because it’s everywhere here.” She does a spin around her. “I mean, don’t you feel it? This whole realm is calling to us.”

Frowning, I try to feel what she does, but I don’t. I just feel an overwhelming need to keep Elora, and our baby, safe and happy. I’m on alert for anything that might hurt her. I don’t have it in me to feel some deep yearning for something I don’t understand.

“Could this be the place we’ve been looking for?” I suggest, even though I’m not sure.

Elora thinks for a minute. “No, not yet, but we’re close.”

Thewe’re closecalms me a little. We need to stop chasing a dream. Instead, we should be settling down. Building a home. Learning to live off of the land and creating a safe place for a child.

But thenot yetmeans we’re going to keep going.

Up ahead, one of the bunny-squirrel things crosses our path, looking at us with innocent eyes before darting into the bushes once more.

“I guess those things aren’t dangerous to us,” I say, since it could come on the path.

Elora nods. “Not that they look dangerous.”

As the afternoon turns to evening, more and more creatures walk on our path, to the point where I start to wonder if we’re protected fromanythingon this path any more.Is everything just safe here? Or is the path not protecting us any longer?

“Elora…”

“I know,” she says softly. “The path might not be working.”

We hold hands, but my free hand is on my sword. If anything tries to hurt Elora, it’ll regret it.

Up ahead, a cabin separates itself from the trees. We hurry toward it, grateful to see something familiar in this strange new landscape. This landscape may be more dangerous than any we’ve encountered before, because our paths might not be safe here. But as we get closer to the cabin, we realize something is wrong.

“It looks… different,” Elora says, and there’s nervousness in voice.

“It does. But it’s still a cabin.”

We reach the cabin and just stare at it. It’s made with white wood, something no Gold Keeper cabin has ever been builtwith before. There are cute little windows with shutters and the door has been painted blue, although the color has faded. Cobwebs are gathered in the corners of the windows and the door, something that doesn’t happen with cabins made out of goldarium.

“What is this?” I ask.

Elora shakes her head. “Let’s go in and check it out.”

My muscles tense. “Maybe I should go in and check it out, and you should stay out here.”

She rolls her eyes, goes to the handle, and pushes it open.

I’m by her side in an instant, my hand on the handle of my sword. We creep into the darkness and see… a tiny house. It’s different from a Gold Keepers’ cabin, with rooms in the back hidden by curtains that are partially open. One of the rooms was clearly a baby’s room with a little bassinet and a rocking chair. The other room has a large bed and nightstands. There’s a four person table by the fire, a little kitchen, and… it all seems to have been made by hand.

“What is this?” she asks.

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