Page 186 of Of Empires and Dust

At the end of the path was a plateau with eight of the white stone buildings sitting atop it. By the time they reached the plateau, her hands were shaking, a ringing noise had set into her head, and she had become acutely aware of the beats of her heart. Her true heart.

“In there,” she said, gesturing towards one of the white buildings set with its back to the rock face. It called to her, the air shimmering and rippling around it, and as she focused her gaze, the sounds of the world drowned out and her beating heart was all she could hear. That place was her counterpoint in the waking world; she was sure of it. Inside that building was her one and only chance of returning to Calen, Haem, and Faenir.

“Yes,” Aneera answered. “We are almost there, Daughter of the Chainbreaker.”

Drawing in a short breath, Ella turned her head to Aneera. “Why do you call me that? ‘Daughter of the Chainbreaker’? What is that? You and Baldon both called me that from the moment I arrived in Aravell.”

Aneera’s expression softened at the mention of Baldon. “It is not my place to tell, but you will learn the answer very shortly.”

Ella followed the path to the plateau and crossed it until she stood before the door of the house, her pulse clapping like thunder in her veins.

Aneera followed her through the door, but the others remained outside. The common room was plain, a fire and cookpot set into the far wall, an island counter in the centre, and a long table to the right. It would have been as calm and simple as the homes back in The Glade if not for the eerie silence and the strange shimmer of the light that passed through the windows.

Aneera led her up the stairs to a long landing, where two more Fenryr Angan stood on either side of a door at the end of the hallway. Both stood half a foot taller than even Aneera, the crowns of their heads almost scraping the ceiling. Their shoulders were just short of rivalling Haem’s, and the thick fur on their bodies covered dense muscle.

Both Angan stared at Ella, golden eyes peering through a shroud of smoke that drifted around their ethereal shapes. The pair dropped to a knee, their gazes never leaving hers.

“Daughter of the Chainbreaker.” The voices that left the Angans’ throats were rough and harsh. When Ella had first heard Aneera and Baldon speak, she had thought their voices the strangest things in the world, but these Angan spoke as though the Common Tongue had never touched their lips.

Aneera stared into Ella’s eyes, flecks of gold swirling in her irises. “You are a Blooddancer of the warrior blood of Fenryr, Ella Bryer. Do not fear. You are strong. And he will never leave you. Not while there is air in his lungs. To the blood of Fenryr, loyalty is all.”

“Thank you for taking me this far, Aneera.” She gripped Aneera’s forearm, much to the Angan’s surprise. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

Ella stepped past the two Angan who still knelt by the door, their heads now dipped. The doorknob was cold to the touch, a chill spreading from her fingertips up through her arm and into her body. Once more she became aware of how loud her heart was beating, its thumps pounding in her blood. She could hear the air swelling in her lungs with each breath.

Swallowing hard, Ella turned the knob and stepped through.

Darkness washed over her. The world on the other side of the door was an ocean of emptiness without end.

She snapped back around. The door was gone.

Panic set in.

“No, no, no…” Ella spun, searching the darkness for something, anything. Her breaths trembled as she tried to settle the dread crawling through her veins. “Breathe…” she whispered, pulling a long breath through her nose. “Breathe.”

“You are never alone.” Freis Bryer’s voice drifted in the nothingness. “Open your eyes, Ella. Open your mind and trust in the blood.”

The wolf growled in the back of Ella’s mind, an answer to Freis’s call.

“Mam? Is that you?” Ella clenched her jaw, her eyes watering. “Am I just losing my mind? Please tell me I’m not losing my mind.”

“Trust in the blood, Ella. Let it guide you.”

“Mam, please…” Ella looked about frantically, staring into the abyss.

“Let it guide you, Ella. I’m sorry I kept you from it. I was wrong. We were wrong. We only wanted to keep you safe.”

Ella closed her eyes and clenched her jaw.

I need you. Oh, Mam. I need you.

In the darkness of her mind, two amber eyes opened, white fangs materialising.

The wolf lowered its head, lips pulled back in a snarl, a low rumble in its throat, its enormous frame taking shape in the dark. A howl thundered through the caverns of Ella’s mind, her eyes never leaving the wolf’s.

The creature stalked her, circling, one massive paw following the other. Its back was arched, its hackles raised, saliva dripping from its fangs.

“This is who you are,” a voice called, sounding all around her. No longer her mother’s voice, this one was much deeper and resolute. She had never heard it before, and yet she knew it intimately. “To retether yourself, you must embrace the blood in your veins. You must become more than you were. You conquer the wolf by becoming it. You kill the fear by letting it in. You find your path by allowing nothing to stand in your way.”

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