Page 66 of Ash and Feather

The land rolled out for miles before us. I breathed in the warm, spice and smoke-scented air, feeling somehow both unsettled and at peace as I took the scenery in.

I was not the first of my order, so I had not been the hand that originally shaped this territory. But I’d reworked some places in the years since my ascension, partially with the help of magic from the Towers of Creation that were scattered throughout the middle-heavens—the same magic that had aided me in creating creatures like Moth.

The area we traveled through now was perhaps the closest thing tomine. The pockets of ghostly white trees were of my design, as were the swaths of fiery red and orange flowers. While much of my territory was barren stone with bright veins of molten earth weaving through it, the ground here was covered in rippling, bluish-green grass.

I’d also rerouted and widened the creek running through it all, lifted the flat ground into rolling hills, and enchanted the winds so that they often blew warm and dry, and from a southernly direction—work that, collectively, made this small part of my domain resemble the kingdom I’d grown up in.

I’d never admitted this to anyone. In some ways, it felt like a weakness, this clinging to where I’d come from. What I couldn’t seem to forget. Like a child afraid to let go of his mother’s hand.

“I’ve never been this way before,” Karys remarked, running ahead and summiting a small hill to get a better look. She circled the hilltop, surveying the land around us with one hand raked into her hair to keep the wind from blowing it into her eyes. “It’s beautiful here.”

“Yes,” I agreed, coming up beside her. It was on the tip of my tongue to tell her that I’d modeled it after my old home. I’m not sure why I didn’t. Maybe because I found myself thinking less about the past and more about the future whenever she was close to me.

She tilted her head toward me, eyes lighting with curiosity as they took in my pensive expression.

Maybe I didn’tneedto tell her what I was thinking; maybe she already knew.

I cleared my throat. “Come on—we’ve still got a ways to go.”

I pointed her in the proper direction. She nodded and raced down the hill, arms stretched out, hair flying wildly behind her. Moth soared above, his crown delicately clutched in his front claws and dangling beneath him.

The three of us eventually made our way to Galim, that pool that was connected to so many of the inter-realm waterways. But instead of following any of the rivers branching out from it, we walked due north, over more wild land devoid of any marked paths.

Though I’d often traveled to the place we were heading to, I didn’t usually walk the entire way. Normally, I took Farak. Or, if the selakir was not in the mood to be bothered—which happened often—I traveled by way of wings or magic.

But I was in no hurry to deal with all the bad news on our horizon, so today I was perfectly content to walk as slowly as possible toward whatever came next. To savor the relative peace we were enjoying.

All too soon, we came to the spot where I normally touched down: the head of a twisting trail packed with fine grey sand. Following it led down into a valley, where the land grew flat and dozens of small pools awaited us.

I guided Karys to the pool in the very center, an uneven circle rimmed in cheery yellow flowers. The water, by contrast, was the color of a skull that had been left to bleach and rot in the elements. Occasionally, it bubbled with a darker substance, turning the liquid briefly to the shade of charred wood before it returned to its pale state.

“This is Elandrach,” I said. “A Watching Pool. It’s tied to the mortal realm, and it’s one of several such pools scatteredthroughout the middle-heavens. Different pools correspond to different areas.”

“And this one corresponds to the Kingdom of Galizur, I’m guessing?”

“Yes.”

“So what can you see in them?”

“Their waters are a gauge of sorts, showing us the general state of Avalinth at a glance. The more unsettled or murky the water, the more unsettled the mortal realm is. The color changes at times, as well. In this case, those bubbles you see have been growing steadily darker for weeks.”

Moth swooped down for a closer look. He carefully placed his crown on the sandy ground before trotting up to the pool and inspecting it. Karys knelt beside him, catching him and pulling him back when he leaned too close and nearly tumbled into the water. He slipped behind her, sniffing at the pool from a safer distance, while she scooped a handful of it up.

“It feels strangely thick,” she said, studying it as it slowly trickled through her fingers. “Like…blood, almost.”

“It’s not truly water,” I explained, “but a liquified concentration of special magic created by the Moraki.”

She turned her hand this way and that, coating it in the thick, shiny substance.

“Some of the Marr can manipulate these pools into showing them more details about the places they represent. I’m not one of them, unfortunately.”

“It’s clear enough, isn’t it?” she asked, softly. “A feeling of blood, and a growing darkness…it seems like an obvious omen.”

I didn’t disagree, though I couldn’t bring myself to say this.

She paused with her fingertips hovering just above the pool and looked up at me, expectant.

“…I don’t know how to put an end to this without more bloodshed,” I admitted.

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