Page 68 of Forged in Flame and Shadow

Finishing my breakfast, I try not to act any differently as we collect Eryx and head out into the grounds. It’s hard because I feel like I have a new understanding of him that makes it so much easier to justify his crabbiness over the last few months. I can’t imagine—I don’twantto imagine—what it would be like to have to live such a long life apart from the person you loved most in this world.

However, I’m distracted when we get to the lake edge and find there’s someone already waiting there for us.

“Dots! What are you doing here?”

The korigos waves his tails happily, padding over to me.

“Dots?” Eryx grunts.

“It suits him, don’t you think?”

Eryx doesn’t reply, but frowns at the animal.

“If it’s coming in the boat with us, it’s up to you to make sure it doesn’t move about too much,” he grumbles.

“I promise he won’t make any trouble. He’s very smart,” I say.

Sure enough, when we clamber into the rowboat, Dots settles into the bottom of our vessel and stays there until we hit the shore of the island, at which point he hops out and trots over to the Sanctuary entrance.

“You’re not going to let that thing in there are you?” Eryx grunts.

I give him a sharp look. “Thatthingis an animal from Agathyre, so I don’t think the goddess Viscalis would mind him in her Sanctuary.”

I don’t mention that having Dots by my side calms my nerves, making me more confident about what’s ahead of me. He and I enter the Sanctuary while Eryx and Hyllus stay behind on the island shore.

Leon’s waiting in the entrance chamber, his shoulders immediately relaxing when he sees me. Then his eyes drop to Dots, and he raises an eyebrow. I’m about to defend the animal’s presence again when Healer Yanda enters the chamber.

“Is that a korigos?” she asks, her eyes wide.

“Yes,” I say cautiously, wondering if she’s going to order me to take him back outside. “They’re from Agathyre, right? I guessed from the name.”

“Yes, that’s right,” she says, mildly impressed. “Esta tofail saligaris?” she asks.Do you speak our language?

“An laya,” I reply.A little.

Yanda smiles, and I feel Leon’s eyes on me. I don’t think I told him about my knowledge of Agathyrian before.

“They come from the Miravow,” Yanda continues in the common tongue, gesturing to Dots, who is now cleaning his paw nonchalantly. “Like most of the animals from there, they’re highly intelligent. Korigos in particular are supposed to be deeply magical.”

“That will be why my grandfather wanted it,” Leon says grimly. “What is it meant to do?”

“It can offer valuable aid to someone who earns its loyalty, but they’re known to be very proud and selective in who they trust. They say that a korigos can bring great clarity to those people, helping guide them along the right path and alerting them to pitfalls. Traditionally, someone wanting to connect with one would seek it out in the wild and make offerings to win its favor. Its presence here today is a good omen.”

I nod, understanding now why I feel so at ease with Dots by my side. More than that, I realize I’ve benefited from exactly the kind of help Healer Yanda is talking about. Dots helped me see past Respen’s sensic influence on me the night before the test and guided me so I would know how to heal him. Something occurs to me now, however.

“If Dots is from the Miravow, how did the king get hold of him? I thought the Miravow was impenetrable to outsiders.”

Yanda’s mouth twitches with a glimmer of amusement. “Is Dots short fordotsera? Clever.”

Leon looks more serious. “No one but dryads can safely enter the Miravow. But sometimes the creatures from the forest wander across our border. Technically, it’s illegal to capture and trade in Agathyrian animals, but…” He glances at Yanda.

“But a king makes his own rules,” Yanda says with weary resignation. Her disapproval is obvious on her face, even if her words are deliberately diplomatic. She dislikes what Respen did as much as I do, probably more, given how sacred the Miravow is to dryads, but she won’t openly condemn the fae ruler for it.

I break the tension by scratching behind Dots’s ears until he makes an appreciative chirrup. If you’re supposed to win a korigos’s favor, I’m not surprised Respen’s method of holding it captive until it gave him what he wanted didn’t work. You can’t make a slave of a creature like this.

“Well, he’s free now to go where he wants,” I say. “Seems like he’s interested in sticking around for a bit, though, and I’m happy to have all the help we can get.”

I look meaningfully beyond them both to the end of the chamber.

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