Page 21 of Exquisite Monster
My breath shuddered in my chest. I couldn’t think about our bonding. It hurt too much.
Then, what Gleym said sank deeper. “That is asheyten?” I looked back at the rock that seemed to intrude into the room.
“It is. It rests where it fell, punching a hole through Viria, like its six counterparts. One rests in Skalisméra as well. Did you not see it?”
I shook my head. “For all that happened, I didn’t spend that much time there. Nor in Doro Eche. It has not even been a full moon cycle since I was taken from the wedding.”
Thewedding and notmywedding. If anything, I would have considered it my funeral. But my entire world had changed. Much in the same way thesheytenhad changed the world as they fell. One moment before and after, and everything was different.
“The fact that your tools can create potions that allow a human to see in the dark, to be fireproof, toheal—it is because of thesheytenand the magic they infused in the world.”
“And the reason you have a human form,” I murmured.
“Yes.” There was hesitation in the silence. “It is also the answer to many of your questions.”
I frowned. “How?”
Gleym reached out a hand, and a flash of light appeared. She reached into it, and a moment later was holding a fresh orange. It still had a leaf on it, like it had just been plucked. Out of nowhere.
“How?”
She gestured behind me. “Thesheyten. Come. Eat something, and I will explain.”
Varíand I shared a look, but we followed. Not before I lookedback at the stone. It was enormous, and we could only see a piece of it. The urge to go and touch the surface was strong, but I resisted. The kind of power it held was something you didn’t touch without fully understanding it.
Back in the room I now thought of as the kitchen, Gleym poured a hot drink. It wasn’t something I was familiar with, but it was rich, fruity, soothing, and somehow, exactly what I needed.
“You know how thesheytenchanged the world?”
I’d skimmed over the conversation where I was told, but I nodded. As she’d said, they were the reason we had magic. The reason my hair was a color so unnatural to humans. The reason I was a mate. The reason for almost everything. And they were also the reason the human part of the world was dying, because we’d destroyed two of them.
“Good. But I assume you don’t know how they amplify things. They wouldn’t have had reason, or time, to tell you.”
“Amplify things?”
She nodded and sipped from her own mug. Which was not a mug that would have fallen off the side of a boat. After a moment, she fetched a small bowl and gave some of the drink toVarí, who tucked in his wings and drank deeply on the table.
I couldn’t stop my smile.
“When dragons are in close proximity to thesheyten, our abilities are amplified. We can do more than we might otherwise be able to.”
Idroal came to mind. They could hear things through stone, and perhaps other material as well? They hadn’t told me. But more than once while in Skalisméra my mates had mentioned that Idroal was in contact with Doro Eche. Was that because there was asheytennearby?
“My ability on its own is limited to what I can see. What’s in front of me. But this close to thesheyten, and with much, much practice, I can erase the distance between myself and the thing I desire, since I control the relationship between myself and it.” She locked eyes with me. “It has limitations. The further the distance, the smaller the object. Which is why, even now, I cannot simply send you to the surface.”
My shoulders fell, even though I hadn’t meant to show any emotion. She’d seen my hope before I even realized it. But I took another sip and pulled my knees up to my chest. If she was talking, I was going to ask questions.
“If you can bring things to you, and you apparently have a way to get back to the surface, why are you still here?”
Gleym laughed once. “I don’t like the world, girl. Neither humans nor dragons. They tried to kill me once, and if I returned they would merely try to do so again. Why would I choose to livewhere I must be on edge every moment when I have created a life I enjoy? No one bothers me here.”
My chest ached. “You truly don’t miss anything from up there? The sun? The wind? You are a dragon, do you not miss flying?”
She regarded me coolly. “I am a dragon. With wings. How do you think they threw me down here knowing that I would never be able to fly out?”
I gasped without meaning to. Her wings had been clipped just like Soza’s. “I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. I have made my peace with it.”
