Page 85 of The Demon's Delight
“You did it!” Seir cheered, taking the mirror back from me. “Rylan, hello. We’ve been on the road most of the day. I wanted to see if we might be getting close, or if the escort was?—”
“Seir? Is that you? Something’s wrong with your mirror.”
My gut twisted.
“Hello? Can you hear me?” Seir paced, holding the little glass carefully in his broad palm. Frowning, he came to stand next to me.
“Vago!” the man called. “Something’s wrong with it.”
The man with black hair was replaced in the little piece of glass by his white-haired brother, the one I’d met.
“Hello! Vago, can you hear me?”
“Seir?”
“Yes! The mirror is cracked, but I?—”
“Damn. I’ll bet he’s broken it. That’s ten now.” He shook his head. “I’m glad the stone kin already?—”
The connection disappeared. “No! Wait!” Seir growled in frustration. We both tried the words several times, but the mirror never worked again. “He’s going to strangle me. I can’t seem to keep myself from breaking these things, no matter how carefully or close I keep them.” He sighed and took a hearty bite from an apple. “Perhaps you can convince him to make us both a new one. I went a couple of decades without before this one. He’s much less likely to deny you, as I’m the one at fault.” When we stood again, he slipped the mirror into my pocket, where it clanked hard against my little horse carving.
“We’ll see.”
We didn’t linger once our stomachs were full and our bodies rested enough to push on.
If we trusted the map, Revalia was not terribly far from Ravenglen, but we’d well learned to be wary of the scale and organization of it after the detour into the ruins.
The trees became denser all around us the further we traveled, and I could feel it was going to be a truly cold autumn night from the moisture in the air.
As the sun started to slip down the horizon, the threat of evening coming on, we both heard it. Wingbeats, far too heavy to be any bird. Seir’s smile returned, a weight lifting from his shoulders.
The sound suddenly stopped, and the dark form in the sky appeared to plummet, just as Seir had. We looked at one another, both debating running toward it. In the end, we only walked a little faster, a carriage drawn by two stout working horses a closer priority. It stopped several paces from us, the horses thankfully unmoved by my presence from that distance. I thought of Jacks, how he hadn’t reacted until I was nearly touching him. I could only hope that these beasts were used to magical presence and my nature wouldn’t be an issue for them.
One woman was driving the horses and another climbed out of the carriage. A man, a very large one, came jogging down the road right after, his large wings tucked close to his back. Even from a distance I could see the fierce bone talons at the tips.
“Well met, travelers!” one of the women called. She, too, was quite tall. She had long dark hair and stood a full head over the smaller, golden-haired woman.
“They sent a full cavalry,” Seir joked. “Greetings to you, friends.”
“Always good to see you, Seir.” The big man shook Seir’s hand and then drew him in for a hearty hug. “My lady.” He bowed at me.
“The pleasure is mine,” I replied politely, surprised to find I wasn’t nervous to meet these strangers.
“Thank you for coming.” Seir’s gratitude was evident in the solemn expression he wore as he bowed.
“Couldn’t refuse a good adventure,” the blonde one said, smiling widely. “We heard you met our brother Coltor?”
“Indeed.”
“Our condolences,” the smaller woman joked. She turned to me. “I’m Lovette. That’s my sister, Imogen.” Imogen raised a hand in a gentle wave.
“Nice to meet you both.”
“We were told you might need an escort back to Revalia?”
I nodded, unsure what to say.
“They warned us about your magic, but some things you just have to experience to believe. Felt like a brick wall when I hit it.” The man did not seem at all put out by this, in fact he was beaming. “Luckily I’ve learned well how to take a fall.” He stuck out a hand. “Alright, my lady? I’m Magnus. We’re happy to have found you.”
