Page 84 of Prince of Tides
As we entered them, a green light emanated from his front paw.
“What’s that?” I asked, staring as the clouds seemed to part around us, the paw pulsing with power.
“A bracelet,” he said. “Given to each family by the God-King. It guides us through the cloud cover. Without it, we would never find our way.”
Sure enough, within a few minutes, the clouds parted for us, revealing the side of the mountain. A giant ledge with a flat top invited us to land. Once we did, I slid from his wing, moving slowly. I knew I wanted to be there, but that didn’t preclude me from having nerves. After all, I’d never met a god before.
“Shall we?” Rip asked, offering me his arm.
I looked around. “Shall wewhat, darling?” I asked, slipping my hand through the crook of his elbow anyway. Any excuse to touch him was okay in my books. “There’s nowhere to go.”
The ledge certainlylookedlike a landing platform, but there was no entrance deeper into the mountain itself. No cave or formal door as far as I could see. Just a blank rock wall.
“I’m sure we’ll find one soon enough,” Rip said, walking toward the far side of the ledge, bringing me with him.
“I bet this would be an amazing place to watch the sunsets from if it weren’t for the clouds,” I said, looking around, trying to ascertain where the light was coming from, but I couldn’t. There was just this ambient light to everything, but it was a little off.
Then I got it. There were no shadows. It wasn’t bright enough to really matter, but now that I’d noticed it, I couldn’t unsee it.
“You okay?” Rip asked.
“Huh?”
“Your fingers just tightened on my arm, but I don’t see any reason for it.”
“Have you noticed there are no shadows here?” I asked.
Rip looked around, then down at our feet and behind us. “You’re right,” he said with a frown. “There aren’t.”
“You don’t seem concerned,” I said as he simply shrugged and continued walking.
“Magic of the God-King,” he said, coming to a halt as the mountain in front of us just disappeared.
Not all of it, but an arched walkway easily wide enough for a large dragon to walk through. It swallowed us up easily as we entered the mountain's interior, only to find ourselves on another ledge that stuck out into the empty chasm of theinsideof the mountain.
“Now, what?” I asked as we paused halfway out, looking around.
“We wait,” Rip said softly.
I looked at him. His face was tight.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“Listen.”
I did. At first, I heard nothing. But then.
Bump … Bump.
There was a short pause between the drums, then a long pause. It was a rhythm, though.
Bump … Bump … … Bump … Bump … … Bump … Bump
“What is it?” I whispered. “What are the drums for?”
“Those aren’t drums,” Rip said.
“What are they?”
