Page 87 of Dreams and Dragon Wings
Chapter 26
Aurelia
Iexplode out into the night, following Velda’s voice like a beacon.
Bene. She has already found Bene.
But it is not hope that quickens my pulse as I half-limp, half-run down pitted stone stairs into a weed-littered courtyard, my mother’s magical shoes keeping my steps secure despite the uneven terrain.
It is fear.
Malice will not let me get away so easily. Even after having spent mere moments in his company, I know him well enough to know that. He is surely right behind me. We have little chance of freeing Bene, Brisa, and Glorana in time.
The wind picks up, sending the dark clouds overhead billowing across the sky. Shafts of newly revealed moonlight illuminate the snarled tangle of brambles before me—the very brambles I spotted this morning when Malice flew me to Umbra Castle. The very brambles from my dream.
Except in my dream, there are roses, too.
And Bene’s voice guiding me down never-ending corridors.
Here, there are only thorns encircling a crumbling tower that spears the sky.
“He is there!” Velda exclaims, materializing just beside me. Her wings flutter so quickly that they are a mere blur of silver. “He is in there. I saw him through the window.”
My heart leaps into my throat. “But why is he unguarded?”
Where are the goblins? Where is Malice?
I glance over my shoulder, scouring the darkness.
No one. I see no one.
We truly are alone.
“Probably because you either need wings or to be able to weave Air to get past these thorns,” Velda surmises. “Come!” Delicate purple threads swirl toward me. “I am no master like Brisa, but I may be able to carry you over the thorns.”
“May?” It is all I have time to ask before I am airborne, unsteadily rising higher into the night.
I clench my jaw to keep from crying out as Velda’s weave barely manages to hoist me over the first layer of brambles. My feet pass entirely too close to thorns thicker than my legs and sharper than any sword. My glow flares brighter, fed by my fear, probably alerting every goblin in the castle to my location.
Gathering my mother’s gown into my hands to keep the silk from snagging, I try to quiet my thoughts and pray.
It is all I can do now.
“Please,” I softly implore the pixie flying ahead of me, tugging me along like a toy on a string. I stare at the labyrinthine tangleof thorns just beneath me, even though that is probably the worst possible thing I could be doing. From above, it is easy enough to see that this must have once been a hedge maze. “Can we not go any faster?”
Through gritted teeth, Velda whispers back, “Not if you want to arrive in one piece.”
I close my eyes, unable to watch our snail’s pace progress any longer. It has been entirely too long since I last remembered my breathing exercises, but I force myself to remember them now.
In through my mouth, out through my nose.
Steady. Calm. I must be in control.
When I bump against something hard, my eyes flash back open. We are here.
“Forgive me,Therya’kai,” Velda pants, flickering weakly beside me. “I cannot lift you the rest of the way. But I can still help you climb.”
Climb?
