Page 15 of Forsaken Secrets

6

Eli

"Where is it?" I muttered, staring at the ruins. The shapes in the sketch were completely different from what I saw with my own two eyes.

I really should have known better. The journal was from before the Fall.

It should be here, though.

I stepped back and again surveyed what I could see of Gleyma.

Across the bay was the market district. It was all that was left of the Fallen Capital. Most of the people in Gleyma lived and worked over there. They'd reworked the ruins into new structures and turned the major thoroughfare into a pleasant area, with shops, parks, and dining areas. I hadn't ventured beyond that to Ellesmere or the business districts yet, but from what I heard, Ellesmere held more of the old Capital's charm … and danger.

A thin bridge stretched across the choppy water, bridging the old and new parts of Gleyma. The locals called this new side The Ridge. It was full of large estates owned by the snobby aristocrats who vacationed from the Capital.

I returned my stare to the ruins that weren't where they should be.

The crumbling tower stood mysterious and beautiful against the stormy sky. It loomed high above me, broken and patchy in places. But the original beauty was still apparent in the carvings on the light brown stones.

It had survived the destruction of old Ellesmere; but almost a thousand years had passed, and erosion and time would soon send the beautiful structure into the ocean.

Far beyond it, at the back of the beach, was Fort Gleyma. It was mostly deserted these days, but a few guards continued to patrol the area, keeping the main ruins safe from scavengers so Reapers could collect their relic bounties.

Of course, that was largely a waste of time as the ruins had been cleared out decades ago.

I shook my head and stared out at the ocean beyond the bridge.

Angry clouds rolled over the water, hiding the Forsaken Isle from view, as always.

Home.

I wouldn't admit it out loud, but damn, I missed it. How big would Mirrim have gotten by the time I got back?

This mission was taking a lot longer than Dimiri had predicted when he'd assigned it to Jaiel and me.

Though that probably wasn't helped by my inability to focus on the damn scrolls. They were just so excruciatingly dull! Hours cooped up in my room translating hundred-year-old ship manifests were not my idea of a rewarding career.

This, though …

I grinned and stepped up to the tower, letting my fingers trace the carvings slowly.

… this I could do forever.

It amazed me they'd survived so long — especially on the coast like this!

Shifting the pack on my back, I reached inside and removed the little leather journal. I'd painstakingly copied every page from the original, safely tucked into my shelves back home.

I opened the book to the section on the Fallen Capital, Ellesmere, and read the entry again.

"I cannot wait to show her what I've found. Finally, we'd have a way to use elemental magic. All our tests indicate that we could share it through bonds, too! She's so enthralled with him, though, that she refuses to even answer my messages …"

The message just ended and there were no more entries past that point.

What had the owner found? Was there really some way to use elemental magic? If so, we needed to find it before the Empire did.

Turning to the maps, I studied them again.

If I could just find whatever this place was, I was sure we'd get some answers.

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