Page 38 of Crown of Ashes and Awe

"The colored ones ridden by the DeNoy. They were created specifically to flyout there.” Morrow gestured to the stars. "Beyond Hestia."

Minkin groaned faintly when Tearloch scooped her into his arms. "Come on," he said. “We must find shelter and make a fire.”

Sweetie walked beside and watched Tearloch closely from behind. At a curve in the path, he reached out and arm to hold me back.

“You can help her heal? Maybe with your dragon sand?”

“Yes.”

He relaxed a little. “Good. You see, she doesn’t yet realize it, but we are heartbound, Minkin and I. And I need her well.”

I bit my lips together and nodded.

“You mustn’t tell her. She must learn it for herself. I won’t have her doubting me.”

I nodded again, determined to keep both their secrets.

18

THE SECOND COMING

Alarge crag rose up to our right. It was off course, but it was our best bet. An outcropping of rock or a thick copse of trees would do. Something to shield us from large birds of prey we couldn't see coming. Thanks to the men and weapons in our party, I wasn't worried about four-footed beasts—unless they came in unusually large sizes.

The problem with book descriptions was that the terms given for relative size weren't terms I was familiar with. If I'd known that a moon stalker was roughly the size of a winged steed, I wouldn't have been so surprised. But now, I realized that I had entered a land where Sweetie wasn't the only giant.

Thinking back, Old Grim wasn't so large after all. Half the size of that Guardian-dragon that had terrorized everyone on the road. But maybe some were bigger still. Those that had delivered and collected the Semels were more the size of Grim. And the one Viggo flew hadn't been much larger. Maybe it was just a baby!

I told myself I was lucky to have seen any of them at all. In the last few days, I'd witnessed more of my books and maps brought to life than ever came through the canyon. Memory trees and Serpent Square. A drakehouse and a man with horns. A miniature woman who could silently control weak men.

I'd witnessed the death of my Everkind master and the death of an Everkind dragon. I’d fallen from the sky and survived, heard a man fall to his death, and now I’d seen my friend be attacked by a moon stalker.

I’d had my heart broken…

And I had yet to reach the capital city.

From time to time, when I forgot he was gone, I yearned to relay every detail to Demius. No doubt, in his endless life, he'd seen plenty of the same. But still, I wished...

"Demius," I whispered. "A moon stalker! You never warned me how big they were."

And in my mind's eye, I imagined him chuckling, then his reply…

You must not have been paying attention.

* * *

Sweetie finally loweredMinkin to the ground on a flat shelf of grass butted up against a wall of rock. With no clouds marring our view of the piercingly bright stars, we didn’t worry about rain, but the slight overhang of rock might help keep us warm.

Sweetie made Minkin comfortable while the rest of us set off in different directions to find fuel for a fire. Tearloch stopped me with my name. "Asper." He pressed the hilt of a small blade into my hand. "Scream loud if you find trouble."

I thanked him with a smile, then gave it back. “I have my own,” I said, which I pulled out of my pocket.

I was glad he didn’t intend to follow me, and I chuckled as I walked away. There was little chance a bird could carry me off, and if I met some beast on my own, I reckoned my fear and my feet could get me out of harm's way. But if that failed, I could frighten it like Demius had done, once, when a massive and hungry feline had wandered down the canyon. He'd screamed and waved his arms and jumped about like a giant angry bird, and the beast had fled for its life.

I might not be of the same size, but I could certainly carry on like an ancient madman.

I was still laughing at the memory when I pushed my way through a thick cluster of bushes that I should have walked around. When I reached the other side, I stopped short, surprised to find a large opening in the mountainside. At its pinnacle, it was as tall as three men atop one another.

The flat rock face was the color of shadow itself, and the angle of it meant the entrance would be easily missed, despite its size.

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