Page 89 of Earth-Bound

So far, it was just a timber frame but we were already living there. Neither of us minded being out in the open and so we lay on the earth inside and looked up at the stars and our fox curled in the corner.

Terrund kissed my ear quickly. “Would you like to go for a walk.”

“Around our garden?”

I swear Terrund rolled his eyes, even though I couldn’t see it. “Yes, fine, if you like.”

I loved to tease him about that. After we’d chosen our plot of land, just like Broadmire said we could, he’d seen to it that it was legally ours, all processed and stamped and official. I’d never owned land before, and it felt very grand.

Terrund had found it incredibly funny.

I suppose, to him, it was amusing that somebody thought they could givehimearth. He was from the earth, he was part of it, and the idea that anyoneownedit – let alone him – was hilarious.

Still, he had smiled at Broadmire and thanked him sincerely.

It meant we could stay there. Officially.

I’d stay forever.

Turning to look into my mate’s eyes, I saw my future spread out in front of me. One place, one man… I had never been happier.

Bonus scene: Glimmer

Eight miles from Lower Dipton, inside the Somerville territory:

My phone rang and I glanced at the screen. I never answered without looking. If it was my uncle, I always needed a moment to brace myself. If it was someone else, I needed a moment to remember exactly how much they knew.

Being the Guardian was an honour and I embraced my duty to protect my treasure with my life. I got a great deal of satisfaction from making sure all my treasure was safe. It was almost enough. Almost.

My phone kept ringing. It was Seren.

I took a second to remember.

Seren. My treasure; needs protecting. Ex-Somerville; knows about my other treasure. Hoskins now; can’t know everything.

When I answered with a, “Hey Seren,” I was cut off straight away.

“Ridire! Glimmer, there’sridirein the area. You need to be careful. They might find you. They might—”

I cut him off because I could hear he was working himself into a panic. My lovely Seren. It was sweet of him to warn me. He didn’t need to – he was a Hoskins now and I was still a Somerville. He could have left me to die. But of course he didn’t.

I used my most soothing voice, trying to sound calm enough for the both of us. “Don’t panic, Seren, I know. I know about theridire.”

“How do you know?”

“One of them tried to kill me.”

He screeched so loudly that I jerked the phone away from my ear to protect my eardrums. “Oh my God, Glimmer, are you ok?”

“Yes. I said theytriedto kill me, didn’t I? Otherwise I’m doing a pretty good job of answering my phone for a dead guy.”

“Don’t joke about it!” Seren shouted down the phone.

“Fine, fine, I won’t.”

I heard Seren take a deep breath, trying to get his emotions under control. Seren rarely lost control but there were a few things that pushed him over the edge. The idea of me being hurt was one of them.

That was why he’d rung me up to warn me aboutridirewhen he didn’t have to and it was why he wanted to come here and make sure I was safe. I could practically feel him wanting to come and collect me. It was one of the reasons that Serenhad nearly become the Guardian instead of me. He’d had more power than me at first, until Dane had taught me how to harness mine properly. And because Seren had lost his dragon, of course.

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