Page 17 of Realm of Wind and Vines
Embarrassment and a hint of alarm flit across Galen’s face, and he clears his throat a tad awkwardly while glancing down at his boots. “I thought we all agreed not to talk about what we accidentally blurted out while we were high on poisonous mist in that pocket reality.”
Draven just smiles and claps him on the shoulder. “Chin up. You won’t mess up, so stop second-guessing yourself.”
Despite the earlier flicker of embarrassment, Galen stands up straighter, and even I can see the tension going out of his shoulders. A sort of steady calm settles over him as he meets Draven’s eyes again and gives him a nod. It makes me want to smile. I almost do. But then Orion ruins the moment.
“Well, this is all very touching,” he drawls. “But can we perhaps get a move on?”
“We need one more person in our group,” Lyra announces before Draven and Orion can get into another fight. Her orange eyes are full of sparkling light as she immediately turns to Alistair. “And since Draven has already admitted that I’m very good at getting people to do what I want, I’m just going to tell you what I want this time. So Alistair, you’re coming with us.”
Alistair starts in surprise. “I am?”
“Any particular reason?” I ask, arching a sly eyebrow at her.
“Uhm, yeah, have you met the guy? He’s funny as hell,” she says, giving me a little shake of her head as if that should have been obvious. Then she gives the rest of us a long-suffering look. “And with all due respect, the four of you carry enough aggression to level a medium-sized mountain whenever you’re together. And trying to keep the good vibes going in those kinds of circumstances is quite frankly exhausting. So this time, I’ll leave you all to sort it out amongst yourselves.” She tips her head from side to side and then raises her eyebrows. “Just try not to kill each other, okay?”
A soft chuckle escapes my lips. “We’ll try.”
“I am making no such promises,” Orion declares from my left.
“See?” Lyra stabs a finger in his direction. “My point exactly.”
“Fair enough,” Draven says. Then he shifts his gaze between her and Galen. “You remember when and where to meet up?”
They nod, and Galen replies, “Yes.”
“Good. I’ll see you in a few days then.”
The grass trembles in fear as both Lyra and Galen shift into dragons. Alistair gives me and Isera a quick nod before he climbs up onto Lyra’s back. Gusts of wind slam down against the ground as Lyra and Galen beat their wings hard. My hair whips around my face as I tilt my head back and watch them fly off.
“Well, get to it then, beast,” Orion says, mockery dripping from his voice like honey.
Dark clouds seem to gather around Draven as he grinds out, “I’m not carrying any of you. We’re using the portal.” The samesharp taunting laces his tone as he echoes, “So get to it then, princeling.”
For a moment, I think they might actually try to kill each other barely three minutes after Lyra explicitly told us to refrain from that particular activity. But then Orion just turns to Grey.
“Open a portal to the Green Dragon Clan’s homeland,” he commands.
Grey dips his chin. “Yes, my king.”
The glittering blue rectangle appears from the grass again. On the other side of it, I can see what looks like a small copse of trees with a large mountain behind. Draven stalks through it first, followed by Orion, and then Isera. I hold my breath as I step through, though I’m not sure why. Then Grey follows me through it and closes it behind us.
We do indeed end up in a small groove. Thin trees with pale green leaves that droop from the spindly branches form a small barrier between us and the open stretch of grass ahead. On the other side of the grass rises a gigantic mountain that has two massive doors carved into the side. They are framed by gleaming stone pillars, which make the doors seem even grander.
I stare at them.
“The Green Clan lives… here?” I ask, completely stunned.
To my surprise, it’s Draven who answers. “Yes.”
“Insidea mountain? No open sky?”
The usual annoyance fades from his voice and an unreadable expression instead descends on his features as he gazes at the massive doors up ahead. “They’re a… strange bunch.”
“How do we get inside?” Isera asks, her eyes fixed on the doors as well.
Draven shrugs. “We walk up to the doors and hope that they open them.”
“Hope?” Orion sneers.
