and heat. By the sun’s angle, it was well into the afternoon. Gingerly, she sat up, grateful nothing was broken.
She was even more grateful that the Shades were nowhere nearby. She and Morran had returned to Faery, but it was a different landscape than they’d left. No trees broke the sea of cracked earth. Everything was painted in hues of orange and gold, as if the earth had been encased in amber. Only rocks jutted from the ground like the ribs of sunken ships. In the middle distance, she spotted four pyramids.
A shadow fell over her, blotting out the blazing sky. It was Morran, holding out his hand. When Leena gripped it, he pulled her to her feet.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
He gave a curt nod that revealed nothing. “And you?”
“I’m fine. Where are we?”
“That’s the Great Temple.”
Leena swallowed, her mouth dry as the desert around her. “I thought it was in Tymeera.”
“Tymeera is two days’ march south of here.”
So much for her geography lessons. Leena frowned at the pyramids. From this distance, she could see they were set at the four corners of a perfectly square stone courtyard. They were smaller than she imagined such structures would be, each one barely twice as tall as Lord Dorth’s marble palace. Their sand-colored stone was smooth and plain, with no ornament to break their perfect surface.
It didn’t look at all like the tapestry the Mother had hanging in her chambers back in Eldaban. “I thought the Great Temple was one big pyramid.”
“It is,” Morran said, gazing down with reverence. “What you see is only part of the temple. The rest houses the Flame. That much elemental power cannot remain in Faery, but must be summoned.”
Leena pondered his words. “Is it true that it’s the same shape as the Wheel?”
That was the highest mountain in Faery, so named because of its round, flat top where the kings and queens had once met to govern the land. That was before the Shades, before the defeat of High King Jorwarth, before everything had gone wrong for the fae.
Morran was watching her now, his smile gentle. “There are legends that the Great Temple and the Wheel were cast from the same clay, but they are just stories to beguile children.”
Leena looked away, feeling foolish. “Is there any sign of Fionn or Anna?”
“No, but we did not cross the Shimmer at the same moment,” he replied. “It’s not unusual to be separated by even a small delay. Still, they should be close.”
He climbed the hill, a hot breeze ruffling his dark hair. Leena followed, missing the protection of her veils. She had almost caught up when she heard the hitch of Morran’s breath. She drew up beside him, then followed his gaze. Perhaps it was her imagination, but it was then she caught the smell of blood on the hot desert wind.
A dusty plain stretched to the west of the pyramids. Figures sprawled across the ground, as if the tide of battle had left them along a hellish shore. Some wore bright armor, others the dark cloaks of the Shade army. There was no sign of living soldiers. Whatever had happened was in the past.
“That’s Juradoc’s sigil,” Morran said, pointing toward a fallen form. “I know it even at this distance.”
“How did he arrive here so quickly?” Leena asked. “Even if he used a Shimmer to move his army, we’ve only been gone one night.”
Morran met her gaze, his dark eyes troubled. “Time does not move at the same pace between worlds. A month or more must have passed.”
Shock tingled down her arms. Anything at all could have happened while they were gone. “And?”
“Juradoc has moved on Tymeera. The dead fae upon the field are my own warriors.” Morran’s face hardened. “They came to defend the Temple of the Flame. By the look of things, neither side won. Both must have retreated to their own encampments.”
Leena didn’t question his assessment. No doubt Morran read a battlefield the way others might a scroll. “How long ago?”
“Not long. It appears only a few scavenger birds have arrived.” He shaded his eyes, scanning the horizon. “With luck, we can join my forces. If I must deal with the Shades, I prefer an army at my back.”
It went without saying that they would need shelter, food, and water as well. Leena followed Morran as he struck out toward the battlefield. “What about Fionn and Anna?”
“We will find them. They would have arrived nearby, and no one can go far