This was different, less dream-like, and terror punched through her like a knife. The eyes looked around as if getting its bearings, then focused back on Kiora, triumph flashing.
Kiora bolted to her feet, clawing at her chest and neck.
Alcander was standing inches from her, his hands out but not touching her. “Emane?” he asked thickly.
She shook her head. “I think it was Jasmine.”
He dropped back down, grabbing the skewer he’d made and threading pieces of pork onto it. “There is no Jasmine.”
“Her eyes. She saw me.” Kiora wrapped her arms around herself. “She was here. She saw me—she saw where we were.” She took a deep shuddering breath before clamping her mouth shut.
“How do you know she is wrong?” Drustan said from behind Alcander, his back still turned and looking asleep. “You didn’t know an entire valley was blocked off for the last few thousand years.”
“So?” Alcander said without hiding his exasperation.
Drustan rolled over. “So—you didn’t know because they magically concealed it. You don’t think a daughter of a Creator is capable of that kind of magic?”
He scowled, turning his head to Drustan. “Why would she do that? Erase herself?”
“She wants her immortality back,” Kiora said, squeezing her arms tighter. “Jasmine said she wanted the lights, that Nestor could give it back to her. He refused.”
Alcander paced back and forth, frowned, then crouched back down. “She could have taken the lights—is that what you are saying?”
“It’s possible.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, I am not sure,” Kiora said. Dropping her head, she sighed. “I am getting bits and pieces. It’s hard to put together. All I know is that I keep seeing Jasmine over and over again. I have never dreamed about anything that hasn’t been true, ever.”
“You never had silly childish dreams?” Alcander asked skeptically, one eyebrow rising.
“No. I had dreams of death. Dreams of fire burning homes to the ground, or of my parents dying. No.” Kiora shook her head vehemently. “I never had ‘silly childish dreams.’” Her voice shook with anger. “I don’t want her to be real, but she is.”
“All right,” he said, more softly than she had expected. “All right.”
She stilled as a dark sense of foreboding began to fill the forest. Not like a thread, not so precise. But large and loose and dangerous. It seeped through the protective barriers.
“Can you feel that?” she asked.
Drustan and Alcander both paused, waiting. A moment later a rush of threads began spilling through the forest.
“Where did they all come from?” Drustan yelled, scrambling to his feet.
Alcander jumped up, scanning the forest, looking for the owners of the threads. “I don’t know, but it is time to go.” The boundary flickered.
Drawn by the sudden appearance of life, a host of mermaids rose from the water, letting loose their murderous song. Drustan and Kiora turned unconsciously towards the lake.
“Ears!” Alcander roared, having to steel himself as well. There were so many of them, dozens. The surface of the lake was dotted with glamoured beauties.
Drustan’s ears shrank into his head as Kiora took a step towards the lake. Alcander flung himself on top of her, pushing her to the ground and covering her ears with his hands. She blinked. With the song muted, her mind returned to her and she looked around in confusion. Alcander was shouting at Drustan, who couldn’t hear a thing. Dark threads were everywhere, and the darkness—the same one she had felt in her dream—was here with her.
Alcander pulled her up, pushing her head against his chest so he could cover her ears and use his free hand to gesture to Drustan. He pointed furiously at the sky.
Understanding, Drustan began shifting into a dragon. Alcander put his hand back over Kiora’s ear, pulling her head away from him. She could see him muttering an incantation. Then it all went silent. Kiora could see Alcander’s mouth moving, see the Shifter-dragon to the side of her, but they created no sound she could hear.
Alcander pointed to her ears, mouthing something. She thought he was asking her if she could hear. She shook her head no. Looking satisfied, he pulled her to her feet and pushed her towards Drustan. Running up the dragon’s tail, she hurriedly made her way onto Drustan’s back.
Alcander waved his hands, repacking everything they had brought. One more movement and he secured the camp to Drustan’s back before heading towards them at a dead run. Leaping, Alcander flipped himself over, landing just behind Kiora. Wrapping one arm around her, he slapped Drustan’s side with the other. The massive