House of Dragons (Royal Houses #1) - K.A. Linde Page 0,129

from the forest.”

“That’s what you’re concerned with?” Fordham asked.

Kerrigan looked over at him. He was very pale. As if the weight of reality was pressing down on him. “Breathe, Ford. Just breathe.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on.” He took a deep breath and released it. “The adjudicators of the tournament told us to bring our medallion for the final test. I assumed it was a weapon.”

“It was,” she confirmed. “The ravens responded to the call from the medallion. They attacked the other competitors, and we were able to flee.”

“Flee,” he said blankly. “When I think flee, I think running out across the field we were in and finding cover.”

“Well, isn’t this nicer?”

“I don’t know what this is,” he said, gesturing to the barren landscape that overlay the physical world.

“The ravens were a distraction in the physical world. But for those who have access to the spiritual plane, they’re guides.”

“I know what the spiritual plane is, but isn’t that reserved for dragons? Isn’t that half the reason we bond with dragons to begin with? We’re stronger together with the use of the spiritual plane and our combined knowledge and might.”

“Yes, dragons are connected to the spiritual plane, but they’re not the only ones who have access to it. Birds, especially ravens, are traditionally omens of evil or ill intent. Not because the birds themselves are bad, but because they escort people from the physical to the spiritual… like dragons do. Only ravens shepherd the dead.”

Fordham looked ashy. “And are they doing that for us?”

Kerrigan looked up at the bird gliding in the air with no breeze and guiding them through the plane. “I don’t think so. I believe it’s just taking us where I asked it to go.”

“How do you know all of this?”

She furrowed her brow. “I don’t know, but I just do. I’m not an expert by any means, but I think it’s where I draw my energy for my visions and for that blast I had when we were being tortured by Clare. It’s where Gelryn pulled you when you were in testing.”

Fordham looked startled. “How do you know about that?”

She grinned sheepishly. “I’m nosy. So, I got tested.”

“You got tested?” he asked in exasperation. “Why does that not even surprise me?”

“It wasn’t purposeful. I wanted to know what testing was, but when I stepped inside, Gelryn said he’d been waiting for me.”

“Ominous,” Fordham muttered.

She laughed. “A little bit. But it ended up being fine. He actually left and went to the Holy Mountain to try to find information on my visions.” She shrugged. “I don’t know if he’ll find anything, but he seemed confident.”

“That’s good at least. You need to get those under control.”

“Hey, they’ve helped you!”

“They have,” he admitted. “I just don’t want them to control you.”

She nodded and fell silent. They did control her, and if she didn’t find a way to stop them, then they always would. It was why she’d gone to Gelryn in the first place.

They continued trudging through the plane and watched as they crossed over the South River without ever getting wet. Then, the landscape turned rocky, and suddenly, they were in the mountains. The sun was low on the horizon when they began to trek through the Vert Mountains toward the cave system. The bright and vibrant plane turned darker and darker. If she was right about where they were, then they were traveling across days of land in a matter of hours. It was unfathomable.

“I wish we still had those torches,” Fordham muttered.

Kerrigan gulped. “Me too.”

Then, she heard a dark, rasping noise.

“Do you hear that?” she whispered, shaken by the first sound other than them or their raven in the plane.

“Hear what?”

Kerrigan waited and listened, straining her ears. The noise came again—a low, scratchy groan, as if someone were straining against their bonds or reaching for them in the darkness.

“That,” she whispered again urgently.

Fordham shook his head. “Nothing, Ker.”

She strained again, but couldn’t hear anything. The sound still shivered down her spine, but whatever it was… if it had even been real, was gone.

“I guess you’re right,” she said with a sigh.

The bird cawed then, making Kerrigan jump straight out of her skin. Well, she already had been.

“We’re here,” Kerrigan said.

“Where is here?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, but we must have made it as far as the raven can take us.” She respectfully bowed her head to their guide. “Thank you so much for your assistance.”

Fordham likewise bowed, and then with another caw, they both snapped back into