The Heartstone (33 page)

“Fuck off.” Ariana said.

She glanced at Jarod. He was ready to react. She threw a handful of sand into Rhysin’s’ face. He fell back rubbing his eyes. In the moment of distraction his shields fell. The sages sent a blast of fire against him pushing him back for a second. Jarod seized his chance, leaping forward knocking Rhysin to the ground. Ariana sprinted for the Gate. Rhysin flung Jarod aside, sending a beam of crimson fire to stop her. She leapt over it and rolled through the gate.

She got to her feet taking the steps two at a time. Her dagger was drawn. She knew he was chasing her. Inside Heulwen it was quiet except for the pulsing heartbeat of the mountain. The coppery walls threaded with gold glittered around her as she raced up the steps. Slabs of redstone still steaming from the explosion blocked some of the treads. She scrambled over them panting. She wanted to rush but didn’t dare risk stumbling and falling.

She reached the first landing. The stone walls fell away and walls of flame surrounded her. The smooth black floor steamed under her and radiated through the soles of her boots. She touched the Heartstone’s cool core and the heat became warm comfort. For a moment she touched the heart of the flame and felt it flicker in her veins. The flames fed her fury and filled her with recklessness. She wanted to go back and blast Rhysin to a cinder. She hoped Rhysin would come and face her now, while the fire ran through her veins.

As if she’d conjured him he appeared on the stairway. In an eye blink he transformed into a black and crimson firedrake slithering toward her with sinuous grace. She reached out to do battle. Her perspective changed and she shifted. Her fingers lengthened into talons, gold scales covered her. She leapt at Rhysin with a hiss of rage. She thirsted for his blood. Snaking forward she lunged for his neck, her jaws snapped on nothing. He was crafty and experienced but the energy of Heulwen filled her. Blood lust filled the golden firedrake she’d become and the world filled with snapping jaws and searing flames.

Jarod panted into the landing, distracting the black lizard. He turned to attack, an opening. Ariana scored a deep gash in the black's scaly hide. Rhysin screamed with pain. Sweeping Jarod behind her she raked Rhysin’s side. He snapped at her but missed. She broke his hold with a sinuous twist, free. She sped away, claws digging into the rough rocks as she scrabbled over them. She reached the next landing, passing under a golden archway, human again.

The walls had cooled to gold they glinted with the carved shapes of serpents and fiery dragons. The slippery floor angling through the mountain slowed her down. She could almost feel Rhysin breathing on her neck. She heard footsteps. Fear for Jarod filled her but she blocked it. Her heart pounding in her ears and her boots pounding on the floor was all she knew.

The hallway ended and the bright light that had flooded the corridor dimmed. She could see the door leading outside. She could almost see the cold light of the stars. The gate opened onto a twilight space. She was in the middle of a shallow crater filled with grit and ice. It was cold after the heat of the Heulwen and she shivered. Now what? The wind whipped through her hair and her eyes watered. How long had she been running? It had been barely dawn when she ran through the gate, now it was twilight, the in between time when the day merged into the night- when the last glancing rays of the sun share the sky with the cold glitter of the stars.

Summoned by her thought the first star glimmered in the distance. Soon the sky was full of the diamond brilliance of stars. She watched them as she walked and their cool indifference calmed her. Watching the stars she thought she saw them move. After a few minutes she was sure.

The wind picked up and the ice particles flew. She blinked; it looked like the starlight was weaving patterns with the wind. Swirls of silver and blue coalesced into a lacy bridge composed of starlight, wind and ice. It bowed up from the edge of the crater like a slender bent reed. The ice created beautiful filigree patterns that merged with the cold starlight. Exquisite and fragile, it looked like a mirage dreamed from her hopes.

Even if Rhysin was right behind her she had to take it slow. Where the span met the crater she peered over the edge and looked down. There was nothing there. Her head spun, her stomach clenched. She dropped to her knees and scooted back from the edge. She took a few deep breaths to calm down. She couldn’t do it. The ice was slippery; she’d fall forever. She’d sit here, turning to ice. Rhysin would find her and laugh while he shredded her soul. She crouched there shivering. Tears froze on her cheeks.

There were footsteps behind her. She stiffened and turned her head. Her mother was beside her russet hair streaming behind her from a wind Ariana couldn’t feel. Her eyes glittered with tears. But her face was still patient and kind as it had always been in life. Ariana filled with regret that she couldn’t ease her mother’s pain. “I’m sorry Mom, but I can’t do it.”

Julia gestured at the bridge silently.

“No, I can’t.” Ariana said.

“Follow me.” Julia turned away and disappeared.

Trembling Ariana stepped onto the bridge. It glittered under her feet like glass. She tried not to think of how fragile it seemed. Stepping out onto the narrow arching span it bowed beneath her weight. She almost bolted. Panic held her still. Her heart thundered and her palms were wet with sweat. She was dizzy; she was going to fall. Desperately she searched for an anchor.

A hooded figure waited her mother. Trying not to think about how narrow the bridge was she took a deep breath, putting one foot in front of the other. The ice was slick. She reflexively used the Heartstone to meld the ice to her soles as she walked. Inching along she kept her eyes focused on the wraith leading her forward. Gradually she relaxed; the span was wider than it looked, just wide enough for her to walk on. If she stumbled she’d fall forever through the indigo void yawning below.

Her panic eased. She began appreciating the beauty of the bridge she walked on. Every step she took crunched into a latticework of stars and ice. The wind threw ice crystals into her eyes. Sometimes the wind obscured her mother’s ghostly form. She tried to get a closer look at the figures flitting in the corner of her eyes.

Crystalline beasts curveted around her. Indigo eyes and starlit hides gleamed as they noticed the intruder. She stared fascinated. The creatures drew closer, lightning flash horns and icy talons, silver flapping wings horses legs ending in eagle claws, muzzles tapered to a curving beak. In the swirling silver wind she could almost identify them. Their deadly beauty called her. She reached out.

Suddenly her mother was before her. Urgently she gestured for Ariana to follow. Ariana looked down. She was halfway over the edge. The animals had almost lured her to her doom. She shivered and stepped back. She turned to follow the bridge. The gusts grew in intensity. They were trying to push her off the narrow span. Using the Stone she calmed the air around her creating a buffer zone and keeping her eyes on her guide.

After that it grew easier but the bridge of stars continued endlessly. She was numb, mechanically putting one foot in front of the other. She felt remote from everything. She pinned her vision to the shadow of her mother that led her onward. There was a sudden disruption; the animals swirled up into the night sky leaving trails of translucence in their wake. They dove away from the span, shooting stars arcing across the heavens. Here so high above the earth she could become a shooting star herself.

She looked for Julia. She was gone. Ariana felt cold bereft. “Mother?” She cried into the uncaring sky. There was nothing except the wind keening in her ears. The sky lightened. In the distance Ariana saw something besides bridge and sky. Wispy clouds gathered around a single point, an alabaster cliff washed pink in the rosy dawn light. Fierce winds buffeted her. The star bridge gave a shudder like a shying horse throwing her off into the dawn sky.

She fell through the indigo sky. There was no breath in her lungs to scream. She could feel her skin turning to ice as she plunged through the icy air. Her mind was blank. She was going to fall forever.

She hit the ground with a thump. She lay there stunned for a moment. Where was she now? Slowly wincing she sat up and looked around. She was at the edge of a cliff. She pushed herself away form the edge. Behind her loomed a snow shrouded mountain so vast the top was lost in the clouds. It stood sentinel over the Serenvale. She shivered. It was freezing here. From the desert to winter’s ice, this was crazy.

There was only one direction to go so she started out. Maybe she’d warm up soon. Thousands of feet had worn the trail into the rock over millennia. An hour later she was still walking. Her legs ached. She was cold and hungry and tired. All she’d been doing was walk. It seemed like that’s all she ever did. Slowly the trail encircled the mountain. She came around the side and the trail split. One way led up to the summit. The other went down into the range of mountains. She squinted into the distance. There seemed to be a valley to the east. That was where she needed to be. She started down. The snow was deeper here and she couldn’t feel her feet.

Along the trail were a few wizened berries the mountain deer had missed. She gobbled them down. They were sour and tart and her stomach rebelled. But they stayed down. She reached the bottom of the mountain and started walking east to the valley. The wind was quieter here and a stream meandered through snowy banks. She took a drink of the icy water. It made her feel better. She felt more alive, warmer even. She kept walking. She was getting drowsy. I’ll just sit for a minute. She sat down to rest. She closed her eyes.

Power surged through her. She was burning up. Her hands hurt. She looked down. Her hands were sprouting feathers. Her feet were talons. With a shriek she launched herself up. She was a peregrine hawk. She flew up into the bitter sky.

There in the distance she saw a black shape, her enemy the raven. With a cry she sped toward the valley. Swift wings beat the air. He wouldn’t catch her. The air was fresh and clean. The ice-shrouded valley lay quiet below her. With a shrill cry she few down to catch a mouse.

Ariana woke hunched over a bloody morsel of mouse. Repulsed she stood up. What had happened? There’d been a dream. The raven had chased her. She looked around.

She was in the valley. It was a crystal fairyland. Everything sheathed in ice. Even the stream was solid ice. Around her bare-limbed trees contrasted with the snow. She put her hand against one. She got no sense of life. The trees were withered. Suddenly she knew they’d look like this even in spring, if spring ever came here. She looked around the valley. At one end was a frozen waterfall. Arrested forever in mid fall the ice ranged from silver white on the black rocks to indigo closer to the center.

At the other end was Galancarrig. It rose glittering from the valley floor. It seemed insubstantial, like she was still dreaming. One moment it was a flame, then a spray of sea foam, a crystal tree, and then a cloud ready to blow away. Awestruck she stood drinking it in. The Stone burned against her breast. She didn’t know how long she stood mesmerized but pain in her left side reminded her she needed to move quickly.

It seemed organic as if it had grown out of the mountains. There was a great silver gate behind which buildings clustered at the foot of the fortress. A narrow path wound up through the town until it ended at the entrance to Galancarrig.

On the lower levels the fortress was a milky translucent crystal shining dully in the gray light. Graceful balconies and elegant windows dotted Galancarrig’s lower levels. Above the crystal grew clearer until the summit of the tallest tower was practically invisible. That was the Web of Stars.

Coming closer she saw the damage. The silver gates were crumpled and tossed aside. The white marble walls were broken and crumbling. Smoke marks stained the windows of the lower buildings and the small twisting path was obscured by rubble. Galancarrig itself was no better. Cracks marred the crystal surface and great ragged chunks had been gouged from the walls.

She walked through the gate. As she passed through the gate impressions overwhelmed her. Galancarrig gleamed like a beacon above scrubbed walls and slate blue roofs. In the bright light each building glittered like a jewel. Flags flew from windows; flowers and the smell of incense overwhelmed her senses. A procession of Guardians in their violet robes wending their way down from Galancarrig, the warrior protectors a few steps behind. They passed by and through her. For a moment she thought she saw her mother as a girl. Then it was gone.

She was left looking at the ruins. Even the ruins were lovely. Ariana mourned for the lost glory. She made her way carefully up the narrow lane. The broken paving stones were thick with ice. She reached the doors to Galancarrig: once the doors had been an intricate sculpture of silver and oak; now charred timbers and puddles of silver mingled in the dark ice. The intricate carvings around the doorway were smashed. The lintels were scorched. Bending she picked up a shard in her hand. A fierce carved hawk looked back at her. She smiled, tucking it into her pocket.