For a moment, there was a shocked silence from the end of the cave, the ever-shifting shadows freezing.
Then, a heartbeat later, the chimera roared with laughter.
“Feisty human,” he growled. “I like you! Come closer, both of you.”
Jared exchanged a smile with Chiara, who’d visibly relaxed at Gareth’s reply. Together, they moved towards the back of the cave.
“Jared told me you’re looking for a new elemental dragon,” Chiara said. “I thought the symbol meant that there was a powerful magical artifact. But Jared’s right. You saw what the disk we found just did. And I think I can figure out where it’s trying to lead us now.”
“Unafraid and smart,” the chimera growled in approval. “Good choice, Jared. And you’re right. There’s a message hidden in those constellations.”
“I read a lot about constellations and horoscopes when I was trying to figure out more about the supernatural world.” Chiara sounded pleased. “I know that the constellations in the sky change, depending on where you are on the planet. So all we need is to find out where all of these constellations are visible at the same time. And if there’s a mountain range nearby, we’ve found our destination.”
“What a good thing that we’ve got internet access up here these days,” Jared said. He was still feeling smug, because Gareth had claimed he hated technology for so long that this was still a new addition. “I bet there’s a website where you can find out which constellations are visible where right now.”
“But—do we know it’s right now?” Chiara frowned. “The sky changes with the seasons as well. We have no idea when this disk was engraved.”
Slowly, Jared reached beneath his shirt and pulled free his own amulet. It seemed to glow a little, reflecting the light that the plinths of the elements gave off.
“I know when it is,” he said, staring at the symbol. Something in his chest felt tight—like an old wound that had never completely healed.
He took a deep breath.
“Two days from now. In two days, it’ll be—”
“It will be the day when the storm dragon’s parents found an orphaned griffin baby,” the chimera murmured, his words echoing through the cave.
Jared felt the old pain like a stab to his heart.
How strange. After all these years, he’d thought that he was over it. He had a family, after all. He had a home and friends.
Still...
“And that griffin baby was holding on to this amulet.” Jared stared again at the mysterious symbol.
Was there some connection between the parents he’d never known and this new elemental dragon? Had this new dragon perhaps known his family?
I know they’re most likely dead. But still. Still. If I could at least know who they were, where I’m from, what happened...
Chiara’s arm came around him. He breathed in deeply once more, then shook off the old pain and gave her a smile, grateful for her silent offer of support.
Chiara had lost a lot as well. She’d lost her job, her home, her friends—even her family. Everyone she’d cared about had thought that she’d gone insane. No one had believed her.
They’d both hunted for the origins of this strange symbol all alone.
But that didn’t mean that they had to stay alone. They could finish this treasure hunt together.
And no matter what they found at the end, he’d have her. They’d have each other.
No one could take that from them.
As long as Chiara could grow used to the shifter world, of course—but if she’d managed to charm the grumpy chimera, she’d charm the rest of the shifter world, too.
Chapter Fifteen: Chiara
“That wasn’t so bad,” Chiara said, almost surprising herself as they walked deeper underground through a corridor in the stone.
Not so long ago, she’d done everything she could to avoid conflict. And her manager had still managed to make her cry on a regular basis regardless.