Jared landed, carefully listening for any sign of danger.
But there was no sound but the wind. A moment later, once Chiara had climbed down, he shifted back.
“We made it.” Chiara pulled the golden disk free and studied it again. Then she turned to look down at the forest spreading below.
Not far away, they could glimpse a river making a very distinct turn, only to then turn back again. Seen from up high, it looked a bit like a snake.
And on Chiara’s disk, the river showed the same distinctive curves.
“We’re here,” Jared said.
His voice echoed eerily. For a moment, he felt apprehension rise up inside himself.
Not much longer now, and he’d finally know. But what if the answers he’d get weren’t the ones he’d been hoping for?
He took a deep breath.
The air was crisp and cold. Wind tugged at their hair.
To his griffin, the mountain felt like home. Not just a dragon could settle here—griffins loved the mountains just as much.
Chiara took hold of his hand. He smiled at her, feeling her own strength and curiosity come through the bond.
It doesn’t matter. No matter what answers I get, what’s important is that I’ll finally know. And then I’m free to build a new life.
“Come on,” she said, laughing when the wind whipped her mermaid hair into her face. “Let’s see if we can disturb a dragon today.”
The cave was completely, utterly dark. Fortunately they’d thought ahead and brought flashlights.
Unlike the entrance to the council
chamber, the opening in the rock didn’t lead into a giant cave. Instead, they found a narrow passage that led them into the rock, sloping gently downward.
Every now and then, the path curved—always to the right, so that soon, they felt as if they were following a spiral that led down into the mountain.
And that seemed to be exactly what it was.
After half an hour had passed, the passage they were in widened. It was still dark, but they used their flashlights to explore.
Every step they took echoed eerily all around them. They couldn’t see further than their cones of light, and Jared made sure to stay close by Chiara’s side, just in case.
“Here!” she at last called out triumphantly. “Come and look at this!”
In the light of Chiara’s torch, the rock to their right was revealed to have three small openings—just big enough for a human to pass through.
“Which one do we choose?” Chiara asked, shining her light in.
Shadow swallowed their light. There was nothing but darkness behind the openings. They couldn’t even see if there was a path continuing past the stony doorways.
Jared didn’t like the look of that darkness. Still, they’d come too far to give up in the face of whatever defense mechanism the owner of this mountain used.
And the fact that it was this difficult to find him just made Jared more certain that they were on the right path.
“What does your disk say?” he asked.
Chiara pulled it out and turned it, squinting at the disk in the sparse light. “No doorways on it. Not that I can see. I guess we could toss a coin? No, that wouldn’t work—we’d need a three-sided coin.”
“No,” Jared said slowly. “I think... I think you might be right. May I?”