Page 90 of Veil of Embers
The smell of earth was the first thing to envelop them damp, rich, untouched. The walls around them closed in, the tunnel winding downward in a slow descent, wrapping them in silence. Their boots pressed into soft dirt, the weight of the world above shifting with every step. And then the change began. A mist curled in from nowhere. Soft, glowing purple vapor that swirled like breath on a cold morning, rolling over the ground, wrapping around their ankles. Tiny, flickering insects appeared within the haze, their bodies pulsing like tiny bolts of lightning, casting brief flashes of white blue light in the darkness. The air changed. The scent of earth was drowned by something new, flowers. Sweet, sharp, overwhelming in its intensity.
Then the ground beneath them shifted. The packed dirt was gone. In its place, smooth marble stretched beneath their feet, cold and gleaming in the dim light. Their boots echoed against it, the sound jarring after so much silence. A path formed, leading them deeper. And ahead stairs. They werecarved from pristine marble, twisted with veins of gold dust, shimmering as if lit from within. It was breathtaking. They ascended in silence. And when they reached the top, the cave mouth opened. The first thing Sorcha saw was the sky.
It was not the sky of her world.
It stretched wide and endless, painted in shades of purple and pink, like a sunset caught in its most perfect moment, never fading. Clouds hung soft and full, pristine white puffs against the dream like expanse. Above them, dragons soared.
Not menacing or monstrous but swift, soft, gliding through the air with an effortless grace. Their wings caught the light, reflecting iridescent colors that shimmered as they passed. Among them, birds of all kinds darted and wheeled, their feathers flashing in shades Sorcha had never seen before. Then her gaze lowered and she saw the castle. It hung in the air, upside down, as if the sky itself had claimed it. Intricate, beautiful, its towers stretching downward, defying gravity. A waterfall ran from its highestspire backward, upward rushing into the sky instead of falling to the earth. The land beneath them was vibrant, more alive than anything she had ever seen. The trees were not green but bold, luminous shades of blue, crimson, gold. Some leaves seemed to glow, their veins pulsing with soft light. A flicker of movement caught her eye. In the distance, a great white stag stood, watching them. Its antlers were massive, its eyes dark and endless. Around it, small creatures flitted through the wilderness, some familiar, some impossibly strange. In the distant was a darkness sprawling with bridges that stretched across the vast landscape, leading to places she could not yet name.
And there coiled upon itself, massive enough to block out entire portions of the horizon, was a snake. A serpent larger than the Druid School, its body twisting upon itself, still and waiting.
Beside her, Cat exhaled. And then, almost to himself, he sighed. “Home.”
