I nodded, heart thumping. “It’s beautiful.”
“It’s the sirens singing.”
“Sirens?”
“They are the guards of the Vale, and they’ve sensed us.”
My attention slowly shifted back to the mist. “Why are they singing?”
“Only the draken and those who’ve Ascended can travel into the Vale,” he said. “Whenever they sense something that shouldn’t be this close, they sing to lure the trespassers into the Shroud. Not even you with Primal embers would survive that.”
Skin chilled, I looked down at my white-knuckle grip on the reins and then Nektas’s hand as the sirens kept singing. His fingers remained curled firmly around the reins and stayed there.
Hours later, the sirens finally stopped singing. Nektas had released his hold on my reins, and the rigid tension eased from my muscles. I ached all over from holding myself back. I’d come close to leaping from the saddle and entering the Shroud one too many times. Not even snacking on the jerky Nektas had brought with him had helped, and food was normally the ultimate distraction.
And I would have to experience that again on the way out.
I wasn’t looking forward to that at all as we crested a hill, but all thoughts of the sirens and their call slipped away as a rocky horizon rose ahead. It was a mountain with sheer, vertical cliffs made of pure shadowstone and something else—something that glittered crimson under the sun, reminding me of Nektas’s hair.
“Good gods, I really hope we don’t have to climb that thing,” I said. “If so, I think I’ll take my chances with the sirens.”
Nektas chuckled. “Luckily, the Pools of Divanash are beneath.”
“Beneath all of that?” The mountain was a fortress of stone, an imposing sight amidst all the beauty.
He glanced at me. “You claustrophobic?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Well, I guess we’re about to find out, aren’t we?”
This will be fun, I thought as we entered the foothills and eventually stopped when Nektas spotted the slit of an entrance I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to fit through, let alone Nektas. We left the horses tied beneath a weeping tree, where they nibbled on the grass and could rest. With one final scratch behind Gala’s ears, I followed Nektas. We were barely able to slide through the opening sideways, and then emerged into utter darkness.
I gasped, seeing nothing as I came to a standstill. I reached out blindly, feeling the cool, smooth wall behind me but nothing to my left. I searched the darkness, not even able to see the draken. Breathe in. My throat tightened as I croaked, “Nektas?”
“I’m here.” His hand folded over mine, warm and firm. Breathe out. “Can you see?”
“I can.” He started to lead the way.
“Draken must have really good eyesight,” I said, my voice seeming to carry in the sweetly scented air. Breathe in.
“We have amazing senses.”
I clung to his hand as I desperately tried not to think about the fact that I could see nothing, and anything could be within inches of me. Hold. Dakkais. Barrats. Giant spiders. Gods, that wasn’t helping. Breathe out. “You said you smelled death on me before.”
“I did. I still do,” he answered, his voice seeming disembodied even though I held his hand like a frightened child. “I smell Ash on you.”
I made a face.
“And I also smell death,” he added. “Your body. It’s dying.”
“What the fuck?” I gasped, pulling on my hand.
Nektas held on. “You’re actively dying, Sera. The Culling is killing you. You know that.”
“I do.” I took an even deeper breath. “But having you say that when I’m under a mountain and can’t see shit puts it in a whole different perspective.”
“I don’t see how.”
“Probably because you can see, and you aren’t actively dying.”
“Good point.” He paused. “My apologies.”
“Gods,” I muttered. A moment passed with only the sound of our steps. “Do I smell bad to you?”
Nektas laughed.
My eyes narrowed. “There’s nothing funny about my question.”
“Yes, there is,” he said. “Death does not smell bad. It carries the same scent as life but weaker. Lilacs.”
Lilacs.
I’d smelled that before. Stale lilacs. I wondered if Nyktos could smell that on me. I stopped myself from asking that. I’d rather him think I smelled like a summer storm—whatever that smelled like.
We continued on in the tunnel for some time, and I didn’t think we walked straight. I was about to ask if Nektas was lost when I heard the sound of water and then saw a pinprick of light that steadily grew larger. Sunlight, thank the gods. Soon, I could see Nektas in front of me.
His steps slowed. “Stay right there.”
“I don’t know where you expect me to go,” I replied as he let go of my hand.
“Who knows with you?” He hopped down. “Someone turns their back on you for a few seconds and you run off.”
“I do not.”
He turned from below, offering his hands. I took them instead of kicking him. He helped me down, the drop several feet. The air was significantly warmer here and humid. Much sweeter. I took a step and immediately saw why. Thick branches smothered with lilacs snaked along the floor, climbed the walls of the cavern, and spread across the ceiling, nearly choking out the light coming through the opening above.
“That’s a whole lot of lilacs.” I looked around. “Is that why death smells like lilacs?”
“I don’t know why death smells like that, but lilacs are special. They represent renewal, and both life and death are that—a renewal.” Nektas roamed forward. “If you ever see lilacs like this near water in the mortal realm, you can be assured that you’re near a gateway to Iliseeum—to Dalos, in particular.”
I thought of my lake. “And if there are none?”
“Then the gateway likely leads to the Shadowlands,” he said. “There it is.”
Sidestepping Nektas, I saw a rocky outcropping that rose to about the height of my waist, forming a jagged circle that was roughly the size of Nektas in his draken form. The waters of the Pools of Divanash were still and clear as we approached them.
“So, what do I do?” I pressed my hands against the basin. “Just ask where he is?”
“Sort of. It will require a drop of your blood.”
“Just a drop?” I reached down between the halves of my cloak and unsheathed the dagger from my thigh.
“Only a drop,” he advised. “But you also have to give it something not known to others.”
Gods. I’d forgotten about that part. I frowned as I stared at the Pools.
“Once you do that, the Pools should let you know it’s okay to proceed. Ask who or what you’re searching for, and the Pools will answer.” He cocked his head. “Hopefully.”
I hesitated, my hand and the dagger suspended above the water. “Hopefully?”
Nektas shrugged. “I’ve never seen them work.”
“Great,” I muttered, shaking my head. Something that wasn’t known to others. “So, I basically have to admit a secret or something?”
“That’s the gist of it. It’s an exchange of sorts. An answer for a truth, one not known to others—likely not even to oneself.”
“Not known to oneself?” I repeated quietly, my frown increasing. I started to ask what the hell that even meant, but I thought I understood what kind of truth it was looking for. One that made you uncomfortable to admit.
Gods, there were a lot of uncomfortable truths. And there wasn’t enough time in the day for me to list them, starting with how I felt about my mother and ending with what I might feel for Nyktos. There were a whole lot of itchy, suffocating truths between those two things as I went through them.