Stars.
They were stars, but not like the ones in the mortal realm. They were more vivid and radiant, casting a silvery glow that was far more powerful than the moon. I scanned the skies, searching and searching.
“Where is the moon?” I asked hoarsely.
“There is no moon,” Ash answered. “It is not night.”
My brows snapped together as I took in the sky that very much resembled night. “Is it day?”
“It is neither day nor night.” The arm around my waist loosened. “It just is.”
I didn’t understand as Odin traveled forward, each step clanging off cobblestone. I looked down, spying fingers of mist trailing softly over the road. I returned my stare to the sky. The longer I looked at it, the more I realized it didn’t resemble a night sky. Yes, there were stars, and they were brighter than anything I’d seen, but the sky was more…shadowy than black. Darker than the stormiest, most overcast day in the mortal realm. It reminded me of the moments before dawn, when the sun rose behind the moon and beat back the darkness, turning the world a shade of iron.
“Is there no sun?” I asked, wetting my lips.
“Not in the Shadowlands.”
Barely able to comprehend that I was actually in the Shadowlands, I wasn’t sure what to do with the knowledge of there being no sun or moon. “Then how do you know when to sleep?”
“You sleep when you’re tired.”
He stated this as if sleeping were that simple. “What about the rest of Iliseeum?”
“The rest of Iliseeum appears as it should,” he answered flatly.
I wanted to ask why and what that meant, but the barren landscape changed. Tall trees appeared, and as we traveled, they grew closer and closer to the road. Bare, twisted trees that were nothing more than skeletons. Several large, rocky hills loomed ahead, spaced around the road we traveled on.
Uncertainty beat at me, along with all those messy emotions I couldn’t describe. But so did curiosity. The part of me that had always yearned to know what Iliseeum looked like stirred. I started to lean forward but stopped and forced my body to relax against his.
Putting space between was the exact opposite of what one did when they wanted to seduce another. I looked down at the arm held firmly around me. And despite how cool his skin was, the feel of him was…pleasant.
A deep, chuffing sound jerked my head up. One of the hills shuddered and rose. That was no hill ahead of us. My mouth dropped open. Wings swept out and then up into the starry sky. The ground around us trembled, scattering what was left of the mist as something thick and spiked swept across the road. My gaze followed the sidewinding tail to the creature that was at least twice Odin’s size.
Black and gray under the starlight, it stood on four muscular legs as it shook its great body, sending a fine layer of dirt into the air. Spikes traveled from the tail and along the thick scales of its back, some as small as my fist, others the size of several hands in length. The creature twisted sharply, faster than I would’ve ever anticipated something that size to move, turning its long, graceful neck in our direction.
Air thinned with each breath. I choked on a scream that never made it past my throat as a massive talon landed in the center of the road, claws wide and sharp. A moment later, the frilled head was directly in front of us—a head nearly half the size of Odin’s body.
I fell back against Ash, staring at it—at the flat, broad nose and wide jaw, the pointed horns that sat upon its head like a crown, and eyes that were such a vibrant shade of red, they contrasted sharply with the pitch-black, thin, vertical pupil.
I knew what I was staring at. I’d read about them in dusty, heavy tomes. I knew what purpose they served. They were the guardians of Iliseeum. I knew they were real, but I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing one—couldn’t believe I was face to face with a dragon.
A very large dragon with gray and black scales and many, many teeth. It leaned in even closer, its nostrils flaring as it appeared to sniff the air—sniff us.
“It’s okay,” Ash told me, and I realized I was once again clutching his arm. “Nektas won’t harm you. He’s just curious.”
Just curious?
I flinched as the dragon’s hot breath lifted the hair around my face.
Nektas let out a soft purring sound as he tilted his head even closer and then lowered it so it was only inches above Odin’s mane.
“I think he wants you to pet him,” Ash said.
“What?” I whispered.
“It’s his way of knowing you mean him no harm,” he explained, and I wondered exactly how in the two realms I could ever be a threat to this creature. “And him allowing it is how he shows you that he won’t hurt you.”
“I believe you—him.” I swallowed.
The dragon made that low trilling sound again.
“Where’s all that bravery?” Ash asked.
“My bravery ends when I’m faced with something that can swallow me whole.”
Nektas puffed out a hot breath as he cocked his head.
“He’s hurt that you would think he’d do such a thing,” Ash observed. “Besides, I don’t think he can swallow you whole.”
My mouth dried as I continued staring at the beast. He was beautiful and terrifying, and I didn’t know if any mortal alive today had seen one. I swallowed again, slowly easing my grip on Ash’s arm. My breath caught in my throat as I reached out.
If he bit my hand off, I would be so very disappointed.
Nektas vibrated with sound once more. The very tips of my fingers touched his flesh. I pressed lightly, surprised to find that his bumpy scales felt like smooth leather. I petted his nose rather awkwardly. The dragon made a chuffing sound again, this time sounding very much like a laugh.
Pulling his head back, Nektas’s gaze focused over my shoulder and then he turned. The ground trembled as he pushed off his hind legs. Air whipped around us as powerful, clawed wings swept back. He lifted into the sky with a shocking surge, rising fast.
“See?” Ash held Odin’s reins tightly. “He will not harm you.”
I touched a dragon.
That was all I could think.
“You can lower your hand now.” Amusement danced in his tone.
Blinking, I pulled my hand to my chest. “It’s a dragon,” I murmured.
“He’s a draken,” he corrected as Nektas flew ahead. “They are all draken.”
They? Draken? The remaining hills weren’t hills, either. They shuddered and lifted their diamond-shaped heads to the sky, tracking Nektas. Wings unfurled against the ground, stirring dirt and dust as they rose, stretching their necks. They were smaller than Nektas, their scales a shimmering onyx in the starlight, but no less powerful as they pushed off their hind legs and launched into the sky.
“You…you have four…draken protecting you?” I asked, my stomach sinking. It wasn’t like I’d forgotten who the Primals’ guards were. But seeing it was a shock.
Ash nudged Odin forward. “I do.”
I watched the three others join Nektas, their wings sweeping gracefully through the sky. “And they have names?”
“Orphine, Ehthawn, and Crolee,” he answered. “Orphine and Ehthawn are twins. I believe Crolee is their distant cousin.”
“You call them draken?” I asked. “How is that any different from a dragon?”
“Very different.”
I waited. “Please tell me you’re going to explain further.”
“I am. Just thinking of a way to make it less confusing,” he said, that thumb of his beginning to move again. “Dragons were very old creatures. Very powerful. Some believe they even existed in both realms long before gods and mortals did.”