With how hard Ayla pushed them, they reached the stone arch entryway of Raiven embedded in the mountainside in less than two weeks. Siobhan slept in the saddle, Ayla and Wyx not at all. Night and day they galloped, slowing only to allow Siobhan to eat. How Wyx didn't drop dead under her could only be attributed to some herbal concoction the lioness made before they left the hunter's cabin.
Siobhan shifted in her saddle to look around. The northern mountain range towered above her, casting a lengthy shadow across the melting snow. Branches of barren trees shifted in the wind, few showed signs of life trying to survive through the final weeks of winter. Sunlight beamed through the clouds as if lighting her way to the arches.
To the untrained eye, the twisting stone curving on the side of the mountain range forming an arch was nothing but an odd natural formation. Those with magic knew otherwise. It was a gateway, a sign of hope to those cast out of their life among the humans. They were twists of granite, volcanic rock, and Siobhan didn't know what else.
"I thought you said the others would be waiting for us?" Siobhan asked when she saw no signs of the wagon.
Ayla shifted out of the lioness and shrugged. "Guess we beat them."
"Or Garrith already has them!"
"I'd know if they were captured. Remember, shifters have a sense about one another. If any of my pride were in trouble, I'd know about it. There is no such feeling burrowing through me."
Siobhan climbed off Wyx and stepped away from the arches. A part of her wanted to enter Raiven where it would be safe even from Garrith. The other part of her, the dominant part, worried for Elias. She'd left him behind far too easily. One hand touched her clavicle as she stared toward the southeast. Much of the snow had melted, awaiting the arrival of another wave of frost that would sweep through most of the lowlands. Crestborne and the southern edges of the lowlands were the only places to escape the endless influx of snow during the winter.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. There was the familiar scent of the now days away storm. Moss covered stones, mud, and the distinct aroma of mildew. She sniffed again and grinned at another scent growing closer with every inhale. Cinnamon, sweat, and grease. It wouldn't be Wren if there wasn't sweat and grease. When she opened her eyes, a spot waivered in the distance, moving ever closer. Though she didn't have the eyesight of a shifter, the spot in the horizon was clear enough.
"Told you," Ayla said.
Siobhan rolled her eyes, ignoring the obvious gloat in Ayla's tone. She wouldn't let the obnoxious shifter get the best of her. A smile stretched wide on her face as she watched the wagon grow closer. It felt like an eternity passed before it began to slow, and Elias hopped off the side. Even more time passed between when Siobhan ran into his arms, crying into his chest the way she used to when she was younger. Time was a matter of no importance.
"Thank the Goddess you changed your mind," Elias said. His hand held her head tight against his chest. If she could dissolve into his hug, she'd have done so happily.
"I'm sorry, Elias. I'm so so sorry. You raised me to be better than I was. I let you down."
Elias pulled away, cupping her face in his hands. Both thumbs brushed tears away from her cheeks. His teal eyes bore into hers, a smile teased his lips. She suddenly felt two years old again, hiding under his robes because she broke a vase that sent one of the maids on a rampage. The rotund woman scurried through the house screaming at everyone, trying to find who broke it. Siobhan was frightened of the woman and so she fled to the one hiding place that always felt secure, Elias' robes. He never pushed her away or scolded her for it being inappropriate; he always let her hide until she was ready to face the world again. The day she grew too large to hide was the day she felt her childhood truly ended.
"You're here now, M'lady. I'm proud of you."
"Where the hell are we?" Wren asked. He walked from the back of the wagon, one hand holding the arm of the blindfolded Natalia. Two lionesses scurried past him to shift beside Ayla. "I thought we were going to Raiven."
"We're outside of Raiven," Elias said.
Wren raised an eyebrow. "Where?"
"Right there." Siobhan smiled and waved toward the arches. Wren ignored her and continued to look at Elias.
"It's through the arch." Elias chuckled when Wren scowled toward the stone. "Walk through it."
"I might be naïve to a lot of things, but I'll be damned if I'm walking into a stone wall."
"It's not a stone wall," Siobhan said, still smiling, "it's a mountain."
Wren passed her, still guiding Natalia, without looking at her. He walked toward the arch and stopped. Siobhan crossed her arms.
"He's upset with you, M'lady." Elias curled an arm over her shoulders. "Give him time."
"We'll alert the High Mages of your arrival," Ayla said. She nodded toward her silent shifters. One took the reins of Wyx while the other guided Zelick and Wren's horse pulling the wagon. Wren jumped back, shrieking, when they vanished behind the rippling mountainside.
He hustled to the arch and pressed his hands against the mountain. Both went through the stone. Ayla took the arm of Natalia and guided her through the arch. Wren turned back, eyes wide, and grinned at Elias.
"Magic is seriously awesome." He jumped through the arch and vanished.
Siobhan sighed, crossing her arms. "Why don't you hate me, Elias? I abandoned you both. You should hate me like he does."
"Wren doesn't hate you. He doesn't understand why you left us, but I do. I've known you your whole life, M'lady. The only time you abandon those in need is when you're truly frightened. While I don't know what scared you that badly, I know that's the reason."
"Garrith," Siobhan muttered. "He's still alive and he's after Wren. And me. . .he can control me, Elias. One word and I would jump from a cliff for him, worship the ground he walks on, anything he asked of me."
"Hmm." Elias pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. "I heard stories Garrith wasn't actually killed by the Draygon. One suggested that the Draygon simply weren't strong enough to do anything but bury him deep in the planets core."
"The only stories I was ever told were how my race was the heroes, the saviors. Is there anything I know that hasn't been a lie?"
"I'm not a lie. You're not a lie. While Wren may not know all his truths, he's not a lie either." He tucked his hands into his robes and stepped toward the stone. His robes touched the wall, sending a flurry of ripples radiating away from it. Elias looked over his shoulder. "So, let's go find out what the truth is."
Siobhan hesitated after Elias disappeared through the arch. Her hand touched her chest where her ring still hid within her clincher. The bulge did little to push through the tight fabric unless she pushed hard enough. Years she spent running from her past suddenly became useless. If she stepped through that arch, she'd become what she fought so hard to leave behind. What was the point of it all? If she was the hope of all magic, along with Wren, why did magic allow someone to frame her for murder? Did all her years running from her past mean so little that it would be wiped away with the simple act of stepping into Raiven? There was no point to any of it.
Wind shuffled her hair. She turned back to the southeast and watched the clouds drift overhead. Somewhere out there was Garrith. Would he rip the lowlands apart looking for her? Or did he know exactly where she was, and it was all part of his game? She inhaled and turned back to the arch. Gray and black mixed with a speckling of something shinning in the sparse light filtering from the clouds. Higher up on the mountain range it turned to beige sandstone before it gave away to the life of the highlands. It hadn't been long since she last entered Raiven, a year at most, but this was the first time she'd enter knowing they probably knew who she was the entire time.
"To hell with everyone for making me play their stupid games." She sighed and stepped into the arch.
Stone dissolved in a wave. She brushed at her arms, as she always did when entering Raiven. While nothing actually touched her, it was simply a magical illusion that made it look like there was still mountain there, it tickled all the same. A snow-covered courtyard erased the illusion of stone.
Raiven wasn't a secret in the sense that only magic could enter, any who stumbled across the archway could enter Raiven if they thought to try. The knowledge of the hidden sanctuary for magic's existence was still limited so most didn't think to step through the arch on the mountain side. Mountains stood tall behind the stone-faced buildings forming a square. Sloped roofs dripped with melting snow, forming icicles hanging from awnings. In the spring, the courtyard came to life with market stalls selling wares from all over both the lowlands and highlands, even the illegal totems reserved for the black market. During the winter, Raiven was a desolate place. Most took shelter in the warmer Ardorn or remained in the highlands, leaving much of Raiven to the High Mages who called it home.
Elias and Wren stood beside the wagon, now free of any horses pulling it. Natalia stood silent behind Wren. Black marbled through her tan skin, making it almost pale in comparison. Emerald light beamed from the bracelet bound tight to her wrist. Siobhan could see no tattoos marking her lioness pride. If she hadn't been told Natalia shifted to save Wren, she'd never guess the girl was a shifter.
"Oh Siobhan! Thank the Goddess you're all right!"
Rosie shuffled from one of the doorways, her arms wide and ready for a hug. She scooped Siobhan off her feet, cracking her back with a strong embrace. Though she changed much of her features into that of a woman, Rosie still had the unmistakable strength of a man. Siobhan didn't mind. She sank into the wondrous hug. When they separated, Siobhan looked behind Rosie.
"Naylin is safe. The High Mages sent her to Ardorn, though they won't tell me why," Rosie said.
"How are you here?"
"I've lost everything, dawlin'. The Lord Commander had my entire place burned to nothing but ash and he was going to do it with us locked inside!" Rosie pressed a hand to her chest. "One minute you were sitting at the table, as still as all my entertainers were. The next it was like we blinked, and you were gone! It set off quite a ruckus with the Vanguard mages, at least as much a ruckus as those mindless drones can have. Two of them kept circling the room as if they were lost. One kept mumbling about it being cold, another kept saying hidden. Cold, hidden, cold, hidden. On an on. The Lord Commander naturally demanded to know how you'd vanished and thought I was lying when I said I didn't know. The Vanguard mages bound all the doors and windows with their magic while the Vanguard generals set fire to everything! Poor Naylin curled into my arms and kept complaining someone had been in her head. We thought for sure we'd all die."
"And then the Witches of Drakewood opened a doorway to here and led everyone to safety," a man said, walking up behind Rosie with Ayla by his side. He pulled a light purple silk cloth off his head and the thorn crown resting on top, allowing it to shawl over his shoulders.
Siobhan knew a High Mage when she saw one. Men or women, their purple robes hung down to their ankles, revealing only the tips of their black boots. A large metal sun held a light-yellow belt tight around their waists, both ends hanging loose in the front down to the hem of their robes. Ornate lines decorated the belt, Siobhan always thought they looked like thorns wrapping around the High Mage. Earrings pierced almost every inch of their ears.
He pressed two hands to his chest and bowed. "I am Rufus, Prime of the High Mages. It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Lady Siobhan, Heir of Draygon."
"Right. Meet me. Because it's not like I've been here before." She crossed her arms. "Every time I came here, you knew who I was?"
"I did. However, I also knew it was safer for you to pretend to be nobody. Even here in Raiven, there are not always ears that can be trusted. We should convene in my chambers where it is warded, and we can speak freely."
"No need, I'm not staying long. I came to warn you about Cion."
"We know about your brother."
"So you'll send people to help Draygon defend him?"
"No."
Siobhan growled. "What do you mean no?"
Rufus knitted his bushy graying eyebrows. He glanced to Ayla who shrugged as if answering a hidden question. He sighed and said, "I see." Rufus pressed his palms together, resting his fingers against his lips. "Your brother has already fallen. Cion was assassinated almost two months ago."
"What?" Siobhan shook her head. "No . . . Ayla said . . . that's why . . ."
"I needed to make sure you came here," Ayla stated, shrugging.
Siobhan barred her teeth, a growl rolled deep in her throat. "You filthy lying bitch!"
Everything moved in a blur before Siobhan fully understood what she was doing. She was to Ayla, grabbing her by the throat in seconds. Her fingers pushed into the shifters throat, her fingernails drawing blood. A roar echoed through the courtyard, emanating from Siobhan. Ayla's lips turned blue, her skin paling under the frost climbing from Siobhan's grip. The lioness clawed at Siobhan's hand, but it was a futile effort.
"I had to. . ." Ayla fought to speak under the crush of Siobhan's grip.
"Enough!" Elias shouted. "Release her this instant, M'lady!"
Siobhan glanced to the Aquantian. She couldn't remember the last time he'd raised her voice, nor if he ever had. Aquantian's were so reserved, polite, to the point of being nauseating. Siobhan's lips quivered when she looked back to the struggling lioness. Frost had covered her entire neck, her lips shuddered, freeing puffs of clouds with each gasp. A few more seconds, that's all Siobhan needed to freeze her heart. Ayla lied to her. She made it seem like Cion needed Siobhan, but he didn't. The dead needed nobody.
With a flick of her wrist, Siobhan tossed Ayla across the courtyard, not caring where the shifter landed. She turned to Elias, standing beside Rufus, still growling. Both hands flexed to her side, pounding against her hips. Ice broke off from her cloak, or maybe it broke off from her hands, she didn't care.
Cion was dead. Her only living blood family, the little boy who once idolized her, was dead. Father, mother, brother—all gone.
Siobhan dropped to her knees, stretching her arms wide, and shrieked. Frost exploded from her tight fists. She could hear it hit against the walls, shattering like glass. Snow touched her hair and nose as she continued to wail from her knees, eyes focused on Elias. He touched a hand to his lips and blew her a kiss, nodding.
Dead. All were dead. She'd bury all Raiven in snow and maybe then she could join her family one last time.