Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
A short way from the trees, I spot the hives that are nestled into cave-like hollows in the rockface.
Aruan points in that direction. “That’s where our honey comes from. The stingers prefer the non-meat-eating flowers on this side of the palace.”
“Stingers?” I wrinkle my nose. “Oh, you mean bees.”
“Bees?”
“We have them on Earth too. They’re very old, you know, millions of years. And sadly, they’ve become endangered.”
I want to question him more, but a big body of water that appears in the distance as we reach the top of a hill draws my gaze.
Like the lake on the other side, the surface of the water is flat, but the sand is blueish instead of gray, and the water shines pink, not black, in the sun.
Huge trees with drooping branches that touch the water grow on the shore. The red, pointy leaves are big, creating a thick foliage that throws dark patches of shade on the ground. A few fallen leaves drift lazily on the water, floating close to a stretch of small white flowers shaped like blossoms that push up from yellow-green, round, fatty leaves.
I shade my eyes with a hand against the brightness of the pale, white sun. “What are those flowers growing on the water?”
“Those are pond lilies. The petals and the leaves are used to cook yaryia, the dish you like so much. It’s a dangerous job to harvest them because the water is infested with finned and four-legged snakes, and the biggest and most aggressive of all the dragons lay their eggs beneath the branches of the blood trees on the shore.”
A rainbow stretches from one end of the lake to the other, drawing a spectrum of red, purple, blue, and green across the sky.
“This is so pretty,” I say, drinking in the sight.
Aruan sounds both pleased and proud. “There are many beautiful places on Zerra, Elsie.”
What he’s really saying is that, in time, I’ll come to love my new “home.” Or that’s what he hopes.
Agreed, Zerra is an amazing world. Because… dinosaurs! I’m not saying I want to settle here, but damn. Dinosaurs.
I turn to face him. “How old are the dragons?”
“The dragons have always been here.”
“And the Alit?”
“Not as long as the dragons.”
“How do you know?”
“The scrolls,” he answers. “That’s what they say.”
The mysterious scrolls. I can’t wait to get my hands on them.
We continue toward a rocky outcrop at the foot of the hill. When we get closer, I realize that the gunmetal-gray shapes protruding from the soil aren’t random rocks. They’re megaliths. A dolmen is built into a hill that stands in the middle of the menhirs dotting the landscape like loaf-shaped lumps of granite.
A guard sits on a slab of stone next to the entrance of the dolmen, dozing in the humid heat. All the Alit I’ve met so far are ridiculously handsome and well-built. This man is no exception, except that his chin protrudes a little, and he has slightly bulging eyes.
He jumps to his feet and stands at attention when he notices us. He looks frightened and ill at ease.
“This site is off limits to the public,” Aruan says as he stops in front of a huge rock that’s rolled in front of the porthole. “These artifacts are precious. We’ve lost too many of them through plundering and wars. Hence, people can visit the inside only once a year, on a special day, and permission must be obtained in the form of a permit well in advance.”
And he’s brought me here, just like that. I suppose when you’re the future king, you have special privileges.
Aruan focuses on the entrance. The rock parts, forming a huge gap to let us through.
The guard looks on with round eyes, his pointed chin trembling. Although I’m just as awed, I try hard not to show it. Aruan’s power to open stone walls never grows old or less intimidating. I wish I knew how it worked, how it is that he’s able to break the molecular bonds with his mind.
We’re still standing arm in arm. I thought Aruan was holding on to me so firmly because he thinks I’ll take flight the minute he gives me freedom. But I’m proven wrong when he detangles our arms and stands patiently at a small distance. Apparently, he’s not worried that I’ll get away. I don’t want to analyze what that says about him keeping our arms interlinked. I don’t want to think that he could simply like to touch me.
“After you,” he says, motioning at the opening in the rock.
Too curious to decline the invitation, I step inside the cave-like room. It’s much cooler inside but not less humid. The air smells of wet soil and fungus.
A torch in a holder against the wall catches fire. I give a start, but Aruan only smiles and shrugs, saying without words that this is just another one of his incredible powers.