Page 58 of Dark Shaman: Love Found (The Children Of The Gods #99)

Present time.

Five days until the pilgrimage

Five days until my future will be determined by an ancient shaman in a secretive ceremony on top of Mount Hope.

Dear Elu, I'm not ready.

—From the journal of Kailin Strom

T he view was magnificent from the observation ledge at the top of my practice trail, and I was tempted to sketch it even though my journal was filled with similar drawings .

In the end, I decided to skip it this time and returned the notebook to my backpack.

I was running out of pages, and with mere days left before the pilgrimage, starting a new journal seemed pointless. Instead, I stretched out my legs over the ledge, letting my feet dangle in empty air—an act of rebellion against the fear that still gripped me whenever I looked down.

I was making progress, but I was nowhere near where I needed to be.

At least I was ready physically, and the added reward for braving these traitorous trails each morning at sunrise was enjoying the breathtaking view, which was a perfect encapsulation of the wild beauty of Aurorys.

Jagged peaks rose like massive stone sentinels, their craggy silhouettes etched against the amethyst sky, their summits so tall that they seemed to pierce the heavens.

The aurora's ethereal light danced across their snow-crowned heights, while below, sheer cliffs gave way to a wild tapestry of bare rock and the occasional glint of a waterfall.

Further down, the ocean stretched to the horizon, its dark waters crashing rhythmically against the base of the mountains. Foam-capped waves rolled in, breaking against rocky shores and casting mist high into the air, it too refracting the heavenly lights in a mesmerizing dance.

I could spend eternity gazing at the magnificence before me, but I had to get up and keep going. I really didn't want to move, though, and not just because I was enjoying the view .

The blisters on my feet were killing me, but the drakking pilgrimage-approved boots needed to be broken in, and I had only five more days to do so.

Dear Elu, only five days.

I took a deep breath to dispel the sudden onslaught of panic.

The physical challenge of the pilgrimage was considerable, which explained why no applicants older than twenty-five were permitted to participate, and there had even been fatalities over the years, but I didn't fear the trek, only the fate that awaited me at the summit.

Despite my valiant efforts to overcome my fear of heights, every time I closed my eyes and imagined myself on the back of a dragon, I felt faint and nauseous.

I had been so proud when I had conquered my fear enough to brave the observation ledge, but it had been foolish pride. The ledge was barely a few feet above a gradual rocky incline, so even if I somehow stumbled and fell, I would only tumble a short way before coming to rest among the stones.

The ledge was hardly the death-defying perch I had built up in my mind.

My fear of heights defied logic. I wasn't a coward, and I did not fear losing my life, so I struggled to understand where it was coming from, especially given that I had already proven my mettle under fire.

I had faced Shedun at sixteen, had killed quite a few of them, had lived to tell the tale, and would do it again to protect my people, though I wasn't eager to repeat the experience.

I was not born a fighter.

Five years after the attack, I still had nightmares. Hells, the smells of sulfur and charred flesh were forever etched in my memory.

Still, even if there was a way to cure my phobia, and even if I could get accustomed to the smell of sulfur and burning flesh, dragon riders served for life, and I didn't want to spend mine killing.

Glory and adventure didn't motivate me.

I was an artist, and even though I hadn't been touched by greatness, I was probably good enough to make a decent living doing what I loved someday, and until then, I had my job at Gran's apothecary.

But the decision wasn't up to me.

It was up to Elu.

In moments of weakness, I toyed with the idea of not making it to the top of Mount Hope.

Not everyone did. Some collapsed along the way and got taken down on a stretcher.

There was no shame in that. But there was shame in not trying, and my drakking pride wouldn't let me quit without giving it all I had.

So here I was, once again on the trail, trudging up the narrow, steep path in my stiff hiking boots, training for the trek like I had been doing for the past four months every day at sunrise .

I should get up and start making my way down, but I could spend a few more minutes with the view that held me captive and allow my aching feet a little more time to rest.

Gran would understand if I was a little late this morning.

I was tempted to take off the boots, but I knew that once they were off, I wouldn't be able to put them back on, and walking down the trail in my socks wasn't an option.

When I got back home, I would soak them in a tub of warm water infused with healing herbs that Gran cultivated. It meant being even later for my shift at the apothecary, but schedule flexibility was the biggest advantage of working for family.

Imagining the relief, I smiled and let out a sigh, but then something passed in the periphery of my vision, and adrenaline shot through my body.

Drak! What was that?

I shifted my gaze in that direction, but I saw nothing other than the shimmering aurora.

Then I heard it.

The beat of massive wings preceded an ear-shattering roar, and for a brief moment, the primal sound paralyzed me, but then the need for self-preservation helped unlock my muscles, and I scrambled back, flattening myself against the rock face.

What was a dragon doing out here?

They never flew over this area .

Was it hunting? Could it mistake me for prey?

I didn't look like a sheep or a goat, and I wasn't wearing all black like the Shedun, but would the dragon notice these details from up high?

Not all dragons were bonded with riders, and the young ones might not differentiate yet between a human and another prey or between an Elucian and a Shedun.

I dove behind a boulder and clasped my hands over my head in a desperate, almost comical gesture, bracing for the inferno I feared would follow.

As icy tendrils of fear coursed through my veins, it dawned on me that neither my trembling hands nor the solid rock in front of me could protect me. In the blink of an eye, I'd be reduced to ash, my existence snuffed out faster than a thought could form.

My consciousness would be severed before my nerves would even register the agony of immolation.

A swift death, perhaps, but no less terrifying for its efficiency.

Another roar answered the first, and my terror intensified.

There were two of them.

There was nowhere for me to hide while the titans above my head engaged in their deadly dance, the beat of their wings reverberating thunderclaps in the aurora-lit sky.

Even if they weren't actively hunting, a stray burst of flame or a miscalculated dive, and I would be collateral damage in their aerial ballet .

The irony wasn't lost on me.

Here I was, cowering in terror at the beasts' mere presence, only five days away from the pilgrimage that would determine if I had the gift that would allow me to bond with one of them.

A memory flashed through my mind of the enormous black dragon and its dark-eyed rider landing mere meters from my watchtower.

I could still feel the ground shaking under those huge taloned legs and smell the scent of burning flesh.

Remembering that moment sent a shiver down my spine that was mostly terror but also something else.

The rider had saluted me, thinking that I was brave, that I had fought off the Shedun attack because I was some kind of badass warrior, but I was neither of those things.

I had fought that night because I had no choice and because the alternative had been more terrifying, but once it had been all over, I had nearly fallen apart, shaking like a leaf.

But I was an adult now, an Elucian about to embark on the pilgrimage, and I refused to cower.

"I am a dutiful follower of Elu, and I walk the path of truth," I chanted quietly. "My duty is to protect my people from those who seek our annihilation, and if I am fated to do that from the back of a dragon, I will not hide from my destiny."

Nevertheless, I hoped the shaman would realize that my skills would be better utilized in the mapping department or crunching numbers in procurement and supply.

I was much better with drawing maps and devising charts than I was with flame-throwers or other instruments of war, rifles being the exception.

I was lethal with those.

Gritting my teeth, I lifted my head, lowered my hands, and looked up at the sky.

Only, there was nothing to see.

The dragons must have flown away to continue their fight beyond the western peak.

Releasing a relieved breath, I started to rise, when suddenly they burst through the curtain of a shimmering green aurora that appeared as if rising from the ocean surface far below.

I dropped back into a crouch, but this time, I kept my hands away from my head and looked on.

Breathing, though, seemed optional at the moment.

The larger one, an obsidian-scaled beast similar to the one who had landed in front of my watchtower on that fateful night, had a wingspan easily twice the size of my house and was most likely a male. Its rider was barely visible as he leaned into the turn and banked hard to the right.

A smaller, copper-hued dragon emerged right behind it, matching the maneuver with tendrils of smoke curling from its nostrils.

Given the smaller size, it was probably a female.

While the male dragons were larger and stronger, the dragonias were faster, more agile, and could climb to higher altitudes .

If the two were riderless, I would have assumed that they were engaged in a mating dance, but since both had riders, they were most likely training.

Suddenly, the dragonia surged forward, snapping at the male's tail. Its rider yanked on the reins, and the dragon responded instantly, twisting mid-air to face its pursuer. A jet of blue-white flame erupted from its maw, forcing the dragonia into a desperate dive.

That didn't look like training.

Were they fighting for real?

Dragons, as well as their riders, were fiercely competitive, and those games could take a deadly turn. Suddenly, I became much less concerned with my own safety and more with theirs.

Elucia couldn't afford to lose any dragons or riders, especially not to a training exercise. They were our best, and at times our only defense against the scourge.

When the awe-inspiring aerial dance continued, with the dragons weaving through the jagged peaks, ducking behind mountain spires, and emerging from banks of mist that clung to the rocky slopes, I allowed myself several breaths to calm my nerves.

They no longer looked like they were about to kill each other.

Abruptly, the male shot straight up, climbing so fast he became a dark streak against the pulsing auroras. The dragonia followed, determination evident in every beat of her powerful wings. Higher and higher they soared, until they were little more than specks against the sky.

Then, without warning, the obsidian dragon folded its wings and plummeted. He fell like a stone, gathering speed as he hurtled toward the churning ocean below. The dragonia hesitated for a split second, then dove after her rival.

"They're going to crash," I murmured, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.

At the last possible moment, the male's wings snapped open, and he pulled out of the dive mere meters above the waves, so close that I could see the spray kicked up by the wings' downdraft.

The dragonia, caught off guard, couldn't pull up in time and plunged into the icy waters with a massive splash.

For a terrifying moment, I thought the fight had indeed turned deadly, but then she burst from the sea, water cascading from her scales, and her rider clinging to her back. She shook herself mid-air, looking for all the world like a disgruntled cat before letting out a reluctant cry of defeat.

The male circled her, both riders exchanging some sort of communication by gesturing with their hands, and then the dragons turned to fly toward the Citadel and the eyrie above it, their silhouettes dark against the ever-shifting ribbons of light.

I stood up, my legs shaky from the adrenaline rush.

In just five days, I would be making the perilous climb to meet the shaman and learn if I was destined for the sky .