Terror Fifty-One - Homecoming

“How long is it going to take?” Felix asks.

I shrug. “I don’t know. I could guess, but it probably won’t be very accurate. I think it would be... about two days by wyvern to go from home to Montele?”

“The capital is that close?” Esme asks. “Doesn’t that mean that the Dark Goddess could launch an attack at any time?”

“I mean... yeah, Mom could do that at any time regardless of how far a city is from home.”

I think Esme’s about to reply, but Livonas twists her long neck around so that she’s looking down at us through a gap between her fingers. “We will be arriving at the castle in the morning,” the dragon says.

“We won’t stop for the night?” I ask.

She blinks. “Must we?”

“Uh, well, we might want to stretch our legs and use the little girl’s room. Or what passes for one around here.”

“I have some food,” Felix says. She reaches into her pockets and pulls out some fruits and leftovers wrapped in cloth. I have no idea when she grabbed all of that. “I don’t mind sharing.”

“That’s nice of you,” I say. “We’ll need water, too.”

Liovanas huffs. “Then we will be stopping by the shore,” she says before turning her head away and back against the oncoming wind. “Don’t worry, child of the Goddess, I will fly us swiftly, as the goddess has demanded of me.”

Esme looks at me, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Are you actually the Dark Goddess' daughter?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’m Mom’s daughter,” I confirm with a proud smile. “She’s the best mom ever.”

“Shouldn’t you be more scaly then?”

“Mom doesn’t have scales,” I say. “That’s only in the pictures and statues people make of her. I think she doesn’t mind because it means that she can walk past someone without being identified as... herself.”

“People can tell when a god’s around,” Esme says. “It’s described as a strong feeling.”

“And none of the gods are clever enough to hide that?” I ask.

Esme frowns and rubs at her chin. “That’s possible.”

I nod. “Mom’s real clever.”

“She can’t be that clever,” Esme says. “She’s the God of Darkness! She’s... evil.”

“Well, yeah, but she’s been being evil for thousands of years. Mom’s fought off a lot of gods who tried to meddle in her business and she’s still just as strong as ever. Obviously you don’t stay that strong while having to fight gods without being real clever.”

Esme’s frown deepens. “And now we’re going to be seeing her?”

“Yeah, I bet Mom’s going to be right there waiting for me to arrive.” I scoot around so that I’m facing Felix. “She’s going to like you, both of you, so don’t worry.”

Esme crosses her arms.

I’m not the cleverest girl myself, but I can read body language pretty well, especially when it’s that obvious. Esme isn’t in the best of moods. I get it. I basically just kidnapped her from her home, and all that after dragging her into a big fight and a whole heap of danger that she didn’t ask for.

I’m probably not the best of friends.

I scoot across Livonoas’ palm so that I’m next to Esme. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I should have told you who I am before we ever snuck into the academy, and I should have come up with a plan in case there was any fighting.”

“Yeah,” Esme agrees. She brings her knees up so that they’re under her arms and looks at me for a while. Then she reaches up and adjusts her glasses. “Fine, I decided that I won’t be angry at you.”

“You can decide that that easily?” I ask.

“No. But I can try. You haven’t been mean to me or anything, but at the same time you kept a bunch of scary secrets from me.”

“If she didn’t keep them from you, would you have been our friend?” Felix asks.

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Esme tries. I think she’s lying though, and she knows it. “It’s just weird is all.”

“Hey, it’s not like I chose to be the way I am,” I say. “Not that I’m disappointed about it. I’m really lucky, you know.”

“Is Felix a monster?” Esme asks. “She has her strange eyes, and you said she was blind.”

“I’m human,” Felix says. “I’m pretty sure. And I was blind until Valeria fixed my eyes.”

I nod. “Felix is another friend I made along the way, like you!’

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Esme huffs. “Okay then. So, what do we do now?”

I shrug. There’s really not much to do. I didn’t expect that riding a dragon could actually be boring. “Got anything to read?”

The flight continues for a good while. When Livonas spots the shore of Ares Pond, we start to drop out of the sky, gently, and with the dragon’s great wings catching the air and slowing us down so that when Livonas touches the ground it’s with little more than a bump and a lurch.

We climb out of her grasp and take a moment to walk around and use our legs. Livonas is a great help crossing this far, but she’s not exactly comfortable.

Once we’re refreshed and ready to go, the three of us climb back into her hand and we take off again. This time Livonas flies closer to the sea beneath us, every flap of her wings creating great waves across the surface.

When I ask her, she tells me it’s because if we fly higher, it’ll be colder, and we’re not equipped to deal with that kind of temperature.

Judging by how chilly it is just because of the wind, I’m thankful for her foresight.

Eventually, I yawn and feel myself falling asleep. Esme is curled up in a ball next to me, and Felix has been sleeping for a while.

I don’t want to sleep though, not if it means missing our arrival at home.

So I’m going to stay awake, even if I need to fight against the tiredness and the heaviness of my eyes. Maybe if all I do is close my eyes for a minute or two?

I wake up with a start and can’t help but notice that everything is dark. There’s still a strong wind cutting by me, cool and humid. Blinking, I look around until I can see past Livonas’ big fingers. We’re still over Ares Pond, I can see the reflection of the moon broken by choppy waters below us.

“Almost there, child,” Livonas’ voice rumbles.

“Oh, okay,” I say before I yawn and tug my cloak on closer. “Can you wake me when we’re closer?”

“I can.”

I nod, and before I can think to ask another question, I’m drifting off.

A shake of my shoulder wakes me up. It’s brighter, the world bathed in morning oranges as the sun still works to claw its way over the horizon. Felix is next to me, holding out a third of a long pastry towards me. “Breakfast,” she says.

“Where did you even get that?” I mutter.

“The inn,” she says.

I blink. “You’ve been hiding this for a couple of days?”

“Yeah.”

“Didn’t we get dunked in that lake?” I ask as I take the pastry. It’s hard.

“It dried up,” she says. She’s holding another bit, bite marks already visible on it. “Still good.”

Esme is chewing contemplatively on Felix’ other side. “It’s not great,” she says.

I shrug and start to chew while taking in our surroundings. Livonas really has flown through the night. I don’t recognize our exact location, but we’re definitely in the Land of Monsters. I can see mountains to the west, smoke churning out above them, and spare woods below us where I can sometimes spot some motion between the trees.

“We’re close to home,” I say.

“Joy,” Esme mutters.

Felix laughs. “Don’t be that way, Miss Esme, I’m sure Valeria’s home is very nice.”

It is, and it doesn’t take more than ten minutes until they get to see it. Livonas, it seems, wants to give us the full tour, flying the long way around the castle.

A dozen towers, each as big as the cathedral back in Montele, but far taller and made of a black stone that reflects light strangely. The main castle is far, far larger, a complex of buildings linked together by towers and covered in arched roofs, monstrous gargoyles posed on the edges to guard the castle.

Smaller bird monsters take off, swarming out from beneath the eaves of some of the towers like a black fog to join us in the air. I see beady eyes inspecting Livonas and the three of us, reassuring caws telling the other monsters that all’s well.

“Whoa,” Esme says.

Home is pretty impressive, I agree.

We come around, Livonas’ wings spread wide, and with a heavy lurch we land before the castle, the battlement and walls towering above even Livonas.

And at the front, on the bottom-most step leading to the entrance, is Mom.

***