Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 88048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88048 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Mirabella looked like she was about to answer, but they never got to hear what she might have said. For at that moment, the moving walkway turned the curve and headed towards the mountain…and into a whole different world.
THIRTY-ONE
MIRABELLA
“Ohhhh,” Miri breathed as she looked at where they were headed. The walls had narrowed to a dark, mysterious tunnel and now she understood what the attendant had meant when he said “pay no attention to the things you see in the mist” because the mouth of the tunnel was filled with white vapor.
Like a gaping mouth filled with smoke, Miri thought. The temperature had risen some, which was nice—she’d been feeling quite chilly now that she was basically naked. Except for her “pet accoutrements” that was.
“And we’re going into that?” Saxon growled. There was a scowl on his dark face. “I don’t like it.”
“Everyone must go in this way and I didn’t read any accounts of anyone being harmed,” Lynx protested.
“It doesn’t look right,” Saxon grumbled, but he didn’t recommend that they leave, which was good—no matter how scary the mouth of the tunnel that led into the mountain was, Miri knew they had to go in. There was no other way to get the answer she was looking for.
“We’ll be fine,” she said, trying to sound brave. “Er…just stay close, all right?” she added, casting a glance to her left side, where the two big Monstrum were standing on the lower moving walkway.
“We’ll be with you the whole time, my Lady,” Lynx assured her in his deep, purring voice which she found so soothing.
“Not a fucking thing will touch you that doesn’t go through us first,” Saxon promised.
Both of them moved closer and Miri was glad when Lynx put a big, warm hand between her shoulder blades and Saxon rested his hand on her lower back.
It seemed exceptionally odd to be riding into the mountain this way, naked and being fucked by the double-ended tail with the two Monstrum she’d come to know and love beside her. But she felt better when the three of them were touching—the current of energy they seemed to generate together made her feel safe and protected.
Finally they reached the misty mouth and then plunged inside into the steamy darkness. At first Miri could still see fairly well and then the walkways took another curve and they were suddenly in complete blackness.
“Don’t like this,” Saxon growled and Miri could feel him stiffen in the darkness beside her.
“I don’t either but we’re together,” Lynx murmured reassuringly. “Let’s just see what the Oracle has planned for us.”
“I don’t fucking like the idea of it having plans for us at all,” Saxon said. “I don’t like—”
But he stopped talking abruptly as a light appeared to their left. The light resolved itself into a figure walking through the mist. No, Miri corrected herself—a figure being projected onto the mist. Because it was wispy and clearly not solid. As she watched, it coalesced into the image of a boy—a boy with golden hair and golden eyes.
“Hey—that’s you, Lynx,” Saxon growled, sounding surprised. “You when I first met you, all those years ago at the Clan gathering.”
“And that’s you,” Lynx responded, pointing to another figure in the mist. It was an older boy with dark hair and pale blue eyes.
The two boys—Miri thought they couldn’t be older than ten and twelve—came towards each other and looked each other up and down. Then the dark one said, in a higher version of Saxon’s baritone growl, “So it’s you, is it?”
The golden-haired younger boy nodded mutely.
“All right. Come on, then.” The darker boy jerked his head and started off. Without hesitation, the lighter boy followed him and soon the two figures had disappeared, melting into the mist.
“That was the moment of our first meeting,” Lynx murmured, sounding awed.
“Why would the mist show us that?” Saxon asked, sounding like he was frowning.
“How did the two of you know each other? I mean, how did you know you were supposed to be together?” Miri asked.
“Oh, we dreamed of each other,” Lynx explained. “Many other kinds of Kindred dream of their mates before they find them—they call it ‘Dream Sharing.’ But Monstrum who are called to form a Brother-Bond dream of each other. I knew Saxon the minute I set eyes on him,” he added, sounding fondly reminiscent. “I knew he was trouble but I also knew he would be my brother through thick and thin for the rest of our lives.”
“Same,” Saxon rumbled. “We both knew it was meant to be. We took the Brother-Bond that night at the Bonding Ceremony.”
As he spoke, the mist showed them another image—the two boys they had seen earlier were standing in front of a roaring bonfire and clasping hands. They were chanting together:
“Together forever and never apart. My brother, my kin, my friend without end. The Goddess has willed we two shall be one. Together forever under moon, stars and sun.”