The Pilgrims

68

Case saw none of these events. His last sight was to have been the rapidly approaching ground, rising fast as a hand through the air to swat a bug. And this he saw for a second, sure enough — but he had not seen the Invia, who had been following his and Far Gaze’s travels for some time, curious and cautious. She had wanted to wait longer yet, for she found the Otherworlder interesting, the shapeshifting mage too, and she wished to know why the old man had been at the centre of so much interest.

When the old man’s body was offered to the void, the Invia exclaimed in surprise, then swooped as fast as she could to catch it.

Case just laughed as the Invia bore him skywards, higher and higher with its beating wings. ‘Here’s good!’ he cried, ‘drop me here! My God, what a view!’

But of course she wouldn’t drop him.

The entire world soon spread out below Case’s feet and the wind blew cold, buffeting him. The Invia’s grip on him was painfully hard and never seemed like slipping. She did not speak. Where was she taking him? Sightseeing? Why? Why did all these creatures and strange magic-using women and man-wolves care about him, anyway? It didn’t matter! It was all one jump away from being over.

Then he remembered — the charm! Maybe the Invia wanted it back. But why not just take the necklace? Why take him too? He toyed with the idea of dropping it into the sky. Why not? What would it do, kill him? What a shame. He groped in his pocket, but as soon as he pulled it free, the Invia snatched it from his grasp and kept flying up, its long white wings beating the air.

With his eyes on the view below — they had long passed above the clouds, whose shadows crept across the slopes and dips of the landscape — Case did not notice the approaching layer of lightstone bright above his head, dimming with the approach of evening. Only when the Invia took him right to the sky’s outer layer did he see it, and marvel at the great curved dome arching across countless acres of sky. But he only got to see it briefly before he was within the sky-roof itself, passing into a crack in the thick layer of lightstone giving way to the dark grey stone above it.

The Invia paused, crouching on a ledge to rest. Above them, the rock funnelled vertically into a gloomy distance, far enough that the light was eventually swallowed. Case was free now to step off and into the deep, long plunge to ground, whether or not the Invia would catch his fall. But suddenly he was intrigued. ‘Where are we?’ he asked.

She looked at him, weighing the question as though to find if it was worth an answer. Apparently, it was: ‘Takkish Iholme.’

‘And what’s that?’

‘The prison of the dragon-youth. A bit higher up and their voices can be heard. If they wish to speak. Mostly, they don’t. We are closest to Vyin’s prison. He is the youngest, but older than Mountain.’

Case laughed. He still felt light-spirited and free. ‘Dragon-youth … does that mean dragons? Real actual dragons?’

This question was apparently not worth an answer. He tried another. ‘Why’ve you brought me here?’

The Invia weighed his question again then shrugged. ‘They asked for you.’