Chapter Six: Climb

Siannon realized the corridor was not from her castle. Turns that should have been there were not, and doors she had opened hundreds of times no longer existed. She saw the faintest light at the end of a passage that narrowed and shrunk to the point she had to crawl.

She came to a wooden door that was, as expected, stuck shut. She wriggled around so her feet faced the door, and she forced it open with three hard kicks. When she crawled out onto a small, rocky outcropping, the opening disappeared. Below her was the sea crashing onto the rocks. She looked up and sighed with relief as she recognized the opening to Asha’s cave.

After spending more than twenty years with Asha, Siannon knew more about dragons than most magicians. Magical creatures from another dimension, dragons could often commune with the spirits of the dead. Siannon had spoken with their old friend Osric in this way after his death.

When she asked Asha if she could contact Dylan after his death, however, Asha told her that a spirit as pure as Dylan’s had already passed over into the realm humans called heaven. While this filled Siannon’s heart with joy, she was also disappointed beyond words.

Siannon began to climb the cliff to the cave’s entrance. Upon arriving, she called out but heard no answer. She reached out with her mind, bonded with Asha’s for years and able to communicate over great distances. There was nothing. Asha was gone.