Lokant Read Free

out
of habit than real understanding as her face revealed a profound
confusion. ‘Her proximity? But she was in the Uppers, wasn’t she?
That is a completely different world.’
    ‘I don’t think that it
is. Our three “worlds” are much closer to each other than we ever
realised. They’re virtually sharing the same space. I think she
felt the draykon waking from the Uppers, and she was drawn to it.
And she herself may have inadvertently aided the process by her
presence.’ Eva shrugged. ‘Without speaking to Llandry herself,
though, I can’t be sure about any of this.’
    ‘Several days ago Aysun
and I heard a terrific cry from somewhere overhead,’ Ynara said
slowly. ‘It was like nothing I’d heard before. We ran outside, but
there was nothing to be seen. Except for Dev, lying injured outside
my house.’
    ‘Dev?’
    ‘I mentioned him to you
before, though not by name. He is an old friend of mine. Llandry
went with him to Nimdre, though without his knowledge. He says they
were attacked, and he was wounded trying to defend Llandry. Since
he arrived - or I should say, appeared - he has been raving about
beasts the size of houses and being carried here by one of them. I
thought he was delirious. But I cannot disbelieve you.’ Ynara
sighed, her head drooping with tiredness. ‘So Llan found Devary and
brought him here. Then - what? She vanished again.’
    ‘I don’t believe
anybody knows where Llandry is now. I’m sorry. I wish I had more
information to give you on that point.’
    Ynara gripped her hand.
‘Don’t apologise. You can’t know how much I appreciate your coming
here to tell me these things. Though I don’t deny they are hard to
hear. How can I even begin to believe that my daughter is not - not
human?’
    ‘Oh, she is,’ said Eva.
‘She’s both.’
     
    Devary Kant was abed in
Ynara’s house. His wounds were evidently severe, though he suffered
no delirium. He glanced only briefly at Eva, then fixed his dull
gaze on Ynara as she relayed the news to him.
    ‘That was Llandry?’ His
words emerged weakly, and when he tried to sit up he gasped and
fell back.
    ‘Don’t try to move,
Dev,’ said Ynara wearily. ‘Apparently it was, yes. She saved your
life, I think.’
    Devary said nothing.
His gaze had returned to Eva’s face, and he frowned slightly.
    ‘Eva Glostrum,’ she
said. ‘From Glour.’ It was probably too dark for him to see her
clearly, but he continued to try.
    She, on the other hand,
could see him quite well. Her sharp night eyes filled in strongly
defined, Nimdren features, a long, thin nose and Darklands-pale
skin. Under normal circumstances his hair must be a fairly light
shade of brown, though at present it was splayed out on his pillow,
dark with the sweat of fever.
    Ynara leaned forward.
‘Dev, it seems you were the last person to see the draykon.
Llandry, if it was her. Do you remember where she went?’
    ‘There were two beasts.
Two draykons, then. I thought they vanished, but I may have been
hallucinating.’
    ‘Probably you were
not,’ Eva put in. ‘I have seen them do the same thing. I think they
can cross between worlds without needing to open gates.’
    ‘Then my Llandry - if
it was my Llandry - could be anywhere. Anywhere in the worlds.’
Ynara fell silent, but Eva could hear her unsettled breathing as
she struggled to master her emotion.
    Devary bestirred
himself enough to grip Ynara’s hand. ‘When I’m well,’ he said with
difficulty, ‘I will find her. I promise it.’
    Ynara gave him a stare
of disdain. ‘My husband will bring her home.’
    ‘Aysun has gone after
her?’ Eva was surprised at that. She had heard something before of
the deep suspicion he held for the Upper Realm.
    Ynara nodded. ‘Nearly
two weeks ago. He said he won’t come home until he can bring Llan
with him.’
    This was poor news. She
had counted on Ynara’s having her husband’s support as she waited
for her daughter to come home. Instead, her friend had been