Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2) by Emma Hamm (best e ink reader for manga .txt) 📕

she reminded herself. Endurance was the greatest gift of the dragon Beastkin. If this creature wanted her to walk through the snow, then she would. Over and over again until they reached their destination. She would not give up.

The sun lifted on the horizon above their heads and then dipped down onto the other side of the world. They’d traveled for half a day, and there she was thinking the woman had said they were close.

Huffing, face hot and back already aching, Sigrid called out, “How close are we?”

“Not far now!” Was the answering call that floated from somewhere up ahead.

“Of course,” Sigrid muttered. She eyed the ground, trying to find the faint prints Eivor left in her wake. “It was ‘not far’ a few hours ago as well. Doesn’t seem as though we’re any closer, but what do I know?”

Snow crunched next to her as something plummeted from the sky and landed hard beside her. Sigrid lifted her fists, ready to strike out at whatever had dared startle her.

Eivor’s mask met her gaze. “Not far, like I said.”

“How did you—” Sigrid glanced up at the ledge above her. A great mountain peak lifted out of the ground, stretching toward the sky with small bits of stone arched over her head. “Ah.”

“I have to make sure we’re not being followed, Beastkin. Too many people are interested in your journey and not enough are willing to help.”

“We’re not being followed.”

“There are creatures who can silently take flight. Those who burrow themselves into the earth and only awaken when footsteps disturb them. You know this, Sigrid, and yet you refuse to imagine there is more to this world than just humans and Beastkin?” Eivor clucked her tongue. “Someday, you’ll learn to accept there are things you cannot understand.”

“What are you, some kind of medicine woman?” she called out as Eivor darted past her on top of the snow.

“In part! I guide souls where they need to be, and collect them if they’re wandering. Where did you think I got Grim?”

“In some black magic ritual where you sacrificed a rat?” Sigrid muttered under her breath, then called out, “Souls?”

“Everything has a soul. You, me, the trees, the animals. Everything leaves a little bit of themselves when they pass. It’s a beautiful thing, and only some of us can see them. When the enclave finds out that you can see souls, we’re all placed into a specialized training.”

“Ah,” Sigrid said. A large clump of snow fell from the cliff edge to land in front of her with a loud clap. She lifted her hand, shielding her face for a moment then continued. “So there are different positions within… the enclave, you called it?”

“The home of the ancient Beastkin, yes.”

“So there’s matriarch, medicine woman… what else?”

“Warrior, brood mother, there’s a hundred different positions, each as important as the last. Why are you so curious?” Eivor paused and gestured with her hand for Sigrid to hurry up. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Will I?”

Sigrid huffed and puffed until she stood next to Eivor. The woman was exceedingly tall when she was standing on a foot of snow to prop her up. It wasn’t fair. Sigrid had enjoyed looking slightly down at the woman. Now, she felt like a child begging an elder to tell the stories she’d missed.

Eivor smiled at her, lips curving underneath the lip of the mask. “Look your fill, dragon Beastkin. See where you came from and what you will become.”

Sigrid followed the line of Eivor’s hand and gasped. A large canyon spread out in front of them, made entirely of ice. Cold, clear blue like a precious stone, it sang an ancient, rumbling song.

Hung between the two giant cliffs of ice was the skeleton of a massive dragon. Its head rested on the top of the canyon, its bat-like wings spread wide between the expanse. Back legs hung over the abyss below. Shards of ice and snow dangled in great times from its toes and ribs.

“What is this?” she whispered.

“The very first dragon to ever walk this earth. This is your greatest grandmother to ever have lived. She was the sun dragon to her people, golden as the day is bright. A goddess among her people, and even more.” Eivor’s eyes filled with tears as she stared at the dead creature.

“You kept her? You didn’t bury her or give her any kind of ceremony to guide her soul into the beyond?”

“Why would we do that? She never wanted to walk a path where she couldn’t return from. She wanted to be with us until the end of time. Her soul is in everything around here, just as her body fed the ice and the creatures that live beneath it. The greatest of all matriarchs is still here with us. That is an honor, Beastkin. Not a slight against her soul.”

Eivor strode down the steep path toward the canyon. Sigrid did not.

She stood, staring at the remains of the greatest creature to ever live, and met her own future head on. This would be her someday. She would be nothing more than bones hanging like this. Some great beast long forgotten.

Why had she come here? Why hadn’t she stayed with her family and friends, far away from this cold, desolate place?

“Come along! The matriarch has waited long enough.”

Forcing her feet to move, Sigrid followed the medicine woman down into the canyon. She told herself not to listen to the haunting song of wind whistling through the giant rib cage above her, or the way the ice clinked together like the chimes of a bell. It wasn’t the soul of a long forgotten creature trying to speak with her. It wasn’t a sun goddess welcoming her home.

And yet… It felt as though it was.

The path down into the canyon was well-maintained. Unlike the rest of the mountain, this trail was mostly dirt and earth. Someone had recently spread soil across the expanse so her feet could find purchase rather than sliding wildly to her death.

Still,