Dawn of Cobalt Shadows (Burning Empire Book 2), Emma Hamm [list of ebook readers .txt] 📗

“Hungry dogs will bite the hand which offers them food,” Aslaug replied, her expression grim and her voice deep. “They see only their own anger, mistreatment, and madness. This is the way of the Beastkin since the ages of old.”

Sigrid looked at the woman who had to know the truth, and saw the same world weariness that resonated in her own gaze. There was an exhaustion in leading people like this. A kind of sadness that echoed from deep within the belly.

A mixture of guilt, perhaps, and age old knowledge that no matter how hard they worked, there would always be something more to mend. It burned inside Sigrid like a poison shredding her body. She wanted to repair whatever was broken. She wanted to take them under her wing and nurture them into a people who would be respected and loved.

They discarded her at every chance. And then what had she done? She’d left them. Let them believe she was dead as a means to her own end. Was that cruelty? Or was it a kindness rather than let them know it was they who had driven her away?

Aslaug’s knowing gaze watched the emotions flit across Sigrid’s face as she struggled to find the words. The woman in front of her was more than just intimidating. She was a beast unlike any other. Kindness radiated from the very pit of her being, wrapping Sigrid in a warmth she hadn’t felt in a very long time.

“Why are you here?” Aslaug asked, her voice carrying in the ancient cavern. “Perhaps we should start there.”

Sigrid struggled to answer the question. There were a thousand answers in her mind, but none of them seemed right. Each one didn’t have enough meaning behind the words. She was lonely, she wanted to know where she came from. She wanted to know her history, because if she knew there were ancestors out there somewhere then maybe, just maybe, she could… be someone.

Finally, she settled on, “I don’t know.”

The words felt fractured, and shame flushed heat to her cheeks. How could she not know why she was here? Why she had traveled across half their world just to greet these people. There were so many better answers than she didn’t know. So many more words that would have given them the respect they deserved.

And yet, Aslaug didn’t laugh or jest. Instead, she smiled softly in that sad way, then held out her hand. “Let me show you, dragoness.”

She couldn’t think, could hardly breathe when she reached out and grasped Aslaug’s hand. Together, they strode from the place of standing stones and down the other path. There wasn't a waterfall here. Instead, a wall of vines obscured the doorway Sigrid didn’t see until they were upon it.

This one had a door. Had there been any actual doors in this place thus far? She couldn’t remember any. Every archway had been marked, but there hadn’t been a barrier preventing people from going where they pleased. Perhaps the other houses were marked in a similar manner. But somehow, she thought they likely weren’t.

These people lived in harmony not only with the world around them, but with each other. That in itself was something that fascinated her.

Aslaug opened the door and brought her into a room lit only by torches. There was a small hole at the top where light filtered through and smoke filtered out. She couldn’t tell if it was the outside, or merely dim light struggling through layers upon layers of ice.

The beam of light illuminated the center of the room in cold white. The rest of the room glowed with oranges, yellows, and reds as the torches flickered and brought the paintings to life.

Like in the cave where she’d spent the night, these were all hand-painted. Each more intricate than the last, they depicted battles of old, Beastkin from every kind of creature, and dragons flying in the sky.

Aslaug left her side, striding to the center of the room and allowing Sigrid to look her fill. Slowly, Sigrid lifted her hands and pressed them to her lips. She couldn’t fathom a world like this. Where the Beastkin lived without fear or wonder what the others might do to them. She’d never seen anything like it, had never dreamed of a world where they could live so openly. So freely.

She turned to the matriarch and blew out a deep breath. “What is this place?”

“This is our history. The world unfolded. We call it the cave of memories, but perhaps you would have a better name for it.”

“I have no words for a place like this.”

Aslaug smiled and gestured with her hand. “Come, Sigrid. Let me show you the history of our people, and perhaps then you will understand why you are here.”

She strode to the other woman’s side, then allowed herself to be pulled toward the first wall. Aslaug pointed to a familiar set of standing stones. “In the beginning, there were only the first six Beastkin. The wolves of the Earth, the birds of the Sky, the dragons of the Flame, the whales of the Deep, and the twins of light and dark. Together, they created harmony on this barren rock. They fed each other, they dug claws into the land, and they made it something new.”

Aslaug nodded to the dragon flying high in the sky. “She was the first of your kind. Her name was Amunet.”

Sigrid frowned. “That’s not a name I recognize.”

“It’s an old name, one not from here and perhaps more suited to Bymere than it is Wildewyn. Then, there were not two kingdoms. Only one that lived in harmony, because they worked to make it perfect. A world where Beastkin could flourish.”

They walked down to the next part of a painting, where she recognized depictions of man.

“Then, the humans came to these lands. They arrived on boats at first, finding a safe haven on our shores. The Beastkin who were here, the children of the