Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada) by Alicia Michaels Page B

swirling with light pink and lavender.
    The Adrah slowed and the sound of a massive anchor falling to the ground below echoed across the grassy plain. Selena watched as several crewmen swung down on ropes, working to secure the anchor into the ground.
    “I thought the journey to Goldun was supposed to take two days from here,” Selena said. “Why are we stopping the ship?”
    “A flying vessel would draw Eranna’s attention,” Titus said, grabbing her hand and propelling her to where everyone was gathering around the Grimm brothers at the ship’s bow. “Now that we are in Fallada, we must travel quickly and stealthily if we’re to have any chance o f reaching Goldun.”
    “ — and be sure to keep them on at all times,” Wil Grimm was saying as Selena and Titus reached the group. “If you do not remember to wear yo ur talismans, you leave us all in danger of discovery.”
    “What is he talking about?”
    “Talismans enchanted by Fae magic,” Titus whispered as Wil began passing them out. She slipped the round, bronz ed medallion around her neck by its leather cord, nestling it beside the dangling ruby.
    “These will keep us from being found by the Eye of Mollac,” Titus explained. “Sort of a crystal ball,” he elaborated at Selena’s confused look. “Every region has one and it allows the person that possesses it to locate people wherever they are. I am sure Eranna knows we have left your world by now, but by wearing these we keep her from finding us using the E ye. Of course, this means that she will send her hunter s after us.”
    Selena shivered as a wave of foreboding washed over her. Titus spoke of these hunters as if they were more dangerous that he was. Remembering the eerie red glow of his eye s and the gleaming white canines, Selena could only hope that nothing existed in Fallada that was more frightening than that. Selena pushed such thoughts out of her head; she was not going to be around long enough to worry about being hunted.
    All around them the crew bustled, shutting down the ship’s engine and preparing for t he last leg of the journey. From below deck, one of the men carried Rose in his arms. Selena rushed forward to inspect her, shocked to find her face flushed and hot with fever. Rose moaned and mumbled incoherently as Selena stroked a few strands of dark, sweat-soaked hair away from her face.
    “The fever has taken her,” Jake said as he stepped forward to help the other man place Rose’s body in a harness. Wil and two other men waited on the ground below to take her once she’d been lowered down. “Don’t worry , Selena, the Fae have been using their p ower to combat the effects of Werewolf venom for centuries. Once within their realm your grandmother will be just fine.”
    Selena nodded and stepped back to allow the men the space to work the harness. Once they were sure Rose had made it safely to the ground, Titus, Zoe , and Selena shimmied down rope ladders thrown over the side. Once on the ground, Selena felt dwarfed by the towering trees. Above them the branches swayed and dipped, effectively blotting out the sight of the ship and most of the sunlight. A few feet away, a chariot-like vehicle hovered inches from the ground. It was flanked by several others and some were steadily being filled with members of the crew.
    Selena walked over to the nearest one and circled it, running her hands along the side. The carriage was the color of gleaming pearls and was covered in intricate carvings of branches, leaves , and flowers. A latch opened the side door and revealed three rows of cushioned benches for sitting on.
    “ There are no wheels. Where are the horses?” Zoe asked as she rounded the front of the hovering vehicle.
    Wil leaped onto the front bench before offering Selena a hand up. “No horses here! This craft is powered by Fae magic.”
    Selena allowed Wil to pull her up into the chariot before reaching out for Zoe’s hand. Titus and Jake followed and Rose’s sleeping