“Yeah, yeah.”
The speed of the dragon in the air allows us to reach Edinburgh and the River Forth in an hour. I whisper instructions to her as she circles the air like an airplane. I use the three massive bridges as my bearings and soon spot Inchkeith.
We land.
I dismount, feeling strange. It’s like visiting a memory. The island I came to when I wanted to save Marely is quiet and darkened. The Kelpies are nowhere around, and neither is the all-powerful witch who saved me.
She is back in Loch Ness, more of a stranger to me than ever.
“Look,” Marley gasps and I realise what he must’ve seen before I even see it for myself. “It’s… him.”
Ren. Lavrentiy. Marley’s almost-stepfather who turned out to be a Siren. Opal turned him to stone, right here, when they fought. I saw her do it. She gave him a chance, but he squandered it.
His stone form lays on the rubble just ahead of us, covered in greenery. I watch Marley walk slowly towards him. He didn’t see it happen at the time. Now, he can see the remains of a man he deeply cared about, spell or no spell.
I watch my cousin reach out and touch the stone statue’s cheek, reverently.
“You okay?” I ask quietly.
He is silent for a few minutes, just staring into the statue’s face. Then, “Do you think any of it was real? Do you think the good parts were actually good or just the bad parts all dressed up?”
I consider the question. I didn’t know Ren the way Marley did. “I don’t know, Marley.”
He nods, solemnly. “I wish your heart could match up with your head when it comes to bad people. I know he was bad. I know he didn’t love us. He was using us to get to your parents. My head hates that, thinks he’s terrible. Thinks it’s right to see him like this.”
I sniff. “But the heart…”
Marley bows his head and his face crumples for a moment. I see the tear hit the ground, a grey droplet against the gravel. I watch his small hand stretch across Ren’s large one, made of stone.
“You forgive him?” I prompt, stunned by this display, after everything.
“Of course,” Marley whispers. “Hate thinking of him here. All alone.”
I force myself to look away, staring at the wide flowing river. “We need to get across.” I turn to the dragon, suddenly realising that I don’t know how to address her directly.
“Blue?”
The dragon’s great head rises, and she snorts in approval of the name.
“Nice,” I say. “Can you swim across the Forth? With us on your back?”
I’m amazed at her intelligence, shown not only in the way she understands language, but also in her eyes. She moves to the water, and I mount up once more.
“Marley, let’s go,” I say carefully. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
Marley stares at Ren for a moment longer and then steps away, joining me on Blue’s back. We wince as our feet brush the cold water, Blue slithering towards Edinburgh with us perched upon her back, the only part of her exposed out of the water.
Marley watches Ren until he is no longer in sight, and we have reached the banks of the city. Neither
of us speak to one another as we dismount onto familiar land.
“Stay here, stay hidden,” I tell Blue. “We’ll be back; I’ll use the water to call you.”
Her eyes blink slowly and she vanishes into the depths. I look around, half expecting to see Kelpies but there are no signs of any. I find it strange but say nothing, not wanting to voice the concern that I feel.
It doesn’t take long to reach the city. But it is different. Dramatically so. The streets are dead, completely deserted. The windows and living rooms in every house are dark, despite it being the evening and not early morning. The streetlamps aren’t lit.
“What’s happened here?” I breathe.
“I told you,” Marley replies. “She’s here.”
The feeling of unease turns into one of dread as we make our way further into town. My walk becomes brisker before finally morphing into a run, Marley doing the same. I’m headed for the Old Town.
We arrive and it confirms my worst fear. Something is badly wrong. There are no people, let alone Hidden Folk. The shops are shut up.
Then I see him.
Greyfriars Bobby. A little bronze statue of a dog who once taught me that magic was real and changed everything. He watches me from the top of Candlemaker Row, his bronze tail wagging just a little.
Marley can’t see him, but I follow. He leads us to the exact spot as the first time we met: Avizandum, a bookshop.
I knock while Marley glances around, looking to the entrance of the kirk and down the steep winding street we stand upon. I can hear cautious movement on the other side of the door. Then the latch is lifted, and a pair of frightened eyes look out.
“Erica?”
The Hulder looks relieved to see that it’s us and she quickly ushers us inside.
“What are you doing in Avizandum, what’s happened?” I demand as soon as we’re safely inside.
