Quetz refuted the claim that it was just a myth. 'No. It may take a long time to find him but I feel that Brantley has a lot of answers, clues and he isn't telling us.'

"Can someone tell me what is going on?" Daryn protested. Dawn was talking aloud to Quetz as if she was in actual conversation with him.

​​

Quetz ignored him. 'Brantley wants me. I knew it the first time I saw him. I chose you as my rider, so the Aztec Court has to wait. Brantley wouldn't dare to slay you because he knows that we are bonded. He is aware that a rider is nothing without his dragon and vice versa. If you die of a natural calamity or natural death, he can claim me.'

"What does he know about the Stone of Solaris?" asked Daryn. Ever since he mentioned it, Daryn had been impatient.

'Dawn, if you want, we can find the ruby.'

"But— but people have died—"

'Yes, because none of them had a dragon.'

'Yeah! Flatter yourself,' she rolled her eyes. 'Besides, I don't want Daryn to get involved in this mission,' she sounded worried.

'Even I don't want him. The two of us are a good team. But I doubt that your mate is going to let you go alone on this pursuit. Buuuuuuttt, if you like we can fool him and leave.'

'Geez, Quetz! You are simply impossible!'

Quetz snorted as a way of laughter.

Dawn walked away in deep thought and Daryn followed. The dragon trailed them.

From behind, Quetz said, 'You should call Brantley again and ask him questions. He is a clever man. He will not give you correct answers but goad him, quiz him. Ask your mate to help you. You have to make Brantley open the doors of the enchanted forests around the world. If we can travel, we can gather a lot of information and reach our destination. The mission is hard, it is going to be filled with risks, but it is possible.'

'How do I call him?' she asked with a droopy face. 'He has left this place.'

Quetz grunted. Brantley wasn't an easy man. Very cold, dangerous and tricky. He had maneuvered kings, empires, women and men for his benefit. 'I will see if I can communicate with my father. I am leaving.' He took off behind them.

As soon as Quetz left, Daryn asked, "What did he say?" He wanted to know about their conversation urgently.

They walked towards the room while Dawn narrated everything to him. "We have to arrange a meeting with Brantley. According to Quetz, he has answers of many things related to the stone." He lips sagged. She looked outside the window and said, "Will he come? He has already left and there's no way I know of his whereabouts or a way to request him to be here. It's not like he has a mobile!" She missed the modern day world's gadgets.

"Is that all?" asked Daryn. "You want to meet Brantley?"

"Yes," she sighed.

"That is easy. I can arrange for the meeting."

Dawn's eyes shot up to the sky. Bothe her dragon and she were trying to figure out how to communicate with Brantley and Daryn said that he could do that easily. "Wow?" she meant as saying that she wasn't believing it.

"When do you want to meet him?"

Dawn sat up straight and said excitedly, "Tomorrow morning." She wanted Quetz to be with her. "Can you summon him just like that?" she asked, still not able to believe that Daryn could actually connect with Brantley. It was as if just by speaking his name, he would appear.

"Well, there's a treaty between the kings of various realms. We have to reach out to each other if necessary. Since I am not the king, but a prince nonetheless, an heir apparent, I can still summon him. There is a procedure to be followed at the temple of Skadi for that."

For a moment Dawn stared at him with her mouth in the shape of 'O'. "When can you call him?"

"I can do that right away. Would you like to come with me?" he asked as he stood up with enthusiasm.

"Of course!" Dawn went after him as he almost sprinted to the temple.

When they reached the temple, instead of going in, Daryn circled it and went behind it. A watchtower, at a height of about fifty feet was present. It was dark, only lit by the moonlight. The whole structure, made from solid wood, creaked as they climbed it. On the top was a tocsin that was as high as Dawn hanging upon a beautifully crafted metal arch. Its golden yellow metal glistened in the moonlight. Right on the left corner was a beacon.

At first Daryn lit the beacon. As soon as it was blazing brightly from the watchtower, they waited for ten minutes before Dawn saw more beacons getting lighted up all the way from peaks to peaks on as far as she could see. When she counted up to ten beacons, Daryn picked up a wooden rod that looked like a hammer. With full force he hit the tocsin with it. A long deep sound emanated. He waited for a minute. Suddenly, Dawn heard a similar sound in the distance. It came from far away—from the forest that lay beyond. A single beat, echoed by one responding call. Summoning.

Dawn watched the whole process with amazement. She stood at a distance from Daryn. Adrenalin spiked and she had stalled breaths. This was an experience she would never forget.

As soon as the echo of the tocsin subsided, Daryn hit it again with the rod, this time he did it twice in a row. Once again, in the distance, Dawn heard the same types of two beats. The message continued. Daryn would strike the bell and it was passed on. It was a wonderful scene. So many lights were blazing across on the mountains under the dark sky, atop the dark peaks, it looked as if Ulfric was just a part of something vast, something beyond her scope of imagination.

Daryn stopped after five minutes. He placed the wooden rod back in its place. "I have passed the message. He should be here by tomorrow morning."

"How does that… messaging work?" Dawn asked softly. She had never seen something as amazing as this.

Daryn looked at her and extended his hand. She held it. He was all sweaty. He guided her to the stairs and as they began to descend, he said. "Think of it as… the modern day Morse code. I communicated with a code from my world. Now this code needs to reach another world. My code is interpreted, and then in their own languages, the various realms that fall in between Ulfric and the Kingdom of Aztec, decipher it and pass it over. Depending upon the distance, messages can take an hour or sometimes days to be delivered. I hope Brantley gets this message by midnight."

"How do you know all this— all this coding stuff?" Dawn asked, still mesmerized.

"We've been taught, Caleb and me, right from our early days. At the moment other than father, only Caleb and I know this code."

They reached the ground and Daryn circled her shoulders with his arm. They circled past the temple. Darkness surrounded them. "You husband knows a lot darling," he had to boast. She was highly impressed by Quetz all the time. "We can communicate with various realms."

Dawn was all starry eyed.

'Why did you mate started with that message? I told you I will communicate with my father,' came Quetz's irritating voice. 'He disturbed my sleep.'

She pursed her lips. 'Stop being so picky,' she rebuked him.

'Good night to you,' he grumbled.

"You better be careful in front of Brantley," Daryn's voice broke her communication with Quetz. "Keep your mental shields up. I have told this to you a number of times. He is a formidable man with powerful magic." They were on the grassy knolls. "As my Luna, you can communicate with only me or my pack, but that comes with practice."

"Then teach me Daryn," she said.

"If you like we can start now," he said.

"How?" she asked, drawing her eyebrows closer.

Daryn left her side and he ran down the mount. Suddenly he leapt in the air and when he landed, he was the beautiful, majestic werewolf. Dawn watched him with stunned surprise. He turned his head towards her and then started to run in the opposite direction. Dawn ran after him and before she knew, she was a grey werewolf. This was the first time she was with him as a werewolf. Excited, she chased him, but he was far too lithe and stronger than her. He waited for her to pick up and then ran together. Daryn guided her to the lake's side. They trailed it and reached the top of the hill from where the water was being fed to the lake.