Narrowing my eyes, I turned in a circle. The blinding light had receded, but still, I couldn’t see anyone. Stones lay beneath my feet, and above me, there was nothing but blue sky. Once again, that mist fell, wetting my skin. Where was it coming from?
“Who are you?” I asked.
A pause, before the breeze brushed up against me in a strange, familiar gesture. “I am Rintha,” the voice whispered. “Do you not recognize my touch?”
The air caressed my cheeks.
I tilted my head. “You’re… the wind?”
“A Spirit of the Winds, yes,” Rintha said gleefully. “I have been waiting for you, Forgotten One.” She paused. “Although perhaps that is no longer the case. Do you know who you are, Princess?”
I stared at the blue sky, craning my neck as though I might glimpse this mysterious Spirit. “I’m a Death Elf,” I whispered.
“Yes.” She drew out the word until it was nothing more than a hiss. “That is true. But you are more than that.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Rintha clucked her tongue. Did Spirits made of wind have tongues? They must have, because that was a distinct sound. “I am forbidden by the laws of old to tell you.”
Of course she was. What was the point of this?
I did not answer, and Rintha snapped, “Think! Whoare you?”
I hated when people yelled at me. “I don’t know,” I huffed, my nostrils flaring. “Is this a test? Another trial? We passed three of them, and Xander is going to get the Gilded Amulet.”
“Who are you?” Rintha asked once more, her voice rising.
“I’m the princess of Ithenmyr,” I said, not hiding my frustration. “Or I was until my father threw me into prison.”
“Yes.” Rintha’s words stretched out like before. “Butwhoare you?”
Now, irritation was becoming something else. Reaching up, I rubbed my temples as a pounding pain started in my head. “I don’t know what you’re asking me.”
The wind momentarily died down, before blowing around me with more force than before. A female form gathered in front of me, the swirling breeze providing brief glimpses of a nude, supple, curvy form.
“Look at yourself,” Rintha whispered.
I glanced down at my arms. They were as they had been since the day of my Maturation. Red swirls and whorls made up the tattoos covering my body from my collarbone to my feet. The only new addition was my mating mark.
“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what you want me to see.”
A gentle brush ran over my arm. “You are traveling with someone, yes?” Rintha asked.
I nodded, confused by the rapid shift in questioning. “Several others. My mate and his sister. Her wife. A dragon shifter and—”
“An Earth Elf,” Rintha interrupted me. “Who is she?”
“Aileana. She’s kind, though sometimes I feel like she might be a touch violent.”
The Spirit of the Winds made a sound of annoyance. “Whois she?”
She was frustrated? Good. I was frustrated. Was this even real or was my mind playing tricks on me again?
“I don’t know what you want me to say!”
Rintha went to speak, but before she could, the gentle mist turned into something brash and cold.
“I must depart,” she said. “It’s no longer safe for me to remain. Think, Ryllae. Look at yourself. See what is around you. The balance requires you to pay attention.”