Free Silver (Wicked Woods #3) by Kailin Gow

off towards the brook.
    Jake was already there, turning back to his human form as he knelt to drink from it. The others fol owed suit. Briony stayed with her great-aunt.
    “What is Palisor?” Briony asked, since they had time now. “You make it sound like it’s another world, or something.”
    “That’s exactly what it is.”
    Briony looked at her great aunt careful y. There didn’t seem to be any sign that Aunt Sophie was joking.
    Briony briefly considered saying that it was impossible, but given that she was standing not far from a vampire and a pair of werewolves, she wasn’t sure how wel that would work as an argument.
    “Another world?” she settled for saying instead.
    “Like this one?”
    Aunt Sophie nodded. “At least in the sense that it’s a physical world with ground and sky and so forth. Though there are some important differences.”
    “Like dragons,” Briony guessed.
    “Dragon-shifters,” Aunt Sophie corrected. “Dracos.
    Assuming that what I was told about Palisor is correct, then it is a world where the old magic is stronger than it is here.
    The magic that al ows the most fantastical things to survive in a way that they simply could not here. The old Danish stories portray it as a kind of paradise that the most powerful creatures fled to, afraid of the damage that they might do in the world.”
    Briony looked around again. “This is a gateway to another world?”
    Aunt Sophie shook her head sadly. “If the dragon isn’t here, it wil be another decoy. There are so many of them.”
    Briony reached out to take her great aunt’s hand.
    “I’m sorry I slowed you down back there. If we had been closer-”
    “Then we would stil have lost the Draco under the trees. Now come on, before those boys drink the stream dry.”
    Briony had to admit that she was thirsty after the effort of the run. Thirsty, and tired, and aching from the effort. She wasn’t sure that a simple drink of water would undo al of that, but it was certainly a good place to start.
    Kneeling by the stream, she cupped her hands and brought the water to her lips. It was cool, clear and so refreshing that Briony quickly dipped her hands back for a second gulp. Aunt Sophie did the same.
    As her great aunt’s hands touched the waters, something changed. Mist bil owed from them, as though Aunt Sophie had plunged something red hot into the stream. The mist bil owed up onto the bank, twisting and changing as it flowed upwards, before dissipating entirely.
    It left behind it the shape of a stone arch, etched with lines and whorls. The space within the arch continued to flow with mist, though it did not leak so much as an inch to either side. Briony couldn’t help jumping back in shock at the sudden appearance, though she was slightly mol ified to note that even Aunt Sophie did the same.
    “What is it?” Briony asked.
    Aunt Sophie smiled. “It seems that this clearing isn’t the decoy I had feared, after al .”

Chapter 9
    For several seconds, al Briony could do was stand and stare at the gate as its mists bil owed and swirled before her. She wasn’t the only one. Al five of them, from Aunt Sophie to the boys, stood rooted to the spot by the sight of it. More than that, when Briony dared to glance across at her great aunt, she saw the older woman’s face streaked with tears.
    “Aunt Sophie? What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing’s wrong. It’s perfect. Wonderful.” More tears of joy rol ed down her cheeks. “Can you see it, Briony? Beyond the mist?”
    Briony couldn’t see anything past that shifting whiteness. The land around the gate was clear, but that one patch was as thick as any fog she had experienced. There certainly didn’t seem to be any way her great aunt should be able to see what lay beyond it.
    “What is it?” Briony asked. “What can you see?”
    “Palisor.”
    “The place Fal on mentioned? The one you’ve been trying to find?”
    Aunt Sophie nodded. “It’s beautiful, Briony. So beautiful. I was starting