Page 31 of Shattered Darkness

“That’s absolutely fascinating. I wonder if our rescuing of the Centres that were taken helped to weaken the blockage on the Fae Realm and helped her call the Warriors to Games again,” I ask.

“It definitely did,” Cain replies. “The Fae Realm knows that something big is on the horizon and that it needs the strongest warriors it can find in order to protect the Fae world from disappearing.”

Sage sighs, the light dimming in her eyes slightly, “I wish we were able to participate.”

Cain nods. “I thought that you would feel like that, all of you, actually. Unfortunately, it’s always been only the Warrior teams from the Black Onyx academy.”

“Yeah, that figures,” Cole says.

“If we were pulled in, we’d be leaving Blood Moon to the Order, and that would be incredibly dangerous.” I remind them all, “We need to break the hold that the Order has over the school before their claws dig in any further and the students here become victims and unwilling members of the Order.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sage agrees.

“Actually, now that Godfrey is dead, and since he was the one that placed the object here to control the teachers, I wonder if the effects have been broken and they’re no longer under the control of the Order?” Erin asks.

“I’ve heard of spells breaking when their casters die, but I guess it would all depend on whether or not his magic was the only magic that was put into it to help control the teachers,” Maverick replies.

“I guess we’ll find out when we go to class,” Harry points out.

“I’m sorry, but I arranged to meet up with that teacher that I told you about, the one that was starting to break the control, so I’ve got to go,” Cain says as he moves toward the door, once he’s pulled it open, he adds, “don’t forget that we’re training tomorrow night, so get some proper sleep tonight."

“You’ve got it,” Sage replies, “be careful. We don’t know whether he’s got some sort of failsafe in place that could make those affected by the control, it could make the teacher you’re talking to dangerous.”

Cain glances back at Sage, “Thank you. I hadn’t actually thought of that as a possibility. I will be extra cautious.”

With that, he leaves, and we’re once again left in shocked silence as we all try to absorb the amount of information that’s just been dumped on us.

Kai leans forward in his seat, “Do you think if we asked the Fae Realm very nicely, she would call us to join the games?”

His words bring smiles to all of our faces as Sage replies, “Even if that were a possibility, I don’t think that the Realm would pull us away from our current objective. As Levi said earlier, there’s a very real possibility that if we don’t manage to get, control of the teachers removed, that they could essentially start training the students here to join the Order, and that would mean that the Order would have a vast amount of very strong new members and we can't risk that. We’re supposed to be weakening them, not strengthening them, so for now, I think this is exactly where we’re supposed to be. Despite how frustrating it is.”

Kai sighs dramatically, “I know you’re right, beautiful, but I’m living in hope despite how unlikely it would be for us to get called.”

I look around at everyone and ask a question that I probably should’ve asked a long time ago, “Are any of you actually happy here?”

Unsurprisingly, all of my team answer no, and so does Cole. And a couple of the others. However, Ty answers my question more completely.

“I used to be, I know the others were as well, and I don’t think that it’s just thanks to the teachers and them being under the control of the Order, which has made us unhappy here. It just doesn’t seem like this is the right place for us anymore.”

“I agree. We were actually really enjoying being here and learning a lot, and although I do think that the teacher's change of attitude was the catalyst to us being unhappy here, I don’t think that will change when we fix them,” Jett agrees with Ty, and everyone is nodding along in agreement.

“I think for me, I always found it a bit more difficult going back to school, I’m twenty-four, for fuck sake, and I never did well in school anyway,” Nate adds.

“Yeah, that’s a good point,” Hunt agrees, “it almost feels like we’ve gone backward.”

I scrub a hand over my head, “Okay, I’m not sure how we’re going to fix this, but we can keep the issue in mind and hope that something comes up.”

“We’re here for a reason. The Goddess wouldn’t have led us here if that weren’t the case.” Sage points out, “I have a feeling that we won’t be going anywhere until we’ve done what we’re supposed to do, and who knows whether that ends with helping the teachers or not.”

“So, what you’re saying is that we could be here for a while longer?” Erin summarises.

Sage nods, “Yep, pretty much.”

“Fantastic, well I’m hungry, anyone else?” Kysen says standing up.

There’s a resounding sound of agreement, and several of us get up to go and grab some food from the dining hall. I’m actually becoming increasingly grateful that they allow us to bring food up to our rooms because the reception in the dining hall is always frosty and not exactly welcoming, a direct contrast to what Cole and Erin have described.

Sage

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