Page 77 of An Empress of Earth & Darkness

“What does?” Torin encouraged him.

“My visions. They don’t always come in order; it’s more like frames of what will happen. That’s why I have trouble communicating or connecting them. Can you always make sense of your dreams?”

“Not always,” Torin agreed.

Kellen’s gaze flickered over everyone. “In the vision, I saw the Dark Army obtain the knowledge on where an ancient relic of the Gods is—a stone—and they are going to go after it. They are ready. I saw them break through a portal near a huge temple. I think it could be the Temple of the Gods. But blood ran through the rivers and the sky darkened like the magic of the underworld had swallowed us whole. There was screaming and death…”

Emara walked towards the window where moonlight glimmered in her hair. “Which stone is it?” She turned, looking over her shoulder, and the fear in her eyes sent Torin’s blood into a quickened thrum.

“I am unsure, but it was smoother than the Resurrection Stone, almost whimsical.”

Emara’s gaze swept to Torin. “It has to be the Protection Stone.”

He nodded. “That’s what my bets would be on.”

“How would you know that?” Gideon asked.

Artem said, “Think about it, if you have the Resurrection Stone here and Veles has the Immortality Stone, that leaves the Dark Crystal and the Protection Stone.” His eyebrows rose. “And everyone knows the Dark Crystal is lost to the Broken Sea of Thorin.”

“Unless the Dark Crystal has been plucked from the seabed, it has to be the Protection Stone,” Emara agreed. “Its whereabouts are unknown, but it makes sense for it to still be on land. And it makes even more sense for the stone to be at the Temple of the Gods.”

Kellen leaned forward. “If you are going to get there before the Dark Army, if you want to stop them retrieving Light Gods’ Stones, you must leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Torin repeated.

“Tomorrow?” Emara exclaimed.

“If Kellen has no way to know when the Dark Army worked out where the Protection Stone is, it means that they could have a head start.” Naya finally stood; her face stony. “And whatever we do, we cannot let them get another stone. They already have one; Gods know what they could do with two.”

“When is the next full moon?” Torin asked, unable to think clearly.

“A few days from now,” Naya said. “It’s the Wolf Moon and she is a supermoon. She is so extremely powerful. It would make sense for the Dark Army to travel then.”

“Great,” Artem huffed.

“Demons always strike when the moon is at her fullest,” Breighly added, her voice soft but wise. “But we have been tricked before. It is not their armies that are weaker when the moon isn’t at her fullest, just their portals. It might not be as obvious as it seems for when they will move; they could be on their way there now.”

“For a mission like this, it is too dangerous for them to do anything otherwise,” Gideon argued. “They will be readying to portal when the moon is at its fullest. They have too much at stake if they are going to the Temple of the Gods. They need full power to get as many of them through the portal as possible to find the stone. The grounds are massive and the temple is protected. There’s no way they would risk that.”

“What if they are already there?” Arlo asked.

Torin let out a huge breath, and everyone looked at him.

This was what it was going to be like for the rest of his life, wasn’t it? Everyone watching him, analysing how well he was coping and looking to see if he could make the decisions. “Gideon.” He finally glanced up, his head still fuzzy with information and his blood still thrumming at the thought of a hunt. Damn Thorin’s blood. “Round up the clan and let them know that the celebrations are over. They have to be ready at dawn for a mission. Artem, Arlo, if you are staying under my roof, you are abiding by my orders. I am giving you the choice to be in or out of this mission.”

“I’m in.” Artem grinned. “I am your soon-to-be wife’s guard, after all.”

Torin walked a little closer. “If you ask to be the best man at all during this mission, I will remove you from that position.” He gave Artem his showtime grin. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Crystal.” Artem’s smirk was so feral it reminded Torin of who his next point of call was.

He switched his gaze to the other Stryker. “Are you in or out, Stryker Number Two?”

Arlo nodded once. “You know I am in. Any chance to beat the Dark Army is a chance I will take.”

Torin stepped to the side. “Breighly, can you take the information of the mission back to the pack? I want the alpha to know about this development and decide if they will join the hunt or not. We have always had an unofficial alliance with the Baxgrolls; let’s hope it continues.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

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