Page 115 of Creatures of Chaos

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Kerrim looked offended. “Kill you? Why ever would you think that?”

“Why else would you want me to activate the dagger than to kill me so you can take it for yourself?”

“Oh no. That’s not what I want at all. I won’t need to kill you to use Shadow Striker.”

Surprised, I look over at Talon, but the crease between his brows says he’s just as lost as I am.

“No, there’s a very specific reason why I needyouto activate the dagger.” Kerrim takes a step forward and some softness enters his gaze, making him look like the creature I thought I knew, throwing me off. “You’re special, Locklyn. I knew it almostthe first time I met you. Do you remember how old you were then?”

I think back, confused. “Maybe ten or eleven?”

“Twelve, to be precise, years past when creatures usually come into their magic. But there you were, completely powerless and utterly one of a kind, at least in our world.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m sure you’ve always wondered why you never came into your creature magic.”

I keep tightlipped. It doesn’t matter if I say anything though. The answer is obvious.

“Of course you have,” he says almost gently. “It must have been so hard for you not knowing what type of creature you are when all along there has been a simple explanation for it.”

Despite everything, I find myself hanging on his every word, and I hate myself a little for it.

“The reason you never developed creature magic is because you aren’t actually a creature at all.”

I blink back at him. “Of course I’m a creature. What else would I be?”

He shakes his head. “No, my dear. You’re not. You’re a human.”

Human?

“I can see by the look upon your face you’re unfamiliar with the term.”

“No. That’s not possible,” Talon says from his cage, and Kerrim glances over at him.

“You had to have at least suspected,” he says. “I’m sure you can’t detect any magical aura on her.”

Talon shakes his head. “There’s no way. The gateways have been closed for hundreds of years. We made sure of it.”

“Yet here she is,” he says, waving his hand toward me.

“What’s a human?” I ask, looking between them both.

“An excellent question,” Kerrim says. Turning his back to Talon, he takes a step in my direction, and I’m too numb for the warning bells to sound. “You see our world isn’t the only one out there. There’s a whole world full of beings that exist without magic, and that’s where you’re from.”

I laugh. I can’t help it. I’m beyond strung out and what he’s saying is insane.

“Oh, I understand now. You’re crazy.”

He shakes his head. “No. I’m determined, meticulous, and patient. I’ve been searching for the dagger for decades. And ever since the moment I realized just what you are I’ve been planning for these trials to activate Shadow Striker. Lining up the pieces so you wouldn’t only enter the competition but make it to this point. I’m not insane, I’m brilliant, but because our world only values might, I’ve been overlooked and shoved aside my entire life. Not anymore.”

“Okay, so let’s pretend I believe that I’m a being from a completely different world. One without any magic at all. Who cares? Why does that even matter?”

“It matters a great deal, because once you’re bonded to Shadow Striker, the dagger will open a pathway, a portal so to speak, to that magicless world. And when I bring the dagger there, I won’t just be another creature among the rest, I’ll be a god.”

That’s the moment I know that whether Kerrim is telling the truth or not, he’s most definitely insane.

“If this different world is free of creatures with magic, then the dagger won’t be of any use to you there.”

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