Page 32 of Feathers of Ash and Hope

I’m still trying to make sense of everything I heard while we walk to magic theory.

“You look troubled,” Calix comments. “What is it?”

“I … grew up at an outpost in the north …”

“Oh, so you are legacy military?”

“Uh … yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Are your brothers skyriders as well, then?” he asks.

“No … they’re infantry.”

Calix laughs.

“You’ve gotten a lot of shit for joining the skyriders then?” he asks.

“Something like that,” I answer, since the rivalry between skyriders and infantry will be the least of my problems if they find out.Whenthey find out… I’ll have to tell them eventually. My insides twist and I push the thought away. “We’ve never had coordinated attacks as far as I can remember.”

Calix chuckles at that.

“What … did you tiptoe into leadership meetings? Of course, you wouldn’t hear about coordinated attacks at an outpost because they never get that far, and it’s not like they would share that information with everyone.”

I open my mouth to tell him that I overheard quite a few of those, but that would lead to questions I can’t answer. I snap my mouth shut.

Could it be that I never heard about it? But the arrows… I would have heard about those for sure, right?

“But those mist creatures are animals … how are they armed with bows and arrows? And how have I never heard about it?”

“Not the creatures.” Calix laughs. “The titans are shooting the arrows.”

“Titans?” I gape at him. “You mean like in the stories? But they don’t exist, they are just … myths.”

“Every child knows that you don’t leave the city walls at night or wander too close to the mists because titans will snatch you up and feed you to their monsters.”

“That’s what I’m saying.” I roll my eyes. “Those are stories to scare children so they stay safe.”

“The monsters are real,” Calix objects. “And the titans sound real enough to me, if they shoot us out of the sky. Who cares what their actual name is? Titans works for me.”

I ponder that statement for a while.

Of course, I have heard stories about titans—godlike people, stronger than any mortal and wielding powers anyone could dream of. I have also heard of the mist court ruled by the demon king himself, biding his time to smother our world in darkness … and no one is taking that for the truth.Right?

The thought that there might be truth to these stories scares me. Because what does that mean for me? What about the stories they tell about cursed ones?

Even if people live in the mists. That doesn’t make them titans or demons,I scold myself.And it doesn’t make the stories real.

“Calix? Why do you think the attacks get heavier during winter?” I ask.

“Because there is less light, and the mist is thicker. It makes it easier to hide.”

“Yeah, maybe …” But something about it bothers me.

Chapter

Ten

TATE

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