Page 37 of Kingdom of Chaos
Ensley clears her throat and I glance over at her and Titus.
“So, about this gate,” she says, staring at Talon with a frown.
He straightens, leaning his forearms on the table. The easy smile fades, and I feel its absence like a weight. But there’s no time for that. Ensley is right.Becks. Every second we sit here, he’s still out there, waiting. That’s what’s important.
“The gate won’t look like an actual gate,” Talon says. “At least not obviously so. As you know, the one we are headed toward is in the swamplands, so the gate is going to look natural occurring.”
“Natural occurring?” Titus asks.
“Like an arch of vines or maybe branches. You’re not going to see a stone archway or anything that obvious. It’s going to blendin with the environment. A detail easily missed or dismissed. We know the general area, but not the pinpoint location.”
“Okay,” I say. “So the plan is we trudge around this swamp until we find the gate, and then what? Do I need to mix a drop of blood with my necklace or perform some kind of ritual to open it?”
Talon shakes his head. “Nothing quite that dramatic. There’ll be a place to insert the gem. That will awaken the gate. Then when it’s turned, the gate will be activated and should transport us to the human world.”
“Should?” Ensley asks.
Talon shrugs. “The gates haven’t been used in thousands of years. It’s not like anyone alive has ever traveled through one. I only know what was written about them. So yes, it should happen that way, but we should be prepared for anything.”
The table is quiet while that sinks in.
“And there’s something else,” Talon says, looking extremely serious. “There’s another reason why the Arcane Society doesn’t bother guarding the hidden gates.”
My stomach dips and I already know I’m not going to like whatever comes out of his mouth next.
“Each of the hidden gates has a magical protector. A monster created by the first generation of the Arcane Society to guard the gates.”
“A monster?” I burst out. Diners around us peek over at us. I sink down in my seat. I didn’t mean to be that loud.
“A monster?” I whisper-yell. “And you thought going up against a monster would be preferable to facing off against a few of your Society buddies?” I cut my gaze to Ensley and Titus, expecting them to back me up, but Ensley just shrugs, and Titus leans forward to hear what Talon is going to say next.
“Yes,” Talon says. “I do think going up against a single beast is better than a contingent of highly trained Society members.”
A brief glint of regret passes through his eyes, and a thought strikes me. Maybe Talon does believe facing a monster is the lesser of two evils, but maybe he’s also afraid he couldn’t bring himself to fight the Society members who are like family to him.
The idea softens the edges of my anger. Compassion creeps in, dulling the sting of the monster revelation. Instead of arguing, I simply press my lips together and nod.
“So what do we know about this monster, if anything?” Titus asks.
“All the beasts that guard the hidden gates were once regular animals indigenous to the area. Back when the gates were sealed, the members of the Society imbued an animal with magical abilities and long life. So if the gate is in a frozen tundra for example, the guardian might be a polar bear. If it’s in a jungle, perhaps it’s an anaconda or jaguar, and so on.”
I laugh, but there’s no real humor in the half-strangled breath that escapes me. “So we’re going to be playing chicken with a two-thousand-year-old alligator?”
“It’s highly likely,” he says with a straight face.
Oh boy.
“Do we actually need to defeat the monster to get through the gate?” Ensley asks, and Talon shakes his head.
“No, we just need to get past it. The beasts sleep until their gate is disturbed. We need to be prepared for it to emerge when we get close to the gate with Locklyn’s gemstone. With any luck we can get through the gate quickly without having to engage it.”
“Like, they hibernate?” I ask.
“Yes, exactly like that.”
I swallow hard. The only thing I remember about hibernating animals is how ravenous they are when they first awake.
“Oh goody,” I say flatly. “Sounds like it’s going to be a fun time for everyone.”
