Page 31 of The Lost Nation

Wren was hysterical, convinced Thad was going to sacrifice the children to some large pit of white magick deep within the demon fortress, and force himself on Xana.

I tried to point out to her that only a short time ago she had trusted him enough to try tomatewith himherself, but my attempts at logic had only resulted in being banned from the treehouse that night.

Fine. The balcony had a comfortable enough lounge chair, courtesy of one of the drakens who had taken up woodworking as a new hobby. I'd slept just fine.

Benedict wasn't being any more reasonable either. He was dead-set on retaliation, though the witches weren't nearly as angry as I thought they'd be. I could understandif they were—their adopted children had been stolen from their arms. I hoped Benedict would be able to step back and think logically about the situation, but that wasn't one of his strengths. No one seemed to wonderor carewhyThad had done all of this.

I had a suspicion that if I figured that out, everything else would click into place.

“I’m visiting Cassie and her friends.”

I nodded at Wren, who flew out of the treehouse without a backwards glance. My inner draken was unnerved by her disapproval—it knew that she was fertile now, and wanted me on good terms with her in order to have a chance to produce children. Sometimes the instincts were extremely annoying.

With everyone so preoccupied, almost everyone had forgotten about my planned trip to the continent. Nevertheless, I needed to check on our allies on the continent.

I had one of Astrid’s air witches fly me west over the ocean, and deposit me in a specific grove of trees between Cantrada and Aldur. I nodded to her, thankful I didn't have to fly the distance myself. “Thank you, Surie.”

The witch grinned, her silver hair whipping around her shoulders. “Shout when you wish to return. I’ll be nearby.”

I nodded my thanks, and away she went. I sensed another presence almost immediately, and went stiff as the figure approached. “Your own chaffeur...that’s convenient.”

I didn’t turn or show any signs of alarm. I merely brushed off a stray silver hair from my shoulder. “Allies typically are," I replied casually.

I turned, meeting the lykos’s eyes without fear. His hair and skin were black, which only made the gold of his jewelry and eyes stand out more in sunlight.

I sighed, not wanting to waste time bantering today. “Dareth, you said you had sensitive information on Thad. Information you didn’t want to send in a letter.”

The man thrust his hand forward. “We didn’tformallymeet last time. Our Alpha sends his regards, as does his heir. Both were freed from their magickal prison when Severn was killed. We owe your queen a huge debt.”

My brow knotted in confusion. “When did we last meet?” I’d think I’d remember if I had met this lykos.

He grinned wolfishly.“The pit. We'd been brought there by the draken working with Severn.Pleasetell me that smear upon magick isdead.”

My eyes widened in realization. “You were one of the ones brought in for the draken games! The lykos that Wren released! We wondered what became of you.”

Dareth crossed his arms in front of his chest, the leathers of his armor squeaking in protest.“We certainly heard what became ofyoushortly after. We were overjoyed to hear of your escape back to Lyoness. It appears Wren released you at precisely the right moment.”

I nodded in acknowledgement. “The information?”

Dareth’s face turned serious. “We have not been idle these many months since your people reclaimed their homeland. We have been piecing together myths and lore, patching rumors and hearsay into substantial facts.”

“And what have you come up with?” I asked. By the look on his face, I wasn’t going to like it.

Dareth ticked off the main points on his fingers. “We learned many things. First of them is that the Overlord no longer exists as he once did.”

I blanched in shock, but he shook his head to stave off any immediate questions.“We think he delved too far into white magick, and it consumed him. Is it true your queen was held prisoner at the demon fortress for a time?”

I nodded, and Dareth continued. “Did she mention a pit to you? One that reeked of white magick?”

When I gave another nod, he looked pleased. “It is good to have our information confirmed. We believe the Overlord lost himself to white magick, and simultaneouslycreatedthat pitand wasconsumedby it. Severn kept it from growing by feeding it a diet of the half-breed children, but I’m assuming you were aware of this.”

It was a lot to take in, but so far I could at least wrap my head around it.“Yes. Wren liberated all the witches and half-breed children when she escaped, so I don’t know what Thad is doing with it now.” I finished.

Dareth flashed me his canines. “Ah yes, the new self-styled ‘king of the demons’. He is not sacrificing children to the pit, that we know. The issue that concerns all of us is that as long as the pit remains, it will continue to grow, and the Overlord will not truly be defeated.”

I sucked in a breath. “What must be done?”

Dareth leaned in, as if the very forest itself was eavesdropping on our conversation.“We have a theory. In order for the Overlord and this...blasphemyof magick to be destroyed, all magickal creatures must band together in order to safely disperse the energy. Because magick can't be—”

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