Page 105 of A War of Embers

Let’s hope not. I have no idea what kind of creatures were taken from Aïdes and brought to Tellus. Something tells me Zeke’s not too far off, though. “Hopefully none of them are dragons.”

“We’re not extinct.” Zeke rolls his eyes. “Plus, a dominant dragon can control the others.”

“What about dragons being controlled by Lords and Ladies here?” I doubt they’d be able to listen to Zeke if their souls are being used as puppet strings to control the monsters inside of them.

“Fair point.” Zeke narrows his eyes in the distance. Reaching out, he grabs my upper arm to pull me to a stop. “Wait a second.”

“I don’t hear anything.”

“That’s my point. We haven’t heard anything and the only thing we’ve come across is a boneyard.”

We also aren’t too far into the forest so it doesn’t surprise me we haven’t come across anyone yet. But the silence and the stillness is something to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. Something is definitely off about this place.

Turning to look behind us, I don’t notice anything peculiar. We can still vaguely see the pathway out on the edge of the trees toward the coast.

“What do you want to do? This is the only way we can go if we want to get to the Godlands.”

“What if we head straight through the trees?”

“Then we end up in Amethyst Bend with all the self-entitled people who will not let us leave without tearing the entire District apart.”

Zeke breathes out roughly, his nostrils flaring as puffs of smoke stream out. “So anywhere we go that has people who might recognize you, they’ll try to kill me and trap you?”

“Yeah, that about covers it.”

“What the hell did you drag me into, little monster?” Zeke chuckles as he says it, not quite coming across as angry as his words imply. He scans the area again, even though there’s not been a sound made. Placing his hands on his hips, he turns slowly in a circle. “Rowan’s going to know shortly.”

“I expected Alyvia to run right to him,” I admit. Raising my brows, I ask, “Why is it you call him Rowan and Lord Rowan?”

“Depends on who’s company I’m keeping.” When I stare at him, waiting for him to expand on what he’s talking about, Zeke sighs and sets off walking again towards the path that will lead us straight back to the Godlands. “As much as everyone prefers the formal title, he’ll always be Rowan to me.”

“Because you’re also a Lord?” It still surprises me how Zeke can be considered such a high honor without embracing the title. Not many would ignore their title.

He shrugs. “I’m not a Lord of anyone, so why would I go by such?”

“Neither is Lady Cirilla,” I volley. As far as I’m aware, the only people she’s actually in charge of are the few people who hang on her every word. “She still proclaims the title.”

“She also refers to him as Lord Rowan because she thinks his title, his rank in Aïdes, is something he values when it’s not true.”

I knew this after my own discussion with Rowan. But it’s still odd to hear Zeke refer to him in both ways. “So because you’re such good friends, you refer to him as Rowan in private but as Lord Rowan in public because it sets the tone for others to do so as well?”

“Precisely.” Zeke raises an eyebrow at me. “What about you? You stopped referring to him as Lord Rowan.”

“Because he’s not my Lord. I don’t fall under anybody now.”

“More like because you’re his equal.”

“I didn’t know that when I started calling him by his name, though.” Reaching up, I brush my hand against the side of my face. “Is the snake still there?”

“Yeah, easily visible too. It’ll probably be enough for people to hesitate before reacting to your presence.”

“Not if they come from afar.” I motion towards the trees. “They’re looking for bodies here, not getting close enough until we’re either surrounded or subdued. Then they’ll come out of hiding.”

“If there’s anybody here.”

The further we go, the eerier the place feels. There’s a lost connection to the world, almost like a heartbeat is missing. I wonder if the decaying land has reached underneath this area, poisoning it from the inside out? It will be too late for anyone to realize what’s happening until they take to the trees, only for the branches and limbs to give way, plummeting everyone back to the ground.

Something is definitely going on here that’s not sitting right in my gut. Not a danger to us, per se, but something we need to keep an eye out for. If we ever figure out what’s causing the rot.

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