Page 24 of A Clash of Embers

He smiled and nodded. “I hope it is, Clara. I’ll be disappointed if it’s not, but I’d rather believe it’s real my entire life and be disappointed than to think it doesn’t exist.” He moved his hand to pat my shoulder signaling we needed to get up.

“We must get going. The group is ready for us.”

I sighed, reaching into my pocket, and taking out the note that I had read of their love, their devout and undying love for one another. I placed the small piece of paper on Susan’s stone and placed a few large rocks on top.

I hope you are with him again, Susan. Thank you for your kindness. It will never be forgotten.

I stood alongside him, with my hand enclosed around his. Something was changing within me. I was becoming more aware that my time here had infinite possibilities. I had control over most things, but at the end of the day, our fates would ultimately be decided. We are given choices in life. Some would try to control our choices, and others would destroy our choices, but only we can create ourownchoices. I realized that my life under the curse was not my own, and I would not make that mistake again. I couldn’t lose sight of the end goal: find Colette.

Chapter 10

We traveled with a large group of people including Callan, and the rest of the Fae soldiers. Once Leo and I met up with the rest of the group in Wharf, we learned of our next set of plans. Queen Anne left with some of the guards to head to the Darthium meeting, with the other heads of each Kingdom. The meeting, she explained, would have happened annually, where all royals were to attend a dinner to discuss their strategies and political plans.

Leo also told me that over the past forty years, no one from any of the rebelling regions attended.

As we traveled through the dense forest, I noticed the dead trees that hung over one another, they were eerie and dark.Deathscreamed at me.

I heard faint noises and felt the uncomfortable chills crawl over my back like spiders infesting my skin.

“You know, they say there are small monsters that roam these woods. That they escaped from a prison world made by other gods.”

I pulled my head back to look at Callan. He was walking stride for stride with me and I narrowed my eyes to him. “What do you meanprisonworld?”

He turned his head forward, ensuring that no one would be able to hear our conversation. He whispered, “One thing Leo didn’t tell you is there is anin-betweenplace, Tetharus. It’s where people, animals, and monsters are captured and imprisoned. Sometimes people go missing from Darthium, and we can’t find any trace of them. I have done some digging for myself and found out that Tetharus is not part of this world but separate. A god or goddess has to send someone there to even have access to it."

I looked around the woods where we were, processing what he just told me. There was no reason to lie to me about it. What he told mesoundedreasonable. I wonder if I could get there if I wanted to with the power I held. I have been careful not to show my power too much. I didn't want others to question who I was. As far as Callan knows, I'm just someroyalwho they had to find.

“That’s interesting. I might ask you questions about this later, so you better be prepared,” I said to Callan with a raised brow. He chuckled as we continued our pace. The further into the forest we went, the more questions surfaced.

“So, about theselittlemonsters? What’s their story?” I asked him.

The woods around us seemed to get darker and more vast, and empty. “The monsters are known as the Kyoni. They are midnight black furless creatures with bright yellow eyes. They feed off of people and other animals.”

I stopped walking. “Wait. Are these real? You’ve seen them?”

He turned and looked directly at me, “Yes. They are real. Did Leo not tell you anything about what we might run into?”

I shook my head and turned to look at Leo walking ahead of us. I was wondering what else he wasn’t telling me.

“Well, yes. They are very real. They usually travel in packs. They watch and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike.”

I heard a voice yell at us. “Hey! You two need to keep up. I see a clearing; let’s set up camp so we can get some rest.”

As we set up the campsite, I couldn’t help but think about the creatures that Callan told me about. I had questions, like how do we defeat them? Were there others? I noticed Callan laying down with his jacket bundled up under his head and his boots propped up on a piece of wood. Across from him Leo was poking the campfire and adding wood to keep the fire burning.

I walked directly towards Cal, and his hazel eyes stared back up at me as he smiled. “Well, well. What do we have here?” he asked me seductively.

I sat down with a plop next to him and I felt the sear of Leo’s eyes on my back as I talked to his best friend. “You never told me how to defeat them. The Kyoni.”

He turned his head to stare up at the sky in between the canopy of dead trees. “There isn’t. You fight them off as long as you can and you run.”

I nodded, but I didn’t understand, or maybe I just didn’t agree. Everything in this world had a weakness, and I wanted to know what the Kyonis’ weakness was.

I whispered, “I don’t believe that. Every single thing in this world has a weakness.”

His brows shot up. “You think that? If that’s the case, what's your—”

We heard a snap of a tree branch as we both snapped our heads around to face the sound in the darkness. I could partially make out yellow eyes staring back at me. My heart raced, realizing that this animal—this creature—that he had spoken about was absolutelyreal.

---