We were going at a faster clip than the original walk we were doing. A quickness in our steps to get to our destination without attracting the cannibals again. Once we got to the outer rim that looked just like the shrieking mountains we crossed, Hemlock told us we would get there soon.
The closer we got, the more nervous I was getting. What if he didn’t find us worthy? What if he refused to show us? If he had a magical force field around him, then it wasn’t like I could sneak in and get the book. All the scenarios I could think of were flooding my brain.
“You look like you’re thinking hard there.” Rykon said as he trailed a finger down my arm. I shivered at the contact, but it still didn’t ease my mind.
I looked back at Zayden and Ajax, using low voices to fight about something, and I shook my head. I stopped listening to it a while back when Zayden started to put his finger in his ears, pretending not to hear Ajax, which just infuriated him.
I turned back to Rykon and whispered, “What if I’m not worthy enough?” As soon as I released my thoughts out to the world, the rest of them spilled out of my mouth. “What if he won’t let us see the book and we fail? How are we going to take down Valkon? How are we going to help all the people who are being used and abused by the wealthy?”
Rykon was smiling at me. “We can only take it one day at a time, Em.” His kind eyes found mine as he continued, “We don’t know anything, really. We could play the ‘what if’ game all day long. What if Hemlock is the long-lost royal?” A high amount of doubt swirled in my eyes as my brows pinched on my face at the thought. He laughed, “Yes, I know it’s highly unlikely, but the point is, we don’t know. Focus on what you know and trust that we will figure it all out when we get there.”
His reasoning pierced my cloudy mind and calmed my racing heart. He was right. There are a million things that could go wrong and a million things that could go right. Even if I felt like this was all on me, there were also things that were not under my control and I needed to just keep pressing forward.
“Thanks,” I called out to him under my breath. “That helps.” He grabbed my hand, and I looked up at him.
“No problem. It’s what I’m here for.” I looked up at him in question and he laughed at me again. “You have Zayden for the fun, Ajax for the savagery, but you have me for your mind. You’re smart and logical, always thinking of the best solution to a problem, but sometimes you need someone to bounce ideas off. Someone to bring your mind off the ledge. I know because I need that, too.”
I puffed out a chuckle. “Like I’ve ever walkedyouoff the ledge.”
He smiled as he squeezed my hand. “You would be surprised.” I gave him a side eye as he winked at me, but we didn’t stop holding hands until we got to the cliffs and could make out a lighthouse in the distance.
The smell of the sea and salt permeated my nostrils, and I took a deep breath. I didn’t know if it was because I had traveled all my life or because Onisea was a city on the water, but being by the sea always brought me a level of peace. I enjoyed the dew in the air, the coolness in the wind and the mesmerizing sound of waves crashing in the background.
“It kinda reminds me of home.” Zayden followed me up the couple of steps on this low cliff, looking over the mountains and into the sea. The lighthouse looked like it was a couple miles away and we took a break from our rapid pace. Hemlock said that the cannibals didn’t come close to here since the fae man that lived here would incinerate them on the spot with his magic.
I looked at him as he took in a deep breath; the wind blowing in his hair, making it look wild and free. Just how I envisioned Zayden would grow up to be. In small moments like these, I would remember how they consumed my thoughts while I was gone. How I would make up full stories about what they were currently doing and how they grew up. In tiny ways, I was right, and in other, more meaningful ways, I was wrong. I found I didn’t mind that I was wrong. I liked how each of them grew up, even the anger ball Ajax was. I could still see that emotional boy inside of him begging for something real.
“You ready, my greenie pie?” I was getting used to her odd names, finding I didn’t hate all of them. I nodded and turned her way, leaving the past where it was, in the past.
It took us a second to walk up the sandy beach and get to the cliff the lighthouse was perched on. I could see the force field ripple as we got closer, seeing that it was about seven yards away from the lighthouse’s entrance.
Everyone was eerily quiet, feeling all the magic in the air like it was a fog around us. I could feel it crackle along my skin. The next moment, water swirled around me until I could feel the earth vibrate beneath my feet. My eyes widened as I felt embers dance along my arms. What the heck was all of this?
Hemlock answered me like I asked my question out loud, but I knew I didn’t, “The Librarian is an elemental fae, one of the strongest, if his word is to go by, but he has a little bit of all fae magic. That’s why he was given the task to be the librarian. Both the humans and the fae of old knew that he was strong enough to keep these things safe and protected.”
As we got to the edge of the force field, I looked past it for any sign of life, of this librarian that I had traveled far and wide to get answers from, but I saw no one. “How do we let him know we’re here?”
She shook her head. “He will know,” was all she said in a cryptic tone. Before I could badger her about it, I heard someone behind me call out.
“Finally, you have come.” I turned around and saw a tall man in a blue hooded cloak, golden tassels around his waist, and his pale feet peeked out from under his cloak. When our eyes met, I couldn’t help but stare at him. His eyes were the color of pure gold, something I have never seen before. Even in all my travels and all the magic I have witnessed, no one could ever come close to that pure shade. After a few seconds, his eyes flashed a bright red and his lips turned up, widened the longer I stared. He put out his hand, beckoning me with his long, thin fingers.
“I have been waiting for you, Ms. Rocnal.”
I don’t know why, but I felt a pull to this man, his voice luring me to go with him, and I took a few steps closer. I kept going until I was right in front of him, not taking the outstretched hand but still looking up into his eyes. “Let’s go.” He turned to walk up to the lighthouse and for a second I could hear something, almost like it was someone, several someones, calling out to me. It was a sound that was light, barely there until I focused on it. The voices sounded like they were on the outside of a bubble, words muffled, but for some reason I knew they were calling to me.
“Come.” The fae man said, his face now emotionless and blank. He looked back, but something about the voices nagged at my mind. Something about them was familiar. I shook my head and took a few breaths, focusing more on the voices until I turned around. I recognized Hemlock, Zayden, Rykon and Ajax, pounding their fists against the force field, screaming at me. No, screaming for me. Panic was splayed across all of their faces, and they desperately tried to get my attention.
I turned back to the fae man. “Why can’t my friends come?”
He looked at them, no change in his face as he said, “Are they worthy?” It was a simple question, one that I felt was a trick of some sort, but I didn’t know the answer either. If I said no, would he do something bad to them? If I said yes, would he let them come in? Would he even take my word for it?
I had little time to choose the right answer, so I gave him an honest one. “Yes.”
Suddenly, I heard their voices clearer as they crashed onto the ground. Zayden was spitting out sand from his mouth as he looked up. “Hey! Where Emerald goes, so do we!” The rest of them, even Hemlock, stood up, shaking their heads in unison, looking like they were going to go to war with this man. Looking at them made me feel a softness in my heart I didn’t want to admit. Softness was frowned upon for assassins.
“Come,” he said again, but this time I could tell that he meant all of us.
They ran up to me, Ajax being the first one to come up to me with a frown on his face. “You weren’t trying to leave us behind, right?” His tone was displeased, but I heard the sliver of vulnerability underneath his anger and worry. I shook my head.
