I shared a knowing look with Onyx, hoping that we were both wrong.
“Chrome Freyr. He’s lost to the Tempests’ Syphon Bond. He managed to infiltrate our home after having brought them here himself to stay safe from him. It appeared he’d had a moment of clarity, which I believe was due to Her Majesty’s Guardian. We are a very secretive and well-guarded group. No one has ever breached our protections until last night when he stormed our home with an army of Infernals,” the voice explained. “Forgive me for not welcoming you into my?—”
“Wait,” Onyx said, cutting him off. “Forgive my rudeness, but we just came from the Mystics. Cotton and I are from Terraguard as Kinetics. I am…” He swallowed, then sighed. “More like, IwasChrome’s second-in-command before he turned Infernal. We all grew up together. I’m close with Gray and Slate as well. We need to get to her, and we have been led to believe that you guys might have the Seraphite Stone, which is needed to?—”
No one had led us to believe that. I assumed Onyx was bluffing as a way to get us inside.
“I know what it’s used for. We hold the Seraphite Stone here with us to protect it. We are the keepers and warriors of knowledge and balance.” The Druid grew impatient, the fire picking up speed. “Weare in the middle of recovering from the assault that took many Druid lives. Lives that have existed for far longer than your comprehension. Now is not the time. We are grieving for all that we’ve lost.”
Onyx dipped his chin in acknowledgment. “I understand you…”
“I do not think you do.” The flames soared higher, rotating faster and faster around us.
Sweat clung to my clothes and dripped from my brow. I figured I’d give it a try.
I stepped closer to the Druid, not fearing the flames as I spoke into his mind.“I apologize for intruding in your mind and on your home during such a difficult time.”I found it oddly simple to communicate telepathically with him. I didn’t need to search for a link as I did with others. Being in his mind, I realized that his physical self was currently standing here with us, his magic concealing him in the flames.
“You speak via the power of telepathy? What are you?” The man sounded pensive.
“I’ve been raised to believe I was Kinetic my entire life. It wasn’t until recently, due to being in Arcadia, that I was informed by two different sources that I might have Druidic ancestry.”I shifted my stance, sliding my hands into my back pockets.
“Who are your parents?”
“Sage and Daisy Sjodin.”
An intake of breath came from the flames, sounding almost like popping kindling. “That’s impossible.”
“I assure you that it’s not, because I’m here. How do you know my parents?”
“I don’t. I know your ancestors.” The fire began to slowly settle, calming to the point that it was only a flicker. And when the flame disappeared, a tall man with pointed ears and eyes holding centuries of existence stared back at me. “Come along.” He spun around and headed toward the cliff’s edge.
Onyx nudged my shoulder, leaning in close enough to be heard through the wind and not by the Druid. “What did you say to him?”
“The truth.”I shrugged and followed the man to where I overlooked a volatile sea that battered the side of the cliff.
“We don’t have a specific entrance into our kingdom. So you’ll have to grasp hold of my arms.” He held out his thick and muscled arms to each side, and we both did as he said, clasping on to his forearms.
The Druid reached out with both forefingers and middle fingers and drew sigils in the air, white lines tracing each stroke. With no warning, we disappeared into the wind, getting pulled through a vacuous tunnel until our feet landed on a hard surface.
The air was significantly different here than outside. It wasn’t stale, but rather ancient. However, the stench of death and blood polluted what I imagined had previously been a peaceful space.
Floating flames, similar to those in the Mystics’ territory, illuminated rows and rows of books climbing up the walls and out of sight, as well as a scene of utter chaos. Druids rushed around us as they worked to clean up the disaster zone. Crimson stains and deep gray pools of an unknown substance thickened on the stone floors. Papers were littered everywhere, and even random body parts. Discarded swords, daggers, and other unusual weapons I’d never seen before peeked beneath the debris of books, overturned tables, and chairs.
“Usually it’s quieter in here, but as I said, these aren’t normal circumstances,” the man said, glancing around, solemnity exuding from him and the kingdom in waves. After a few moments, he returned his attention to us. “I’m High Mage Brecken, leader of the Druids. Now, if you’ll please follow me, I feel we have much to discuss, starting with your heritage.”
Brecken led Onyxand me up a long, winding, narrow stairwell. The steps were uneven and tricky, and I worried Onyx would be the one to trip and plummet to his death during our ascent. Turned out, I would be the one who’d nearly break an ankleas my foot rolled in a large divot on a step. Onyx, following behind me, reached out to stop me from taking us both out.
The stairwell seemed like it would never end. But after roughly fifteen minutes, we reached a landing, and Brecken guided us down a corridor. Like everywhere else I’d been in Arcadia thus far, everything was made of stone. Probably because it was built inside a cliff, I presumed, but the immaculate details and precision in the carvings along the walls were something of a marvel.
Brecken stopped at a door and gestured his first two fingers at the knob, weaving shapes and patterns that left an illuminated line behind from each movement, just like he had outside. The door clicked open, and Brecken stood off to the side as he ushered us within. An expansive chamber that resembled an office greeted us. “Please, sit.” He gestured to the stiff wooden chairs on the other side of his desk.
Onyx and I complied, adjusting to get comfortable. It was then that my exhaustion decided to settle, weighing down my eyes with a pleasant sting added to it. It had been over a day since I’d last slept, and it was starting to show as I slowed down.
“As Druids, we have a law where we don’t interbreed,” Brecken began in a weird way of opening our conversation that I hadn’t anticipated. At my cocked eyebrow, he continued, “It is for a specific reason, not simply out of bigotry toward the other species in Arcadia. It’s to preserve potent Druid magic and prevent the unknown in regards to our magical laws gifted to us by the gods. If our race were to mix with Celestials, that could cause an imbalance when it pertains to the magic of their offspring. But of course, there is always that one who rebels…”
I could feel Onyx looking at me from the corner of my eye.
“Druidic law dictates that if one is caught interbreeding with another Arcadian species, they are to be banished. Not just from our kingdom, but the realm. Before Celanea rose to power and banished the rest of the Celestials from the realm, there was a Druid named Merryk Sjodin. Merryk and I had been close childhood friends. Hecame from an esteemed family within our world and rose to great heights in our ranks. So high, in fact, that when I was anointed as the High Mage, I named and trusted him to be my Interior Mage, meaning he was my right-hand. He was the second-highest-ranked person within the Druidic society.
