The diadem of the elves shall be set upon flame’s brow,
and the blade that drank the dragon’s heart shall rise again.
Yet not till the four are gathered and kindled in the fire of their foe shall the sky be freed of its shroud,” I repeat the lines from memory.
“The fourth item has to be the emberstone that makes the witch bleed,” Daegan reaffirms.
“I agree,” I say.
“Okay,” Rhydra says. “But whose foe are we talking about? The elves’ foe or the dragons’ foe? Whose fire do we need?”
“I think, since the original spell was cast in the dragon fires of Torrynth, it has to be dragon fire again,” I say.
“What if it has to beinthe actual Eternal Pit though?” Rhydra asks.
“Hopefully our fire is enough, because that’s impossible,” Raef murmurs. “The eternal Pit was lost above the veil.”
“We’ll worry about that after we have the necklace,” I add.
“Which is not going to be easy, by the way.” Rhydra turns her attention to me. “Things have changed a lot since we were separated. Your father has upped the training and deployment of his armies exponentially. They patrol other cities, the inns along travel routes, and they surround the castle.”
“The only good thing is that a lot of them have been lost to the creatures of the darkness along the way,” Raef says darkly.
“Are you one of those creatures of the darkness?” I ask as an involuntary tug of my lip occurs.
“We may have taken out a group or two along the way. But we mostly tried to remain inconspicuous, not drawing any attention to ourselves.”
“And no one else is fighting back? Is there any kind of resistance?” I ask.
“We’ve heard rumblings,” Raef responds, rubbing his chin. “We had even met with a few small groups while we were hiding out. But no one has been brave enough to stand up to them. Yet.”
“They don’t have the numbers alone,” Daegan says.
“Maybe we can start rallying them. Somehow,” I offer.
“I think we should focus on the necklace first. Draw as little attention as possible.” Rhydra looks around, seeing who agrees with her.
I move my head in agreement. So does everyone else.
“We can still talk to people along the way. Plant the seed,” Daegan adds.
“Okay. But we need to be careful. He could have spies among these people,” I say.
“Not likely,” Daegan quips. “Absolutely everyone hates the king. And his armies.” He gives me a loaded look that I shy away from. I feel like I know even less about what’s going on in his head than I used to.
“So, what now?” Rhydra asks.
“We make a plan to sneak into my castle. He may be upping his armies and patrols, but he’s still who he is at his core. Arrogant. We make our way for the castle over the next few days, and we devise a plan along the way. I think the less of us the better.” I glance at Rhydra, flashing her a look of remorse.
“Got it,” she nods in acceptance. “I can still keep watch along the perimeter.”
“Okay,” I agree. “I think… just Kezra and I go in.”
“No.” Daegan looks pissed, his arms crossed with tension.
“Well I’m not letting you go back in there. Not after—"
“She’s right,” Raef interrupts. “The fewer of us who go in, the better. We can wait just outside. If anything goes wrong, we’ll be ready.”
