“Shit, yeah, you’re right. We were told that he was a Void creature who we needed to defeat,” Mayhem says with a crease in his brow.
“Who told you that you needed to defeat the Void creature?” I ask, and then it clicks, “The Warrior Games, that was one of your trials?”
Farren nods, “Yeah, it was our first one. It was made out like Laikynn was extremely dangerous and that we needed to destroy him. That didn’t feel right to me, so I took him home instead. We’ve been friends ever since, and he’s helped me many times.”
“It still fascinates me that this creature who I’ve been taught was one of our biggest enemies, is actually the opposite of that,” I say. Getting back on track, I add, “So the Fae Realm somehow managed to pull a creature from this realm and told you that it was a creature from the Void and that you needed to end it.”
“Is it definitely the Fae Realm that did it, or is it possible that something or someone else messed with the trial?” Kill asks.
I’m shaking my head before he has even finished talking, “No. I struggle to believe that the Fae Realm is even strong enough to pull a creature from this realm, especially since it’s been locked down for so long, but if anyone is capable of it, the Fae Realm is literally the only thing that has a chance of doing it.”
“Are we sure that Laikynn was pulled from here and not the Void? I know it would be a pretty big coincidence if that was the case, but it’s a possibility?” Reaper asks.
“No. His family was waiting here for him,” Farren replies. “And if that were the case, then how the hell did he end up in the Void in the first place when nothing can get in or out of this realm?”
“Good point,” Reaper agrees.
“Which means that the Fae Realm absolutely knew what it was doing when it gave you that trial. You were the only one who could help him,” I point out.
Rival frowns, “It might have been testing her too.”
“What do you mean?” Khaos asks with a frown, clearly not liking what Rival is suggesting.
I think I know where Rival is going with this, and I can’t say that I particularly like the thought that a realm is testing Farren either.
“Think about it. The Fae Realm pulled Laikynn from this realm, it knew exactly where he came from, which means it knew that he wasn’t a threat to us unless we were a threat to him. So what if the realm was testing Farren to see how she would handle the situation and what she would do? Whether she would do what was asked of her in the trial or follow her instincts,” Rival explains.
“I think you’re probably right,” Hades agrees. “I don’t imagine that a realm makes mistakes, and the Fae Realm has been a strong force as far as realms go for an extremely long time. It is not one of the weaker realms.”
“So what does that mean?” Farren asks.
Rival shrugs, “I don’t know. There’s no way to confirm it, not really. It’s not like you can just ask the realm.”
“It does make sense though,” Kill agrees. “If the Fae Realm is even more aware than we thought that it was, then that would explain why we were in the last trial for so much longer than we should have been and why no one actually knew that we had been gone for that long.”
Chapter Eleven
Rast
“That’s not strictly true,” Farren points out, “Fitz knew.” She looks at me, “And so did you. How did you know?”
I tense slightly.
That’s not something that I am willing to share with them just yet. I was hoping that I would be able to hold them off for a little while longer. It’s not a big deal, but it’s rare, and it’s something that I have only ever told one person about, and the secret went to the grave with him.
Farren smiles, understanding flooding her expression, “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell us if it’s not something that you want to tell us. Trust me, we get it.”
“She’s right,” Loki grins, clapping me on the shoulder, “don’t worry about it.”
“Thank you,” I reply, the shock clear in my voice. Because their kindness and understanding have shocked me, I feel inclined to add, “Iwill most likely share at some point. I can tell you that it isn’t a threat to any of you, it’s just personal.”
Storm nods, “Thank you for confirming that. Honestly, there is no pressure at all.”
I nod.
I’m not sure what else to say to that, so I go back to the previous point: “You could ask Laikynn himself to see if he knows anything, but I would be surprised if he did and he didn’t already tell you.”
“Plus, he has heard us speaking, and he’s not popped out of the darkness to chime in or anything, so either there’s a threat that we don’t know about yet, or he doesn’t have anything to contribute to the conversation and doesn’t think it’s worth stopping protecting us to tell us that,” Farren points out. “I’m betting on that one. Especially since the ground is just buzzing happily and not in warning.”
