Carefully, I pick it up and put it in the pocket of my jumper.
Looking back at Poca, I say, “Come on, let's get back to the guys. I don’t like leaving them in that realm.”
Just as I get to Poca ready to take us back to the Void, the door to Aldrastos’ office opens, and instead of stepping into the Void immediately like I should, surprise has me staying where I am.
“Farren, I was hoping that I would run into you here,” Fitz greets me like he is completely unsurprised to see me in Aldrastos’ office by myself and would be more surprised if I weren’t here.
“Fitz?” I question because I am surprised to see him, and the last thing I heard about him was that he had completely lost it. He doesn’t seem to have lost his mind. Still, caution is required, just in case, so I gently ask, “Are you okay? I heard you weren’t doing too well.”
Fitz grins, “You heard that I was crazy?”
I shrug and answer honestly, “Yeah, pretty much.”
His smile widens, “Well, the best way to make sure that you’re left alone is to ensure that no one wants to talk to you or that they think that you have nothing of value to say.”
I let out a surprised laugh, “That’s very true. You said you were looking for me?”
His expression immediately becomes serious, “For all of you, actually, but I understand that the others aren’t here.”
“How do you know that the others aren’t here?” I ask, unable to help the edge of suspicion in my tone.
Fitz smiles again, except this one is full of knowledge, “I know all sorts of things. Like, for example, that you need to be getting going.”
I nod, still watching him closely. I like Fitz, but one wrong move and he will find himself at the end of my sword.
He continues, “The Warrior Teams who have not survived the Warrior Games are not dead, they’ve been taken.”
“What do you mean they’ve been taken?” I ask incredulously.
Of all the things that I thought he was going to say, that was not one of them. It doesn’t even make the list.
“They did not die like everyone was led to believe they did. In fact, they have been taken by Crem,” Fitz tells me, and I stare at him in shock. “I wouldn’t normally share this information with such a young team, but I am aware of your strength, and quite frankly, you are some of the only people who can help them.”
After a moment of staring at him, where I try to compute what he’s telling me, I ask, “They’re not in the Dragon Realm, are they?”
Fitz nods, looking surprised as he replies, “Yes, they are.”
“Of course they are. It would make sense that they were there. That’s where we assume Crem is,” I reply. “Why is Crem kidnapping the teams?”
“So that they can’t fight against them in the upcoming war, and I believe that he is hoping that some of them will switch over to his side as well,” Fitz replies, with a dark frown. “I’m sorry, that’s all the information that I have for you right now. I’m trying to find out more, but you must save them. If he turns them against us, then the war will be tipped in their favour. That is something that we cannot allow to happen.”
I nod, but before I can confirm or deny whether we will help or not, he turns around and swishes out of the room in his big cloak as quickly as he entered it, and somehow, I’m still as confused, if not more so than I was when he first entered it.
There isn’t any doubt in my mind that we’re going to help the kidnapped Warrior Teams, of course we are. The question is, when?
We can’t up and go right now because we need to free the entrapped people in the cells of the castle and stop the realm from dying and tipping the balance.
That has to be our main priority because it affects the balance of all of the realms.
That, unfortunately, means that the Warrior Teams are going to have to hang on for a while. From what Fitz said though, it seemed like Crem wanted them for something, which means he won’t kill them.
I hope.
This is one of those situations that I hate to be in, the ones where I’m stuck between two difficult decisions, but the balance being tippedis the bigger threat currently, and in theory, the Warrior Teams should be able to handle themselves.
This is what they have been trained to handle after all.
It’s not until Fitz has disappeared and I’ve been staring at the closed door for a few minutes that I realise that he shouldn’t remember who Crem is, the goddess, who is apparently my mother- yeah, I’ve still not dealt with that one. Anyway, she said that everyone apart from a select few had forgotten. Well, Fitz is just a professor at Black Onyx Academy, isn’t he? So why does he remember?
