“Or we dismissed it,” Philit said.
“All we dismissed were the usual dangers of the mountains,” Landers said.
I thought about that, about our journey through the Crotlyn pass. “Is that true though?”
Landers raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“The fairies in the mountains. They ran everything out of those tunnels there. And they’re mean.”
Bitterness crept into Philit’s voice. “‘Mean’ is an understatement.”
The fairies had literally eaten dragons and Divines in the past until there was nothing but bones left. A couple of them were nothing to fight against, but they infested those tunnels. Had taken them over and claimed those tunnels as their own. Just thinking about all those dragon and Divine bones made my chest hurt.
“She has a point,” Philit said. “Fairies shouldn’t have been in the Crotlyn Mountains. They aren’t native to that area. But to have a whole nest of them like that? It’s a real infestation where they don’t belong.”
“They’re attracted to something,” Landers finished.
“Exactly.,” Philit agreed.
While they kept talking back and forth about other things they thought were out of the norm, I tuned them out and looked into the night. Despite it being dark out, the moon was full and the stars so bright that I could still see enough of our surroundings. The castle and lands were surrounded by lush rolling hills and tall trees bursting with life. It was captivating, enchanting.
“Rayna?”
“Huh?” I blinked out of my haze and looked at the guys. They were giving me worried looks.
“Are you okay?” Philit asked.
“Tired.”
“Maybe staying here is a bad idea,” Landers said, running his hand through his hair.
“We’re already here, so we need to deal with it,” Philit said.
“Besides,” I said slowly. “If Neyil wasn’t playing me for an idiot, then I’m stronger than he is.”
“What do you mean?” That got Philit’s attention.
I sighed, straightening from the railing and turning to the two of them. “He gave me a lesson early on, and I was able to do more than he expected. During the week, I always did more than what was expected. Seems I really am strong, and I’ve been picking up on the lessons rather quickly.”
“You think you can take him on?” Landers didn’t seem to believe that.
Frankly, neither did I. He was always painted as this almighty, powerful enemy. The idea of an eighteen-year-old girl who had never fought anything in her life until revealing being stronger than the Fae king was laughable.
We talked late into the night, even after Zilon returned with nothing to report. Everything seemed normal, whatever normal was. And it stayed like that until the next evening.
We were at the training grounds, practicing how to share magic between the three of us. Landers was just starting to pick it up thankfully. Overall, we were doing much better, our confidence growing as the guys realized they could attack, while I defended us with barriers and diverted smaller attacks away.
With the hours of practicing, I didn’t tire out at all. Not like when I’d ridden them through a battle and come out exhausted by the end. We were just wrapping up the latest practice drills when, suddenly, the field flooded with Fae in full armor. That set us all on edge.
For a moment, I thought they were finally going to arrest us or maybe kill us, but they only lined up in neat rows with their weapons held to the side and waited. Divines gathered on the outskirts, whispering to each other and speculating about what was going on. Fear rippled through the crowd.
“What is going on?” Philit demanded.
Faustus joined us, tying his armor to himself. “We ran out of time.”
My eyes widened. “They’re here?”
“Yes, the army is here. It is time to fight.”