Page 85 of Black Onyx
“Has anyone ever been to the Crimson Court?” Killian asks, looking around.
When everyone answers no, it’s pretty clear that the lack of information is starting to frustrate us.
“Farren, Love, I have to ask, how do we know that this is the right thing to do? We only have a certain amount of time to get the job done, or we fail the level.” Loki asks, genuinely curious and not harsh at all.
“Because we don’t just kill things. Granted, a lot of our job is killing. It has to be because of what we do, but we also save things, and I truly believe that this time the thing that needs to be saved is the one that is being perceived as a threat.” I explain.
“She’s right,” Zev says into the silence.
“I agree, I hadn’t thought about it like that, and that’s narrow-minded. We all know that not everything is as it appears, and it would be foolhardy to assume that this is just because it's been causing some trouble. Farren makes some good points.” Storm replies sincerely.
“Well, holy fuck, I never thought I’d see the day that you admit I have good points,” I tease him, and to my utter shock, he sticks his tongue out at me like I usually do to him.
He smirks, “If I knew all I had to do to stop you talking was use my tongue, I would’ve done it a long time ago.”
There is no doubting the double meaning of that sentence, and while I remain staring at him in bemused shock, the others, including Zev, burst out laughing.
The laughter is abruptly cut off when eight horses appear in a flash of purple, and a satchel is dropped at Storm’s feet, appearing in the same flash of magic.
“Revel!” I exclaim once I get a good look at the horses. He immediately moves over to me and starts inspecting me. “We’re on a level of the Warrior games. What are you doing here?”
All of the guys go to their horses, happy to see them, and I watch as Zev walks up to the pearlescent mare that must belong to him because I don’t recognise it and starts stroking her nose. Despite having been transported here via portal, they all seem extremely calm, even Revel, which is practically unheard of for him, but then again, he’s a Fae horse, and he was brought here by the Fae Realm. They have no reason to be afraid of the thing that created them. As far as we know, it could be able to communicate with the Fae horses. I have a feeling that if I asked Revel though, he wouldn’t answer. Just like some of the questions I ask Poca, he doesn’t answer.
“I think,” he starts, looking over at all of us just in time for us to see his eyes flash white briefly, “that if we make the right decision while we are on a level that the Fae Realm gives us rewards, things to help us along the way.”
Killian watches him closely, “You think? Or you know?”
Zev’s lips tick up into a grin, “I know.”
“Having the horses here is going to make travelling to the next village a hell of a lot easier, and it means we’re on the right track with not killing the Void beast. Good call Farren.” Reaper compliments.
“Thanks,” I reply. “What’s in the bag?”
Storm walks back to the bag, having left it to say hello to his horse first and crouches next to it, lifting the flap and peering inside.
He pulls out a piece of parchment, and a pouch of what looks like coin, “Coin and the parchment is a map with one of the villages marked. I’m assuming that’s where we need to go.”
“What’s the coin for?” Loki asks with a frown.
“To pay for something,” Zev replies with a sarcastic grin.
“Thanks, fucker,” Loki chuckles.
“I guess we’ll find out when we get there,” Killian adds sensibly.
“Good point. I’ve got the map memorised. Let's go.” Storm instructs, and we all load up on our horses and set off following Storm.
“Do we have any idea how long it’s going to take to get to the village?” Rival asks and then adds, “and are we assuming that someone in the village will have the information we need to locate the Void beast?”
“I’m assuming it’s going to take a few hours, and we can either cross through a village on the way or go around the outside. If we go around the outside, it will take longer though.” He explains before answering Rival’s second question, “as for the village, I think that’s a fair assumption.”
“So, tavern again then?” Killian asks.
“Probably the best bet. It worked well enough on the last mission.” Storm replies.
“How many hours left of daylight have we got?” Reaper asks.
“We’ll probably get to the village as the sun sets. That’s if we go through the first village and not around.” Storm replies.
