Page 89 of Black Onyx
“Well, they were but not in the same sense that we know them to be. It would explain why the cook could touch the envelope and why the horses so easily followed the stable boy. They recognised the place for what it was.” Mayhem suggests.
“That’s just . . . I don’t think I can wrap my head around that this early in the morning.” I reply, facing forward again.
“I think we might just have to get used to the Fae Realm doing strange things while we’re doing the games,” Mayhem theorises.
“Let’s set off and see if we can help this Void beast,” Storm suggests, and we start off again, my mind whirling with the possibilities and how real everything felt at the tavern. I suppose it was, just not in the way that we’re used to things being real. Now my brain hurts; I think I’ll just leave that as one of the things that simply is and not try to work out the how behind it. We travel for a while in silence, all of us lost in our own thoughts. I enjoy taking in the scenery as we travel past a vast river, following Storm as he leads us down the dirt tracks, seemingly taking turns at random. We come across a couple of merchants travelling in the opposite direction, but they ignore us, and we ignore them. Eventually, we come to a barely-there path leading into the dense forest. It’s tight enough that we can only just fit the horses down it and have to slow to a walk so that it's safe.
“What if we can’t subdue it?” Killian asks. “It’s beyond scared by this point, and we have no idea how long it’s been out here. We do know that since it’s arrived, it's pretty much been attacked continuously. The likelihood of it stopping and listening to us is pretty slim.”
“We need it to come willingly.” Rival answers in agreement, “We don’t even know how big it is or what it looks like; it could have any number of defensive mechanisms that we’ve never seen before. I don’t like the lack of information we have about it.”
“I think that’s the point, though. In our jobs, we aren’t always going to have all the information, and we’re going to have to work out with all the information we do have. The Warrior games are a test after all, and the Fae Realm wants the best of the best to help protect it, and the other Realm’s as well.” Loki suggests.
“You’re right. I just don’t like not having all the information, especially when it comes to unknown creatures,” Rival replies.
“We know, mate,” Reaper grins.
“We need to make sure that we try everything we can without harming it,” I start to explain, “as soon as one of us hurts it, we become as bad as all the other people who have done the same, and we have absolutely no chance of getting it to trust us.”
“That’s an excellent point. Everyone needs to be using as many of their evasive skills as possible.” He turns to look at Zev, “Don’t take this wrong, but I don’t know you well enough to know your strengths and weaknesses. How’re your evasive skills?”
Zev smiles, unbothered by the question, “They’re one of my biggest strengths. I’m sure Farren has told you how I use my sight in a fight to predict my opponent's next move? Well, along the same lines, I use the same method but to avoid attacks rather than plan my own.”
“That’s seriously impressive,” Killian compliments.
“It’s even more so when you’re actually in a fight with him, I can change my mind halfway through a move, and he’ll mostly still catch it,” I add.
“I can see how you got into the academy,” Reaper says, looking impressed.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how having a Head Seer trained as an Enforcer is going to work out. I don’t think there has ever been one before.” Mayhem ponders.
“I have a feeling that there’s a reason why there is one now,” Killian interjects, in a way that lets us know that he has seen something.
“We got off track. Farren, am I right to assume that you need the Void beast compliant in order to take it back to the Void?” Storm asks, steering the conversation back on track as we take a turn and end up walking through a wide cavern cut straight into the base of what I’m assuming is a mountain.
Up until this point, we’ve been walking through dense forests hence why we’ve been able to talk because we can’t have the horses go any faster than a walk. The trees are packed so closely together that I can’t see the tell-tale sign of the mountain, just the vegetation all around us and the opening to the cavern. It doesn’t look like it leads anywhere, but I’ve followed Storm enough times now that I trust his judgement. He throws a couple of witch lights into the air, the glowing orbs helping to guide our way through the dark cavern and casting a soft glow around us.
As we follow him into the wide opening, I answer, “Obviously, I’d prefer that it came willingly. It would make it a hell of a lot easier, but I think I should be able to pull it into the Void with me so long as I’m touching it. As Rival said before though, it could have defensive mechanisms that we know nothing about, including ones on its skin, so it would be easier if we can get it to listen and follow me willingly back into the Void.”
“We’ll consider that the last resort then. We also don’t know how it will react to being forced to travel somewhere. If it doesn’t recognise where it is straight away, then it will most likely attack, and I’m not willing to risk you.” Killian replies firmly.
“Sounds good to me,” I reply.
I have absolutely no issue in not getting eaten by a Void beast. I’m kind of hoping that because the creatures I encounter leave me alone when I’m in the Void, it will somehow recognise me and not attack, but that’s a really big what if, and we aren’t going to know how it will react until we actually come to face to face with it.
“How long until we get to the other side?” Loki asks.
The cavern and tunnels leading off it are wide enough that two of us can ride side by side down it. The walls are rough grey and white stone with veins of black and red running through them. Storm is picking the tunnels with a precision that only he seems to understand, and I wonder if maybe it was depicted on the map that only he got to see before it burned up in Killian’s hand.
“We’re not going out the other side,” Storm answers distractedly as we get to an intersection of tunnels, and he looks either way before deciding, pulling gently on the reins and guiding his horse down the left one, which slopes down.
“What?” Loki asks.
“According to the map we got at the tavern last night, the Void beast is in these tunnels somewhere.”
“That makes sense. These tunnels probably remind it of home,” I mutter.
“Any idea how much further we’ve got to go?” Zev asks.
