no longer seemed a priority,” Ezra answered.
“He’s mad! That world is worse than dead. We thought, for a while, that it would be possible to return; possible to heal that which we destroyed. When we found out otherwise, we made it a priority to make this world our home. But that too, has proven impossible. Because of the Elfennol, we have to always remain hidden.”
“Wait, how did you make that discovery? That the world is hopeless?” The Elfennol were well aware of the fact, but they were still under the impression that the Clades were determined to return to their original home, even if it meant killing their new one in the process.
“You don’t already know? An ancestress of yours, actually. Delilah Deare. We reached out, in secret, to the human Dunamis who might be able to help us return home. She was able to look into the OtherRealm with her elements, and told us what she saw. She bewitched our most knowledgeable rune-maker and he left our ranks to be with her. The next thing we heard, he had died and she had formed an alliance with the Elfennol. We were forced further underground once the humans joined the fight against us. There has been no love lost between us and your family.”
“Until now.” Ezra reminded him.
Peyton nodded his head in agreement. “Until now.”
Alexander chose that moment to speak up. “We heard a different story when we approached Delilah. She claimed that the Clades had killed her lover. She was there, saw the person who was responsible, and recognized him as one of the Clades she had previously met. It was her determination to get revenge that swayed the Council to ally with the humans. The power she held to Read the elements did not hurt, and it was becoming clear that the Dunamis had become powerful enough to sway the fight in our favor. She left out that her lover had been Clade, himself.”
Peyton looked shocked. “Why did she not seek our help? Ethan was a good friend, and his loss was mourned by many. If she had told us, we could have discovered the culprit and —”
“As interesting as this is, and it really is fascinating, we have more important things to deal with right now than who killed a friend of yours several hundred years ago.” I was really tempted to just sit back and listen to a history lesson that involved my family, but we had to get a game-plan and go save Cash before he became part of my family history, too.
Peyton’s head bowed again. “Yes, you are right. It just came as a shock to hear — Well, we at least know some of what would be required to open the portal. Unfortunately, only two people heard all of her visions about the subject. One was Ethan, the other —”
“Let me guess, my father was the other?” Ezra asked.
“Yes, I’m afraid he was.”
“Well, I think that answers the question of who killed Ethan.” It was pretty obvious, actually. “So, what do you know on the subject? How can we stop him?” I asked Peyton.
“We know the rough location of the portal, and that the key to open the gate can only be used at sunset or sunrise — it is a time ‘in between’ and the only time to travel between worlds. We also know that he requires power over the energy of life and death in order to succeed.”
“Which he possesses,” one of the other Elders stated.
“A fact he has hidden well these centuries.” Peyton sounded less than thrilled.
“Anything else helpful?” The location was good. If we could get the Elfennol to help, we could surround the area and prevent him from ever reaching it.
“One more thing we know for sure. Something must be devoid of life for him to use his ability over death. He will need a sacrifice.”
Ezra’s eyes going dark flashed in my mind.
“I may have an idea of what the portal looks like,” I blurted out.
Everyone at the table looked at me. I kept my eyes on Peyton, avoiding Ezra’s gaze.
“Cash and I tried Reading from the elements right before… before the fight.” I
“He’s mad! That world is worse than dead. We thought, for a while, that it would be possible to return; possible to heal that which we destroyed. When we found out otherwise, we made it a priority to make this world our home. But that too, has proven impossible. Because of the Elfennol, we have to always remain hidden.”
“Wait, how did you make that discovery? That the world is hopeless?” The Elfennol were well aware of the fact, but they were still under the impression that the Clades were determined to return to their original home, even if it meant killing their new one in the process.
“You don’t already know? An ancestress of yours, actually. Delilah Deare. We reached out, in secret, to the human Dunamis who might be able to help us return home. She was able to look into the OtherRealm with her elements, and told us what she saw. She bewitched our most knowledgeable rune-maker and he left our ranks to be with her. The next thing we heard, he had died and she had formed an alliance with the Elfennol. We were forced further underground once the humans joined the fight against us. There has been no love lost between us and your family.”
“Until now.” Ezra reminded him.
Peyton nodded his head in agreement. “Until now.”
Alexander chose that moment to speak up. “We heard a different story when we approached Delilah. She claimed that the Clades had killed her lover. She was there, saw the person who was responsible, and recognized him as one of the Clades she had previously met. It was her determination to get revenge that swayed the Council to ally with the humans. The power she held to Read the elements did not hurt, and it was becoming clear that the Dunamis had become powerful enough to sway the fight in our favor. She left out that her lover had been Clade, himself.”
Peyton looked shocked. “Why did she not seek our help? Ethan was a good friend, and his loss was mourned by many. If she had told us, we could have discovered the culprit and —”
“As interesting as this is, and it really is fascinating, we have more important things to deal with right now than who killed a friend of yours several hundred years ago.” I was really tempted to just sit back and listen to a history lesson that involved my family, but we had to get a game-plan and go save Cash before he became part of my family history, too.
Peyton’s head bowed again. “Yes, you are right. It just came as a shock to hear — Well, we at least know some of what would be required to open the portal. Unfortunately, only two people heard all of her visions about the subject. One was Ethan, the other —”
“Let me guess, my father was the other?” Ezra asked.
“Yes, I’m afraid he was.”
“Well, I think that answers the question of who killed Ethan.” It was pretty obvious, actually. “So, what do you know on the subject? How can we stop him?” I asked Peyton.
“We know the rough location of the portal, and that the key to open the gate can only be used at sunset or sunrise — it is a time ‘in between’ and the only time to travel between worlds. We also know that he requires power over the energy of life and death in order to succeed.”
“Which he possesses,” one of the other Elders stated.
“A fact he has hidden well these centuries.” Peyton sounded less than thrilled.
“Anything else helpful?” The location was good. If we could get the Elfennol to help, we could surround the area and prevent him from ever reaching it.
“One more thing we know for sure. Something must be devoid of life for him to use his ability over death. He will need a sacrifice.”
Ezra’s eyes going dark flashed in my mind.
“I may have an idea of what the portal looks like,” I blurted out.
Everyone at the table looked at me. I kept my eyes on Peyton, avoiding Ezra’s gaze.
“Cash and I tried Reading from the elements right before… before the fight.” I
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