Chapter 23 #3
I was vaguely aware of him moving around the little room, but my gaze was still fixed on the cot. It looked like it had seen better days. Would it even hold my weight? I doubted it would hold the both of us—not that we’d be sharing or anything.
I turned to find Rhydian staring at the door, once again trying to summon his golden death rays. His face was twisted in frustration as only the tiniest of flickers would come to life in his hands.
“What are you doing?”
“Being cautious,” he gritted out between clenched teeth.
“I thought you said no one has been here in years.”
“I did.”
“So then why—”
“Because Eroth is no longer the friendly place it used to be. The land is angry about being cursed, about dying. It is better to be safe than to assume you already are. Did you learn nothing from the incident with the Scorching Rivers?”
The reminder of us being so close to death made me wince.
“Point taken.” I gingerly sat on the edge of the cot, half expecting the thing to collapse beneath my weight.
It let out a loud creak but otherwise seemed sturdy enough.
The faint scent of smoke filled the air as the fire crackled away, slowly infusing the cabin with heat.
When he was finished, Rhydian sat on the floor in front of the fireplace, keeping his back to me as if he didn’t want to speak anymore.
“Should I be worried that the Scorching Rivers will destroy this cabin too?” I asked. We had seen them trailing us in the distance for most of the journey, but they’d been noticeably absent for a while now.
“The Rivers don’t come near Mount Kharos. You don’t need to worry about them here.”
“Why?” What was so special about this volcano that they wouldn’t come here?
“It doesn’t matter,” Rhydian barked out, his shoulders lifting toward his ears, tensing at my onslaught of questions once again. I tried to be quiet—I really did—but my desire to understand this strange world was too great. The words poured from my mouth.
“So what happened to Eroth? Why was it—you—cursed?” I asked, watching his shoulders stiffen in response. I added, “And don’t even think about trying to run away now. There’s nowhere for you to hide.”
With a sigh, he said, “Very well.” He turned so that he was facing me, his arms resting on his knees. The position was so human-like that, for a moment, I forgot he was something else.
“Eons ago, when Avalea was created, the four kingdoms were not like they are now. In the Pure Fae lands, the queens of their respective kingdoms were tasked with watching over their lands by those deities I mentioned before, keeping the Fae safe, and prospering the earth with their magic. But in the Dark Fae lands, there were no queens. Instead, beasts were created, meant to also guard the earth. They did so for many years, but eventually they were…corrupted.”
Rhydian pointed to the ground, the volcano beneath us.
“Kharos was the Beast of Eroth. There came a time when he threatened to destroy all of Avalea.” He stopped abruptly, the sudden intake of his breath catching me off guard.
His brows lowered as if recalling something unpleasant.
His next words were low, bitter. “The queens acted—believing that they were protecting Avalea by cursing the beast.”
A sudden pop in the fire punctuated his sentence.
He paused, glancing up at me. “They put the beast to sleep, deep beneath the earth. The Pure Fae queens led the Fae of Eroth to believe this was in their best interest. Many of the Dark Fae were followers of Kharos, however, and they searched for a way to release the beast.”
Rhydian fell silent for a while, and I waited, knowing there had to be more to the story.
“What the queens failed to understand about Kharos was that he was the lifeblood of Eroth. Without him, Eroth began to suffer, plants and animals alike began to wither and die. Eventually, when no cure could be found for waking him up, many of the Dark Fae were forced to leave Eroth just to survive.”
“They would really condemn an entire kingdom like that?”
Rhydian’s lips pursed before he answered. “They believed they were saving all the kingdoms. Though I have a great hatred for the Pure Fae queens, I do not believe they knew what the ramifications of their actions would be. They are many things, but stupid is not one of them.”
“How could they not?”
“Your guess is as good as mine. Perhaps they knew and didn’t care about the consequences. Either way, Eroth is paying the price.”
“And breaking the curse will undo what they did?”
Rhydian nodded.
“Including freeing Kharos?”
“Yes.”
“Will he destroy Avalea if he’s freed?”
Rhydian turned his head and stared into the flames for a long moment. Finally, he whispered, “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? And you’re still willing to risk freeing him?”
He was silent for several heartbeats, and I started to wonder if he’d answer my question at all.
Then he clasped his hands together over his knees, never taking his eyes off the fire. “If it gives Eroth a chance at life, it’s worth the risk.”
“But I thought he was cursed because he was going to destroy everything?”
“That’s a bridge I’ll cross if it comes to it,” he snapped. “Kharos is what kept Eroth alive in the first place. Without him, there’s no chance at all.”
My mind spun over this information for several minutes, trying to make sense of it all.
It seemed like a battle of which was the lesser evil.
I couldn’t help but put myself in Rhydian’s shoes.
If it were me, what choice would I make?
Free a beast that could cause destruction and risk destroying Avalea, or keep him cursed but allow everything I once loved to die?
It seemed like an impossible decision, and I felt a sudden burst of empathy for the Prince of Eroth.
“What about Nefaroth?” I asked. “It also had a beast?”
“Ixos,” Rhydian said with a nod. “If you ask me, the queens should have put him to sleep instead of Kharos. He was the true danger.”
“Then what happened to him?”
Rhydian shook his head. “I think that’s enough for today. You should get some sleep, Maren.”
Why was he avoiding the question?
“Your task begins at moon rise. Rest up.”
Before I could question him further, he rose to his feet, crossed the small space, and walked out into the cold, leaving me with the fire and my swirling thoughts, alone.