Chapter Fourteen
The Autumn Kingdom was a realm filled with rich colors and cool temperatures.
The scent of ripe apples and fallen leaves hung heavy in the crisp air, along with a hint of smoke from bonfires in the distance.
Towering forests of copper, crimson, and burnt orange stretch on endlessly, suspended in a state of eternal transformation.
Decaying leaves carpeted the ground, and glowing mushrooms peeked out from the underbrush near the base of the trees. A winding river ran through most of the city, each section connected with stone bridges covered in living vines and dense foliage.
Lanterns hung from posts, glowing with amber light, casting shifting patterns of warmth and shadow onto the cobblestone streets below.
While most of the citizens preferred the comfort and privacy of single-family dwellings nestled among the streets, there were several small castles scattered throughout the city.
The castles served as communal residences for extended families and close-knit groups, each structure an architectural wonder built out of dark stone and colored glass.
The Autumn Palace was located on a peninsula a good distance away from the busy city. Surrounded by towering trees, the palace was a stone monstrosity that appeared to be twice the size of the Winter Palace.
For generations, the Autumn Palace had been known for keeping to themselves. They rarely interacted with the other kingdoms unless absolutely necessary. Although they weren’t outright hostile, they were coolly polite rather than friendly to outsiders.
Kami had only been to the Autumn Palace a handful of times during her life.
Despite those visits, it still felt like a completely foreign place shrouded in mystery.
The palace’s secluded location and the family’s preference for privacy meant that fae from other kingdoms seldom had reason to cross its threshold.
But this time, they weren’t waiting for an invitation.
Although Zander and Devlin had planned to go on the rescue mission alone, Kami, Lia, Jackie, Micah, Kellen, and Ramsey had insisted on going with them.
They considered contacting the others but figured they already had enough people tagging along.
Besides, if Raziel really was close by, they needed to keep Braxton away from him until they figured out how their death powers would react.
As the new rulers of the Shifter Realm, it was best to leave Raiden and Sapphire out of an incident that might cause a war between the realms. While some of their group didn’t mind if that happened, the others desperately hoped it wouldn’t.
Dressed in black armor that Zander had provided for everyone, they teleported into the great hall of the Autumn Palace. The plan had been to announce their presence to King Corvyn Ashvale and see what he knew before conducting their search, but that changed the moment they arrived.
“The palace is empty,” Zander announced. “Completely empty. Not even a single pixie remains on the property.”
“That’s crazy. This place is huge, and the staff alone consists of hundreds of people,” Jackie said.
“Well, they aren’t here now,” Devlin stated. “War is right. No one is here.”
“But this is glowing brighter now,” Lia said, holding up the amulet.
“If Raziel is here, he would be hidden by countless layers of safeguards,” Zander pointed out. “The Autumn Kingdom couldn’t have kept Death trapped for all this time. Not without help. They have to be working with Famine.”
“But why?” Kellen growled. “Why in hellfire would a fae kingdom work with a reaper to make him stronger?”
“People will do all sorts of depraved things if they think they can benefit from it. But if he was working with the Autumn Kingdom, he would have gotten rid of them after he was done with them,” Devlin added, gesturing to the empty hall.
Ramsey’s jaw clenched in anger. “You think he killed everyone here?”
“Yes,” Zander said without hesitation.
“Lia, can you tell us exactly what happened with the amulet again?” Jackie asked.
Lia took a deep breath, then blew it out.
“Okay, while I was freaking out about the whole amulet thing, I decided to activate it with my magic like Kami did right after we won it at the festival. The moment I did, it started glowing. I figured I would ask you guys about it in the morning, but then I heard a voice in my head, a male voice. He said he was in the Autumn Kingdom and to hurry.”
She swallowed hard.
“In that brief moment when he spoke to me, I felt unspeakable pain. It was like being burned alive. I’ve never felt anything like it before. I don’t even know how he is still functioning if that is what he has been going through.”
Before they had left the Winter Palace, Zander had delved into Lia’s mind to review the memory himself.
It was difficult to confirm whether or not it had been Raziel’s voice since it had been barely more than a whisper, but Zander said it had felt like him.
Either way, they had to find whoever had reached out to Lia.
“This place is massive. Where do we begin?” Kellen complained.
“We might as well head downstairs,” Ramsey declared. “It seems like bad shit always happens on the lower levels.”
“Didn’t we do this a few days ago?” Micah joked. “When we went through the crucible to prove we were worthy of being the next rulers for the Winter Kingdom, we were dropped down into the maze beneath the palace. You think they have something like that here?”
“But it wasn’t really below the palace,” Lia corrected.
“We went through a portal and got booted into the Realm of Illusions,” Kellen reminded him. “And you ended up in a coma on an altar.”
“Yeah, that part sucked. But down does make more sense than going up,” Micah pointed out.
“Down it is, then,” Devlin agreed.
As they made their way to the lower levels of the palace, they scanned the area for any people. Sure enough, the palace was completely empty.
“It’s getting dimmer,” Lia muttered, holding the amulet up. “The further we go down this hallway, the dimmer the light gets.”
“Let’s turn around and try the other way, then,” Kami suggested.
Doing exactly that, they backtracked and chose another corridor to venture down. When the amulet started glowing brighter again, it seemed like that was the right decision.
“Are we sure we can trust that thing?” Kellen asked. “I’m just saying, we have no proof that it is going to lead us to that Death guy.”
“He made it,” Zander explained.
As they explored, Kami tried searching for any hidden doorways or other anomalies. When she sensed an area that just felt wrong to her, she stopped to examine it. “Something is here.”
“Step back, mate.” Zander examined it, and said, “It’s a magical dark zone. I haven’t seen one of these in…”
“Well, you have been away for a while,” Micah reminded.
“Magical dark zones are rare,” Devlin stated. “I recently encountered one in Mystic, Colorado, though. I find that interesting.”
“A dark zone?” Kami asked.
“It’s a powerful spell that erases all traces of magic from an area. All magic leaves traces, so if you can’t sense any, that usually means something powerful is being hidden,” Zander explained. “Wait here. Let me and Devlin check it out first.”
“But we—”
“Once we pass through, I will call for you.”
Giving in, Kami nodded. He wouldn’t be saying that if he wasn’t worried.
And if he was worried, there was a reason for it.
She held her breath as he and Devlin disappeared into the wall, then frowned when she didn’t immediately hear from him.
She forced herself to wait a few more seconds, then started forward.
“Stop!” Zander commanded. “Do not come through. The magical dark zone was a trap.”
“Wait!” Kami shouted as Micah stepped closer to the magical blank spot on the wall. “Zander says it’s a trap.”
Jackie yanked Micah away from the wall. “What’s going on?”
Kami held up a finger to ask her to wait. “Are you okay?”
“Of course, I am, mate. But it sent us through a portal. At least we now know where all the missing fae in the Autumn Kingdom are.”
“Are they there with you?”
There was a long pause, then he said, “Sort of. We ended up in what looks to be Famine’s graveyard. A realm where he has been storing the bodies of all of his victims. Now, we are fighting a legion of skeletons.”
“Go focus on fighting. Be careful and let me know when you are done.”
“Will do, beloved. This might take a little time. Famine had years to experiment with spells on his army, and there are a lot of them.”
“Just make sure you come back to me.”
“Always.”
“It was a portal leading to another realm,” Kami told the group.
“Not another one,” Lia groaned.
“Yeah, and this one sounds like a nightmare. It’s where Famine keeps all of his victims. Now, they are fighting a skeleton army. Some of them are the fae from the Autumn Kingdom.”
“So, Famine did kill them,” Ramsey growled bitterly.
Kellen shook his head. “A skeleton army? Shit just keeps getting weirder hanging out with all of you.”
Ramsey snorted in derision. “Like you aren’t weird, apex alpha.”
“You have a point,” Kellen said with a wry grin. “What do you want to do now? Keep searching or wait?”
“We can’t wait,” Lia insisted. “I don’t know why, but I feel like time is running out.”
“Then, we keep searching,” Jackie declared. “Be careful and try to watch out for more of those magical dark zones.”
As they continued to search, Kami had to stop herself from reaching out to her mate several times. The last thing she wanted to do was distract him while he was fighting a magical skeleton army.
When they reached the end of the corridor, it opened into a massive dark room.
The concrete hall was filled with tall, fluted columns that rose up in perfect symmetry.
The walls and arches were adorned with cracks and fissures that hinted of age.
The minimalism of the space wasn’t that surprising since it seemed like nothing more than support columns for the structure.