circular gate, one made out of stone,” Theo said in frustration. “I couldn’t tell you where it was, except it was in a forest. It could be anywhere in Malovia.”
“Lady Iris mentioned a gate,” Emma says. “That has to be the entry to where the Alicorn Court is hiding, but it doesn’t help us if we have no idea where it is.”
“Did you get any information about the prophecy?” Kiara asked urgently.
Emma scowled. “What I got was very unhelpful. Flashes of things…a battle, a blade, the portal to Edinmyre closing… I do know we’re going to get very close to failing. That much is true. Time is going to run out for us.”
“Does that mean we won’t be able to open the portal to Edinmyre in time?” Theo asked worryingly.
“I don’t know.” Emma put a hand to her cheek. “It’s like Milonna is purposefully hiding things from me until she knows I’m ready for them.”
Some assistance from the gods would be fantastic at the moment, but I didn’t trust them to look our way. I was screaming at Luka to give me guidance, and he hadn’t bothered to give me the time of day.
I hated them for abandoning us.
“When I asked about Gabby and Eli, I didn’t get an answer,” Delmare said. “All I saw was blackness… and… these red eyes, staring out at me from the darkness. I couldn’t place whose eyes they were, or why they were looking at me. Just that I had to be very careful. It felt like a warning of some kind.”
“Me, too,” Stefan added. “I saw the same thing, and trust me, it was creepy as all hell. I wanted to jump out of my scales.”
I scowled. Was there an even bigger threat coming than my cousin and his queen? What else were we up against?
Stefan nudged Alexei. “What about you, buddy? Anything?”
Alexei shook his head rapidly. He was still green. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Is there anything that could help us?” Stefan pushed.
“No.” Alexei shuddered. “It was about me. Personal stuff.”
Whatever it was apparently bothered him deeply, so no one went to pry.
“All I saw was the dryca performing some ceremony. They dropped a crown into a cauldron, and the wolven stone came out. I don’t know what it means, or if it ever actually happened,” I explained.
“Hm.” Kiara made a face. “Very confusing.”
That was putting it lightly. The Pool of Memory seemed very unreliable. We’d come all this way, and none of us had gotten the answers we were looking for. No wonder the Arcanea had basically abandoned it. What knowledge you gained from it was up to chance… and virtually useless.
Kiara’s expression was confused. “I asked the Pool what to do about the demon,” she said. “The answer I got was… puzzling.”
“Well, out with it,” Delmare pushed.
Kiara chewed on the inside of her cheek. “The Pool showed me that the answer to defeating the leshane isn’t within the bounds of fae magic.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Emma snapped. “We’re faeries. Fae magic is all we have!”
“I’m not sure.” Kiara sighed in defeat. “But whatever the answer is, I don’t think we’re going to find it in Malovia.”
“Well, I’ve searched all over the world with no success, so that means it really is pointless,” I said.
Kiara tapped her chin. “You haven’t looked everywhere. I might have a solution… but you guys aren’t going to like it.”
“Kiara, what are you planning?” I asked sternly.
She ignored my question. Kiara stood up and brushed off her pants. “It’s getting dark. Let’s make camp. We’ll leave in the morning.”
I didn’t like how abruptly she’d changed the conversation. Frustration boiled in my gut. This seemed like a wasted trip. We’d learned nothing.
As my friends bustled around the village to set up the tents, I crept over to Emma, and dropped my voice to a whisper. “This was worthless. We shouldn’t have come.”
“Are you really ready to give up so easily?” Emma hissed back. “We can’t base what information the Pool gave us on what we want right now. We may need it later.”
She was right. What we’d gathered didn’t make sense at the moment, but this was a long journey, and what we’d picked up could come in use down the line.
Didn’t mean I wanted to admit it. “What do you think Kiara means? This solution of hers sounds very questionable.”
Emma grimaced. “From what I’ve heard, Kiara has some… sketchy connections.”