There was a beat of heavy silence, one Stefan decided to lighten with a joke. “Okay, so if one of you dudes changes back, I’ll know it’s because you’re horny,” he cracked.
Delmare facepalmed— Alexei let out a nervous laugh.
Ethan was thoughtful. “I didn’t know the stone I set into your blade was of such power. My father passed it down to me, said it was a royal heirloom, but never could I have imagined it was a Crystal of Harmony.”
“Have you heard of them before?” I asked.
“Very few times, in court gossip,” Ethan replied. “They’re considered relics, almost like the Holy Grail.”
I scoffed. That wasn’t very helpful. Nobody had found that in the centuries they’d been searching for it, and we had a matter of three years to find all these stones.
“Milonna wouldn’t have brought us here if she didn’t want us to help Emma,” Alexei said. “She appeared to all of us. This is our responsibility.”
“Indeed,” Kiara said, before she frowned. “Though this does seem like a tall order. Edinmyre is as big as Earth is. The dragon stone could be anywhere.”
“It doesn’t matter. We have to find the dragon stone. Otherwise, we’re stuck here,” Delmare said.
Alexei flattened his feathery ears against his head. “So... Milonna only appears to those who are destined for an early death. Doesn’t that mean we’re all going to die young?”
“I don’t think so. She only spoke to me,” I said quietly. “I’m her champion. That’s the only way the death rule applies.”
“You aren’t going to die, Emma,” Ethan said, but I didn’t pay attention to him. He didn’t know.
In the time we’d been listening to Milonna, Odette had woven a flower crown. She put it on Theo’s head, over his horn and around his ears, and said, “Welp, we’d better get a move on! Time’s a wastin!”
She fluttered her wings and did a pirouette. She seemed the only one not dampered by the burden Milonna had placed on us all.
The entire fae world would end if we didn’t find these stones. Malovia would cease to exist, and so would the fae, if we didn’t get the portal to Edinmyre open in time. The responsibility of all faekind weighed me down, dragging my feet like they were trapped in iron. I was being poisoned by all of it, choking on the fear I wouldn’t find the stones in time and doom the Arcanea forever.
Every other champion of Milonna’s had failed to unite the crystals. How could I possibly believe I’d be successful?
I knew I couldn’t give in. My race was depending on me, and I had my friends to help me. Our society would become extinct if we didn’t reunite those stones, changed to literal dust.
And we had to start with the dragon stone, because we had no other choice. Finding that crystal was our only way home.
Chapter Nineteen
Ethan
We traveled through the woods with absolutely no idea where we were going. Milonna said the dragon stone would be somewhere nearby, but as to where, none of us had a clue.
That I had witnessed a goddess in true form had me in complete awe. We were in Edinmyre, the land of our fae ancestors, and we had received a mission from one of the Seven Gods. I’d never considered such a thing would happen to me. But as I was learning, if you were close to Emma, unusual situations happened every day.
“You know, you could lighten up,” Emma offered from upon my back. “We’re in a magical world. At least enjoy it a little before we have to go home.”
Her voice relaxed me. Okay, Emma’s wolf ears and tail were adorably cute. And kind of sexy. My skin itched to change, so we could run off and fool around somewhere, though I remained in my wolven form despite the urge.
I bared my teeth. “We are on a mission. We must find this stone.”
“No one said it had to be an unbearable situation,” Stefan commented.
“We don’t even know where it is,” I complained.
“I bet it’s in that creepy forest!” Odette said, and we all turned. Her finger was pointed in the direction of a twisting, winding road that ran alongside a section of dead trees. No grass grew there, and only dust remained. It was a stark contrast to the colorful forest around us. The road wound ahead into a dark tunnel of trees that was definitely foreboding.
Yeah. Bet anything the dragon stone was in there. We all knew this quest wasn’t going