night, anyway, and fire keeps them away. It will be fine, Esme.”
“He said, driving us deeper into the Nightmare Forest,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes like Ansel had done just minutes earlier. I could certainly see where the little brother’s snark was coming from. “So, no one lives in these parts, huh?”
“I haven’t been down this road in about five thousand years, Esme,” Kalon replied. “The Rimians and the Naloreans will definitely steer clear of it, but I can see the occasional cabin rising here and there, for the braver among the Aeternae, perhaps. But no, I doubt we’ll see any settlements. It’s just too dangerous to stick around this area for long. The predators have a tendency to… adapt.”
The thought made my skin crawl. And to think we were taking this less-traveled path solely for the purpose of protecting the Visentis family honor. It seemed petty, but then again, my subconscious was still looking for excuses to look down on Kalon, to maybe even sever our emotional connection. I was failing miserably. The more time I spent with him, the more attached I became, dammit.
My brother and Valaine were trailing the Darklings, and I looked forward to joining them. In the meantime, I had to figure out what I was going to do about Kalon. Without trust, we had nothing…
“We still have about six hours of daylight left,” Kalon said after a long silence. “I reckon we’ll reach one of the Pearl Clearings by then.”
“Pearl Clearings?” I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.
“Spots of open pasture sprinkled throughout the woods. A couple coincide with this path, and they can serve as refuge points,” Kalon explained. “Freshwater streams cut through them, and there are stone towers we can climb into for safety. None of the predators are able to reach the top. They make good shelters at night.”
“Stone towers. Built, or natural freak happenings?” I replied.
“I think both,” Kalon said. “They seem to have a distinct shape, but their build looks random. I’m inclined to believe that they were built by nomads hundreds of thousands of years ago. They’re made of steel stone, the hardest material we could extract from Visio. It will take a few more million years to erode them. Until then, the towers serve as shelters.”
It was interesting to learn about these lesser-known parts of Visio. It was good to be out of the city, too. If I were to be honest, I wasn’t at all looking forward to going back there. The woods were splendid, despite their dangers. The rivers, the lakes, the hills and the waterfalls… they were all beautiful and unlike anything I had seen before. The green on Visio was different—a particular hue that I had yet to identify. The reds and oranges were slightly different, too. It was as if the whole of Visio had been handcrafted out of someone’s fantasy, a cosmic fairytale that had been turned into reality.
The cities had a certain gothic appeal, the reddish skies casting their peculiar glow over the rooftops. But the wilderness… oh, the wilderness was mysterious and perilous and stupendous. I couldn’t get enough of it.
Kalon frowned, looking ahead. “I didn’t expect to see a Pearl Clearing so soon.” I followed his gaze and lost my breath for a few moments.
The path opened up about a hundred yards ahead. The trees moved back, forming a broad circle of about three or four square miles. It was enormous, and it wasn’t an empty pasture at all. Instinctively, I pulled Midnight’s rein, and Kalon stopped Lightning. We both took a moment to properly analyze everything we were seeing.
In the middle of the pasture, a tall black tower rose. Fire burned at the top. I spotted movement—likely people fanning the flames, making sure it never died out. Stone steps wound in a spiral up the tower. There were dozens of houses made of the same type of black stone, with solid metal shutters and spiked fences. I could see animals in different enclosures. Children running and squealing and laughing. Some moved like shadows, likely Aeternae. Others were darker-skinned and bony, probably Rimians. The Naloreans were stocky and clad in layers of leather and fur. For some reason, it all seemed very odd. Something felt out of place.
“What is this?” I asked.
Kalon didn’t reply. He just stared. Even Ansel craned his neck to get a better look, his eyes widening in awe at the sight before us.
“Kalon?” I asked again.
He looked at me, his eyes bright and filled