“Did this owl have a name?” Mom asked.
“Umm, maybe?” I wasn’t giving more info until they showed some sort of emotion. I needed to know with absolute certainty that I hadn’t imagined the entire last year of my life.
Mom’s hands pressed against her thighs as she composed herself. “Kaliah, it’s very important you tell us everything you know. Not everything about your birth was as normal as we would have liked. So, whatever information you have, we need to know about it, too. It could mean the difference between life and death.”
Okay, so they didn’t think I was nuts. I’d just scared them half to death. Super.
Word vomit descended as I told them everything I knew. From meeting Stryx, the small part of Arvayta I’d explored, the history I’d learned, to the training I’d been challenged to complete. When I was done, a weight lifted from my chest and I felt like my true self for the first time in much too long.
I hated keeping secrets from them, regardless of how many they had kept from me. We’d all been trying to follow the same rules, and being able to let it all out was more cleansing than I realized it would be.
Jordan laughed as her body relaxed. “Of course. Only you, Kali.”
“What does that mean?” I glanced between her and my parents.
“Well, Stryx is from a remote part of the Otherworld, one that is strictly for bonded animals. They’re more human-like, as you’ve obviously learned, and are there to help guide their bonded ones through whatever troubles may be coming their way. The only thing is, they haven’t been around since the Dark War, and it’s cause for concern that Stryx is back now,” Mom said.
My eyes pinched together as confusion ran through me, because Stryx made it seem like my parents were well aware of whatever issues we might be facing. They had even admitted my birth wasn’t normal, so Stryx appearing shouldn’t be such a big surprise, in my opinion.
“What did you mean when you said my birth wasn’t normal? Why was I raised here instead of Arvayta? Stryx wouldn’t tell me much about anything that would have an impact on my immediate future other than my need for training.”
Mom and Dad shared a look, but they weren’t the ones to answer me.
Jordan leaned in closer to me. “Well, for one, you were prophesied to go all Carrie on Arvayta if you were born in the usual ritual as the rest of us.” The smirk on her face told me she was enjoying this little shock factor much more than a best friend should, but that was also why I called her my Satan best friend. Her mind didn’t work like everyone else’s.
“Jordan, that’s enough,” Dad reprimanded, and she slinked back into her seat. “What she means to say is we were told that if you weren’t born away from Arvayta that things could be very bad for our worlds. Though, a lot has changed since we learned of this, and we had hopes certain outcomes had been prevented by choices we’d made, beginning with what happened after the war that ended the hierarchy of our world.”
Ugh. That reminded me. My parents were supposed to be royalty, which meant I was as well. My body shuddered at the thought. I wasn’t one who enjoyed being in the spotlight. That was more Jordan’s calling, and I was happy to let her have that role whenever possible.
“As you seem to already know, your ancestors were lost to the Dark War, along with all of the pure Fae we are descended from. Thankfully, those mixed with Arvaytan and fae blood did not perish, or else Arvayta would have completely crumbled,” Dad continued.
“What was the Dark War? Stryx just told me many of our people died and that was when the council was created in place of an actual King and Queen.” My hands continued to fidget with the book I’d been given but had yet to open.
“Long story short, your grandfather was led to believe one thing by someone close to him and made several wrong decisions which cost him his life, among too many others. He’d made dealings with a dark fae who posed as a sorceress in need of help. When he agreed to help her, he chose to share his natural power with her. When he did so willingly, she drained him before moving on to as many fae as she could until a group was formed to stop her,” Mom answered.
“How was she stopped?” Man, I really wished Stryx would have told me all of this, but I guess I should have asked more questions as well.
“The council we now have killed her, but in order to do so, they had to use a spell that syphoned power from all fae—the good and the bad—killing them in the process. The sorceress who tricked your grandfather grew more powerful by the hour, and the council made the choice to kill off one pure race that consisted of hundreds of people in order to protect thousands of others. It was the only way to save Arvayta,” Mom said with tears brimming in her eyes.
That was not at all the answer I expected, and it had my nerves on edge.
So, my grandfather had screwed up, gotten a horde of people killed, including himself, and then put me in danger somehow. Though, the million-dollar question still hadn’t been answered.
“All of this happened centuries ago. What does it have to do with me now?”
Jordan opened her mouth to probably spit out another crude response—my bestie had zero filters—but my dad stopped her. “Did Stryx tell you about the Fates?”
Groaning, I thought of all the ways I was going to kill that feathered little monster for making me think he had properly prepared me for this moment. “Nope, not a word.”
“They are the purest of fae descendants and have the ability to see the future. They live in the In-Between, a place only those who have died pass through on their way to the afterlife. They’re not living; though, nor are they dead. They just exist, watching over the worlds with the hope of keeping a balance of good and evil.
“Sometimes, when they deem absolutely necessary for the survival of our kind, they will intervene. When this happens, the council who now leads Arvayta is given a glimpse of possible futures based on certain choices. Your birth was part of two prophecies given,” Mom answered.
I really shouldn’t have opened my mouth. I should have just run away and pretended like none of this existed, because the more I learned, the less I wanted to know.
Even still, I didn’t stop myself from asking. “And those two things were what?”
Dad grabbed Mom’s hand and took over for her. “To put it simply, we could allow you to be born into the Arvaytan waters, as is usual for all newborns, but then we would watch you be lured into a life of darkness by an ancestor of the dark fae. The other option was to hide you away for as long as possible and have a small hope of ending the Dark War so many thought was already finished.”
There had better be a whole library on this Dark War, because I needed to know more about it, along with this dark fae that Stryx had failed to mention. Though, if I was smart, I’d stay as far as possible from everything mentioned, but I didn’t think I had a choice in the matter any longer.
Either way, I was screwed, but thankfully, I was made from strong stuff. As overwhelming as the situation was, I wouldn’t back away from a challenge. If I was going to go down, I’d do so fighting with everything I had.
Jordan’s face tightened as she spoke seriously, surprising more than just me. “Just as you are the strongest light fae descendant since the Dark Wars, there is also a dark fae descendant, one who is hell-bent on making sure his family has the retribution he believes they deserve. In the prophecy, he comes for you, and one of two things happen. You go with him and turn on your people, causing a ripple effect of great proportions, or we once again go to war, and who knows what will transpire.”