Blood

Chapter Thirty One: Into the unknown

The bell rang just on schedule and I got up to dress up and get on with my day. I went to the classroom and sat down. In less than five minutes, all of my classmates were here and seated. Lateness was on attribute none of us here possessed. It was almost as if we had a built-in alarm clock.

Alistair stood before the group of students, his presence commanding the room as always. The usual tension that accompanied his speeches hung thick in the air.

"Listen up," he began, his voice low but firm. "I have something to take care of, so there will be no classes today. You’re free to spend the day as you see fit—explore the town, relax, whatever you wish."

A collective murmur passed through the students, but it was Galen’s shout of joy that broke through the tension.

"Finally! A day off!" he exclaimed, his voice echoing off the walls of the training hall.

Alistair ignored him completely, continuing with his speech. "I trust you all will use your time wisely. No troublemaking. We wouldn’t want any incidents, would we?"

The way Alistair’s gaze swept over the room, briefly landing on me, was enough to make my stomach tighten. I knew what this was about. Alistair was dealing with 'him' today—whoever ‘he’ was. I didn't voice out my suspicions though. No need to give Alistair any more of an excuse to keep an even closer eye on me.

With a sharp nod, Alistair dismissed us. As the others filed out, I noticed Kaelin approaching me. Guessing that little bonding moment we had last night under the moonlight made her want to get closer to me. It could be that or something utterly different. I don't really understand girls.

"Hey, Ethan," she said. "Got any plans today? I was thinking we could head into the city together, maybe grab a bite? I haven't really stepped out since I got here."

I hesitated, glancing around for a moment before shaking my head. "Sorry, Kaelin, I’m a bit tied up at the moment. But I’ll definitely take you up on that offer some other time. I promise."

In my mind, I added a silent promise that today wasn’t the day for leisurely city strolls. There was no way I was going to let a single moment pass without knowing exactly what Alistair was up to—and what that mysterious ‘he’ was all about. If there was a threat looming in the shadows, I just had to know. I've had enough surprise enemy attacks in my life.

Kaelin seemed to notice the distraction in my eyes, but she didn’t press further. "Alright, whenever you're free." She gave me a small, innocent smile and walked off.

I turned away, my steps quickening as I made my way to the meeting point. I needed to brief Lira on what Riona and I had discussed last night.

I found Lira not far from the training hall, leaning against a stone pillar, her arms crossed in thought.

“Hey,” I said, catching her attention.

“Hey yourself,” she replied, a slight smirk tugging at her lips. “Got some free time, huh?”

“Yeah, but not for long,” I answered, glancing around to make sure we weren’t being watched. "I wanted to talk to you about something important. Riona and I... we think we’ve found a lead."

Lira raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "Oh? Do tell."

I quickly filled her in on the conversation I’d had with Riona—the mention of ‘him' and how he seemed to keep Alistair on edge and how Riona and I were planning to find out who he was.

As if on cue, Riona appeared, walking toward us with her usual composed look.

"Hey, found anything?" I asked as Riona met with us. For some reason that I didn't know, she didn't feel keen about sharing her discoveries with Lira.

"Yeah. I found a book in the old library and it spoke of a prophecy. A man destined to steal all the heartstones and destroy life as we know it or something like that." Riona said like it was no big deal. "There's a cave that has the prophecy inscribed on its walls with more details about it than this book has. Do you think we should check it out?"

Before I could answer, Kaelin’s voice floated back toward us from across the courtyard. She was walking with Aiden, chatting animatedly, but her gaze kept drifting toward us—especially me, Lira, and Riona.

Great. I had a feeling she was starting to suspect something, but I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with her right now. I just nodded toward her and turned away, my focus back on what we had to do.

Riona cleared her throat, catching my attention again. "We should go now before Galen comes around and forces us to let him come with. I found a map in the library. I'm pretty confident about my map reading skills so I think we should be able to find the cave."

"Lead the way," I said, already moving.

We walked in silence for a while, the streets of the city bustling with students and merchants, the noise a stark contrast to the tension I felt building up inside me. My thoughts kept returning to the mystery of who—or what—‘he’ was. And why did Alistair seem to be so focused on it? Could 'he' really have the power to control all seven heartstones? Controlling one was hard enough let alone seven.

After a while, Riona stopped in front of a small, nondescript alley. "This is it," she said, pulling out the map from her satchel. "The cave should be just up ahead."

We followed her lead through the winding alleyways, eventually emerging into a clearing. There, nestled against the side of a mountain, was a cave entrance—dark and foreboding.

"Here we are," Riona said, her voice low.

I took a deep breath. "Alright, let’s see what’s inside."

We entered the cave, the air cool and damp. The sound of our footsteps echoed off the stone walls as we made our way deeper into the darkness.

We were not too far from the entrance of the cave when the ceiling above us groaned. Before I could react, massive rocks fell from above, blocking the cave entrance and trapping us inside.

I swallowed hard. "Well, this is just perfect."