I did as my friend instructed and took the deepest breath I could muster, and once I was in a calmer state, I sat down in my chair.

  “I understand why you did what you did,” I said to my aunt slowly. “And I appreciate you saving me all that time ago. If you hadn’t stolen me away, I might have died, and I definitely wouldn’t have found my friends or women, so I suppose I owe you gratitude for that as well. But there’s one thing I need to know above everything else.”

  “And what’s that?” the Guardian inquired with a raised eyebrow.

  “Have you determined whether or not I’m good or evil?”

  Chapter Seven

  “Of course, I don’t think you’re evil.” Crystyn shook her head. “If I did, I wouldn’t have invited you and your friends into my home. I simply would have abandoned you in the field and left you to fend for yourselves.”

  She had a point there, but I wasn’t fully convinced by her words.

  “At the same time, it would make sense for you to have me under your roof to monitor me,” I pointed out to my aunt with narrowed eyes.

  “Have I been observing you like a hawk?” the Guardian questioned. “Have I insisted on standing in front of you for the duration of your stay? If I were so keen on watching you, I wouldn’t have let you out of my sight for a moment.”

  “You’re a Guardian, I’m sure you have other ways of watching me,” I ventured, and I could tell my words had slightly offended my aunt by the way she crossed her arms.

  “Gryff, for the last time, I don’t think you’re evil,” she insisted softly. “Believe what you will about my motivations, but I’d made you a promise to tell you everything. If I didn’t find you trustworthy, I wouldn’t have bothered to reveal any of this to you, I would have just slit your throat in your sleep.”

  “I guess that’s fair enough,” I admitted.

  My aunt leaned forward in her chair. “Now, am I certain that you’re the Beastmaker after all? No. You have the Archons contained within you, but after that display with your baroquer’s fire magic, I’m not certain your ability to capture the goddesses is anything more than another extension of your summoner’s magic. We are the most underestimated mage class, and your abilities demonstrate that best of all.”

  The Archons were certain I was the Beastmaker, and even I was mostly convinced by the evidence, but after my aunt pointed out this information, I suddenly doubted everything. I wanted a clear answer, but I didn’t think anyone actually had it in the first place.

  So, I settled down and decided to think everything over, and my face sunk into my hands as I tried to quell the pain that spread through me. Crystyn had given me a lot of information to think about, and my head ached at the influx of knowledge.

  “Maybe it would be a good idea for Gryff to take a moment alone?” Braden suggested in a thoughtful tone. “I think everyone here could use a breather.”

  “Gryff, if you’d like a second upstairs, you are more than welcome to it,” Crystyn agreed with the other summoner. “I know I just burdened you with a lot, and I don’t want you to run out with all of it weighing on your shoulders. So, please, if you need to, go lie down.”

  “I’ve had plenty of rest, thank you,” I objected, but my voice was muffled by my hands.

  “Gryff, I think she has a good point,” Almasy spoke up. “We weren’t going to rush after Carth right now anyways. You might as well go and take a breather.”

  “I’m not a loose cannon,” I insisted as I sat up, but my head throbbed in objection. “Alright… fine. Just for a moment.”

  Maybe they were right. Even though I didn’t feel as out of control as my team seemed to think I was, I needed a second to clear my head, so I took my team’s advice and decided to go back upstairs. I wasn’t ready to process my thoughts in a room full of people. There was too much pressure to stomach my emotions quickly.

  Once I stepped into the room, I flopped down onto my sleeping bag, and once I was there, I rolled over and retrieved my father’s dagger from its sheath. I studied the blade and tried to manifest memories of my father. I tried to imagine a man who looked like me, only older, wielding the blade against an enemy, but instead of picturing an Archon in front of him, all I could think of was the pack of Guardians surrounding him and my mother, and a knot formed inside my stomach.

  Carth.

  The anger I’d suppressed before threatened to rise again as I replayed the news of her actions. She’d sowed seeds of doubt into the minds of the Guardians, most likely in an effort to weaken their ties. With what I knew about her magic, I began to wonder if she’d used the power of influence against the Guardians to convince them I was the Beastmaker. Sure, they’d had the thought before, but she might have been the one to plant the idea that I was dangerous.

  It all would make sense, anyway. If she got the Guardians to turn on my parents, she would have had me all to herself, and she would have had the perfect opportunity to raise me to be evil. She likely didn’t think that she and the other Archons would lose the huge battle against the mages, and pitting them against each other would splinter their ability to work as a team.

  The possibilities made the pounding inside my head crescendo. While Crystyn’s story had answered so many questions, it also raised so many more.

  One thing was for certain: Carth needed to be stopped at all costs. She needed to answer for the crimes against everyone I ever cared for, and while the idea of having the Archon inside my consciousness made me feel uncomfortable, I needed to have her under my control. She was dangerous and ultimately responsible for my parents’ deaths, and I couldn’t let her attempt to take over Mistral or threaten my family ever again.

  I sheathed my father’s dagger and said a prayer to the Maker. I wasn’t an overly religious man by any stretch, but I felt like I could use a little guidance as I approached this attack, so I simply asked him to watch out over my team and me, and to help grant me the confidence to lead them to victory.

  The moment I concluded, I sat up to gather myself, and I heard a soft knock on the door.

  “Come in,” I called out, and the old wooden door slowly creaked open to reveal Braden. My former roommate wore the same expression of concern from earlier, but his eyes were a little less weary at least.

  “Are you okay?” he asked me as he lingered in the doorway, and the large summoner placed his hands into his jacket pockets. “I know that’s probably a dumb question in light of the circumstances…”

  “It wasn’t.” I shook my head. “I appreciate you checking in on me. I’m doing okay. Everything was a little overwhelming, and I’m sure I didn’t handle that as well as I could’ve. I’m sorry if I freaked you all out.”

  “That’s why I suggested you take a moment,” Braden replied with a thin-lipped smile. “I could tell you were seconds away from breaking down, and I figured it’d be best for you to step away. Crystyn had warned us even before you came downstairs the conversation was going to get heavy, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that bad.”

  “Neither was I,” I admitted to him quietly.

  Braden stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Then he carefully crossed over to me and took a seat on one of the empty sleeping bags.

  “I’m sorry about your parents,” my friend apologized. “I know you’ve been waiting for more information about them, but finding all of this out was probably difficult. I can’t even imagine how that must’ve felt.”

  “Thanks, Braden,” I said. “I knew something happened to them, but I didn’t think they’d been taken down by their own team.”

  “You don’t know that for sure,” Braden insisted, but I could tell he didn’t believe his own words.

  “Crystyn’s words may not have made it clear, but her face did,” I sighed. “They died defending me.”

  “Hey, it’s not your fault,” my former roommate proclaimed, and he gently placed his hand on my shoulder. “So, don’t do what I know you’re doing. You can’t blame yourself for any of this. You were a baby, Gryff. All of these circumstances were out of your control, and not only that, but there’s nothing you can do about it now, anyway. Any guilt you feel isn’t going to change anything, as harsh as that sounds. All you can do is move forward. Your mother and father wouldn’t have wanted you to feel this way.”

  “When did you get so wise, Braden?” I laughed lightly. “I swear, sometimes you don’t even seem like the timid man you were when we first met.”

  “I’m not,” Braden agreed with me as he pulled his arm back and placed his hands into his lap. “Over the past two years, I’ve had to face my own insecurities and fears, and learn how to move past them in order to become the mage I need to be. I’m not saying you can’t feel anything, Gryff, but you do have a team down there that’s relying on you. Don’t let this guilt and anger distract you from what we need to accomplish.”

  “You’re right.” I nodded.

  While the summoner’s words were slightly harsher than usual, I knew Braden was correct. We had a battle to fight, and I couldn’t sit up here and wallow in my sorrows over circumstances I couldn’t control.

  “Of course, I am.” Braden grinned at me. “I’m wise now, remember?”

  My friend and I shared a hearty laugh, and then the summoner rose up and offered me one of his large hands. I took it gratefully, and the mage helped me to my feet. Once I stood up, Braden and I shared a short embrace.

  “Thank you for everything, my brother,” I said once we parted. “I’d have lost my mind a long time ago had it not been for you centering me.”

  “Of course.” Braden nodded. “I’m always here for you, no matter what. That’s what family does for one another.”

  “Let’s get back downstairs and start formulating a plan,” I decided. “Now that we know where the palace is, I think it’s time we paid our friend Carth a little visit.”

  “There’s the Gryff I know,” the ox-like summoner declared, and he pumped his large fist up into the air. Fortunately for him, he just barely managed to avoid hitting the ceiling, and I stifled a laugh at his enthusiasm.

  We finally left the room and headed back to the front area of Crystyn’s home. The rest of my team were still seated around the fire, and when they looked up at me, I knew they had no idea how to gauge my mindset.

  “I’m fine,” I assured them in a quiet voice, and they all let out collective sighs of relief.

  “Thank the Maker,” Varleth said. “I had no idea how I was going to comfort you.”

  “If anyone was going to comfort Gryff, Prost, you certainly wouldn’t have been our first choice,” Orenn cracked, and the metallogue’s arrogant smile vanished when the banisher punched him in the arm.

  I immediately pitied Varleth when Orenn smacked him right back. The metallogue was absolutely ripped, and that had to have felt painful.

  “My first choice actually would have been Mur,” I declared in an attempt to shift the tone, and the moose shapeshifter’s eyes grew as round as saucers as all of the attention fell to him. “Besides, he most certainly has a way with words.”

  “Hey, I’m trying,” Mur whined, and the rest of the team cracked up.

  “I know you are, my brother,” I laughed. “I’m just giving you shit.”

  “You know, that makes you officially part of the team now, buddy,” Almasy informed the shapeshifter with his signature toothy grin, and he slapped Mur affectionately on the shoulder.

  Mur winced slightly, and then he broke out into a broad grin of his own.

  “I am happy to be a part of the team,” he said in heavily-accented Mistral, and I felt a pang of admiration. The boy was trying his hardest to acclimate to his new environment, and I had a feeling that one day, he could be just as great of a warrior as my teammates.

  “Not to break up the brotherly love, but has anyone seen Crystyn?” I wondered. It had taken me a moment to realize my aunt was no longer in the room with us, and I wanted to talk to her for a moment before we arranged our departure.

  “She stepped outside.” Gawain grimaced. “Why anyone would leave this shelter for the outdoors, I don’t understand, but she said she needed air.”

  “She’s probably so used to it, she doesn’t notice,” I remarked, and I glanced over at the front door. “Okay, I’m going to go find her. While I’m gone, I’d suggest you guys start getting your things together. We aren’t leaving right this second, but I want us to be as ready as possible.”

  “Of course.” Varleth nodded curtly. “We’re on it.”

  “Thank you.” I nodded back, but the vanisher appeared as if he had more to say.

  “Gryff, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” Varleth insisted with a serious expression. “We’re here for you.”

  The rest of my team nodded in agreement, and my lips twisted up into a smile. I had the best group of friends a guy could ask for, and I was so blessed to have such a great team of mages at my side when things got hairy.

  “Thanks, guys,” I said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  I left my team to it, and after I took a long, deep breath of smoke-tinged air, I stepped out into the dark, odorous landscape of the Shadowscape. True to what my teammates had relayed, I spotted Crystyn off in the distance. The Guardian was seated at the base of a twisted, knobby tree, and her arms were wrapped around her knees. While she was a hard-ass Guardian, something about the way she sat made her look fifteen years older, and for the first time, I didn’t see her as a stoic warrior. She was just a human woman, one who’d been through immense loss and guilt. While I didn’t support all of her choices, I owed her a bit of kindness for all that she’d sacrificed for me in my younger years.

  “Can I join you?” I called out as I approached the tree, and Crystyn jumped a bit in surprise.

  Her eyes were rimmed with red as if she’d been crying, but when she realized she wasn’t alone, she wiped her nose and gestured beside her.

  “Go ahead,” she said, and I sat down on the ground next to her. The earth beneath us was crunchy and uncomfortable, but I ignored the scratchy texture.

  “I’m sorry for all of that,” I said.

  “You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for,” Crystyn objected, and she raised her chin from her knees. “I don’t blame you for any of your reactions. What I told you wasn’t easy to hear, and unloading all of it at once probably wasn’t my best plan ever. I’m still learning how to talk to you, truth be told.”

  “What, you mean without all the cryptic phrasing?” I teased her.

  “You have to understand that for the longest time, I tried to detach myself from my emotions toward you,” Crystyn explained as she averted her eyes. “It was difficult to reconcile my love for my nephew and my duty as a Guardian. I took extensive oaths that are nearly impossible to break, and even though I’ve considered severing the ties to my past life, I owe Mistral my guardianship.”

  “Mistral could use you in other ways,” I pointed out to her. “I know you feel this duty to monitor my every move, but I’m not the one who’s trying to destroy Mistral. The Archons are. I’m getting so close to ending this battle. I know you think me defeating and capturing all of them could lead to some apocalypse, but I’m not so sure it will.”

  “So, what are you suggesting?” Crystyn wondered with a raised eyebrow. “Do I just forsake my vows and live out the rest of my days in the Shadowscape?”

  “What if you came back with us?” I suggested. “Or at the very least, joined us against Carth?”

  My mind spun a bit as I considered what that would be like. Having a Guardian on our side when it came time to defeat Carth, Hunnah, and Quilla could be a game-changer.

  “I don’t know, Gryff.” Crystyn shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to help, but there’s plenty more I need to accomplish. I can’t get into the details of it all, but this fight needs to remain between you and Carth at the moment. You need to subdue her, and my presence will only be a distraction.”

  “I understand,” I said, and I tried to keep my voice from betraying my disappointment. The idea of fighting alongside my aunt had seemed awesome, but I wasn’t going to force it. Crystyn and I would have to find some way to forge deeper trust in one another, eventually, but now was not that time.

  I went to stand up, but my aunt placed a hand on my shoulder.

  “Before you go, Gryff, there’s something I want you to have,” she began, and she slowly removed the silver and obsidian ring from her index finger.

  “What is this?” I wondered.

  “Genevieve’s engagement ring,” Crystyn revealed with a small smile. “I’ve been holding onto it for a long time, and I want you to have it.”

  “I couldn’t--” I protested, but my aunt shook her head.

  “I’ve been saving it for you,” she insisted. “I’d hoped we’d meet a lot sooner, but the timing of everything has never been perfect. She would’ve wanted you to have it. She… she gave it to me right at the end. It was gifted to Relaude by our mother for Genevieve specifically.”

  “Really?” I asked, and Crystyn handed the ring over to me to inspect. While I wasn’t too knowledgeable when it came to jewelry, even I had to admit it was stunning. I’d gotten a decent look at it in Crystyn’s front room, but examining it now was a completely different story.

  At first glance, I thought the stone was black, but now that it was before my eyes, I could see streaks of violet and blue sparkled within it. The stone was cut so brilliantly it sparkled even in the darkness, and I couldn’t deny its beauty.

  “It’s lovely,” I noted, and when I held onto the ring, I suddenly had a strange feeling I wasn’t sure how to explain. Something about this ring felt magical, though I couldn’t figure out why. In all honesty, it likely had something to do with the fact it was my mom’s.

  “It is, isn’t it?” Crystyn smiled at it. “I know your love life is a little more complicated than most, but I figured perhaps you could pass it along to one of your women. Or you could hold onto it for yourself. Either way, I’m happy to finally be able to give it to you after all this time.”

 

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