Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Yichen stepped on the head of a dead red cap, holding it as he jerked his last blade free with a sickening sucking sound. “Are your parents trying to stop us from reaching Olag?”
“I don’t think there’s any proof that they know who we’re seeking. This was more of a scouting party sent to locate me.”
Turning, Yichen frowned at his companion and wiped the blood off the blade on the leg of his jeans. “A scouting party of thirteen?”
Rei lifted a slender shoulder in a nonchalant shrug, sending golden hair spilling down to catch hints of pale moonlight. “Brownies and red caps are numerous, making them quite expendable. He’s likely sent hundreds out into the woods to find me.”
Even after a fight that had left them both sweaty and blood splattered, Rei still held an almost ethereal quality that made it hard for Yichen to tear his eyes away. No matter how he dressed or what he was doing, Rei always looked like the perfect prince. Yichen wanted to reach out and brush some of the silken hair that had fallen close to his emerald-green eyes. Instead, he balled his fingers into a fist to keep them from wandering.
The important thing was that Rei appeared to have regained his strength. All fae took their magic and life force from nature, but none more so than the elves. If what he’d seen of Rei’s sluggish movements and gray pallor recently was anything to go by, it was as necessary as oxygen for them.
But it wasn’t just the green of nature that fed them. There was also the magic that poured forth from the fae realm that sustained them. Once the door between the two realms closed, no fae would survive in the human realm. And that included cocky elves who couldn’t count.
“Fantastic,” Yichen muttered. His eyes skimmed over the forest, trying to spot more creatures watching their every movement.
“While they aren’t terribly hard to manage, I’m more worried about one of them being smart enough to leave and bring back more troublesome help. It would be in our best interest if we conduct our business and leave.”
“Agreed. Is it much farther?”
Rei resumed point on their trek. “Not far now.”
“Is that like your ‘fewer than a dozen, I should think’?”
The elf glanced over his shoulder and, as expected, a sly smile had spread across his pale-rose lips. No matter what Yichen said, the elf rarely lost his temper or showed that his feathers were the least bit ruffled. He ate up everything Yichen gave him with a smirk or a near-breathless laugh.
There had been a few times when Rei had lost his temper—all episodes thanks to his twisted parents. Those had been some very bad days for both of them.
Thankfully, Rei was more correct about their destination than their followers. They walked for another ten minutes before the elf held up one hand, halting Yichen. He took another couple of steps toward an enormous maple tree with flame-red leaves, although they were still deep in summer. Rei knocked on the tree bark three times, paused, and added two more quick knocks.
He retreated to stand beside Yichen, flashing him a reassuring grin.
Yichen was not reassured, but he didn’t have the chance to say anything. The center of the tree trunk split in two and opened as if someone were pulling open a pair of doors. Soft yellow light spilled from the tree, only to be blocked by a short figure with an enormous head. Yichen blinked at him. He was something out of a fairy tale.
The creature was a meter tall, and most of that was its head. Enormous brown eyes and an even bigger bulbous nose dominated its face. A long white beard stretched to brush the ground, nearly hiding its baggy clothes.
“I’ve been expecting you,” the creature announced and waved them in, though Yichen never saw his hand as a voluminous sleeve swallowed it up.
“Olag?” Yichen choked out. “Olag is a gnome?”
“Mn,” Rei grunted. “Gnomes are one of the few members of the fae that live longer than elves.” He giggled and tacked on, “They’re born from rocks.”
“And we can trust this Olag?” Following the gnome inside the tree seemed like a bad idea. They’d be trapped, and it would be impossible to escape in one piece. If they weren’t careful, they would be in the hands of the king before dawn.
“As much as I trust you,” Rei said, and that sealed their fate.
With a groan, Yichen ducked and stepped into the opening of the tree to find himself standing on a set of round, wooden stairs leading deep into the earth. The golden glow grew fainter as if Olag was carrying a lantern away from them while he descended. Except the passage didn’t immediately turn black. Pale-green glowing mushrooms grew out of the wall, lighting their way.