A set of familiar eyes look at me. It's Wes.

"Down" Alison says and we all lay flat on our stomachs praying that no one discovers us.

"What's he doing here" Tori asks.

"Look" Lyle says "It's not just Wes. That's Mr. Windward there"

Mr.Windward, Ramona, and Desmond, the girl Aiden was arguing with at the lake, and I even spot the queen.

"Lee" I gasp. I spot Lee and her mother in the crowd.

"They're being sent to their deaths" Finn says.

I feel something burning my thigh and I wince.

"What is it?" Alison asks.

I pull the necklace with the pearl on it out of my pocket. I completely forgot it was there.

"What is that" Lyle asks.

"I don't know" I say "I accidentally pulled it from the lake when we were looking for the notebook.

"Keep that safe" Alison says "We'll figure it out later"

"We have to do something" Tori says almost standing up but Lyle keeps him on the ground "I won't just watch my parents and Wes die" she says, now almost hysterical. "Finn?" she looks at her brother with desperation in her eyes.

"Ali?" Finn looks at the girl, tears are forming in his eyes. She shakes her head.

"These people are dead already" she says "Those people in the three carriages we stopped before yours" she takes a deep breath "They were gone. Bodies robbed of their soul"

"No, you don't understand" Tori sniffs "When our parents shoved us into those carriages they weren't like this"

"The drowned" I say looking at Alison "Do you think it's possible that there's been an attack going on against Elsher that no one even noticed?"

"This would be an excellent way to take Polis and get control over the otherworld" she responds "But then why kill the queen? Or Ramona? Surely they need her to command the Averillian armies. How could they rule without a huge army"

"Maybe they don't need the Averillian armies" Lyle speaks "They're making their own right in front of our eyes"

"Cynhaef y caeth" Alison whispers.

"What'd you say?" I snap my head to look at her.

"You speak sengaritan?" she asks me.

"My father taught me" I respond.

"What does it mean?" Tori asks.

"Haverst of the slaves" I respond.

"The second stage of doom" Alison says.

"What's the first stage" Finn asks.

"A changeling" Alison responds.

We watch as they fall into the pit one by one without hesitating. The smell is horrible. Burnt flesh mixed with the smell of rotten fish lingers.

"Finn we have to do something" Tori looks at his brother hyperventilating "Please"

Finn doesn't respond. We all know there's nothing that we can do to stop this. If we dared to get close and intervene we'd end up in that very same pit. I watch as Desmond falls in. He doesn't hesitate for a second. Then Lee's mother and eventually Lee herself. I try to look away and keep my tears to myself. Not shortly after Ramona and the queen follow.

"No" is all Tori says as she and Finn fight their hardest not to scream with tears.

"We have to move" Lyle says

We manage to scrape Finn and Tori off the ground somehow and we quietly get further away from what we just witnessed.

"Okay, so what do we do?" I ask.

"Follow me, keep quiet" Alison says "We're near Darolf, we'll get shelter there"

"How do you know it hasn't been taken over by the drowned" I ask.

"That necklace that you found" Alison says "The pearl on it is one of many. The original necklace was made entirely of them and it belonged to our creator Magdalene. The pearls were found a few thousand years ago. Then when the drowned turned up the union of the arcane tried to use the magic in some of the pearls to get rid of them but ultimately failed. Before that, the other few were used by the kings and queens of the realms to try and gain power over the otherworld. That's how the Sterlings came to rule Elsher. Only one pearl was left by the end of these experiments and they decided that using them for power was ultimately wrong and agreed to enchant the last one so that it indicates that some type of darkness is growing" she says

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"So it found me because something is wrong?" I ask

"That's my guess" Alison says "And it burned you because the darkness was nearby"

"What were those things?" Lyle asks "With the deformed faces"

"I have no idea" Alison responds.

"That can't be good" I say.

✧ ˚ · ☾

We walk for nearly four hours before reaching the foot of the mountain Darolf is located on. The once fertile and beautiful Corter is now just dust and dry rocks.

"How long has this been going on?" Tori asks.

"Can't be that long" I respond "I flew over Corter on my way to Elsher and it looked fine.

"Or you were made to think it looked fine" Lyle says "Do you think your aunt wasn't aware of this? Or that your relocation was just a coincidence?"

"You think Ramona knew?" I ask him.

"If she didn't then she would've left you in Solace" he says.

As harsh as that sounds, he's probably right.

"Look" Alison says.

A small city well protected by huge stone walls emerges on top of a mountain close by.

"Is that Darolf?" I ask.

"We're almost there" Alison says "Come on"

After about ten minutes we reach the city. We knock on the large wooden door located at the end of one of their bridges that leads inside the city. A rather unpleasant-looking man peeks out.

"What do you want?" He asks.

"We're looking for shelter for the night" Alison responds "We're meeting someone early in the morning here"

"And who might that be?" he asks.

"That's our own business" Alison says.

"Very well" he says "Come on in" he quickly lets us through the gate and then closes it shut again.

We walk on the narrow streets of Darolf for some time. The people of Corter live a much more humble life compared to Elsher if you know what I mean. We are given a few weird glances from people. Especially Lyle, you can tell he's not from around here.

After some time we reach an inn. There are drunk men sitting out front but they don't look dangerous. Not after what we witnessed.

"Who are we meeting anyway?" I ask Alison.

"You'll see" she gives me a vague answer.

We walk into the inn. There's hardly any space for us to breath, it feels like all of Corter is in here. Alison and I walk up to the bar.

"We're looking for Sir Arkyn" she shouts hoping the bartender heard her over all the noise "Have you seen him around?"

"Sir Arkyn?" the bartender looks at us "How may you know him?"

"Have you seen him?" she repeats, clearly not wanting to answer his previous question.

"He's around" he responds "Try the tables in that corner" he points into the crowd.

"Thank you" Alison says.

"Come on" she calls on the rest of the group to follow us.

We walk to the back of the pub.

"Do you see him?" I ask.

Alison looks around "That's him" she says then points to a man. He's wearing clothes that look ten years old, has a beard that's blonde at the bottom but grey at the root, and a pipe is hanging from his mouth. Promising.

"Sir Arkyn?" Alison looks at him.

He nods.

"Alison Whitlock" she reaches her hand out which he doesn't take. "This is Letitia, Tori, Finn, and Lyle sir. Do you have a moment for us?"

He motions for us to sit and we do "What does this concern?" he asks in a strong Irish accent.

"The pearls of Magdalene" she says.

His eyes widen.

"No" he says "Has it emerged?" he asks.

I pull the necklace from my pocket "From a lake" he examines it with his eyes "In Elsher"

"I know you were one of the wizards who enchanted this" Alison puts her elbows on the table and leans closer to Sir Arkyn "Something is going on, people are getting kidnapped and they are aimlessly jumping to their deaths. Please tell us something"

"So it begun" he says then takes a puff from his pipe.

"What has begun?" Lyle asks.

"Leodor" Sir Arkyn responds "He was part of the union. We worked together to retrieve all the pearls that were left after the rulers of the otherworld tried to take advantage of them. But he became greedy. He did this" he raises his left hand, it's a wooden stick "He cut my hand off when I didn't agree to commit mass murder. He wanted to slaughter all our companions who were helping with finding the pearls."

"But you did" I say "Find them all, right?"

"Yes, eventually. We left him in the ravines of Solace and went on our way. We were sure he was dead but somehow he managed to get his hands on a pearl. Are you familiar with the story about the drowned and how they came about?"

"I think we all are" Lyle says.

"It wasn't just some rare genetic mutation" he says "Leodor kidnapped that poor woman. The drowned are a product of black magic. And now he enters stage two. I banished him to the coal mines of Solace. He's too weak to get out on his own but with the help of the caeth anything is possible.

"What do we do with the pearl?" I ask.

"Keep it safe, hidden. Don't tell anyone about it. We shouldn't be talking about it, not even here. You never know where the wall has ears." he responds. "You all look tired. Get some rest. I'll meet you tomorrow at the gate at seven thirty in the morning and we'll discuss this further."

We only get one room. The inn is completely full. We learn from the housekeepers that people from nearby villages are seeking refuge in Darolf because their farms turned to dust within the course of one night and their water supplies are gone.

"Cozy" Lyle says as we open the door to our room. Four bunk beds are all that is inside.

"It'll do for one night" Alison says "Will you be alright?" she asks and turns to Tori and Finn.

Their eyes are empty like there's no soul behind it. An expected reaction after watching ones parents and boyfriend get brutally murdered.

"Eventually" Tori says and lays down on one of the beds.

Finn climbs to the bed above Tori's and lays down without saying a word.

✧ ˚ · ☾

We wake up to the housekeeper knocking on our door.

"Seven o'clock" she says and moves along the hallway to wake up the other tenants.

We quickly get out of bed. There's no time to waste, we have to meet Sir Arkyn at the gate in thirty minutes.

Sir Arkyn is already at the gate when we arrive.

"Good morning sir" Alison says.

"Ah" he looks our way "Good morning, follow me"

He leads us out through the gate and we walk down to the mountain a little.

"Go on" he opens up a door to a hallway that looks like it leads to a cave inside the mountain.

He hands me a lantern and I take the lead and walk through the door first. The cave has huge pearly white crystals in it and I can hear water splashing. As I walk further and enter the main cave I spot a fountain. It's rather small, especially compared to the size of the cave. It's as if the entire mountain was hollow.

"Do you have the pearl?" Sir Arkyn asks me.

"I do" I dig it out of my pocket and hold it in my hand so he can see it.

"Drop the necklace in the water" he says pointing at the fountain.

I put the lantern down and kneel in front of the water and drop the necklace. The pearl is shining in a turquoise color and lights up the entire cave.

"Now put your head under that water and tell me what you see" he says looking at me.

I do as he says and emerge my head in the water.

I see what I saw in my dream once again. Same forest, same dress. The doves are being released and I see the four people again. This time I can see their faces. The queen is talking to a man and a woman. I don't know them. But someone else is there. Standing beside the queen is my mom.

I'm once again in the white space but this time I don't see Amanda, I see Harlow instead as a child.

I can't stay underwater for long and the vision stops. I emerge my head from underwater.

"Well?" Alison asks "Did you see something?"