Page 45 of The Last Guardian

“Yes,” Arystan confirmed gently, and added, “The most common are those tied to their land: in Nythra, the Noxari; in Shavaar, the Surani; in Vaelar, the Oralen; and in Pyrth, the Drawraki. Not forgetting the leaders of Keraneeth: the Evarim for Evadrith, and the Elves for Eldrandyr. Of course, other species roam the continents, but they are lesser species.”

I laughed—a nervous laugh.

Was it true? I couldn’t even believe it; it was beyond my will.

“You’ll see when we arrive in Shavaar, my dear,” Arystan said with a small smile. “Please, sit down. I have a lot to tell you.”

My heart slammed into my chest, and I hesitated. Maybe he was joking around after all… because it was all madness.

But Arystan’s gaze, the way he stared at me, with fear, sadness, and anger—it was assurance of the truth.

That alone made me sit down.

IT WAS OVERWHELMING.

Arystan and I spent the rest of the day in that room, talking mainly about the actual politics of Keraneeth and how the lands were divided now.

As he had mentioned before, Keraneeth was divided into two empires: the Elven Empire and the Evarim Empire. The Elven united the realms of Vaelar, Pyrth, and Eldrandyr, while Evarim united the realms of Evadrith, Nythra, and Shavaar.

We would sail to the latter land, Shavaar, to a war camp not far from Calenth, one of the cities of this realm, where the person Zaidkiel wanted to talk to for guidance on my memories and his quest was.

“Can I ask you a question?” I dared, gazing up at Arystan when he stopped talking about their politics.

“Of course, dear.” Arystan straightened up in his chair, waiting for me to speak.

“Zaidkiel mentioned to me that the High Mages had drained the lands of Perygan and want to do it to Myrh, too. But Keraneeth still has its magic, right?”

That was what the High Mages had told us… that the Keraneethians manipulated us with their dark magic.

“Yes, magic is still in Keraneeth.”

I frowned. “But why create the border then? They would have been even more powerful if they had accessed Keraneeth.”

“It is true.” Arystan’s voice was dark. “The Keraneethians were stronger than the High Mages when they began to drain Perygan. When the High Mages succeeded in collecting every last drop of magic in Perygan, they raised the border. Something strong enough to push back the people of Keraneeth. Giving them time to recover strength to be stronger than the Keraneethians if they ever crossed the border. Strong enough for them to drain Keraneeth, too.”

“How?” I asked.

“By raising something wilder, stronger than every power we have against them.” Arystan’s blue eyes became darker. “Chaos.”

A bolt of electricity coursed through my spine.

“What? But what is it?”

Arystan’s voice was dark and low as he said, “A raw, unholy, devouring power. Older than creation.”

Hells.

“Did they already access it?” I asked.

If they had…

“Yes,” Arystan replied, his hand trembling on the page of his book.

”How can they be stopped?”

Arystan leaned down onto the table. “The High Mages seek something that could alter everything; they could be unstoppable if they put their hands on it.”

“Is that the thing Zaidkiel wants to find?”