“Not nothing…” Alissa said, playing with a lock of her light-brown hair, hoping to sound convincing, but her voice failed her.
“What is it that you know then?”
Her eyes darted up, looking at the stars to avoid the man’s intense scrutiny. “The name.”
Eldric stood up, quickly pacing back and forth as he dug his fingers into his scalp, asking the higher power what he could possibly have done to deserve this. “So, you have tied me up, forced me to take you to one of the most wicked places within our borders, and all you know about it is the name?”
“Yes?” She smiled, and Freyah did the same, hoping beautiful smiles would ease the man’s temper.
He sat back down, burying his face in his hands, and a sigh followed.
“What is so upsetting about the canyons to you, Sir Eldric?” Freyah asked, concerned.
“Everythingis upsetting.” He glanced at the red-haired woman. “Please don’t call me sir.”
“Start from the beginning, will you, Van Myr?” Alissa said impatiently, calling the man by his last name for no apparent reason.
His eyes narrowed at her. “Some say that, nature-wise, the canyons are one of the most beautiful sights of our kingdom, but as marvelous as the place can be, its beauty is not why it is so well known. Do you know why it was given this name?” The shaking of heads was enough of a sign for him to continue.
“It’s called the Canyons of Truths because it is believed that once you step inside its fissures, the canyons will guide you to the answer you most crave. It is not usually an objective answer or even one that makes any sense. It can be a riddle, an enigma, or a single word. But the real problem is not its predictions—it is the dangers that lurk within. Once you are inside, only you can pull yourself out. Most people never return, and that’s why only desperate souls find themselves looking for the Canyons of Truths.” He shot his eyebrows up as a reprimand, but Alissaignored the gesture, still digesting the words and the danger she would soon face.
“And what do twins have to do with that?” Freyah asked. It wasn’t the first time Alissa noticed the man flinch at the mention of said twins.
Eldric exhaled a long breath, trying to find a way to put the words together. “The twins are basically the guardians of the canyon’s integrity. This means they regulate its entrance and charge a fee to whoever dares venture into the place. The only way inside is through their cave.”
Hearing Eldric’s explanation, they did not seem as terrifying as the man led them both to believe. Charging a fee was only reasonable considering this might be some sort of enchanted location.
“How much should we expect to pay to get in?”
He chuckled in response. “You are not to pay with possessions, miss. You are to pay with a piece of your body.”
Alissa widened her eyes, then shrugged. “Well, I can give them a strand of my hair, right? I have plenty.”
“It’s very naive of you to think you have any power of choice on what your fee will be. If they demand an eye…” His gaze darted to where Freyah’s eyepatch lay and then to Alissa. “…or limb, you must let them have it if you hope to enter the canyons. Don’t underestimate them.”
Alissa swallowed, taken aback by the news.
With eyes wide in terror, Freyah said, “Maybe it’s not the best idea to go to this place after all, Lissa.”
“We don’t have another choice, Freyah.” Not if she hoped to find the cure for Dhalia.
Eldric stared at her, assessing the tension Alissa hid behind brown eyes. “It seems you’re one of those desperate souls.”
She was indeed. Alissa stared back at him, and as her mind wandered, she voiced her thoughts before she could stop herself. “Were you a desperate soul once, too?”
It took him a moment to answer; in a world where people were wronged far too many times to count, Eldric wondered if it could be less about desperation and more about how willing they were to give a part of themselves in the process. Maybe it was the willingness to sacrifice that truly set them apart.
“Not desperate enough,” he answered with a blank expression.
It was not by personal experience that Eldric knew so much about this dreadful place after all, but from his curious, academic spirit.
174 DAYS UNTIL DHALIA’S DEATH DATE.
It was still morning when Alissa, Freyah, and Eldric arrived at their destination. The last hour of their journey was particularly difficult, when the horse dug its hooves into the ground, and the incessant neighing was so loud that Alissa’s head started to throb. It was no coincidence that the horse, which had been acting perfectly fine for the past six days, became a complete rebel the closer they got to the Canyons of Truths; the heaviness in the atmosphere this far west was palpable to any living creature.
They stopped the horse-drawn cart in front of the cave entrance. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Eldric ran his hands over the horse, trying to calm the terrified animal down, even though he struggled with the ropes binding his wrists.There must have been something soothing about him because soon the horse’s breathing slowed and the whinnying ceased.
“Well, it was great meeting you ladies,” he said with a satisfied smile, extending his arms toward Alissa, offering his wrists to her in a plea to be set free from the constraints eating at his skin.