Chapter 40

Forest's POV

Time ticked on. Counting down to the deadline. The next lines in the riddle rattled round my brain like marbles in a jar. We had solved the first two lines, yet we still had much more to solve and not much time to work with.

Fate was not on our side.

The next lines of the riddle were very vague, they could mean anything. I mean, come on. He didn't even try to make sense.

If you look for us, you won't find us, to see past you need to see in the darkness and close your eyes to the light.

Well, I was looking for them, and not finding them was not an option.

Even Ash, who had finally apologised enough to be forgiven, had no idea what it was on about.

Alpha Maxim had had to go back to his pack, but he promised us if he found anything else that could be useful he'd email us.

That just left me, my parents, Ash and Skye to solve the riddle. Skye and Ash's parents wanted to help, but they had other things to tend to, like keeping the pack safe.

Skye was staring at the message for the hundredth time, trying to figure out what it could mean.

"It says we need to see in the darkness," Skye stated "maybe it means we need to go somewhere dark?"

"Where's the darkest place you know?" Ash asked suddenly, Skye seemed to understand what he was on about and she started nodding enthusiastically.

I thought for a minute but couldn't think of anywhere, "I can't think of anywhere dark, why do you ask?"

Ash shook his head, "Come on man, I'm supposed to be the dumb one, not you," He shook the sheet of paper in my face, "It's on about dark places, where's the darkest place you know."

My dad nodded in understanding, "It does seem to be literal, the first question was solved by Aria calling the trees fake, in Aria's eyes they were literally fake trees. Let's see the message they left you again."

I handed over the letter, my eyes lingering on it, trying to see if there was anything special about it.

So you solved the first clue. Well done. You are one step closer to saving, and stealing, Aria. But there is still lots to come, and time just keeps ticking on.

Good luck.

I couldn't see anything special about it, and yet my mum instantly perked up, "Why didn't we see it before," She muttered to herself, "Of course, it all makes sense now."

I respected my parents, and would never yell at them normally, but they knew something I didn't.

"What is it?" I yelled sharply, causing Skye to jump and my parent to look over at me.

"Forest," My dad growled quietly at me, "I know you're impatient but always remember your manners."

I tilted my head to the side, submitting to them before sighing, "What is it? What am I missing?"

My mum was the one who answered, her voice confident, "It says, 'saving, and stealing, Aria,' Saving and stealing. There is only one place I can think of that would ever put saving and stealing in the same place, it's also a really dark place, so it's worth a shot."

I nodded my head for her to continue. We needed to solve the riddle, or else we would run out of time. "Where is it, where can you save and steal something in the same place?"

My dad answered, "The caves, or as they are known, the Faerie caves. They are deep underground, there is no light, even if you bring a torch the light just stops. It's impossible to see anywhere or anything."

"Ok," Skye said from beside me, "I get the darkness, but how is that saving and stealing," I grunted in agreement, I had never come across the fae, but I didn't see how they had anything to do with Aria.

"Well you see," My dad said, suddenly sounding serious, "If you are walking around the woods, late at night, and you happen to come across a faerie." He sighed, running his hands through his hair, "Fae will always ask your name. I've only come across them once, and was stupid enough to tell them my name, to give it to them."

"What happens when you give a faerie your name?" Ash asked from beside me, "And why is it giving them your name, it's your name, surely you're just telling it to them, not giving."

My dad shook his head, "Faeries are slimy creatures, they ask for your name, and if you give it to them, you become a slave to them. They own your name, they own you." He stared into the distance, as if lost in thought, or lost in a memory.

"Once you belong to the fae you become their slave. You have to do what they tell you and are trapped deep down in their caves, lost and away from the sunlight, many go mad. You never realise how much you appreciate the light, until it's gone." He shivered, eyes glazed over. My mum took his hand in her own, smiling reassuringly at him.

"You are stuck there until someone comes to save you, or as the fae call it, someone steals you." My dad seemed to quake at the very mention of the fae, and it made me wonder, what had happened to him when he was younger.

"How long were you there?" Ash asked suddenly, blurting it out. I tried to silence him, at the same time Skye tried to throw her hand across his mouth, but we were both too late.

"It's fine," My dad said, smiling reassuringly at Skye and me. "It was a long time ago. I was there for a year, although when there is no light, time is hard to track.

Again Ash reacted before we could stop him. "What?" He gasped, "A year? But you're the Alpha, how did you go missing for so long?"

My dad shrugged, "I wasn't the alpha yet, I had been sent to a school, to learn how to be the alpha. I got taken on my way there. It took them six months to realise I was missing. What can I say, my parents really didn't care about me, they didn't think I would make a good Alpha."

I snorted at that, he was the best Alpha for this pack, he did everything with the pack in mind and the pack loved him for it. Something was nagging at me though, and this time it was me who blurted words out before thinking, "But if they realise you were missing after six months, why were you there a year?"

He smiled sadly at me, "As I said, the fae are tricky creatures, as soon as you step into their cave they try to trick you. They play mind games and try to capture you. My parents didn't care about me enough to risk their lives to save me, and no one else knew I was missing, my parent covered it up. I finally got out when my best friend realised something was wrong and found out where I was. He came down the cave to save me. The faeries tried to stop him, calling him a thief, I belonged to them. That's another thing about the fae, if they think your trying to steal from them they will try to kill you." His head was in his hands as he relived the memories from that time.

"Did you both make it out?" Skye whispered, I held my breath, scared of the answer.

My dad nodded, "Yes, although only just, in fact it was Albert who saved me." I let out a sigh of relief, I knew if they hadn't made it out my dad would have blamed himself for it.

"Wait, my dad?" Ash asked, My dad nodded, "That would explain why he would never let me out in the woods after dark."

We all stayed silent for a few minutes, processing what had been said, then it hit me. Aria. We still had no idea if we had to go there or not.

"Do you think Aria is there?" I asked scared of the answer. "Do we have to save her from there?"

My mum seemed deep in thought, "I shouldn't have thought so, it's not the end of the riddle, I think you need to go there, and maybe at the bottom of the cave there will be the next clue. I think they are trying to test you, trying to test us, seeing if we're strong enough, good enough to make it to the bottom of the cave and out again."

I nodded, it made sense. "In that case we need to go as soon as possible, we're running out of time."

My dad looked up from his hands, "I'll go with you." I shook my head, I wouldn't make him go back, not even for my own mate, I respected him too much for that, "I know that place like the back of my hand, even now many years later I can remember the lay out, there is no light, I can guide you."

I thought for a moment, I still didn't want to make him relive those horrible memories that obviously still haunted him, but he was right when he said he could help me. "Ok," I sighed, "But only if you're sure." He nodded and it was decided.

The plan was for Skye, Ash and Mum to come with us to the entrance of the cave, but not to go in, only if we needed back up. Dad and me would go in, get to the bottom and come out without selling our soul or losing out mind. Hopefully we would find the next clue and be out within a few hours. Then we could continue with our hunt.