Fallen Allegiance

Chapter Eighteen

“There’s a portal.”

“Portals don’t exist.”

“How would you know?”

 “Because I just know.”

Cozae and Andor continued to argue as we trekked through the forest. Ryan buzzed along humming to himself, oblivious to the argument while Ariadne and Jayden spoke in whispers at the back, as always.

Cozae seemed to know some portal devise which could ‘portalise’ us to Davante. Andor, however, was unconvinced and refused to follow her. Personally, I didn’t care; it wasn’t as if I had anything better to do. The whole of Valcriea probably knew about the ball and was speaking my name in disgust. Actually, they were speaking Khadi’s name in disgust, but they still meant me.

Despite Andor’s protests, Jayden, Ariadne, Ryan and I began to follow Cozae. She seemed to know the woods better than Andor and her portal was sounding very convincing. Andor took his place at the back and whenever I went to talk to him he would fold his arms and stare in the other direction. I began to ignore him and his childish gestures, talking to Cozae about this portal of hers. Something I noticed was she was very jumpy, glancing around every two seconds as if someone was following us. Her hair changed colour, shifting from dark brown to black to purple then back again. Her eyes, however, stayed the same pink.

“Looking for someone?” Ryan asked, also noticing Cozae’s paranoid gestures.

“Of course not!” Cozae replied quickly, raising her head. I looked to Ryan trying to read his expression on this before realising he was just a blue light, not much to get an expression off of.

We followed in silence, Ryan humming to himself, Andor muttering things, Cozae continuing to glance around all the time while I tried to listen to Jayden’s and Ariadne’s conversation. Yes, I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping but I needed something to pass the time. They seemed to be discussing something about Davante. Jayden was complaining that something was going to happen because he had some ‘feeling’ while Ariadne tried to sooth his worries. I tried to contain my emotions but I couldn’t help snickering. Jayden heard me and shoved me to the floor. Slamming onto the ground my back hit something hard and I cringed. I couldn’t deny the fact Jayden was strong, he was a werewolf, but since when did werewolves have the power to see the future? They didn’t as far as I knew, so Jayden’s ‘feeling’ was just that, a feeling. Not some sort of prophecy.

The sky began to turn dark as Cozae led us into a forest clearing where a small cabin stood on it’s own, secluded from the rest of the world. The door was lying discarded on the ground beside the cabin and the polls keeping the roof up were cracked and tilting to the side. The walls of the cabin were covered in ivy and seemed to be rotting away while the front porch had gaps in it. I gaped at the cabin; this was where the portal was? Was Cozae out of her mind?

Andor snorted beside me and I heard him mutter, “Some portal,” before overtaking me and climbing into the cabin. Jayden and Ariadne didn’t move, obviously not wanting to follow Andor. Personally, I was with them, wanting to stay outside, but there was no way I was letting Andor get out of my sight, not after last time. Cozae had disappeared into the cabin and I glanced back, looking at Jayden questioningly. He shook his head, touching Ariadne’s arm gently, a gesture telling her not to follow us. I shrugged, hopping up onto the porch, Ryan buzzing beside me.

“You think there’s a portal?” He asked, his tone disbelieving.

I bit my lip, “I don’t know what to think.” I pushed my way inside through the cobwebs, coughing as a cloud of dust swept into my face. Ryan disappeared from my view and the room went dark. Walking forward hesitantly, I squinted, trying to make out the shapes in the room.