Chapter 21: Speculations
>>Aelin
"What...?" The word just escaped from my mouth. The room seemed to tilt. I gripped the edge of the chair, my pulse thundering in my ears. "That’s... impossible," I stammered. "Why would anyone do that? How could they even do that?"
"That," he said grimly, "is what I’ve been trying to find out."
His words left me reeling. Everything I thought I knew about the war—about the horrors Draegon had faced, the monsters that had nearly destroyed us all—felt like it was crumbling beneath me. "You’re saying someone... chose to bring those monsters here?" I whispered, disbelief lacing my voice.
The people who witnessed the terrifying eye appearing in the sky and then saw it was actually a gate that opened from where dark abnormally terrifying creatures came pouring in, most of them died. Only a handful of people lived to tell what happened.
"Yes," he said simply. "And not just anyone. It had to be people with knowledge of things far beyond our understanding. Magic—ancient, forbidden magic."
My mind raced back to Draegon’s cold, empty eyes, his cryptic words, the way he had said, "That isn’t me."
Was this connected?
"Who?" I asked, my voice barely audible. "Who would do something like that?"
Ariston shook his head.
"How are you so sure about this?" I asked, my voice trembling. "That someone opened the gate? That it wasn’t some... accident?"