Cyrus got to his feet.
“I thought queens were supposed to be good people,” Katie said. “That’s how all the good stories go.”
Cyrus smiled. “That isn’t entirely true,” he replied. Katie smiled a bit too. “Get some sleep. We will leave tomorrow. I promise that I will do all that I can to help you become stronger.” Katie nodded. “Good.”
He started to walk out of the room. Before he left, he turned his head and said. “Nayara isn’t a real queen. That’s just what she calls herself. There aren’t any queens of Narque, so you don’t have to call her that. You may call her, what’s that phrase you young ones use back on Earth nowadays? Oh, yeah, you can call her stupid, crazy bitch.”
Katie didn’t answer but chuckled. She watched Cyrus leave the room. She stood there for a moment before realizing that she was exhausted. She turned off the light, got into her bed and fell asleep almost instantly.
The next morning Katie was woken by a gentle knocking on her door. She crawled out of bed and opened the door to find Tyson cautiously standing there.
“Good morning,” said Tyson, the “morning” nearly inaudible because he spoke so quietly. He attempted a smile but managed only to pull off a slight grimace.
Katie smiled in reply and held the door open for Tyson to walk in. She closed it after him and walked up to Tyson to hug him.
“I’m sorry,” she breathed into his chest.
Tyson held her tighter. “I’m sorry too,” he said. “I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I’m just — I’m just scared.”
Katie let go of Tyson and took a small step back. “Scared of what?”
At first, Tyson didn’t answer. Katie gave him a curious look and went to the bathroom to wash her face. When she came out, she was holding a face cloth, drying her face.
“What are you scared of?” she asked.
Tyson stared at her. “Losing you, you should know that by now.”
Katie didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t. Tyson looked down and said, “Well, anyway, hurry up. Cyrus wants to check out early so we can get going.” He walked out of the room, leaving Katie staring at the door.
After Katie changed into new clothes that were in her bag, she met Cyrus and Tyson downstairs.
“Ah, key please,” Cyrus said, holding out his hand. Katie gave him the key who then gave it to the woman at the front desk. Katie looked around and noticed a much older man who had just a few white strands of hair left on his head. He stared at her with a seemingly permanent, animated smile plastered to his face.
“Ready?” Cyrus asked.
“Yeah,” said Tyson.
“Good.” Cyrus led them out of the hotel, but not before greeting the old man and shaking his hand.
“His name is Larry,” Cyrus said as they walked out into the sun. “He’s a nice guy, always staying at the hotel, and always greeting everyone he can, though I am the only one he remembers.”
“He seems a bit funny,” said Katie.
Cyrus laughed. “He’s even funnier to talk to.”
They continued walking down the streets through Ilon. They took the same roads as yesterday. Everything looked normal, though the further they went the emptier and lonelier it seemed. As they passed Hammond’s house, Katie stole a glance at it. All the windows were shut tight, and the curtains were drawn. Though it seemed like no one was home, Katie could tell that Hammond was watching somehow. The thought made her a bit uneasy, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.
The gate of Ilon approached. The streets grew bare and deserted, all but for two guards.
“Jurgo,” Cyrus said to one of the guards. “We will be leaving the city.”
The man nodded, and the gates opened, though not fully; just enough to let the three of them out. Katie went through last. When she stepped outside, the gates closed so suddenly that the noise made Katie jump.
The day was just starting, but Katie could feel the heat of the sun beating down on her neck as they walked. They followed a narrow path that winded slightly, gradually moving away from the forest.
Behind them, the city looked like a thick, black line drawn on the cracked rock that made up the planet. Katie felt Tyson nudge her slightly. She looked at him and he pointed to his left. Katie looked and gasped. Just barely through the trees of the forest, she could see the top of the shrine.
Maybe it was because Katie knew what the shrine meant to the people of Ilon and the horrors within, but Katie got an eerie feeling throughout her body that chilled her to the bone. It wasn’t right; it wasn’t normal that a place could hold something so unknown and feared by everyone who came across it.
Tyson grabbed Katie’s arm and kept her walking. Cyrus was well ahead of them so that Katie and Tyson had to jog to catch up.
“I don’t like looking at it,” Cyrus said as Katie and Tyson walked behind him. He didn’t look back at them but kept talking. “Something about it makes me uneasy.”
Katie wanted to ask why, to hear his side of it, but she understood all the same. Cyrus seemed to have picked up on her question, though.
“It’s like a riddle I
