PART II - into the depths of your world 

Things were different.

Things were very different.

And Isabella knew it was not only her who had changed, but them, too.

It took them a week to reach the small village close to Bellhaven where the four males had left her horse. Three more weeks of going northwest, and reaching the borders between Fenharrow and Adarlan. And in those weeks of travel, Isabella could feel the change in the tip of her fingers, buzzing around her as if alive, and inside of her, twirling and evolving.

Before, she had never helped them. No matter how many times she offered.

Now, she didn't care if they wanted her help or not, nor if she asked and they told her to just sit and wait. Now, Isabella just acted. She was of assistance without saying a word, and they did not complain.

Before, she had barely talked with them.

Now, she had small talks with all of them. And even when silence reigned in the group, it was immeasurably comforting. Pleasant.

Before, she had stopped trying.

Now, she tried. At least she tried. She was trying, at last.

And if at night she was still a prey to her nightmares, in the fullness of time, she had learned to become a ghost to her own horrors. What was a land of terrors with no ghosts? A void?

Now, she found recognition in herself. In her past. And fears and dread and insecurities and curses.

Now, she was honest with herself.

Now, she was learning to heal.

With hope at last, she was living.

So she trained her balance and coordination with Gavriel, her agility with Fenrys, her limits -and pushing them- with Lorcan, and her strength with Rowan. And if sometimes -most times- they shouted at each other, or Isabella wanted to give up -or kick their balls-, things were not awful.

She had learned, with time, that Lorcan showed his disapproval with deadly glares and loud growls. And he had learned that Isabella showed her anger by cursing him in her own language. He hated it. It drove him mad. So mad that he often ended their classes with his cheeks and neck colored in red.

Gavriel was a gentle, yet firm, teacher. He did not mind repeating himself thousands of times if that was what she needed. If he got mad, however, she was on her own. Repeating the exercises over and over again until he was satisfied.

Fenrys' lessons were the funniest, because the male enjoyed to shift into his animal form in the middle of a class, and would purr when she did something right, and shove his head into whatever part of her body that was not doing what she was supposed to be doing. Isabella had learned, also, that if she petted the wolf behind his ears, he tended to be in a better mood for the entirety of the class. So, naturely, she gave him pets every day.

Rowan, on the other hand, was brutal. Savage. Merciless. He said everything to her face, every single mistake, and she was sure he did not really mind if he hurt her feelings by doing so. But he also taught her how to correct every one of her wrongdoings. And when she did something right, she could swear pride twinkled in his pine-green eyes.

Her days were spent partly walking -or riding-, advancing to their destination, and partly training. So much that she usually went to sleep with her feet swollen, her whole body sore, and sweat glistening against her skin.

Her nights were a hardship, but she did not hide in her tent anymore. She had started to sleep over a blanket around the fireplace, with the other males doing the same close -but not too close- to her. And if she woke up before dawn with a helpless scream stuck in her throat, she would sit next to whoever was patrolling, and help them in silence.

So that was what she was doing, then.

Fenrys sat next to her, his long legs extended in front of him, and a sword clasped to his back. He was the perfect picture of careless relaxation. But Isabella knew that his senses were sharp and his instincts were fast, and that he would jump to protection if danger fell upon them.

The male shot her the third "casual" glance since she had reached his side. She had been trying to ignore his lack of subtlety, but it was so annoying she could not help the snort that left her lips.

"What is it?" She asked him, half entertained by him.

He blinked and looked away, quickly. "Nothing" He rushed to say.

Isabella narrowed her eyes on the male. "Fenrys" She said, slowly.

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug. "It's nothing"

"Bullshit"

An amused smile tugged at the corners of his lips, but he kept his attention on the forest. The weather had grown colder since her arrival, and although no snow covered the landscapes, Isabella knew winter was coming. She could sense it in the temperature, and in the decay of color in nature.

"I swear it's nothing"

"Do not swear in vain"

He pouted, and looked sideways at her. She had shifted her weight so that she was fully looking at him, and she knew he gave up on trying to hide his curiosity when he closed his eyes and turned.

"Alright" A pleased smile bloomed in her face, and he instantly rolled his eyes. "Do not make that expression, I was going to tell you, anyway. You did not played to convince me,"

"Of course," She agreed, sweetly. And full of shit.

"Ha ha ha" He waved a hand in the air, dramatically, before focusing on her. His features had molded into one of pure nosiness. "Do you remember what...Sarah wrote about me?"

The question took her by surprise, even if she knew she should have expected it. She had never told them many details of the lives Sarah had written about them, and she was not sure she wanted to.

The wary must have been written across her face, because Fenrysleaned closer, and said, quickly. "It's fine, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone. You don't even have to tell me about the others, just me. I'm more than enough"

Isabella hid her hands under her tights, "I don't know-"

"Please" He whined. Literally. While sucked on his bottom lip. He was such a baby sometimes. "It can be our secret, I will not say a word. To anyone"

He kept on trying to get her to tell him something, anything, until she finally gave up. With a sigh, she looked to her right, at the three males sleeping only meters away from them. Then, she looked back at Fenrys' face.

"What do you want to know?" She asked, resigned.

The male almost beamed at her words, "First of all, I would like to know how I was described. Was I called handsome or stunning? Was I a soldier or something else? Did I have a mate or did I have countless lovers?"

She blinked. "If I answer your questions, will you answer mine?" His demeanor faltered at that, and she playfully shoved his side. "C'mon, it is only fair"

"Well, yes" He mumbled, and glanced sideways. At the other males. "But I'm not sure they'll be happy if I talked too much"

Isabella almost cursed at the other males. She knew they were still keeping things from her, just like she from them, but Fenrys was more noisy than a grandma in a small town.

"It will be our secret, won't it?" She shot his words back at him, and it only took him a minute to nod. "Alright. then I'll tell you what you want to know, and you'll do the same for me" He nodded again, but Isabella could notice his skepticism, so she decided to offer him a bit of truth. "You were described as the most handsome male"

That distracted him. Fenrys instantly perked up at that, and a smug smile crossed his mouth. "Was I?"

She nodded, effusively, enticing him. "The handsomest of all"

He puffed, "I am the handsomest, am I not?"

"Absolutely"

It was too dark for Isabella to know if he blushed, but she could have sworn he did. Fenrys loved compliments, and she knew he was just fishing for them with his questions.

"What else did she write?" He asked, and Isabella heard the masculine smugness in his voice.

She prevented herself from rolling her eyes before answering, "You and your twin-"

"What?" He interrupted her, louder than she would have prefered. "My twin?"

Her nod was slow, "Yes, don't you have one?"

He shook his head, "No. Twins are practically impossible for fae to conceive. I'm an only child"

"Huh," Was all she could say before she recovered from the surprise. "And do you happen to be able to use...teleportation?" What else was right and wrong from the books? Isabella wondered.

Fenrys puffed his chest out, "Of course I can, how do you think I rose so fast in the ranks? I'm unique"

"Aren't you, like, a hundred years old?"

"One hundred and thirty-seven, your point?"

She shrugged, and let it go. "So you do not have a twin...well, that's for the better" She murmured to herself.

But his hearing was better than hers, so he asked. "Why is that?"

Was there a point in lying about the death of someone who was not real? "Because he dies in the last book"

Fenrys' dramatic gasp almost made her forget that his twin wasn't dead because he didn't exist. "He died? My twin..." He said, absently.

"You don't have a twin" She reminded him.

He shook her off, "I can still mourn him" His tone was slightly defensive.

"Alright"

"I don't know if I want to know more"

"Alright"

A second later, "Do I have a mate in the books?"

Noisy, so noisy. "No"

"Why not?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, you just didn't. Ask Sarah"

He pouted, "But I want a mate"

She patted his back, "You are still young, wait for them some more" Was it strange to call someone young who was over a century older than her? Yes.

"I suppose..." He looked back at her, "What about the others? Are they also mateless?" She grimaced, and he gasped again. "They do have mates? And I don't?"

"It's complicated"

"It's not complicated, it's unfair!"

"Only Rowan and Lorcan have mates, Gavriel didn't" She said, so distracted that didn't realize her mistake until it was too late.

"What do you mean Gavriel didn't?"

"I-"

Another gasp. "He dies, too?"

"It's complicated," She repeated.

"All Gods and their kids, he dies" Fenrys mumbled.

Isabella tried to change the topic before he could ask more. "Lorcan's mate is human in the books"

His eyes snapped to hers, "Is she? Huh"

"Why that reaction?"

He shrugged, "It's not unheard of fae to have human mates but it is odd. Very odd"

"Is it?"

"Absolutely," He nodded, Gavriel's death completely forgotten. "Some fae even claim that they would rather not have a mate than them being a human"

Isabella frowned, "Why?"

"Because fae are immortals, and humans are not"

"Oh," She blinked. "That makes sense,"

He looked at her from head to toe before shrugging, "Personally, I would not mind. A mate is a blessing, and I would rather have a soulmate with a mortal life span than no mate at all"

"It is quite depressing and unfair, though"

Fenrys shook his head, "No, a mate could never be something bad. They are...miracles"

She eyed him from the corner of her eyes, and shrugged. She had no answer for him. Humans did not have mates, so she did not know if he was exaggerating or not.

"What about Rowan's mate, then?" He asked, less than a minute later.

"Half-blood" She told him, cautiously.

He frowned at that, "Half-blood? Like Lorcan?"

She tilted her head to the side, "In the books, it was said that Lorcan's father was an unknown fae and that his mother was a human, is that true?" He nodded at her, and she continued. "Rowan's mate was the distant descendant of a half-blood"

Fenrys turned to look at her, and he stared. His gaze was so intense that she began to feel awkward. "What?" But he didn't answer. His eyes were narrowed at her, and he seemed to be lost in his thoughts as he gazed at her.

"Are there fae in your world?" He asked her, suddenly.

She did not understand why he was acting like that, but she shook her head. "No, magic is not real where I'm from. I'm surprised Sarah was even there long enough to write the books. Or is. I don't know"

He leaned closer, "Are you sure?"

"Yes," She was a little bit irritated by his peculiar behavior, so she made quick work of directing the conversation to another topic. "Are we in Adarlan's territory already?"

If Fenrys noticed what she was doing, he didn't call her out for it. Instead, he glanced back at the forest surrounding them. "Yes, we are still too close to the border, but in Adarlan nonetheless"

"And what's the name of its king?" She asked, casually.

He looked sideways, at her. "Aldrich The Third, if I'm not mistaken"

Isabella couldn't hide her frown at that. "Aldrich?" She repeated, incredulous.

"Terrible name, I know"

She started shaking her head, "That's not it"

"What is it, then?"

Isabella froze in place, and realized another mistake she had made that night. Rapidly, she forced her body to relax and shrugged carelessly. "Just another difference between this world and the books"

"Hmn"

"And...Terrassen?" She asked him, praying to sound casual. "Does it have a king or a queen?"

"Queen"

Her heart skipped a beat at that, and she swallowed past the sudden knot in her throat. "I see, and what's her name?"

"Maelie"

Her heart started beating faster with each passing second, "How old is she? Does she already have an heir? What about the King of Adarlan, does he have an heir?"

She didn't imagine the questioning look Fenrys shot her, but she was too busy worrying and over analyzing her own thoughts to care about it.

"King Aldrich has one son, Jerrick The First, he's still not old enough to take over the kingdom" Isabella was not sure she was even breathing as she listened to Fenry's words. "And Queen Maelie is an old ruler, and she has only had one lover, Serai, who passed away a decade ago. But even before that, they never had any children because it would have meant for Maelie to take a male consort, and she claimed she refused to cheat on her wife. So it will be one of Maelie's nephews who will take the throne once she passes away"

Isabella rubbed her eyes with the palms of her hands. She had noticed things were different, despite the clear similarities between the books and this world, but what did Fenrys' words mean? That Dorian and Aelin did not exist yet? Or that they were an invention of Sarah's imagination, like Fenrys' twins?

She wanted to explode, with questions and answers to unsolved puzzles in her mind. But she was not sure how much seh could share, how much she was supposed to share, or even if her speaking would have any consequence in their world.

"Isabella" Fenrys called, his voice toned with a slight tint of worry. She shook her head at him, and tried to breath or think. A light hand fell upon her shoulder, and she could feel the tentative emanating from the male. He was not sure if he could touch her without making her uncomfortable, and she wanted to cry at that. "Isabella," He called again.

She sighed, and forced herself to calm down. She breathed in and out, and only after her head stopped throbbing did she look at him. She opened her mouth to say something -anything- but was stopped by the sound of a cry.

Both of them perked up at that, seriousness taking over them, and stood silent to listen more carefully.

Another cry broke in the night, and Isabella realized it was an animal. Fenrys stood up, so fast she practically missed the movement, and positioned his whole body in a fighting stance, his right arm already half-way raised to draw the sword on his back.

The animal cried again, and it was such a piercing and miserable sound that Isabella wanted to cover her ears. She did not, however. She stood up, too, and did not need to look back at the males to know they were up. Also ready to fight in case of danger.

As the horrible sound continued, she felt the other males coming closer to her side. Rowan reached her first, and he gently pushed her behind his back. One quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that Lorcan was behind her, his back facing her. Protecting their backs. Gavriel was doing the same behind Fenrys.

A force. That's what they were doing. And in the middle of it, was Isabella.

The thought was enough for Isabella to reach for the dagger Gavriel had gifted her with mere weeks ago. She had the weapon already in her hand when the cries stopped. Silence fell upon the forest, and she could only hear her own breaths as they all waited.

Neither of them relaxed before the wind roared. Somehow, Isabella knew that it was not Rowan's magic doing so. It was hard to explain, but she knew it. The wind, and its sound, felt wrong. Too wrong.

She did not have time to think more about it when the sound of footsteps moving in their direction was heard over the wind. Countless footsteps coming for them. Rowan moved closer to her, covering her, and she did not even complain or feel undermined by it. She was glad. Because just because they were teaching her how to fight didn't mean she was ready to do so.

In the darkness of the night sky, she was hardly able to see the outline of a figure. No, many figures.

One of Rowan's hands began glowing from within. As if his veins were glowing, their color a faint icy blue. It was enough to illuminate the creatures staring at them. They were only centimeters taller than her, but with two sets of arms, dark eyes and legs. Their bodies were androgynous, their skin of different shades, and long black hair falling at their backs.

They were a group of seven, and that realization was all the time Isabella had before they threw themselves at them. The creatures were as fast as the males, and their extra limbs were a clear advantage, because they managed to hit both Rowan and Fenrys.

Quicker than lighting, Rowan moved, avoiding the hold of four arms, and stabbed one of the creatures in their chest. The being chuckled as blood sputtered from the wound at its chest, before falling on the floor.

The corpse was left forgotten, and both Gavriel and Fenrys shifted into their animal forms, and lapped at them monsters. The oldest male jumped from one tree to the other, using the impulse from his jumps to fall on one of the monsters. He opened his mouth, with long animal teeth, and bit the neck of one of them.

Fenrys tried to do the same, but one of the monsters thought faster, and turned in its sets of legs before the youngest male could bite it. With only two of its four arms, the monster grabbed Fenrys' and threw it against a tree. He whimpered as his back collided with the trunk.

One of Lorcan's hands wielded his sword, while the other was flowing pieces of dark magic. He struck two monsters with two different hands, and he managed to kill them both before he moved back close to her side, shielding her.

She moved, instinctively, closer to him, too. Rowan ran to their side, and both males shared a single glance before they switched positions. Rowan's hands were still glowing as he jerked them and two monsters began choking. While doing so, Lorcan ran and stabbed them with his sword. Twice. At each of them.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Gavriel biting at the remaining monster, though it was already dead.

Rowan shifted on his feet, and suddenly he was facing her. His gaze scrutinized every part of her body, looking for something Isabella was not sure about. His expression revealed nothing as he looked from her to Lorcan, dismissing her.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the light coming from Gavriel and Fenrys as they shifted back to their fae forms. Gavriel was the first one to ask, "Everyone alright?"

Lorcan rolled his eyes, Rowan gave the male a low grunt, and Fenrys exclaimed, "Yes!"

Gavriel's eyes found Isabella's, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, and cleared her throat. "Yes, I- didn't really do much"

He let out a kind laugh -that was so in contrast to the sight of him covered in blood due to him biting the monsters- and patted her on the back. "There'll be plenty of time for you to fight"

She swallowed, and her gaze fell on one of the corpses. She wrinkled her nose, "What are they?"

"Do you mean, were?" Fenrys asked, smugly.

"Shut up, you couldn't even kill one of them without Gavriel's help" Lorcan added.

"Bitter old male" Fenrys whispered from his place.

Lorcan's head snapped up, "I heard that"

Fenrys blinked, and shrugged. Isabella cleared her throat again, and gestured with her chin to the corpses. "So, what were they?"

"Oh" Gavriel responded, "I'm not sure"

Isabella stood frozen in place, her dagger still in her hands. Then blinked. "What do you mean 'you don't know'?"

Gavriel shrugged, "The forests of these lands are full of different types of creatures. Some of them are even older than our kin-"

"Like Kilax" Fenrys blurted in.

"-It's impossible to know every kind of creature. So we just..don't" He told her, almost apologetic.

"And how do you know which one to fight?" Isabella was more than shocked. She couldn't remember that being in the books.

"Usually they attack us first"

She looked back down at the horrendous corpses, then at the four males. Something in her expression must have betrayed her thoughts, because Fenrys added, "They were clearly the bad ones"

"The 'bad ones'?" Isabella did not miss the deadly glare that the three males shot Fenrys at his words. Or the way Fenrys ignored them. For his own good.

"Bad creatures" Fenrys added, unhelpfully. From behind her, she could have sworn she heard Lorcan slapping his own forehead.

Isabella tried something different, then, "What was the name of the creatures that injured me?"

"Humans" Lorcan offered.

Isabella ignored him, and Gavriel shrugged again. "We don't know their name, either"

She rubbed her temples, "I-" She sighed, and cleared her throat. "I think I need a minute"

Rowan instantly frowned, "Why? We should leave and travel somewhere safe throughout the night in case they decide to come back"

She opened her mouth, then closed. Lightly, she shook her head. "You are right, I'll grab my things"

~

Gavriel shot Rowan an obvious look, while not-so-subtly gesturing with his chin in Isabela's direction. Lorcan nodded at him, and Fenrys was shaking his head. At him. And the bastard had the audacity to look disappointed.

What? He mouthed.

Fenrys' head shook harder, and Lorcan snorted.

Go talk to her Gavriel mouthed back.

He frowned, Why?

You were rude

Rowan grimaced, I was not

Yes, you were. Lorcan and Fenrys mouthed at the same time.

Rowan opened his mouth to curse at them, when Isabella's voice surprised them all. "What are you doing?" She asked, dubious. Perhaps even entertained. She was holding her single back, ready to take off, with a funny expression on her face.

For a single moment, Rowan panicked. Which seemed to be something he suddenly did often around her. Centuries of enchanting females and he panicked around a nineteen-year-old human. If his cousins could see him, he would never hear the end of it.

Rowan looked from Isabella to his friends, asking for help, but the traitors stared innocently -and expectantly- at him. What was he supposed to do?

He was not sure. So, instead, he said the first words that left his mouth. "There's something you should know"