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“Too dangerous. It’s off-limits to regular citizens because the kingdoms have been fighting over Dawn and Dusk for countless centuries. In my young years, there was a lot of bloodshed over it. In this time period, I believe they’ve reached a temporary truce. The kingdoms agreed permission to enter the realm is only granted if someone is a member of the royal family or if there’s an important mission to carry out.”
Nodding, I switch the conversation back to him. “Did you have brothers and sisters?”
“No. My parents weren’t a fated pair. They just happened to get lucky when they conceived me.”
“Were either of them like you?”
“Like me?” he asks for clarification.
“Powerful.”
He shakes his head and thinks for a second. “No. They both had the ability to create fire—another common power in this world. My father thought there was a wizard somewhere down his family line, and my mother had a portal maker in her ancestry. They figured I ended up with a unique combination of the two.”
“See?” I smile at him. “You seem to remember quite a bit.”
“I think it helps that you’re asking specific questions. It’s digging up buried memories.”
“Then I’ll keep going. Did you always know you had the power to make vortexes?”
He grins a little, his eyes distant. “I did not. That was a surprise to me and my parents. Most fae children present their power during their toddler years, but mine didn’t appear until I was almost five. However, once it did, it hit me suddenly with full power. Usually, fae abilities need decades to develop, but mine just popped up like it had been there all along. The first time I formed a vortex, I’d been begging my mother to take me to the Dawn and Dusk Realm, and then before I knew it, I was flung into a forest I’d never seen before.”
“Ah, the forbidden territory. Of course you’d want to go there.”
“I had no idea Dawn and Dusk was basically a battlefield, and I didn’t understand trespassing was a serious crime. Luckily, the location I went to was quiet and safe. The Honeymoon Cave—it has a precious resource that can only be found there.”
“What resource?”
“Waterfall mist. There’s a sacred waterfall, and the mist collects on the leaves in the foliage around it. I had heard stories about how refreshing the beverage is. Some say Day water is just as good but being from the Night Realm, I’d never had either. Naturally, I wanted to try some for myself.”
“And the verdict?” My eyes drop to the canteen that’s almost always attached to his belt. “Is Day water comparable to waterfall mist?”
“Not even close. Don’t get me wrong, Day water is fantastic. But waterfall mist is better. I’ll get some for you sometime.”
I give him a stern look. “You’re already risking yourself every time you go into someone’s house to steal stuff. I think breaking royal laws might be pushing it.”
“Anyway,” he goes on, shrugging off my concern, “my mother had screamed as the air started moving behind me. She watched her little boy get sucked into an abyss, and she had no clue where I’d gone.”
I try to picture Ellister all tiny and throwing a fit, then disappearing in front of his poor mom. “How long did you stay in Dawn and Dusk?”
Ellister wears a mischievous smirk. “An entire day. And not because I didn’t know how to return—I knew on some instinctual level that I could get home whenever I chose. I just didn’t want to go back yet.”
I laugh. “You ornery little turd. She must’ve been worried sick.”
“She was. By the time I tumbled back into my front yard, the authorities had been called. Search parties had gone out, and the palace wizard was at my house, trying to help my parents figure out what had happened. Once everyone realized it was my own ability that made me go missing, I thought I would get punished.”
“Did you?”
“No.” His face darkens like he’s troubled by what he’s remembering. “I wasn’t reprimanded at the time. On the contrary, I got a lot of attention. Too much attention. Right then and there, the royals made it clear they wanted to recruit me once I was old enough to leave home. They stayed at our house for many weeks to observe me. They ran a series of tests, challenging me to see how far my power could go. One time, they asked me to cross over to the human realm, and I did. But because I was so young and curious, I got distracted by the snowy forest I’d ended up in. I was only there for an hour, but when I got back, nearly two months had passed in Valora. I’d forgotten about the time difference.”
“I bet your parents were upset.”
“They were, but there was nothing they could do about it. I’d just been following orders from the king’s council, and we were compensated well for the trouble. Over the next fifteen years, the royals gave us gifts and money. We wanted for nothing, and I was so proud to provide for my family.”
“You don’t sound happy about that,” I observe.
“My power was both a blessing and a curse. I became cocky and wild because I knew I’d be granted leniency, no matter what crime I committed.” He winces and admits, “As a teenager, I became a bit reckless. I used to trespass in different realms all the time. Even snuck into all the palaces to snoop around.”
“The palaces? Did you get caught?”
