Chapter 30

**Alexander POV**

“A Dark Fae World.”

 My heart pounded in my chest as hope once again raised inside of my heart.
 I asked Mr. Stevens, “Where is the Wayern now?”
 He looked at me, stunned by my question, saying, “O do not tell me you are planning to get him?”
 I kept my eyes locked with his determination shining out from them as I said, “Yes I am, now will you tell me where to find him, or I will have to look for him myself?” 
His eyes grew wide as he asked me with a slightly shaky voice, “Only a crazy man, even a shifter, would go alone after a Wayern.” 
“Or one that is on an important mission and is left with no other choice. Besides, I am, after all, a dragon shifter myself.” I said to him as he looked silently at me, thinking for one moment before I saw him nod his head, saying, “Very well, young man. Seems your quest is important, and if you are curtained about finding Wayern, then I can tell you that he can be found in a No-man’s-land.” 
Mr. Stevens slowly stood up from the bench and extended his hand to shake with me. Accepting his handshake he said, “Good luck young man, you will need it.” 
“Thank you,” I said to him, and a moment later, he was heading somewhere else, leaving me alone to sit on this bench.
I rushed a second later, towards Ryder who was still in front of an old ruined museum. 
He looked over at me, seeing me coming, asking, “What’s wrong?”
“We have a problem.” I started by saying to him.
He stood straight, facing me with a serious face, “What happened?”
“I spoke with the owner of this place and he told me what happened. He was attacked one night by a Wayern.” I started to say and could see Ryder’s eyes grew wide at the mention of the vicious beast.
Raising his hands up, stopping me to continue speaking, he said, “A Wayern? Are you sure?”
“Yes, that is what the old man said,” I said to him with a voice that held no doubt in its tone.
“Shit!” I heard Ryder curse under his breath as I nodded my head, sharing the same thoughts he was having.
His eyes snapped back, looking at me as he narrowed them, he said, “If he was attacked by 
“The old man said that Wayern was about to kill him but stopped as he smelled something that led him into the back room where the old man was keeping a few items, keeping them for someone. The Wayern walked out of the back room with those items in his hands and set this museum on fire,” I told him the story that the old Mr. Stevens shared with me not long ago.
“Items?” Ryder asked, feeling confused while I nodded my head.
“Yes. The items of great value and among them is the one we need to be able to get inside the Dark Fae world.” I told him as he silently listened, realizing a moment later what I was about to say.
Groaning, he said, “Please don’t tell me what I am thinking that you will say?”
Grinning at him, I said, “Yes, it is exactly what you are thinking. We are going to retrieve the bracelet.”
“Shit, I knew it. Why of all creatures it has to be Wayern?” Ryder spoke up, looking towards the sky, making me roll my eyes at him.
Knowing he is defeated and we are going, he took a deep breath, exhaling a moment later as he asked, “Fine, so where are we going now?”
“The old man Stevens said that Wayern is in the No-man’s-land,” I told him as we walked away from the museum, walking the same path we came to the village as we reached the clearing and prepared to shift and head our way to our new destination.

*****

***~No-man’s-land~***


After some time, as Ryder and I shifted and flew off to find the Wayern, we finally arrived at our destination. Slowly approaching as we had to be careful so don’t get spotted by the Wayern, Ryder and I landed slowly, trying to make as little sound as it was possible, having our senses set on a high alert as we shifted back to our human form and dressed up fast.
The air around us was filled with moist air and danger, making the hair on my nape rise.
We walked through the swamp, looking around everywhere, trying to spot any sign of the monster’s residence.
As we walked deeper through the woods, walking away from the swamp, walking through these dark trees, I saw bones laying down on the ground from various dead creatures.
A cracking sound of bones breaking, sounded through the air, making me stop in my tracks, to look at Ryder who cursed under his breath, looking down towards the broken skull under his feet he looked up towards me and said, “Sorry.”
“Just be quiet,” I told him in a whisper as he nodded his head.
The crows were flying above our heads, making loud noises as I looked up, noticing that they were flying in a flock a little further ahead of where we were.
Nudging at Ryder’s shoulder, I said in a whisper, “Look at the crows.” 
He followed my finger and saw the same as what I just did. Looking back at me, he said, “That is a weird behavior for them. What do you think that means?”
“I don’t know but we better to head up there and see for ourselves,” I told him and we started walking, following after the noisy crows.
A few moments later, we saw a stream with a little stone ugly-looking cottage next to it.
The crows were flying low, right above the cottage, making loud noises that were piercing our eardrums.
I could sense with my senses that the creature was here making me grab Ryder and pull him on the other side, hiding us behind a large tree, keeping us away from the slight breeze that could easily make us noticeable to the sensitive nose of a Wayern.
The door of the cottage opened up, making Ryder and me crunch down, holding our breaths as we silently watched a large brown boot appear from the doorstep as the rest followed making us see the ugly creature fully in the light as he held onto the door, nose stuck up into the air, taking deep breaths as he tried to sense our scents.
The light growls from the Wayern reached up to my ears as he slowly turned around and walked back inside his cottage, closing the door behind him.
Ryder looked over at me and whispered, “Did you just see what I did?”
Rolling my eyes at him, I said, “Of course I saw you, idiot.”
“That thing is fucking huge!” he said, looking towards the stone cottage.
Exhaling deeply, I said, “He is Wayern, Ryder, you know very well as I do what they are like.”
“Yeah, but others that we saw were not this big, Alex,” Ryder said to me.
“Well, seems like this one is a little bit different from the others,” I said while I slowly stood up as Ryder followed after me doing the same.
“So what is the plan?” He asked, looking at the cottage as I did the same, thinking about what there is to do for us to get that bracelet.
A plan formed in my head, making me look at Ryder, knowing well that he will not like what I was about to say.
He noticed my eyes gleaming as he swallowed hard, saying, “Why do I feel that whatever is on your mind, I will not like it?”
I grinned at him, making him exhale as I said, “Because it is true.”
“O come on already, say what you came up with.” He whispered yelled at me, making me roll my eyes.
“Ok, I came up with a plan and yes you will not like it but we are doing it unless you have a better idea,” I said to him.
“I’m listening.” He told me.
I lean closer to him, whispering the idea that I came up with, “The plan is simple, you will bait Wayern out and away from the cottage while I will go inside and search it to get the necklace.”
 Ryder’s eyes grew wide as he looked at me, almost screaming out as he asked, “Have you fucking lost your mind? Why do I need to be a bait, why can’t I go inside and search for the bracelet while you are being his prey?”
“Well it is simple, I thought of a plan while you didn’t so as it is all we have it is going to be like that unless you have some other idea that you would like to share with me I am willing to discuss it?” I told him simply as he looked at me, mouth a gape, I could see he was trying hard to think of some other way, some other plan but there was nothing he could think of.
“Fine, I will be a bait, but you better hurry up and find that damn thing so we can leave this dead land.” He said to me, pointing a finger at me, which started to irritate Byrneshu, but I managed to hold him down.
“Deal, now go out there and stand in the breeze so he can sense you and then run away fast as you can,” I told him as he prepared himself for what is to happen, taking deep breaths and rolling his shoulders.
Ryder took a step out from the large tree but before he took another one, I grabbed his wrist making him turn his head looking at me in confusion as I said, “Be careful.”
Nodding his head, I released his wrist as he went to the other side to stand in the slight breeze, trying to lure the vicious creature out of his hiding.
When Ryder was finally at his position, I stood silently, hiding behind the large tree, watching over into his direction when in the next second, the loud bang of the door sounded followed closely by loud growling as Wayern appeared at the doorstep.
I saw Ryder mouthing “Shit” passing a quick glance towards me as he sprinted away in the other direction, making Wayern to follow after him.
Not wasting a second, I jumped out from my hiding spot and dashed towards the cottage.
Taking one last glance at the forest around the cottage, I entered inside feeling as an awful stench of death that was lingering in the air inside the cottage attacked all my senses.
I could see knives and axes covered with blood and gore laying down on the table in the center of the room with a wooden chair next to it.
One side of the wall had a big bookshelf that was filled with many different objects.
I searched through the items, looking everywhere inside the room only to be unlucky as I couldn’t find what I came to look for.
I saw an open door on one side of the room, so I decided to go and check there.
Passing through the door, I saw a small hallway giving me three more doors to look inside.
Reaching for the door to my left, I pressed on the handle and opened the door and could see it was a small bathroom.
I took a fast check inside, but as I thought; I didn’t find any bracelet.
I walked outside the bathroom, closing the door as I grabbed the handle of the door that was on the opposite side of the bathroom.
The stench of death was much more intensely coming behind this door. Preparing myself for anything, I pressed down onto the handle and opened the door.
The smell of blood and death attacked my senses the moment the door opened, making me cover my nose as my eyes took the sight that was before my eyes.
What I saw was like a scene from a horror movie. 
A blood-covered floor as the blood was dripping down onto it, coming from skinned meat that by the smell didn’t look as it came from an animal.
Before my stomach couldn’t hold in the sight, I closed the door and tried to take a deep breath as I walked to the last door inside this hallway.
Opening the door, I was feeling relieved when I noticed it was a bedroom. 
I walked inside the bedroom, immediately starting my search as I dug through the shelves and closet and drawers.
“Shit.” I cursed under my breath, raking through my hair with my hands, feeling frustrated for not being able to find the bracelet.
Slumping down at the edge of the bed, I heard a sound of movement coming from underneath the bed the moment my leg bumped into something.
Standing up, I crunched down and took a look underneath the bed and could see a box there in the middle.
Reaching with my hand, I grabbed the box and pulled it out from the bed, opening it, I could see various items inside of it, but only one caught my eye.
A silver bracelet with an encryption letter, the same letters I was sure that came from the Fae world.
Grabbing the necklace, I smiled looking at it and as I was placing it inside my pocket, I could hear a loud bang of the front door and another one following shortly after it.
I stood up and silently moved towards the hallway, preparing to fight the monster when I saw him.
Slowly I extended my talons out, I rushed through the opened door inside the main room about to attack the creature but stopped the very next moment as my eyes grew wide.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I said looking directly at Ryder who was leaning with his back at the front door breathing hard.
Ignoring my question, he asked me, “Did you find it?”
Reaching inside my pocket, I pulled out the bracelet to show him as I said, “Yes, now what the hell are you doing?”
He opened his mouth to answer but loud banging on the door followed by growling came from the door.
I rushed toward Ryder to help him hold the door closed as the creature tried to break it down with full force.
Ryder looked over at me, asking, “What now?”
Trying to think of something, I looked around the room trying to find another way out from here when suddenly my eyes landed on the once called carpet that was underneath the wooden table.
Looking at Ryder, I asked him, “Can you hold the door while I go check something?”
Pressing hard on the door, Ryder nodded at me so I rushed towards the table and the dirty carpet. Pushing the table away, I grabbed on the end of a carpet and lifted it up.
I could see something like a passage in the ground as an iron handle was at the entrance, making me reach over and pull it up, opening the dark passage inside the floor.
“Ryder, this way,” I called him, showing him the narrow entrance on the floor.
The loud banging continued coming from the door, and I noticed that the door will not hold up any longer as he will break it. I rushed Ryder pushing him first through the passage as I sat on the edge about to jump down when the loud crash sounded making me look towards the broken door as my eyes locked with the vicious creature, Wayern, who stood frozen for a moment before realizing I was escaping.
I jumped inside the dark passage, landing softly onto the ground as loud growls came right above me the very next moment.
It was dark and moist inside here, but thanks to our dragon senses we could see clearly all around us.
“Where to now?” Ryder asked me as we could hear the monster trying to break the opening, making it wider so he can pass through.
I looked around us trying to find which way is better so following my instinct I pointed in the right direction and said, “This way.”
Ryder followed after me closely as we heard the creature successfully breaking through the opening as he landed down in these dark tunnels following after us.
We ran as fast as we could, trying to outrun him as we could hear the loud growls bouncing around the tunnel walls.
Stopping as we reached the crossing of three tunnels, Ryder and I tried to figure out which one is the one that will lead us out from here into the open.
“Fuck! Which one is the right one?” Ryder asked, looking at all three tunnels.
My heart was beating faster from adrenaline as I looked trying to decide which tunnel to go with as the sounds of footsteps sounded closer and closer and I knew that the Wayern was not far away from us as he was about to reach us any minute if we did not make a choice and move.