The Lycan King's Fate Calling

Crystal's POV:

Rufus' words made me realize that we had dawdled for a considerable amount of time. I hurried to catch up with his long strides. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I told myself that we would find Arron soon, and made sure that I had enough energy for the inevitable battle waiting for us.

Rufus pulled the map out of his pocket. I peered over his shoulder, dumbstruck at what I was seeing. It looked just like an abstract artwork done by some kindergartener! I frowned at the mess of lines and colors. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that this... thing had been designed to purposely confuse and mislead people.

"How are we supposed to read this?" I muttered under my breath.

"We're heading south," Rufus said without missing a beat, though he did take a few additional glances at the map before folding it again. He then led me down a side road.

I trailed behind him readily. He always had better navigation skills than me. I had every confidence that he would take us to our destination without a hitch.

Sure enough, after passing through a sparse forest, we arrived at a mushroom-shaped building about six floors high.

fenced off by a white railing, and two men stood guard at the entrance, both of them wearing blue masks. After a moment's

then.

moved forward, Rufus presented his invitation, and

stepped into another world entirely. Thick tapestries hung on the walls, completely blocking out all the light. No lamps were in sight. Instead, candles lit up the place from their places high up on numerous chandeliers. Up

us was wielding a short, wand-like cylinder. But we hadn't been given anything at all. I flagged down a nearby staff and asked,

man simply shook his head and said, "No. Those are monoculars. We provide them to the members of the audience who might not be able to see clearly due to their distance

understanding and

pulled me over

afforded us the perfect view of the stage, and there was ample space between the seats, ensuring

just as well, as our conversations were

long, the curtains slowly rose before us, and a clown riding a unicycle appeared onstage. He proceeded to perform one dangerous

every time the clown approached. Despite knowing that it was all a show, I couldn't help but fear that he would topple over me

my chair and grew increasingly vigilant as the seconds ticked by. As it was, I noticed that the clown was

ended his performance, and he picked up a microphone. I realized belatedly that he was