Alison felt Taneem stirring against her skin. Gazen stood there a moment longer, then turned and headed north. He passed almost directly beneath Alison and disappeared, his footsteps fading into the night murmurs.
Alison silently counted out fifteen minutes. "Taneem?" she whispered at last.
A bit of weight came onto her shoulder, and a K'da tongue flicked past her cheek. "He's gone," Taneem confirmed. "All of them are gone."
Alison took a careful breath. "Well," she whispered. "It worked."
"It would seem so," Taneem agreed cautiously. "What now?"
Alison chewed at her lip. They certainly couldn't stay here forever. "Hang on," she said. "I'm going to try something."
Carefully, she started to lift her knees. The movement shifted her center of mass toward the edge, and for a second she thought she was going to fall. Hastily, she put her legs back down. She waited a moment for her heart to settle down again, then tried lifting just one knee.
Again, her center of mass shifted, but not nearly as far or as alarmingly. Drawing the knee toward her chest as far as she dared, she planted it against the inside of the lip and carefully pushed.
It worked. As she straightened her leg, the rest of her body moved a few inches down the trough. "There we go," she told Taneem, trying to keep her voice light. "It's not fast, but it'll get us there."
"Where will it get us?"
"To the slave areas," Alison said. "That's our best chance of finding food and shelter until the Malison Ring reinforcements Uncle Virge called get here."
"But won't the Brummgas search that area?"
"Trust me," Alison said grimly as she pushed herself another few inches north. "At the rate we're going, they'll have had time to search the whole place twice before we get there." She screwed up her nose as a small feather tickled her face. "I just hope we're not pushing out a trail of feathers even the Patri Chookoock could follow."
"They are surely used to seeing feathers below the wall," Taneem pointed out. "And there should be enough breeze to keep them spread out."
"If not, there's nothing we can do about it," Alison said. "And there's always the chance they won't even bother looking very hard for me. Now that Neverlin has what he wants, he and Frost could easily be gone by morning."
"With the information they need to destroy Draycos's people."
Alison winced. That was, unfortunately, the downside to this whole thing. "We've got over a month before they arrive," she reminded Taneem. "And there's still one safe that has all of that same information. We just have to figure out how to get to it."
"There are many parts of this that I don't understand," Taneem said. "But you have never lied to me before. I will trust you."
Alison gazed out into the night, her throat tight. "Thank you," she managed. "We'd better stop talking now. If we happen on any patrols, it would be nice if we know it before they do."
CHAPTER 27
Privately, Draycos had expected it to be at least a week before the Golvin guards relaxed their watchfulness enough for him to risk another midnight excursion. To his mild surprise—and to Jack's obvious relief—barely two nights later, the K'da judged the time was right.
Man, are these guys amateurs, Jack's scornful thought echoed through Draycos's mind as the boy peeked out between the doorway streamers.
Draycos lifted his head from Jack's shoulder, brushing aside the partially open shirt with his snout. The two Golvins were seated side by side at the foot of the bridge, clearly visible in the moonlight, paying no real attention to the area around them as they chatted casually together in low voices. Their small bows rested against the sides of the bridge, the quivers propped alongside them. I told you these weren't a warrior people, he reminded Jack.
I know, but this is just ridiculous. The stream of thoughts paused, and Draycos sensed the boy trying to hide his anxiety. You sure you're going to be all right?
They will never see a thing, Draycos assured him. With a casual leap, he came out of the back of Jack's shirt. "I'll be back for you soon," he added quietly.
"Be careful," Jack warned. He looked out the door again and gave Draycos a thumbs-up.
Nosing his way between the streamers, the K'da slipped onto the bridge. He gave the area a quick scan, then turned halfway around and stretched up to the stone above the doorway. Setting his claws into the cracks and crevices, he started to climb.
He went up just far enough for his hind claws to get a grip of their own before changing direction and working his way horizontally around the pillar. When he reached the far side he turned head downward and climbed back down to the ground.
For a minute he paused there, crouched against the stone, his eyes probing as his tongue flicked out to taste the air. But except for the two guards lazing around on the opposite side of the pillar, the area was deserted.
The first thing on Draycos's list of things to do was to locate their transport. Fortunately, there were a dozen scents unique to flying vehicles, scents he could smell drifting along on the nighttime breezes. Keeping alert, he set off across the fields.
He found the Golvins' shuttle and Bolo's aircar together in a cavernous machine shop that filled the entire ground floor of the pillar farthest from the river. As usual with Golvin construction, the shop had no door, but both vehicles had been anchored to the floor with metal chains.
That, at least, would present no problem. Slipping inside, Draycos extended his claws and began working on the chains tying down the aircar. Within ten minutes, he had it freed.
Now came the tricky part.
The Golvins stationed beneath Langston's cliffside prison turned out to be no more alert than the ones back at Jack's apartment. Apparently, the novelty of nighttime guard duty, and the watchfulness Draycos had seen on his first visit, had worn off quickly after Langston's move to his new quarters.
Still, this time it wouldn't be just a poet-warrior of the K'da slipping in and out. This time, he would be attempting to smuggle out a full-sized human. Sternly warning himself against over-confidence, he climbed across the cliff to the cave mouth and slipped inside.
Langston was lying on his side on his cot, his back to the entrance as Draycos padded over to him. He reached out a paw to touch the man's shoulder—
"Draycos?" Langston murmured.
Draycos felt his tail twitch in surprise. "Yes," he murmured back. "You're a very light sleeper."
"I've been expecting you ever since I saw them lock up your Judge-Paladin," Langston said. "What's the story there?"
"The same as yours," Draycos said. "You're both victims of the fear created by an eleven-year-old threat."
"So what do we do about it?"
"We end it," Draycos said. "Tonight."
"Sounds good to me." Langston started to roll over.
"Wait," Draycos said, putting a restraining paw on the man's shoulder. "Before you look at me, I have to warn you that my appearance may shock you."
"Hey, in this light you could be covered with scabs and I'd never notice," Langston said. "No problem."
"I'm serious," Draycos said. "The guards outside aren't very alert, but even they would wonder at a startled shout coming from up here."
"I said no problem," Langston said, a little impatiently. "What's the big shocker?"
"I am a dragon."
There was a brief silence. "A dragon," Langston repeated, his voice flat.
"Actually, I'm a poet-warrior of the K'da," Draycos said. "But my appearance is that of a small dragon."
"Interesting," Langston said. "Can you fly and breathe fire?"