“Tasia!” he yelled.
The dragon’s long neck coiled back, bringing her head into the alley a moment before the wraithkin appeared again. He was facing Wyatt and Lacy … and his back was to Tasia.
She darted forward and bit his head and shoulders off with a single snap of her powerful jaws, chewing once before spitting parts of him into the alley as if he tasted foul.
“Hurry,” she said. “Phane will come himself when he learns that a dragon is loose in his city.”
Lacy was trembling. She couldn’t seem to make her mind work right. Things that shouldn’t be possible were happening around her with alarming frequency and she was powerless.
“We have to go, Princess,” Wyatt said.
When she didn’t move, he sheathed his sword, picked her up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and carried her to Tasia. Wren climbed aboard without hesitation and helped Wyatt get Lacy into place on Tasia’s back.
“Go!” he shouted.
Tasia launched into the air with a powerful thrust of her wings, carrying them straight up past the windows of the buildings surrounding them until she was in open sky. Lacy felt the crushing weight of acceleration as they ascended into the night, then cool air when they began to fly away from the city and Phane.
In all of her life, she had never once even imagined that she would find herself riding a dragon. That thought replaced the irrational terror that had gripped her just moments before with a kind of giddy optimism. She was riding a dragon-if she could do that, she could do anything.
Chapter 22
As exhilarating-and terrifying-as riding a dragon was, Lacy was relieved when she slipped off Tasia’s neck into the little clearing where they’d landed.
A moment after her passengers dismounted, Tasia transformed into a woman and Wyatt led them into the jungle.
“Where are we going?” Lacy asked.
“My men are hiding nearby,” he said. “Stay close.”
He led them through the dark, following a path that Lacy couldn’t discern. Within a few minutes, they descended into a narrow crevasse not four feet wide. It led thirty feet below the surface of the jungle and into a network of washouts and caves that offered ample shelter from the elements as well as concealment from all but the most thorough searchers.
Four men with weapons drawn and ready seemed to materialize out of the shadows.
“Captain Wyatt?”
“Report,” Wyatt said.
The men sheathed their weapons, and the lead man stepped forward. “Our position is secure, and Princess Ayela has arrived, along with a dozen of her men. We’ve gathered ample supplies and replenished our stock of arrows.”
“Good. I’ll need a bow before we leave,” Wyatt said. “Take us to Ayela.”
“Yes sir.”
Lacy felt like she was floating in a river, at the mercy of the currents around her and powerless to change them, so she decided to accept her situation while she looked for a way to impose her will on it. She was a princess, a title that had taken on a whole new meaning the day her father had entrusted her with her family’s greatest charge. She decided anew to start living up to her duty rather than allowing fear and circumstance to dictate her course.
They led her into a cave that flowed into another, larger cavern. A soldier held back the blanket hung across the narrow entrance, and the sudden light of lanterns and a cook fire made her eyes hurt.
The cavern was filled with men, most dressed in leather armor and armed with bows and swords, while the rest wore light clothes fashioned from leather and were armed with spears, javelins, and blowtubes.
A beautiful young woman with dark eyes and hair, rich golden skin, and a bright unabashed smile approached.
“Captain Wyatt?”
“Yes.”
“I’m Ayela Karth. We came as soon as we received Lady Reishi’s message. My men and I are prepared to help you in any way we can.”
By the time Lacy lay down to sleep that night, she felt warm and full and safe for the first time since she’d left her home. She had spent the evening listening to Ayela and Wyatt recount their experiences fighting beside Lord and Lady Reishi. More than anything else, their loyalty and love for the sovereign and his wife shone in their eyes, a testament more compelling than any words.
Lacy questioned them relentlessly, piecing together the puzzle of what had really happened to her home, her family, and her life. She was dismayed to discover just how thoroughly Phane had deceived her and relieved to hear how Lady Abigail had routed the barbarian horde rampaging across her homeland.
She fell asleep with growing confidence in her new allies. They had pledged to help her recover the box she’d been entrusted with. More than anything else, that simple fact gave her hope.
***
“I will go alone,” Tasia said.
“No!” Lacy replied, a bit more forcefully than she would have liked. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice of caution was warning her to be careful, but she ignored it. “Protecting that box is my responsibility.”
“Yes, and look how well that’s worked out,” Tasia said.
“Some backup couldn’t hurt, Tasia,” Wyatt said.
“I agree, yet in this circumstance, who would you send? You? The witch would turn you in a glance. Look around you. Everyone here capable of fighting is a man. You would ask me to take two women and a girl into battle? What of their safety? And what could they possibly do to aid me against the Sin’Rath?”
“Please take me with you,” Lacy said. “I can’t fail in this. There’s too much at stake.”
“Indeed, there is,” Tasia said. “You have no idea how fortunate you are, human. Lady Bragador had a plan that would have ended this threat, but she let young Alexander talk her out of it … and the cost has been terrible.”
“I don’t understand … what plan?”
“Bragador was going to send Aedan to kill you and your brother, thereby ending the threat of that infernal box ever being opened. And now Aedan, my friend and my kin, is likely lost to the darkness, and all for the sake of two fragile and ephemeral human lives.”
Lacy stared in shock and dismay while possibilities tumbled through her mind, all of them leading to one inescapable conclusion.
“Oh, Dear Maker … Bragador was right. With my brother and I dead, the world would be safe.” She walked away from the fire into the shadows.
“Huh,” Tasia said, openly appraising the princess.
Lacy spun around quickly. “Why would Lord Reishi risk so much to protect me?”
“He wasn’t protecting you,” Wyatt said. “He was protecting the Old Law.”
“At what cost?” Lacy said, a haunted look filling her eyes. “As long as my brother and I live, the Seven Isles are at risk.”
“You’re wrong,” Ayela said. “There’s another way to open the box-the Goiri bones. Your death would be meaningless.”
“Sounds like we’re back where we started,” Wyatt said.
“Indeed, we are,” Tasia said. “I shall go retrieve this box and bring it back to you, Princess.” With that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the cave.
“Wait,” Lacy called out, following behind her. “Take me with you.”
Tasia ignored her, transforming into her true form and launching into the sky as soon as she had the space to unfurl her wings.
Lacy raced back into the cave and started gathering her pack. Wren began packing her things without a word.
“What do you intend to do, Princess?” Wyatt asked.
“I’m going after her,” Lacy said without looking up.
With a nod from Ayela, her men began to break camp. Wyatt just shook his head, gesturing for his men to make ready as well. Within half an hour they were on the move through the jungle. It didn’t take long for Lacy to realize just how foolish it would have been for her to set out alone. She didn’t know the first thing about the jungle. Were it not for the guidance of Ayela’s men, she would have quickly fallen victim to any number of seemingly benign dangers, from quagmires to poisonous flowers.