Wondering if his friend had somehow read his thoughts, Jaax nodded once before turning his eyes back onto the road above their encampment.
“I thank you for your wisdom,” he replied, in the same archaic language. “And I take it to heart.”
He only hoped that fate would be kind to all of them and allow them to fulfill their destinies before their time came. A highly unlikely scenario, but a dragon could dream. And dream he would. Of a better future than the one he expected; of a chance to right the wrongs of the past. And finally, Jaax dreamed of something that had been promised by the wind so many times before: a change for the better.
Jahrra reached down and scooped up some water, splashing it onto her freshly scrubbed face. In the last five minutes, she’d managed to wash her hair and scour every last inch of dirt and grime from her skin. Although she could have soaked in that warm water for another hour, she knew her travel companions waited for her. She turned toward the place where her clean clothes waited, but froze in shock when her gaze fell upon a pair of large brown eyes staring back at her from within the blackberry brambles along the pool’s edge.
Jahrra screamed and dropped beneath the water, only her head staying above the surface. She darted her eyes frantically toward her pile of clothes. Her drying cloth, and her knife, were there, well out of her reach. Jahrra cursed, chastising herself for not thinking to at least keep the dagger close at hand.
A blast of air and the unmistakable scrape of claws against rock drew her attention upward. Jaax loomed over the pool, his wings flared wide and his eyes blazing with unchecked aggression.
“What is it?!” he demanded, his voice a snarl.
Jahrra glanced back at where she had seen the pair of eyes, only to find nothing but dark shadows.
“There,” she breathed, pointing to the spot, careful to stay mostly submerged below the water’s surface. “Someone, or something, was watching me!”
“I’m on it,” Ellyesce stated, leaping over the boulders and the bushes, only to disappear downstream.
“Are you hurt?”
Jahrra blinked up at Jaax through a streamer of wet hair. Now that the shock of discovering the spy had worn off, she felt ridiculous.
“I’m fine, Jaax,” she said in exasperation, and no small amount of embarrassment. “It just startled me.”
Jaax narrowed his eyes and studied her face more carefully, as if he didn’t believe her and was looking for a wound she was trying to hide.
Jahrra threw her hands up and splashed them down against the water.
“I’m fine! Whoever it was is gone. Now, do you mind? I’d like to dry off and get dressed.”
Jaax reluctantly turned and headed back toward camp. The moment he was out of sight, Jahrra slipped out of the pool and dried herself off, dressing in record time. She slogged back to the campsite and proceeded to ring her hair out beside the fire.
The sound of someone crashing through the underbrush interrupted her task. Ellyesce’s familiar head appeared between two trees, one of his arms trailing behind him.
“You will not believe what I caught out in the woods,” he proclaimed, yanking his arm forward to reveal what he’d been dragging behind him.
Jahrra gaped, her hands dropping into her lap in surprise. Even Jaax made a sound of astonishment behind her.
The person who had been hiding in the brambles beside the waterfall was none other than the limbit who’d misdirected the Red Flange at the crossroads.
“You!” Jaax hissed, his breath rattling as his anger churned up the fire in his chest.
“No, Jaax!” Jahrra jumped up, trying to get between her guardian and the limbit.
When the dragon made no move to carry out his unspoken threat, Jahrra turned and glared at the creature.
Ellyesce’s hold on the limbit’s collar was tight, but Jahrra suspected it wouldn’t take much to slip free of the vest and escape. Again. Oh, not this time. She was determined to talk with him. Jahrra took a step forward and the limbit cowered, pressing his fox ears flat against his head and curling in on himself. Well, as much as Ellyesce’s hold would allow him.
“Enough of that now,” Ellyesce said softly, giving the limbit a slight shake.
“I won’t hurt you,” Jahrra said in the calmest voice she could muster. “I promise. None of us will hurt you.”
“The dragon!” the limbit squeaked.
Jahrra stood up and cast her guardian a stern look over her shoulder. Jaax rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth before saying, “Be calm, limbit. Fortunately, Jahrra here seems to be on your side, and risking her ire is worse than risking mine. You may speak freely without fearing incineration.”
“Jaax!” Jahrra snapped, shooting him another look of grave disapproval.
The dragon only shrugged his great shoulders, his mouth forming a stern line but his eyes glimmering with dark humor.
“Ignore him,” Jahrra said, turning back to the limbit.
“I’ll let you go if you promise not to bolt,” Ellyesce stated.
“Yes, please don’t run off again,” Jahrra added. “I’m Jahrra, by the way. The elf who is keeping you in our presence is Ellyesce, and the grumpy dragon is Jaax.”
Jaax snorted, but kept his remarks to himself.
The limbit, who had remained in his defensive position, carefully unfolded and regarded Jahrra. He didn’t look very old, maybe around her age or a bit older, and his hair appeared closer in color to his fur than what she’d previously observed. Other than the moss green vest still clutched in Ellyesce’s hand, the limbit wore only a tweed cap.
“It was you who I saw across the lake a few days ago, wasn’t it?”
The limbit didn’t say a word. He only stood there, his eyes darting from side to side as if contemplating the best way to escape as soon as Ellyesce released him.
Ellyesce must have come to the same conclusion because his grip tightened on the limbit’s collar.
“Whichever way you choose, I’ll be ready to run you down again,” he growled, “so stop considering your best means of escape.”
The limbit gasped and glanced back at Ellyesce. “You can read my thoughts?”
Ellyesce chuckled. “Hardly. It isn’t difficult to read your body language, lad. Now, are you through with this nonsense of trying to get away? The lady would like to discuss something with you.”
He indicated Jahrra, and she smiled.
The limbit slowly looked between all three of them again before sighing and nodding his head solemnly.
“I’m going to let you go, but I’m warning you, if you try to run off before Jahrra here has received answers to all of her questions, then you’re in for a nasty surprise.”
“I-I won’t run,” the limbit promised.
Slowly, Ellyesce let him go, and he stumbled forward only to catch himself and turn upright. He did a quick circle, his fox feet churning up dust, before coming to a standstill facing Jahrra.
“Hungry?” she asked right away.
The limbit swallowed and nodded, his hat nearly slipping from his head.
Ellyesce moved toward the fire. “I only made enough for two,” he said with an air of apology.
“That’s alright. He can have mine,” Jahrra insisted.
The limbit’s eyes grew wide again. “No. I couldn’t. What will you eat?”
“We have plenty of oat bars left.”
“Not as good as hot porridge,” the limbit murmured, his eyes glued to the ladle-full of steaming oats Ellyesce was dishing out.
“No, you’re right. But I suspect you haven’t eaten in a while.”
The limbit’s face grew rigid, and he drew his mouth into a sharp line. Jahrra got the impression that somehow, his pride was hurt. She looked him over once again, as discreetly as possible, and then grimaced. From her quick perusal, she noticed he was nearly skin and bones and was covered in even more grime than herself.