Evening crickets chirped in bunches of wildflowers and thick grasses. In the absence of the bustle of bartering and crowded streets, the pleasant sound of lake water lapped against the shore. To stay out of sight, they jogged along the lake’s edge. Layala’s calves and thighs burned against the resistance of the dark golden sand. Lifting a hand against the setting sun’s harsh light reflecting off the water, she spotted boats with white sails bobbing in the lake not far off, and men and elves alike carried goods along the docks. No sign of soldiers anywhere. If Mathekis or any of the pale ones were close enough to sense her use of magic earlier, they weren’t here yet.
After running for a few minutes, the stables at the end of Braxentown came into view. Thane crouched behind a huge gray rock and waved for her to follow. Layala dropped beside him and risked a look. The stablemaster they’d seen earlier whistled while he pushed a wheelbarrow along a path around the back. A horse whinnied loudly, and the grasses and trees swished in the breeze. Not finding anything out of the ordinary, she asked, “Do you see something?”
“No, but I need to make certain there’s no enemy waiting to ambush us.” He pulled the hood of his cloak up. “I’ll go alone to be safe. Wait for my signal.” He plucked Tif out of his hood and set her on the ground beside Layala.
“Oh, I’m only good enough to go on covert missions when Layala isn’t around?” Tif folded her arms and stuck out her lower lip.
Thane grunted. “Keep up the attitude and you can walk from now on.” He slipped away with the ease and grace of an eagle.
“You’ve certainly gotten much braver when it comes to Thane. Maybe a little too much,” Layala said with a half-smile. “Before, you would barely let him see you.”
“Yes, well as it turns out, he doesn’t want to squish me under his boot as I once thought.” She brushed some crumbs off her bosom. “Most of the time anyway.”
Whispering voices and the quiet clank of metal drifted from somewhere close. Of course Tifapine began whistling and bouncing on her toes, until Layala popped her in the back of the head and put a finger to her lips. After a hiccup, Tif slapped a hand over her mouth and ducked lower into the grass. Layala slowly rose from her crouch, gripping the rough surface of the stone. Her gaze swept across the land; the road was empty. People roamed the streets of the town below, but they were too far off to be the source of the chatter. Like a ghost hand passed through her, she whirled around.
She gasped, slapping a hand to her chest, and sagged against the rock. “You scared the piss out of me. And thank the Maker you’re alive and well. Aldrich said he held you captive.”
Piper, Fennan and Aunt Evalyn stood with confused looks. “You saw Aldrich? Is he—dead?” Fennan asked with some trepidation.
Thankfully the swollen purple eye Piper once had was down to minor yellowish bruising now. Fennan’s arm was no longer in a sling, and he seemed to move it easily.
“No, he got away. But Thane—” She thought “butchered” was the appropriate word, but said, “killed over a dozen Palenor soldiers including an elf named Katmor. He spoke about being on a War Council.”
“Tenebris is going to be furious at that,” Piper folded her arms. “Katmor was one of his closest allies.”
“Even I know who Katmor is, and over a dozen soldiers?” Aunt Evalyn clutched the twine of dried berries around her neck. “This isn’t good.”
Fennan’s wary cinnamon eyes glanced at the road. “We saw you and Thane run out of Kail’s place. It was too easy to follow your footprints in the sand, so we should probably go.”
Piper watched the nearby road warily. “Where are the others? We heard there was a brawl there. What happened?”
“Thane got pissy when a human man asked me to dance and wouldn’t let it go.”
“The whole place is trashed.” Tif emerged from behind the rock. “I started singing to soothe the rebels down, but it didn’t work too well. Oh, then the dragon lady showed up.”
“Varlett is here too?” Piper and Fennan said at once.
“Dragon lady?” Aunt Evalyn said nervously.
“She was here,” Layala groaned. “Now I’m afraid she’s after our only chance of finding out what we need, and I have no idea how we’ll get there first. Thane went to check the stables.” She waved for them to follow as she started off. “Let’s go.”
Layala found Thane and the other Ravens inside the stables, saddling their horses, chatting away as if she hadn’t been waiting for his signal. She rolled her eyes, and she shoved the huge door aside. “Evening.”
Thane turned on a heel with a grin. “Laya, I was just about to come to get you.”
“Uh-huh.” She put a hand on her hip and the others stepped up behind her.
“Oh, good,” Thane said. “We’re all here.”
The stable master came out of a nearby door with a yellowed scroll in hand. He brushed his hand over it, creating a dust cloud. “Afraid I haven’t had much use of it since I never leave, but here it is.”
He tugged on a latch and a wooden table came away from the wall, where he unrolled and smoothed out the scroll. Layala and the others circled around a map of Adalon. The edges had been chewed on by mice and there were several stains, but it was legible. With his pointer finger Thane pressed on Braxentown. “We’re here and we must get all the way over to Calladira in three days at most.”
“That’s not possible,” Leif said, rubbing his chin. “It’s at least seven days’ ride and that’s if we could take the main road, which we can’t. We’re looking at ten days minimum.”
“The dragon will be in Newarden at Brunard’s place to get the stone in three days, maybe even less.”
Siegfried cleared his throat and rested his hand on the pommel of a dagger at his left hip. “I know of a way.”
Everyone turned to the one they called the Wraith, standing in the back of the group. “You do?” Thane asked.
“There is a stone portal on an island. It’s about a half day’s ride to the town where we’ll need to take a boat.”
Thane’s eyebrows raised, wrinkling his forehead. “You know about the portals?”
“I know about the portals,” he repeated with a smile. “No one uses it but given we have a mage.” He glanced at Layala then at Thane. “Or two.”
“You’re certain,” Thane said. “We cannot afford to lose time if it’s not.”
“It’s there,” he said.
“The Wraith always comes through in dire circumstances,” Gunner said, slapping his back. Layala noticed a fat lower lip with red bruising around the corner of his mouth. He must have gotten popped hard during that brawl with the men.
“In my opinion, as the group healer,” Aunt Evalyn started in a firm tone, “we should make camp and rest until morning. None of us have slept in two days. And I’m afraid even my special drinks for stamina won’t keep us going without sleep.”
Layala glanced at the map. She didn’t see an island depicted anywhere, but none of the portals’ locations were on this map.
Thane nodded. “We can do that as soon as we are clear of this town and know we’ve not been followed.”
Siegfried looked troubled when he said, “There is one problem I need to warn you about.”
Everyone’s attention was on him again.
Thane tapped his fingers on the map’s surface impatiently. “Well, go on.”
“Its waters are guarded by deadly creatures.”
Layala startled awake to birds happily chirping with the first signs of morning light. She rubbed her forehead and swiped away the damp sweat. She had that dream of the Black Mage again, taunting her, chasing her through dark woods. Heard the charismatic voice calling to her, asking her to come to him. She would swear on her parents’ graves it was real and she knew now it was not Thane calling to her, and she had a sick feeling it was never him. She couldn’t figure out why they spoke similarly, had the same cadence. Did her subconscious use a voice similar to Thane’s for the Black Mage’s to terrify her even more? Could he be truly reaching out to her somehow? She shuddered at the thought. She’d never given much thought to dreams but these… these were different.
Under the bright stars, some hours earlier, they’d gathered along the shoreline with a small fire in a hollowed-out dip in the sand. She blinked, rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes, and tried to shake off the unease from her nightmare.
A small sense of ease soothed her when she noticed the warmth of Thane’s body against her back. She wasn’t trapped in the tower. He wasn’t gone. They were together again. She took a deep breath and wiggled even closer to him, thanking the Maker for this moment of peace. The water quietly lapped against the sand and tiny fireflies hung in the air around them with the last of the dark. The scent of roasting meat hit her senses and her mouth watered. A couple Ravens hunted down a few wild chickens, and the meal waited on skewers, half eaten over the dying flames. Layala moved a little and Thane’s arm slid around her waist, curling entirely around her body and hugged her even closer.
“Stay,” he said in a raspy morning voice.
She smiled. “I wasn’t going anywhere.”
He nuzzled his face against the nape of her neck. “I wish we could stay like this all day. Listening to the water, relaxing in the sand and sunshine. Just you and me.”
“And what else would we do?” she teased.
“Mmmm,” he growled and nipped her earlobe. “Don’t get me started on that or we might have to sneak away.”
“Sire,” Fennan called.
Thane groaned and pushed himself up, leaving the cool air to rush against Layala’s back, “Yes?”
“A few of us are going to ride into town and see if we can secure a boat.”
He rubbed his scruffy chin and nodded. “Thank you. We’ll be right behind you.”
Layala sat up and dug her bare toes into the cool sand and wrapped her arms around her knees. Thane’s rough hand glided up her back then he bear-hugged her from behind. “Were you having a nightmare earlier?” He rested his chin on her shoulder and toyed with a lock of her midnight hair.
“Why do you ask?” She swallowed hard. She wanted to tell him but was afraid of what he might think knowing she shared a connection with the Black Mage—the reason for the curse on the land. It was bad enough the pale ones were drawn to her. Now this? Now he called to her, infected her dreams?
“Because you were breathing fast, and I heard your heart racing.” He placed his palm flat against her chest. “It still is.”
Why did he have to call her out? He couldn’t even feel her emotions anymore and he still knew. She smiled and kissed his cheek. “I think you’re trying to find excuses to touch my chest.”
He chuckled and gave her breast a squeeze. “They are my favorite.”
“I did have a nightmare but it’s nothing. Just a strange dream.”
“If you need to talk, you can tell me. Sometimes the nightmares, the death, all the blood and screams of war,” he paused to swallow. “It’s heavy.”
Her heart felt the weight of that statement. And he would know more than most. “Thank you,” she said quietly, and debated on telling him the truth. Thane would understand, wouldn’t he? Then her stomach growled loudly, and he chuckled.
“Make sure you get something to eat before we go.” He kissed her briefly and made his way over to Phantom.
She would tell him later; it was probably nothing anyway and he had enough to worry about. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Evalyn standing on the shoreline with her shawl draped over her shoulders and a scowl directed at the steam rising out of the metal tea mug in her hand. What was she upset about? Layala knew Aunt Evalyn well enough to know even if she was cordial to Thane, she didn’t like him. They’d spent most of Layala’s life despising the Athayel family. She could only imagine what it would be like watching her adopted daughter in love with the enemy. Sometime soon, she and Aunt Evalyn would get into it over Thane, but that would have to wait, for now.
Most of the others were up packing their belongings or sipping from canteens staring out at the lake. The island they were supposed to sail to looked like nothing more than a dark blot on the horizon.
“What happened to your eye?” Evalyn asked Gunner. “I apologize if it’s rude to ask but I’ve wondered since I met you.”
Gunner touched his eyepatch and then grew a smile. “Oh, it’s not rude. I was fighting a massive pale one. He was in a small village, trying to eat some children.” He stood and gestured above his head by at least a foot. “At least seven feet tall. He knocked me to the ground and his mace caught my eye, but I shoved my sword right through his middle. Killed the bastard dead.”
“Very brave of you.”
He stared down at the dying fire and his smile dropped. He glanced between Aunt Evalyn and Layala. “Actually, it happened when I was a boy. The fire I stoked popped and shot an ember into my eye. Nothing so brave.”
Aunt Evalyn licked her lips. “It’s brave to tell the truth when you don’t want to.”
He smiled at that.
A waft of cinnamon and freshly-baked bread wafted to Layala’s nose. She turned to find Tifapine dragging a sack along behind her, leaving a trail in the sand. Always good for a snack, that one. She grinned at Layala and lugged it in front of her. “I found a community of gnomes nearby. They gave me so many goodies.” Tif tugged open her bag and plucked out a thick roll sprinkled with cinnamon and blueberries. They were smaller than the average elf or human baked goods, but when she took a bite, she decided gnome food was better. The savory sweet taste was like water to a desert, and she closed her eyes and relished in the taste.
“Thank you, Tif.”
Her little lady’s maid chomped into her chosen delight and with a full mouth said, “So I was talking to the gnomes, you know, like I do, and they said they gave me this food because I wouldn’t survive the trip to the island. A little bit morbid if you ask me. Absolutely zero encouragement. Wonder what’s out there?”
Layala swallowed down her food. Siegfried said there were rumors that creatures lived in the water that could be dangerous, but she didn’t know details. They’d dealt with pale ones, dragons, and enemy elves. They could handle whatever it was. “We’ll be fine, like always.”
She shrugged, tearing off another piece. “They said people who go out there, don’t come back. They get lost to the waters around the island. I can’t swim, so if the boat goes down, you better grab me, or I’ll sink like a rock straight to the bottom.”
“The boat won’t go down. Stop worrying. You have the best warriors in Palenor to protect you too.”
“I don’t doubt it but maybe we should let Varlett take the stone from Brunard and then steal it from her.”
Layala shook her head. “That would be more difficult than taking it from Brunard. She almost killed Thane. And what if she hides it? I don’t think she even wants it for herself. She just doesn’t want us to have it.” Then the stone would be lost once more and what hope did they have of finding out how Layala was connected to the Black Mage or destroying the enemy then?
Tif rocked back and forth from heel to toe, tapping a finger against her lips. “Good point. Alls I’m saying is the trip to the island might be worse than the dragon lady. Gnomes don’t give food away easily. They didn’t even want anything in return, which is unusual.” She put her hands out as if they were balancing scales. “Sharp teeth and poisonous talons, possibly being eaten,” she grimaced, tipping to one side more. “Eesh, maybe I’d rather drown.”
The horses’ hooves clicked loudly on the wooden docks of this small fishing town. They’d all been restless and jumpy since they entered the streets which was uncommon for such well-trained animals. There were only about six buildings and a few scattered farms in the distance. One of the white-painted buildings looked like an inn which must be where most of the fishermen ate. There were more boats than establishments. She counted twenty-one bobbing in the lake, of various sizes and crews. The Ravens who’d left earlier were gathered near the center of the docks. Thane pulled Phantom behind him as Layala rode. She patted the black horse’s neck and glanced back at Tif poking her head out of the bag.
“People don’t come back,” she whispered, and started chewing on one of her nails.
“We’ll be fine, Tif,” Layala assured.
They approached their group. Many of them dipped their heads toward Thane. Fennan folded his arms. “No one is willing to take us.”
“Why?” he asked and held a hand up to Layala. She grasped his palm and slid down.
“They say it’s too dangerous,” Piper answered. “They say that we’ll be attacked by lake creatures and die.”
Layala gulped. Perhaps Tifapine’s worries were warranted. She placed her hand on her brow, blocking the sun’s bright light. “What is out there?”
“Sounds like superstitious nonsense,” Fennan said with a huff. “It’s a lake. Other than large fish, what could there be?”
A young human woman with bright-red curls in a wide, black-brimmed hat with an eagle feather stuck in the fold, hopped down from the stone wall a few yards down. Her pale skin had a splash of freckles across the nose, and her thigh-high boots tapped loudly as she swayed her way over. “They’re certainly not fish.”
Thane turned and his eyes gave her a once-over. “And who are you?”
“I’m Captain Fella.” She stuck out her hand partially covered with black fingerless gloves. “I’ve been listening to your boys ask every captain but me for a ride to the island. But I’m guessing you’re the one in charge.”
Thane arched an eyebrow. “Perhaps they simply didn’t realize you were a captain of a boat.”
“Ship,” she corrected. “Mine’s the biggest one.”
“Are you offering your services, Captain Fella?”
“Depends.” She peered down at her nails and picked at the chipping onyx polish. “How much money you got, pointy ears?”
Many of the Ravens shifted; even Layala bristled at the insult. She’d been called that most of her life by humans and hated it.
“If you knew who you were speaking to, you’d show more respect,” Piper said, stepping out from the group. “Besides we’re in elven land. You should think twice about who you offend.”
Fella smiled broadly and lightly picked up Piper’s red braid. They almost had the same hair color, but Piper’s was a couple shades lighter. “Sensitive. But seeing’s how I’m the only one with a way out there, and that’s where you need to go, I can pretty much say what I want, pointy ears.”
Piper’s hand struck out like a snake, and she gripped the woman by the throat.
“Enough, Piper,” Thane said. Piper’s teeth ground loudly enough for Layala to hear it, but she backed up. Captain Fella laughed as Piper’s grip dropped.
“Actually,” Fennan said over Thane’s shoulder. “We didn’t ask her because the others said she was mentally unstable. I think they’re right.”
Fella spit a large amount of saliva near Thane’s boot, and snarled, “I ain’t mental, but I’m the only one just crazy enough to get you to that rock out there and some of you might even survive if you do what I say.”
Thane’s eyes darkened and he held up a hand to silence everyone. Even Fella shut her mouth. “First of all, don’t ever spit in my direction again, Captain. Secondly, I don’t have time for bullshit. Name your price. I have money.”
She looked him up and down. “Mmm, I bet you do; fancy clothes, nice boots, and that face is delicious. Bet you’d even be a great roll in the sack. I haven’t had elf cock in a while.”
Layala’s skin prickled, and she growled quietly. “And you won’t be getting any either, woman.”
Fella snickered and pointed at Layala. “I bet she could tell me if you know how to hump hard and when to take it oh so slow.”
Layala’s hand twitched toward her dagger and her cheeks lit like a burning ember to dry grass. How could this woman be so irritating after only a few minutes? Maker above, she couldn’t even imagine what Thane would do if someone said that to her.
“Relax, lady, it’s a compliment to your man—er—male. Never quite understood why you differentiate it that way. Got the same parts.”
“It’s because we’re not men. Man is a word only associated with human males,” Fennan said.
The grumbles and murmured comments among the others could be summed up as “disrespectful” and “no manners.”
“Your price, Captain Fella,” Thane urged.
Her eyes trailed down his body, stalled on his crotch and seemed to take an exorbitant amount of time to look away. Layala rolled her eyes.
Fella touched her hat, pushing it up slightly. “Well since the black-haired beauty will gut me if I ask to bed you—” She peeked around at the rest of the group, paused on Fennan, winked and then her gaze fell on Phantom. “That’s a fine horse you got there.”
“You can’t have my horse.”
“Alright.” She crossed her arms. “Thirty gold pieces.”
“Thirty?” Layala balked before Thane could even open his lips. She’d never had even a single gold coin in her life. Only the wealthiest had access to that kind of precious metal. Most dealt in nickel coins, occasionally silver. Thirty gold coins could buy a whole house and a nice one at that, and even if Thane could afford it, it was almost robbery. “Five, at most.”
With a hand on her popped-out hip, she said, “I’m putting my life at risk. I’m not willing to potentially die unless the reward is worth it. Twenty-five gold coins and that’s my final offer.”
“Twenty,” Thane said.
“Done.”
Layala clenched her teeth hard. They could have negotiated down further. And the gall of that woman to suggest Thane would bed her as payment. Thane opened his saddle bag and Tif handed him a sack of jingling coins. She stuck her tongue out at Captain Fella and ducked back inside.
Thane opened the bag, plucked out several pieces, stuck them in his pocket then handed the small sack to the Captain. “Count it if you wish.”
“I certainly will.” She snatched it from Thane like he might try to take it back. She poured it out on the flat top of the stone wall. Layala folded her arms and leaned her shoulder against Phantom. Everyone silently watched her as she moved the coins from one pile to another. Horse tails swished, and the air felt a little tense. Phantom nickered loudly and stomped his front hoof against the plank of wood.
When she shoved the gold back into the pouch, she looked up. “What did you say your name was?”
“I didn’t say.” Thane’s voice held more edge to it this time. “Now take us to your ship.”
