I found Opal there. She handed me a package. Wrapped with layers of cloth to protect the glass, the fist-size parcel fit neatly in my hand.
“Open it later,” she said. “I had another one in mind for you, but this one…called. Crazy. I know.”
“I’ve heard stranger things. I’ll write you a letter when I get back to the Keep and let you know how the experiment went.” I gently placed Opal’s package in my backpack, slung the straps back over my shoulders then paid her for the statue. “Do you know where Leif is?” I asked.
She blushed. “I think he’s sweet on Mara. They’re in the back in the mixing room. She’s supposed to be measuring sand.”
I wove my way through the kilns, workbenches and barrels of supplies. The hot air baked into my skin. Light gray smoke rose from the burning coals and flowed through the chimneys to vent outside. Opal’s family used a special white coal mined from the Emerald Mountains to heat their kilns. Cleaner than the black variety, the white coals burned hot enough to reach the two thousand degrees needed to melt the sand ingredients.
In the back room, a table filled with mixing bowls lined the far wall. Leif and Mara leaned over a deep bowl, but they were looking at each other instead of the concoction. The cloth masks used to prevent them from breathing in the fine particles hung around their necks.
I paused before interrupting them. Mara’s hands were coated with sand, and granules peppered Leif’s hair. He looked younger and his face shone with delight. It was a side of Leif I hadn’t seen before, and I wondered if he had someone he cared about back at the Keep. I realized I knew nothing about certain parts of Leif’s life.
Taking a few steps backward, I moved from their sight. I called Leif’s name loud enough for them to hear me over the noise of the kilns. He now stood away from Mara when I came into view, the sand gone from his hair.
“It’s getting late. We need to get back.”
Leif nodded but didn’t move. I understood the hint and left.
Outside the factory, a strong breeze hustled the clouds overhead. Shafts of moonlight poured from the sky between the breaks. When Leif joined me, we headed back to the inn. He was quiet.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked.
“No.”
After several steps, he asked, “Did you learn anything about the Vermin from Jaymes?”
“The city is worried about them, but there is no information on where they might be if they’re even here at all.” I told him about Opal’s glass animals, and he seemed intrigued by the magical element.
“Did you tell Mara about Ferde’s escape?” I asked.
“No. I just told her to be extremely careful.”
We walked for a while in silence. The air bit through my shirt and I wished I had my cloak. Booruby resided on the edge of the temperate zone with warm afternoons followed by cold nights.
“I like her,” Leif said, breaking the quiet. “I haven’t liked anyone before. Too busy and too worried about you to care for another. I couldn’t keep you safe. I didn’t lift a finger to help you. Finding you became more important than living my own life.”
“Leif, you were eight years old and would have been killed if you had tried to stop Mogkan from kidnapping me. You did the right thing.”
“Getting killed would have been easier. No guilt. No worries. No fear. Caring for someone is terrible and wonderful. I don’t know if I have the strength to do it for another. How do you deal with it?”
“I focus on the wonderful parts and suffer through the terrible parts, knowing it will end eventually.”
“Did you like Valek as soon as you saw him?”
“No. In the beginning our relationship was purely business.” The first time I had met Valek he had offered me the choice of going to the noose or becoming the next food taster. My family knew I had been the Commander’s food taster, but not why. Someday I would tell them about Reyad’s torture.
“When did your feelings change?”
That was a harder question. “I guess the first time he saved my life.” I told Leif about the Ixian fire festival and how Irys had hired four goons to kill me because my uncontrolled magic could flame out and ruin the power source.
“So the first time you met Master Jewelrose, she tried to kill you? And you told me before Valek had wanted to kill you twice. Gee, Yelena, you’re not a people person, are you?”
“There were other circumstances,” I said in my defense.
“It all sounds too complicated. I shouldn’t get involved with Mara.”
“That would be taking the easy road. Safe yet dull. Why do you like her?”
“She smells like the jungle on a perfect day. It’s a light whiff of the Ylang-Ylang flower combined with the sweet aroma of living green and a touch of the nutty earthy essence. It’s a scent you can wrap around yourself and feel at peace. Only those dry and sunny days will produce that smell, and they are as rare as a solid-white valmur.” Leif took a deep breath. “She has a soothing, contented soul.”
“Sounds like she might be worth the effort. There might be plenty of rainy days, but those perfect ones will make all the memories of rain disappear.”
“Is this from experience?”
“Yes.”
We reached the Three Ghosts Inn and entered the building. Moon Man and Tauno sat at one of the tables in the common area. Customers filled the room.
Tauno held a bloody cloth to his temple and his split lower lip bled.
“What happened?” I asked when we joined our friends. “Where’s Marrok?”
Tauno’s face was glum. He glanced at Moon Man as if seeking the Story Weaver’s permission.
“We found the Vermin,” Tauno said. He winced. “Or I should say they found us. A group of five soldiers with the Soulstealer and Cahil. They surrounded us, dragged us into a building and threatened to kill us. Cahil drew Marrok away and they had a private discussion. They laughed and left together, seeming the best of friends.” Tauno put a hand to his ribs and cringed with pain. “The others descended on me and I have no memory except waking in the empty building.”
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“This morning.”
“I am glad he is alive, but I wonder why they did not kill him,” Moon Man said.
Contemplating the situation, I said, “Taking a captive through crowded streets would be difficult. If they wait until nightfall to perform Kirakawa on him they risk being discovered.”
“So why not just kill him?” Moon Man asked.
“Because they want us to know they have Marrok,” Leif said.
“As a hostage?” Moon Man asked.
“No. Marrok left with Cahil. They’re flaunting the fact that Marrok is now with them,” I said. “And they know everything he knows. Including our present location.”
CHAPTER 13
“DO YOU THINK THEY WILL attack us here?” Leif asked.
I glanced at the fire warming the inn’s common room. Would the Fire Warper risk being seen by the other guests?
“They could watch the building and follow us, waiting until we get to a secluded spot to attack,” Moon Man said.
“That’s a happy thought,” Leif muttered.
I reached out to Kiki. She dozed in the stable but roused at my light mental contact. If Vermin skulked around the inn, she and the other horses would be upset.
Smell? I asked.
Night. Straw. Sweet hay, she said.
All good for now.
Kiki help? Watch. Listen. Smell for you.
What if you get tired?
Rusalka. Garnet. Take turns.
Good idea. I’ll come and open the doors.
Lavender Lady stay. Kiki do.
I smiled, remembering how she had unlatched her stall door in the Keep’s stable when Goel had attacked me. One of Cahil’s men who held a grudge, Goel hadn’t seen her. Probably hadn’t known what hit him until he regained consciousness among the broken boards of the pasture’s fence.
“… Yelena? Hello?” Leif poked my arm.
“I’m here.”
“What are we going to do?” Leif asked me.
“It’s too late to go anywhere else. Kiki and the horses will watch the outside of the building and alert me if anyone approaches.”
“Ooh, guard horses. How quaint.” Leif pointed to the hearth. “What if Mr. Fire Warper decides to jump out of the fire? I don’t think Mrs. Floranne will be serving him a bowl of her stew.”
“Can we douse the fire?” I asked.
“No,” Leif said. “The inn will get too cold and Mrs. Floranne won’t have hot coals for breakfast.”
“Leif, do you always think with your stomach?” I asked.
“Is there any other way?”
I sighed. “We’ll post a watch inside. Moon Man, how many entrances to this building?”
“Two. The main one leading to the street, and one in the back through the kitchen.”
“How about upstairs? Is there another staircase in the kitchen?”
“Yes, but we can secure the door into our hallway.”
“Good. We’ll each take a two-hour watch. I need to rest after I heal Tauno’s injuries so I won’t take the first shift. Moon Man can start, followed by Leif, me and Tauno.”
We left Moon Man in the common room. I helped Tauno to his room. Stiff and sore, he moved with care. When he was comfortable on the bed, I pulled a string of power and examined the damage. Aside from two broken ribs, his other wounds were minor. Staring at his injuries until they transferred to me, I hunched over with the pain and then pushed it away.
Tauno squeezed my hand in thanks before falling asleep. I trudged to my bed, not as exhausted as I had been in the past. Perhaps my healing skills improved with practice. Or had I grown used to relying on my magic?
“Yelena, wake up.” Leif shook my shoulder.
I peered at him through heavy eyes. He placed the lantern on the table.
“You’re the one who set the schedule. Come on.” He pulled the blanket off me. “Most commanders don’t take a turn guarding the troops. They get a good night’s sleep so they can make the right decisions in the morning.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing my eyes. “I’m not a commander and we’re not a troop.”
“I disagree. You’ve been leading the way. You’re the one who knows what you’re doing.” “I—”
Leif put his fingers on my lips. “Don’t say it. I like—no—need to believe that you know what you’re doing. Makes it so much easier to follow your instructions, especially when I’m acting as bait for a fifty-foot-long snake.”
“Fine. I have things well in hand. I don’t need much sleep because I have all the steps we need to take already planned out. Happy now?”
“Yes.” Leif stretched out on his bed.
I picked up the lantern. “Sweet dreams.”
“They will be now.”
The hallway of the inn was dark and quiet. I checked the door leading to the kitchen stairs. It remained locked tight. Good. Descending into the common area, I thought about Leif’s comments. I might be the one making the decisions, but I didn’t believe I had enough knowledge to be a commander. Gut instinct still propelled my actions.
Valek had taught me about strategy and clandestine operations, and my Ixian friends, Ari and Janco, had taught me to fight. Late-night sessions with Janco were the reason I could pick locks. However, my magical training with Irys had been interrupted by Ferde’s quest for power.
There could be a magical way to find Ferde and counter a Fire Warper, but since I hadn’t read all those books about magic and history, and I hadn’t explored my powers to find their limits, he was the test I hadn’t studied for, the quiz I was bound to fail. Out of my depth.
The empty common room echoed with my footsteps. I made a circuit of the area to check for intruders before I set the lantern down and went outside to visit the horses. The cold air stabbed through my cloak.
Kiki stood in the alley next to the inn. Her dark coat blended with the shadows, but the white blaze down her face reflected the moonlight.
Smells? I asked, reaching up to scratch behind her ears.
Fresh. No bad.
Any trouble?
She snorted with amusement. Two men. Woman.
She replayed the memory of two men robbing a woman. They had been so preoccupied with searching her packages they failed to notice Kiki’s quiet approach. Quiet, because Kiki, like all the Sanseed horses, refused to wear metal horseshoes.
Kiki had spun and used her back legs with expert precision. The men landed half a block away, and the woman, after staring wide-eyed at Kiki, took off in the opposite direction. I wondered why the lady had been out so late.
She’ll probably spread rumors about being rescued by a ghost horse, I said to Kiki. Maybe they’ll change the inn’s name to Four Ghosts.
I like ghosts. Quiet.
You see ghosts?
Yes.
Where?
Here. There. Places.
Here? I looked around. The empty street seemed deserted. I don’t see any.
You will. She nuzzled my cloak, sniffing the pockets. I like peppermints, too.
I gave her the mints. Care to elaborate on the ghost issue?
No.
She retreated down the alley and I returned to the inn. The lantern’s flame flickered as I made another sweep of the kitchen and rooms upstairs before settling down near the hearth. Embers glowed within the remains of the fire. Suppressing my apprehension, I added a few logs to coax the coals into a small fire to heat water for tea. Such a diminutive blaze shouldn’t be big enough for the Fire Warper.
Perhaps the size of the fire equaled the size of the Fire Warper. The image of a foot-tall Fire Warper leaping from the hearth caused me to laugh, but knowing he needed only one flame to start a fire ruined my good humor.
Searching my pack for tea leaves, I found Opal’s package. Curious to see which glass animal had called to her, I unwrapped the thick cloth. A charcoal-gray bat with green eyes came to life in my hands. I almost dropped the piece in surprise, but even with its wings outstretched the palm-size creature didn’t take flight. Opal’s magic—not life—glowed from the core of the bat. Closer examination revealed flecks of silver along the bat’s body and wings.
An invigorating tingle swept up my arm. I mulled over the benefits of being a creature of the night. Could I locate Marrok or Cahil now while the city slept? Drawing power, I projected my mind and encountered a confusing array of dream images. Once again too many people for me to sort through. I pulled back.
The water bubbled. With reluctance, I returned the statue to my pack and found the tea. Over my steaming cup, I watched the miniature fire. I considered making an attempt to contact Bain Bloodgood. The Second Magician might have some advice on how I could find one soul among so many.
The Citadel was three days away by horseback. Too far for me to project in normal circumstances. Desperation increased my distance, but then I had no control of direction. Also, Bain would be asleep, his mental defenses impenetrable. I decided to wait until the morning to try.
The Citadel was three days away by horseback. Too far for me to project in normal circumstances. Desperation increased my distance, but then I had no control of direction. Also, Bain would be asleep, his mental defenses impenetrable. I decided to wait until the morning to try.
The desire to sleep dragged at my body. I made several rounds of the room just to stay awake. When seated, my attention lingered on the fire’s dancing flames. They pulsed in a rhythm that matched my heartbeat. The flames’ movements appeared choreographed, as if they tried to communicate something to me. Something important.
I knelt near the fire. Fingers of orange and yellow beckoned. Come, they invited. Join with us. Embrace the fire.
I inched closer. Waves of heat caressed my face.
Come. We need to tell you…
What? I leaned in. Flames crackled, sap hissed and boiled and the harsh scent of burning hair billowed.
“Yelena!”
Moon Man’s voice drenched me with cold reason. I scurried away from the hearth, stopping when I reached the far side of the room. Chills raced over my skin and I shivered.
“Thanks,” I said to him.
“I thought something was not right.” Moon Man descended the rest of the way down the stairs. “I woke feeling as if the threads of my blanket had ignited.”
“It’s a good thing you did.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure.” I wrapped my cloak tighter. “I thought I saw souls in the fire.”
“Trapped?”
I barked out a laugh. If I had said that to anyone else, they would have believed I was a raving lunatic. Moon Man wanted details. Details I couldn’t provide.
“I think they wanted me to join them.”
He frowned and stared at the hearth. “You should not be left alone with a fire. I will finish Tauno’s shift.”
“Finish?” I glanced out the window. The curtain of darkness had thinned. I had lost track of the time, and failed to wake Tauno for his turn. Not a good sign.
“Go get some sleep. We will need to make plans when you wake.”
The deafening peal of Mrs. Floranne’s bell jarred me from sleep. Leif sat on the edge of his bed with his head between his hands, blocking out the noise. With silence came relief and he dropped his arms.
“She’ll be ringing that again if we don’t get down to breakfast soon,” Leif said.
All the motivation I needed. I kicked off my blanket and followed Leif from the room. We joined Moon Man and Tauno in the common area. The crowded inn buzzed with conversation. Mrs. Floranne poured tea while her staff served breakfast. The smell of sweet syrup wafted through the air.
The good night’s sleep reflected in Tauno’s face. The swelling was gone and the bruises faded from bright red to a light purple smudge. He moved without wincing in pain.
We ate our breakfast of honey, eggs and bread and discussed our next move.
“We should search the city,” Leif said. “Quarter by quarter until we either find them or determine they’re not here.”
“It would take a long time.” Moon Man spooned a glob of eggs onto a slice of bread.
“They are gone,” Tauno said.
I stopped eating. “How do you know?”
“They mentioned leaving Booruby.”
“Why didn’t you tell us last night?” I stabbed my eggs with my fork.
“I was distracted by the pain and did not remember the comment until now.”
“Would it have made a difference?” Leif asked.
I thought it over. Tauno had been in bad shape. But with no fatal injuries, I could have left him here and…what? Scanned the surrounding forest with my magic? I didn’t know which direction they had gone and they had almost a full day of travel.
“Probably not,” I sighed. “Tauno, do you remember anything else? Did they say where they were going?”
“The need to hurry was all I sensed. Perhaps that is why I was not killed. They did not have enough time.”
“The best strategy would have been to keep us in the dark about Marrok, wondering if he is dead or alive and what he told them.” I sipped my tea. “However, Cahil likes to feel superior and probably believes letting us know Marrok has betrayed us would make us doubt our instincts and slow us down.”
Cahil had tried that tactic with me before. When he had thought I was a spy from Ixia, he had ambushed me in the forest. Then, he wanted me to believe Leif set me up to demoralize me. It hadn’t worked. And it wouldn’t work now.
If anything, I was more determined to find them. Even though we had lost their trail. My appetite gone, I pushed my plate away.
“What’s next?” Leif asked.
The door to the common room banged open. Marrok stood in the threshold with a bloody sword in his hand.
The four of us jumped to our feet. Breakfast forgotten, we pulled our weapons as the conversation in the inn’s common room dwindled into a deadly silence.
“Come on.” Marrok gestured from the doorway with his sword. “Let’s go before they catch up.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Cahil and his…his…friends.” Marrok spit the words out. “I escaped.” Horror bleached his face, and blood dripped from a cut on his throat. “I’ve lost them, but they know we’re here.”
“How many?” I demanded.
Marrok straightened. “Seven.”
“Armed?”
“Swords, scimitars and Curare.”
“How soon?”
Marrok glanced over his shoulder and froze. He dropped his sword. It clattered on the stone floor. A big hand shoved him, pushing him to the ground.
Behind Marrok, Cahil, Ferde and five Vermin streamed into the common room.
CHAPTER 14
WITH THEIR WEAPONS pointed toward us the Vermin and Cahil fanned out in front of the door. Two Vermin had scimitars, two had swords and one held a blowpipe to his lips.
“Everyone just stay calm,” Cahil ordered. His long broadsword made an impressive threat. The people in the common room stayed in their seats. Mostly merchants and salesmen, there wasn’t a soldier among them.
Marrok remained on the floor. A Vermin stood over him with the tip of his scimitar pointed at Marrok’s throat.
I glanced at Tauno. “You said they were gone.”
His face had paled and, although he held his weapon, he hadn’t nocked an arrow. Moon Man eyed the Vermin as if judging the distance between their necks and his scimitar. Leif’s machete glinted in the sunlight from the open doorway.
“Change of plans,” Cahil said.
Cahil had let his blond hair grow past his shoulders and it was unbound. Besides that, he remained the same. Same gray traveling clothes, same black riding boots, same washed-out blue eyes and same hate-filled expression on his bearded face.
“My friend wanted to exchange Marrok for Yelena.” Cahil inclined his head to Ferde.
I noted his use of the word friend. How could he call that creature his friend?
The Soulstealer’s plain homespun tunic and pants hid most of the red tattoos covering his body. With a scimitar in one hand and a blowpipe in another, he looked at me with cold calculation. Despite his lean and powerful build, I sensed his magic remained weak. Yet a bite of fear nipped my stomach.
“I hope you have a few more Warpers with you,” I said to Cahil. “The Soulstealer is no condition to fight three magicians.”
“I may have failed in my power quest,” Ferde said. “However, I now serve another who has learned blood magic.”
The sound of roaring flames reached me before the heat. A quick look over my shoulder confirmed the blaze in the hearth had grown. Terror boiled in my throat, prompting me to act before the Fire Warper appeared.
Pulling power, I sent a thread to Moon Man. Take out the man with the blowpipe. I’ll take Ferde. He agreed. Leif, I said, attack the man over Marrok then keep Cahil busy.
When? Leif asked.
“Now.” I shouted and projected my awareness into Ferde’s mind, bypassing his mental defenses and seizing control of his body. It was a self-defense move I had learned when Goel had captured me. Chained and left with no recourse except using my magic, I had sent my soul into Goel’s body.
Once Ferde realized I had invaded, he concentrated all his energy on ejecting me. I ignored his efforts. He threatened to kill me the same way he had murdered his other victims.
Memories stabbed; sounds of their screams pounded; the smell of rancid blood pierced and visions of mutilations assaulted. His black desires of power and dominance through torture and rape revolted me.
To stop him, I harvested his soul and wrung it, exposing his deep fears and the events that had caused his addiction to power. The favorite uncle who had tied him down and sodomized him. The older sister who had tormented him. The father who had belittled him. The mother he had trusted and confided in. The mother who had sent him back to live with his uncle as punishment for lying.
A Story Weaver may have helped Ferde untie the knotted strands of his life, but I wrenched them apart, broke the threads. He became the helpless victim again. I examined his memory for every bit of detail, looking for information about the Daviian Vermin. When I finished, I peered through his eyes.
My body lay on the ground, comatose. Moon Man fought a Vermin. They maneuvered around a headless body. Cahil hacked at Leif, whose machete was no match against Cahil’s longer sword. Leif would soon be forced to surrender. Tauno stood in the same spot as if rooted to the floor. Marrok had regained his feet and sparred with one of the Vermin near another body. The people in the inn had organized a bucket brigade to dump water on the fire.
Even though my time with Ferde felt like a lifetime, only seconds had passed. I raised the blowpipe in the Soulstealer’s hand and aimed. First Cahil. Reloading, I shot each Vermin with a Curare-laced dart, ending the fight.
Water wasn’t going to stop the Fire Warper, but with his cohorts neutralized, he conceded the fight. “Next time, my little bat.” The fire died with a hiss and puff of oily smoke.
I returned to my body. My limbs felt as if they weighed a thousand pounds each. Leif helped me to stand on weak legs.
Mrs. Floranne came over. She clutched her apron between her hands and worried at the fabric. “What should we be doing?”
“Send someone to fetch the city guards. We’ll need help transporting the prisoners to the Citadel,” I said.
She sent the stable lad.
“Have they all been hit with Curare?” Leif pointed to the prone figures.
I looked at Ferde. He had collapsed in a heap on the floor. “All but one. I’ve examined his soul, and he won’t be giving us any more trouble.”
“For how long?”
“Forever.”
“Do you think that was wise?” Moon Man asked. His scimitar dripped with blood and gore, and lacerations crisscrossed his chest. “You could have achieved the same result without damaging his mind.”
“I—”
Leif jumped to my defense. “Hold on, Mr. Let’s-exterminate-all-the-Vermin Man. Given the chance you would have decapitated him. Besides, he deserved it. And it doesn’t matter anyway; Roze would have done the same thing to him once he arrived at the Citadel. Yelena just saved time.”
Small darts of fear pricked my heart. Leif’s words repeated in my mind. Roze would have done the same. He was right. Numbness spread throughout my body. I hadn’t even stopped to consider the implications before acting.
Don’t get in my way; I’m the all-powerful Soulfinder. Disgust coursed through me. History books hadn’t been kind to Soulfinders. The vision of Flame Me being burned at the stake rose in my mind. Perhaps the Councilors and Roze were right to fear me. After what I had just done to Ferde, I feared I might turn into a power-hungry despot.
“We need to leave as soon as possible,” Moon Man said.
We had assembled in the inn’s common room again. The city guards had taken Cahil and the others into custody yesterday. We had spent the day explaining to the city officials about Cahil’s group; an afternoon’s worth of discussion to convince them to send the prisoners to the Council. Leif and Marrok would accompany the city guards to the Citadel this morning. I intended to go with Moon Man and Tauno to the Sandseed homeland in the Avibian Plains.
“You’re worried about your clan,” I said.
“Yes. Also I think we need to learn more about the Kirakawa, the Fire Warper and your abilities before we have another run-in with the Vermin.”
“But your clan has forgotten the details. How are you going to learn more?” Leif asked.
“We can consult Gede. He is another Story Weaver, but he is also a descendant of Guyan and may have more information.” Moon Man stole my ginger muffin and ate it.
Although I was curious to know more about how Guyan had reunited the Sandseeds after their civil war with the Efe Warriors, Moon Man’s comments reminded me I needed to try to contact Irys and let her know what had happened.
We finished breakfast and made arrangements to leave. Moon Man and Tauno would get the horses ready while Leif and I tried to communicate with Irys.
We returned to our room. I lay on my bed.
“Do you think you can reach her from this distance?” Leif asked.
“I hope to, but I may need a boost of energy.”
Leif sat on the edge of my bed. Closing my eyes, I drew power to me and projected my awareness toward the Magician’s Keep in the Citadel. I bypassed the chaotic jumble of minds in the city and reached for the wide-open fields marking the eastern border of the Greenblade Clan’s lands. The few livestock I encountered hunched against the damp wind.
Pushing past the barren farmland, I aimed for the white marble walls of the Citadel. But my mind stretched thin as if it had turned to taffy. Leif’s warm hand encompassed mine and a surge of strength pushed my awareness further, but I couldn’t reach those walls. The effort left me drained.
Leif gave my hand a squeeze before he stood. He searched through his pack and before I could ask, he handed me a yellow leaf rolled like a scroll.
“Eat it,” he said. “It’ll give you energy.”
I sniffed. The leaf smelled like spearmint and rosemary. An odd combination. As I crunched the leaf, the bitter mint taste dominated and it shredded like paper in my mouth. “Yuck. What is it?”
“A baka leaf. One of Father’s discoveries.”
After a while, I felt better. We packed our bags and joined Moon Man and Tauno in the stables. The four of us mounted. Leif and Marrok rode together on Rusalka and headed toward the city’s garrison. Marrok would borrow one of the guard’s horses for the trip to the Citadel.
The rest of us went east through Booruby’s crowded streets. Tauno shared Kiki’s saddle with me, and Moon Man rode Garnet.
When we reached the Avibian Plains, the horses broke into their gust-of-wind gait. We traveled until the sun set then halted to rest. Our stopping point was a bleak section of the plains. A few stalks of grass clung to the sand, and no trees or firewood were in sight. Tauno reconnoitered the area as soon as he dismounted.