“Hey, Thia.”
She rolled over at the sound. Opening her eyes, she saw Caelynn standing at the foot of the bed. “What?” she asked, still half asleep.
“Jinaari wants to get moving. You need to get up.” The pink haired woman placed Thia’s pack onto the bed near her feet.
Tossing her cloak aside, Thia sat up. “What time is it?”
“Early. The sun’s barely over the horizon. It’s going to be a long day, so we need to take advantage of the daylight.”
Looking down, she took in the wrinkled fabric of her tunic. There was a rip and the chain shirt showed through. Next time, she thought, take that off before you go to sleep. She considered changing but ruled against it. Her cloak should hide the tear, and she’d try to mend it when they stopped tonight. “Any idea where we’re going next?” Her hands busied themselves with reworking her hair. The braids had come loose from the pins as she slept, and she wanted to get them secured again.
“We’re looking for Drogon,” Jinaari said as he entered the room, “or clues about where he is, what he’s doing here. And we’re going to do whatever it takes to get that cloud to go away.” He paused. “What do you remember of him, Thia?”
“You’ve met him?” Caelynn asked.
Thia shook her head. “Not really. He came to visit us, but Papa sent me to my room every time. I know he could do magic, but not what kind. He wanted Papa to make him a box, but he wouldn’t.”
“What kind of box?” Adam asked.
Jinaari looked at her. “Like the one you have?”
She nodded, “I think so.”
“Show them,” Jinaari commanded her.
Reaching for the pouch on her belt, Thia pulled it out. Removing the leather, she held it out for them to see.
“It’s pretty and well-made, but I don’t understand why Drogon would need one. Or why your father would refuse him,” Adam said.
Bringing it back close to her, Thia spoke as her fingers sought out the right places. “It’s designed to hold spell components, Adam. There are three acorns in copper in the design. The only way to open it is to touch them in sequence.” The lid popped open. “Once I put one thing inside, it stays there no matter how many times I cast the spell. And I don’t have to open it to get it out.” She closed the lid and began to rewrap it. “One of the acolytes said I stole it, refused to believe my father made it.”
Adam let out a low whistle. “I can see where that could come in handy. But why wouldn’t he make one for Drogon?”
“I really don’t know the reason. I overheard them talking once. It sounded like they were both part of a group that went to Byd Cudd as part of a trade delegation. Drogon said it’d taken him years to realize the Bran in River Run was the same one he knew from that journey. The same one who used to make them for a living. My box is the last one he made, and it was finished before I was born.” She placed it back in the pouch and wound the belt around her waist.
“Thia, I don’t want to pry,” Caelynn’s voice hesitated, “but how did you come to live on the surface with your father?”
She glanced at Jinaari. He nodded his head once. Rising from the cot, she reached for her cloak. “All I know,” she said as she fastened the clasp, “is that my mother was Fallen. That she abandoned me on the surface when I was born. Somehow, a message got to Papa that she was going to leave me out in the cold for wolves to feast on. He got there before the pack did.” She kept her tone even. The feeling of being thrown out had been one she’d grown used to, even if she rarely spoke of it. Father Philip had been the one that told her after they’d reached the safety of the cloister. “I don’t even know her name,” she whispered.
“Let’s move,” Jinaari said, breaking the silence in the room. “We have to find out where he’s at, and what he’s up to before we can stop him. Whatever it is, it’s not good.”
Thia grabbed her pack and pushed her arms through the straps as she followed everyone else out of the room and down the stairs.
“But where are we going to start?” Adam asked.
“I’ve got two ideas,” Jinaari replied. “Either the city center or the remains of the Paladins of Silas Chapterhouse.”
“I thought they were full of Corrupted? They’d turned against Silas and embraced Corse?”
Thia saw the paladin’s head nod curtly. “They did. Nannan targeted the chapterhouse when she laid waste to the city. Which is why it’s a possibility. The entire compound became a focal point of evil. And Drogon’s certainly attracted to that.”
“Do we know why he’s doing this? Or even what it is he’s doing?” Caelynn asked.
The paladin stopped, shaking his head. Thia turned to Caelynn. “You mean we don’t know anything?”
“Shhh!” Jinaari snapped at her.
Thia stared at him in shock. She blinked a few times, then stood still. His ear pressed against the door. “It’s clear,” he said, looking at them. “Adam, take up the rear. Thia, follow Caelynn. Keep close, stay to the shadows if you can. Back to the buildings. If we get separated, head to the fountain at the center of the city. We’ll reconnect there.” He pulled the door open and slid out into the city.
Thia focused on Caelynn’s back, trying to keep pace with the elf. She moved so fast, though! Within minutes, she was out of breath. “Can we stop for a minute?”
Caelynn glanced back, studying her. “Okay, but not long. I don’t want to lose sight of Jinaari.”
“Keep moving, Caelynn,” Adam said. Thia turned, looking at him. “I’ll stay with her. We’ll catch you guys at the fountain.”
The bard nodded once and sprinted after the paladin.
Thia leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. “I’m sorry,” she muttered.
“For what? Jinaari can keep a fast pace when he wants to. Sometimes he forgets he’s got people behind him.”
“I’m not used to any of this,” she admitted. “I don’t even know why I’m here.”
“Jinaari does, and I trust him. You’ll get used to the pace. How often did you leave your cloister? I mean, you’ve gone shopping, right? To an arena to watch some games? Horseback riding with friends?”
She shook her head, “I don’t have friends.” Reaching up, she adjusted the comb inside the hood of her cloak. “Father Philip thought it best that I stay within the walls, for my own safety. Almair isn’t always kind to anyone that looks like I do.” She refused to meet his eyes as he studied her. She knew the look. He was evaluating her, trying to figure out if she was human or Fallen.
“That’ll change, Thia. We’re all here because we’ve been told to deal with this, even if we don’t understand why. I trust Jinaari and Caelynn with my life. We’ll do the same for you.” He pointed toward a side street. “Come on. Let’s get moving.”
Pushing away from the wall, she ran down the street Adam had pointed to. The sound of her chainmail clinking as she moved echoed off the buildings. Only the lower floors remained. The rest was a mass of charred wood and soot covered stone. The ruins bore testament to the fury of the attack that had leveled the city ages ago.
The wind picked up and she noticed the temperature drop. Looking up, she saw the clouds darken. “The storm’s getting worse,” she shouted at Adam above the roar.
“I noticed,” he said. “Stay close. I can’t tell if this is natural. It could be Drogon trying to discourage us.”
A clap of thunder echoed above her head, making her wince in pain. Bright white lightning struck the building next to her. Adam’s arms circled her waist, pulling her away as the wall tumbled down onto the spot where she’d stood moments earlier. When the dust settled, the entire alley was blocked.
“Well, that’s not good,” he said.
“What do we do now?”
The blonde-haired man looked around the rubble strewn area. “There’s a door over there,” he pointed at the next building down. “Let’s go before there’s another strike.”
He shoved her and she ran for cover. Hail bombarded them; large balls of ice bounced off the shattered pieces of stone and scattered across the path they had to navigate. She winced in pain as several found places on her where the armor didn’t cover. Reaching the doorway, she twisted the handle, but the door wouldn’t open. “It’s stuck!” she screamed over the raging storm.
“Not for long,” Adam shouted. He pointed his staff at the door, and it exploded inward. The warlock pushed her through the opening and out of the storm.
Thia stopped in the center of the room, staring through the doorway as another bolt of lightning struck. Her hands flew to her ears as the thunder roared. Adam stood in front of her, saying something, but her ears rang too much for her to make out the words. He grabbed her arm, leading her deeper into the house.
He stopped in what used to be a workspace of some kind. Two long tables dominated the room. Bundles of dead plants hung from hooks that lined the walls. Adam sat her in a chair and searched the room. The ringing in her ears began to subside. The storm still raged outside, and she could hear it, but it wasn’t as loud here. “What is this place?”
Adam looked up from the cupboard he was rummaging through. “I think this was an apothecary’s shop,” he said. “We’ll ride out the storm, then find the other two. Aha!” he exclaimed, pulling a small box out and placing it on one of the tables.
“Do you think they’re caught in the storm?” she asked.
“They’ve probably found cover. That storm came up fast.” He drew out a dagger and pried open the lid. Dust erupted in a cloud. “Then again, with the cloud that’s over the city, the weather’s bound to be strange.”
Thia pulled back one of the sleeves of her cloak. A couple of bruises formed on her skin. They were tender, but not something to worry about. “What did you find?”
“Every apothecary I’ve ever met kept a box like this,” he explained, pulling small jars out and looking at them carefully before replacing them. “It was designed to safely transport some of the more volatile components they’d deal with. Separately, they’re inert. Mix them together, not so much.”
“Can we still use any of that? It looks ancient.”
Adam smiled. “Oh, yes. They’re still sealed, so the contents are protected.” He closed the lid. “Caelynn can use a lot of what’s in here. What she can’t, I can. We got lucky . . .” His voice trailed off and his gaze shifted behind her. “Thia,” he spoke slowly and carefully. “Don’t move a muscle. Stay perfectly still.”
The hair on the back of her neck began to rise as she felt something brush against the hood of her cloak. Her heart racing, she watched Adam grasp his staff with one hand. A beam of light erupted from the crystal at the tip, flying toward her. As it hit the air above her, she ducked and tumbled out of the chair, landing on the floor. Her eyes flew wide in horror as the giant spider dropped to the floor behind where she’d been sitting; the legs curled inward. A single, high pitch scream escaped it as it died.
She twisted her head, looking at Adam. “What was that?”
“I’m not certain,” he said, “but I’d rather take my chances in the storm. What about you?” Thia nodded, scrambling up from the floor. Adam shoved the case into his bag, then slung the long strap over his head. He held out his free hand to her. Grasping it tightly, she followed him back out of the house.
The hail had stopped, replaced with a driving rain. The cobblestone road was slick and wet. Thia tightened her grip on Adam’s hand, desperate not to fall. He led her through another door different than the original one. “Come on,” he urged her, “keep your eyes on where you’re stepping.” He glanced back at her and his jaw hardened. “Don’t look back, whatever you do. We’re not far from the fountain.”
He led her around a corner. Her foot slipped and she thrust her hand against a wall to steady herself. As her body twisted with the motion, she caught sight of the building they’d left. Thick, white strands glistened in the windows above the apothecary sign. The entire top floor was a giant web.
“Adam! Thia! Over here!” Jinaari called out. Thia turned toward the voice and saw the paladin standing on the other side of a large courtyard. In the center, what was once a fountain was nothing but rubble.
She felt Adam pull her forward and she stopped staring. Dashing toward the building where Jinaari stood in the doorway, she ran past him and inside. Caelynn was wiping blood off her rapier. “You two okay?” Thia let go of the warlock’s hand and looked around the room.
“Yeah,” he said. “Here, found something you might find useful.” He pulled the box out of his bag and handed it to the bard.
The room was practically empty. A few broken chairs and other debris sat in a single corner. “Any trouble?” Jinaari asked.
“I took us into the wrong house,” Adam replied. “Lightning destroyed a wall, blocking the way, and then the hail started. I didn’t look up before we went in.” He leaned his staff against a wall and removed his cloak, shaking water from it as he spoke. “I mean, we found the apothecary box. That’s great. But we had to leave pretty quick.”
The paladin looked at her closely before glancing back at Adam. “Why?”
“It was occupied.”
Thia shuddered. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Giant spider nest,” Adam said. “I didn’t catch the signs and one almost reached Thia. I took it out and we ran.”
Jinaari glanced outside between two boards that’d been nailed across the window. “Just the one?”
“That’s all I saw. Top floor was nothing but webs, though.”
Thia stared at the two men. “Isn’t one enough?” While she hadn’t intended to be funny, she caught the fleeting smiles of her companions.
“Was it an adult or juvenile?” Jinaari asked, his fingers flexing around the hilt of his sword.
“It was young.” There was a catch to Adam’s voice that worried her.
“They get bigger?” she asked, her heart dropping in fear.
The dark-haired man didn’t look at her but nodded once. “Depending on how young that one was, an adult could be two to three times as large.” He looked back at her and the others. “Caelynn, check the back door. Look for any hidden ways in or out of here. We may need them once the weather clears.”
“What’s going on?” Thia asked, her voice wavering with fear.
“The adults won’t come out when it’s raining, so we have time. When the storm clears, though, they’ll come hunting.”
“Hunting?”
Jinaari turned, his face a stony mask. “They’re carnivores, Thia. To them, we’re food.”