13

Ash

“Marcus has gone b’lark-the-bones crazy,” I yell to Belair who gallops hard beside me. Stopping to distract the red-robe while we escape may seem brave—noble even—but really, this is too risky. “He’s taunting a red-robe for demon’s sake!”

“And now Kaylin’s gone after him. If this goes bad, our search for the whistle bones will be over as it starts.”

We look at each other and shake our heads before focusing on the nearing river mouth. “Kaylin? What are you doing?” I reach out to him but touch only air.

“Ride.” Rowten waves me and Belair on. “To the beach!”

I have no problems following that command. It’s not like I can do anything to slow the red-robe. I have to trust that Marcus and Kaylin somehow know what they are doing. Please know what you are doing! I think to them both.

The coastline looms ahead, the smell of moist earth whisked away by the salty onshore wind. I reach the headland above the mouth of the Suni River first. Belair is right behind me, with Tyche. Rowten, Samsen, and Piper brings up the rear. The riverbanks are wide and ragged. They barely contain the mud-brown flow. This has always been a crystal blue waterway. But there’s no time to ponder it now.

“Where’s Marcus?” Piper twists around in the saddle. “Kaylin?”

“Right behind us,” Rowten says, and it better be true.

We trot along the mud banks until we find a path down to the beach. It’s another long and winding goat track, and the horses skid and slip, sides working like bellows to catch a breath as they make their way to the white sand beach. Halfway down, I see the ship. It’s waiting for us in deep water. “Rowboat?” I ask the others, trying to catch my own breath as well.

“Don’t see one,” Rowten calls out, standing up in his stirrups at the top of the headland.

The swell is large with a pounding shore break. I don’t know how a small vessel will make it in, or back out again. Please don’t say we have to swim for it. My horse reaches the beach first and the others follow, bringing half the trail worth of sand down with them.

“There it is.” Belair points to the small boat being tossed toward shore. It’s manned by a single sailor. They’ll need a lot of skill not to capsize.

“Marcus,” Piper says. “And Kaylin.” She makes to climb back up the trail, but Samsen stops her with a touch.

“I’ll check on them.” Belair dismounts and drops to one knee.

The ground beyond him rumbles and shakes. From the churning center springs his red sun leopard, gaining height as sand falls from its hide. It lands lightly and snarls, muscles rippling as it bounds up the dune, tearing the ground with churning paws. In a few long strides, it crests the top and disappears over the other side.

Belair’s still breathing hard as his eyes glaze and then widen. “They’re challenging the red-robe.”

“Distracting him so we can all get away.” Rowten pulls our attention back. “Dismount and turn the horses loose. Quickly!”

I go to work on my mount’s saddle first, unbuckling the girth and pulling it off. While still undoing the tiny clasps on the bridle, Rowten helps Tyche, his own horse already freed.

“Imp?” Tyche’s hands fish deep in her pockets, becoming more frantic by the moment. “I lost him!” Her eyes well as she makes to kneel in the sand. She’s going to raise her phantom and call the stuffed toy back to her.

I understand. It’s all she has left of Aku, of her grandmother Yuki, of the life she knew before the attack, but Piper is having none of it. She pulls her to her feet.

“No time.” Her voice is stern, but when Tyche closes her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks, Piper pulls her into a quick hug. “Nothing for it, sweetheart. We have to run.”

“Grab the saddlebags,” Samsen commands as he slaps the horses’ rumps, moving them out of the way. “And the packs.”

I hoist mine while searching the cliff face for Marcus and Kaylin. They should be coming down the track by now. Why aren’t they? As I wonder, a boom peels through the air. It sounds like a volcano exploding. “Marcus! Kaylin!” I shout.

“They’re coming,” Belair says and dips his knee to the sand, bringing his phantom back to ground.

Captain Rowten grips my shoulder, forcing me to look into his eyes. “Take gear to the waterline and help land the boat. We’re right behind you.” He frowns at Tyche. The girl’s eyes are glazed as she stares at nothing we can see. “Take her, too, and mind the tide!”

“Tyche, this way.” The words are not harsh, but they brook no resistance. I trudge through the deep sand, pulling the girl along, watching the rowboat wink in and out of view. It’s behind the crashing waves one moment, then thundering toward the shore the next. Again and again, the cliff face, like a magnet, pulls my head around. “Kaylin. Marcus. Please hurry. Please be safe.”

A slow smile lifts my face when I hear a response, loud and clear.

“To the rowboat, fast as you can!” Kaylin’s voice rings out over the beach from the top of the headland. His mount tears down the cliff at a reckless speed, Marcus like a sack of bones over the horse’s withers.

“What happened?” I shout but my question is swept out to sea by the rising wind.

Kaylin hits the beach and jumps off his mount while Marcus falls hard in a heap. The horse shies away, Rowten catching the reins just in time. “To the shore!” If I didn’t know better, I would think there was actual fear in his voice.

I take Tyche’s hand and bolt to the hightide mark. “Stay here,” I tell her as I drop the gear. “Keep your eyes on the rowboat, hands in the air to give him a marker.” I lift her hands high and when she holds them up, I sprint back to the others.

“Is he hurt?” I try to get to Marcus, but he’s surrounded by Piper, Samsen, and Rowten.

“I’m unharmed,” he says, but his ragged voice tells me otherwise.

“Untack her.” Rowten hands Kaylin’s red mare to me. She’s shaking, sweat pouring down each leg, turning the sand brown at the base of each hoof.

“And that one.” Rowten points to Marcus’s mount trotting down the trail toward us, dragging her reins. “Get the saddlebags.”

Belair has her as she joins the other mounts. I untack the red mare, heaving another pack over one shoulder.

“To the boat,” Kaylin commands again, leading the way toward the surf. “He’ll need help beaching it.”

“Kaylin, wait.” Piper stops him. Samsen and Rowten are trying to pull Marcus to his feet, but he has collapsed. “Has his phantom gone to ground?”

Kaylin shakes his head. “Not last I saw, but surely now?”

Piper nods and we all jog through the deep sand toward the rowboat, Samsen and Rowten dragging Marcus between them.

That’s when warmth rushes up my arm and floods my body. Kaylin is beside me. His hand takes mine in the next breath. “Hurry, lass. We’re cutting it close.”

Heat sparks through my fingers where they entwine with his. It’s a heat that I am sure reaches my face. “You saved Marcus,” I say, wishing I had a free hand to brush away my tears. As I speak, a massive shadow arcs overhead.

Kaylin frowns. “Not yet. Run!”