CHAPTER TEN

 

A small black monkey jumped in front of them. “Finley ‘orry be late. Bug try get Finley. Me no like new bug.”

“Finley!” Gabriel exclaimed, grabbing his Valtan, monkey buddy. Gabriel threw Finley up in the air and caught the monkey under his arms as he swung down. Finley squealed and wrapped his arms around Gabriel’s neck.

Finley had been the first one to find them when they arrived in Valta the last time. Not only did the talking, tracker monkey help lead them to the empress, but he and his troop of monkeys—the Fegans—had helped fight the war with Malgor and become their friends along the way.

“Hey, little dude,” Brent said, reaching out to fist bump with Finley.

Finley stared at Brent’s outstretched hand, then raised a confused eyebrow.

“Like this,” Piper said with a laugh. She reached out and wrapped her hand around Finley’s. She closed his fingers, then pressed his fist against Brent’s.

They all laughed.

Finley held up a small black whistle that dangled from a thin string around his neck. “Finley blow, then bug fly away from friend.”

Gabriel realized the shrill sound that had distracted the locusts had been the whistle. Finley had saved them.

Piper tugged on the blue scarf tied around Finley’s left bicep. “You rock, Finley.”

Finley squealed and spun around. “Finley be rock!” A grin slid up his furry face.

“That explains why you were late,” Prince Oliver said. “I was wondering.”

It hit Gabriel then that the prince had been checking his watch all that time because he’d been waiting for Finley.

Dane raised his hands, looking confused.

“You didn’t think I’d send them off into Valta alone, now did you?” the prince asked Dane before looking at Finley. “Thanks for helping us. And for coming.” He turned his focus on Gabriel, Brent, and Piper. “Finley here will help lead you to Ericville—”

“What?” Finley tilted his head at the prince. “No go Wood?”

Prince Oliver crouched down. “You must now take them close to Ericville, Finley, not the Tandem Wood. Plans have changed. Tahlita saw two portals near Ericville.”

Finley’s tail swished left to right rustling the grass behind him. “What portal for? Why two?”

“One is obviously the place Duke Malgor pushed Tahlita through to Harmony. The one we never knew about. The other must be a gateway to Solaria. It has to be.”

“Where’s Solaria, anyway?” Brent asked.

“Another planet,” Dane said with a shrug as if he was talking about Manhattan or somewhere totally normal. “It’s unknown to the solar system as Earth knows it. I heard the duke speak about the Solarians briefly. Malgor is very secretive though, even with his council members. All he said was the Solarians were very advanced in their technology.”

“No kidding,” Piper said. “If they can make giant, killer locusts, they must be.”

Prince Oliver waved them forward and they followed him through the grass for several minutes. When they reached a clearing, he turned and said, “It’s here that Dane, Tahlita, and I leave you.”

Gabriel looked out across shorter grass mixed with golden, shimmery soil.

“Tonight Finley will take the three of you to Gunner’s house. He is a kindred spirit to the throne. There you will rest and eat. Many flying tigers are waiting for my safe return home, then I will send three of them to meet you. They will assist you on the rest of your journey. The deadline the Solarians gave to return Duke Malgor is three days. After that, they’ll kill my mother and sister. It’s imperative you ambush them before time runs out. The tigers will make sure of that.” He stared at the floor, then cleared his throat before looking back at them. “A day has passed since I received the note. I know mother said the tigers aren’t to ever leave the castle or their other posts without her command, but I feel this situation takes precedence. Besides, they will get you there faster.” He drove his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “The protection spell is about to expire on the Divinities. I must return to the castle to ensure the safety of all of Valta.”

Prince Oliver nodded to Gabriel, Brent, and Piper, and in return, Gabriel smiled at the prince. He didn’t want Prince Oliver to feel worse than he already did. Gabriel swore he would do whatever it took to help save Empress Malina and Princess Evangeline. They were his friends. He totally got that Prince Oliver couldn’t leave the Divinities unprotected. If they were stolen or separated, well, all of Valta could be destroyed. They’d already fixed that problem last time they’d been in Valta.

“I wish I could come and assist you, but I cannot.” Prince Oliver ran his fingers along the hilt of his sword, thinking, his face sad. Gabriel’s body tensed and he clamped down on his back molars, the weight of the situation weighing down on him. “Please save my mother and sister,” Prince Oliver said.

Determination surged through Gabriel’s body. He shoved away thoughts that they were hopelessly outmatched and vowed, “I promise we’ll do everything we can.”

 

***

 

After they said their good-byes, Dane and Tahlita headed home and Prince Oliver returned to the castle. As Gabriel, Brent, and Piper walked behind Finley, Gabriel slipped his hands inside the pocket of his hoodie, tossing things around in his mind. The prince had said he was gonna send the flying tigers to take them the rest of the way. But when would he send them? And that meant they were gonna fly on tigers. Seriously cool and everything, but the only time Gabriel had flown on a tiger was when the empress had whisked him out of the Tandem Wood on Andimian. She’d taken him straight to Leejor because he had been badly wounded. So technically, he didn’t really know how to fly a tiger. He just hoped the tigers were good with newbies.

The empress. She had saved him the last time, so Gabriel hoped he and his friends would be able to return the favor. They had to. He especially worried about what the Solarians were doing to Princess Evangeline. She was half-human after all. Gabriel understood why Malgor didn’t like humans, but he didn’t know what was up with the Solarians’ hatred. What was it about humans that they hated so much?

It sucked that Tahlita hadn’t heard the rest of Dacho and Malgor’s conversation. Dacho had told Malgor he needed to finish something before working on the whole “kill humans spree” … but what was the something?

The sky had turned overcast, and even the twinkle in the once-glimmering mountains had dulled. Maybe even they realized their empress had been kidnapped. A light mist filmed Gabriel’s face. He tugged up his hood as they headed up a hill and into a wooded area. It looked different than anywhere they’d been in Valta before, and Gabriel realized they were in new territory.

Critters ambled through the brush and birds rustled in the trees, making the forest come alive. Fog shimmied along the wooded path, circling their feet, sly as a snake. The smell of pine and damp air filled Gabriel’s nose, and in the distance, the crashing of waves sounded out.

Gabriel thought about how completely freaked Princess Evangeline must be. She was younger than him, and even though she lived in Valta and had to be used to some of the crazy stuff that happened there, she still seemed so … innocent.

“How much farther, Finley?” Brent asked, after they’d walked a couple more hours.

Gabriel had been wondering the same thing. He wished they all had super-sonic speed so they could run the whole way.

Finley stopped. His head snapped up. “Not far, but look,” he said, lifting a pointer finger, his brown eyes wide. “Smoke.”

Gabriel looked in the direction Finley pointed. At first he didn’t see anything. Then, his gaze landed on a column of smoke lifting into the air, twisting above the tree line. Gabriel thought it could be more fog, but when he noticed the black ash twirling into the white film, he realized Finley was right.

“Fire!” Finley squealed, a worried look spreading over his face. “And Gunner home be that way.”

“Are you serious?” Piper asked. “Do you think the Gunner guy’s okay?”

Before Finley could answer, a tall, furry man charged out of the forest. He looked more like a beast than a man with thick white fur covering his body. Matching hairy feet stuck out from the end of blue overalls.

Terror spiked Gabriel’s veins.

“Fire!” the creature yelled, between coughing and wheezing.

“Gunner!” Finley called to him.

Gabriel sighed in relief that the huge beast running toward them wasn’t a threat. But behind Gunner, the real danger crackled. The black ash had turned into red, popping, sizzling flames that licked at the sky. The fire had ignited with the wind, burning down the brush. If they didn’t hurry, they’d be caught up in the inferno, too.

Gunner directed them away from the blaze. They dashed through the forest, the sky drizzling and misting his skin. But it would take a downpour to put out the flames, not just a stupid trickle of raindrops. Branches and twigs cracked under their shoes as they ran, the sound of their panting and Finley’s squeals mixed with the hissing of the fire.

“Quiet, Finley b’ye,” Gunner warned. “You’ll draw da locusts out now da once. But if we’re quiet, dey’ll stay back.”

“Now da once?” Gabriel asked, his eyebrows raised.

Gunner nodded, but kept jogging. “Yep. I mean you’ll draw dem out now in a minute.”

Gabriel rushed forward, hopped a fallen log, and kept stride with the huge, white beast-man. He eyed Gunner’s white fur, now covered in soot. “And you said if we’re quiet, they’ll stay back. So, the locusts are back there?” Gabriel asked him, trying to decipher the beast’s accent. “Is that what you mean?”

Gunner slowed to a jog, his feet pounding the ground. Piper raced past them. “Yes, dey attacked me cattle,” Gunner said. “Den da venom caught me crops on fire.”

Piper came to a sudden stop up ahead, the high winds whipping her hair away from her face. “Dead end,” she said, stomping the ground in frustration.

Gabriel zipped up beside her to the edge of a cliff. He stared at the white-tipped waves below them. It had to be about a twenty-foot drop to the ocean. Off to the right, a large, white boat was anchored at sea.

Gabriel whipped his head around, staring at Finley. “Ah, crap. We need to jump, don’t we?” he asked, as the growing fire crackled louder behind them.

“Jump?” Piper croaked. “Are you nuts?” She spun around to face Gabriel and planted both hands on her hips.

Brent skidded to a stop beside them, dirt billowing up at his feet. He scanned the area, taking everything in. “Gabe’s right. We’ll have to jump and swim to that boat.” He pointed to the ship, its rainbow-striped sails flapping wildly in the wind.

Finley drew a shaky breath. “But Finley no swim.”

Gunner stepped forward, towering over them. “Ya ‘ave to try, Finley. I rushed out to meet cha to bring the lot of ya to me boat.” His eyes, that reminded Gabriel of huge blueberries, stared at Finley. “Look, me friend, I ‘ave to git back and help put out dem der flames. I was supposed to take ya in fer the night, but den dis happened.” He frowned and folded his muscular arms over his chest. “For dat I’m sorry, but dat down der is me boat.” He nodded in the direction of the sailboat anchored in the ocean. “Lord of da Rock, I calls er. She be a sturdy vessel and she’s got some goodies fer ya to eat. Elp yerself, and ders a cabin in da belly to git yer snore on. Spend da night, me friends, den head round da side of da mountain der.” He pointed a long, furry finger to the right where the swell of the mountain curved out into the ocean. “You’ll not be far from da Tandem Wood by den, I tell ya.”

Piper glanced at Gabriel from the corner of her eye and lifted a brow. Not only did the dude look funny, but the way he talked was way different than anything Gabriel had ever heard. Even though it was different … it was kinda cool … and he sounded nice. And thankfully, he seemed friendly. Problem was, they weren’t going to the Tandem Wood anymore.

“But we no go to Wood,” Finley said, as if reading Gabriel’s mind. He bounced from foot to foot. “We go to human land.”

“Ericville?” Gunner asked, clasping his hands around the straps of his overalls. With no shirt on, his white mounds of fur puffed out from the sides. “Ya don’t say, b’ye.”

Finley nodded, looking worried.

“Well, nerry problem,” Gunner said, which Gabriel took to mean, “no problem.” Except, Gunner’s face didn’t match his words. “But word’s come dat fires ‘ave broken out along Parma too, I ‘ates to say. You’ll ‘ave to go by way of da Crimson Lake.”

Finley continued to bounce, as if fire had crept under his feet.

Something told Gabriel that going by way of Crimson Lake was anything but no problem.

Snap!

Gabriel glanced back. The fire sizzled, popped, and scorched the skyline, coming closer—dangerously close. The only good news was the drizzling sky finally looked like it was about to downpour. But that wasn’t gonna help them right then.

Eying Brent, Gabriel jerked his chin toward the ocean. Brent nodded once in silent agreement. Gabriel latched onto Finley’s wrist and Brent grabbed Piper’s hand.

“Sucks to be us,” Gabriel said.

Then they were free-falling toward the ocean, the whistling of the brisk wind skating past their faces, the deep, dark sea looming closer by the second.