CHAPTER NINETEEN

 

The prickly rope bit into Gabriel’s hands as he clung on, his mind reeling in panic. He couldn’t die like this. Not here.

Brent yelped and Gabriel snapped his gaze below. His best friend had slipped from the rope. His flailing body plunging through the air, headed toward Crimson Lake.

Gabriel’s heart pounded. He couldn’t lose Brent. But he was helpless to do anything since he was about to smash into the cliff and become a pancake.

In the next second, as swift as an arrow, three white tigers swooped down from above, their huge wings thumping in flight. Propelling through the air, one tiger slid beneath Brent just before he hit the water, bolting skyward with him on its back.

A second tiger shot toward Gabriel. He eyed the flying beast as he swung closer to the side of the rock face, the branches and twigs growing eerily close. There was no way the tiger could make it in time. And if Gabriel didn’t let go of the broken bridge, he’d crash into the side of the cliff.

He closed his eyes.

He let go with a yell.

“Gabriel!” Piper screamed.

He plummeted, the lake growing closer by the second, panic drilling through him. He was going to die in a lake of blood and his parents wouldn’t even remember him because of the memory potion he’d slipped them.

Just as he tensed and prepared to splash into Crimson Lake, he landed with a thud on the back of one of the winged tigers. Gabriel bounced forward, almost flinging over the tiger’s head.

“Ahhh!” He wrapped his arms around its neck and steadied himself just as the tiger skimmed the lake, zooming upward. It brushed the tree line with a proud roar. Gabriel laughed. “Yahoooo!” he hollered as Brent and his tiger fell in line to Gabriel’s left.

“Wait for us!” Piper called.

Gabriel glanced over his shoulder. Piper and Finley were together on the third tiger. Finley’s big brown eyes were wide in alarm as he clung to a brown strap wrapped around the large cat.

Gabriel faced forward again. It was then that he noticed a brown leather strap secured around his tiger just like the one Finley was holding. A saddlebag dangled from the strap like he’d seen people use on horses. He sat up and gripped the leather band, the brisk wind pushing his hair back and rattling his jacket. He dragged in a big breath and a huge smile slid up his face. He was safe. Still grinning, he reached down and lifted the flap on one saddlebag while keeping a firm hold on the strap with his other hand.

Inside the bag was a canteen. Tugging it out, he used his chin to pop back the lid, then guzzled the cool water inside. He didn’t think water had ever tasted so good in his whole life. He held the canister up, wiggling it in the air toward Brent and then to Piper and Finley who now flanked his other side. With a thumbs-up, they dug into their saddlebags and began gulping the water, too. It was totally crazy to think they were flying over the forest—having escaped near death—on top of tigers!

“Epic!” Gabriel yelled so loud his voice bounced off the mountains and mixed in with the thumping of the tiger’s wings and the wind whistling in his ears.

Gabriel leaned in and patted the tiger. He saw something flicking in the wind. Tied to the strap on the tiger’s back was a thin brown leather string, securing what looked like thick paper rolled like a scroll. With one hand he untied the knot and unrolled the paper. He read the hand-written note:

 

Friends,

It is my hope that my tigers have found you, and found you well. Word has come of the fire that has deterred you from your path. The tigers have been searching Valta for you ever since. They are instructed to take you just outside of Ericville where you can regroup. The tigers will stay with you for added protection. As well, I’ve asked other kindred spirits to assist you. I thank you on behalf of my mother and sister, and for all of Valta who would be lost without them. Go well and triumph in the name of the mighty palace in Shataundra.

~ Prince Oliver

 

As they raced high above the treetops, Gabriel tucked Prince Oliver’s note into his pocket. Prince Oliver had totally come through and saved their butts. But what would happen when they confronted Dacho? Up until then, Gabriel had only been obsessed with making it on time. With the flying tigers, the worry of being late was out of the way, but now they needed a solid plan.

After a while, the tigers swooped sharply down. Gabriel tucked low to the tiger’s body and gripped his fingers around the leather strap. Even though they were sky-bombing, Gabriel wasn’t scared. “Let’s go, boy!” he called, exhilaration pumping through his veins.

Gabriel’s tiger landed on the ground with a thud just behind Brent’s, padding forward a few steps. Piper and Finley’s tiger heaved to the ground beside them. Finley jumped off with a squeak.

“Dude,” Brent said. “These tigers bring new meaning to jet fuel.” He laughed and petted the tiger’s back while holding the vase under his other arm like a football. “How sick would it be to show up at school with one of these guys?”

“Pretty awesome,” Piper agreed. “Can you imagine Cedric’s face?” She leaned in and wrapped her arms around the tiger’s neck. “I don’t know what your name is,” she said to the large cat, “but thanks for the ride.” The tiger snorted, blasting her hair away from her face. Piper laughed and wiped some slime off her cheeks, before turning more serious. “You must miss your friend Andimian.” She peered into the tiger’s bright eyes. “But I bet Leejor is fixing him up right now.”

While Piper talked to the tiger, Finley scooted up to the top of a nearby tree. His furry head turned from left to right, searching the area. After a minute he jumped down. “We be near Ericville. It look clear.”

“Hey, check it out.” Gabriel yanked out the scroll from Prince Oliver and showed it to everybody.

Piper scanned the note. “I wonder who the kindred spirits are.”

“Hopefully somebody strong,” Gabriel replied. “And somebody who knows how to beat the snot out of lizard men.”

Piper snorted. “That would be so perfect.”

Gabriel studied the woods. He remembered the area from the last time they were in Valta. And Finley was right. It looked clear. Only the sounds of birds chirping and leaves scattering across the ground filled the air.

Gabriel faced the others. “Okay, look. If we get to Ericville and Dacho is there like he said he would be, then we’ll have to move fast.”

Brent made a sour face and groaned in frustration. “He’s gonna be pretty mad when we show up without Duke Malgor.”

“Exactly why we have to go fast,” Gabriel answered. “I’m thinking I should move speedy style, grab the empress and princess, and we take off on the tigers. Boom. Outta there.”

“I like that plan,” Piper said as they moved forward toward Ericville with Finley in the lead and the tigers following behind them. “If it works, that would be amazing.”

Brent kicked a pinecone in his path. “Hey, what was with those robots back there? Where the heck did they come from?”

“Solaria,” Gabriel answered. They looked at him with questioning eyes. “The letter S on their metal chests and the three red suns? They were definitely from Solaria.”

Piper stared at Gabriel. “Solaria must be pretty advanced to have robots like that. What do you think they were doing?”

“Recon,” Brent answered. “Definitely recon. I saw the one dude scooping blood up in a vial. Why else would the thing do that if they weren’t testing it for something? It must have been checking out the area, but I don’t know what for.”

“Yeah, I saw that too,” Gabriel said. “Definitely weird, but right now we need to focus on getting the empress and princess back.”

“I know.” Brent pressed a hand against his stomach. “But honestly, dude, I hope we make it to Ericville before Dacho does. I’m seriously gonna die of hunger if I don’t eat soon.”

“You’ll live,” Piper said with a laugh. Gabriel chuckled.

But they didn’t laugh for long.

Finley held his arms out wide, halting them in their step. Then he motioned for them to follow him behind a few trees. The tigers padded behind them, then lay down in the grass and folded their wings in on their backs.

Up ahead lay the familiar, narrow stretch of land that led to the huge gate into Ericville—the talking gate that tested your saliva to see if you were human before it would let you in.

They scurried from tree to tree, hiding under the brush, until they got closer to the gated area. Everything looked the same as before: the massive wooden gate with slatted eyes and mouth, the tall mountains soaring up on either side of it, and the tube shooting up from the ground in front of the entry. Gabriel remembered the tube had a set of prongs that held a vial in place to collect your saliva.

Except now, three Solarians manned the gate, their metal masks covering their ugly faces.

So much for showing up early.

Two of them stood guard. And even worse—the third had his red scaly hand wrapped around Princess Evangeline’s arm.

What the heck is he doing with her?

The red lizard man dragged her toward the vial. Gabriel wondered if it was Dacho. He looked at the remaining Solarians. Where was Empress Malina?

Gabriel shivered as a sickening thought came to him. Out of all of them in front of the gate, Princess Evangeline was the only one with human blood in her veins. They must be planning to get into Ericville by using her. Even though the princess was only half-human, it was possible her saliva had enough human DNA stuff to fool the gate into opening. Gabriel didn’t know how exact the gate’s testing was. He did know that if the Solarians got into Ericville, it would be a nightmare. The Solarians hated humans, so the only reason to go inside would be to kill them.

Anger surged through Gabriel. They had to stop them before they hurt Princess Evangeline and the humans living in Ericville.

Piper bit her lip. “Are they really trying—”

Gabriel fisted his hands. “Yep. They’re actually trying to break into Ericville. And we can’t let them.”