35 35 Cole hunched on a stool outside of a beautiful cottage. A soft wind carried the scent of leaves and wildflowers. The autocoach waited nearby, Bertram sitting contentedly inside.
After traveling a considerable distance from where Carnag had fallen, Liam and Mira had shaped the cottage in less than an hour, complete with beds, furniture, a big fireplace, paintings on the walls, and a garden out back. This was the second afternoon after the cottage had risen.
Cole could not stop worrying about his friends. When Liam had moved Quima to a new underground cell near the cottage, she had refused to respond to any inquiry. With her blank expression and her dazed manner, she had seemed unreachable.
Lacking further information, all Cole could do was wonder and fret about Dalton and Jenna. If the High King took their shaping power, he would have to keep them alive, or the power would be lost, right? Would it bother his friends to lose their power if they only had it briefly? Or was the problem something else? Quima had referred to experiments. Given all that shaping could accomplish, the experiments could involve almost anything.
Mira and Liam had shared vague assurances that they would help, but, really, they were all waiting. They needed more information.
Fluttering down from the sky, Mango landed near the cottage door. Cole got off the stool. “What is it?”
“I need to tell Mira that a rider approaches,” the bird announced.
“Is it Joe?” Cole asked.
“Of course, silly. I’m not raising an alarm!”
By the time Cole had retrieved Mira, Liam, Jace, and Twitch from inside the cottage, they could hear hoofbeats. Cole clung to a faint hope that Mira’s messenger might reveal something about how he could help Jenna and Dalton.
Before long the horseman rode into view. He cantered across the field to them and dismounted. Cole recognized the man who had come to Skyport just before the legionnaires arrived, his whiskers longer, his leather jacket further dulled by dust. Joe pointed at the cottage. “Looks like you’ve settled in!”
Liam shrugged. “It’s far from any convenient roads.”
“I saw Carnag,” Joe said. “What was left of it. Thanks for waiting. Glad I could help.”
Liam lifted his hands apologetically. “Did you notice any legionnaires on the road?”
“That was only part of the fun!” Joe exclaimed. “Do you know how hard I rode to get here? I galloped through the night, trading horses, spending money like a compulsive gambler, and using every trick I knew.”
“Mira, meet Joe MacFarland,” Liam said. “Joe, this is Miracle Pemberton. These three boys are her friends.”
Joe gave a respectful bow. “I’m at your service, Your Highness.”
“Nice to meet you,” Mira said uncomfortably. “Just call me Mira, please.”
“Whatever you prefer,” Joe said. “I’m glad to find you safe.”
“I’m glad you’re safe too,” Mira said. “Thank you for trying to warn me about the legion back at Skyport. Was there more to your message?”
Joe glanced at Liam. “I learned about the legionnaires while on my way to find you. The message regarded other matters.”
Mira looked surprised. “What?”
Joe looked from Cole to Jace to Twitch. “I was supposed to take you and Durny to confront Carnag. If we succeeded, we had a second assignment. It concerns one of your sisters. Would you rather I tell you in private?”
Mira paled and rubbed her lips with both hands. “I haven’t had direct word about my sisters since we all parted. Are they all right?”
“This only involves one of them,” Joe said. “She’s in trouble.”
Mira faced the boys. “Then this is up to you. I can’t begin to thank you for getting me out of Skyport and coming here with me. It went beyond my wildest hopes. If you want to leave, now is the time. I won’t take it personally. We’re out of immediate danger. I expect this news will mean traveling to another kingdom.”
Joe nodded. “Since we’re among friends, I’ll reveal that responding to this message would mean going to Elloweer.”
“I’m with you, Mira,” Jace said. “I told you to stop trying to get rid of me. Although I’m not sure my rope will work well outside of Sambria.”
“It’s very powerful,” Liam said. “But outside of Sambria or maybe Junction, it will barely function, if at all. Other shaping disciplines govern the other kingdoms. Almost all Sambrian renderings would become inert. In Elloweer, shapers are called enchanters, and their abilities are mostly foreign to me.”
“I’ll be less useful,” Jace said. “But I’m willing. Where else would I go?”
“You’re free now,” Mira said. “You could build a life. With that rope alone, you could go far here in Sambria.”
“Any of you would be welcome to join me,” Liam said. “Our new hiding place should remain secure for some time. We could certainly make use of you. And I wouldn’t mind company with the chore of transporting Quima.”
“Would you rather get rid of me?” Jace asked Mira, almost timidly.
“I want you to do what you want,” she said. “Staying with me will definitely lead to trouble. Maybe even death.”
“Then count me in,” Jace said. “I’ve had so much trouble in my life, I’m not sure what I’d do without it.”
“I haven’t told you everything about me,” Twitch said. “I left Elloweer with a purpose. My people are in danger. Slavery was an unplanned detour. I have to go back and see what I can do. So I can join you for at least part of the journey. But maybe I should avoid hearing details, because I might have to eventually part ways.”
“Whatever you’d prefer,” Mira said.
Twitch hopped away, wings fluttering. He only stopped once he had given them plenty of space.
When Mira looked at Cole, he had never felt more like a hero. She stepped toward him and gave him a big hug, which he returned. “Your friends need you,” she said. “I wish we had a better idea what they’re up against.” Releasing him, Mira stepped back.
“What friends?” Joe asked.
“My friends who came here as slaves from my world,” Cole said. “Some had shaping talent and were sold to the High King.”
“Slaves who can shape?” Joe asked. “Do you know their specialties?”
“No,” Cole said. “But the High King may want them for experiments.”
Joe rubbed his jaw. “The High Shaper has been sending his slaves with shaping talent all over the five kingdoms. They’re going into training wherever their talents are strongest.”
“Since when?” Mira asked.
“For the past several weeks,” Joe said.
Liam scrunched his face in disappointment. “That means your friends could be anywhere.”
Cole felt deflated. Joe’s news meant he knew less than he had previously believed. “Including Junction City,” Cole realized. “They might not have gone with the slaves sent for training. They could be part of something else.”
“Entirely possible,” Joe said. “But I do know that the High Shaper has been acquiring slaves with shaping talent wherever he can find them and sending them to be trained all over the Outskirts.”
“We’ll help you find them,” Mira said, rubbing Cole’s shoulder. “I promised to help you. I haven’t forgotten.”
Joe looked a little uncomfortable. “You may be needed elsewhere, Mira. At least in the short term.”
“There are ways we can investigate,” Liam assured Cole. “The five kingdoms are large, but we aren’t without allies. I’ll give you all the help at my disposal. You could come with me and wait, or I could probably figure out a way to contact you if you’d rather stay with Mira.”
Cole frowned. “Thanks. Right now information is what I need most. I can’t really help my friends until I know where they went. In the meanwhile, I’ll stick with Mira.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“They’re as likely to be in Elloweer as anywhere,” Cole said.
Mira hugged him tightly. Cole tried to avoid eye contact with Jace. “I’d hate to lose you. You saved us back there. You saved me. Cole, if I live forever, I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
“I couldn’t believe it worked,” Cole said. “I thought it was a long shot.”
“It was,” Liam said. “If Mira hadn’t planted a lot of doubt in Carnag, and if the essence of Carnag wasn’t eager to rejoin Mira, I don’t think it would have succeeded. The shawl was a potent tool, but not strong enough to harness something like Carnag—not unless she was already pretty conflicted.”
“Anyway,” Cole said to Mira, “until I have a clear idea where to find Dalton or Jenna, I’m coming with you. Without a plan, or at least someplace to go, I can’t imagine leaving you. I’d be utterly alone.”
“Ouch,” Liam said.
“Not if I went with you,” Cole hurriedly clarified. “Which I would do, except . . . I’ve lost enough friends already. I don’t want to lose any more.”
“Ouch again!” Liam said. “Seriously, stop talking.”
Cole gave an embarrassed laugh. “I don’t want to lose you either, Liam, but you’re heading off to a hideout. I need to keep moving. And I want to help Mira.”
“In that case, I’ll contact you if I learn something,” Liam said.
“I’d appreciate it,” Cole said.
“Go ahead and give us the message,” Mira prompted.
“As you can probably guess, this concerns Honor,” Joe said. “Her shaping was always strongest in Elloweer. Your mother fears that her protector is dead and that she has been captured. I was going to take you and Durny to try to help her.”
“How would we find her?” Mira asked.
“Her star is in the sky,” Joe said. “I know how to recognize it. Just as I know yours.”
“I can’t believe it,” Mira said. “I haven’t seen Nori in so many years. I’m surprised she’s in trouble. I can much more easily picture her rescuing me.”
“The message had few details,” Joe said. “We’ll only learn more by following her star.”
“When do we start?” Jace asked.
“As soon as you choose,” Liam said. “It’ll mean going our separate ways for now.”
Mira sighed. “I had hoped that getting my powers back would mean the end of my troubles for a while.”
“Not yet,” Cole said. “But we hurt your dad. And we’ll hurt him more. The best way to help my friends will be to bring him down.”
“No problem,” Jace said. “We’ll take out the High King. Twitch will love that. We should tell him.”
“We won’t beat the High King tomorrow,” Cole said. “Probably not the next day either. But helping Honor will be a good place to start.”
“This may not stop with the High King,” Liam warned. “We also have to worry about Quima’s group of shapecrafters.”
“No,” Cole said. “They need to worry about us.”