Intruders

Dev Suresh, as he now believed himself to be, sat squeezed inside a broom closet in a tiny vacant house in the deserted village bordering his broken-down palace. He’d picked a dwelling that seemed solid and was located deep inside a maze of houses that were separated by narrow paths rather than broad roads. It was one that would be harder for dragons to get to if they were looking for him on foot.

He’d stayed perfectly still inside the cramped closet, feeling every joint and muscle in his body begin to ache. But whenever he started to doubt or question his resolve, he remembered the last time he’d been forced to hide from this group. “It’s better than the river” had become his mantra, and he repeated it over and over in his mind to get him through. Anything was better than that.

When hours passed and no disturbances were felt or heard, Dev began to wonder if the Revinir and her team of dragons had passed him by without stopping. Was it possible they hadn’t noticed him sneaking out of the center turret and running for his life? Or perhaps they’d seen him but didn’t care? He thought back to the time in the river. He’d nearly drowned and hadn’t witnessed where they’d gone after that. Perhaps this palace was just a spot along their path to some other place.

Or maybe Dev was really paranoid. After all, the Revinir had thrown him out of the castle tower from a ridiculous height and called in her dragons to dispose of him. So it was very likely that she thought Dev was dead. But the dragon-woman was exceedingly tricky and evil, and Dev didn’t trust anything about her. She could be toying with him right now. She could be staring in the window of this house, smelling him. Waiting for him to feel confident enough to emerge.

Dev closed his eyes as his breath grew shallow. Fear and dread crept in like they always did. He let his head fall back against the wall, and when it made a little thud, he worried that the Revinir had heard it, and at any second, the dragons would destroy this house with him in it.

It was too many worries for anyone, especially someone who’d gone through as much trauma as Dev had.

More hours passed with no intruders or disasters. As the light from under the door became muted, Dev eased to a standing position, then quietly and carefully turned the doorknob and pushed it open an inch. He held his breath, listening, then put his eye to the crack and looked out the kitchen window.

No one was there. He pushed the door farther and eased his aching body out of the closet, peering into other areas of the house but seeing no one. He let out a sigh of relief. Of course no one was there. There was no way a dragon could be inside unless the whole ceiling or an entire wall had caved in. “Silly,” Dev muttered under his breath. Everything seemed ridiculous now that he could rest assured no dragons were nearby. But the feelings and fears had been very real.

He checked the windows that overlooked the surrounding village. It was deserted, as always. Dev had sat inside a tiny closet for half the day. He was more than ready to get back to the comfort of his home.

As he slipped out onto the path, Dev looked left and right, and also above him, just in case. He wasn’t about to throw caution to the wind. When he was sure the coast was clear, he proceeded toward home. The sun had set, and in the growing dusk, Dev stayed close to the houses for cover, then made a fast break for the orchard. He picked his way between trees, stepping as quietly as possible, though he was unable to avoid the crunch of leaves and the occasional stick because of the fog that began rolling in and surrounding the hill that the palace stood on.

Dev reached the edge of the orchard and paused to look again in all directions before moving across the open area to get to the palace. His eye caught a slight movement by the center tower entrance, but it disappeared inside—was it one of the foxes? It seemed larger than that. And then he swept his gaze from side to side and saw red. Two medium-size red dragons at the near corners of the property.

His heart thudding, Dev gasped and sank into the fog.