Sound the Alarms

Receiving Fifer’s first send spell after so many weeks without a word had been a relief until Florence opened it. Florence and Simber had read it together in utter confusion, then called in Aaron and Maiven and Rohan. And then Ishibashi and Sky. And Carina and Seth. And Lani and Samheed. Nobody could make sense of the shocking turn of events, especially Rohan.

“Could this be some sort of a trick?” Rohan asked. He couldn’t fathom it.

“I think we have to treat it as real,” Lani said. She glanced at Aaron, who’d sunk to a chair and covered his face.

Florence had immediately responded, and then she’d prepared a small rescue contingent to head out on the ghost dragons. Leaving Lani in charge of Artimé and Samheed and Kaylee to take over magical and combat training, Florence, Simber, Aaron, Maiven, Rohan, Ishibashi, Sky, Carina, and Seth departed Artimé in various stages of disbelief, having had little time to absorb and comprehend Fifer’s words.

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Fifer’s response came in while they were flying on Gorgrun’s back to the Island of Fire. Florence called an emergency meeting with Maiven and Rohan and the rest of them. Simber flew next to them, and Quince beyond, carrying luggage and supplies. Florence opened the send spell and read it silently while the others waited.

Rohan’s face looked as gray as it had been when he’d lived in the catacombs for years. “I just… I can’t believe this is happening,” he whispered as he prepared himself for more atrocities.

Florence looked up, then read the message aloud:

Florence,

Thank goodness you’re coming. Yes, Thisbe knows that. But she took a hard fall early on and has been a bit out of sorts ever since, talking about being more evil than good. Then she mumbled something yesterday about there being another way…. I didn’t know what she meant by that until she disappeared with one of the Revinir’s dragons. I’m afraid she has something sinister in mind. I’m sick about it—this isn’t the Thisbe everyone knows.

Fifer

“Sinister?” Rohan said, his eyes widening. “Not the Thisbe everyone knows? What is going on here? She was injured…?” He shook his head angrily. “More evil than good? That’s not an indicator of anything! I kept telling her that!”

Maiven touched Rohan’s arm. “We’ll get this straightened out.”

“Clearrrly the Rrrevinirrr has put the twins thrrrough something horrrible,” Simber said. “We should have gone afterrr them earrrlierrr.”

“We had an order from the head mage,” Florence reminded him.

“But why didn’t Fiferrr contact us beforrre this happened?” Simber lamented. “Maybe we could have done something!”

“I still think something odd is happening here,” Rohan said. “Thisbe would never do this!”

“It’s not impossible for me to imagine Thisbe going this route,” Aaron muttered. His expression was distraught. He didn’t know what else to say. A pang of guilt went through him. Was his sister taking after him?

Maiven looked from Florence to Simber and back again. It was heartbreaking to see their reactions. “Florence,” she said, “how do these notes strike you?”

“I didn’t track with any of this at first,” said Florence. She glanced at Rohan. “I understand your disbelief, Rohan. Maybe Fifer is somehow compromised. There’s no telling what people will do when injured and threatened or bullied.” She thought for a moment. “But Fifer knew she didn’t have to make up a shocking story to get us to come—she could have just asked, and we’d be on the way immediately. So why would she need to lie?”

Rohan closed his eyes in defeat.

“A lot of time has passed, and we don’t know any details,” Florence said gently. “I’m withholding judgment for now. But… I have little reason to doubt what Fifer is saying.”

“I agree,” said Sky quietly.

Seth nodded. “Fifer doesn’t lie.” A shadow crossed over his face. Unless it was for Thisbe. He shook the thought away—it didn’t make any sense. How would Fifer lying to all of them about this help Thisbe in any way?

Ishibashi spoke up. “ ‘Another way’… what does that mean?”

“I assume it means another way to take over leadership.”

“Impossible,” Maiven said. But her eyes narrowed, and she didn’t seem 100 percent sure.

Rohan remained quiet and withdrawn. Everything about this strange development seemed completely off. And he was furious that Florence and the others hadn’t gone after the twins when he’d suggested it, right after they’d been abducted. Back when he’d tried to convince them that it was the right thing to do. Nobody knew the Revinir like he and the other black-eyed children did. Why hadn’t they listened to him? Why hadn’t he pushed harder? He sank down into the dragon’s soft back, feeling stunned. How could Thisbe possibly do something like this? Not just to him, but to their people? It made Rohan sick enough to want to throw up. He thought he knew her.

Maybe this was Fifer’s way of saying something else. Was she being forced to send it? Was Florence sure that it sounded like Fifer? What if the note was really from the Revinir? “Are you sure Fifer wrote these?” he asked, desperate to make sense of this.

“She would have had to be the one to write it and send it magically,” said Florence. “No one else could do it and impersonate her.”

“But if a dragon were hovering over her, she might write whatever the Revinir told her to write,” Rohan argued. “I just can’t believe this is true. Thisbe would never, ever do this.” He felt like he was repeating himself, but he couldn’t let it go.

“I can’t fathom it either,” Maiven said. “Florence, could Fifer be compromised?”

“Absolutely,” said Florence. “And if she is, the Revinir will be anxiously waiting for our response.”

Seth glanced up. “So it would torture the Revinir if we don’t answer right away?”

Florence raised an eyebrow. “Could be a good technique. Maybe not quite yet, though. We want to reassure Fifer in case she’s really in a dire situation.”

“We have to at least act like we believe what Fiferrr is telling us,” Simber said. “In case Rrrohan’s position is corrrect.”

Simber’s comments made Rohan feel a little better. But what Fifer had said about Thisbe being more evil than good stuck in his craw. He’d waved off that argument since the beginning. But he remembered when the Revinir had announced it—he’d been with Thisbe in the catacombs, near the river. And Thisbe had clearly been bothered by it then. But he thought she’d gotten past it. Maybe she hadn’t after all. Had the dragon-woman worn her down so much that she’d started to believe her?

“What other way could there possibly be?” Rohan asked suddenly. “Surely Maiven or the ghost dragons would know if there’s another way to take over the rulership of the land of the dragons.”

“Without support from either body of residents,” Maiven explained, “there isn’t another way. I’ve been racking my memory trying to think of what she could possibly mean.”

Florence tapped her chin, making a clacking sound. “Perhaps she thinks the rest of you can be coerced to vote for her.”

Rohan and Maiven looked at each other with doubt in their eyes. There was no way any of the black-eyed children would turn their backs on Maiven Taveer. It was impossible. And Thisbe knew it.

Rohan began to despair again. “Nothing makes sense.” he said.

“Any thoughts on how I should respond?” Florence asked.

“We rrrespond as if we believe Fiferrr,” said Simber. “Whetherrr she’s telling the trrruth or trrrying to send us a hidden message, we must go along with it to keep herrr safety intact. She’s intelligent. I don’t believe this is a game in any way. Something’s verrry wrrrong, eitherrr with Thisbe orrr with Fiferrr.”

“Or both of them,” said Sky.

Florence glanced at Maiven and Rohan. “Agreed?”

“Yes,” said Maiven.

Rohan hesitated, then added, “Is there a way to give her a clue that we are skeptical about all of this? So she knows we’re not swallowing it whole?”

“I think so. Let me work on this.” Florence wrote her response and showed it to the others:

Fifer,

We’re shocked beyond belief. We are on our way to Ashguard’s palace, hoping to arrive tomorrow morning. Don’t despair—we’re coming to help.

Florence

The group agreed that the “beyond belief” part conveyed what they wanted to say while still being clear that they sensed the danger she was in and were taking it seriously. Florence sent it, and they dispersed to brood individually.

Aaron had no words. Only the questions pounding him. Was this somehow his fault? Could he have detected this kind of behavior, having turned on everyone himself at one point?

Rohan took to a quiet spot near the back of the dragon to be alone. He still couldn’t get over what Fifer was saying. If it were true… Ugh—he could hardly even imagine. His heart would be broken forever. There was no worse betrayal in his mind. Thisbe knew how dedicated he was to getting the land back to the rightful owners. She had to know how much this would hurt him. Didn’t she care? If only he could talk to her. Find out what was happening.

He could hardly get through the suspense one minute at a time. He didn’t know if he could last until they found Fifer the next day. Where was Thisbe? The castle? Would she be alone? He glanced at Quince. Perhaps Rohan could go to the castle to check things out while the others went to find Fifer. That would be risky, though. He’d have to clear it with Maiven and Florence, and he could already predict the answer to be a hearty “no.” But he just wanted to talk to Thisbe so badly his head ached.

A few weeks before, Florence had awarded Rohan his very own loaded component vest. He slipped his fingers into one of the pockets and drew out a send spell component, then turned it around in his hands.

He knew it was a bad idea to send anything to Thisbe, knowing that she was probably with the Revinir. Yet… he couldn’t stop agonizing about everything. How could she do this to him? He clutched the buttons of his shirt, near his heart, as if that would stop the pain from oozing through his chest.

But it only intensified. He’d never felt more abandoned in his life. Not even when his mother had forced him to go away. Thisbe’s betrayal was worse than that. It felt cold-blooded. Calculated. Almost impossible to believe. But what if… what if it was true? What if her evil side had taken point for the first time? What if all this time her evil levels were increasing and Rohan just hadn’t known? What if her turning to work with the Revinir was just an inevitable thing that Rohan had convinced himself wouldn’t ever happen? How naive of him.

He pictured Thisbe, the way she looked at him. There was never any evil in her eyes. Only kindness. Gentleness. Even… love. He let out a low moan as tears sprang to his eyes. His heart was breaking right here, on a ghost dragon’s back, and he couldn’t stop it. He would do anything to end the pain. He had to know if Thisbe had really betrayed them. He couldn’t stand it. Taking the component, he removed the pencil and hunched over so the others wouldn’t see. Through tears he held it poised, then wrote:

Thisbe…

A sob escaped him just from writing her name. How could she hurt him like this? He remembered the letter he’d written to her. It was folded up inside his pants pocket. He’d poured his heart out to her in that letter, and now he wanted to rip it up. Burn it. Throw it into the ocean. She didn’t deserve to read it.

Rohan hated himself for feeling this way when they still weren’t sure what was happening. But along with that feeling came an instance of clarity and acknowledgment. A reluctant moment of awareness of the danger he could cause by sending a spell to Thisbe. He stared at Thisbe’s name on the paper and let out a breath. Then he replaced the pencil and slipped the send component back inside his pocket. He curled up on his side with his back to everyone, his eyes on the sea, his tears lost in the silvery ethereal skin of the dragon.