“Are we there yet?” Howie asked for the tenth time that morning. He stood up in his stirrups, stretching his cramped legs. His backside was going to have blisters by the end of the day. It made him miss the bus he used to take to school, even with its hard-backed seats and flying spitballs. At least it didn’t take three days to get anywhere.
Jey sighed. “Are you always this annoying? I told you, when we see the red tip of Ilyawit Peak, we turn to the right. We will see a large black hole in the side of a mountain. That is the entrance to the Caverns of Inizza. They were sealed off for centuries until that witch Catriona called up the Safyre.”
The ever-superior Falcory boy rode bareback atop a brown-and-white pinto horse like he had been born on it.
Howie’s horse was thick around the middle, with one eye cockeyed to the left and a tongue that lolled out of its mouth, but it was the best Jey could steal. Howie had named her Sunny because he was trying to look on the bright side. All they had to do was save Beo, then fly back to Skara Brae on the back of the Safyre Omera, and Captain Teren would forget all about the fact that Howie had abandoned his post.
They had been riding day and night for almost two days, with only a few hours of sleep snatched between midnight and dawn. Lingas dug her claws into his shoulder, reminding him the iolar hadn’t eaten yet today.
Damarius, or Big D, as Howie had taken to calling the animal, trotted just behind Sunny like a dark shadow. Howie was a regular animal whisperer. He had tried shooing the wolf, yelling at him to stay in Skara Brae; he even tried tying him up, only to have the beast snap his tether with one swipe of its jaws.
Finally, pressed for time, Howie had given in, reminding the shaggy animal that if he missed a meal, it was on him, and that he couldn’t eat Howie, or his horse, or whatever it was Shun Kara wolves ate.
Right now, they had bigger problems than a missed meal. Water was in short supply. Their trek across the desert had been hot and tiring. Damarius panted with thirst. Empty skins of water hung off Howie’s horse. He tilted one to his lips, shaking out the last few drops.
They had started with four each. Jey had managed to scrounge up a pair under some rocks in the middle of the desert, but they were down to their last waterskin.
Eager to pass the time and not dwell on his guilt, his thirst, or his sore bum, Howie asked, “How do you know so much about the place if you’ve never been there?”
“My father tells me stories of the past. The old ones told us that when Catriona and her cronies were put into those stones at the Ring of Brogar, the Safyre Omeras went to sleep in hopes that one day Catriona might return to them.”
Howie clucked his tongue. “Sounds like a long nap. Oh, snap, Ilyawit Peak.”
“Stop asking me how long—”
“No, look,” Howie pointed over Jey’s shoulder. “The red-tipped peak.”
Jey’s eyes lit up. “Ilyawit. That’s where Leo and I faced the she-she-kana. He would have been toast if I hadn’t saved him,” he boasted.
Howie snorted. “The way Leo tells it, you almost came out the back end of that thing.”
Jey tossed him a glare, and then he smiled. “When Leo tells the story, the she-she-kana was as big as the moon. Come on, if we ride hard, we can make the entrance to the caverns by dusk.”
He dug his heels in the flanks of his horse, and the animal took off. Howie watched, whistling in admiration as the Falcory boy hung low over the side of the horse, urging it on as he whispered in its ear.
“Come on, girl.” He kicked Sunny in the side. “Giddyap.” Lingas launched herself in the air and took wing. Big D ran ahead, silvery black fur blown back as he raced.
Before they got within spitting distance of the cavern entrance, Howie could feel a chill washing over the desert air. Like they were about to step into an icebox. The smell coming out of there was like three-day-old roadkill.
Sunny pulled her ears back, tossing him a wild look over her shoulder as if to ask if he was crazy. Even Damarius raised a lip in a snarl, prancing foot to foot as he studied the opening.
Lingas settled on a mesquite branch, fluttering her wings as she skreaked loudly. The message was clear: this was a bad idea.
“Yeah, I got it, guys,” Howie said. “None of you like this place.”
The black hole was big enough to drive a bus through. Tumbled rocks littered the ground, like the Safyre had punched its way through, disintegrating solid rock into rubble. Howie tried not to think about how strong those beasts were.
Jey tied his horse to some scrub. It immediately began chewing on the branches.
Howie slid off his horse, hanging on to the saddle until enough blood flowed back to his legs that he could stand.
“Are we really going in there?” he asked.
Jey was already moving toward the entrance. “My father’s in there.”
Howie tied Sunny to a branch. It would do no good telling Damarius to stay, but Lingas would be in the way.
He slipped a small leather hood over the iolar’s head. “Sorry, Lingas; I can’t be worrying about you in there. You stay here and take a nice nap.” Howie scurried after Jey as Lingas let out a high-pitched complaint.
“So what’s the plan?” Howie asked.
“We rescue my father; then we tame the beast.”
“I know, but what if the big, fire-breathing Safyre doesn’t like us coming in there?”
“Then she will feel my blade in her heart,” Jey said, drawing out the knife strapped to his thigh. The hilt was carved from yellowed bone, and the six-inch blade looked lethal. “This belonged to my father. He gave it to me on my twelfth birthday.” He slashed the air with it. “I will do what I must.”
Howie hopped in front of Jey. “You know, you remind me a lot of Leo. He’s all about brave talk but short on making plans. We’ve both seen a Safyre Omera before. The one Catriona rode was as big as a house.”
“If you are scared, stay here,” Jey said, shoving past him to march toward the cave.
“Hey!”
Howie grabbed him and spun him back around. “Of course I’m scared. If you’re not, you’re just . . . well, lying or stupid. Before we go running in there, we need a plan. Like, how are we going to see? It looks pitch black inside.”
Damarius growled low in his throat at Howie’s side, glaring at Jey as if, for once, the stubborn beast agreed.
Grudgingly the Falcory boy gave it thought. “We could make torches. There is sap in the green mesquite. I have my flint with me. If we wrap the ends with some cloth, they will burn a long time.”
Howie rubbed his hands. “Good, we have light. Now what say we carve a few spears while we’re at it so I don’t go in there empty-handed? If the Safyre attacks, I want to give it a good poke in the eye before it incinerates me.”
Jey stared at him for a long moment. “You are not what I expected.”
Howie grinned. “I know. I get that a lot. Come on, lets whittle some sticks and get moving; I’d like to be back in Skara Brae before Surt burns it to the ground.”
An hour later, Howie trailed behind Jey, one hand resting on Big D’s square head as they entered into the towering cavern of the Safyre Omera. The Shun Kara tolerated his touch for once, as if he, too, were unnerved by the smell of sulfur and burnt flesh that hung in the air.
Jey’s torch sent shadows looming across the stone floor. Scattered bones littered the area, a warning to the unwary who entered. Jey leaned the torch against the wall and cupped his hands to his mouth, shouting, “Father? Where are you?”
Howie smacked him on the arm. “Are you crazy?” he hissed. “Are you trying to get us killed?”
“No, I’m trying to find my father,” Jey hissed back.
“Well, if the Mrs. Safyre finds us first, that’s bad news. So zip it.”
The cavern narrowed into a tunnel that headed deeper underground. With every step, the air grew colder, and goosebumps were crawling all over Howie’s skin. A distant screech made him jump.
“What was that?” he asked. The hackles on the Shun Kara were stiff under his fingers.
Jey walked faster. The rocky floor was uneven. Sharp stalactites hung down. One almost knocked Howie out as he eased around it.
And then they emerged into a giant cavern. It was impossible to see how tall it was. Jey’s torch couldn’t pierce the deep shadows, but it was at least five stories high. Tunnels shot off in every direction. A rockfall scattered boulders across the floor, leaving a fresh scar in the rock wall, paler than the rest.
Jey ran toward it, and Howie scurried to keep up. Jey dropped the torch and began frantically feeling the rocks. “Father!” he called loudly. “Can you hear me?’
They listened but heard nothing.
“Here, let me try,” Howie said. He picked up a rock and banged it against one of the rocks three times.
They stood back and waited. A moment later, there was an echoing bang. Three of them.
“Dad!” Jey shouted. “We’re coming. Hang on.”
They began pulling rocks away, but with every stone they took away, two more rolled down. It was backbreaking work. Damarius stood guard as they pried away rock after rock. Howie lit their second torch as the first one burned out. After another hour, they managed to make a small opening. Howie held up the torch as Jey peered in.
“Father?” he called.
“Jey, is that you?” The voice filtering through was weak, but it was Beo.
“You’re alive!” Jey shouted.
Howie could just make out glittering black eyes as Beo glared through the small opening. “Jey, what are you doing here? I told you not to come.”
“I had to. We’re going to get you out of there.” Jey began pulling on more rocks, but his father stopped him.
“No. I want you to leave right now. The rocks are too unstable. The whole wall could come down.”
“I’m not leaving without you. Who’s with you?”
“I have five men. This tunnel leads to a dead end. There is a stream. We’ve been able to survive with the water and provisions we have, but it is too dangerous for you here. The Safyre attacked us and brought down the rockfall.”
“Don’t worry, father. I can do this,” Jey said. He began pulling more rocks away, but another tumble of rocks came down.
As they dodged the falling rock, Damarius growled, rising to his feet to stare at one of the tunnels.
Howie paused, listening. He heard it. A chuffing noise, like deep breathing. A flicker in the shadows made him go cold. “Uh, Jey, I think—”
“Quiet, Howie; we’re not leaving until we free my father and his men,” Jey said.
“Jey, you’d better have a look.”
Damarius howled a warning as the flickering shadow took shape. Howie made out a long snout with pointed ears.
“Run!” Howie shouted.